The Other Ancient
Chapter 37-Follow the Leader
Disclaimer: I don't own Crisis Core.
Keep Calm: Agh, gonna get busier.
Zack: Yeah, Keep Calm's gonna be getting more stuff to work on soon. Sucks.
Keep Calm: Thanks for the encouragement.
Autumn: Don't worry, you'll survive!
Keep Calm: I'm dreading it. Anyways, here Chapter 37~Follow the Leader
"Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another." -John C. Maxwell
Normal POV
Zack didn't know how things spiraled down so quickly. When he entered the chopper back in the slums, he'd been having light conversation with Tseng, who he finally felt a little more comfortable around.
The Shinra-issued choppers all smelled the same: Traces of fuel, gunpowder, some kind of cleaning fluid, and sweat. Somehow, to Zack, it helped transition his mindset from free-time to work mode.
He wasn't at all pleased to see Autumn sitting there, beside a masked infantryman, talking casually as if she hadn't gotten tortured for five days straight. The ravenette suspected she either bribed a nurse or the doctor, or she made false promises she knew she wouldn't keep.
And of course, when he brought up his concerns, she got defensive. The 1st was always saying she was fine on her own and taking care of herself. It was her automatic reply to those situations. It irked him to no end, but he didn't want to make a scene around Tseng and the infantryman. That did not mean, however, that he was done speaking to his partner.
And now, after several hours, he was sitting beside Tseng as still as he could, while the Turk clung to the rail above for dear life.
"There's anti-aircraft fire trying to hit us, I don't know how long I can evade them!" Sarrel yelled, said firing brushing past the sides of the chopper, rocking it violently in the process.
"But we're almost there, right?" Autumn shouted back, somehow unaffected by the movement of the chopper. Zack was the same.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to make an emergency landing!" The pilot replied, jerking at the yoke and flipping switches.
Zack locked eyes with his partner, concern written on his face. "Be ready for anything."
She nodded, attention waning to the infantryman beside her, who looked very, very sick.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you're going to throw up. Do you have motion sickness?"
He dipped his head in a nod to answer, clutching at his stomach.
"Take deep breaths, don't look down, and keep your eyes steady. Rapid breaths only increase the nausea, and looking down for some reason worsens motion sickness. Just stare straight across from you, got it?"
Following her instructions, he breathed evenly despite the chaotic happenings with the helicopter, shadowed eyes gazing at the opposite wall. The tension left his body, though some remained due to the possibility they could die.
That was quite reasonable, though.
"Are you feeling better now?" Autumn queried, a hand on his back.
Zack felt a pang of jealousy. She handled the infantryman with such gentle care and compassion, something the brunette rarely showed him. Him: her partner! Whenever he felt sick or in pain, she just spared him a glance, sighed and tossed him a potion. Then the 1st told him to suck it up.
He just wished he could experience that side of her-the gentle, caring side. Not gruff, demanding and mean. Oh yes, she could be very mean. It was why she'd never been asked out before by anyone other than himself.
The ravenette wasn't entirely sure why he'd pursued her for three years; perhaps it was pride, or the fact she was so different from the other girls he'd dated, or maybe because she was so enigmatic. There was just something about her Zack couldn't help but feel drawn to. Though for the first year he was incredibly terrified of her. And now, even he had given up-not just because of Aerith, who was like the gentle light you felt the compulsion to wrap yourself in, but also because he realized she already had someone in her heart.
Was it this infantryman? Or was Autumn just being compassionate and gentle because he reminded her of someone else?
The infantryman again only nodded, prompting Autumn to retract her hand. "Sorry, I read somewhere that rubbing the back eases tension buildup in some cases, so I thought it would help you relax."
Zack was nearly thrown across the space when the chopper shuddered. Something had gone awry.
"Yeah, I don't really think anyone can relax in this situation. Nobody would blame him if there was some tension!" The 1st interposed.
"We've been hit, we're losing altitude!" Sarrel exclaimed, hands working frantically at dials, switches, buttons and the yoke itself.
"Controls aren't responding-all I can do is direct where we're going to crash-land! Hang on!"
The ravenette locked eyes with his partner, who had been glancing around calmly.
"We don't have enough time to jump." She stated loudly as the chopper began to rapidly descend from the sky.
"Yeah." He replied in an equally audible tone.
The helicopter was shaking, causing everyone to hold onto something to prevent getting thrown around. The noise was thundering, rattling Zack's eardrums so much he could barely hear anything else over the cacophony.
"Don't worry-we'll make it." He heard Autumn yell, and then they were crashing with the snow-covered ground.
All of them were flung out of the chopper through the busted sliding doors, scattered about in the snow.
Zack distinctly remembered everyone shouting and screaming, then soaring through the air to hit what felt like a wintry blanket. His vision became obscured, glittering light blue and white hazy in his glowing sky blue eyes.
It smelled different; much fresher, crisper...but no...
No what? What was he thinking...?
His head felt weird. Suddenly Zack felt lethargic, as if it'd just dropped onto him like a bag of heavy weights without any warning.
Closing his eyes, the tension left his body as the darkness of sleep enshrouded him.
Sarrel's POV
We crashed.
After promising Sakura I wouldn't crash the chopper, we crashed. I flew out from the cockpit through the side window. I was lucky I didn't die. I blacked out for who knows how long, then came to when Cloud shook my shoulders.
My head was pounding. I probably hit it when we crashed, and I got cut from the glass, though it wasn't anything deep.
"Tseng! Hey, guys!" I heard Zack shout, but it didn't really grab my attention.
I then jumped to my feet, startling Cloud so he fell backwards in the snow. My hands patted down my body for any injuries. There were some cuts from the broken glass, and my right shoulder was probably dislocated (which hurt so much it didn't even register), but other than that, I was okay. That shit hurt, though.
"I'm alive! Or is this some joke of a final resting place? If so, I didn't picture the place for me to spend eternal peace like this with all these injuries. Something more sunny, with a view of the ocean-no, scratch that, I'd hate it. It'd remind me too much of Junon, and that place was gross. Someplace sunny with lots of trees for shade, maybe a few flowers to liven it up a little-"
"Um...you're alive, Sarrel. We all are. Although the chopper wasn't as lucky." Cloud told me, shoving his helmet back on, which I could only assume fell off during the crash.
"Oh, well, that's a relief. Glad to know I didn't actually die and wake up to find my resting place is practically an icy wasteland with you there. No offense, of course, but I'd prefer a solitary paradise. If we did die, though, I'd probably let you visit every once in a while. Just for old times' sake."
The blonde just looked confused, and half-stared at me like I was crazy.
Noting my helmet was missing too, as well as my scarf, I staggered over to the busted helicopter. "Aw man, you poor baby! I just cleaned you, too. But better you than me."
Rummaging around, I finally found my helmet, although part of it was a little melted from being so close to the roaring flames. My scarf was just outside of the small crater where the chopper crashed. I coughed, waving away the clouds of black smoke blowing my way from passing breezes.
It was way too cold not to wear them-even if the helmet was half-melted. The air was moist but freezing, and even the gentle breezes felt like invisible knives cutting at my skin. On the upside, it did smell kind of...refreshing, here. No smog or pollution, and it was fresh and crisp. Although there was the scent of smoke and oil to consider.
I returned to the others, watching Cloud stand and brush snow off his uniform. It sucked they had short sleeves - it was miserably cold here. I had to constantly rub my arms for warmth.
"Sakura, are you okay?"
When I heard that, my head whipped to the side. Zack was kneeling in the snow, helping my friend sit up. Her sword, which had a name unsurprisingly, lied several feet away. It looked like it, along with her sheathe, had gotten ripped away from her when she got thrown out. Yet somehow her mask stayed on...or did she tie it back on before I woke up?
Specks of a red liquid - blood - stained the pure white snow like drops of paint.
The source was her left arm, where a thinning cut gushed out small rivulets of crimson.
"I'm fine-just got a scratch is all. See? Already healing, I used Cure." She replied lightly, shaking off his support to stand on her own. "Besides, it's not like I'm gonna die from a small cut."
Instantly she was marching toward us, and without that concerned glint in her unnatural eyes, I'd have been scared out of my wits.
"You guys okay? Let me see." She demanded, not waiting for a reply.
Sakura inspected us while Tseng dialed some number, then pocketed his phone away a few seconds later. "No signal out here."
The brunette 1st took care of Cloud first, who hid his face in his scarf to hide his oncoming blush.
"You have a bruised side and a sprained wrist. Drink this, you'll heal a few minutes afterward." She said, handing him a Hi-Potion.
"Well, at least we're all in one piece. We'll be all right." Zack encouraged optimistically.
How that dude could be so positive when we nearly died in a chopper crash was definitely a mystery to everyone except probably Minerva, if she even existed.
"Thankfully, we have someone used to this kind of terrain." Tseng commented.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a country boy..." Zack shrugged.
"I was actually referring to Sakura, but you as well, I suppose."
Zack pouted indignantly.
Next was me.
Sakura leaned in, small fingers checking for signs of injury. I observed, without saying it out loud, that she smelled like sweet apples and some kind of nice flower. Yeah, better not to say that out loud. I didn't exactly want everyone to start calling me a pervert.
"You having fun there?" I teased as she gripped my arm.
Her eyes flicked to mine, a sort of lazy irritation in them. "Need I remind you that you crashed the CHOPPER. What was it you said to me? 'I'm positive we won't crash'?"
"Actually all I said was 'I'm positive'."
When the 1st moved my right shoulder, I cried out in pain. "Oww! Can't you be more gentle? I thought women had some kind of magic touch!"
"I'm sorry, I was positive you could handle a woman's magic touch that only lightly shifted your shoulder, but apparently I was wrong. And I'm only 16 - if anything I'm a young lady, not a full grown woman." She replied sardonically.
"Oh, well, that explains it." I quipped.
She held my shoulder delicately in a specific way after shooting me another glare. "Okay, you have two options, since now I know your right shoulder is definitely dislocated: Use Cure or a potion, or I can pop it back into place right now."
"Er...why would popping it back into place manually even be an option?" I asked.
"Because Cure and potions take a while to heal more serious injuries, especially when it's a joint out of place. They were made for mending bones, tissue and skin back together. To relocate a joint takes more time." She explained.
"Eh, just pop it back in now." I answered, craning my neck to look at her.
Sakura sent me a hesitant glance. "Are you sure? It'll hurt tremendously."
I shot her what was supposed to be a sarcastic grin, but I was pretty sure it came out as a nervous smile instead. "Thanks for the reassurance, really, it's deeply appreciated. Besides, it's better to pop it back in now instead of being useless for a while, right? I mean, can't exactly fight with one arm with the other swinging around like a noodle."
She smiled a kind of roguish smile in response.
"Well, if you don't want your arm to be swinging around like a noodle, you can either wait until it goes in by Cure or a potion and wait a while, or do it now and endure extreme amounts of agony. I should know - one time I dislocated my wrist and popped it back in. I was writhing on the ground for a good five minutes." Her voice was laced with a false sweetness.
I dragged my good hand over my face in exasperation. "Really, Sakura, you're a natural at comforting people. It's just out of this world, I can't put it into wor-"
Sakura expertly popped my shoulder back into place, which caused a huge blast of pain to wash all over my body.
"Ahhh! F**k that shit hurts! Holy shit! Ah dammi-" I cursed, nearly choking on the potion she dumped into my mouth.
"There. All done. The potion will take care of the pain. Watch your mouth, by the way. The situation is foul enough without your profanity." She stated, pulling her hands away from my relocated shoulder.
"What the hell?! Aren't you supposed to count off or something?!" I exclaimed, though my shoulder now wasn't in a constant state of agony.
"No, because that would give you time to reconsider and tense up. Now, Tseng," She said, reeling on her heels to face the Turk. "Do you have any injuries?"
He stared at her with hard, empty onyx eyes. "I already used Cure and drank a Hi-Potion. Your assistance is unnecessary."
"What about me?" Zack frowned, feeling a bit put-out from what I could gather.
"I can already tell you're fine by the way you jogged over to everyone and made such a positive statement." Sakura waved a hand.
"All right, then. We would have reached Modeoheim by now if we hadn't crashed," Tseng commented and started walking up the ascending trail of icy rock and snow, causing me to cringe.
It wasn't exactly my fault, but I could've landed better.
"So we're going to need to make up for lost time."
Zack and Sakura stepped up, the former glancing back at us with a cheerful grin. Seriously, how was this guy so sunny?!
"All right, follow me, then!"
My friend, the one dubbed 'Ice Queen of SOLDIER', stared at him with a glare so intense I thought he'd burst into flames.
He seemed to feel her eyes on him, because he corrected himself. "Uh, I mean, follow us, of course."
Deciding to move on, she edged a smile as she started trekking up the slope. "Don't dilly dally, boys. We don't have time to waste."
Somehow, it always ended up with those two leading the rest. Why didn't Tseng take point? He was a Turk, wasn't he? I thought they outranked SOLDIERs.
"Hey Tseng, why don't you take point instead?" I asked.
"Because, as I stated before, those two are more familiar with this kind of terrain. And SOLDIERs have faster reaction times, healing rates and endurances overall."
"So...they're basically our shields?" I pressed.
"Take it as you will. If you want to compare them to shields, think of them as shields receiving dents and scratches that heal within minutes."
"So, they take damage we can't, and deal with surprise attacks we'd be too slow to counter for."
He just nodded.
"Well, if you put it like that, I guess I'm fine with just playing 'follow the leader'." I grinned, walking behind him with Cloud.
It was actually more than that. Zack and Sakura protected everyone, including each other, no matter what it took. Sakura had always inspired me, and I wanted to follow her. Not just by watching her, but she verbally urged me to do my best, to be the best and do great things.
Zack I didn't know as well, but I've heard good things about him.
They were both meant to lead, and I'd trail behind them willingly, watching their six, doing everything to the greatest of my abilities.
A/N: Yes, I'm following the plot again. Isn't this the mission where Angeal dies? ...Yes, yes it is, I just remembered. Anyways, I wanted her there for that, I have a lot planned. Sorry for the long wait! Review, follow and favorite-they inspire me to write more.