I walked around the streets in hopes of finding anything at all that could lead me to Sephiroth. I just secretly hoped I wouldn't find him on my own. The last thing I needed was to get cut up into little pieces by a seven foot katana wielding maniac.
I had decided to walk into a building and ended up coming into a bar. There were several off duty soldiers that made up most of the people that were there. A bar tender was wiping the counter, occasionally stopping to serve someone food and drink. Others were seated at tables, both male and female soldiers were scattered around talking. They seemed like normal people just having a good time.
?: Hey you!
I turned to look at a man out of uniform that was seated with three others. He was waving for me to come over. I looked behind me to make sure he wasn't trying to get someone else.
?: I mean you! Front and center!
I went over to him and gave him a salute.
?: Sit down.
Me: I'm sorry sir but now isn't the time. I have some-
?: Are you disobeying an order?
Me: No sir!
I sat down as he told me to. I was next to a red haired girl with freckles.
Thompson: And enough of that sir business, I'm off duty, just call me Thompson.
Me: Right.
Thompson: This is Rachel, James, and Johnson.
He said this as he pointed to the red head, then a man with short black hair and another man that was a brunet.
Me: Doe.
Thompson gave me a strange look.
Thompson: I don't think I've seen you in this city before. Do you work down in the underwater facilities?
Me: Um…
Rachel: I would recognize him, I know all the personnel.
Johnson: What did you say your name was again?
Me: Doe, sir.
Thompson: Enough with the 'sir' crap. You need to wind down. Take off your helmet.
Me: I couldn't. I'm new here, brought to help with the ceremony. I'm fresh out of training.
Thompson: Humph, that explains a lot. You need to learn how to relax kid. Have a drink.
Thompson waved down a waitress and gave her three fingers, using his thumb, middle, and ring finger. The waitress shook her head and went to the bartender who then disappeared into the back. He then returned and placed something on the waitress' tray and she brought it over. It was a small shot glass filled with a bright green fluid.
Thompson: You should unwind a little kid.
He slid the glass towards me.
Me: I can't I am still on duty.
Thompson: It's one drink.
Me: I don't drink alcohol.
Thompson: You will drink it.
His voice now had an edge to it. The others were staring at me, waiting to see what I would do. Honestly at this point I probably would have stabbed the guy with my knife; unfortunately they were also at the shop. But I couldn't afford to blow my cover.
I took the glass and brought it under my nose, giving it a sniff. I almost dropped the contents, the smell was almost unbearable. The inside of my nose burned. Tears actually came to my eyes. The others were still looking. With one move I downed the liquid in one gulp. I had avoided tasting any of it, but it didn't help once it hit my throat. The burning feeling was even worse, if felt like I could have been drinking molten lead. I started to cough uncontrollably as the others watched with amused looks on their faces. It was a while before the sensation was bearable enough to let me speak.
Me: The hell did you make me drink?!
My voice was horse.
Thompson: That, my boy, was a devils tonic.
Me: Thanks. Now I know what not to order, I think I'll skip out on any other alcohol while I'm at it.
I waved the waitress over and ordered a bowl of chowder and some water. The chowder was creamy and contained bits of vegetables and different kinds of sea food. I was all too happy to get rid of that devils tonic that was still in my throat.
I was half way done with the bowl when I overheard what the others were saying.
James: I can't believe that they got me on a man hunt. They didn't even give us a damn name just a brief description of the guy.
Rachel: What does he look like?
James: Ha, the only thing they gave us to go on was that the guy has silver hair and was wearing a black coat.
I almost chocked on my chowder.
Me: What did you say?!
James: Yah, a guy with a silver hair and a coat, that's all they gave us at the briefing. Unbelievable right?
Me: Has there been any sign of him?
James: No, despite the little description it's amazing we haven't at least found one guy who fit the bill. And get this; the commanding officer said that these orders came from the new president himself.
I stood up quickly. This was what I needed. It wasn't much but it helped to know that Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen. So he was either really good at avoiding trouble, or we already missed him.
Me: Thanks for the drink.
I ran out of the bar and started my search up again. There was still another hour of searching. I was running down the side street when I saw someone sitting in the alley way.
Me: Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?
I walked over to the person; it was a guy in a soldier uniform. They sat there asleep with their head slumped over.
Me: Hey, buddy, you don't want to fall asleep out here.
I shook him by the shoulder only to have him fall over. His lifeless eyes stared up back at me. There was blood on the wall he had been resting on; a single wound to the chest was all that was visible. I quickly went down and found that he had no pulse.
Me: Damn it! Just what I needed; I spoke of the devil and he decided to show up.
I was a bit worried about what to do now. The last thing I really wanted to do was fight Sephiroth. But the blood seemed dried, he was probably long gone by now.
I looked up to see a quick movement. I caught the smallest glimpse of silver hair and a coat.
Me: God damn it!
I sprinted away from the body and further into the alley, following the figure. I reached the end to see him turn around another corner.
Me: Stop, freeze!
I ran as fast as I could, trying to catch up with him. If it really was Sephiroth I was going to need back up, any back up. I searched my pockets to find a small metal whistle. I took a deep breath and blew as hard as I could. The whistle was high pitched, its sound bouncing off the walls. I gave it another blow and shouted for back up. Hopefully someone was nearby to help me out.
The figure was fast, only giving me small glimpses as he disappeared around the corner just when I reach the same passage. I could hear more footsteps, the sound of boots slamming on the cobble stone paved ground of the alleys.
I could hear someone's voice behind me.
Soldier: What's the problem!?
Me: The wanted man has been spotted. Silver hair, black coat and is suspected to be responsible for the murder of a soldier. I want a third of you to split off, right, another third goes left, and the rest will stick with me. We are to capture him at once.
Soldiers: SIR!
I heard most of the footsteps disappear; there were still a couple of them with me.
Soldier: Where was the downed man?
I tried to recall my location when I had found the body.
Me: Just in the entrance of the alley between building 32 B and 32 C.
The soldier was now running alongside me, speaking into a radio.
Soldier: Reports of an officer down in alley way of 32 B and 32 C. We are currently on a foot chase of a man with silver hair and a black coat.
I heard the sound of a gruff man's voice come from the radio.
Radio: That's the target. The one wanted by the president! Do not let him escape! You have orders to shoot on sight.
Soldier: Understood. You better have your gun ready.
Me: Don't have it.
The guy gave me a hand gun as we continued to run. I could hear gun shots coming from our left.
Me: This way!
I turned the corner to see that one of the squads was completely wiped out. All of them were killed by a sword; one of them was actually cut in two.
Soldier: Damn! He got away!
I couldn't believe it. Despite what Cloud had told me about Sephiroth I thought he wouldn't be too tough to catch since he was only running. But seeing all of these people, ten soldiers who all had training and were armed with guns…
Soldier: How can one man do all of this?!
Me: We need to find him fast now.
Soldier: R-right.
The guy turned to the others.
Soldier: You heard him, split up into squads of five. Do not engage the target alone, if found follow and call for back up.
They gave of a quick salute and split up. The Soldier had radioed in the casualties; a medic squad would be there to claim the bodies shortly.
As for me, I needed to go back and get my gear from Max's place. It didn't take long before I had reached his shop.
Max: Sir, your gear is fully restored. I say it is a fine piece of equipment you have. It's really hard to get armor like that to rust.
My stuff was sat on the counter, armor and weapons lay on the cloth I had wrapped it in.
I grabbed the clothes and left without another word. It would be best to try to find a secluded location to change, but Shinra troops were now swarming the area, the only ones I didn't see on any important business were soldiers that were marching the parade for the president. I watched from an alley as the group marched by, every person in sync with the person next to them. I was walking around when I felt a blade to my back.
?: What do we have in the bag mister? Why don't you drop it and we can all walk away with something?
I had my hand on the knife inside the bundle.
Me: Alright, please just don't hurt me. I'm going to drop it now.
I said this trying to make myself sound scared. The gear hit the ground, the sound of metal rung off the brick walls.
?: You guys sure act tough, but once you're in danger you just piss your pants.
I swung around with the blade to hit nothing but air; my attacker had ducked down under the swing. I was surprised to see that it as Yuffie. She countered with a swing with one of her knifes. I was only just able to block it with my own.
Me: Hold on a sec!
Yuffie: If you're going to fight me, better be ready to finish.
She came at me again with the knife, faking a blow to my side and swept my legs out from under me. I fell hard on my back, my helmet had fallen off and so my head felt like it had cracked open.
Yuffie: Tyquiil?!
Me: What is it with you robbing me? Do you want my stuff that badly?
Yuffie was definitely thrown off; her cheeks had started to go red.
Yuffie: No, I mean, why are you dressed like that?
Me: This was the best shot I had to keep from getting caught. I saw Cloud; he has a uniform as well, so no more attacking Shinra soldiers for the time being. At the moment they're on our side.
Yuffie: Our side? Why?
Me: Because I saw Sephiroth.
Yuffie: That guy you're after?
Me: Yah, he took out ten soldiers when we tried to capture him. Right now there's a town wide search, so if they were looking out for us they won't be anymore.
Yuffie: Now what?
Me: I don't know. I say we find out what Rufus is up to. It could give us some leads.
Yuffie: Rufus is supposed to head for the ship docks. Let's go.
Yuffie ran off, I quickly grabbed my helmet and gear and followed after her.
