Setting The Path

A week passed without incident in the slums. I kept my head low, my eyes open, and nothing had come of the train incident. I went to the Seventh Heaven bar a couple of times and started to talk to the owner, Tifa, more. She was geniunely nice woman, very helpful and told me all about the Slums and what to look out for. I got to know her a little more, but not enough to tell her I needed help getting back onto the Plate. I picked my words carefully so I was telling her things but not enough in case people started looking for me. It wasn't that I didn't trust her; I didn't know who to trust right now. I didn't have enough information on this world.

Every so often, whenever a news report came on involving the Shinra Company, some people would sneer, groan, or just outright slander the company for various reasons from job loss, pollution, to outright killing the planet. I did take their words on board; this place hadn't become a slum for no reason. People were struggling here just to live. The fact that some of them had went their whole lives without seeing the sun saddened me. Having lived in Besaid and seeing the sun almost every day, to now having a giantic metal roof over me every waking hour was a shock to my system. Part of me was glad I'd come down here and seen the place with my own eyes. I wanted to help and there must have been people who were like minded. There had to be. It was one way to learn more and I think I was in the clear about the train incident.

I walked through the slums to one of the old gyms to get some practice in. Between there, the hostel, and the bar, I walked the streets and tried to listen in to people to find out more about the world. I couldn't use Sin's Toxin or amnesia as an excuse; I just had to be careful with my questions to blend in.

As I was walking down the streets I had the horrid feeling that I was being followed. It happened so suddenly but I trusted my gut on this. I stopped as if I was going to cross to the other side of the street and glanced both ways in case of sudden vehicles appearing from no where. To my right the man stood out as a threat but no one paid mind to him. He was wearing a black suit, too clean for the Slums. I didn't look directly at him because I knew he was looking at me. I crossed over and kept walking down the road, turning a corner and keeping to busy areas.

I felt like he was still following me but didn't look back to check. If he knew I knew he was following me it could have ended badly. I didn't want anyone to get hurt around us, either. I turned another corner, knowing there was an alley nearby. It was a risk but if I could slip in fast enough I might be able to gain distance, or even lose my pursuer. I took a deep breath as I got closer to the alley. I didn't look back and side stepped into the alleyway, breaking into a sprint a few steps inside.

I knew I'd made a mistake and gotten myself trapped when I saw another man in a suit at the other end of the alley, just a few feet away from the exit. Same suit as the other man, more unkempt, and the brightest head of red hair I'd ever seen. He was acting like he hadn't noticed me until I slowed to a quick walk. I was a few feet away from him when he turned his head.

"In a hurry, slick?" He asked. His eyes were scanning me over for weapons, I saw them shifting around my body. I said nothing and was just about to pass him when he darted forward, grabbing me and shoving me against the wall, twisting my arm behind me. I didn't try to fight back, gauging his next move. He had a tight grip on me, for being lanky he was strong. The other man arrived and the one that had me against the wall gave a short laugh. "See? Told you this would be easy."

"Good work, Reno," the other man said. He then turned his attention to me. "I assume you're aware of why we're here?" I didn't answer him, only kept my eye contact with him.

"Better answer him. We've not got time to be playing games," the red head, Reno or whatever he was called, said to me. I still didn't answer them. "Hey Tseng, what do you want to do?"

"We'll take her to the headquarters. You can answer our questions there."

As soon as I felt Reno's grip loosen ever so slightly I lifted my foot against the wall and pushed back. I then pulled my body forward and flipped him over me, ducking under Tseng's punch and backing away. I channelled a small piece of my life force and threw a powerful kick into Tseng, then elbowed Reno in the gut before swinging my arm back to hit his side and knock him down. I didn't have much time; I ran out of that alley as fast as I could.

Again I never looked back I just ran as fast as I could go. My first thought was to get to the train station, not to catch a train but to dive into the train graveyard and lose them there if they were behind me. I didn't listen to noise, or people, I just kept my eyes forward as I tried to remember the way to the trains.

At the first opening I ducked into an old train and climbed through, slipping through any nook and cranny I could find. I clambered over wreckage, knocked stuff over behind me to gain distance, I did everything I could think of to get away. I ducked into another train and hid in an utterly wrecked part and crawled in, holding my breath. Guess that was another good thing about deciding to keep up Blitzball practice. I didn't peer out and kept my ears open, focusing on any noises or voices. I kept as still as possible, feeling my heart pound in my chest.

"She must still be here somewhere," I heard I think Tseng, or whatever his name was, say. He was faint, so a bit away.

"Well she ain't jumping off these trains any time soon, that's for sure," the other, Reno, said. "She's got some bite to her, think we'll need to call Rude in?"

"It won't be necessary," Tseng said.

Their voices faded away but I waited a couple of minutes more before daring to check out if the coast was clear. I let out a breath, taking another deep one and holding it. I moved slowly through the wreckage, looking around me for any signs of the men in suits. The place was so vast and a lot of places looked the same. I kept creeping through trains and hid again in a broken carriage underneath old seats.

"Are you hiding from the bad men?" I looked over and was surprised to see a group of three kids: two boys and a girl, none of them older than ten. They were huddling a little further down the train.

"Yeah... and I'm kind of lost," I told them. "You think you can help me get out of here?"

"Sure. But you gotta stay here until we say so, got it?" One of the boys said. I nodded in agreement and the three of them ran out of the train carriage.


A lot of time passed, I don't know how long, while I lay there hoping the kids would come back and help me. I kept listening out for them until, eventually, I heard several footsteps getting closer and closer.

"They're gone!" The girl said, ducking down to look where I was hiding. "You can come out now." I crawled out from under the seats and gave the kids a smile.

"Thanks, you have no idea how much this means," I told them.

"So why were the after you?" One of the boys asked. "Did you do something bad?"

"I jumped off a train on the Plate," I told them, figuring the bizarre truth would work better than anything I could make up. "So, can you show me the way out?"

"You were on the Plate?" The other boy asked, filled with curious wonder as they started to show me they way back. "What's it like?"

"Busy, tall buildings, the sky looks lovely though," I told them, not really recalling much else from my time up there. "Do those men come round the Slums often?"

"No, but when they do bad things happen," the girl said. "My mom says people don't come back when they're around, so she says to hide if we see them." So they were like bogeymen of some sort.

We arrived back at the train station in no time at all. The kids must have played around there often, even if it was pretty dangerous. I was starting to think there really wasn't a safe place in the lower sections of Midgar at all. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of someone letting a place get like this, let people live like this. This was no way for anyone to live, let alone kids.

When they took me back to the train station I gave them some money as a thanks; they needed it more than I did. When they had run off I started to go through my options. There was a chance those men would come after me again, potentially more, at any moment. They probably knew the routes I walked, where I went, how long I stayed in places. I wasn't safe here any more; I needed to get out the Slums.

For what I thought would be the last time, I went to the Seventh Heaven. It was quiet for its usual time now, which was good but I kept my eyes out for anyone who looked suspicious. I went straight to the bar where Tifa was. I think she noticed the worry in my eyes.

"Hey you okay?" She asked me, looking around in case anyone was in earshot.

"No, I had some people come after me, I need to get out of the Sector," I said. "It was... it was two guys in black suits. They followed me and cornered me, I just barely managed to get away from them."

"They didn't follow you here, did they?" Tifa asked with noticeable panic in her voice.

"I've been hiding in the train graveyard for who knows how long," I assured her. "Why are they really dangerous?"

"Are you serious?" She said in disbelief. "You just got away from Turks and you're asking if they're dangerous?" She looked around her customers again and gestured me to follow her. "In the back," I followed her into the back part where the small kitchen and storage area was. She closed the door and checked the back door too. When she was done she turned to me, leaning against the counter. "What did you do?"

"I jumped off a moving train because I didn't have ID on me," I told her. She squinted her eyes a little, not sure to believe me. "I was on the Plate when it happened. I didn't think and I didn't think it'd send Turks after me." I was trying to just work off her reactions to whatever the Turks were but I couldn't help notice her analysing my face a little more than I felt comfortable with. "Yes, Tifa, I know the burn scars look suspicious but I swear all I did was jump the train."

"What? No, no I'm not looking at the scars I... I was trying to see if if there was Mako in your eyes," I'd heard the term Mako a lot during my stay here: the concentrated life force of the planet used as an energy source. I remember, a long time ago, when Shinra left the Gullwings to pursue that research. Rin actually funded him. I couldn't believe they had found a way to do it. And just how damaging it was. "I thought you might have been ex-Soldier and that was the reason they sent Turks after you."

"I'm not ex-Soldier. Tifa I'm honestly not sure why they sent Turks after me," I chose to opt out of telling her that I'd broken the train door open with my bare hands and leapt out. I didn't think she'd believe me. "But I need to get out before they find me again."

"Christie, if Shinra sends the Turks after someone... normally you never see that person again," I stared at her with no response. So Shinra commanded the Turks, as well as leaving the people down in the Slums with no help? What had Shinra become?

I leant against the counter and thought about my options, which were running slim. The Turks only seemed interested in capturing me, not killing me, but they wouldn't stop until the job was done. I really wasn't interested in being captured by Turks or Shinra anyway, so it meant I could be on the run from them the rest of my time here. I looked at Tifa, knowing I really only had two options: run or fight.

"Okay, so how do I fight Shinra?" I asked. Tifa did another check of the doors quickly before answering my question.

"There is a group, here, that's fighting against Shinra. Our main goal is to stop them destroying the planet, but if you want to fight Shinra... we're small, we're hurting for help, so if you let me talk to Barrett I'm sure he'll let you in," I knew Tifa was taking a big gamble here; with me being wanted by Shinra and asking me to join the rebellion. It meant I wouldn't be leaving Midgar any time soon either but I'd be helping. Hopefully.

"Okay. I'm in."