The days passed by with little trouble after that. Rufus and Reno had reached a mutual conciliation; in time, they even became tentative friends. After a few days, Tseng resumed his duties as teacher to the young future president. Reno had been a little anxious when he told Tseng about his conversation with the future president, but the Turk leader had simply nodded coolly, confirming Reno's hope that he had made the right decision.

As for Rufus...at first, he had feared his outlook had changed irrevocably towards the Wutain Turk, but after a while, he realized that his outlook, while it had changed, had changed towards the world, rather than Tseng. After all, it was enormously difficult to remain repulsed at a man so distinguished and collected as Tseng. So while Rufus still kept his words and movements guarded, it was no longer such a chore.

"You're getting better," Tseng remarked to him once, as Rufus hit his sixth straight pigeon. "I think it's time we moved onto other things. Reno?"

"Yes, sir." Reno shot a glance over to the waiting boy and drew a map from inside his jacket. Spreading it out on a nearby table, he took a red pen from his pocket.

"Starting today, we're going to take your training outside of Midgar." He circled a large area in the center of the continent. "This is Junon area, and all this here," he made another circle, "is Midgar area." He made three small red dots. "Midgar, Kalm and the Chocobo Farm," he said. "Any questions?" Rufus shook his head. "Good. For now, we're going to stick around the Midgar area. Tseng?"

"One more thing." The Turk leader took the pen from Reno's hand and made a zigzag line to the west of the Chocobo Farm. "Midgar Zolom. Not terribly difficult for an experienced fighter, but a bit beyond your capabilities at the moment." He returned the pen to Reno, who pocketed it along with the map. "Now, if you'll follow us, sir."

The three of them left the shooting range and proceeded down a labyrinth of corridors. Some time later, they arrived at a small, segmented room that smelled of hay and grain.

"Sir." Reno motioned for Rufus to follow him into one of the numerous stalls. Inside was a beautiful black chocobo.

"Wark?"

Reno smiled fondly and patted it on the side of it's glistening wing. "Hello, Onyc," he said, ruffling her feathers playfully. "This is Onyc," he said, turning to face Rufus. "She'll be your ride for today. If you like her, we'll see about making her your permanent steed."

Rufus stared, astonishment clear in his blue eyes. "Ahh-" he said, unable to take his eyes off the beautiful bird. Onyc turned her head to him, and nudged his arm with her beak. Startled, Rufus jerked back.

"Hey, calm down," Reno said. He raised an eyebrow. "Never been near a chocobo, I take it?"

"Ahh- no," Rufus admitted, flushing pink. "Not...up close before."

"Well, consider this your introduction. Onyc's a good girl, she likes people. She won't bite you, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

Again, Onyc reached out and this time, Rufus let her nibble a bit on his sleeve. Satisfied with the knowledge that he didn't taste good, she warked again, craning her neck over to a wooden bin.

"Here." Reno opened the bin and took out something green. He handed it to Rufus, who took it hesitantly. "Give her this and she'll be your best friend forever."

Cautiously, Rufus held out the leafy stalk, almost dropping it as Onyc snatched it from his grip.

"Hey, easy there, girl," Reno admonished affectionately as she wolfed down the green and began a thorough search of Rufus' pockets for more. "Gonna get his pretty clothes all dirty." He managed to get her head out of Rufus' jacket, and grinned mischievously at the young man. "I think she likes you. Let's find out how much."

Fifteen minutes later, Reno had Rufus perched somewhat unsteadily on Onyc's feathery back.

"Here," he said, handing the young man a set of reins. "Hold onto these, but don't pull on them. Steer with your knees, pushing in the direction you want to go. Nudge her with your heels to get her to move forward."

"Oh, shit-!" Rufus nudged experimentally and landed flat on his back as Onyc darted out from under him.

"Whoa, girl." Reno laughed as he caught Onyc's reins. This time, Onyc's wark sounded suspiciously like laughter. "That's the President's son you just dumped on his ass," he told her. She gave a haughty toss of her black head to show just how much she thought of his rank.

"Fine, be that way," he teased. "But when the order comes with his daddy's name on it to have you sent to the Snow Fields, don't go running to him for help."

"Wark," she said agreeably. She whistled, then lowered her head to help nudge Rufus to his feet. Grinning, the young man tousled the feathers of her head and laughed as she nearly pushed him over again.

"Glad to see you three are getting along."

The two men turned to see Tseng standing in the stall entrance, reins of his own chocobo in hand.
"It seems Rufus here hasn't ever had a chance to ride," Reno explained hastily. "I was just getting him acquainted with Onyc here. I figured that she would be a good match for him, especially since-"

"I agree," Tseng cut him off quickly. "But let's try and hurry. I want to get a good lesson in before it gets dark."

"Right, sir."

When Tseng left, Reno handed Rufus the reins again. After a bit of coaching and some talking to Onyc, Rufus once again sat atop the black bird, this time more confidently. When he gave a tentative tap with his heels, Onyc warked and stepped forward.

"Good." Reno opened the stall door all the way and stepped back as Rufus guided Onyc through. "Wait here for just a sec-" With that, he disappeared into a stall on the far side of the stables.

"I see Reno's become a fair teacher at riding."

Startled, Rufus tensed, then cursed as Onyc started to dash forward. Once he got her back under control, he turned to face the speaker.

Tseng was watching him, amusement in his deep brown eyes. "Not bad," he said.

Rufus nodded briefly, trying hard to avoid looking the man in the eye. While he was no longer so edgy around the handsome Turk, this was the first time he had been left alone with him without Reno's company. "I-"

Just then, Reno showed up, seated atop another black chocobo with matching reins. Rufus breathed a small sigh of relief as Tseng turned to acknowledge his co-worker.

They set out, exiting Midgar through a back exit beyond the slums, Reno on a handsome male named Braize and Tseng on a golden female called Sho-yen. Onyc was one of his father's birds, but Braize and Sho-yen each belonged to their riders.

Once they reached the outside of Midgar, the birds put on some real speed, virtually devouring the ground with each of their long strides. Rufus laughed out of sheer pleasure as the wind whipped through his blond hair, his white jacket streaming out behind him. He couldn't remember a time when he had a more delightful experience than this.

All too soon, Tseng signaled a halt. The birds slowed, then came to a complete stop on the hard packed dirt, about five miles east of Midgar.

Dismounting carefully, Rufus wrapped the reins around his arm, mirroring Reno and Tseng. Looking around, he wondered what they were going to do with the birds; all around them, there was nothing but dirt plains, not a tree or even a stunted bush in sight.

"Here." Reno tossed him what looked like a large bag. Confused, Rufus caught it and saw that it was actually a hood, with space for a beak and a drawstring around the base.

"Put it over her head," Tseng told him, demonstrating with Sho-yen. Reno did likewise with Braize.

Cautiously, Rufus held the bag open and tried to toss it over Onyc's head. With a wark and a quick movement, she dodged it and watched as it fell to the ground. Rufus retrieved the hood and tried again, only to fail once more. More than slightly annoyed, now, he picked it up a third time, but was stopped by Reno.

"Like this," he said. Deftly, he took the bag from Rufus' hands and flicked it up into the air. Before Onyc could react, it landed neatly over her head. Immediately, she froze in her tracks.

"If they can't see, they won't move," the redheaded Turk explained. "If they sense danger, though, they'll bolt regardless. So long as nothing spooks them, they'll be here when we get back."

Tseng approached them both, a berretta in each hand. Reno flashed a feral smile at Rufus and drew his mag-rod from his belt. After hesitating a moment, the young man untied his shotgun from it's place on Onyc's saddle.

Nodding to them both, Tseng turned and headed south. They had only gone a few yards when Rufus heard a low rumbling sound. They froze, and the rumbling grew increasingly louder. "Devil Rides," Reno muttered to his right.

Suddenly, there they were. Twin motorcycle type machines rose over a hill crest and were upon them. Standing unflinchingly, Tseng aimed his left hand gun and fired.

"Fire at will, Shinra!" Reno shouted to him, rushing forward to engage the closest opponent in melee combat, his mag-rod swinging viciously. Hands shaking, Rufus brought his gun to his shoulder.

As he fired the first shot, the young man felt the blood heat in his veins, an unfamiliar buzzing fill his entire body. He felt strangely detached from everything, like he was floating. Sounds blended oddly in his ears, merging into one cacophonous backdrop; he heard voices, but was unable to tell who's. Colors swirled before him as he was blinded by the wash of adrenaline. Time seemed to crawl by as he watched the farther of the two machines explode into a mess of parts and shrapnel.

Suddenly, he was back inside himself, standing before a heap of twisted, smoking metal. To his left, Reno, teeth bared in pure exhilaration, pressed a button on his rod and leapt back as 500 volts of pure electricity coursed through the metal body. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Tseng nodding in approval, but when he looked over, the leader of the Turks was calmly reloading his guns.

"Nice job," Reno congratulated him, reaching back to adjust his ponytail. "This close to Midgar, most of the things you'll find around here are mechanical. 'Course, there're always a couple of Prowlers and such, and up towards the north, you'll probably run into some Kalm Fangs." He cracked his knuckles, flexing his fingers through the half-gloves he wore. "Good place to start training."

Rufus nodded, his attention only half on what the Turk was saying. He still felt the heat from the rush of stimulation, the thrill from the pure adrenaline that had coursed through his veins. Gods, he thought to himself. This is what I've been missing all this time. This is what I never would have experienced trapped inside that tower all my life.

And now that I've found it, I don't ever want to go back.