The train clattered to a halt.
Jolted out of her daydreams, Saren picked up her bag and sheaf
of papers, brushed back her hair and headed for the exit. She struggled through
the normal rush of commuters both leaving and boarding the train, holding
tightly to her belongings, until she could leave the crowded station and step
out into the streets of Midgar.
Folding the papers neatly, she
slid them into an envelope and sealed it with a pang of uncertainty. Had she
forgotten anything? She mentally checked off the various parts of the SOLDIER
application form until she was satisfied that she hadn't left out anything
important. Stopping at the nearest blue post-box emblazoned with a red and
white chocobo, she deposited the envelope, said a silent prayer to whoever or
whatever was out there and continued on her way.
In a week or so she'd be
heading to Shinra HQ for her physical tests. She'd heard some daunting stories
about these- mostly from her older brother, who never made it into SOLDIER but
had such an inflated opinion of himself that you'd think he'd been accepted as
a Turk from day one. He'd been amused at her decision to apply for a job, which
had only increased her determination. Plenty of seventeen year olds signed up-
but not many of them were girls.
Realising that she still had
about twenty minutes to kill before the D-line train came in, she kept walking.
Not that there was much to see. Nondescript, featureless buildings, equally
nondescript people moving through the darkening streets in silence. Nothing she
hadn't seen anywhere else. Better to wait at the station. Who knows, the train
might be early for once.
Well, miracles could happen.
Without warning, a hard push
in her back knocked her off balance. She hit a middle-aged woman passing by and
fell to the ground, various items spilling out of her bag. Expecting a
confrontation, she regained her footing as quickly as she could and turned to
face her aggressor, assuming a defensive posture.
He looked only a few years
older than her, with brown Wutainese eyes and untidy dark brown hair falling
over his face. He looked startled when she assumed a fighting stance and,
instead of attacking her, mumbled an apology and started to repack her bag.
Feeling slightly stupid, she
knelt down to assist him. He looked up, taking note of thick black hair framing
striking features, deep brown eyes and a dark complexion which would look more
at home on a beach in Costa del Sol than in a chilly Midgar street. He flashed
her a smile. "Guess I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry. But I thought I
was going to miss my train."
"The D-line doesn't leave for
another twenty minutes." Saren zipped up her shoulder bag and stood. "There's
no hurry."
"That's all right, then. I might
head to the station anyway."
"I was going that way too."
He smiled again. "I'm Jien, by
the way."
"Saren." She began walking
back towards the station, Jien not far behind.
"Were you really going to
attack me?" he asked with a grin.
Saren shrugged. "You can't be
too careful in the slums."
"Guess not."
The station was a two-level building
with several platforms, the main terminus for this area of Midgar. Saren and
Jien stood on the bridge over the lower tunnel, shoulders hunched against the
icy wind. Darkness descended early in the slums, giving its last rays of light
to those lucky or rich enough to live on the plate, and the dim street lamps on
the platforms did little to alleviate the gloom. Faded, peeling posters
advertising the musical "Loveless" were visible on the fences and walls of the
surrounding area, although most of them were covered with graffiti or more
recent billboards.
"Have you seen that?" Jien
asked, indicating one of the posters.
"No, I'm not the theatre
type." Saren buried her hands in the pockets of her coat and shivered.
"Me either, although even if I
was I wouldn't have the time. My parents run a weapons store in Sector 7, but
I've basically taken that over now. So I'm keeping busy." He shrugged again.
"Where the hell is that train? I'm freezing my ass off here."
Saren looked up and down the
line. Although the train was nowhere in sight, a group of around ten people
were walking towards the opposite platform. As soon as they saw Jien, they
changed direction and headed straight towards him.
Saren looked at him
questioningly. "Friends of yours?"
Jien's attitude changed
completely as soon as he saw the new arrivals. He tensed, glanced quickly at
Saren, then returned his gaze to the leader, a tall, heavy man with skin as
dark as Saren's own. Saren stared in surprise when she noticed that the lower half
of his left arm was missing, replaced by a large, dark grey gun barrel which he
could apparently support with ease, although it looked like solid metal.
"Well, it's Jien," he called,
waving his gun arm. "Am I glad we ran into you. We were jus' about to pay you a
visit, and now here you are, savin' us the trouble. For a Shinra-lovin' asshole
like yourself, you're pretty damn considerate."
"Threatening me won't do any
good, Barret," Jien replied, his voice level. "We don't sell weapons to
terrorists."
"We ain't terrorists. It's
your precious Shinra who're the terrorists. They're suckin' the life outta the
Planet, dammit!"
"I'm not helping you or your
friends in crimes against the government."
"Then maybe you two need a
little persuadin'."
"She has nothing to do with
this or with me. Let her go."
"What if we don't?" The man
addressed as Barret took a few steps towards Saren, who readied herself.
"Ya know, Jien," he began conversationally, "maybe you're right.
Maybe we don't need new weapons. After all, the ones we got work pretty good-"
Without warning, he swung his gun arm at Saren, who was already dropping to one
knee as the strike sailed harmlessly overhead. Before her assailant could
recover, she pivoted on one foot while still at ground level, delivering a
sweeping blow to the back of his leg. While he staggered, caught off guard by
the attack, Saren rose smoothly and lashed out again, her boot connecting hard
with the point of his chin.
With their leader temporarily
out of action, the rest of the gang seemed uncertain of what to do next. Saren
and Jien backed away warily, trying to find a possible escape route, but as if
sensing their intentions the rest of Barret's posse spread out to block their
retreat.
"We can't get past all of them
at once," Jien murmured, "but if we stall them until the train gets here-
there's always a bunch of Shinra guards getting off at this stop…"
Saren nodded once, briefly. A
Wutainese woman with her hair in black spikes, who appeared to be the second in
command, stepped forward and glared at Jien challengingly. "You don't stand a
chance against us- just give us what we want and you can all go home, okay?"
Jien drew back as if
intimidated by her threats. "What do you want?"
"We've had this conversation before
and you know perfectly well."
A man with a red bandanna
tapped her on the shoulder. "Hurry it up, Lia. The Shinra'll be here soon."
"So what'll it be?" Lia tilted
her head, regarding Jien with amused contempt.
Jien stared at the ground. "It
looks like I have no choice."
"Damn right you don't."
In one quick movement, Jien
drew a small silver handgun from the inside pocket of his jacket. Lia's eyes
widened and she threw herself to one side, but not fast enough- the bullet
caught her in the shoulder as she fell. The girl cried out in pain, clamping
her hand over the wound and swearing vividly in Wutainese, while the rest of
the AVALANCHE members dropped also and scrambled for cover.
Saren scanned the area. "Let's
go. We'll catch the later train."
To her astonishment, Jien
shook his head. "I have to settle this now."
"What? How the hell are
you going to do that?"
Seeming to ignore her, he
pushed past her and approached Lia, who was still slumped on the cold concrete
with one hand to her bleeding arm. "You tell all your friends-" he
directed a vicious kick to her ribs- "that this is going to be the end of any
negotiations between you and us. If you ever so much as think of contacting me
again, I can have the Shinra on your ass in no time, okay?"
Saren's eyes narrowed. Had
there been a flicker- a tiny movement from over to Jien's left? She immediately
discarded the idea. Jien was an excellent shot and although they were greatly
outnumbered, she didn't think any of the AVALANCHE mercenaries would be stupid
enough to rush a man with a gun. Besides, the only one of them with any kind of
long range weapon was-
- Barret only needed one shot.
Jien fell awkwardly, thrown
violently backwards by the force of the bullet. Saren had no time to react, no
time to fully realise what had happened- she could only run blindly to escape
the hail of gunshots that rang out one after another. Barret's weapon, an
outdated Gatling gun, took time to reload and fire, but he handled the clunky
equipment like a Turk. Even so, chips of brick and mortar spiralled in all
directions as one shot after another missed its target.
Saren threw herself behind a
stack of crates, heart thudding. Inexplicably, the shots had stopped. Risking a
glance from her flimsy cover, she saw that Barret had stopped to help Lia, who
was trying to get to her feet.
It seemed the echoes of the
gunfire still rang in her head- until she identified the sound with a rush of
hope as the rumble of a distant train. But her relief was short-lived as she
realised with a jolt that it was coming from the wrong direction. This train
would pass through the lower tunnel, heading for the Midgar city central.
Alone, cornered and with her
last hope of escape rapidly disappearing, Saren grimly made a decision. The train
ran through a tunnel directly beneath her. When it arrived she could jump over
the side of the bridge and land on the moving carriages below. It was
incredibly dangerous, but it could be her only chance of survival.
The train thundered closer.
Saren felt a wave of fear, then deliberately centred herself. She'd have to get
used to this, since she was going to be a SOLDIER. They probably saw this sort
of thing as an adventure.
That was all it was… just
another mission… nothing a SOLDIER couldn't handle.
Ready.
One.
Two.
Three…
In one fluid motion, Saren
straightened from her crouched position and sprinted for the bridge, keeping
her head low and her arms pumping. The floor below her vibrated as the train
entered the tunnel, but she kept moving. She couldn't allow herself the
slightest moment of hesitation before she jumped. Reaching the edge of the
tunnel roof, she steeled herself, leapt into the air…
…and one last shot rang out.
Saren's body thudded lifelessly onto the roof of the train. In
the last moments of life, she experienced a fleeting moment of terror as she
felt her consciousness dissolve. Within seconds, she would be just another
voice in the eternal chorus of the Lifestream.
But something was wrong. Other, alien cells, carrying memories
of fire and blood, had been torn from each other by a force greater than any
ever imagined and were seeking another chance at life. In the instant that their
shield was broken, they sensed a pathway to a place where they could survive.
Bonded by the strength of the
new cells, Saren's mind surfaced from the chaos of the Lifestream's song. She
rose faster and faster, in a rush of sound and bubbles, until she broke free
and opened her eyes…
…to see a blinding white
light.
Note from
Xiao: The plot thickens! Anyway, now that that's all out of the way, I get to
write about Reno! Yay! *claps hands* I'm now working on Chapter Three, which
surprisingly enough is called "Reno". I'll try and put it up soon. . . thanks for
your patience!