The Last of an Elite

Chapter Thirty-Three: Flight to the North

By InterfaceLeader

-~-~-~-

"It's so cold" one Shinra guard groaned as he trudged through the snow.

"Freezing" the second Shinra guard agreed.

"Oh stop complaining." Elena slid slightly on the treacherous surface. "It's just a bit of snow!"

"Yes, but its cold wet and sloppy snow, ma'am" the first guard said, staggering through a large snowdrift with all the agility of a fish on land. "Give me a nice metal or concrete walkway any day…"

"Look! There's Icicle Inn!" Elena pointed across the snowy fields to a small village hidden in the shadows of iron-grey mountain peaks. The solid stone, frozen over in places with ice, extended back and out in a jagged wall that circled away into the misty horizon.

"Are we lost? I thought we were going to investigate that weird place they found on the photo?" The second guard paused to help the first guard out of the snowdrift.

"We're not lost." Elena looked up at the mountains. "Do we have to go through there?"

"With all that rock and ice?"

"I don't know…" Elena hesitated, and then pulled the photo, now somewhat creased and bent, from her inside jacket pocket. "We're here by Icicle Inn, the weird place is over there… I think we've come the wrong way. This photo shows hardly anything!"

The guards shook their heads in despair and looked wistfully towards the village.

"Oh alright." Elena sighed. "We'll stop off there for a little while."

The guards cheered and started hurrying up the slope, slipping over in their mad dash to reach the warmth and security of the buildings. Elena rolled her eyes and walked past them as they floundered in the slush and snow.

Honestly… these are the best of the guards? I don't believe it. I bet Reno managed to get me a couple of duds instead.

She reached the top of the slope, and found herself overlooking the centre area of Icicle Inn. It was a picturesque scene, with the sloping road marked with sledging tracks, the old-fashioned looking houses with snowy roofs and warm yellow windows and the occasional evergreen branching out of the whiteness with it's spiky green leaves.

She smiled, thinking it looked like a jigsaw puzzle or postcard, and then she saw the splash of spiky yellow hair.

A - Avalanche!? They're here?

She turned hastily to look for the guards and saw them still scrambling through the snowfields.

"There they are, hurry!"

"Yes ma'am!"

The guards came up beside her and looked down at the terrorist group stood at the far end of the main road.

Elena tutted, and started racing down the sloping road, determined to revenge Tseng regardless of what Reno had said. She had expected them to try and escape, but they simply stood and waited. As she drew closer she found herself re-evaluating them and remembering the way Reno and Rude had been forced to flee from their own battle with the terrorists.

Cloud was waiting; leaning back slightly on one foot, and looking fairly relaxed. He had not bothered to draw his sword.

Beside him stood Tifa, who was pushing a stand of long dark hair back into place whilst keeping a wary eye on Elena as she approached. She too seemed relaxed, but Elena felt a similar aura of awareness around the woman as she had often noticed around Tseng.

Slightly behind the two of them stood a man Elena was less familiar with. She guessed it was the ex-pilot from Rocket Town, the one who had turned traitor on Shinra right under Rufus's eyes. He was smoking casually and leaning on a tall slender spear.

"Cloud... " Elena panted as she ran up to them. "I won't let you go any further!"

The spiky haired warrior shrugged, and Elena couldn't help noticing the hard wiry muscles in his bare arms. She wondered at how heavy the terrorist leader's sword was and how strong the deceptively slender man must be to wield it.

"What's down there?" Cloud pointed down a steep hill cluttered with spiky evergreens.

"It's a SE-CR-ET." Elena didn't want to tell him about the Great Glacier, the strange things they had noticed on the photo, or the fact she was lost. "It doesn't matter! But you really got guts doin' my boss in like that!"

"You mean Boss... Tseng? That wasn't us. Sephiroth did it."

Elena blinked, and then frowned. How gullible did this man think she was? She could hear Reno laughing at her already for even thinking of believing him.

"No! Don't think you can fool me, liar!"

"I'm not lying... it was Sephiroth." Cloud matched her frown with one of his own.

"Don't try to act innocent. I'll never forget it!!" Elena wondered what she should do next. Killing the three seemed a trickier problem than it had at the top of the road, and besides, when she was actually stood talking to them they seemed less evil murdering terrorists and more like… normal people.

"Oh man…." Cloud scratched his head, frowning at the snowy ground. He seemed vaguely annoyed and impatient as he searched for the words to try and convince her. Elena felt a flicker of doubt and once more heard Reno's mocking laugh. You actually believed him? Rookie!

"Looks like talking alone won't cut it. You're going to have to feel some pain!"

One of the Shinra guards jumped forward and addressed himself to Cloud, "Just you… and me!!"

"No, I can handle him!" Elena said. "There's no way he can avoid my punch."

"What? Yeah..." The guard stepped back and allowed Elena to confront Cloud herself. She clenched her fist and looked into his impatient face.

He's not even slightly upset! Elena shoved all her doubts to the back of her mind and allowed the burning hot anger and misery she had felt before come to the front. This is for Tseng!

She swept her fist forward with all of her considerable strength and -

- he moved.

She let out a squeak as she overbalanced on the slippery road and a yelp when she skidded over the edge of the steep hill. Automatically bringing her hands up round her head, she began falling down the slope. Snow whipped around her as she tumbled downward, the spiky tree branches snatching at her as she went.

"Ele... Elena!?" She heard the guards' voices, muffled by the snow piling up around her ears. She let out a wail in answer, and then smashed full speed into a small snowman, causing an explosion of snow and ice.

"Ohhhh…." she sat up slowly amidst the wreckage of the snowman, and was somewhat startled to find herself being circled by two small round pink things on skis.

"Ma'am! Are you alright?" The two guards ran up to her, giving wary looks at the two pink animals. After having been attacked by bunny rabbits whilst walking across the snowfields they had developed a tendency to view everything that moved with suspicion.

"I... I'm ok." Elena looked around her in confusion. "We're on a ski slope…? And what are those things?"

"Um, Moogs or something. My granny used to tell me about them" one guard said, and shrugged embarrassedly as the other guard turned and stared at him. "What?"

"They're strange." Elena shook her head, and snow slid off her hair. "I'm going to call Reno… no, I'm going to call Rufus and tell him Avalanche are heading towards the Great Glacier. Forget the other place for the moment."

-~-~-~-

It wasn't often Hojo felt pressurised. The amoral scientist had looked into the jaws of death, and in many cases had counted the number of teeth. He had walked into Rufus's office knowing that Shinra needed him - that without him the science department would flounder, that his knowledge of the Promised Land was without parallel, and that he was the only one who really knew how to keep all the defence monsters under control.

But Rufus's diamond hard eyes had not left his face since he had entered, and Hojo had the strangest feeling that he was being evaluated and found wanting.

"… and that, Rufus, is why you must rehire me." The scientist looked slightly to the side of Rufus's face, not meeting his stare directly.

"I must, must I?" Rufus raised a slender hand and leaned his chin on it, still regarding Hojo with merciless blue eyes.

"Any other course of action would result in the eventual fall of Shinra" the scientist said, piqued.

"Hmmm." Rufus used his other hand to press one of the buttons on his desk. "Turks office? Send Rude up please."

Hojo's eyes glittered green behind his glasses. "You are planning to give me over to the Turks?" he spat. "I will tell them nothing of my experiments!"

"Wrong Hojo." Rufus smiled faintly, "I don't like you. And, unlike my father, I don't trust you. So I'm having you watched."

"Watched?" The scientist glared at the young blonde sat coolly behind the desk, but before he could say more Rufus's PHS buzzed.

"Yes?" The President answered it flatly. There was silence as he listened to whatever was being said at the other end, and Rude entered the room at that moment. Rufus pointed towards Hojo, and Rude walked up and stood beside him, towering over the scrawny man by nearly a foot.

"I see." Rufus spoke at last. "Return to Icicle Inn, I will speak with you again shortly." He clicked the end call button and immediately started a new call. "Heidegger? Get the Highwind here. And tell Scarlet to come up to my office. We're heading north."

-~-~-~-

Tseng felt confused and lost. He had always been able to rely on himself, on his body and his mind. He knew exactly where his limits were, and what he could do. Intense training for as long as he could remember had left him with a feeling of control. He had silently pitied the people who took the "quick-fix" mako infusion process, as the gap between what they expected they could do and what they could actually do was always there, easy to take advantage of.

But now every movement was coupled with pain, and he was physically incapable of moving some muscles. Walking was a task that had taken on the guise of a fantasy; it involved a process he could no longer manage. He hoped with something approaching desperation that he would be able to regain at least that much.

He also disliked the idea of remaining with the doctor. He owed the man a debt that he was no longer capable of repaying. Without his PHS, without his key card, without his gun, without any of the things that had made him a Turk and hence given him power he was truly useless.

And he had no idea where he could go. The doctor had stated that he was not going to let Tseng leave unless it was in the care of someone who would be able to look after him. Tseng was beginning to regret his anti-social and solitary life. He had already discounted anyone connected with Shinra, knowing that he was going to have to "disappear" as far as they were concerned.

He stared at the wooden ceiling above the bed and a face crossed his mind.

Don't be stupid.

Do I have a choice?

I guess not…

-~-~-~-

The Shinra airship, it's soft white and silver mass shining in the harsh lights from the Shinra building below it, hung in the air, swaying slightly in the wind. Too large to land in Midgar, the ladder had instead been dropped to allow Rufus, Heidegger and Scarlet on board. Hojo, closely followed by Rude, were next up the ladder, and then the crew of pilots and guards began a steady trickle.

The bridge was spacious and Rufus, Scarlet and Heidegger moved towards the front of it gazing out at the scenery. Hojo stalked to one corner, and Rude followed patiently. Hojo shot him a glance from grey eyes flecked with green and started a choked laugh that made Rude tighten his grip on his gun.

This is not going to be a pleasant trip.

-~-~-~-

Elmyra scrubbed the floor energetically, while Marlene imitated her actions next to her. She was feeling fairly happy; the knot of worry caused by the absence of Aeris had lessened somewhat in the last few days. Wherever the flower girl was, Elmyra was certain she was fine, and the clean air and open skies had lifted her spirits in a way that was beyond words. Marlene had been scared and anxious at first, her nights filled with strange dreams, but already she was skipping about cheerfully under blue skies.

There was a knock on her door, and she answered, smiling cheerfully at the man who owned the Kalm Inn.

"Yes?"

"I've got a phone call for you" the man smiled cheerfully back.

Elmyra followed him across the town to the Inn, wondering who could be phoning her. She wondered if it was Aeris and then shook her head. Aeris didn't even know she had left Midgar.

"Hello?" she said awkwardly down the telephone.

"…. Tseng. I have something … difficult to ask you."

-~-~-~-

A/N: Updates … may be sporadic. This is due to life circumstances that I have no control over. I'll do my best, and if I go more than a fortnight without a new chapter you are allowed to kick me ^_^

Next up: The Promised Land, Weapons, Meteor and general mayhem!