Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to FFVII, but the original
characters are mine! I created them; I can destroy them if I want. Hahaha!
Ok anyways first chapter is already up! Please read and review.
Final Fantasy VII: Resurrecting the Past Chapter 1: Mission
" Hey, Sierra what is that supposed to mean," asked the black haired boy as he checked the silver gun in his hand. Aiming at the wall in front of him and then putting the gun back down to check the ammo all in an efficient manner born from experience. From behind her Sierra heard the soft laughter of Toren as he watched the exchange unbothered by Sierra's angry glare that was now directed right at him. " I'm just saying that it might be dangerous for us to go alone to Midgar. You know as well as I do that they say that place is cursed and with good reason too," said Sierra, " and anyways why do we have to be the ones to go there." " It was a dare from Joker's group, they don't just hand out missions like that usually. I'd say we should just take it and go. Midgar hasn't been explored since Sephiroth's defeat and if we are the first to go in there and make it back out we'll be famous, maybe get rich and then they'll hear about us as far out as Watai," said the black haired boy. " That's just my point what if we don't make it back out, Raven," yelled Sierra after his retreating back.
" Are you afraid, Sierra? We leave tonight at midnight, if you do not show up then we will guess that you chickened out and decided to stay," he called back over his shoulder. " You know I would never run away from a battle," whispered Sierra her long blonde hair flying into her face when a sudden breeze picked up across the meadow that wound down and then back up in a steep hill to stop at the horizon line. Sierra wore a long blue cape that flew out behind her and a black suit. At her side were two swords that peeked out from the cape every now and then. Sierra herself didn't look much like a warrior at the young age of sixteen.
Many people underestimated her both for her age and the fact that she was a girl, but even before she had come to the town of Kalm her eyes had always burned with the fire of a warrior. Her eyes were the unique color of cerulean that seemed to almost glow at times. It was said that she had once been connected to Shinra, but no one knew much about her. She had just appeared one day walking into the town and making herself known to the locale gangs saying that she was looking for work. She had been twelve then and had only been carrying with her the two swords that she still kept today. She didn't give away much about her past not worrying that much about it herself.
Sierra turned away in disgust facing Toren. Toren was a member of the gang she had joined those four years ago. He was a great fighter using a pair of blade tipped whips as weapons and fighting with a ferociousness that she had never seen in anyone else. Toren himself was a bit dangerous at times lapsing into states where he couldn't remember friend from foe sometimes, which made him even more dangerous. Toren was handsome as many of the Kalm residents girls put it, but Sierra had never really allowed herself to get into much of a relationship with others.
" You should have known that you couldn't stop him from going. Though I will agree with you that this may be a mission we won't come back from," he said calmly smirking at her. " And you," she asked easily turning her back to him to watch the sun set in the distance. " You and I are the same in some ways. I will never run away from a battle. You should know that once a warrior makes up their mind on going to fight they cannot back down. I will see you tonight," he said and with that he vanished into the shadows he had come from. " I guess. I better prepare," said Sierra narrowing her eyes and smirking.
It was much later then Sierra had hoped. She had gotten prepared and now she snuck through the dark alleyways following the shadows and using the familiarity of the path she was following to guide her through the dark. The new curfew that had been raised by Shinra made traveling harder at night, but Sierra had been trained as a ninja a long time ago.
She made it to the secret hideout that housed the gang knocking twice before opening the door to find a gun aimed at her head. " Oh, is there something I should know about," asked Sierra hiding the sudden terror that had threatened to make her attack with a joke. Raven lowered the weapon placing it back in its holster. " Didn't think you'd make it with all the talking you did this morning. Come on get in here," he ordered easily closing the door behind her. Sierra hadn't expected an apology from him and found it easy to move towards the back of the hideout to meet the rest of the group.
Carla, the talkative and resourceful young girl sat reclining in a chair in the far corner. She waved a hand at Sierra's arrival. Toren from earlier stood with his arms folded in front of his chest leaning with his eyes still closed against the wall unresponsive to anything. Sharon, stood on his opposite raising her face to see Sierra walk in. " What happened to Hartz and Cyril," asked Sierra looking in on the sadly small group. " They chickened out," said a softly spoken reply from Toren. He still had his eyes closed and didn't move an inch. " Grand, so when do we leave," asked Sierra knowing that, that wouldn't stop them from going. " Well, we have five minutes until midnight. I'd say we check our equipment and leave," said Carla from where she sat already taking out her throwing knives and examining their edges.
Sierra nodded her agreement taking out the two short swords from her sides. They looked like twin fires in the candle light that lit the room. The silver gleamed back at Sierra, as she looked down at the swords a madman smile escaping her as she swung them expertly in the air listening to the soft whistling sound that stirred the air. Toren finally stirred from the wall taking out his twin whips. The blades at the end of the leather curved wickedly. Sharon from the corner aimed her pistol at the opposite wall. Raven didn't bother check his equipment, choosing instead to move towards the door and watch out for any Shinra soldiers marching through the streets.
" You know what would be cool," asked Toren replacing his whips. " No, what would be cool," asked Sharon slipping the small hand pistol up her sleeve. " If we could find some materia in the Shinra capital," he said his eyes suddenly taking on a gleam. " Of course, ever since Meteor was destroyed there has been a shortage in materia. The materia that does exist is beginning to become ineffective, except the summon materia other than that, materia doesn't exist only a select few can use it today. Strange really, but it seems as though when lifestream stopped Meteor it also used so much power that it could no longer create materia, but it is rumored that there is materia in Midgar because lifestream is always directing most of it's energy there."
" Hey!" Four heads shot up as Raven walked into the room. " We gotta go now, the Shinra are suspicious and are heading towards here. We'll take the back exit and make our way towards Midgar, follow the forest line that's growing towards the ocean, but don't get lost in the forest, or the ocean for that matter," said Raven smirking at Carla who was already looking confused at the directions. " I'll take care of it," said Sierra pushing Carla ahead of her and running towards the exit the others already made it out leaving Sierra, Raven and Toren to bring up the rear.
" Hey, you there," yelled a Shinra soldier who had been pacing idly. Sierra grinned as she pulled the swords from her sides. They gleamed in the darkness from the light of the moon that loomed above her. "Keep going," she yelled back at the others who had paused in their travels. Raven nodded knowingly as he ran pulling the others along with him. Sierra concentrated on the small group of Shinra soldiers in front of her. She jumped forward without warning swinging her swords in an arc above her head to come down with the flat of her blade to only knock out and not kill any of them. Five of them went down in two swings some of them not believing that a little girl would attack them. Sierra smirked at the remaining few laughing darkly as she ran.
She followed the tree line that bordered the side of the town. The trees loomed above her as she ran blocking out the little light that the moon offered. There were times when monsters were spotted in the forest, but Sierra didn't have time to worry about it as she ran. She dodged around tree roots and branches that appeared out of nowhere to reach for her. She let herself run without any worry. There was no reason for her to look back. She could already see the silhouette of Raven followed closely by Toren. The others must have been ahead of them. Sierra stayed a small distance behind them, not wanting to startle them into believing that she was an enemy.
Midgar was quite a distance away when walking and there was only one stop between it and Kalm, the memorial to the Cetra. Sierra never slowed down, but she could tell that she was getting tired, from the way that she would start stumbling. She was glad that none of the others could see her as she tripped on a tree root that had only just come to her knowledge. She cursed softly, but stood back up to run.
It felt like hours before the others ahead of her slowed down their pace and walked. Sierra still felt it necessary to walk just a few extra feet behind them. Her training as a ninja kicked in even when it wasn't really needed making her stick to the shadows and move with a stealth that not even her exhaustion could hinder. She walked up to the group only when they stopped completely.
" So did you take most of them out," asked Toren while studying the forest. " Of course. They didn't think a little girl could do them in, I felt that I needed to teach them a lesson," said Sierra. " We should be able to walk the rest of the way and make it to the memorial just before first light hits the sky. Let's keep moving," said Raven already moving out.
The walk was almost worse than the run. Now Sierra had time to stare at the forest and notice the movement that could be seen out of the corner of her eye. Carla at one point shrieked in terror stuttering in embarrassment that she had seen something in the forest coming at her. That hadn't really surprised Sierra because of the fact that she herself had thought something was coming at her a number of times as she looked into the forest. Thankfully the walk had been uneventful. Before long they reached the memorial.
The memorial itself had long since been abandoned due to monsters, superstitions, and other strange reasons. It was a dead place, only brightened by the many different flowers that graced the ground and the water that still ran in the pond just out front. Small fish could be seen swimming around the pond. Already in the eastern sky the sun could be seen rising above the horizon. It was still a bit dark, but for the most part it was much brighter that it had been that night. Sierra walked through the memorial being careful not to step on any of the flowers that had grown wild since it had been abandoned.
It was so silent now. In all its glory this place still held a serenity and peace that could never be dispelled. The group of five decided to take a break after the nights travels, but that didn't last long as they were all anxious to get to Midgar. Toren was the first to stand up stretching idly before saying, " I don't know about you people, but I think it's about time we got out of here." He walked out not waiting to hear their replies. Sierra also stood up and walked out along with Raven who waited in the doorway for the other two.
" So are you ready to see Midgar," asked Toren once she had made it away from the doorway. " Of course," said Sierra before moving ahead of him to stop just at the top of a cliff that opened up to face Midgar. The city had long since been mostly overgrown by moss and other greenery, but you could still see the metal tower that jutted out above the city itself. It was a darkness that loomed just above the city shadowing it forever in darkness. The ruins of a once proud city that was now said to be cursed not only with a great number of monsters, but also by the shadow of Sephiroth. " I wonder what we'll find here," said Sierra to no one.
They walked around the memorial to get to Midgar. It wasn't a long trip, just a short walk. When they reached Midgar they found that it was bigger than it looked from afar. " So Raven do you have the map that Joker gave you," asked Sharon. Raven nodded as he pulled out the map. Sierra looked over his shoulder, " That looks like an underground cavern of sorts." " Yeah it's said that after Midgar was built they needed more space and a secret area to keep supplies and other such things. They built an underground network right under the city. It stretches out underneath five sectors. There were only three exits created for this place. One of them should be near the entrance, but it might not open any more. Hopefully we're lucky today, if not we'll just have to find the other two entrances," said Raven putting down the map and walking to the front to lead the group.
Walking around the structure the group managed to slip in through a very small hole that had been made inside the wall during meteor's attack and found themselves in the ruins of one of eight sectors. It was a terrible mess. Metal twisted with metal, and all the while the ground was littered with grass and moss that grew over everything. The upper plate that had once been on top of the sector now lay to the side on top of another pillar smashed into pieces. " No wonder they think this place is cursed," said Toren staring up into the wreckage, " what sector are we in." " We are in between sectors six and seven, but the underground entrance should be somewhere near the entrance," said Raven moving slowly to avoid tripping on the moss and other debris that was underneath the moss. " Ya know, I have a stupid question, but how are we going to find the underground entrance when all we have to go on is that it is there. I mean if it is there how will we know," said Sharon from the back of the group. " I heard from rumors of the underground entrance that it is a door built into the floor that will lead you down, but with all the moss and stuff we may never find it," said Carla.
"We'll just have to dig our way to the doorway, but I think I may have an idea as to where it is," he said suddenly running. The others raced after him stopping just in front of an open door sticking out of the ground. " The monsters must have gotten here before us," said Raven looking down into the darkness, " They may have made a nest down here. This may be where they all are coming from." " So what are we waiting for lets go," said Toren before jumping in. Sierra smiled up at Raven and winked before jumping down. It wasn't that long of a fall, and the landing was soft thanks to the moss that grew just at the entrance. The light that reached the underground area surprised Sierra, but her surprise disappeared when she saw the hole in the ceiling.
" Whoa," said a startled Carla who had just landed behind Sierra. " What is this," breathed Sharon walking a few feet ahead. " Have you forgotten all your history lessons already Sharon," asked Toren turning to face everyone, " This is the ruin of sector seven after the plate was dropped." The ceiling had caved in from the impact of the plate and now metal that looked like it had once made up a train fell down from the ceiling covered in moss and looming darkly. The ceiling itself must have been made of metal, so the impact of the plate dropping must have been incredible.
" Seeing this, do you think the ceiling will stay up in this place," asked Sierra. " That's about two feet of metal used to keep the ceiling up. I think it should be fine," said Toren walking on ahead. " Another question," said Carla waving her arms to get the attention of the others. " What is it," asked Raven irritably. " Well since this place seemed to withstand most of the attack of Meteor, why didn't the people of Midgar hide here," she asked. " This place was created at the beginning of Midgar's history. Its existence was totally forgotten by the time Meteor came. Only a few people in the world knew of its existence," said Raven. " Who," said Sierra and Carla at the same time? " Most of the scientists knew about it, but they refused to tell others of its location even when the threat of Meteor loomed," he replied.
" SO how did you get the map to it," asked Toren looking over his shoulder. " Joker said that his grandfather was once part of the science department," said Raven nonchalantly. " What exactly are we looking for," asked Sierra. " Materia," Raven replied, " supposedly there was a stash of it in the science department in the underground area. This map isn't really that accurate so we'll just have to do some exploring of our own to find it," said Raven. " What if all the materia has lost the ability of magic in it." " We'll bring back the remains of the materia as proof," he replied. " Well, what are we waiting for people," asked Toren already moving on ahead. " I hate science labs," said Carla before moving out.
They walked around the sector seven ruins and instead followed the wall to a doorway that still had a few lights left from before Meteor. " How strange, I was sure that these lights ran on the power sucked in by the reactor, but it seems that even after the reactors were destroyed these lights still worked," commented Sharon as they walked through an empty hallway. Sierra wasn't listening as she drew one of her swords. The others looked up in alarm stopping in their tracks. Ahead of them a scratching noise could be heard. " A monsters den," Sierra heard herself say. " Come on we have to keep moving," whispered Raven. They avoided the scratching noise choosing instead to walk down another hallway that branched off into a corridor filled with doors.
" Search every room and make sure to leave nothing unturned," said Raven carefully opening the first door to the first room Carla standing beside him. Sierra moved on to the second door pushing it open easily her sword still in hand. The room was empty save for the bunk beds that littered the walls. " This place looks empty," said Sierra after walking through it. The room was well made up, the lights were dim, but other than that it was empty giving no sign of anyone ever living there.
Moving on, Sierra pushed down two more doors finding pretty much the same. A small square room with supplies in it and other things that looked like it had never been used. Every now and then Sierra looked out beyond the hallway hearing the scratching noise and wondered exactly where it was coming from. Earlier it had sounded like it was coming from behind them, but now it seemed to be in front of them. " It's moving. It knows that we are here," whispered Toren at one point while all the others were checking out a different room. " Do you think it is guarding something," asked Sierra just as quietly. " What gives you that thought," asked Toren staring into the dim light that was the only means of seeing in the hallways. " It moves so that it blocks us from going any further than it allows. A lot like it's guarding something, but I can't tell yet what it is," said Sierra. " Well, that's never stopped us before. Although I agree that we need to get past it at some point," said Toren before moving back to help the others.
"We need to move on to a different hallway," said Raven taking the lead and walking forward. The scratching noise became more audible with each step. Sierra pulled out her other sword, and beside her Carla pulled out some knives. Sharon and Raven already had their guns pointed. " I believe that we have a host waiting to show us around," said Sierra. " Are you sure he doesn't want to show us to the door," asked Toren his whips snapped on the cement floor as he pulled them out. The creature suddenly jumped out of the shadows facing the group.
It looked a lot like a simple wolf. It was three feet tall, with sharp teeth that were reminiscent to that of a saber tooth. Its claws looked too big for its feet stretching out and curved as sharp points. " Whoa, what the heck is that," asked Sharon. " What I'd like to know is what is that behind it," said Sierra. Just behind the wolf was a dark room that had no lights except a soft green glow coming from three cylinders. There was no telling what was in the test cylinders from where they stood, but they looked big enough to accommodate a body. One of the cylinders must have been shattered because the soft green glow looked like as if it was coming from the floor around a dark corner of the room.
The wolf like creature suddenly lunged forward. Sierra had just enough time to register the fact that it moved out of the corner of her eye and dodged to the side rolling on the floor before pushing herself back up in a crouch. " That thing is fast," commented Sharon from where she stood to the side her gun aimed at the darkness. " Whatever you do don't hit those cylinders," cried Sierra pushing herself to her feet and swinging her swords around her as the wolf creature reappeared behind her. Toren's whip snapped at the creature catching it in the jaw. Sierra jumped back just as it lunged at her face. She jumped up on top of a table that sat conveniently at the end of the hall.
Raven aimed his gun firing at the creature and caught it in the side a few times. It didn't even seem to faze the wolf creature as it swung around to attack Toren. The wolf slammed into Toren pushing him down to the ground. " Hey, a little bit of help would be appreciated if it's not too much trouble," yelled Toren as he tried to push the creature off of him as it aimed to sink its fangs into his neck. Sierra jumped off the table using her momentum to slam into the wolf and knock it over. Her swords smashed into the floor, leaving Sierra with no weapon. That wouldn't stop her though. Sierra smiled at the wolf just before pulling the fire materia out of her pocket. Fire Three, she commanded. The wolf burst into flames that died out soon after igniting, leaving no trace of the wolf like creature behind.
Silence followed the fight as the group picked up the pieces left over from the fight. Sierra moved to retrieve her swords and replaced them back in her sheaths. " Since when have you had materia," asked Raven. " It was a gift from my father just before he passed away. I never really use it that often, but in this case I felt that it was necessary," she replied putting the materia back in her pocket. " Thanks, Sierra," said Toren from the corner. He wasn't hurt that badly so they decided to keep moving.
"So what are these things," asked Sharon as she moved towards one of them. A face loomed out from the green glow as they moved closer causing Carla to jump back and trip on the floor. " S-someone is in t-there," she managed to choke out. As the group moved even closer they could make out a body in the cylinder floating in the green liquid. The body could be none other than Rufus Shinra still clad in his white trench coat. If the person didn't confirm this, the gold plate labeled Rufus Shinra in fancy letters sure did.
Sierra hadn't realized that her teeth were chattering until she noticed Toren's pointed look directed at her. " What about the other two.no three. Is there anything in them," asked Sierra her voice a whisper, as she feared that Rufus might wake up if she was too loud. The group moved to examine the other three. " There's nothing in this one, but it's labeled Zack. It seems like the person who was in here vanished on them," said Raven moving on to the next. " This one. is weird. It's almost like as if someone scratched the entire inside out. I can't even read the name tag anymore," said Carla shivering from where she stood. " Guy's you gotta see this," called Toren from the corner of the room where the shattered cylinder was.
It was a lot like the others, but the entire cylinder was shattered leaving only the gold metal plate whole as it lay among the shattered glass fragments. There was a shocked gasp that moved through the group. Written in the same fancy writing as with the other gold plates was the word -Sephiroth- in bold letters. " Maybe the rumors of Sephiroth haunting this place were more true than we thought," said Sierra, " so now what."
----------End of Chapter one. Now you probably hate me for leaving you at a cliffhanger, but hopefully I will get the next chapter out soon. Until than please read and review! Tell me what you think so far.
Ok anyways first chapter is already up! Please read and review.
Final Fantasy VII: Resurrecting the Past Chapter 1: Mission
" Hey, Sierra what is that supposed to mean," asked the black haired boy as he checked the silver gun in his hand. Aiming at the wall in front of him and then putting the gun back down to check the ammo all in an efficient manner born from experience. From behind her Sierra heard the soft laughter of Toren as he watched the exchange unbothered by Sierra's angry glare that was now directed right at him. " I'm just saying that it might be dangerous for us to go alone to Midgar. You know as well as I do that they say that place is cursed and with good reason too," said Sierra, " and anyways why do we have to be the ones to go there." " It was a dare from Joker's group, they don't just hand out missions like that usually. I'd say we should just take it and go. Midgar hasn't been explored since Sephiroth's defeat and if we are the first to go in there and make it back out we'll be famous, maybe get rich and then they'll hear about us as far out as Watai," said the black haired boy. " That's just my point what if we don't make it back out, Raven," yelled Sierra after his retreating back.
" Are you afraid, Sierra? We leave tonight at midnight, if you do not show up then we will guess that you chickened out and decided to stay," he called back over his shoulder. " You know I would never run away from a battle," whispered Sierra her long blonde hair flying into her face when a sudden breeze picked up across the meadow that wound down and then back up in a steep hill to stop at the horizon line. Sierra wore a long blue cape that flew out behind her and a black suit. At her side were two swords that peeked out from the cape every now and then. Sierra herself didn't look much like a warrior at the young age of sixteen.
Many people underestimated her both for her age and the fact that she was a girl, but even before she had come to the town of Kalm her eyes had always burned with the fire of a warrior. Her eyes were the unique color of cerulean that seemed to almost glow at times. It was said that she had once been connected to Shinra, but no one knew much about her. She had just appeared one day walking into the town and making herself known to the locale gangs saying that she was looking for work. She had been twelve then and had only been carrying with her the two swords that she still kept today. She didn't give away much about her past not worrying that much about it herself.
Sierra turned away in disgust facing Toren. Toren was a member of the gang she had joined those four years ago. He was a great fighter using a pair of blade tipped whips as weapons and fighting with a ferociousness that she had never seen in anyone else. Toren himself was a bit dangerous at times lapsing into states where he couldn't remember friend from foe sometimes, which made him even more dangerous. Toren was handsome as many of the Kalm residents girls put it, but Sierra had never really allowed herself to get into much of a relationship with others.
" You should have known that you couldn't stop him from going. Though I will agree with you that this may be a mission we won't come back from," he said calmly smirking at her. " And you," she asked easily turning her back to him to watch the sun set in the distance. " You and I are the same in some ways. I will never run away from a battle. You should know that once a warrior makes up their mind on going to fight they cannot back down. I will see you tonight," he said and with that he vanished into the shadows he had come from. " I guess. I better prepare," said Sierra narrowing her eyes and smirking.
It was much later then Sierra had hoped. She had gotten prepared and now she snuck through the dark alleyways following the shadows and using the familiarity of the path she was following to guide her through the dark. The new curfew that had been raised by Shinra made traveling harder at night, but Sierra had been trained as a ninja a long time ago.
She made it to the secret hideout that housed the gang knocking twice before opening the door to find a gun aimed at her head. " Oh, is there something I should know about," asked Sierra hiding the sudden terror that had threatened to make her attack with a joke. Raven lowered the weapon placing it back in its holster. " Didn't think you'd make it with all the talking you did this morning. Come on get in here," he ordered easily closing the door behind her. Sierra hadn't expected an apology from him and found it easy to move towards the back of the hideout to meet the rest of the group.
Carla, the talkative and resourceful young girl sat reclining in a chair in the far corner. She waved a hand at Sierra's arrival. Toren from earlier stood with his arms folded in front of his chest leaning with his eyes still closed against the wall unresponsive to anything. Sharon, stood on his opposite raising her face to see Sierra walk in. " What happened to Hartz and Cyril," asked Sierra looking in on the sadly small group. " They chickened out," said a softly spoken reply from Toren. He still had his eyes closed and didn't move an inch. " Grand, so when do we leave," asked Sierra knowing that, that wouldn't stop them from going. " Well, we have five minutes until midnight. I'd say we check our equipment and leave," said Carla from where she sat already taking out her throwing knives and examining their edges.
Sierra nodded her agreement taking out the two short swords from her sides. They looked like twin fires in the candle light that lit the room. The silver gleamed back at Sierra, as she looked down at the swords a madman smile escaping her as she swung them expertly in the air listening to the soft whistling sound that stirred the air. Toren finally stirred from the wall taking out his twin whips. The blades at the end of the leather curved wickedly. Sharon from the corner aimed her pistol at the opposite wall. Raven didn't bother check his equipment, choosing instead to move towards the door and watch out for any Shinra soldiers marching through the streets.
" You know what would be cool," asked Toren replacing his whips. " No, what would be cool," asked Sharon slipping the small hand pistol up her sleeve. " If we could find some materia in the Shinra capital," he said his eyes suddenly taking on a gleam. " Of course, ever since Meteor was destroyed there has been a shortage in materia. The materia that does exist is beginning to become ineffective, except the summon materia other than that, materia doesn't exist only a select few can use it today. Strange really, but it seems as though when lifestream stopped Meteor it also used so much power that it could no longer create materia, but it is rumored that there is materia in Midgar because lifestream is always directing most of it's energy there."
" Hey!" Four heads shot up as Raven walked into the room. " We gotta go now, the Shinra are suspicious and are heading towards here. We'll take the back exit and make our way towards Midgar, follow the forest line that's growing towards the ocean, but don't get lost in the forest, or the ocean for that matter," said Raven smirking at Carla who was already looking confused at the directions. " I'll take care of it," said Sierra pushing Carla ahead of her and running towards the exit the others already made it out leaving Sierra, Raven and Toren to bring up the rear.
" Hey, you there," yelled a Shinra soldier who had been pacing idly. Sierra grinned as she pulled the swords from her sides. They gleamed in the darkness from the light of the moon that loomed above her. "Keep going," she yelled back at the others who had paused in their travels. Raven nodded knowingly as he ran pulling the others along with him. Sierra concentrated on the small group of Shinra soldiers in front of her. She jumped forward without warning swinging her swords in an arc above her head to come down with the flat of her blade to only knock out and not kill any of them. Five of them went down in two swings some of them not believing that a little girl would attack them. Sierra smirked at the remaining few laughing darkly as she ran.
She followed the tree line that bordered the side of the town. The trees loomed above her as she ran blocking out the little light that the moon offered. There were times when monsters were spotted in the forest, but Sierra didn't have time to worry about it as she ran. She dodged around tree roots and branches that appeared out of nowhere to reach for her. She let herself run without any worry. There was no reason for her to look back. She could already see the silhouette of Raven followed closely by Toren. The others must have been ahead of them. Sierra stayed a small distance behind them, not wanting to startle them into believing that she was an enemy.
Midgar was quite a distance away when walking and there was only one stop between it and Kalm, the memorial to the Cetra. Sierra never slowed down, but she could tell that she was getting tired, from the way that she would start stumbling. She was glad that none of the others could see her as she tripped on a tree root that had only just come to her knowledge. She cursed softly, but stood back up to run.
It felt like hours before the others ahead of her slowed down their pace and walked. Sierra still felt it necessary to walk just a few extra feet behind them. Her training as a ninja kicked in even when it wasn't really needed making her stick to the shadows and move with a stealth that not even her exhaustion could hinder. She walked up to the group only when they stopped completely.
" So did you take most of them out," asked Toren while studying the forest. " Of course. They didn't think a little girl could do them in, I felt that I needed to teach them a lesson," said Sierra. " We should be able to walk the rest of the way and make it to the memorial just before first light hits the sky. Let's keep moving," said Raven already moving out.
The walk was almost worse than the run. Now Sierra had time to stare at the forest and notice the movement that could be seen out of the corner of her eye. Carla at one point shrieked in terror stuttering in embarrassment that she had seen something in the forest coming at her. That hadn't really surprised Sierra because of the fact that she herself had thought something was coming at her a number of times as she looked into the forest. Thankfully the walk had been uneventful. Before long they reached the memorial.
The memorial itself had long since been abandoned due to monsters, superstitions, and other strange reasons. It was a dead place, only brightened by the many different flowers that graced the ground and the water that still ran in the pond just out front. Small fish could be seen swimming around the pond. Already in the eastern sky the sun could be seen rising above the horizon. It was still a bit dark, but for the most part it was much brighter that it had been that night. Sierra walked through the memorial being careful not to step on any of the flowers that had grown wild since it had been abandoned.
It was so silent now. In all its glory this place still held a serenity and peace that could never be dispelled. The group of five decided to take a break after the nights travels, but that didn't last long as they were all anxious to get to Midgar. Toren was the first to stand up stretching idly before saying, " I don't know about you people, but I think it's about time we got out of here." He walked out not waiting to hear their replies. Sierra also stood up and walked out along with Raven who waited in the doorway for the other two.
" So are you ready to see Midgar," asked Toren once she had made it away from the doorway. " Of course," said Sierra before moving ahead of him to stop just at the top of a cliff that opened up to face Midgar. The city had long since been mostly overgrown by moss and other greenery, but you could still see the metal tower that jutted out above the city itself. It was a darkness that loomed just above the city shadowing it forever in darkness. The ruins of a once proud city that was now said to be cursed not only with a great number of monsters, but also by the shadow of Sephiroth. " I wonder what we'll find here," said Sierra to no one.
They walked around the memorial to get to Midgar. It wasn't a long trip, just a short walk. When they reached Midgar they found that it was bigger than it looked from afar. " So Raven do you have the map that Joker gave you," asked Sharon. Raven nodded as he pulled out the map. Sierra looked over his shoulder, " That looks like an underground cavern of sorts." " Yeah it's said that after Midgar was built they needed more space and a secret area to keep supplies and other such things. They built an underground network right under the city. It stretches out underneath five sectors. There were only three exits created for this place. One of them should be near the entrance, but it might not open any more. Hopefully we're lucky today, if not we'll just have to find the other two entrances," said Raven putting down the map and walking to the front to lead the group.
Walking around the structure the group managed to slip in through a very small hole that had been made inside the wall during meteor's attack and found themselves in the ruins of one of eight sectors. It was a terrible mess. Metal twisted with metal, and all the while the ground was littered with grass and moss that grew over everything. The upper plate that had once been on top of the sector now lay to the side on top of another pillar smashed into pieces. " No wonder they think this place is cursed," said Toren staring up into the wreckage, " what sector are we in." " We are in between sectors six and seven, but the underground entrance should be somewhere near the entrance," said Raven moving slowly to avoid tripping on the moss and other debris that was underneath the moss. " Ya know, I have a stupid question, but how are we going to find the underground entrance when all we have to go on is that it is there. I mean if it is there how will we know," said Sharon from the back of the group. " I heard from rumors of the underground entrance that it is a door built into the floor that will lead you down, but with all the moss and stuff we may never find it," said Carla.
"We'll just have to dig our way to the doorway, but I think I may have an idea as to where it is," he said suddenly running. The others raced after him stopping just in front of an open door sticking out of the ground. " The monsters must have gotten here before us," said Raven looking down into the darkness, " They may have made a nest down here. This may be where they all are coming from." " So what are we waiting for lets go," said Toren before jumping in. Sierra smiled up at Raven and winked before jumping down. It wasn't that long of a fall, and the landing was soft thanks to the moss that grew just at the entrance. The light that reached the underground area surprised Sierra, but her surprise disappeared when she saw the hole in the ceiling.
" Whoa," said a startled Carla who had just landed behind Sierra. " What is this," breathed Sharon walking a few feet ahead. " Have you forgotten all your history lessons already Sharon," asked Toren turning to face everyone, " This is the ruin of sector seven after the plate was dropped." The ceiling had caved in from the impact of the plate and now metal that looked like it had once made up a train fell down from the ceiling covered in moss and looming darkly. The ceiling itself must have been made of metal, so the impact of the plate dropping must have been incredible.
" Seeing this, do you think the ceiling will stay up in this place," asked Sierra. " That's about two feet of metal used to keep the ceiling up. I think it should be fine," said Toren walking on ahead. " Another question," said Carla waving her arms to get the attention of the others. " What is it," asked Raven irritably. " Well since this place seemed to withstand most of the attack of Meteor, why didn't the people of Midgar hide here," she asked. " This place was created at the beginning of Midgar's history. Its existence was totally forgotten by the time Meteor came. Only a few people in the world knew of its existence," said Raven. " Who," said Sierra and Carla at the same time? " Most of the scientists knew about it, but they refused to tell others of its location even when the threat of Meteor loomed," he replied.
" SO how did you get the map to it," asked Toren looking over his shoulder. " Joker said that his grandfather was once part of the science department," said Raven nonchalantly. " What exactly are we looking for," asked Sierra. " Materia," Raven replied, " supposedly there was a stash of it in the science department in the underground area. This map isn't really that accurate so we'll just have to do some exploring of our own to find it," said Raven. " What if all the materia has lost the ability of magic in it." " We'll bring back the remains of the materia as proof," he replied. " Well, what are we waiting for people," asked Toren already moving on ahead. " I hate science labs," said Carla before moving out.
They walked around the sector seven ruins and instead followed the wall to a doorway that still had a few lights left from before Meteor. " How strange, I was sure that these lights ran on the power sucked in by the reactor, but it seems that even after the reactors were destroyed these lights still worked," commented Sharon as they walked through an empty hallway. Sierra wasn't listening as she drew one of her swords. The others looked up in alarm stopping in their tracks. Ahead of them a scratching noise could be heard. " A monsters den," Sierra heard herself say. " Come on we have to keep moving," whispered Raven. They avoided the scratching noise choosing instead to walk down another hallway that branched off into a corridor filled with doors.
" Search every room and make sure to leave nothing unturned," said Raven carefully opening the first door to the first room Carla standing beside him. Sierra moved on to the second door pushing it open easily her sword still in hand. The room was empty save for the bunk beds that littered the walls. " This place looks empty," said Sierra after walking through it. The room was well made up, the lights were dim, but other than that it was empty giving no sign of anyone ever living there.
Moving on, Sierra pushed down two more doors finding pretty much the same. A small square room with supplies in it and other things that looked like it had never been used. Every now and then Sierra looked out beyond the hallway hearing the scratching noise and wondered exactly where it was coming from. Earlier it had sounded like it was coming from behind them, but now it seemed to be in front of them. " It's moving. It knows that we are here," whispered Toren at one point while all the others were checking out a different room. " Do you think it is guarding something," asked Sierra just as quietly. " What gives you that thought," asked Toren staring into the dim light that was the only means of seeing in the hallways. " It moves so that it blocks us from going any further than it allows. A lot like it's guarding something, but I can't tell yet what it is," said Sierra. " Well, that's never stopped us before. Although I agree that we need to get past it at some point," said Toren before moving back to help the others.
"We need to move on to a different hallway," said Raven taking the lead and walking forward. The scratching noise became more audible with each step. Sierra pulled out her other sword, and beside her Carla pulled out some knives. Sharon and Raven already had their guns pointed. " I believe that we have a host waiting to show us around," said Sierra. " Are you sure he doesn't want to show us to the door," asked Toren his whips snapped on the cement floor as he pulled them out. The creature suddenly jumped out of the shadows facing the group.
It looked a lot like a simple wolf. It was three feet tall, with sharp teeth that were reminiscent to that of a saber tooth. Its claws looked too big for its feet stretching out and curved as sharp points. " Whoa, what the heck is that," asked Sharon. " What I'd like to know is what is that behind it," said Sierra. Just behind the wolf was a dark room that had no lights except a soft green glow coming from three cylinders. There was no telling what was in the test cylinders from where they stood, but they looked big enough to accommodate a body. One of the cylinders must have been shattered because the soft green glow looked like as if it was coming from the floor around a dark corner of the room.
The wolf like creature suddenly lunged forward. Sierra had just enough time to register the fact that it moved out of the corner of her eye and dodged to the side rolling on the floor before pushing herself back up in a crouch. " That thing is fast," commented Sharon from where she stood to the side her gun aimed at the darkness. " Whatever you do don't hit those cylinders," cried Sierra pushing herself to her feet and swinging her swords around her as the wolf creature reappeared behind her. Toren's whip snapped at the creature catching it in the jaw. Sierra jumped back just as it lunged at her face. She jumped up on top of a table that sat conveniently at the end of the hall.
Raven aimed his gun firing at the creature and caught it in the side a few times. It didn't even seem to faze the wolf creature as it swung around to attack Toren. The wolf slammed into Toren pushing him down to the ground. " Hey, a little bit of help would be appreciated if it's not too much trouble," yelled Toren as he tried to push the creature off of him as it aimed to sink its fangs into his neck. Sierra jumped off the table using her momentum to slam into the wolf and knock it over. Her swords smashed into the floor, leaving Sierra with no weapon. That wouldn't stop her though. Sierra smiled at the wolf just before pulling the fire materia out of her pocket. Fire Three, she commanded. The wolf burst into flames that died out soon after igniting, leaving no trace of the wolf like creature behind.
Silence followed the fight as the group picked up the pieces left over from the fight. Sierra moved to retrieve her swords and replaced them back in her sheaths. " Since when have you had materia," asked Raven. " It was a gift from my father just before he passed away. I never really use it that often, but in this case I felt that it was necessary," she replied putting the materia back in her pocket. " Thanks, Sierra," said Toren from the corner. He wasn't hurt that badly so they decided to keep moving.
"So what are these things," asked Sharon as she moved towards one of them. A face loomed out from the green glow as they moved closer causing Carla to jump back and trip on the floor. " S-someone is in t-there," she managed to choke out. As the group moved even closer they could make out a body in the cylinder floating in the green liquid. The body could be none other than Rufus Shinra still clad in his white trench coat. If the person didn't confirm this, the gold plate labeled Rufus Shinra in fancy letters sure did.
Sierra hadn't realized that her teeth were chattering until she noticed Toren's pointed look directed at her. " What about the other two.no three. Is there anything in them," asked Sierra her voice a whisper, as she feared that Rufus might wake up if she was too loud. The group moved to examine the other three. " There's nothing in this one, but it's labeled Zack. It seems like the person who was in here vanished on them," said Raven moving on to the next. " This one. is weird. It's almost like as if someone scratched the entire inside out. I can't even read the name tag anymore," said Carla shivering from where she stood. " Guy's you gotta see this," called Toren from the corner of the room where the shattered cylinder was.
It was a lot like the others, but the entire cylinder was shattered leaving only the gold metal plate whole as it lay among the shattered glass fragments. There was a shocked gasp that moved through the group. Written in the same fancy writing as with the other gold plates was the word -Sephiroth- in bold letters. " Maybe the rumors of Sephiroth haunting this place were more true than we thought," said Sierra, " so now what."
----------End of Chapter one. Now you probably hate me for leaving you at a cliffhanger, but hopefully I will get the next chapter out soon. Until than please read and review! Tell me what you think so far.