Jade, Wine, and Turk training
By Kimetara
Multi-part
Disclaimer: FFVII belongs to Squaresoft. All original characters, as well as this plot, belongs to me.
AN: Man, this story's much, much longer than I originally expected it would be...
Chapter 12: SOLDIER, First Class
Yuffie grumbled. *Damn advisors...always going on and on about problems already solved. Can't they just leave it alone?* Huffing, Yuffie walked outside to practice her shuriken throwing. She REALLY felt like tossing sharp objects right about now.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUFFIE!"
"Ahhh!" Yuffie yelped, jumping back and almost falling over. "WHAT THE HELL?!" she shouted, her previous annoyance now aggravated by almost humiliating herself in front of what seemed to be all of Wutai.
The populace of the great western city only laughed. They knew their Lady's ways.
Godo stepped forward. "The people of Wutai wished to bid you a happy birthday."
Yuffie gaped.
"Yes, and Lady Kisaragi, we're not as stupid as you think we are," one of her advisors piped, his old eyes twinkling. "We were simply stalling."
Yuffie had the decency to blush at his correct assumption. "Uh...yeah. Sorry about that, Yasunori-san," she apologized, giving a short bow for emphasis.
Yasunori waved it off. "No matter. We all thought it'd be a good idea for you to take the day off, Yuffie, so we have arranged a surprise for you." A wave of excitement and anticipation seemed to ripple throughout the gathering.
Yuffie paused for a moment. "...then let's go!" she yelled gleefully.
The crowd cheered, and the festivities began.
~~~~~
Jason waited behind a rock ledge, impervious to the November chill. "That truck should have been here by now."
Simone didn't take his eyes off the road. "There're many things that could have deterred them. Just wait."
Jason sighed. His neck was growing stiff. To loosen it, he started turning his head side to side, careful to keep the road in the corner of his vision. It was a cloudy day, the sort where the sky seemed almost white and cutting winds blew.
Jason's gaze happened to fall upon the woman with them. Her hair, cut short for convenience, was a deep auburn; while her eyes were a glowing yet steely gray. The female's hand didn't stray from her shuriken bag.
"There." Simone's voice cut through Jason's observations. All three crouched down lower, waiting.
~~~~~
"There's the basin," Josh remarked, his voice eager.
"Good job. Maybe next time, you could tell me something I don't know," Reno sneered. The tension between the two men was obvious; both looked forward to the time when they'd be free of the other.
Josh ignored Reno's response, scanning the plains for the escort. *Where the hell are they? The sooner they get here, the sooner I can leave this fucking Turk.* Growing impatient, Josh stepped outside and headed forward.
*Finally.* Reno propped his feet up on the dashboard, wondering whether he ought to take a nap. *Nah...I'll go check up on Tifa,* he decided.
Reno opened the door, just in time to see Josh go down, a five pointed star in his chest.
*Crap.*
Reno's nightstick was out before he'd even finished the thought.
"Hold it, Turk." A Wutain man with strangely lit brown eyes stepped out from behind a innocent-looking rock formation, a gun leveled to Reno's head.
Reno snarled. He was trapped, and he knew it. There was no way he'd be able to get out of the truck in time before he ended up killed.
Another man stepped out from behind the rocks. This one a dirty blond, with twilight blue eyes. Both the men had impressive swords strapped onto their backs.
Finally, a woman stepped out. She wasn't particularly beautiful, but had an aura that commanded respect. The woman walked over to Josh's dead body and retrieved her shuriken, wiping the star on a cloth before returning it to her bag.
*She would've been a good Turk...aw shoot, they've all got Mako eyes.* Reno cursed silently. Even if he had been able to escape the truck, there was no way he'd have been able to escape three ex-members of SOLDIER – all First Class, from the look of it.
Just then, Reno noticed a third man stepping out. If this were a different situation, Reno would have laughed. The differences between the new man, a nervous looking guy with brown hair, and the other three was astounding – not to mention pathetic. Even if his eyes were Mako enhanced, his bearing completely eliminated whatever intimidation they may have caused.
The Turk shrugged. He knew why the man was there. He'd been a member of Shinra too, y'know.
"Alright." Reno turned his Electro-mag rod off and replaced it on his back. "So waddaya want?" he asked, crossing his arms.
One of the men, the blond, stepped up. "You got the keys to the truck's cargo?"
Reno raised an eyebrow. "Yeah."
The blond walked over to the man, his hand outstretched. "I'd like them."
Reno smirked. "So? I like them too."
The stranger rolled his eyes. "Look Turk, we're the 'escort' Hojo provided, okay? So just hand the keys over, won't you?"
"You're the escort, huh?" Reno cocked his head. "Did Hojo, by any chance, happen to give you the money for my pay?"
"Nah." The man grimaced. "You know that bastard. He wants you to come along."
"What? No way, I'm going anywhere past here. Yeah, it was fun taking this little joyride, but I'm done."
"You think you got a choice, Turk?" The man jerked his head in the direction of the gun. "That guy over there, Simone, will shoot you if you don't."
Reno shook his head. "Great... Fine. Here." The redhead pulled the key ring from his pocket. "And the name's Reno."
"I'm Jason." He nodded, before walking to the back of the truck. At some invisible signal, Simone lowered his gun.
Reno didn't attempt to escape. He saw the female's hand reach for her shuriken, and after seeing how she had expressed no emotion at the use and retrieval of the weapon, he didn't feel like testing to see whether she'd use it on him.
~~~~~
Tifa stirred. Whoever was undoing the locks didn't possess the effortlessness of Reno. Looking underneath the door, she noticed it wasn't his shirt either.
*Maybe it's that other guy...* Tifa thought. She'd never seen him before...
The door was flung open, and Tifa blinked, the ivory of the overcast sky almost unbearably bright. *Oh my...* "Cloud?"
"Huh?" The man stepped into the truck, the darkness revealing what the light had blinded. "Cloud?"
She could have kicked herself for letting that slip. But this man looked so very much like Cloud...hair just not quite the pure gold as the hero of the planet but with streaks of brown sand mixed, eyes just a shade lighter than the royal blue she knew so well... "...nevermind," Tifa responded dejectedly.
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure. Come on, Lockheart."
Tifa raised her head. "Wait a moment. Who are you?"
"Name's Jason. Now come on," he repeated.
Tifa nodded, then slowly began to stand. Jason took the time to examine the female's condition.
*Daaang, she's gorgeous,* he thought appreciatively. *Obvious she's been traveling though.* "Let's go."
Tifa nodded, and silently followed the man out. She kept her gaze on the man beside her, ready to attack if he could be caught unawares. However, Tifa had no such luck; the man was obviously an old member of SOLDIER.
Tifa sighed as she rounded the corner of the truck. What she saw next made her eyes widen.
*What...? Who are all these people?* Instinctively, Tifa turned to Reno. Reno shrugged. "Looks like we got a new escort, Tifa."
"Escort? Escort to where?" Tifa asked, eager to learn as much about the situation as she could.
"You think I know?" Reno answered.
"C'mon you two, this way." Jason took Tifa's arm and pulled her gently toward the rocks. Simone trained his gun back on the Turk.
"Woah, I'm going!" Reno put his hands up. "Just put that away, alright? Don't want my head blown off..."
Simone raised an eyebrow. "We've orders to take you alive."
"Yeah, I figured as much," Reno responded, jumping off the truck. "But I can tell you're not too experienced with a gun. So don't go shooting at me."
Simone unexpectedly broke out into a grin. "Is it that obvious?"
"When you've been in the Turks, you know some of the best gunslingers around." Reno's eyes went distant, thinking about his best friend.
Simone noticed that change. "Is that so? Well, Turk, get behind the girl, or else we'll have to find out how good I really am."
Reno shook himself out of his daze. "Stop treating me like an enemy, will ya? I just want to get my pay from Hojo, then I'm out. I'm not going to kill you in your sleep or something."
Simone hesitated, then nodded. "That's fine with me." He tucked the gun back into his belt. "This way."
Up ahead, Tifa gasped when she saw Josh's body, blood pooled underneath it. "What happened to him?!"
Jason glanced over. "Isa's work."
"Isa?"
"The woman with us. Reddish hair, gray eyes, bag of shuriken...you know."
"Oh." Tifa paused for a moment. "Why did she kill him?"
"Orders," Jason answered curtly.
"I see." *I should have known...SOLDIER...Turks...they're all Shinra.* Tifa smiled mockingly from the déjà vu. The slash across Josh's chest even reminded her of her own.
AN: Erm...I know that when you fight Rude, he doesn't use a weapon, so I'm referring to the Wutai incident, okay?
*sneezes* Ahhh, darn allergies... :/ Please review!