By Word of Mouth,
By Ealinesse
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DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of the Final Fantasy series - characters, items, ideas, nothing. I do not claim to. The only characters I do own, are not even in the story yet, though I do claim right to them when they pop up.
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Chapter Two: To Cut Bait and Run...
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Reno strolled casually out the door as the cab moved into the stopover station, stretching his legs as various other passengers pushed past him, eager to leave the cramped confines of the small cabin. And with good reason, too. He bit back a smirk as a lady ran haphazardly past him, her hands over her mouth as she sailed toward the rest room on shaky legs. The ride hadn't been that rough.
He moved into a spare seat - child free, thankfully - and set his bag down beside him, assuring himself that it was safe from small, prying hands. He stretched in his seat and rubbed at his neck, realizing with relief that his headache had gone, though two hours in a tiny cab with little movement had rubbed his nerves raw, not to mention filled him with an overabundance of energy. The Turk ignored the dark clouds hanging overhead, instead focussing on the station before him. There was nothing much here, really, not many people around probably due to the weather: just a few food stands, and a couple of wayward attendants. Just the way he liked it. Peace and relaxation all the way. No kids. No bosses.
Like he always did, he surveyed the people that he would most likely be travelling with as they moved into the area - for that few people, there really were. A few older women and what looked like a young couple. A young gentleman with what looked to be his sister, and nearby two hunched, elderly men that struggled to walk without their canes. To his left, was another girl curled up on the corner of a bench, and...
Reno halted his search, squinting to place the figure on the form. Through his glasses he took in the all-too familiar features. The short, brown hair that framed an almost elfish; long, lean legs, complete with leg brace; pert, cutesy nose that disappeared along with the ends of her eyebrows into a seemingly ever-present white bandanna. It was her alright, the Turk realized, all five-feet-six of her. He noticed that she was asleep, a white ticket draping languidly from her fingers.
Reno frowned and collected his bag, moving to stand in front of the girl. It wasn't necessarily the child he'd been looking to avoid since the last station, but he knew very well how annoying this one could be. There was little difference really, not when she got going.
As he stood an announcement rung out overhead, signaling a ten minute time-frame until his departure to Wutai. He groaned, snatching her ticket from between her limps fingers, sighing when it read exactly the same as his.
"Shit," he cursed, realizing that this had the potential to be worse than the other one.
***
Yuffie stirred, groaning softly as she rolled herself into a sitting position. Falling asleep hadn't been her intention, but the night before had been busy - and fun - even though she hadn't been drinking, though she would never admit that to Cid, who had since then not allowed her the luxury of falling asleep at all.
She checked her watch, sitting straighter. With only about ten minutes to departure it was time to think about boarding. The ninja grabbed for her bag, only then noticing that her ticket that had been in her hand before, was gone. Not seeing the figure that stood but a metre from her, she fumbled with her pockets and bag, clueless as to where the small slip of paper had gone.
"Looking for something?"
Yuffie jumped at the closeness of the voice, and looked to her left into a pair of uncannily familiar aquamarine eyes. She scowled, recognizing not only the owner of the face, but the expression of jubilant arrogance that he wore. The Turk. What was his name? Rude? No, that was the cueball. Reno! That was it!
"Give it back!" She jumped to her feet and reached for the ticket, but he moved too quickly, leaping to his feet and waving the object away, holding it above his head. "Reno! Give it back!"
His look of loftiness didn't waver. Nor did the height of his arm that was holding her ticket. He looked as if he would answer her for a moment, but changed his mind, shaking his head. Instead he asked, "Why are you going to Wutai?"
She snorted, making another hopeless grab for the elusive object. Why tell him? She wouldn't be surprised if he was a cause of the trouble. "It's my home, Turkey, I tend to live there. Family functions - something you wouldn't understand." It wasn't far from the truth. An easy lie. She narrowed her eyes. "Besides, I could ask you the same question."
Reno shook his head, ignoring her. This gave her more cause to pry. "Then why else would you be here? There's no departures for another two hours, and you'd have to be insane to stay out in this weather for any longer than two minutes. But with you, I'd not be surprised."
"I'm hurt," he drawled, putting a glove-clad hand to - in Yuffie's opinion - where his heart should have been. "Not like it's any of your business, but I'm not going to Wutai."
"Yeah? Well where're you going then?"
"Yassan. You can only get there through Wutai."
"Yassan?" she queried, naming the colony just North of the warrior settlement. It was a flawless lie, and he was right. It was the only way to get there, but she doubted he'd tell the truth for a even so much as a second. Especially to her. Yuffie tugged at her lip thoughtfully. "Forgive me if I don't buy it. Can't really picture you to be the farmer type, hanging out all day tending rice fields. Why there?"
The Turk scowled. This was getting him nowhere. "None of you business."
And it wasn't. But that didn't prevent her for being curious, never mind nosy. What would a Turk want in Wutai, anyway? Whatever it was, couldn't be good. She'd rather not have any assassinations or murders in her town, thank you very much.
"Yeah, it is my business, Turkey," she said. "My father is the Lord of Wutai."
Reno rolled his Mako-enhanced eyes. "Your father, not you. Yassan… not Wutai." He paused, contemplating something. The thought got away, but he was still annoyed. He'd rather deal with that kid. At least it hadn't barraged him with constant questions, annoying as his humming was. "You ask a lot of questions, anyone ever tell you that?"
"Yeah, all the time, I don't let it get to me." Yuffie shrugged. "Why Yassan?"
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Fine. I'll find out anyway, you know."
"You can try." He turned, walking away.
"Gawd. Stupid Turkey," she muttered as he skulked off. Pulling her bag onto her shoulders, Yuffie moved to follow, hurrying only when she realized that he still had her ticket.
"Hey!" The ninja shouted, her casual crawl quickly turning into a sprint as the redheaded man began to walk faster, fading into the crowd even as his loud laugh drifted through the throng of people.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Yuffie punched the headrest twice, plumping it up until it met her approval. When it didn't, no matter what way she bent, punched, or even pummeled it, she turned her head to the side, able to see clearly out of the window.
It was good to see the view for a change, she decided. Travel-sickness had more drawbacks than just being sick, and she had never really had the chance to take a good long look at the scenery. But Wutai was different. She knew every inch of her place and territory, and had explored it often enough. She could climb the cliffs there with her eyes closed.
For good measure she checked their distance to go on the timer ahead, realizing that if she leaned out of her seat and looked past the two controllers, that she could see the hazy coast to the south of the Wutai mountains in front of them. In about twenty minutes they would change direction and turn from the west due North, head straight over the mountain pass that was south of Wutai, and then go onward, directly to their destination.
As far as the weather went it had fined out dramatically, the rain halting over an hour ago and traversing immediately into blue sky. It was ironic, really, that she was now trapped inside when the weather was fine, even though she now had no desire or energy to run around. She was more worried about the note from Staniv. She sighed quietly, the noise hidden by the faint thrum of the engine above her. She took a quick look around the sky-cab, recognizing how well the new president of Shinra had done in such a short time. This sky-cab route, only one of many that now existed around the globe, had been inspired by those of its kind at the Gold Saucer, funnily enough from when Reeve had been deceiving them as the cat-and-mog duo, Cait Sith.
Reeve, pressed into presidency more than voted in, seemed to be generally well-liked by the population not only around Midgar, but the rest of the world as well. It had been thanks to him, as well as AVALANCHE, that rebuilding the ruins, and scavenging the wreckage had been possible. And it was in that series of tasks, in their moment of need, that the people found him to believe in.
Since then, the world had been strangely united, high in a strange kind of way, because they had cheated death once again in that they had beaten Armageddon. In the time since Midgar's fall - and part of its rebirth - new systems, plans and alliances had been drawn up, many new towns and colonies raised. It was strange, Yuffie thought, how such a scare could bring people - and places - together.
She should know; at least her and her father were talking now.
Rolling her head to the left Yuffie rubbed remnants of sleep out of her eyes, looking toward the back of the cable car. There weren't many people; just an odd bunch that had enough guts - or stupidity, she thought - to brave the storm raging in Rocket Town. At the end of the car was Reno, all six feet of him stretched out on the entire back row, his long suit-clad legs ending in heavy black boots that were slung carelessly over the side. His head rested on his balled up jacket, with an arm draped lazily over his torso. With his sunglasses perched low on his upturned nose and his fervent hair carelessly veiling most of his face, he looked to be asleep.
She almost laughed, noticing that not one person sat within a two seat radius.
Her thoughts turned mischievious as she saw what lay in the middle of the two rows. His bag – probably laden with materia and other things that would be best not left in the hands of such a man. Tempted by the possibilities of valuable items in the pack, she grinned. But it quickly faded as she thought of the matter currently at hand.
Whatever avaited her at home could not be good. As subtle as Staniv's writing was, such a note could only instill dread in her heart. She had so many questions that would have to wait to be answered, and all of them worried her. Was her father all right? Was he ill? Why had Staniv written her, and not Godo? Why had the letter not been officially sealed?
… And why could he not have told her what was wrong first off, so she didn't have to worry now over things that may not be?
She ran a hand through her closely cropped hair, readjusting her bandanna, frowning as she caught herself staring at the slumbering Turk as she came out of her daze. 'Just what is his business here anyway? I'll bet it's nothing peaceful. With them it never is.' Wutai - even Yassan - seemed too strange-a place for the Turk. She mused. He was probably just going there to visit Turtle's Paradise, where his most common interest could be fulfilled.
Tearing her eyes from Reno's still form, she fidgeted with her hands, recollecting the day the trio had turned up on AVALANCHE'S doorstep. 'Whatever remains of his soul lies in Midgar,' she thought.
Then she grinned. The young ninja remembered that day very clearly.
All they had wanted to do was help. Though Cloud - nor any of them - had accepted that at first. Into her mind popped the image of Cloud Strife, propelled into a rage at even the sight of them, busy yelling a various number of obscenities that even Cid whistled at. Barrett, not too happy either, had been too focussed on wrapping his arms about Reno's neck, reveling too much in the redhead's beetroot face to hear anything but the voice screaming at him to kill them in his head.
But the slums and the rest of Midgar had honestly needed the help. Any good leader would not have turned them down. And eventually, after a brief fistfight halted by Tifa and Elena, Cloud hadn't. Yuffie rubbed a hand over her face, remembering the tension. Though somehow Reno had managed to drag Cloud outside, slamming the door behind him and leaving the other two Turks behind in a stony silence, with six matching glares pinning them to the wall.
She shook her head, wondering just what the Mako-eyed man had said to the other out of their earshot. She winced. He had guts to even touch Cloud, she had to admit. But whatever had been said couldn't have been pretty. For when they both came back their eyes did not meet, but Cloud had - for some reason that eluded her - let them help. However grudgingly.
To be honest, in their work for that period of time Yuffie couldn't fault them. She remembered each of them clearing the rubble while searching for survivors - or bodies - hastily but methodically. Often times, even the blonde haired Elena was free of complaints, while Reno was neither snide or sarcastic; a deft accomplishment for him, the ninja noted. Rude, however normally silent, was possibly even more so. That whole time, they worked together as the team they were. Helping people, carting food, digging rubble. And that whole time, it seemed that they had been searching for something. Something that they never found.
She shook her head in amazement. Only once did she recall fighting with Reno...once in almost a half year, and in almost that entire time Cloud and Reno had said barely more than a word to one another, and only then they had been brief, and businesslike. Only what was necessary. Apart from that, they'd spent not another moment together.
Yuffie paled remembering the grizzly work, and how glad she'd been to see the end of it. One day, she remembered, it had all stopped, and the Turks, as silently as they'd come, had disappeared. They hadn't found what they'd been looking for, of that she was certain. But then again, they weren't the only ones who had lost.
Since then...? Yuffie had found herself travelling around, strangely enough, by herself. Paying the occasional visit to her father and the others the crew had grown apart slightly over the past three years. Cid and Shera's wedding was perhaps the first time they'd all been together since the recovery of Midgar. It had been good to see them again, she thought, but everyone seemed to have their own responsibilities now; their own reasons to stay away; their own demons. But they were still friends, and that would never change after all they had been through together.
Most of them had been employed by Reeve in the end, and though she did the odd job or two for him, she had mainly stayed out of it. The Turks, too, had had a turnaround. Of course, they were now in a different division of the new Shinra. Still covert, but a lot more clean and official. Official missions, and the like.
Realising how depressing her thoughts had become, she stopped, instead switching her mind to that of her father. Meteor had been a close-call for all of them. She'd never really been that close to Godo as a child, but just recently they'd found common ground. Her mother, of whom she'd never known, had even in her untimely death kept her family apart. And, she smirked, her father wasn't getting any older. Extraordinarily, she apprehended that she'd grown up...or something.
She couldn't help worrying though, but nothing could be done until she arrived. Nothing would get hee anywhere right now, but this sky-cab. Thoughts of that nature, would just not do. Not when time was the key, not worry.
...But there was one thing that was still annoying her.
Yuffie stood, ignoring the glare the controlling guard sent her, and made her way to the end of the row of seats. She seated herself in the row before Reno, leaning back against the right-hand window, her bag crammed tightly in the gap between seats. She doubted his motives for going to Wutai, and though his excuse for coming here was valid enough, the fact of whether it was the truth was another matter entirely. It was something she wanted to ask him about, though she doubted she'd ever get a straight answer from someone as crooked as him.
"Hey, Turkey." He made no move. "Reno, wake up, I wanna ask you something." She leaned halfway over the seat and poked him in the shoulder. He grunted a little, but other than that fell still, his flaming hair falling further over his black glasses.
After a mere second of silence, a thought occurred to her. Temptation reared its ugly head as she stared longingly at his pack on the ground. A faint glow cast itself out of the top of the drawstring pack; a faint green glow, and one that she easily recognized. She called his name again and grinned when she received no answer.
'...And one for the road,' she thought as silently - more stealthily than she'd had to practice in a long time - she leaned forward and grasped the string of the bag. After unraveling the knots Yuffie finally managed to squeeze her hand into the bag, closing her fist around the unnaturally warm Materia. 'Fire,' she thought as she tried to lift it out. 'Quite powerful, too,' she ascertained.
She pursed her lips as she concentrated on wriggling the small rock free.
In fact, Yuffie was so concentrated on getting the Materia from the bag that she didn't notice Reno's slow grin. Nor did she notice him lift his arm until it was too late. All she saw was the glowing ball of soon-to-be money. Another reason why she jumped so damned high when he spoke.
"Don't even think about it."
The girl cursed, moving back to her chair. Looking around she thankfully noticed that no one had seen her leap so high into the air. She regained her composure quite quickly and pulled her hand back, lifting her chin in the air in defiance.
Reno pushed his sunglasses up over his head, finding no need for them in the dull cabin. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were supposed to be a thief, not an amateur."
Yuffie poked out her tongue, her pale face still quite red. "Takes one to know one." She turned to his materia, pointing into his bag as another tactic occurred to her. "Why would you ever need Fire Materia - or any materia - in a place like Yassan?" Yuffie leered. "Unless of course you're not going there for peaceful means."
His steady aquamarine glare matched hers, his lie an easy and practiced cover up. "Ooh, aren't we playing the detective today. Look, brat, I'm a Turk. Believe it or not, people are still out to get us. I'd prefer to live past twenty-five. These, strangely enough, help." Reno pointed to the materia in his bag and then to his nightstick, which was holstered at his hip.
She fell silent, wondering why he felt the need to cover everything up. No one needed materia for peace. Or to enforce peace. Especially not Reno.
Then she thought for a second, remembering what he'd said. He was only twenty-five? She counted back. He must have been at least twenty-two when they'd seen him the first time. The pale ninja frowned, biting a well-chewed finger nail. Only twenty-two? He'd always seemed much older to her. Not looked older, as such, she corrected herself, but more in the way he held himself; the hard look in his eyes that set off a sharply angled face; the steep cheekbones, and the handsome trademark grin, that more often than not meant trouble. She had never thought about it before, but he was only a year older than Cloud. Only five-or-so years older than her.
She scowled. 'Why am I even thinking about this!'
Shrugging off the thought she ignored the smirk that he directed towards her, and faced the window. They had outrun the northwest winds and bad weather that had traced along the coastal beaches before Rocket Town, and since then had encountered only fine weather. 'Thank Leviathon,' thought Yuffie, remembering how much the small carriage had rocked upon leaving Rocket Town, buffeted with strong winds like breath to a sail. Even with the pills that Shera had given her she'd struggled to keep her breakfast down.
Now, however, the small air-car ran smoothly along it's twin, rail-like cables, it's small propellers buzzing lightly as they continued to push them calmly along. They were off the sea now, but only just. If she pressed her cheek against the cool glass and looked forward, it was easy enough to see the golden sands against the shallow waters of her home's coastline. They were only just heading over the Southern Pass; that left about another fifteen more minutes over the main part of the mountains, and then just under a half hour until they reached home...
...Reached her father.
Yuffie stretched and cracked her knuckles, pulling the notes from inside her pocket. She was about to unfold it and read the already-known contents, when a long arm snaked out over the seat, ripping her from her thoughts and taking the note.
She scowled. "Turkey, will you stop doing that?" She made a grasp for the note, which he held just out of her reach. It was awkward trying to lean over the seats without losing your balance.
"Will you stop call me that damned name?" Reno leaned back casually, unfolding the note while lying back down. He avoided another swipe.
Yuffie was just about to retort, when a large jolt shuddered along the cable, and she grabbed her seat in a white-knuckled death grip. The cable-car screeched somehow, and swung wildly before settling down. Over a few shrieks and the sound of her own heart, she heard a loud 'oof!' behind her, and when she was sure she was stable, she turned around. The ninja laughed, barely able to breathe as her mirth got hold of her. What she had wished had come true, though belatedly.
"What the hell was that?" Reno grunted out from between the rows of seats. So laxly positioned before, his comfort had been forsaken for gravity, and he had been thrown forward when the car moved, rolling into the cramped footrest as the base of his seat.
To Yuffie it was a comforting sight, seeing the usually coolly composed Turk in a state of utter disarray. She giggled as he pulled his glasses back into their usual post and tried to gain his feet. Her face fell flat, however, as another strong vibration tore through the cabin, and Reno lost his footing, falling sideways and hitting his head against the hard wooden handle of the left-hand seat. As the cab creaked to a halt, so did he.
This time her face paled. This was supposed to be a smooth ride! What was going on!
Feeling the resonance stop finally after both impacts, the young ninja stood, not trustworthy to let go of the handrails. She leaned over and tapped the fallen Turk with the hand as he gingerly sat up.
"Reno?" A groan. "Hey Turkey..."
At first he didn't answer, but then groaned again, looking up with a hand to his head into Yuffie's eyes. His own aquamarine depths were glazed with slight shock, and he seemed a little dazed. "Thought you agreed to stop calling me that, Brat?"
She shook her head, no longer worried for him, but for the circumstance. "Actually," she replied, "I didn't get to say anything." She watched as he stood, swaying ever-so-slightly before straightening fully, a hard look entering his eyes and covering up any pain he would have previously showed.
"You all right?"
"Perfect." He turned to face the guard at the front, wincing as his vision blurred. Pushing back the headache that had returned to the back of his mind, he scowled, more than a little angry at being thrown around like a rag doll on a supposedly flawless ride
"What the hell's going on?" he called to the two men at the front of the cabin.
The man shrugged in thoughtless abandon and turned to his partner, who stood pushing buttons on a large computer console. The guy, short, complete with glasses and a receding hairline that was running faster than this sky-cab was frantically reaching to and fro, stunted arms flying across the control panel. The one whom Reno had spoken to whispered something, pointing to the panel. The other shrugged and shook his head uselessly.
Even as a Turk, he'd mastered the art of lipreading. And though they were talking hurriedly, mumbling something shocking, he caught the two words that were important; something about engines and power.
'The engines? Power?' The redheaded Turk switched his gaze to the window, noticing only now that the faint vibration that ran with the motor through the roof and floor of the small cab had stopped. Checking over the rotorblades on each side he noticed each were crawling to a decided halt. Along the cable nothing was moving, and in the air the small box was at the helpless mercy of whatever had stopped it. An ungainly situation, which left only one question.
What had just happened?
Someone shrieked, while shrill screams seemed intent on popping his eardrums. His headache that had gone with his hangover, was back with a vengeance. Somewhat frustrated, the Turk pushed his way past the panicky passengers to the guards, more than eager to char the uncouth souls that got in his way. Yuffie, eager to get off the oversized swing, followed closely behind him before the waves of people caught her up.
Reno sighed as he moved to the front, his face an expression of doubt and impatience. "Okay, why are we not moving?"
The small man bustled up his feathers, not eager to be pushed around, nor happy that his control was being questioned. He looked Reno up and down like some filthy object, snorting at the untucked shirt, and the astray hair. What he didn't realize however, was that Reno's attitude and wit were as sharp as ever and arsenic was always keen to lace his words with poison.
"Everything is under control, sir. I suggest you take your seat. We will soon have things under control."
Yuffie studied them closely, agreeing unconsciously with Reno, thinking them lucky to have even half a brain between the both of them. It was painfully obvious that despite their strict tone and 'reassuring' words, that control was far from their reach, and behind their narrowed eyes fear was bubbling quickly to the surface. They truly had no idea what was going on.
Reno voiced her concerns.
"Oh bullshit," Reno snapped, pointing to Yuffie. "Even she can see your incompetence. You were trained to supervise and not to run these systems. Right?" Yuffie snorted, ignoring Reno's insult, and realizing that in everything else, the Turk was quite right. The random pushing of buttons and the self-important act did not fool the girl, nor many of the other hectic passengers.
If possible the man puffed up his chest further, drawing himself up to his full five feet. The man to his left stepped forward, bristling with disdain.
"And just who the hell are you? Mr Personality?" The words reeked of superiority.
'Bad move, buddy,' Yuffie thought as Reno moved to stand toe-to-toe with the shorter man. She could only watch as he lifted him up easily by the scruff of his starched shirt, dragging his feet off the ground and the frightened eyes to his level, effortlessly.
"I'll tell you exactly who I am," Reno snarled. With his free hand, he pulled out his nightstick and charged it up with the flick of a switch. As he placed it up in direct view of the man's sight electricity sparked along the end, catching him at a low charge on the tip of his nose. "I'm someone who could very easily end your miserable life right here and now." He dropped the man to the floor, who was too shocked to move.
"... But I won't," he added snidely, "because I've got better things to do than deal with egotistical assholes like you, and I'd rather get out of here today. So," he added, pulling out his ID badge that Reeve had given him (for good reason), "will you just shut the fuck up and tell me what the hell is going on?"
The man peered wide-eyed at the vivid new Shinra logo emblazoned on the top-left of the badge, and then at the photo, and finally the details. Catching sight of the brilliant cerulean eyes in the photo, he looked up, recognizing the glowing colour for what it really was: the result of a Mako infusion. "… You're Shinra."
Reno laughed, more out of exasperation and sarcasm than real humour. "Very clever. But, damn it all to hell, will you just answer my first question?"
Resigned, the shorter man sighed. He was going nowhere fast, and perhaps this could turn out to be a good thing after all. "We don't know."
"This thing's been running for six months," the other one cut in. "But nothing like this has happened before. The bloody thing's just stopped, and it ain't even going uphill. There's no weather to have done this, and no electrical storms. The system is online because it's a global operations system, but it's like the mains to our individual power has been severed somewhere and we're simply not moving. I just can't figure it."
Reno frowned, ducking his head. This didn't make sense. He'd never heard of any problems with any of the skycabs before. Why did it have to happen now?
Just as Reno lowered his head, Yuffie turned to her left, exasperated. Why did she always have luck like this!
It was then she noticed it. Only there for the smallest fraction of time, she couldn't help but freeze as the flicker of red and black moved over the small window down the back of the cabin. She blinked, closing her eyes and shaking her head as if getting rid of a bad image. When she opened her eyes and saw it again, she knew she wasn't dreaming.
"Uh, Reno?" Yuffie pulled at the Turk's arm, shaking him. The skycabs were universally blue, and this one was no different. And if that's what she thought it was, then…
He shrugged her off, too concentrated on finding and solving the problem so he could get on with his mission. She tried again, aiming a vicious kick to the Turk's shins. "Reno!"
It worked. In between all the hopping and cursing, she manages to get a response. "What!"
"Red Dragon."
He frowned and shook his head, waving her idea off. 'What the hell is she on about. There's no Red Dragons in these parts.' He turned back to the controllers, who were again levelling him with temperamental glares. "So-"
"Turkey, listen to me!"
"Way ahead of ya, Yuffie, I've now finished listening to you."
She growled, shaking her head. She'd seen something, she knew it. And it had been big. Really big, and that was only part of it. Dragging the Turk in a half circle, she could only point as a flick of something red swished across the windscreen. Though she was the only one of the two to see it, she could tell that Reno was merely being ignorant.
"Look, Yuffie. I know you're-"
Suddenly, screams tore through the early afternoon air as the cab groaned and shook violently. Reno started, halfway through turning back to the two men on the console, unsure what was going on. Even as he watched he saw the cable only a metre in front of them quiver violently. Then, he caught a glimpse of colour. Red. Then something larger - an extension of some kind: scales, and a tail attached to a body and a large black set of hind claws.
"Shit," Reno swore. So the brat was right. But what did they do now?
Yuffie nodded in dumb agreement, not entirely keen to be right about such a discovery. "What is a Red Dragon doing near Wutai?" she muttered half to herself. In answer Reno merely shrugged, while the shrieks of the passengers continued to drown out most of what they said.
"They only live in caves," she continued, "and the only caverns large enough to house them are to the South of the mountains here, not the North. Why-"
A sudden wave of panic rose again through the small cabin as the dragon raised a large paw, pounding it hard against the steel construct. When the cabin proceeded to stay intact however, the dragon roared, pumping its wings and flying with minimal effort to the top of the cab. When no sound resumed and further action was nil, everyone fell into an eerie silence, too shocked to move, awaiting the next attack.
They didn't have to wait long. They felt it land; heavy and full of a powerful impact. The cabin rocked at the mercy of the force on top, struggling to compensate for the sudden weight of the dragon. All too soon the skycab began swinging with the momentum, rocking painfully from side-to-side even as the passengers scrambled to stay upright on knees weak with terror. If Yuffie hadn't been so focussed on the large, jagged scars that suddenly appeared on the roof of the cabin, she would have been sick with the disturbing motion of the cabin.
When another wave rocked the cabin, a chorus of screams rose up, covering the voices that had only now begun to drown out. When a second set of claw marks appeared on the roof, Yuffie paled. She knew what it was going for, and if it succeeded, it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Th-the cables!" one of the controller's whispered in shock from the floor.
"Holy save us!"
"What's the maximum load on these things?" Reno called over the disquiet.
"T-two tonnes."
"Shit! That thing weighs more than that by itself!"
Under the pressure of another blow the sky-cab lurched, groaning under the immense weight. To keep herself upright Yuffie grabbed out at a chair, only to have it come loose in her grip. Before she could fall, however, a strong hand gripped her shoulder and prevented her from tumbling down with the wayward piece of furniture, into the stampede of terrified passengers beyond.
She turned to Reno, question in her eyes.
"We need to do something."
"Like what?"
Reno thought hard, trying desperately to avoid the first two answers that popped into his head. Right now, the emergency exits weren't of any use to them – not thirty metres above the ground. He'd rather take on the dragon than the height. He just had to face the fact that it wasn't going to leave them alone until it had finished doing whatever it was doing. And by the looks of things, the end result of that wasn't going to be pretty.
The Turk winced as Yuffie noticed the look in his eyes. He shrugged and cast a quick glance to the roof. "We need to kill it."
"But how? The only way to get to it safely is to climb onto the roof through that hatch at the end and deal with it that way. And that's just crazy! You'd probably fall to your death before you even got close. Or you'd get slashed to pieces with those poisonous claws, or bitten…"
Reno fixed Yuffie with a blunt look, who in return could not hide her shock.
"You're kidding."
"You got any better ideas?"
"I-"
Another shudder went through the cable, and Reno scowled. "We need to do something before it drops us from here, and it may not be the most appealing option, but it gives us the best chance. The frame of this cab might be able to take the fall, but there's no way we can guarantee our own safety. Killing it is about the only way. At least then, perhaps it will stop focussing on the cables and their clamps."
Yuffie knew he was right. She knew it without doubt, and that it was their best chance. But never had she seen someone go up against a Red Dragon alone. You either had to be incredibly stupid, incredibly crazy, and even though she knew Reno lacked none of those qualities, it was still going to be dangerous. The odds would be better with two.
For a moment, when the idea hit her, she thought about going up there. She really did. But as soon as it came to her, she knew that it wouldn't be possible. Even if two people were ideal, there was no way there'd be enough room up there to even move. And with the dragon on the roof the odds of manoeuvring amiably – especially thirty metres above the ground – were slim. Even for one man. Better to keep one person up top, and then another person down below to watch things here, and then, as a last resort, that person could try defeat the monster...
If all else failed.
Yuffie bit her lip, staring Reno in the eye. She wasn't going to tell him that what he was doing was stupid – from the look in his eyes there was no doubt that he already knew that. However she was surprised that he was even considering doing it all himself in the first place.
"What do ya want me to do?" she asked.
Reno looked back to the panicking passengers as they hugged, clawed, scraped and screamed at each other, too frightened to be of any use. He snorted. "Babysit."
She winced. "Keep an eye on 'em?" A crooked grin found its way onto her face. "Can't I just take the dragon?"
The Turk smirked and began to head down the back of the cabin. When there he grabbed his bag, pulling out a few select orbs of materia and then dumping the weighty item back to the ground. He didn't seem to care that most of it spilt on the ground. He unhooked his nightstick from his belt, equipping various spheres of the glowing stones to his weapon.
When he was done Reno eyed the throngs of panicked passengers only briefly before shaking his head, returning his gaze to Yuffie. "Try to keep them still, huh? Last thing I want is to be spread all about Wutai. Kissing the dirt from this height isn't exactly my idea of fun."
Yuffie bit back a grimace, trying to keep the look of apprehension from her eyes. "Gawd, don't make me even think about it."
He grinned and turned to leave, pulling the rest of the hatch open easily. Perching himself on the back of the seat he tried desperately not to think of where - or what - he was about to fight. It wasn't like he was scared - he'd hung out of helicopters much higher than this. But had he ever hung out of a helicopter with a Red Dragon breathing down his neck?
No. He didn't think so.
Reno turned to Yuffie. "Good luck, brat."
She snorted, shocked for a change that in the minor insult there was a brief show of support. Yuffie offered a mock Shinra salute, her puzzlement belying her expression. He was actually going to help someone other than himself? 'Then what was he doing in Midgar? He helped there,' a voice chastised her. Pushing aside the smart tone that accompanied the little voice in her head, she rolled her eyes.
"You too," she replied. "You're the one who's gonna get his ass kicked by dragon-breath out there. I've only got to deal with these guys."
"My point exactly."
As Reno turned to leave through the hatch, Yuffie placed a hand on her hip, the casual grin on her face sobering even as she tried to make herself look less tense. "Hey, Reno?"
He faced her, his azure eyes curious. "Yeah?"
"Don't get in too much trouble, huh? The last thing I want to have to do is carry your stinking carcass back home and explain to Elena what happened."
He hadn't expected that. "Tch, that's what Rude said, and look what's happening now..."
The ninja only nodded and proceeded to turn to the crowd, dissolved into the throbbing mass in a matter of moments. Reno pulled himself through the gap, catching sight of a large rear-end tail as the dragon continued to tear frantically at the top of the cab. The controller was right, it had been going for the cables; the twin engines at the front were now no more than a twisted pile of metal.
Standing slowly Reno went against proper tradition and looked down. The mountains weren't as far away as he'd first thought - only about twenty metres - though still a great deal higher than he would have liked. Just in front of them was the mountain pass, and directly beneath them were small, uneven plains, separated by the sloping cliffs hills that were divided by the mountain path. It's bridge was only a few hundred metres in front of them, while the trail that they were scaling lay just to their left. They were luckier than they could have been, he realized. There was not such a large drop as there should have been, but it was still enough to hurt, and hurt a lot.
As he gained his balance he looked back up. The dragon had yet to notice him, and before it could, he closed his aquamarine eyes, placing his weapon in his hand and summoning a Protect spell that he'd had for years. Feeling the tingling wave of the spell wash over him, he quickly cast another one – this time offensive.
He only hoped like hell it would work.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Yuffie clenched her fists, screaming all the curses she could think of in frustration. Nothing had worked. The stupid people just didn't get the picture. If the dragon so much as snipped a cable they were gone! Didn't they understand that? Done, finished, kapoot! "Or more like splat," she muttered.
She had tried pushing the people back into their seats, tried getting the controllers to help her, tried screaming at them, but her half-hearted bellow was nothing compared to the soprano bitch that insisted on drowning everyone out next to her. Reno was right: the dragon would have been easier.
As she was standing there, something rolled across her foot, putting a mild pressure on her shoe. She looked down, ready to kick whatever it was away, but stopped dead when the familiar item revealed its identity. Materia; spells; power. She didn't necessarily have the right ones, but Reno might… this particular one was his from out of the contents of his spilt bag, and although that one wasn't of any use, it didn't mean his other ones weren't.
Bolting past the useless swarm of imbeciles the ninja crouched by Reno's bag, surprised by the selection there was as she rummaged through the pack. She hurriedly picked up every one she could get her hands on, checking them for strength and possibilities. She grabbed at a small pink orb that pulsed longingly, hoping it would work not matter how weak it was. Not wasting the time to place it in her weapon she sat back, whispering the words required to make the Manipulate spell work.
It didn't. Instead of causing all motion to cease, the waves of magic merely washed over the crowd in a brief flurry of pink fire before dissipating seconds later. Cursing, Yuffie shoved it into her pocket instead of his bag and scavenged for more. Finally she discovered a powerful Seal Materia - one with the perfect spell on it - and cast it on the mass of wavering people. She crossed her fingers as a wave of green fire pulsed from the emerald stone, hoping it would shut them up - she was starting to get a bitch of a headache.
Almost instantaneously the peoples' voices droned as one into a variety of yawns and groans. Muttering to one another they issued a number of half-formed complaints, before some pulled themselves wearily into seats, while others collapsed slowly to the floor, stretching lazily as their knees gave out and their eyes slipped closed.
Then all was silent.
"Sleeping like babies." Yuffie grinned, pleased with her work. Nothing would wake them up until the spell wore off – and by the strength of the Materia in question, she knew that wouldn't be soon. A sudden thought occurred to her and she pocketed that Materia too, thinking it handy. "Much better," the ninja murmured, and continued to scavenge through Reno's available bag, deciding a spring clean was in order. There was no way he'd ever need that much materia.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Shit!" Reno yelled as he ducked, dropping his nightstick from his hand as a sharp claw flew at him. Falling back, he rolled to the left as the dragon roared, swearing heavily as the weapon bounced lightly across the roof before bounding off the edge of the cabin to the ground far below. Instead of catching him across the ribs the blow scraped across his right shoulder, drawing three long, parallel lines of blood across his white shirt. Wincing, he ignored the pain. It was just a scratch. What was another ruined shirt to add to the never-ending pile?
It was more the possibility of poison that worried him.
Reno shook the thought off and ducked under the dragon's open wing so he could get behind it, casting another Ice3 spell as he deigned to use his much smaller size to his advantage. He used more effort this time, strengthening his will on the Materia and focussing hard on the image of the dragon in his mind's eye. The dragon roared as the strong spell closed around it, it's large jaws open in a soon-silent cry as it froze momentarily.
This time the spell held longer than the last one, and when it broke away into large chunks of shattered ice the dragon shuddered and swayed before standing fully upright again. Reno almost grinned with the satisfaction of its pain. It was weakening…
But then again, so was he.
Too focussed on the reaction of the dragon to his spell, Reno didn't see the tail propelling toward him until it was too late. Reno yelped in pain as the dragon hit his kneecap directly in a powerful blow designed to beat the opponent back into a corner – or in his case, the edge. Feeling bones and cartilage groan in protest, the Turk couldn't stop his knee from collapsing under him as he unconsciously staggered backward, struggling to get his body out of the way of a second strike. He took a strained step backward, then another as the tail loomed menacingly before him.
It was one step too many.
It would have been fine had he taken a step on his unhurt leg, but that wasn't the case. As he moved backward he judged his knee to be stronger than it really was. Still recovering from the shock of the blow he failed to compensate his balance as his knee again gave out on him, and he felt himself tilting dangerously backward. He felt his heels find nothing but thin air, and all-too fast Reno found his feet falling into nothingness, followed very quickly by the rest of his body…
...Until his flailing arms caught on something, halting his fall. As his hands caught on the cables Reno couldn't prevent the momentum of his lower body from slamming him into something very solid. The sound of shattering glass was heard as the front-screen window of the skycab splintered into small flakes in front of him, littering the air and the sky with debris. Reno winced as the numerous shards flew past him as his shoulders screamed in protest from the sudden, unexpected pressure. His hands struggled to keep hold on the biting cable wire, and although he knew he was now a sitting duck, he realized that the dragon had lost its focus on him for but a moment.
Ignoring the cramp in his arms he looked up, seeing the large, hunched figure of the dragon bent over the wire supports. Reno exhaled briefly in relief as his heart felt like it would pound out of his chest. His injured shoulder twinged with fresh pain, and the Turk groaned, straining to pull himself up with his weakened arm.
"Why do I always end up doing stuff like this!"
"What the... Reno?" Hearing the voice Yuffie clamoured to the front of the cab, seeing the long suited legs dangling in mid-air. She wrinkled up her face, trying to see past the glaring sun. "What the hell are you doing out there!"
Reno grunted, scowling. "Who the fuck else would be stupid enough to fall off the side! Will you quit stealing my materia - and don't say that you're not - and give me a hand!"
Yuffie smirked, pocketing the last of his materia as he looked briefly away, and leaned out the bulbous front bumper of the cab to grab the Turk's legs. "How the hell are you gonna get in here?" she muttered, straining to find the strength to pull him in.
'What is she trying to do?' he thought as his grip began to slip from the sudden pressure. "Let me go!" he said in a strained voice.
"What?" she yelled as the dragon roar drowned out whatever he had said.
Reno winced as a piece of large metal flew past him, barely missing his injured shoulder as the dragon threw pieces of torn shrapnel left and right off the roof. "Just get out of the damned road!" he yelled. Not waiting for a reply or even a confirmation of his words Reno began to swing himself slightly, his arms turning to jelly as he let go and slipped rather easliy into the inside of the cabin. He landed hard, falling to his hands and knees as the cab shuddered with the impact. He winced as small shards of shattered glass bit into his hands.
"God, Reno! Lose some weight!" Yuffie bit out as she stumbled, trying not to trip over the people as they rolled around in their seats and the aisle.
He ignored her, raising an eyebrow at the people that littered the ground. She made no comment, only shrugged with an impish grin. Switching his mind to the issue at hand he thought hard as the cab trembled horribly and the sound of metal being shredded squawked tore through the air. None of the spells he had equipped were strong enough, and he had little time to get more. If only he had something that he could throw that was strong enough. It had flown at him from the air countless times, and all he needed was something that was sharp enough, and mobile enough. Something that had enough distance on it that it could clip the dragon's wing and fell it in mid air, saving them a lot of pain and effort...
He looked to Yuffie, who was eyeing him suspiciously.
"What!"
"Brat, you have a shuriken! Give me your weapon, quick!"
"What?" She took a step backward, shaking her head emphatically. Her hand went protectively to her belt, where her weapon of choice was attached. "No way!"
Getting to his feet slowly, Reno flinched as his knees cracked, the one that had taken the blow still shaky. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind – there would be time for that later, one way or the other.
"Look, we need to cripple it or something. I've only been able to get nearly it twice, and the spells weren't strong enough. The last time I tried, I got this," Reno gestured to his shoulder, "and this." He tapped his knee, wincing. "If we clip it's wing, it can't fly. And for the past ten minutes that's pretty much all it's been doing. I can't get close enough," he repeated, "and I don't want to have to get close enough to get my head bitten off. So what do ya say?"
"I-"
A large jolt - larger by far than all the others - caused the cab to swing wildly and Reno staggered, his sore leg collapsing under him. Yuffie, scrambling for hold on the side of a seat, tripped on a lax figure and slid inelegantly backward as the cab was hit yet again by the momentum of the dragon, which had seemingly, after focussing intently on the cables for a while, again taken to the air.
After the shaking stopped the sky-cab finally came to rest on more of an angle than it had been on before. Another hit, and the small tilt increased.
"Shit! The supports!" Reno cursed, diving past Yuffie as the front end of the cabin began to give way. With a groan the cabin sunk, nearly slipping off it's supporting cables. "It's taken one of them out!" Whipping Yuffie's Conformer off her belt as she scrambled back, he flew over to the hatch as fast as his sore leg would take him, scrambling up the side and out onto the swaying roof. He was halfway out when a voice behind him gave him cause to turn around.
"Wait!"
Reno turned, impatient, his sharp jaw tight with tense muscles. "What!"
"You don't even know how to throw it!"
"Well you're not going to do anything, are you?"
"Actually," she said. "I've got a better idea."
And she did. She grinned, while he remained dubious. Quite understandably, she thought. It wasn't often you got to use a Turk for bait, after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Reno cursed at the dragon as it flew at him again, ducking another swipe when it passed overhead of him. He spun to face it as fast as he could considering the new angle of the roof, and could only just avoid another swipe as it took to flying over him tauntingly. For something so large it was quite dextrous, and relatively agile. He had to strain not to rock the roof any more than was necessary as the weakened strut continued to balance precariously on its one remaining wire.
"Anytime now would be good, Yuffie," he bit out. When there was no reply, he winced. "Hey brat! Hurry up!"
"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! I'm still trying to find the right one! Why you need so much materia is beyond me!"
"Hurry. Up." The dragon, riled at the words being yelled by Reno and the thief took off into the air again, this time from behind him. It pumped its bulbous red wings heavily, chopping the air with a vicious ferocity as it swooped in a broad ark above his head. Stepping back as far as he dared, Reno crouched, ready to dive either way as it began to speed forward again. The heavily sloping roof of the cabin didn't help him keep his balance, nor did his shoulder or weakened knee. One move too far and he was a goner, that was for sure. He just hoped he could judge this right without falling off the edge.
As the dragon began to dive from a greater height than it had previously been to, it howled in a loud, piercing shriek that echoed sharply throughout the air. Stooping and pressing himself flat against the roof, Reno only just managed to lunge forward in time to avoid the long claws that were aimed for his head. Instead of hitting him, the claws dragged heavily along the top of the flimsy and impaired remaining support structure. Reno shuddered at the near miss, scrambling to the other end of the cabin, not sure how much more weight the feeble support could take.
As the red beast circled once more overhead, the Turk only just heard Yuffie's warning from what seemed like miles off.
Not wasting any time Reno continued to stay flattened to the ground as Yuffie launched the shuriken out of the hatch and into the air with practised ease. As he looked up he watched as the sunlight glinted off her crimson weapon with a dangerous light as it spiralled toward the creature in a deadly arc. The dragon easily dodged the first shot, not compensating for the fact that it would come back to haunt it in the end. Obviously, it had never dealt with a shuriken before.
With its back turned, the dragon didn't notice as the weapon curved at its zenith in the air, before turning around and heading straight back to whence it came.
The shot was as accurate as Reno had ever seen, which was no less than Yuffie had expected. He could only stare in blind disbelief as the shuriken disappeared behind the figure of the dragon for but a moment, before it emerged in a bloody haze from through its pumping wing - as dead-centre as was possible for such an agile target. As if it had been hit with a fatal deathblow, the dragon screeched hauntingly, vocalising its pain for all to hear as it began to plummet to the ground, unable to support itself in the air with only one functioning pinion. The wounded wing flailed uselessly by its side, weak and defenceless.
As it began to fall Reno felt a smile of satisfaction creep across his face, and finally he found himself able to stand freely for the first time since this had all begun, not having to worry about being clawed in the back.
… That was, until the growing shadow fell across the tattered remains of the roof, blinking out the sun and causing a doomful darkness in the middle of the day.
Reno felt a pool of dread sink to the bottom of his gut as he looked up, only now realizing the path that the wounded dragon was taking. He watched as it spiralled for a moment directly above them, clawing and scrambling at the unforgiving air, struggling to find purchase on anything it could get its hands on.
Unable to get to the hatch in time to avoid the costly blow he knew was coming, Reno dived out of the way of the falling monster to the far end of the cabin, only just managing to see Yuffie disappear back into the hatch from out of the corner of his eye. As a last resort Reno grabbed onto an offshoot of metal with all the strength he could muster and looked up one last time before the dragon made impact.
The shock of the blow was as disastrous as he could have imagined. As the large dragon made contact with the skycab, its increased weight and momentum caused the cabin to lurch and screech with protest to the sudden extra mass. With only one out of two cable supports remaining, and a weakened structure, the cabin's perilous hold on its lifeline bent, then snapped completely. For one frightfully still moment the car seemed to hover in mid air, on the brink of tragedy, before, against the wishes of all on board, beginning its all too fast drop to the ground far below.
As the countdown until impact ticked by, Reno thought of every possible curse word he'd ever heard of, but none seemed obscene enough to fit the situation. Holding onto the roof with a white-knuckled grip he couldn't help but grit his teeth and remember the words Rude had scrawled onto his mission briefing, wondering not for the first time why it was always him out of the three who seemed to get into the most trouble.
Then, almost before Reno could allow himself a second thought, the cabin slammed flat and hard into the ground below. Dust blossomed around the fallen cabin in a bloom on dirt and debris, absorbing the form of the blue carriage and the two figures on top of it before all fell eerily silent.
~*~*~*~*~*~
NOTE: Okay, the end to my second chapter - and a lot longer than I'd expected it too. Tell me what you think, because I really need commentary on how I write. I'd love to know what you all think, so please tell me whether I should continue or not. I'm not sure about Reno and Yuffie - they seem to be slightly OOC, but then again, this is my first fic like this, so I'm not sure.
Anyway, I've got to go. Thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be up very soon!
Cya!
Ealinesse