Siro lifted off his helmet and set it down on the bar, shaking his head and
running a hand through his hair.
Aria had always loved his dusty brown hair; he wore his bangs long so that his eyes peered out through a screen of hair. His face was squared and chiseled, the face of a soldier, but his eyes were large like the eyes of a child. They glimmered the green of Mako. Clearly this was what Siro meant about them not being "his" eyes. But Aria still looked sternly into them.
"Of course they're your eyes," said Aria.
"I dunno," said Siro, grinning a bit as he shrugged. "I could've stolen them."
"You're terrible," Aria said, hitting him playfully on the arm.
Siro's eyes turned more serious as he looked at her. "Listen," he said. "I don't want you to worry about me, cause you do this thing with your eyes and-"
"Just shut up and tell the story, Siro," said Ramul.
"Alright," Siro said. And he did. He told the whole story. As he had anticipated, Aria's eyes were filled with worry as she looked at him; he couldn't look into those big sad eyes.
"You see!" exclaimed Siro in exasperation as he gestured wildly at Aria. "I told you! She does the eye thing and makes me feel all guilty and shit!" Ramul started laughing at this.
Aria was not amused, though. Her mouth turned down into a little frown and she said: "Siro Rathunis! This isn't a laughing matter! You two could have died!"
Siro downed another drink and said: "It's always good to be able to laugh at your situation, cause when you can't find a reason to laugh, you know that there's no point in really living at all."
Ramul turned and looked at him. "Dude did you see that on a bumper sticker?"
Siro stomped his foot: "Hell no, I made that one up all on my own!"
"Hey!" said Aria, still looking impatient and disapproving. "I think we had better come up with a plan before we argue over something stupid!"
"Here's a plan," said Siro. "More alcohol!"
"I concur," agreed Ramul, nodding. "Eventually we'll be so plastered that Shinra won't have to kill us.'
Ramul and Siro attempted a high five, missing terribly. Aria slapped her forehead.
"Do either of you care what happens to you?"
"Course we care," said Siro. "We just don't really see any point in worrying about it."
"Do you know how I would feel if you were killed?" Aria said, standing up and pointing at Siro. Her eyes were suddenly shimmering a bit too much.
This one hit Siro. He grabbed her and held her to him. "Listen," Siro said. "We promise we won't die, okay?"
"Promise?" Aria's voice cracked slightly. "It's just, it's already so hard when you two are gone, I couldn't imagine-"
"Don't worry," Siro said, looking into her eyes. "We'll come up with something okay?"
"Well," said Ramul, his voice suddenly very serious. "Two things are certain: firstly we can't stay here in Midgar any longer, secondly we have to do whatever we're doing right away."
"Why this sudden change of spirit, Ramul?" Asked Siro.
"Because there are suddenly lots of Shinra radio transmitions soaring around." Siro noticed now that the shade of Ramul's goggles had darkened as he scanned for radio waves. "There's definitely some sort of large scale search going on."
"Couldn't it be for those other guys who were in the tower, or maybe even Sephiroth?" asked Siro hopefully.
"It doesn't matter," said Ramul, shaking his head. "Regardless of who they are searching for, Shinra is out in force, and they won't hesitate to apprehend us even if we aren't their current target."
"Ah," said Siro. "Noted."
"Then I'm coming with you!" Said Aria.
"I can't let you!" Said Siro, shaking his head. "I don't want to put you into any danger."
"I'm already in danger every day!" Aria said, gesticulating at the room. "This isn't a safe part of town, you know. And what if the plate comes down, like it did on sector 7? Then what?"
"She has a point, Siro," said Ramul, pouring more drinks behind the bar.
Siro turned his head to one side. "Yeah, alright," he said. "But if the going gets too tough, then I want you to go somewhere safe."
"Siro!" She said, stomping her foot. "Quit pretending I can't look out for myself." At this she gestured to something mounted on the wall.
It was a bow, crafted from strong metal. It looked state of the art, especially with the two linked Materia slots built into the handle. It had been a gift from her father, who traveled the world selling weapons. She rarely needed to use it, but whenever there was a situation where she was in trouble (and like it or not, she sometimes was) she could use the bow to its fullest.
Siro laughed sheepishly. "Alright," he said. "I guess you're right. Besides, it'll be good to have you along."
"Softie," said Ramul, passing him and Aria glasses of the liquid.
Aria pushed the glass away. "No," she said, shaking her head. "We're leaving tonight, and I want to be at my fullest!"
"Alright, Ms. Adventurer," Siro said, accepting his drink. "But I don't wanna be thirsty.'
"Ms. Adventurer?" Said Aria. "Oddly appropriate..."
Siro started laughing at this and Aria joined in. But suddenly Ramul held up a clawed hand. His goggles were glowing red and he was staring, motionless, at the door.
Siro lowered his voice. "What's up?'
"Company..." And at this the door smashed open.
"Oh dear gods," said Siro, as he saw who it was. "There's a fine line between persistence and being god damned annoying!"
It was the SOLDIER 3rd Class from Shinra tower. He had, obviously, followed them all this way. His arm now hung uselessly at his side and one of his shoulder pads had broken off. He was panting and out of breath, but now posed proudly and said:
"You two are under arrest under orders from Shinra high command, you have the right to remain silent."
"Under what charges," said Ramul, taking a furtive step towards the SOLDIER.
"Resisting arrest," the SOLDIER said, ticking off his fingers. "Assaulting a Shinra officer, stealing and operating Air Combatant gear, resisting arrest..."
Siro sighed as the list went on and on. But he noticed something; Ramul was moving very slowly towards the door, behind the SOLDIER. The SOLDIER, too busy remembering charges, did not notice.
The SOLDIER's voice peaked in enthusiasm as he said: "And assisting in a mass murder of Shinra personnel!"
"Bullshit!" Yelled Siro. "We weren't even there until everyone was dead already. HQ can confirm it, they sent us!"
"I'm not here to ask anything," said the SOLDIER. "I'm here to arrest you!"
"Your arm looks pretty bad," said Aria softly.
"I-um," the SOLDIER's pose became less aggressive for a moment. "I was attacked by a band of terrorists within the tower. But that's not important..."
"What's you name?" Asked Siro for the sheer purpose of distracting the SOLDIER another few seconds.
"My name is Aloden...hey wait!" He shook his head. "Why am I talking to you? I need to report this"
The SOLDIER clicked the side of his helmet. "Headquarters, this is-"
And that is all that he said, because in an instant Siro had crossed the room and hit Aloden with an uppercut so hard that it knocked off his damaged helmet. The SOLDIER 3rd Class did a full back flip with the force of the blow before landing hard on his stomach.
"Woops!" Said Siro with a tone of embarrassment. "Once again, I really need to get a hang of this Mako thing."
"Is he...dead?" Aria asked. To answer her question, the young man twitched and started to raise himself up off his chest.
"Oh, no," said Ramul, slapping his head. "I don't think he knows how to die."
"Not till he gets promoted," Siro said, stepping back into attack position.
"Ow," said the SOLDIER, lifting himself onto his knees. He was young, very young. By the look of his lean, child-like face the boy could not have been a day over sixteen. His left eye was swollen shut from an earlier blow, but the other eye was abnormally large and glowed with Mako. He shook his long, brown hair free from where it was stuck in his collar and stood up shakily.
"I guess I should've expected a fight," the boy said, rubbing his chin, which had a bleeding cut on it. "So...have at you!" Aloden reached for his Shinra Hardedge with his good hand. He got it out and extended it at Siro.
THWACK Ramul knocked Aloden on the top of the head with his oversized hand. As expected, the SOLDIER went down and stayed down: out cold.
"Well," said Ramul. "It won't be long before they find out where we are."
"So what do we do?" Asked Aria, watching the unconscious SOLDIER intently.
"We need to leave," said Siro, putting back on his helmet. "Right now."
Aria had always loved his dusty brown hair; he wore his bangs long so that his eyes peered out through a screen of hair. His face was squared and chiseled, the face of a soldier, but his eyes were large like the eyes of a child. They glimmered the green of Mako. Clearly this was what Siro meant about them not being "his" eyes. But Aria still looked sternly into them.
"Of course they're your eyes," said Aria.
"I dunno," said Siro, grinning a bit as he shrugged. "I could've stolen them."
"You're terrible," Aria said, hitting him playfully on the arm.
Siro's eyes turned more serious as he looked at her. "Listen," he said. "I don't want you to worry about me, cause you do this thing with your eyes and-"
"Just shut up and tell the story, Siro," said Ramul.
"Alright," Siro said. And he did. He told the whole story. As he had anticipated, Aria's eyes were filled with worry as she looked at him; he couldn't look into those big sad eyes.
"You see!" exclaimed Siro in exasperation as he gestured wildly at Aria. "I told you! She does the eye thing and makes me feel all guilty and shit!" Ramul started laughing at this.
Aria was not amused, though. Her mouth turned down into a little frown and she said: "Siro Rathunis! This isn't a laughing matter! You two could have died!"
Siro downed another drink and said: "It's always good to be able to laugh at your situation, cause when you can't find a reason to laugh, you know that there's no point in really living at all."
Ramul turned and looked at him. "Dude did you see that on a bumper sticker?"
Siro stomped his foot: "Hell no, I made that one up all on my own!"
"Hey!" said Aria, still looking impatient and disapproving. "I think we had better come up with a plan before we argue over something stupid!"
"Here's a plan," said Siro. "More alcohol!"
"I concur," agreed Ramul, nodding. "Eventually we'll be so plastered that Shinra won't have to kill us.'
Ramul and Siro attempted a high five, missing terribly. Aria slapped her forehead.
"Do either of you care what happens to you?"
"Course we care," said Siro. "We just don't really see any point in worrying about it."
"Do you know how I would feel if you were killed?" Aria said, standing up and pointing at Siro. Her eyes were suddenly shimmering a bit too much.
This one hit Siro. He grabbed her and held her to him. "Listen," Siro said. "We promise we won't die, okay?"
"Promise?" Aria's voice cracked slightly. "It's just, it's already so hard when you two are gone, I couldn't imagine-"
"Don't worry," Siro said, looking into her eyes. "We'll come up with something okay?"
"Well," said Ramul, his voice suddenly very serious. "Two things are certain: firstly we can't stay here in Midgar any longer, secondly we have to do whatever we're doing right away."
"Why this sudden change of spirit, Ramul?" Asked Siro.
"Because there are suddenly lots of Shinra radio transmitions soaring around." Siro noticed now that the shade of Ramul's goggles had darkened as he scanned for radio waves. "There's definitely some sort of large scale search going on."
"Couldn't it be for those other guys who were in the tower, or maybe even Sephiroth?" asked Siro hopefully.
"It doesn't matter," said Ramul, shaking his head. "Regardless of who they are searching for, Shinra is out in force, and they won't hesitate to apprehend us even if we aren't their current target."
"Ah," said Siro. "Noted."
"Then I'm coming with you!" Said Aria.
"I can't let you!" Said Siro, shaking his head. "I don't want to put you into any danger."
"I'm already in danger every day!" Aria said, gesticulating at the room. "This isn't a safe part of town, you know. And what if the plate comes down, like it did on sector 7? Then what?"
"She has a point, Siro," said Ramul, pouring more drinks behind the bar.
Siro turned his head to one side. "Yeah, alright," he said. "But if the going gets too tough, then I want you to go somewhere safe."
"Siro!" She said, stomping her foot. "Quit pretending I can't look out for myself." At this she gestured to something mounted on the wall.
It was a bow, crafted from strong metal. It looked state of the art, especially with the two linked Materia slots built into the handle. It had been a gift from her father, who traveled the world selling weapons. She rarely needed to use it, but whenever there was a situation where she was in trouble (and like it or not, she sometimes was) she could use the bow to its fullest.
Siro laughed sheepishly. "Alright," he said. "I guess you're right. Besides, it'll be good to have you along."
"Softie," said Ramul, passing him and Aria glasses of the liquid.
Aria pushed the glass away. "No," she said, shaking her head. "We're leaving tonight, and I want to be at my fullest!"
"Alright, Ms. Adventurer," Siro said, accepting his drink. "But I don't wanna be thirsty.'
"Ms. Adventurer?" Said Aria. "Oddly appropriate..."
Siro started laughing at this and Aria joined in. But suddenly Ramul held up a clawed hand. His goggles were glowing red and he was staring, motionless, at the door.
Siro lowered his voice. "What's up?'
"Company..." And at this the door smashed open.
"Oh dear gods," said Siro, as he saw who it was. "There's a fine line between persistence and being god damned annoying!"
It was the SOLDIER 3rd Class from Shinra tower. He had, obviously, followed them all this way. His arm now hung uselessly at his side and one of his shoulder pads had broken off. He was panting and out of breath, but now posed proudly and said:
"You two are under arrest under orders from Shinra high command, you have the right to remain silent."
"Under what charges," said Ramul, taking a furtive step towards the SOLDIER.
"Resisting arrest," the SOLDIER said, ticking off his fingers. "Assaulting a Shinra officer, stealing and operating Air Combatant gear, resisting arrest..."
Siro sighed as the list went on and on. But he noticed something; Ramul was moving very slowly towards the door, behind the SOLDIER. The SOLDIER, too busy remembering charges, did not notice.
The SOLDIER's voice peaked in enthusiasm as he said: "And assisting in a mass murder of Shinra personnel!"
"Bullshit!" Yelled Siro. "We weren't even there until everyone was dead already. HQ can confirm it, they sent us!"
"I'm not here to ask anything," said the SOLDIER. "I'm here to arrest you!"
"Your arm looks pretty bad," said Aria softly.
"I-um," the SOLDIER's pose became less aggressive for a moment. "I was attacked by a band of terrorists within the tower. But that's not important..."
"What's you name?" Asked Siro for the sheer purpose of distracting the SOLDIER another few seconds.
"My name is Aloden...hey wait!" He shook his head. "Why am I talking to you? I need to report this"
The SOLDIER clicked the side of his helmet. "Headquarters, this is-"
And that is all that he said, because in an instant Siro had crossed the room and hit Aloden with an uppercut so hard that it knocked off his damaged helmet. The SOLDIER 3rd Class did a full back flip with the force of the blow before landing hard on his stomach.
"Woops!" Said Siro with a tone of embarrassment. "Once again, I really need to get a hang of this Mako thing."
"Is he...dead?" Aria asked. To answer her question, the young man twitched and started to raise himself up off his chest.
"Oh, no," said Ramul, slapping his head. "I don't think he knows how to die."
"Not till he gets promoted," Siro said, stepping back into attack position.
"Ow," said the SOLDIER, lifting himself onto his knees. He was young, very young. By the look of his lean, child-like face the boy could not have been a day over sixteen. His left eye was swollen shut from an earlier blow, but the other eye was abnormally large and glowed with Mako. He shook his long, brown hair free from where it was stuck in his collar and stood up shakily.
"I guess I should've expected a fight," the boy said, rubbing his chin, which had a bleeding cut on it. "So...have at you!" Aloden reached for his Shinra Hardedge with his good hand. He got it out and extended it at Siro.
THWACK Ramul knocked Aloden on the top of the head with his oversized hand. As expected, the SOLDIER went down and stayed down: out cold.
"Well," said Ramul. "It won't be long before they find out where we are."
"So what do we do?" Asked Aria, watching the unconscious SOLDIER intently.
"We need to leave," said Siro, putting back on his helmet. "Right now."