Chapter 10
Danger in Training
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy, but original characters I do. (At least I hope so.)
A/N: Man, all this time at home gives me a lot of time to write. Hope everyone enjoys. Should have chapter 11 up later today or tomorrow.
"This is stupid," Daitona grumbled to Sephiroth. "We've been going out for training for over a month now, and NOW Hojo doesn't trust us."
"He just wants to see how our training's going along. I guess he wants to make sure Lavitz isn't slacking off. We ARE suppose to be the best you know?" Sephiroth said calmly from her side.
They trailed behind Lavitz, Hojo, and the escort SOLDIER as they walked to there training area. As they walked, Hojo interrogated Lavitz on just about all subjects retaining to Sephiroth and Daitona's training. Weather or not he understood the depths of what Lavitz had explained, was yet to be figured out. Why would a scientist be interested in military talk anyways?
"Is it just me of does Hojo have a distinct odor about him?" Daitona smirked.
Sephiroth almost slipped a laugh. "Ok," he said, knowing full well Daitona was tired of walking behind the chattering scientist. "I catch your drift. At the next building. That's where we normally go, isn't it?"
Daitona nodded and walked silently by Sephiroths side until they reached the ally between the two buildings. Sephiroth took the lead, running to jump up the platforms that would lead to the top of the buildings.
Hojo cried out angrily thinking the two teens had ditched them and were attempting to escape. "Where are they going?!" he snarled at Lavitz.
Lavitz silently watched the two make quick progress of the platforms to the top of the building then disappeared. "Don't worry about it, they go the same way every day. It's there way of warming up before practice. It's better than anything I could think up, so I let them do as they please. If we don't get going they'll make it to the training area before us."
They walked a distance then Lavitz shaded his gray eyes from the sun and searched the near by roofs. He pointed, "Look up there. They're warming up as I said. It looks like they're fighting, doesn't it?"
On top of the building Sephiroth quickly put Masamune back in its sheath as Daitona did the same with her sword, then took chase after Sephiroth who was already on the next roof.
Distance passed easily as they jumped from roof to roof, then started there descend back to the ground. The place where they happened to come to level ground was where a giant crack had formed in the plate. Wooden planks covered parts of it making the faulty metal passable. Below the planks and even some at same level, were many wires of various sizes. Even further down yet, were the slums of Midgar. A fall from that height would mean certain death to anyone.
Have been training on these rooftops and planks for a while now; Daitona and Sephiroth were not worried about the danger. They knew the way across well enough.
Daitona had finally caught up with Sephiroth and was running on another set of blanks slightly behind Sephiroth. Beside those two rows of planks the only other direct way across the whole was a thin wire that ran right along between the two rows of plank.
Before they had descended the last rooftop they had spared off again and Daitona had yet to return her swords to its sheath.
Daitona looked over at Sephiroth and smiled. "I'll beat you yet!" she declared.
He shot her a quick look; she only had one sword out now. "No you won't!"
Daitona was just about to but another burst of speed on when she got a feeling that going further was NOT a good idea. They both slowed to a walk when there was a low cracking sound. The feeling she had only got worse as they went further; she stopped. They were very near the opposite side, but her wit was telling her otherwise.
She glanced at Sephiroth warily. "Stop.there's something wrong."
Sephiroth started to turn back to her to tell her 'there was nothing to worry about', when the planks beneath him gave way. The same happened to Daitona except she was lucky enough to have jumped to the wire and ran as best she could on it in hope of helping Sephiroth.
Sephiroth had fallen, but not very far. His shirt had caught onto an old piece of metal and he dangled with nothing beneath him except the slums far below.
Daitona dove down to catch his hand just as his shirt ripped free. Her feet wrapped around the wire, was the only thing keeping them both from the gruesome death that lay far below.
"I'm slipping!" Daitona cried frantically.
"Hold on Daitona. You can do it, just a little longer," Sephiroth assured her; though it wasn't her grip on his had that was the problem. He could feel every time her feet started to slip, then her painful readjustment. Another slip and he knew they didn't have very much time before she couldn't hold on anymore. "Daitona! Look at me!"
Her eyes were tightly squeezed shut. Sephiroth demanded to her again to open her eyes. She did, while at the same time gritting her teeth.
"Listen, they're almost here. Can here them?" Sephiroth asked more calmly than he felt. She didn't respond. "Can't you hear them?"
Lavitz and the SOLDIER were running to the place where they had seen Sephiroth and Daitona fall. There was a bad feeling in the pit on Lavitz's stomach. He hoped beyond hope that they were all right. But he knew well enough what lay below those planks.
They got up to the edge of the whole and relief was what he felt when he seen Daitona holding onto the dangling Sephiroth.
The SOLDIER knelt down and took hold of her feet assuring that she would not fall. Lavitz went down next to him and extended his had down to Sephiroth. Having one free hand he easily took it and was pulled up to the safety of solid ground.
The relief on Daitona's face was unmistakable, as she no longer had the stain of Sephiroth's weight pulling on her. She almost dropped her sword that she had stuck in between her teeth when she felt she had to offer Sephiroth her other hand after her last slip.
The SOLDIER reached down and put a hand on her back and brought her back up. As she came to solid ground her sword fell away carelessly and she wrapped her arms around the SOLDIER until she was completely back up on solid ground.
"I never thought.I'd be so happy to see your ugly face," Daitona smiled weakly. She moved aside and took her sword from where it laid on the ground and re-sheathed it at her side. She turned her eyes to find Sephiroth; he was sitting a short distance from her. "Are you ok Sephiroth.you're bleeding?"
"I'll be ok," Sephiroth assured her with a lazy half smile. "I never knew you could balance across those wires like that though." Lavitz and the SOLDIER agreed with a simple nod of there heads.
Daitona shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was just an adrenalin rush.you know you can do things you normally can't with a rush like that." Sephiroth didn't look like he believed her. "Ok fine! Be that way, I admit it, I was afraid something bad would happen."
"Something 'bad' did happen," Hojo hissed stalking up to the four. "Sephiroth or both of you could have been killed!"
The look on Hojo's face was uncaring. He was only worried about his own well being in the Shinra Company. The loss of either Sephiroth or Daitona was just as well job suicide for him.
"You never cared about us before," Daitona stated venomously, her eyes were glowing brighter than normal. "You could have killed either of us with all that mako you infused into our blood, and you KNOW IT! You don't care and you never did!" Now that she had started she wasn't about ready to stop until she was good and well ready too. "Don't even pretend to care now, if you even can! You're an emotionless bastard who has no common good on this planet except to inflict pain and to induce torture to those around you! The mere sight of you makes people sick and your touch makes their skin craw! Why don't you just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and.!"
"That's ENOUGH!" Lavitz finally interrupted her; her blazing gaze fell upon him like the weight of a stack of bricks.
Daitona's eyes went dull and she bowed her head. "I'm sorry."
"You have no reason to be sorry, unless you apologizing for that little outburst," Lavitz said steadily and ran a hand through his sandy brown hair.
'Hardly!" she sneered.
"Didn't think so, but what happened wasn't solely your fault."
"You're right," Hojo growled, all along glaring daggers at Daitona. 'So that's what she really thinks of me, is it? She's too much like her father for her own good. That little speech was almost word for word what he told me.almost.' Hojo narrowed his eyes and adjusted his gaze to Lavitz. "I don't think you'll be coming out here to train anymore."
With that said he turned and started back towards the Shinra building.
"Go with Hojo," Lavitz ordered the SOLDIRE. "I need to talk to these two alone for a while."
The SOLDIER hesitated then jogged to catch up with the departing Hojo.
"Come on, we'll talk once we're back far enough from this oversized hole."
He stood up first followed by Sephiroth. Daitona slowly pushed herself up as they turned to walk away, her knees gave out and she fell. Sephiroth stopped and helped her to stand and walk to where Lavitz was watching.
"Can you stand on your own?" Lavitz asked.
Sephiroth slowly let go of Daitona, but had to quickly grab her because as before, her legs refused to support her weight.
"This can't be a good sign," Sephiroth murmured and he straightened.
"Let her sit down on that bench." Lavitz pointes a short way down the street towards a bench next to an old building. They mad slow progress to it. Once their Daitona sat down and Lavitz knelt in front of her.
Taking one of her feet, Lavitz gently pulled the pant leg up to examine the problem. "It's not good, but not permanent. Too much strain on the lower muscles of your legs, I'm surprised now, knowing this, that you were able to hold on so long. You badly pulled the muscles, but they should be better after you rest some."
"Yeah, well.I'm not resting here," Daitona grumbled at him. "If you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of this stinking city.and in the slums."
"We'll be alright," Lavitz assured and straightened. "Sephiroth, help her walk until I can find us a safe place to rest a while."
By the time they made it to sector 3, shadows were beginning to appear all around, it was getting late. Only a fool would wonder the streets of Midgar's slums at night, and having a young girl with them didn't help matters at all.
The local drunks were already on the streets, and gave a few catcalls their direction.
"I swear," Daitona growled uncomfortably, clinging to Sephiroth all the more. "If any of them try anything, I'll chop their heads' off."
"Don't worry about them.It's the gangs in this area that worries me," Lavitz said from ahead of them.
Up the street a little ways, Lavitz finally led them into a shabby looking building. It was a sorry excuse for an Inn, but it was either here or out there, and they all would rather be here than the alternative.
Lavitz left Daitona and Sephiroth next to the door while he spoke quietly with the supposed clerk. After a while an exchange of money was made, Lavitz signed a ratty old book, and then turned to his two young companions.
"We can stay here for the night. Go on up stairs, here's the key. It's the last door on the left. I'll be up in a bit. I have to find a phone and call Hojo.tell him what's going on and where we are." Lavitz held out the key to Sephiroth then went with the clerk to a back room to use the phone.
Sephiroth helped Daitona up the rickety old staircase and down the short hall. The building its self had a stench about it that would almost compel on to throw up. Sephiroth was beginning to wonder if this was a real Inn.
'But then.why would Lavitz bring us here? Now, I wonder if we should really trust him.' Sephiroth shook his head ridding himself of the thought.
"You think it too, don't you?" Daitona whispers.
Sephiroth looked down at the top of her head. "What do you mean?"
"Why are we HERE? Do we normally go through this sector on our way back to the building?"
A sudden look of alarm came across Sephiroth's face. 'She's right! We've never went through this sector before.' Unconsciously, he unlocked the warped wooden door and pushed it open. 'Is Daitona thinking the same thing as me?'
"I don't think we should be here." Daitona looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"We should wait for Lavitz," he said carefully. "I'm beginning to think we're on the same train of thought though.but."
"How could he know this would happen today.unless."
"Unless, he planed it.but, how could he have possibly know one or both of us wouldn't have gotten killed?"
"We still have our swords, why don't we just leave?" Daitona suggested.
"We can't, you're hurt, remember? Plus, what has Lavitz done that we 'know' to make us think he's an enemy?" A he spoke he could hear his own doubt.
"He left us, didn't he?" Daitona accused.
As if on cue, as soft knock came at the door and Lavitz peered in. "Everything all right in here?" he asked coming in and closing the door behind him. The tension in the small room was unmistakable, but he gave a cheerier smile anyways. "Hojo wasn't happy and he was fully ready to sent an entire troop out here to get us."
"Why didn't he?" Daitona asked; mistrust was well audible in her accusation.
"We'll be fine here for one night," Lavitz said smoothly. 'Why is she acting like this now? Have I done or said something to make her doubt me? She couldn't possibly.better not to think of it. No telling if either of these two are mind readers.' "Why don't we get some sleep? We've all had a hard day and could use the rest."
"Where are we sleeping? There's only one bed and it doesn't appear to be sanitary," Daitona asked.
"I figured you would think that. I asked the clerk to bring up something to cover up with, but it might take a while. You can lay down where ever you want. I'll stay up and wait for him." Lavitz was becoming a bit distressed about the look he kept getting from the firry young girl.
Sephiroth caught her eyes and shook his head in a gesture for her to drop it. She obliged and sat down in the far corner of the room. Making herself comfortable, sleep came quickly. All the excitement from the day had really taken a lot out of her. Sephiroth followed suit in his own corner and sleep too, clamed him.
****
Hours later, Lavitz made sure the two teens were soundly asleep.then left the room silently. after taking their weapons.
****
-End Chapter 10-
Danger in Training
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy, but original characters I do. (At least I hope so.)
A/N: Man, all this time at home gives me a lot of time to write. Hope everyone enjoys. Should have chapter 11 up later today or tomorrow.
"This is stupid," Daitona grumbled to Sephiroth. "We've been going out for training for over a month now, and NOW Hojo doesn't trust us."
"He just wants to see how our training's going along. I guess he wants to make sure Lavitz isn't slacking off. We ARE suppose to be the best you know?" Sephiroth said calmly from her side.
They trailed behind Lavitz, Hojo, and the escort SOLDIER as they walked to there training area. As they walked, Hojo interrogated Lavitz on just about all subjects retaining to Sephiroth and Daitona's training. Weather or not he understood the depths of what Lavitz had explained, was yet to be figured out. Why would a scientist be interested in military talk anyways?
"Is it just me of does Hojo have a distinct odor about him?" Daitona smirked.
Sephiroth almost slipped a laugh. "Ok," he said, knowing full well Daitona was tired of walking behind the chattering scientist. "I catch your drift. At the next building. That's where we normally go, isn't it?"
Daitona nodded and walked silently by Sephiroths side until they reached the ally between the two buildings. Sephiroth took the lead, running to jump up the platforms that would lead to the top of the buildings.
Hojo cried out angrily thinking the two teens had ditched them and were attempting to escape. "Where are they going?!" he snarled at Lavitz.
Lavitz silently watched the two make quick progress of the platforms to the top of the building then disappeared. "Don't worry about it, they go the same way every day. It's there way of warming up before practice. It's better than anything I could think up, so I let them do as they please. If we don't get going they'll make it to the training area before us."
They walked a distance then Lavitz shaded his gray eyes from the sun and searched the near by roofs. He pointed, "Look up there. They're warming up as I said. It looks like they're fighting, doesn't it?"
On top of the building Sephiroth quickly put Masamune back in its sheath as Daitona did the same with her sword, then took chase after Sephiroth who was already on the next roof.
Distance passed easily as they jumped from roof to roof, then started there descend back to the ground. The place where they happened to come to level ground was where a giant crack had formed in the plate. Wooden planks covered parts of it making the faulty metal passable. Below the planks and even some at same level, were many wires of various sizes. Even further down yet, were the slums of Midgar. A fall from that height would mean certain death to anyone.
Have been training on these rooftops and planks for a while now; Daitona and Sephiroth were not worried about the danger. They knew the way across well enough.
Daitona had finally caught up with Sephiroth and was running on another set of blanks slightly behind Sephiroth. Beside those two rows of planks the only other direct way across the whole was a thin wire that ran right along between the two rows of plank.
Before they had descended the last rooftop they had spared off again and Daitona had yet to return her swords to its sheath.
Daitona looked over at Sephiroth and smiled. "I'll beat you yet!" she declared.
He shot her a quick look; she only had one sword out now. "No you won't!"
Daitona was just about to but another burst of speed on when she got a feeling that going further was NOT a good idea. They both slowed to a walk when there was a low cracking sound. The feeling she had only got worse as they went further; she stopped. They were very near the opposite side, but her wit was telling her otherwise.
She glanced at Sephiroth warily. "Stop.there's something wrong."
Sephiroth started to turn back to her to tell her 'there was nothing to worry about', when the planks beneath him gave way. The same happened to Daitona except she was lucky enough to have jumped to the wire and ran as best she could on it in hope of helping Sephiroth.
Sephiroth had fallen, but not very far. His shirt had caught onto an old piece of metal and he dangled with nothing beneath him except the slums far below.
Daitona dove down to catch his hand just as his shirt ripped free. Her feet wrapped around the wire, was the only thing keeping them both from the gruesome death that lay far below.
"I'm slipping!" Daitona cried frantically.
"Hold on Daitona. You can do it, just a little longer," Sephiroth assured her; though it wasn't her grip on his had that was the problem. He could feel every time her feet started to slip, then her painful readjustment. Another slip and he knew they didn't have very much time before she couldn't hold on anymore. "Daitona! Look at me!"
Her eyes were tightly squeezed shut. Sephiroth demanded to her again to open her eyes. She did, while at the same time gritting her teeth.
"Listen, they're almost here. Can here them?" Sephiroth asked more calmly than he felt. She didn't respond. "Can't you hear them?"
Lavitz and the SOLDIER were running to the place where they had seen Sephiroth and Daitona fall. There was a bad feeling in the pit on Lavitz's stomach. He hoped beyond hope that they were all right. But he knew well enough what lay below those planks.
They got up to the edge of the whole and relief was what he felt when he seen Daitona holding onto the dangling Sephiroth.
The SOLDIER knelt down and took hold of her feet assuring that she would not fall. Lavitz went down next to him and extended his had down to Sephiroth. Having one free hand he easily took it and was pulled up to the safety of solid ground.
The relief on Daitona's face was unmistakable, as she no longer had the stain of Sephiroth's weight pulling on her. She almost dropped her sword that she had stuck in between her teeth when she felt she had to offer Sephiroth her other hand after her last slip.
The SOLDIER reached down and put a hand on her back and brought her back up. As she came to solid ground her sword fell away carelessly and she wrapped her arms around the SOLDIER until she was completely back up on solid ground.
"I never thought.I'd be so happy to see your ugly face," Daitona smiled weakly. She moved aside and took her sword from where it laid on the ground and re-sheathed it at her side. She turned her eyes to find Sephiroth; he was sitting a short distance from her. "Are you ok Sephiroth.you're bleeding?"
"I'll be ok," Sephiroth assured her with a lazy half smile. "I never knew you could balance across those wires like that though." Lavitz and the SOLDIER agreed with a simple nod of there heads.
Daitona shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was just an adrenalin rush.you know you can do things you normally can't with a rush like that." Sephiroth didn't look like he believed her. "Ok fine! Be that way, I admit it, I was afraid something bad would happen."
"Something 'bad' did happen," Hojo hissed stalking up to the four. "Sephiroth or both of you could have been killed!"
The look on Hojo's face was uncaring. He was only worried about his own well being in the Shinra Company. The loss of either Sephiroth or Daitona was just as well job suicide for him.
"You never cared about us before," Daitona stated venomously, her eyes were glowing brighter than normal. "You could have killed either of us with all that mako you infused into our blood, and you KNOW IT! You don't care and you never did!" Now that she had started she wasn't about ready to stop until she was good and well ready too. "Don't even pretend to care now, if you even can! You're an emotionless bastard who has no common good on this planet except to inflict pain and to induce torture to those around you! The mere sight of you makes people sick and your touch makes their skin craw! Why don't you just go back to whatever hole you crawled out of and.!"
"That's ENOUGH!" Lavitz finally interrupted her; her blazing gaze fell upon him like the weight of a stack of bricks.
Daitona's eyes went dull and she bowed her head. "I'm sorry."
"You have no reason to be sorry, unless you apologizing for that little outburst," Lavitz said steadily and ran a hand through his sandy brown hair.
'Hardly!" she sneered.
"Didn't think so, but what happened wasn't solely your fault."
"You're right," Hojo growled, all along glaring daggers at Daitona. 'So that's what she really thinks of me, is it? She's too much like her father for her own good. That little speech was almost word for word what he told me.almost.' Hojo narrowed his eyes and adjusted his gaze to Lavitz. "I don't think you'll be coming out here to train anymore."
With that said he turned and started back towards the Shinra building.
"Go with Hojo," Lavitz ordered the SOLDIRE. "I need to talk to these two alone for a while."
The SOLDIER hesitated then jogged to catch up with the departing Hojo.
"Come on, we'll talk once we're back far enough from this oversized hole."
He stood up first followed by Sephiroth. Daitona slowly pushed herself up as they turned to walk away, her knees gave out and she fell. Sephiroth stopped and helped her to stand and walk to where Lavitz was watching.
"Can you stand on your own?" Lavitz asked.
Sephiroth slowly let go of Daitona, but had to quickly grab her because as before, her legs refused to support her weight.
"This can't be a good sign," Sephiroth murmured and he straightened.
"Let her sit down on that bench." Lavitz pointes a short way down the street towards a bench next to an old building. They mad slow progress to it. Once their Daitona sat down and Lavitz knelt in front of her.
Taking one of her feet, Lavitz gently pulled the pant leg up to examine the problem. "It's not good, but not permanent. Too much strain on the lower muscles of your legs, I'm surprised now, knowing this, that you were able to hold on so long. You badly pulled the muscles, but they should be better after you rest some."
"Yeah, well.I'm not resting here," Daitona grumbled at him. "If you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of this stinking city.and in the slums."
"We'll be alright," Lavitz assured and straightened. "Sephiroth, help her walk until I can find us a safe place to rest a while."
By the time they made it to sector 3, shadows were beginning to appear all around, it was getting late. Only a fool would wonder the streets of Midgar's slums at night, and having a young girl with them didn't help matters at all.
The local drunks were already on the streets, and gave a few catcalls their direction.
"I swear," Daitona growled uncomfortably, clinging to Sephiroth all the more. "If any of them try anything, I'll chop their heads' off."
"Don't worry about them.It's the gangs in this area that worries me," Lavitz said from ahead of them.
Up the street a little ways, Lavitz finally led them into a shabby looking building. It was a sorry excuse for an Inn, but it was either here or out there, and they all would rather be here than the alternative.
Lavitz left Daitona and Sephiroth next to the door while he spoke quietly with the supposed clerk. After a while an exchange of money was made, Lavitz signed a ratty old book, and then turned to his two young companions.
"We can stay here for the night. Go on up stairs, here's the key. It's the last door on the left. I'll be up in a bit. I have to find a phone and call Hojo.tell him what's going on and where we are." Lavitz held out the key to Sephiroth then went with the clerk to a back room to use the phone.
Sephiroth helped Daitona up the rickety old staircase and down the short hall. The building its self had a stench about it that would almost compel on to throw up. Sephiroth was beginning to wonder if this was a real Inn.
'But then.why would Lavitz bring us here? Now, I wonder if we should really trust him.' Sephiroth shook his head ridding himself of the thought.
"You think it too, don't you?" Daitona whispers.
Sephiroth looked down at the top of her head. "What do you mean?"
"Why are we HERE? Do we normally go through this sector on our way back to the building?"
A sudden look of alarm came across Sephiroth's face. 'She's right! We've never went through this sector before.' Unconsciously, he unlocked the warped wooden door and pushed it open. 'Is Daitona thinking the same thing as me?'
"I don't think we should be here." Daitona looked up at him with pleading eyes.
"We should wait for Lavitz," he said carefully. "I'm beginning to think we're on the same train of thought though.but."
"How could he know this would happen today.unless."
"Unless, he planed it.but, how could he have possibly know one or both of us wouldn't have gotten killed?"
"We still have our swords, why don't we just leave?" Daitona suggested.
"We can't, you're hurt, remember? Plus, what has Lavitz done that we 'know' to make us think he's an enemy?" A he spoke he could hear his own doubt.
"He left us, didn't he?" Daitona accused.
As if on cue, as soft knock came at the door and Lavitz peered in. "Everything all right in here?" he asked coming in and closing the door behind him. The tension in the small room was unmistakable, but he gave a cheerier smile anyways. "Hojo wasn't happy and he was fully ready to sent an entire troop out here to get us."
"Why didn't he?" Daitona asked; mistrust was well audible in her accusation.
"We'll be fine here for one night," Lavitz said smoothly. 'Why is she acting like this now? Have I done or said something to make her doubt me? She couldn't possibly.better not to think of it. No telling if either of these two are mind readers.' "Why don't we get some sleep? We've all had a hard day and could use the rest."
"Where are we sleeping? There's only one bed and it doesn't appear to be sanitary," Daitona asked.
"I figured you would think that. I asked the clerk to bring up something to cover up with, but it might take a while. You can lay down where ever you want. I'll stay up and wait for him." Lavitz was becoming a bit distressed about the look he kept getting from the firry young girl.
Sephiroth caught her eyes and shook his head in a gesture for her to drop it. She obliged and sat down in the far corner of the room. Making herself comfortable, sleep came quickly. All the excitement from the day had really taken a lot out of her. Sephiroth followed suit in his own corner and sleep too, clamed him.
****
Hours later, Lavitz made sure the two teens were soundly asleep.then left the room silently. after taking their weapons.
****
-End Chapter 10-