Chapter 17
And so we March
Slamming through, don't fuck with Razorback
Stepping out? You'll feel our Hell on your back
Blood follows blood and we make sure
Life ain't for you and we're the cure
Honesty is my only excuse
Try to rob us of it, but it's no use
Steamroller action crushing all
Victim is your name and you shall fall
-Metallica-
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy, all OC's do belong to me. Lyrics above by Metallica, from 'Master of Puppets,' song: Damage, Inc
A/N: And now we continue.
And so we March:
Sephiroth stepped into the operations room followed by Daitona. They both saluted then took their rightful spots around a large circular table.
"Ahhh, nice of you two to join us. So you are the young girl I've heard about."
Daitona looked at the man who had spoken. He was tall, even sitting. He was built heavy, but Daitona thought it to be more or less muscle; he had a military style hair cut to his sandy blonde hair, and his eyes were a dark royal blue. 'So, he's General Anton? Why am I not surprised that he's trying to intimidate me with that look?' she thought.
"I trust you two have been fairly comfortable since yesterday?" the general went on.
Daitona narrowed her eyes ever so slightly; she was never one to keep her minds thoughts to herself."Actually, no. This camp was built for men, and I really feel uncomfortable when I have to sleep in a room full of them."
The general's eyes went wide. 'So her reputation wasn't just talk. She really does speak her mind when allowed.' "I'm sorry, but you are correct. This fort was not built for female residence. Perhaps an officers quarters would be more proper while you are here?"
Daitona nodded, the general turned his gaze to her silver haired friend.
"And you?"
"I'm fine sir. I have no problems," Sephiroth stated to the military leader. 'Daitona obviously doesn't know how to speak to a general.but I guess he didn't mind. He didn't say anything after all.'
Half way through the long meeting Sephiroth was painfully aware that Daitona was sleeping. She never cared for meetings, but that still wasn't any excuse to fall asleep through ALL of them.
General Anton stopped in the middle of his last lecture and stared at the girl. She was propped up on one hand with her elbow on the table, eyes closed.
"Is she sleeping?" he questioned stupidly.
"Ahhh, yes sir," Sephiroth answered uncomfortably.
"Hmm," the general hummed and rubbed his chin. "Tell me, be truthful now. Are my meetings really that boring?"
Immediately the other commanding officers gestured to 'no.' Sephiroth waited till they were quiet.
"And you? I didn't hear you stated your opinion," Anton pointed out.
"In all honesty sir. I've never been to a more boring meeting in my life," Sephiroth said slowly. 'Now why did I say that? Some of Daitona's bad habits are starting to rub off on me.'
"Go on," the general urged.
Sephiroth sighed and elbowed Daitona in the ribs causing her to wake at last. "I've never been to a meeting that took three and a half hours just to explain orders. Everything I've heard thus far has been fairly simple and you've had to go in depth with things that should come as common sense or have been trained from SOLDIER."
"No kidding," Daitona yawned. "Why did you spend all that time when you could have given orders in less than twenty minutes? I think you like hearing yourself talk." She did as everyone else had and stood, since the meeting was suppose to almost over.
Sephiroth gasped and jabbed her in the ribs again.
"Ouch!" Daitona turned and gave him an evil look. "That really hurts! How'd you like if I did it to you?!" With that Daitona poked Sephiroth in the side with a finger causing him to wince.
They stopped when General Anton started laughing. The other officers had a look of fear and disbelief plastered on their faces; the general continued to laugh. Daitona casted Sephiroth a bewildered look that he could only shrug in answer.
After several minutes the General composed himself enough to quit laughing. "You two are something. It's been a long time since anyone had the nerve enough to tell me what they truly thought. Thank you. Both of you. It's also been a while since I've laughed like that. I have a feeling as a team you two can probably over come anything. I hope to see more of you in the future." He chuckled. "For your short orders, later today soldiers will be arriving and will join your squads. You are to leave tomorrow at dawn for enemy fortress Dal'fa. Defeat the enemy there and occupy the fortress until Commander Zante and his troops arrive. They'll tell you of any changes and your new orders. That is all."
"Yes sir!" Sephiroth saluted then watched to see what Daitona would do.
"Whatever," she sighed and covered he mouth as she yawned.
General Anton smiled and shook his head, then gave a dismissive wave to the two. They left without further word.
****
"Wake up sleepy head. You're not planning on sleeping all day are you?"
Daitona rolled over onto her stomach smacking away the hand that just wouldn't leave her alone. She mumbled a few incoherent words that Sephiroth knew where somewhere along the lines of 'leave me alone of else' or 'go away, let me sleep.'
"Come on, I've already woke our troops. How's it going to look when you're the last one ready?"
Daitona turned her head towards him and opened one glowing eye. "What time is it?" she mumbled tiredly.
"Almost 0400."
She snarled at him then buried her face in a big fluffy pillow. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. He had never had to wake Daitona up before, but he had never thought she'd be this bad.
"You're as useful as a log, you know that?" He sat down on the side of the bed and leaned over Daitona to see is she was listening.
"Oh come on," he whined and shook her by the shoulders; that earned him a harsh slap in the hands. "Ouch, that hurt you."
"Then go away," she mumbled through her pillow.
"But we have to go by dawn," Sephiroth protested.
"Yeah, at dawn." She rolled her face out of the pillow so that her voice wasn't muffled anymore. "Not friken four o'clock in the morning."
Sephiroth gowned. "You're about as stubborn as a log too, you know?"
Daitona opened one eye and looked at him again. "And proud of it."
"Daitona."
"Fine, fine! I give, I give! But I ain't getten up till you're out."
"Have it your way, but if you're not out in the hall and ready in ten minutes." he warned.
"What?" Suddenly both eyes were open and narrowed at him. "You'll come in her and get me. What if I'm in the shower? I'll have to kill you then." She stretched and deliberately kicked Sephiroth off the side of the bed.
"I'll be waiting for you. Do you want me to get your traveling supplies while you take a shower?"
Daitona sat up an rubbed her eyes. "Would you?"
"Normally no, but I don't want you leaving without the proper equipment. And I can see that you need something to help wake you up." Sephiroth crossed his arms. "Are you always like this in the morning?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I take a shower ever morning too to wake me up. I'll be fine in a little bit, I promise."
"I'll be back in twenty minutes, be ready to go then."
"I will."
Sephiroth silently left and walked down the plain hall, then back into the darkened morning. A breeze played through his hair as he made his way to another building, where he knew the supplies to be stored.
Going in, a SOLDIER sitting behind a counter looked up at the one who just walked in. He quickly jumped to his feet at attention.
"At ease," Sephiroth said softly. "I need my travel gear."
"Yes sir." The SOLDIER started to turn but was stopped by Sephiroth's voice again.
"I'll also be taking Commander Daitona's supplies as well."
"But sir." the SOLDIER started to protest.
"She asked me to get them for her. No need to worry, she will get her supplies. We will be marching together for a while after all," Sephiroth pointed out.
The SOLDIER bowed his head in understanding and went into the back to retrieve the necessary supplies for the two commanders.
Sephiroth waited patiently for the SOLDIER to return with the supplies and he did a few minutes later. He went over everything that they were given, then Sephiroth departed with his and Daitona's supplies.
He sighed and stopped at the mess hall for a quick breakfast and was surprised to see a lot of the cadets already there with their supplies. After a quick scan, he found the cadet that had talked to Daitona the day before. Sephiroth quickly made up his mind and got his breakfast, then sat next to the spiky haired cadet.
The cadets that were sitting around immediately tensed, not knowing what to do, at Sephiroth's presence.
"Zack, right?" Sephiroth asked.
"Ahhh." Zack stare with amber eyes at the SOLDIER's commander. "Yes sir."
"You've made an impression on Daitona, you know?" Sephiroth spoke and took a bite of his biscuits and gravy.
"Is that the commanders name? Either of you have yet to properly introduce yourselves to the squads," Zack pointed out.
Sephiroth tilted his head a bit to the side. "Is that right? Then we'll have to make sure to do that before we start out, won't we? You know who I am?"
"I know you are the SOLDIER's commander, sir."
"You can stop with the formality during breakfast. You're right. I'm Commander Sephiroth, 1st class SOLDIER."
"And what about Commander Daitona?" Zack finished his breakfast and pushed his tray away to listen to what the Commander had to say.
"She's 1st class also.for about a month now. She was too young to enter SOLDIER when she went through the training."
"How old is she? I don't think she could be much older than me and I just turned sixteen."
"Sephiroth sighed. "I'm afraid that she may end up the youngest one here, and that's bad considering her position in the military. To answer you question, she turned fifteen a month ago, that's when she was admitted into SOLDIER."
Zack coughed back his surprise. "She is the youngest by a full year! No cadet was allowed over here until they were at least sixteen."
Sephiroth took the news into consideration and shook his head. "I guess it's not really my problem. Whatever fool insults her fist better be able to run, but there's very little chance anyone could out run her. Even if they did Daitona has the endurance to pursue."
"She's strong isn't she?" Zack knew it sounded stupid, but he really didn't care and the commander didn't seem to mind his questions.
"She rivals me, if that answers your question. I guess I should get going." Sephiroth stood up. "I told Daitona I'd meet her in twenty minutes and if I don't leave now I'll be late. She might get mad at me."
Zack nodded and Sephiroth went his own way out of the mess hall. He made his way back to the officer's room then went into Daitona's after knocking.
"I'll be there in just a second." Daitona called as she dragged a brush through her waist length hair.
Sephiroth sat her stuff on the floor then waited for her to finish. Daitona was true to her word and after a minute she came out of the bathroom. Her hair was pulled back loosely, excluding her bands that were as long if not longer than the rest of her hair; it was all still wet and looked darker than it really was. She wore a white shirt with a heavy black vest over it. Here pants were also black and fit loosely.
Daitona shook her head at Sephiroth's staring and sat down to pull on her stander steel toed, black military boots. They were too big for her, but were the smallest pair that were in stock at the fort.
"Well, at least they will protect my shins all the way, huh?" Daitona murmured after lacing up her boots tightly, then stood back up.
Sephiroth didn't comment and picked up his pack and handed Daitona hers. She carefully strapped it on her shoulders then retrieved her swords and belted them at her waist.
"Ready?" Sephiroth asked.
"No. But I guess I have no other choice do I?"
Sephiroth smirked and wrapped his arm around her head, pulling her out into the hall, then closing the door.
"Let go," Daitona demanded as he continued to pull her outside. It was a childish game really, one she could never win once Sephiroth got the upper hand, which he had.
"Not until you say uncle."
"In your dreams!"
Sephiroth laughed and kept walking with her head tucked under his arm towards the mess hall, so that Daitona could get a bite to eat before they had to go.
"Have it your way. I don't care what your cadets and my SOLDIER's think, if you don't."
"You wouldn't dare! Let me go!" Daitona pushed against him but soon gave up, instead her teeth found there way to one of Sephiroth's bare hands.
Sephiroth yelped and quickly let go of his captive. "Dang Daitona, if you were that hungry you should have said something!"
"That'll learn ya!.I mean teach you." Daitona looked a bit confused then shook it off.
"I didn't think I deprived you of that much air. You can't even talk straight anymore," Sephiroth teased.
"Oh, shut up," Daitona grumbled and went into the mess hall leaving Sephiroth behind.
By the time she got her food and found a place to sit he had come in and sat next to her.
"Now, enough play. We need to think of some kind of plan of attack."
"Well, you're in charge of the bulk of our force, I think you should decide," Daitona stated trying to sound like she didn't care.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes recognizing the antic but not sure why Daitona was using it. Then it hit him and he grinned almost wickedly. "You slept through tactics training, didn't you?"
Daitona sighed heavily. "But that guy was even more boring then General Anton. I read the book and everything, but that's only book smart."
Sephiroth shook his head then brought a map out of his pocket and spread it in front of him, but over enough for Daitona to see.
"We're here." Sephiroth drew a red flag on the map. "We're going here." This time he drew a red star, as it was the target.
"It'll take us about a week to get there," Daitona pointed out.
"Yes, and our sources have told us to watch for the enemy within a five mile radius of the enemy fort."
"Then we'll send out sniper scouts when we get close enough."
'She sleeps through everything, and still everything comes easy to her. She has an answer for just about everything.' Sephiroth sighed and drew a big circle around the star. "How about a plan of attack?"
"Shouldn't decide that here." She finished off her breakfast then chugged down her carton of milk. "We don't know how many of the enemy we'll be up against."
"Precisely. We'll have to have a good look at their defensive perimeter before we can make any decisions about our plan of attack."
"You're lecturing me," Daitona accused.
"Have to learn some time. Better now than then." Sephiroth stood up as it was almost time to go and Daitona was finished. He folded his map back up and replaced it back in his pocket.
As Daitona stood up as SOLDIER hastily made his way to them and saluted. "Commander Sephiroth, sir!.and Commander Daitona.ma'am." The SOLDIER frowned. "The SOLDIER's and cadets are all in their ranks and ready to go at you order.s.."
"Very well, has every one got their traveling supplies, guns, and weapons of choice?" Sephiroth asked.
"I checked myself sir. We're ready."
"Then.we'll be off."
The SOLDIER quickly left the mess hall. Sephiroth did the same only a bit slower so he could keep the company of Daitona.
"We have to introduce ourselves to the troops before we leave. Most of them don't even know who we are," Sephiroth advised Daitona hummed a response.
The walk to were the troops were lined up was short, but Sephiroth couldn't help but wonder why Daitona was being so quiet.
"One more thing," Sephiroth stated just before they came into hearing distance of the troops. "Don't tell anyone how old you are."
Daitona frowned. "Why not?"
"I was talking to a cadet this morning and I found out that they are all over sixteen. If they all know they're older than you they may try and push you around. Or at least give you a hard time, and it doesn't look good when to fight your own men."
"My men?" Daitona laughed. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on giving out any unnecessary information about myself anyways. Really, it's none of their business how old I am."
Sephiroth nodded and they came to a stop in front of the ranks of SOLDIER's and cadets.
"I assume you are all prepared for this week long march, that at the end will be a battle. For a lot of you, this will be your first. For some, you have already been defeated and managed to get out alive," Sephiroth's voice became low on the last words; he paused. "For those who don't know who I am, I am Commanding Officer Sephiroth and will be leading the SOLDIER's for however long fate shall have it. I expect everyone's best in battle and to help others when in need."
"In other words," Daitona spoke at last. "You do your part, we'll do ours. I've seen the other commanders here. From what I've heard, they do not go into battle with their men. That will not prove true here. That is the coward way of fighting. Some of you have already had a commander like that and he still managed to get himself killed." Daitona fell silent and looked over the silenced troops. "I am Commanding Officer Daitona, I will lead and train the cadets to the best of my ability."
Daitona's comment earned a few snickers from the cadets. Her shoulders slumped a bit as she sighed.
Sephiroth cleared his throat, immediately regaining the silence. "She is a Commanding Officer and you will respect her. Got that?! Disrespect will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with as seen fit."
Sephiroth's comment made a nervous tension amongst the cadets. Daitona groaned inwardly and rubbed her fore head. 'Oh great, what kind of respect can I possibly get when they're all afraid of what you might do?'
"Move out!" Sephiroth ordered and the sound of hundreds of marching feet filled the morning air.
The sun had yet to rise, but the clouds were already beginning to lighten. Daitona knew that this would be a long day.
****
-End Chapter 17-
A/N: So, how am I doing? I just had to put that part of a Metallica song in there. I think it fits though. Foreshadow of what's to come. Hope everyone likes it and Juzu, you have my apologies. But look at the bright side, at least you'll be able to review after chapter 18.or you could review with anonymous? I still need help with names. Anything will help, especially in the next chapters to come. Thanks for reading everyone!
And so we March
Slamming through, don't fuck with Razorback
Stepping out? You'll feel our Hell on your back
Blood follows blood and we make sure
Life ain't for you and we're the cure
Honesty is my only excuse
Try to rob us of it, but it's no use
Steamroller action crushing all
Victim is your name and you shall fall
-Metallica-
Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy, all OC's do belong to me. Lyrics above by Metallica, from 'Master of Puppets,' song: Damage, Inc
A/N: And now we continue.
And so we March:
Sephiroth stepped into the operations room followed by Daitona. They both saluted then took their rightful spots around a large circular table.
"Ahhh, nice of you two to join us. So you are the young girl I've heard about."
Daitona looked at the man who had spoken. He was tall, even sitting. He was built heavy, but Daitona thought it to be more or less muscle; he had a military style hair cut to his sandy blonde hair, and his eyes were a dark royal blue. 'So, he's General Anton? Why am I not surprised that he's trying to intimidate me with that look?' she thought.
"I trust you two have been fairly comfortable since yesterday?" the general went on.
Daitona narrowed her eyes ever so slightly; she was never one to keep her minds thoughts to herself."Actually, no. This camp was built for men, and I really feel uncomfortable when I have to sleep in a room full of them."
The general's eyes went wide. 'So her reputation wasn't just talk. She really does speak her mind when allowed.' "I'm sorry, but you are correct. This fort was not built for female residence. Perhaps an officers quarters would be more proper while you are here?"
Daitona nodded, the general turned his gaze to her silver haired friend.
"And you?"
"I'm fine sir. I have no problems," Sephiroth stated to the military leader. 'Daitona obviously doesn't know how to speak to a general.but I guess he didn't mind. He didn't say anything after all.'
Half way through the long meeting Sephiroth was painfully aware that Daitona was sleeping. She never cared for meetings, but that still wasn't any excuse to fall asleep through ALL of them.
General Anton stopped in the middle of his last lecture and stared at the girl. She was propped up on one hand with her elbow on the table, eyes closed.
"Is she sleeping?" he questioned stupidly.
"Ahhh, yes sir," Sephiroth answered uncomfortably.
"Hmm," the general hummed and rubbed his chin. "Tell me, be truthful now. Are my meetings really that boring?"
Immediately the other commanding officers gestured to 'no.' Sephiroth waited till they were quiet.
"And you? I didn't hear you stated your opinion," Anton pointed out.
"In all honesty sir. I've never been to a more boring meeting in my life," Sephiroth said slowly. 'Now why did I say that? Some of Daitona's bad habits are starting to rub off on me.'
"Go on," the general urged.
Sephiroth sighed and elbowed Daitona in the ribs causing her to wake at last. "I've never been to a meeting that took three and a half hours just to explain orders. Everything I've heard thus far has been fairly simple and you've had to go in depth with things that should come as common sense or have been trained from SOLDIER."
"No kidding," Daitona yawned. "Why did you spend all that time when you could have given orders in less than twenty minutes? I think you like hearing yourself talk." She did as everyone else had and stood, since the meeting was suppose to almost over.
Sephiroth gasped and jabbed her in the ribs again.
"Ouch!" Daitona turned and gave him an evil look. "That really hurts! How'd you like if I did it to you?!" With that Daitona poked Sephiroth in the side with a finger causing him to wince.
They stopped when General Anton started laughing. The other officers had a look of fear and disbelief plastered on their faces; the general continued to laugh. Daitona casted Sephiroth a bewildered look that he could only shrug in answer.
After several minutes the General composed himself enough to quit laughing. "You two are something. It's been a long time since anyone had the nerve enough to tell me what they truly thought. Thank you. Both of you. It's also been a while since I've laughed like that. I have a feeling as a team you two can probably over come anything. I hope to see more of you in the future." He chuckled. "For your short orders, later today soldiers will be arriving and will join your squads. You are to leave tomorrow at dawn for enemy fortress Dal'fa. Defeat the enemy there and occupy the fortress until Commander Zante and his troops arrive. They'll tell you of any changes and your new orders. That is all."
"Yes sir!" Sephiroth saluted then watched to see what Daitona would do.
"Whatever," she sighed and covered he mouth as she yawned.
General Anton smiled and shook his head, then gave a dismissive wave to the two. They left without further word.
****
"Wake up sleepy head. You're not planning on sleeping all day are you?"
Daitona rolled over onto her stomach smacking away the hand that just wouldn't leave her alone. She mumbled a few incoherent words that Sephiroth knew where somewhere along the lines of 'leave me alone of else' or 'go away, let me sleep.'
"Come on, I've already woke our troops. How's it going to look when you're the last one ready?"
Daitona turned her head towards him and opened one glowing eye. "What time is it?" she mumbled tiredly.
"Almost 0400."
She snarled at him then buried her face in a big fluffy pillow. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. He had never had to wake Daitona up before, but he had never thought she'd be this bad.
"You're as useful as a log, you know that?" He sat down on the side of the bed and leaned over Daitona to see is she was listening.
"Oh come on," he whined and shook her by the shoulders; that earned him a harsh slap in the hands. "Ouch, that hurt you."
"Then go away," she mumbled through her pillow.
"But we have to go by dawn," Sephiroth protested.
"Yeah, at dawn." She rolled her face out of the pillow so that her voice wasn't muffled anymore. "Not friken four o'clock in the morning."
Sephiroth gowned. "You're about as stubborn as a log too, you know?"
Daitona opened one eye and looked at him again. "And proud of it."
"Daitona."
"Fine, fine! I give, I give! But I ain't getten up till you're out."
"Have it your way, but if you're not out in the hall and ready in ten minutes." he warned.
"What?" Suddenly both eyes were open and narrowed at him. "You'll come in her and get me. What if I'm in the shower? I'll have to kill you then." She stretched and deliberately kicked Sephiroth off the side of the bed.
"I'll be waiting for you. Do you want me to get your traveling supplies while you take a shower?"
Daitona sat up an rubbed her eyes. "Would you?"
"Normally no, but I don't want you leaving without the proper equipment. And I can see that you need something to help wake you up." Sephiroth crossed his arms. "Are you always like this in the morning?"
"Unfortunately, yes. I take a shower ever morning too to wake me up. I'll be fine in a little bit, I promise."
"I'll be back in twenty minutes, be ready to go then."
"I will."
Sephiroth silently left and walked down the plain hall, then back into the darkened morning. A breeze played through his hair as he made his way to another building, where he knew the supplies to be stored.
Going in, a SOLDIER sitting behind a counter looked up at the one who just walked in. He quickly jumped to his feet at attention.
"At ease," Sephiroth said softly. "I need my travel gear."
"Yes sir." The SOLDIER started to turn but was stopped by Sephiroth's voice again.
"I'll also be taking Commander Daitona's supplies as well."
"But sir." the SOLDIER started to protest.
"She asked me to get them for her. No need to worry, she will get her supplies. We will be marching together for a while after all," Sephiroth pointed out.
The SOLDIER bowed his head in understanding and went into the back to retrieve the necessary supplies for the two commanders.
Sephiroth waited patiently for the SOLDIER to return with the supplies and he did a few minutes later. He went over everything that they were given, then Sephiroth departed with his and Daitona's supplies.
He sighed and stopped at the mess hall for a quick breakfast and was surprised to see a lot of the cadets already there with their supplies. After a quick scan, he found the cadet that had talked to Daitona the day before. Sephiroth quickly made up his mind and got his breakfast, then sat next to the spiky haired cadet.
The cadets that were sitting around immediately tensed, not knowing what to do, at Sephiroth's presence.
"Zack, right?" Sephiroth asked.
"Ahhh." Zack stare with amber eyes at the SOLDIER's commander. "Yes sir."
"You've made an impression on Daitona, you know?" Sephiroth spoke and took a bite of his biscuits and gravy.
"Is that the commanders name? Either of you have yet to properly introduce yourselves to the squads," Zack pointed out.
Sephiroth tilted his head a bit to the side. "Is that right? Then we'll have to make sure to do that before we start out, won't we? You know who I am?"
"I know you are the SOLDIER's commander, sir."
"You can stop with the formality during breakfast. You're right. I'm Commander Sephiroth, 1st class SOLDIER."
"And what about Commander Daitona?" Zack finished his breakfast and pushed his tray away to listen to what the Commander had to say.
"She's 1st class also.for about a month now. She was too young to enter SOLDIER when she went through the training."
"How old is she? I don't think she could be much older than me and I just turned sixteen."
"Sephiroth sighed. "I'm afraid that she may end up the youngest one here, and that's bad considering her position in the military. To answer you question, she turned fifteen a month ago, that's when she was admitted into SOLDIER."
Zack coughed back his surprise. "She is the youngest by a full year! No cadet was allowed over here until they were at least sixteen."
Sephiroth took the news into consideration and shook his head. "I guess it's not really my problem. Whatever fool insults her fist better be able to run, but there's very little chance anyone could out run her. Even if they did Daitona has the endurance to pursue."
"She's strong isn't she?" Zack knew it sounded stupid, but he really didn't care and the commander didn't seem to mind his questions.
"She rivals me, if that answers your question. I guess I should get going." Sephiroth stood up. "I told Daitona I'd meet her in twenty minutes and if I don't leave now I'll be late. She might get mad at me."
Zack nodded and Sephiroth went his own way out of the mess hall. He made his way back to the officer's room then went into Daitona's after knocking.
"I'll be there in just a second." Daitona called as she dragged a brush through her waist length hair.
Sephiroth sat her stuff on the floor then waited for her to finish. Daitona was true to her word and after a minute she came out of the bathroom. Her hair was pulled back loosely, excluding her bands that were as long if not longer than the rest of her hair; it was all still wet and looked darker than it really was. She wore a white shirt with a heavy black vest over it. Here pants were also black and fit loosely.
Daitona shook her head at Sephiroth's staring and sat down to pull on her stander steel toed, black military boots. They were too big for her, but were the smallest pair that were in stock at the fort.
"Well, at least they will protect my shins all the way, huh?" Daitona murmured after lacing up her boots tightly, then stood back up.
Sephiroth didn't comment and picked up his pack and handed Daitona hers. She carefully strapped it on her shoulders then retrieved her swords and belted them at her waist.
"Ready?" Sephiroth asked.
"No. But I guess I have no other choice do I?"
Sephiroth smirked and wrapped his arm around her head, pulling her out into the hall, then closing the door.
"Let go," Daitona demanded as he continued to pull her outside. It was a childish game really, one she could never win once Sephiroth got the upper hand, which he had.
"Not until you say uncle."
"In your dreams!"
Sephiroth laughed and kept walking with her head tucked under his arm towards the mess hall, so that Daitona could get a bite to eat before they had to go.
"Have it your way. I don't care what your cadets and my SOLDIER's think, if you don't."
"You wouldn't dare! Let me go!" Daitona pushed against him but soon gave up, instead her teeth found there way to one of Sephiroth's bare hands.
Sephiroth yelped and quickly let go of his captive. "Dang Daitona, if you were that hungry you should have said something!"
"That'll learn ya!.I mean teach you." Daitona looked a bit confused then shook it off.
"I didn't think I deprived you of that much air. You can't even talk straight anymore," Sephiroth teased.
"Oh, shut up," Daitona grumbled and went into the mess hall leaving Sephiroth behind.
By the time she got her food and found a place to sit he had come in and sat next to her.
"Now, enough play. We need to think of some kind of plan of attack."
"Well, you're in charge of the bulk of our force, I think you should decide," Daitona stated trying to sound like she didn't care.
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes recognizing the antic but not sure why Daitona was using it. Then it hit him and he grinned almost wickedly. "You slept through tactics training, didn't you?"
Daitona sighed heavily. "But that guy was even more boring then General Anton. I read the book and everything, but that's only book smart."
Sephiroth shook his head then brought a map out of his pocket and spread it in front of him, but over enough for Daitona to see.
"We're here." Sephiroth drew a red flag on the map. "We're going here." This time he drew a red star, as it was the target.
"It'll take us about a week to get there," Daitona pointed out.
"Yes, and our sources have told us to watch for the enemy within a five mile radius of the enemy fort."
"Then we'll send out sniper scouts when we get close enough."
'She sleeps through everything, and still everything comes easy to her. She has an answer for just about everything.' Sephiroth sighed and drew a big circle around the star. "How about a plan of attack?"
"Shouldn't decide that here." She finished off her breakfast then chugged down her carton of milk. "We don't know how many of the enemy we'll be up against."
"Precisely. We'll have to have a good look at their defensive perimeter before we can make any decisions about our plan of attack."
"You're lecturing me," Daitona accused.
"Have to learn some time. Better now than then." Sephiroth stood up as it was almost time to go and Daitona was finished. He folded his map back up and replaced it back in his pocket.
As Daitona stood up as SOLDIER hastily made his way to them and saluted. "Commander Sephiroth, sir!.and Commander Daitona.ma'am." The SOLDIER frowned. "The SOLDIER's and cadets are all in their ranks and ready to go at you order.s.."
"Very well, has every one got their traveling supplies, guns, and weapons of choice?" Sephiroth asked.
"I checked myself sir. We're ready."
"Then.we'll be off."
The SOLDIER quickly left the mess hall. Sephiroth did the same only a bit slower so he could keep the company of Daitona.
"We have to introduce ourselves to the troops before we leave. Most of them don't even know who we are," Sephiroth advised Daitona hummed a response.
The walk to were the troops were lined up was short, but Sephiroth couldn't help but wonder why Daitona was being so quiet.
"One more thing," Sephiroth stated just before they came into hearing distance of the troops. "Don't tell anyone how old you are."
Daitona frowned. "Why not?"
"I was talking to a cadet this morning and I found out that they are all over sixteen. If they all know they're older than you they may try and push you around. Or at least give you a hard time, and it doesn't look good when to fight your own men."
"My men?" Daitona laughed. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on giving out any unnecessary information about myself anyways. Really, it's none of their business how old I am."
Sephiroth nodded and they came to a stop in front of the ranks of SOLDIER's and cadets.
"I assume you are all prepared for this week long march, that at the end will be a battle. For a lot of you, this will be your first. For some, you have already been defeated and managed to get out alive," Sephiroth's voice became low on the last words; he paused. "For those who don't know who I am, I am Commanding Officer Sephiroth and will be leading the SOLDIER's for however long fate shall have it. I expect everyone's best in battle and to help others when in need."
"In other words," Daitona spoke at last. "You do your part, we'll do ours. I've seen the other commanders here. From what I've heard, they do not go into battle with their men. That will not prove true here. That is the coward way of fighting. Some of you have already had a commander like that and he still managed to get himself killed." Daitona fell silent and looked over the silenced troops. "I am Commanding Officer Daitona, I will lead and train the cadets to the best of my ability."
Daitona's comment earned a few snickers from the cadets. Her shoulders slumped a bit as she sighed.
Sephiroth cleared his throat, immediately regaining the silence. "She is a Commanding Officer and you will respect her. Got that?! Disrespect will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with as seen fit."
Sephiroth's comment made a nervous tension amongst the cadets. Daitona groaned inwardly and rubbed her fore head. 'Oh great, what kind of respect can I possibly get when they're all afraid of what you might do?'
"Move out!" Sephiroth ordered and the sound of hundreds of marching feet filled the morning air.
The sun had yet to rise, but the clouds were already beginning to lighten. Daitona knew that this would be a long day.
****
-End Chapter 17-
A/N: So, how am I doing? I just had to put that part of a Metallica song in there. I think it fits though. Foreshadow of what's to come. Hope everyone likes it and Juzu, you have my apologies. But look at the bright side, at least you'll be able to review after chapter 18.or you could review with anonymous? I still need help with names. Anything will help, especially in the next chapters to come. Thanks for reading everyone!