The Forgotten
Chapter 22: Hope.
The furry beast known as Nanaki in his hometown of Cosmos Canyon wandered towards his tent, his paws digging into the rough rock ground with each stride. He had taken his revenge, to a certain degree anyway. He easily defeated Talenous and would have finished the job had the situation not been as dire. The knowledgeable beast knew when to block out his emotions; he is probably the wisest amongst the group, spare Akira. He strode through the cavern, taking in his surroundings. The tents scattered around, the main tents, which he had just come from, behind him and up against the cavern wall. The other tents held the highest ranks, people such as himself, Stratus and Blain. The rest of the soldiers had gathered wherever they could, some in cavern but most lining the walls of the caves entrance. He arrived at his tent and stepped in, the makeshift door held open by a piece of wood. His wife, Shika was lying on her side, asleep. His cubs arranged around the floor, all soundly asleep. He squeezed himself next to his wife and felt himself drift into sleep.
----
Meanwhile, Vincent had approached Blain, who was standing outside the cave, gazing at the stars.
"I thought I was heartless." Informed Vincent stopping just behind the Bounty Hunter. "You have no honer, you're just a pathetic piece of Bounty Hunter trash."
"This coming from a hideous monster!" countered Blain who had turned to face the dark Vincent Valentine. "I don't know what the others see in you, how they can stand being near you and not puking!"
Vincent suddenly slashed out with his claw, cutting the man's cheek and knocking him backwards. "Fuck you!" spat the former Turk. Blain just laughed and got to his feet, before charging with his own attack. He swung at Vincent, who dodged easily. Before Blain could throw another punch he felt his arms being yanked back.
"You have no idea how wrong you are about Vinnie!" yelled Yuffie, throwing Blain away from Vincent. Blain stumbled backwards, and then laughed.
"How sweet, the Monster has a girlfriend!" laughed Blain dusting himself off.
"What of it? Get out of here, Vinnie is right about you. You have no honer."
"If you say so." Blain left, striding back into the cave leaving Yuffie alone with Vincent.
"You didn't have to do that Yuffie. I wanted to beat him up." Vincent explained, stepping up to the woman.
"Oh Vinnie. I just needed to show him how wrong he was, you don't believe what he said do you?" asked the Wutain leader.
"I'm not sure. He did have a point, I can't explain why you can stand me being around you either." Said Vincent, sadness present in his usual dry voice.
"Your impossible Vincent!" cried Yuffie. "If I didn't like you I would tell you, as a matter of fact I happen to like you very much. I just hate seeing you like this. I want to change that. That's what I've been trying to do. To get you to understand that it doesn't matter what you look like. That your so-called sins aren't your fault, more like Hojo's fault! Your just another victim." She couldn't stop the slight traces of tears forming in her eyes. She just hated seeing him like this.
"Yuffie I." Stuttered Vincent. He didn't know what to say after all. He just had to say something. Do something. With that he brought his hand to her face and whipped away the tears that had formed at her eyes.
She shuddered at his touch. Had he just touched her? Vincent Valentine had touched her. Maybe she was getting through to him. She looked up to see him walking away. What just happened?
----
The air was torn up as the airship flew through the air, stopping just above the Junon helipad. It floated there for a moment, before slowly lowering itself to the ground. Wind was whipped into the faces of the soldiers awaiting the arrival of the dark warrior. A few seconds passed before the door to the huge airship slid open and out stepped the self proclaimed soon to be destroyer of Avalanche.
"Mister Jardel, good to see you." bumbled one of the soldiers nearest to the man. "This way sir."
"Back off soldiers!" came a voice behind the shroud of soldiers. The soldiers moved and revealed General Talenous, his battle worn face wearing a smirk.
"Talenous. What do you want?" growled Piper. Talenous just laughed and approached the man.
"You're here for one reason only, to take your revenge. I am still in charge of this base and I expect you to do as I tell you." Ordered the General.
"Not anymore Talenous, I am in charge now. You can run your base anyway you want, but I expect everyone to stay the hell out of my way. That includes you pathetic soldiers. Now move!" spat the multi skilled warrior. Not waiting for a reply, he pushed past Talenous.
----
Stratus woke with a gasp sweat pouring over his face. A nightmare. Rubbing his eyes, he climbed to his feet and staggered over to the door for his tent, ducking so he didn't hit his head on the so-called roof. He made his way to the exit of the cave, shielding his eyes from the blinding sun.
"Good Morning." Came a voice behind him. He recognised it as Gale.
"Hey." He called back as she wandered over next to him.
"Your up early." She commented.
"Nightmare." He answered quickly.
"Oh. What about?"
"I was chained to a wall. Watching Lance get tortured. I tried and tried to get free but no matter what I did I couldn't. Then a voice kept toying with me, laughing at me and calling me weak. How I couldn't protect my friends." He confessed.
"Oh. That sounds terrible, but it's just a dream. Think nothing of it. You're not weak. You strong, and you can protect your friends. Just like we can you. Okay?" she comforted, taking his hand.
"Yeah. I know." He squeezed tightly, giving her a look that said 'thank you'.
"You two ready?" Yuffie interrupted. They both turned and nodded and went to prepare for their next task. Getting Lance back.
----
The door cracked open, sensing a wave of light into Lance eyes. He squinted, momentarily blinded by the intense light in the darkness of his cell. After his vision cleared he looked up to see a man dressed in a dark cloak. His face covered by his brown hair that hung over his face.
"You must be Lance Hunter." The man let out a laugh.
"Who. Are you?" Choked Lance, finding it rather hard to talk.
"You can call me Piper. I bet you have a lot of questions. Like why haven't you killed me? But frankly, I don't give a shit! You where trained by Barret Wallace, am I correct? No need to answer. I know I am. You're practically his son. The son of a murderous bastard!" he shouted his last word, they echoed in the small room.
"What?" coughed Lance. "Barret would never. Do such a thing."
"You lie! He murdered my family, killed my Mother and Father! Along with that bastard Cloud and his bitch Tifa! You are the one who is lying! But don't worry, they will pay for what they did." His voice was gruff with anger.
"But." Lance tried to protest. He knew his Barret would never kill anyone in cold blood, unless they worked for Shinra that is.
"You see Lance. For the last twenty years I have been training. Learning the arts that they themselves perfected. I am a master of the Blade. The gun. Martial Arts. Everything that they ever used I will use against them. I am the perfect killing machine, and I will take my vengeance on them." The finished his speech with a shot to Lance's ribs, causing blood to leap out of his mouth.
"Once your friends arrive to help you, mainly the son of Avalanche leader. I will take my revenge on them, by taking their son! Like they took my parents. Then I will deal with you and the rest of your friends." With that he left the room, satisfied for the moment.
Lance just hung his head, the throbbing in his ribs not subsiding. He figured it wouldn't for quite some time, that man packed one hell of a punch. He just couldn't understand why he believed Avalanche murdered his parents. The only possible answer would be that they where soldiers for Shinra. That wouldn't mean they signed up knowing it could very well happen, but why do that when you have a baby at home. It didn't make sense, especially both parents.
----
The group had left for Junon not long after Stratus woke and would soon be arriving. They had planned to land on the roof, fight their way through the soldiers and rescue Lance. It was probably the most stupid plan anyone had ever come up with but what else could they do. They where expected after all.
"Stratus. Stay calm and you will do fine." Whispered Akira, who had moved over to sit next to him. He gave a nod as a reply and then sat back to watch the horizon. He soon spotted Junon and time seemed to slow down as they slowly approached the building. He was shook out of his thoughts as cannon fire erupted from the turrets surrounding Junon's main base. The small craft dodged easily, piloted by the former Turk Vincent Valentine. After a few quick dodged they approached the building's roof and the rest of the team jumped out onto the roof, leaving Yuffie and Vincent alone.
Stratus, Gale, Red and Akira landed soundly as Gale cast a barrier around them, preventing the shower of bullets that had been unloaded at them from doing any damage.
"We need to get past these guys quickly!" yelled Akira over the gunfire.
"Gotcha!" smirked Stratus bringing his Buster Sword up and preparing to unleash his Flare attack. The green Materia glowed and then a wave of intense red energy was unleashed upon the soldiers, burning them to shreds and leaving them as steaming carcases.
"Nice." Was all Akira could say before another shot was heard. The group all looked towards the attacker. General Talenous.
"I'll handle this. Go get Lance." Growled the guardian of Cosmos Canyon. The rest nodded and proceeded to the stairwell that led to lower levels, and Lance.
"So the ever faithful guardian wants another round. Very well."
"Let's get this over with, I have a friend to rescue." Without further delay Red sprang forward, dodging the on coming bullets with ease before leaping forward.
----
Chapter 22: Hope.
The furry beast known as Nanaki in his hometown of Cosmos Canyon wandered towards his tent, his paws digging into the rough rock ground with each stride. He had taken his revenge, to a certain degree anyway. He easily defeated Talenous and would have finished the job had the situation not been as dire. The knowledgeable beast knew when to block out his emotions; he is probably the wisest amongst the group, spare Akira. He strode through the cavern, taking in his surroundings. The tents scattered around, the main tents, which he had just come from, behind him and up against the cavern wall. The other tents held the highest ranks, people such as himself, Stratus and Blain. The rest of the soldiers had gathered wherever they could, some in cavern but most lining the walls of the caves entrance. He arrived at his tent and stepped in, the makeshift door held open by a piece of wood. His wife, Shika was lying on her side, asleep. His cubs arranged around the floor, all soundly asleep. He squeezed himself next to his wife and felt himself drift into sleep.
----
Meanwhile, Vincent had approached Blain, who was standing outside the cave, gazing at the stars.
"I thought I was heartless." Informed Vincent stopping just behind the Bounty Hunter. "You have no honer, you're just a pathetic piece of Bounty Hunter trash."
"This coming from a hideous monster!" countered Blain who had turned to face the dark Vincent Valentine. "I don't know what the others see in you, how they can stand being near you and not puking!"
Vincent suddenly slashed out with his claw, cutting the man's cheek and knocking him backwards. "Fuck you!" spat the former Turk. Blain just laughed and got to his feet, before charging with his own attack. He swung at Vincent, who dodged easily. Before Blain could throw another punch he felt his arms being yanked back.
"You have no idea how wrong you are about Vinnie!" yelled Yuffie, throwing Blain away from Vincent. Blain stumbled backwards, and then laughed.
"How sweet, the Monster has a girlfriend!" laughed Blain dusting himself off.
"What of it? Get out of here, Vinnie is right about you. You have no honer."
"If you say so." Blain left, striding back into the cave leaving Yuffie alone with Vincent.
"You didn't have to do that Yuffie. I wanted to beat him up." Vincent explained, stepping up to the woman.
"Oh Vinnie. I just needed to show him how wrong he was, you don't believe what he said do you?" asked the Wutain leader.
"I'm not sure. He did have a point, I can't explain why you can stand me being around you either." Said Vincent, sadness present in his usual dry voice.
"Your impossible Vincent!" cried Yuffie. "If I didn't like you I would tell you, as a matter of fact I happen to like you very much. I just hate seeing you like this. I want to change that. That's what I've been trying to do. To get you to understand that it doesn't matter what you look like. That your so-called sins aren't your fault, more like Hojo's fault! Your just another victim." She couldn't stop the slight traces of tears forming in her eyes. She just hated seeing him like this.
"Yuffie I." Stuttered Vincent. He didn't know what to say after all. He just had to say something. Do something. With that he brought his hand to her face and whipped away the tears that had formed at her eyes.
She shuddered at his touch. Had he just touched her? Vincent Valentine had touched her. Maybe she was getting through to him. She looked up to see him walking away. What just happened?
----
The air was torn up as the airship flew through the air, stopping just above the Junon helipad. It floated there for a moment, before slowly lowering itself to the ground. Wind was whipped into the faces of the soldiers awaiting the arrival of the dark warrior. A few seconds passed before the door to the huge airship slid open and out stepped the self proclaimed soon to be destroyer of Avalanche.
"Mister Jardel, good to see you." bumbled one of the soldiers nearest to the man. "This way sir."
"Back off soldiers!" came a voice behind the shroud of soldiers. The soldiers moved and revealed General Talenous, his battle worn face wearing a smirk.
"Talenous. What do you want?" growled Piper. Talenous just laughed and approached the man.
"You're here for one reason only, to take your revenge. I am still in charge of this base and I expect you to do as I tell you." Ordered the General.
"Not anymore Talenous, I am in charge now. You can run your base anyway you want, but I expect everyone to stay the hell out of my way. That includes you pathetic soldiers. Now move!" spat the multi skilled warrior. Not waiting for a reply, he pushed past Talenous.
----
Stratus woke with a gasp sweat pouring over his face. A nightmare. Rubbing his eyes, he climbed to his feet and staggered over to the door for his tent, ducking so he didn't hit his head on the so-called roof. He made his way to the exit of the cave, shielding his eyes from the blinding sun.
"Good Morning." Came a voice behind him. He recognised it as Gale.
"Hey." He called back as she wandered over next to him.
"Your up early." She commented.
"Nightmare." He answered quickly.
"Oh. What about?"
"I was chained to a wall. Watching Lance get tortured. I tried and tried to get free but no matter what I did I couldn't. Then a voice kept toying with me, laughing at me and calling me weak. How I couldn't protect my friends." He confessed.
"Oh. That sounds terrible, but it's just a dream. Think nothing of it. You're not weak. You strong, and you can protect your friends. Just like we can you. Okay?" she comforted, taking his hand.
"Yeah. I know." He squeezed tightly, giving her a look that said 'thank you'.
"You two ready?" Yuffie interrupted. They both turned and nodded and went to prepare for their next task. Getting Lance back.
----
The door cracked open, sensing a wave of light into Lance eyes. He squinted, momentarily blinded by the intense light in the darkness of his cell. After his vision cleared he looked up to see a man dressed in a dark cloak. His face covered by his brown hair that hung over his face.
"You must be Lance Hunter." The man let out a laugh.
"Who. Are you?" Choked Lance, finding it rather hard to talk.
"You can call me Piper. I bet you have a lot of questions. Like why haven't you killed me? But frankly, I don't give a shit! You where trained by Barret Wallace, am I correct? No need to answer. I know I am. You're practically his son. The son of a murderous bastard!" he shouted his last word, they echoed in the small room.
"What?" coughed Lance. "Barret would never. Do such a thing."
"You lie! He murdered my family, killed my Mother and Father! Along with that bastard Cloud and his bitch Tifa! You are the one who is lying! But don't worry, they will pay for what they did." His voice was gruff with anger.
"But." Lance tried to protest. He knew his Barret would never kill anyone in cold blood, unless they worked for Shinra that is.
"You see Lance. For the last twenty years I have been training. Learning the arts that they themselves perfected. I am a master of the Blade. The gun. Martial Arts. Everything that they ever used I will use against them. I am the perfect killing machine, and I will take my vengeance on them." The finished his speech with a shot to Lance's ribs, causing blood to leap out of his mouth.
"Once your friends arrive to help you, mainly the son of Avalanche leader. I will take my revenge on them, by taking their son! Like they took my parents. Then I will deal with you and the rest of your friends." With that he left the room, satisfied for the moment.
Lance just hung his head, the throbbing in his ribs not subsiding. He figured it wouldn't for quite some time, that man packed one hell of a punch. He just couldn't understand why he believed Avalanche murdered his parents. The only possible answer would be that they where soldiers for Shinra. That wouldn't mean they signed up knowing it could very well happen, but why do that when you have a baby at home. It didn't make sense, especially both parents.
----
The group had left for Junon not long after Stratus woke and would soon be arriving. They had planned to land on the roof, fight their way through the soldiers and rescue Lance. It was probably the most stupid plan anyone had ever come up with but what else could they do. They where expected after all.
"Stratus. Stay calm and you will do fine." Whispered Akira, who had moved over to sit next to him. He gave a nod as a reply and then sat back to watch the horizon. He soon spotted Junon and time seemed to slow down as they slowly approached the building. He was shook out of his thoughts as cannon fire erupted from the turrets surrounding Junon's main base. The small craft dodged easily, piloted by the former Turk Vincent Valentine. After a few quick dodged they approached the building's roof and the rest of the team jumped out onto the roof, leaving Yuffie and Vincent alone.
Stratus, Gale, Red and Akira landed soundly as Gale cast a barrier around them, preventing the shower of bullets that had been unloaded at them from doing any damage.
"We need to get past these guys quickly!" yelled Akira over the gunfire.
"Gotcha!" smirked Stratus bringing his Buster Sword up and preparing to unleash his Flare attack. The green Materia glowed and then a wave of intense red energy was unleashed upon the soldiers, burning them to shreds and leaving them as steaming carcases.
"Nice." Was all Akira could say before another shot was heard. The group all looked towards the attacker. General Talenous.
"I'll handle this. Go get Lance." Growled the guardian of Cosmos Canyon. The rest nodded and proceeded to the stairwell that led to lower levels, and Lance.
"So the ever faithful guardian wants another round. Very well."
"Let's get this over with, I have a friend to rescue." Without further delay Red sprang forward, dodging the on coming bullets with ease before leaping forward.
----
