Standard disclaimers apply.
Chapter nine; ShinRa plans
Tifa let the words sink in. The ShinRa had taken Marlene. They had taken the young girl that used to help her work her bar while they held AVALANCHE missions. "Who's in charge at ShinRa these days?" she asked softly.
"How should I know?" Yuffie and Rikku responded at the same time. Both of them wore outraged expressions at the thought of someone being kidnapped; however neither of them really knew Marlene, so things weren't personal.
Cid scratched his head. "The last that I heard it was a woman named Crimson." He snubbed out his cigarette and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Crimson?" Rikku asked with a slight giggle.
"That's a dumb name," Yuffie agreed quietly.
"Stop it!" Tifa exclaimed. "This is a serious matter. Marlene has been kidnapped. We have to get her back." She looked towards the fire ravaged ground, kicking a clump of burnt grass with the toe of her boot. "But where would they have taken her?"
She turned the possibilities over in her mind. Midgar was where ShinRa's main base of operations was, but all the same, they might not have taken her there because of the chances of someone noticing. They were maintaining a legal front and probably wouldn't risk jeopardizing it until they were sure they could get away with being illegal.
"Where did they take her?" she asked again, although she didn't really expect an answer.
Rikku spoke up, "Why did they take her in the first place?"
Tifa turned her head towards Cid, awaiting his response. It was a good question, but she had the feeling that they had kidnapped her for the sole purpose of having a hostage against Barret.
"Will you all stop &&# at me?!" Cid demanded. "I don't have all the answers." Shera put a restraining hand on her arm. "Don't you #&% try and calm me down!" he snapped.
"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed. "You said that your father has an airship, right Rikku? So we could give him a call -"
"Forget it, we're not on speaking terms. He attempted to arrange a marriage for me. That's not something that I'm really interested in, you know. Anyway, the best thing to do about Marlene would probably go back to the scene of the crime. Maybe we could pick up some clues there, ne?"
"So that leaves the question of who's going and who's staying," Tifa said.
"Why would anyone stay?" Yuffie asked. "I mean, we all want to save Marlene - oh, but what about Sephy?" Her baffled looked shifted slightly to one of extreme confusion. "What are we going to do about him?"
"Ignore him," Tifa said at the same time that Rikku did. "We have what he needs to be dangerous, so we can afford to leave him alone for a while," Tifa added as an explanation.
"What do you have?" Cid asked.
"Well, I'm staying," Shera announced. "While you guys go and rescue Marlene, I'll start repairs on the Highwind. By the time you get back here, she'll be running twice as good as new."
Cid spun, orientating on her. "What the -"
She put her fingers to his mouth. "Now, why don't you start for North Coral? It'll be a long trip on foot, and you'll have to go without any supplies. I'll handle things here."
"But -" Cid started to protest again.
"That is unless you're too scared to go and fight ShinRa this time!" Yuffie giggled. She enjoyed teasing the others as much as possible, and this was a good opportunity. There was no way that she was going to pass it up.
"Dammit!" Cid snarled. "That ain't it at all."
"We know," Shera said soothingly. "You just feel like you should stay and help, but you're needed elsewhere right now. First to rescue Marlene... and then to take care of Sephiroth. I don't want you to go, but I realize," she swallowed hard, "that you must."
Cid looked away from her. "Let's get going," he told the three girls. They started away from the Rocket Launch Pad, moving slowly through the burned streets.
The sound of feet rapidly approaching from behind drew all three girls to a halt. They stopped, turning back to look at Shera.
"Cid!" she called out. She caught him in a hug from behind. "Don't get killed. I'll miss you too much. Come back here... come back... to me..."
Cid didn't respond. His face was tight with barely restrained emotion. "I'll be back, Shera," he whispered for her ears alone. Then, face cracking slightly, he spun, planting a firm kiss on her mouth. "Wait here for me," he said gruffly.
"Let's go!" he added to Rikku, Tifa, and Yuffie.
President Crimson twisted a long lock of golden blond hair around her finger for the millionth time. A classically beautiful woman, she wore an intense scowl on her face that deducted from the natural beauty. "What do you have to report?" she asked sourly.
"Apparently the annihilation of Rocket Town was averted. The rebellious town was merely reduced to cinders and is already in the process of rebuilding," her aide informed her. "Also, both of Professor Hojo's experiments were... destroyed."
"Cid Highwind destroyed both of them? We sent them because they would have been able to overwhelm him easily," Crimson snarled. She stood up and started pacing the room, red skirts swishing around her ankles.
"Our reports indicate that Tifa Lockheart and Yuffie Kisagari were both present -" the aide murmured, acutely aware that he was going to be in trouble for delivering such an unfavorable report.
Crimson stopped pacing, turning to face them with the dark scowl firmly etched on her features. "What about the abduction that Hojo asked for? Was it carried out accordingly?"
The aide nodded quickly, grateful for the chance to give good news.
"Then the leader of AVALANCHE is dead, destroyed, finally eliminated beyond a shadow of a doubt?"
The aide winced. "Actually, we failed to -"
"Failed! Why must you say that -" Before Crimson could finish her rant, the door burst open.
"Gya ha ha ha ha!" A burly man wearing a emerald green uniform bellowed. "Guess what, Scarlet!" he said once he managed to restrain himself.
"What," she asked sourly, picking up a gun from her desk and shooting the aide in the head. "Do you think you're doing? My name is Crimson from now on, Hiedgar, and you would do well to remember that. We can't have our secrete spilled just yet. Not when victory is so close."
Hiedgar sobered slightly.
"Well, what's the information that you have?" Scarlet demanded.
"The Master of Spira, Lady Yuna herself, is planning a visit to Wutai at the end of the month," Hiedgar said with a chuckle.
"Why?" Scarlet demanded. "That doesn't make any sense at all!"
"She going to watch a blitzball game. Gya ha ha ha ha!" Hiedgar bellowed. He placed both hands on his sizable stomach. "She's only taking one bodyguard -"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!" Scarlet burst out laughing. "What a fool! It'll be the perfect chance to kill her. And Hojo's new experiment with that child will make it impossible for Cloud's groupie to stop the attack. How could they hurt a child that they know? Even if she's going to assassinate the Master of Spira?"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"But enough of that, I have a meeting to attend to," Scarlet announced, straightening her hair and smoothing out her dress. "And soon... we'll be filthy stinking rich!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Would you two do something other then sit here and drink all day!" Elena demanded. "We have a mission to carry out - new orders! We're not off-duty right now!" The electric blond stalked over to her superiors with a uptight expression on her face.
Reno licked his lips and set down an empty glass. "Relax, Elena," he urged. "Everything will turn out just fine, you'll see." He was upset about the interruption to his drinking, but there was noting that could be done about it. Getting mad wouldn't help, Elena was high-strung and hadn't learned the value of a little R&R yet.
"But -" Elena began to sputter.
"Relax," Reno repeated firmly. He flipped his auburn hair lightly and stood up, signaling for Rude to do the same. "Assassinations aren't exactly something that should be rushed."
"But still!" Elena objected. "If we dally too long, then our target will get away! And we're not killing anyone - we're stealing!" she shouted, raising her voice in irritation. Several people in the bar looked over at her, twisting in their seats to see what was going on.
Reno shot them all a deadly look. "Elena," he said in a tight quiet voice, "A lot of the stuff we do requires us to be silent. You would do very well to remember that. Secrecy is important. Don't forget it." He had a death gripe on her arm and an angry look in his dark blue eyes.
"Sorry," Elena murmured, face colored with shame.
Reno released her arm and patted Rude on the back. "Let's get going," he suggested. "No more mistake, Elena," he added softly, but the anger and malice were both gone from his face and voice. Now he only looked vaguely interested in everything.
Elena sighed. If they hadn't been ordered to blow up the Highwind, they wouldn't have to be heading to a desert island to steal a different airship. Sometimes she wondered what her superiors did with all their time. They certainly didn't spend it thinking things through because if they did, it would have shown in the way things turned out.
Barret Wallace was a big man. That was the first thing Rikku thought when she saw him. Bulging muscles stood out on his arms and chest. His hair was cut close to his scalp in a severe military style, but she got the feeling that he wasn't the type with high discipline levels. She judged that based on the endless stream of curses emerging from his mouth.
He was talking to Cid, Yuffie, and Tifa. He hadn't noticed her yet, which was fine by her. It gave her additional time to survey him. His right arm was what was really puzzling her though. It had a machina-type gun attached, which made very little sense to her. Either he had lost his hand and then had the attachment put on or he had cut his hand off to get it.
She wondered away, turned the idea over in her mind for several moments without success. North Coral was a shitty town, she had quickly learned. It reminded her of slums and garbage heaps. Something that she had never seen in Spira. Their presence had shocked her when she arrived on the Planet.
"RIKKU!" Yuffie bellowed, drawing her attention back to the small knot of people. "THIS IS BARRET WALLACE, THE LEADER OF AVALANCHE!"
Rikku stiffed a giggle and hurried back over, offering her left hand. "Rikku," she said brightly.
"Barret!" the large, black man said shortly. He turned away from her and back to Tifa. "I don't know what I'm gonna do without her."
Tifa moved foreword to comfort him and Rikku wondered away again. The town, she reasoned, couldn't be as bad as it looked normally. They had just withstood an attack from ShinRa.
She shook her head and sat down abruptly. To have two different groups of humans fighting each other didn't make any sense at all. Sure, the occasional sociopath needed to be dealt with, but all in all, training people to kill other people - civil war - it was wrong.
"I guess I'll just die down here," she heard a voice murmured. The echoing quality drew her over to the well and she looked down.
"Hello?" she called out.
A young man, probably about two years older then her, looked up. "Rikku!" he exclaimed. "You're one of Lady Yuna's guardians!"
Rikku racked her brain quickly, trying to think of who the person in the well was. He was wearing a ShinRa uniform, but looked extremely uncomfortable in it.
"It's Clasko!" he shouted. "We never really met, but I saw you at Luca Stadium after Sin was defeated."
"Okay, sure," Rikku said easily. "I remember hearing about you. You're a member - or were anyway - of the Chocobo Knights."
Clasko nodded eagerly.
"So, why with the ShinRa now?" she asked softly. "Or better yet, do you know where they took the little girl?"
Clasko looked down at his submerged feet. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "But," and he looked up with a desperate look on his face, "I didn't know what they were planning!"
"What were they planning?" Rikku asked, elbows propped up on the edges of the well.
"I thought that I should check out this place - the Planet - so I joined ShinRa. I figured it would be an okay move. The soldiers, I thought, were just for protection purposes. Fighting fiends and monsters, you know? Then when we were ordered to attack North Coral... I didn't know what to do. I panicked and tried to get the little girl away from here, but...."
"They found out and threw you down the well?" Rikku suggested.
"She screamed and pushed me," Clasko said. "I stumbled back and..."
"So why not call for help?" Rikku asked. "Then you could get out of here -"
"Are you kidding!" Clasko gasped. "I heard what Mr. Wallace is saying. He's gonna do an awful lot of bad stuff to the next ShinRa soldier that he sees and it's not going to be me!"
Rikku giggled. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you." She disappeared from sight and hurried over to the small group.
"Hey," Yuffie said softly. "No leads yet. You find anything?"
"Clasko," Rikku responded. "Excuse me, Barrette." She waited until he turned to look at her and then smiled hesitantly. "I found someone who knows where your daughter is -"
"WHERE!" Barret roared.
"He's with ShinRa -" Rikku began.
"WHAT! WHERE! I'll fing blow him a new hole!"
"Which is why he hasn't said anything yet. He's scared and trapped." She paused. "And he tried to save your daughter, but she got away from him because he didn't explain that he was trying to help her."
Before Barret could say or do anything, Tifa spoke up. "Barret, calm down. We found her and can go and rescue her now. There's no need to scare our informant into silence."
"He's quitting the ShinRa anyway," Rikku added. "They ended up being something unexpected."
"Fine," Barret murmured. "Where is he?"
"Marlene pushed him into the well," Rikku responded. "You can leave him down there until you get your answer, but let's have a rope visible, ne?"
"Got one!" Yuffie proclaimed, rejoining the group. "I got it from the maintenance shed over there -"
"How'd you know that we needed it?" Cid asked.
"Rikku was leaning on the well for a couple minutes. I figured that would be where her informant was," Yuffie said with a shrug.
"That was some quick thinking, Yuffie," Tifa said in surprise.
"Yeah," the ninja responded. "That's why I'm known as Yuffie the Great."
"The Great?" Rikku snickered. "That's a joke -"
"Enough talk!" Barret shouted, losing a rain of bullets into the air. He snagged the rope and marched over to the well. "Where's Marlene!" he shouted down.
Cid was right behind him. And the two men started shouting curses, mingled with threats towards the freaked out young man.
Rikku bounded over. "Hey Clasko, this is Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind -"
"DON'T LET THEM KILL ME!" Clasko screamed.
"Where's Marlene?" Tifa asked, pushed between Barret and Cid.
"I won't let them kill you," Rikku promised.
"Or hurt me?" Clasko asked suspiciously.
"Or hurt you," Yuffie promised.
"Okay, they took her to Professor Hojo's lab -"
"Hojo?" Tifa asked softly. "But we killed him, didn't we?"
"I think that he's Unsent," Clasko said from the bottom of the well. "I only met him once, but he really spooked me. I don't think that he's sane."
"Where's his fing lab?" Cid demanded.
"In the City of the Ancients," Clasko said. "There's door that leads to the underground ruins." He took a deep breath. "There are two keys that you can use to get through. One of them was entrusted to our squad leader and the other one is at ShinRa headquarters in Midgar."
"You're very helpful," Tifa noted.
Clasko nodded. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to explore and maybe do something with chocobos... I never meant for this to happen."
Rikku nudged the rope over the edge. "Climb up here, Clasko." He obediently climbed the rope, and stood before her with a repentant look on his face. "I need you to do me a favor, okay?"
"Anything," Clasko answered instantly.
Rikku brushed a strand of blond hair out of her face. "I need you to bring a message to Yunie."
"What kind of message?" Clasko asked.
"I'll write the message," Rikku said. She rummaged around for a piece of paper and wrote a brief message. Then, after sealing it, she handed it to Clasko. "Go as fast as you can, okay?"
The young man nodded and cast one last fearful look at Barret. "I'll go right away!" he proclaimed. He stepped back with one foot, moving his arms back and then foreword with a bow to Rikku. "I promise not to fail Lady Rikku!" he declared. Then he was weaving his way through the small town and out of sight.
"We'll have to get the key from Midgar," Tifa announced. "So we should head out tonight."
"Is it very far?" Rikku asked. "I can't remember."
"It's some distance," Yuffie said. "We're going to be traveling for a while."
"Okay, so how are we going to split up?" Cid asked. "Tifa, who are you taking?"
"I guess I'll take Barret and -"
"Hold it!" Rikku exclaimed. "Why are we splitting up? We're all going to the same place, aren't we? So wouldn't it be safer to travel together?"
"We'd draw too much attention," Tifa explained patiently. "A group of five is more noticeable then a group of two or three."
"Well.... yeah, but still, who would care?" Rikku asked.
"ShinRa... and maybe Sephy," Yuffie said. "Anyway, how about the group of two go and pick up some of the others.... like Vincent!" she suggested. "Or Nanaki! Then we could meet up at the City of the Ancients and take on ShinRa as a group."
"Good idea," Tifa said. "I'll take Barret and go for the key... and I'll take Rikku as well."
"What!" Yuffie shouted. "I want to go with Rikku-"
"Then I'll take Yuffie and we'll head towards Cosmo Canyon," Cid announced. He spun his spear lightly. "We'll be there in no time -"
"What!" Yuffie shouted again. "I want to find Vincent!"
"It'll be okay," Rikku said. "After Sephiroth and ShinRa are toast, we can go find Vincent together, okay?"
Yuffie pouted, "But I want to find him now! And I'd rather travel with you then this old man!"
"It'll be okay," Rikku reasoned. "We'd probably end up off course anyway. Making fun of old people when we should be seriously thinking things through."
"Are we ready then?" Tifa asked. Rikku nodded and so did Yuffie.
"Be careful, I still have to find you a boyfriend!" Yuffie called out as Rikku departed along the railroad track with Tifa and Barret.
In response, the Al Bhed girl waved.
"And watch out for Sephy!" Yuffie added. "He might be after you!"
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan
Chapter nine; ShinRa plans
Tifa let the words sink in. The ShinRa had taken Marlene. They had taken the young girl that used to help her work her bar while they held AVALANCHE missions. "Who's in charge at ShinRa these days?" she asked softly.
"How should I know?" Yuffie and Rikku responded at the same time. Both of them wore outraged expressions at the thought of someone being kidnapped; however neither of them really knew Marlene, so things weren't personal.
Cid scratched his head. "The last that I heard it was a woman named Crimson." He snubbed out his cigarette and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Crimson?" Rikku asked with a slight giggle.
"That's a dumb name," Yuffie agreed quietly.
"Stop it!" Tifa exclaimed. "This is a serious matter. Marlene has been kidnapped. We have to get her back." She looked towards the fire ravaged ground, kicking a clump of burnt grass with the toe of her boot. "But where would they have taken her?"
She turned the possibilities over in her mind. Midgar was where ShinRa's main base of operations was, but all the same, they might not have taken her there because of the chances of someone noticing. They were maintaining a legal front and probably wouldn't risk jeopardizing it until they were sure they could get away with being illegal.
"Where did they take her?" she asked again, although she didn't really expect an answer.
Rikku spoke up, "Why did they take her in the first place?"
Tifa turned her head towards Cid, awaiting his response. It was a good question, but she had the feeling that they had kidnapped her for the sole purpose of having a hostage against Barret.
"Will you all stop &&# at me?!" Cid demanded. "I don't have all the answers." Shera put a restraining hand on her arm. "Don't you #&% try and calm me down!" he snapped.
"Hey!" Yuffie exclaimed. "You said that your father has an airship, right Rikku? So we could give him a call -"
"Forget it, we're not on speaking terms. He attempted to arrange a marriage for me. That's not something that I'm really interested in, you know. Anyway, the best thing to do about Marlene would probably go back to the scene of the crime. Maybe we could pick up some clues there, ne?"
"So that leaves the question of who's going and who's staying," Tifa said.
"Why would anyone stay?" Yuffie asked. "I mean, we all want to save Marlene - oh, but what about Sephy?" Her baffled looked shifted slightly to one of extreme confusion. "What are we going to do about him?"
"Ignore him," Tifa said at the same time that Rikku did. "We have what he needs to be dangerous, so we can afford to leave him alone for a while," Tifa added as an explanation.
"What do you have?" Cid asked.
"Well, I'm staying," Shera announced. "While you guys go and rescue Marlene, I'll start repairs on the Highwind. By the time you get back here, she'll be running twice as good as new."
Cid spun, orientating on her. "What the -"
She put her fingers to his mouth. "Now, why don't you start for North Coral? It'll be a long trip on foot, and you'll have to go without any supplies. I'll handle things here."
"But -" Cid started to protest again.
"That is unless you're too scared to go and fight ShinRa this time!" Yuffie giggled. She enjoyed teasing the others as much as possible, and this was a good opportunity. There was no way that she was going to pass it up.
"Dammit!" Cid snarled. "That ain't it at all."
"We know," Shera said soothingly. "You just feel like you should stay and help, but you're needed elsewhere right now. First to rescue Marlene... and then to take care of Sephiroth. I don't want you to go, but I realize," she swallowed hard, "that you must."
Cid looked away from her. "Let's get going," he told the three girls. They started away from the Rocket Launch Pad, moving slowly through the burned streets.
The sound of feet rapidly approaching from behind drew all three girls to a halt. They stopped, turning back to look at Shera.
"Cid!" she called out. She caught him in a hug from behind. "Don't get killed. I'll miss you too much. Come back here... come back... to me..."
Cid didn't respond. His face was tight with barely restrained emotion. "I'll be back, Shera," he whispered for her ears alone. Then, face cracking slightly, he spun, planting a firm kiss on her mouth. "Wait here for me," he said gruffly.
"Let's go!" he added to Rikku, Tifa, and Yuffie.
President Crimson twisted a long lock of golden blond hair around her finger for the millionth time. A classically beautiful woman, she wore an intense scowl on her face that deducted from the natural beauty. "What do you have to report?" she asked sourly.
"Apparently the annihilation of Rocket Town was averted. The rebellious town was merely reduced to cinders and is already in the process of rebuilding," her aide informed her. "Also, both of Professor Hojo's experiments were... destroyed."
"Cid Highwind destroyed both of them? We sent them because they would have been able to overwhelm him easily," Crimson snarled. She stood up and started pacing the room, red skirts swishing around her ankles.
"Our reports indicate that Tifa Lockheart and Yuffie Kisagari were both present -" the aide murmured, acutely aware that he was going to be in trouble for delivering such an unfavorable report.
Crimson stopped pacing, turning to face them with the dark scowl firmly etched on her features. "What about the abduction that Hojo asked for? Was it carried out accordingly?"
The aide nodded quickly, grateful for the chance to give good news.
"Then the leader of AVALANCHE is dead, destroyed, finally eliminated beyond a shadow of a doubt?"
The aide winced. "Actually, we failed to -"
"Failed! Why must you say that -" Before Crimson could finish her rant, the door burst open.
"Gya ha ha ha ha!" A burly man wearing a emerald green uniform bellowed. "Guess what, Scarlet!" he said once he managed to restrain himself.
"What," she asked sourly, picking up a gun from her desk and shooting the aide in the head. "Do you think you're doing? My name is Crimson from now on, Hiedgar, and you would do well to remember that. We can't have our secrete spilled just yet. Not when victory is so close."
Hiedgar sobered slightly.
"Well, what's the information that you have?" Scarlet demanded.
"The Master of Spira, Lady Yuna herself, is planning a visit to Wutai at the end of the month," Hiedgar said with a chuckle.
"Why?" Scarlet demanded. "That doesn't make any sense at all!"
"She going to watch a blitzball game. Gya ha ha ha ha!" Hiedgar bellowed. He placed both hands on his sizable stomach. "She's only taking one bodyguard -"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!" Scarlet burst out laughing. "What a fool! It'll be the perfect chance to kill her. And Hojo's new experiment with that child will make it impossible for Cloud's groupie to stop the attack. How could they hurt a child that they know? Even if she's going to assassinate the Master of Spira?"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"But enough of that, I have a meeting to attend to," Scarlet announced, straightening her hair and smoothing out her dress. "And soon... we'll be filthy stinking rich!"
"Gya ha ha ha ha!"
"Kya ha ha ha ha!"
"Would you two do something other then sit here and drink all day!" Elena demanded. "We have a mission to carry out - new orders! We're not off-duty right now!" The electric blond stalked over to her superiors with a uptight expression on her face.
Reno licked his lips and set down an empty glass. "Relax, Elena," he urged. "Everything will turn out just fine, you'll see." He was upset about the interruption to his drinking, but there was noting that could be done about it. Getting mad wouldn't help, Elena was high-strung and hadn't learned the value of a little R&R yet.
"But -" Elena began to sputter.
"Relax," Reno repeated firmly. He flipped his auburn hair lightly and stood up, signaling for Rude to do the same. "Assassinations aren't exactly something that should be rushed."
"But still!" Elena objected. "If we dally too long, then our target will get away! And we're not killing anyone - we're stealing!" she shouted, raising her voice in irritation. Several people in the bar looked over at her, twisting in their seats to see what was going on.
Reno shot them all a deadly look. "Elena," he said in a tight quiet voice, "A lot of the stuff we do requires us to be silent. You would do very well to remember that. Secrecy is important. Don't forget it." He had a death gripe on her arm and an angry look in his dark blue eyes.
"Sorry," Elena murmured, face colored with shame.
Reno released her arm and patted Rude on the back. "Let's get going," he suggested. "No more mistake, Elena," he added softly, but the anger and malice were both gone from his face and voice. Now he only looked vaguely interested in everything.
Elena sighed. If they hadn't been ordered to blow up the Highwind, they wouldn't have to be heading to a desert island to steal a different airship. Sometimes she wondered what her superiors did with all their time. They certainly didn't spend it thinking things through because if they did, it would have shown in the way things turned out.
Barret Wallace was a big man. That was the first thing Rikku thought when she saw him. Bulging muscles stood out on his arms and chest. His hair was cut close to his scalp in a severe military style, but she got the feeling that he wasn't the type with high discipline levels. She judged that based on the endless stream of curses emerging from his mouth.
He was talking to Cid, Yuffie, and Tifa. He hadn't noticed her yet, which was fine by her. It gave her additional time to survey him. His right arm was what was really puzzling her though. It had a machina-type gun attached, which made very little sense to her. Either he had lost his hand and then had the attachment put on or he had cut his hand off to get it.
She wondered away, turned the idea over in her mind for several moments without success. North Coral was a shitty town, she had quickly learned. It reminded her of slums and garbage heaps. Something that she had never seen in Spira. Their presence had shocked her when she arrived on the Planet.
"RIKKU!" Yuffie bellowed, drawing her attention back to the small knot of people. "THIS IS BARRET WALLACE, THE LEADER OF AVALANCHE!"
Rikku stiffed a giggle and hurried back over, offering her left hand. "Rikku," she said brightly.
"Barret!" the large, black man said shortly. He turned away from her and back to Tifa. "I don't know what I'm gonna do without her."
Tifa moved foreword to comfort him and Rikku wondered away again. The town, she reasoned, couldn't be as bad as it looked normally. They had just withstood an attack from ShinRa.
She shook her head and sat down abruptly. To have two different groups of humans fighting each other didn't make any sense at all. Sure, the occasional sociopath needed to be dealt with, but all in all, training people to kill other people - civil war - it was wrong.
"I guess I'll just die down here," she heard a voice murmured. The echoing quality drew her over to the well and she looked down.
"Hello?" she called out.
A young man, probably about two years older then her, looked up. "Rikku!" he exclaimed. "You're one of Lady Yuna's guardians!"
Rikku racked her brain quickly, trying to think of who the person in the well was. He was wearing a ShinRa uniform, but looked extremely uncomfortable in it.
"It's Clasko!" he shouted. "We never really met, but I saw you at Luca Stadium after Sin was defeated."
"Okay, sure," Rikku said easily. "I remember hearing about you. You're a member - or were anyway - of the Chocobo Knights."
Clasko nodded eagerly.
"So, why with the ShinRa now?" she asked softly. "Or better yet, do you know where they took the little girl?"
Clasko looked down at his submerged feet. "Yeah..." he mumbled. "But," and he looked up with a desperate look on his face, "I didn't know what they were planning!"
"What were they planning?" Rikku asked, elbows propped up on the edges of the well.
"I thought that I should check out this place - the Planet - so I joined ShinRa. I figured it would be an okay move. The soldiers, I thought, were just for protection purposes. Fighting fiends and monsters, you know? Then when we were ordered to attack North Coral... I didn't know what to do. I panicked and tried to get the little girl away from here, but...."
"They found out and threw you down the well?" Rikku suggested.
"She screamed and pushed me," Clasko said. "I stumbled back and..."
"So why not call for help?" Rikku asked. "Then you could get out of here -"
"Are you kidding!" Clasko gasped. "I heard what Mr. Wallace is saying. He's gonna do an awful lot of bad stuff to the next ShinRa soldier that he sees and it's not going to be me!"
Rikku giggled. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you." She disappeared from sight and hurried over to the small group.
"Hey," Yuffie said softly. "No leads yet. You find anything?"
"Clasko," Rikku responded. "Excuse me, Barrette." She waited until he turned to look at her and then smiled hesitantly. "I found someone who knows where your daughter is -"
"WHERE!" Barret roared.
"He's with ShinRa -" Rikku began.
"WHAT! WHERE! I'll fing blow him a new hole!"
"Which is why he hasn't said anything yet. He's scared and trapped." She paused. "And he tried to save your daughter, but she got away from him because he didn't explain that he was trying to help her."
Before Barret could say or do anything, Tifa spoke up. "Barret, calm down. We found her and can go and rescue her now. There's no need to scare our informant into silence."
"He's quitting the ShinRa anyway," Rikku added. "They ended up being something unexpected."
"Fine," Barret murmured. "Where is he?"
"Marlene pushed him into the well," Rikku responded. "You can leave him down there until you get your answer, but let's have a rope visible, ne?"
"Got one!" Yuffie proclaimed, rejoining the group. "I got it from the maintenance shed over there -"
"How'd you know that we needed it?" Cid asked.
"Rikku was leaning on the well for a couple minutes. I figured that would be where her informant was," Yuffie said with a shrug.
"That was some quick thinking, Yuffie," Tifa said in surprise.
"Yeah," the ninja responded. "That's why I'm known as Yuffie the Great."
"The Great?" Rikku snickered. "That's a joke -"
"Enough talk!" Barret shouted, losing a rain of bullets into the air. He snagged the rope and marched over to the well. "Where's Marlene!" he shouted down.
Cid was right behind him. And the two men started shouting curses, mingled with threats towards the freaked out young man.
Rikku bounded over. "Hey Clasko, this is Barret Wallace and Cid Highwind -"
"DON'T LET THEM KILL ME!" Clasko screamed.
"Where's Marlene?" Tifa asked, pushed between Barret and Cid.
"I won't let them kill you," Rikku promised.
"Or hurt me?" Clasko asked suspiciously.
"Or hurt you," Yuffie promised.
"Okay, they took her to Professor Hojo's lab -"
"Hojo?" Tifa asked softly. "But we killed him, didn't we?"
"I think that he's Unsent," Clasko said from the bottom of the well. "I only met him once, but he really spooked me. I don't think that he's sane."
"Where's his fing lab?" Cid demanded.
"In the City of the Ancients," Clasko said. "There's door that leads to the underground ruins." He took a deep breath. "There are two keys that you can use to get through. One of them was entrusted to our squad leader and the other one is at ShinRa headquarters in Midgar."
"You're very helpful," Tifa noted.
Clasko nodded. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to explore and maybe do something with chocobos... I never meant for this to happen."
Rikku nudged the rope over the edge. "Climb up here, Clasko." He obediently climbed the rope, and stood before her with a repentant look on his face. "I need you to do me a favor, okay?"
"Anything," Clasko answered instantly.
Rikku brushed a strand of blond hair out of her face. "I need you to bring a message to Yunie."
"What kind of message?" Clasko asked.
"I'll write the message," Rikku said. She rummaged around for a piece of paper and wrote a brief message. Then, after sealing it, she handed it to Clasko. "Go as fast as you can, okay?"
The young man nodded and cast one last fearful look at Barret. "I'll go right away!" he proclaimed. He stepped back with one foot, moving his arms back and then foreword with a bow to Rikku. "I promise not to fail Lady Rikku!" he declared. Then he was weaving his way through the small town and out of sight.
"We'll have to get the key from Midgar," Tifa announced. "So we should head out tonight."
"Is it very far?" Rikku asked. "I can't remember."
"It's some distance," Yuffie said. "We're going to be traveling for a while."
"Okay, so how are we going to split up?" Cid asked. "Tifa, who are you taking?"
"I guess I'll take Barret and -"
"Hold it!" Rikku exclaimed. "Why are we splitting up? We're all going to the same place, aren't we? So wouldn't it be safer to travel together?"
"We'd draw too much attention," Tifa explained patiently. "A group of five is more noticeable then a group of two or three."
"Well.... yeah, but still, who would care?" Rikku asked.
"ShinRa... and maybe Sephy," Yuffie said. "Anyway, how about the group of two go and pick up some of the others.... like Vincent!" she suggested. "Or Nanaki! Then we could meet up at the City of the Ancients and take on ShinRa as a group."
"Good idea," Tifa said. "I'll take Barret and go for the key... and I'll take Rikku as well."
"What!" Yuffie shouted. "I want to go with Rikku-"
"Then I'll take Yuffie and we'll head towards Cosmo Canyon," Cid announced. He spun his spear lightly. "We'll be there in no time -"
"What!" Yuffie shouted again. "I want to find Vincent!"
"It'll be okay," Rikku said. "After Sephiroth and ShinRa are toast, we can go find Vincent together, okay?"
Yuffie pouted, "But I want to find him now! And I'd rather travel with you then this old man!"
"It'll be okay," Rikku reasoned. "We'd probably end up off course anyway. Making fun of old people when we should be seriously thinking things through."
"Are we ready then?" Tifa asked. Rikku nodded and so did Yuffie.
"Be careful, I still have to find you a boyfriend!" Yuffie called out as Rikku departed along the railroad track with Tifa and Barret.
In response, the Al Bhed girl waved.
"And watch out for Sephy!" Yuffie added. "He might be after you!"
Thanks for reading,
Kissa-chan