I'm so sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I was having troubles
with my word but fear not. Following this new chapter will be the next four
chaps too. Just to say sorry! Enjoy. Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Squaresoft (Square-Enix now though) characters, like Cloud, Tifa and Barret. I do however own Stratus
and Piper, and all my other original characters.
Ranish Revival
Chapter 2: Assault on Wutai.
A young girl around the age of three stumbled in an attempt to run as gunfire erupted around her. She had neck length blonde hair and before the current events began held a look of joy in her naïve eyes. She wore a blue dress that fell to her ankles where brown sandals clanked on the ground. She stumbled and fell face first in the dirt, grazing her knees.
A shot was heard in her tiny ears and then she felt a limp body fall onto her, dripping blood onto the dress. She cried in horror as she tried and tried to remove the body but was powerless to do so.
"Hurrii!" another young girl cried as she stumbled toward her friend. She stopped in sight of the body and froze in fear.
"Help." Hurrii whispered as the body began to get too much for her. The girl nodded and after a moments hesitation tried to pry the body from her friends back. With Hurrii help the body was tossed aside and Hurrii jumped to her feet.
"What's going on?" they heard a man cry and then fall silent after a loud gunshot.
Two soldiers approached them with sinister intentions in there eyes. The two girls stepped back in fear, stopping when they came in contact with a wall.
"Don't worry little girls." They sneered.
"Step away from the kids." A voice sounded from behind them. They turned to see Piper Jardel, a black cloak strewn around his body and his Oblivion held at his side. As they took in the sight the thing that scared them the most were his eyes, cold and lifeless and full of hate.
Before anything else could be said the two men opened fire. Piper ran to his left and then sprang forward. The two soldiers where taken of guard as he did this and paused before turning to his new position. The closest one to Piper was reworded with a boot to the jaw as Piper bounced of the wall. The other charged forward but ran straight into a quick flick of Piper's wrist and a clenched fist. The two soldiers where unconscious.
"It's okay." Piper said as he turned to the two girls. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Hurrii?" the other girl stuttered.
"Hey you!" a familiar feminine voice shouted from behind the man.
----
The princess of Wutai looked out of a large window over looking her home after hearing the long forgotten sound of Gunfire. A look of panic crossed her face before she ran from the room. She ran down a long corridor, turning at the end and then out the door. The street was empty, most people having fled the town. She quickly ran down the deserted street and into a more crowded one, Soldiers gunned down innocent civilians and set fire to the houses. This was just like last time. Only this time she was a lot older and would not stand for it. She quickly grabbed her Boomerang and flung it down the street, taking out a few soldiers. Unfortunately she drew the attention of the others and found herself on the wrong end of a hail of bullets. Without thought she raised a barrier around herself, deflecting the bullets and then charged the soldiers, easily dispatching them. After taking care of the rest she ran down the street and came across a man facing two children, one of them being her daughter. Hurrii Strife.
"Hey you!" she shouted. The man froze in what she thought was fear.
----
Piper froze, and then slowly turned to face the woman that had called to him. As he turned he saw the look on her face change from anger, to confused and then surprised.
"Hello Gale." He spoke softly, almost unheard in the dim noise created by the gunshots throughout the village.
"Piper?" she stuttered. "Is that you?"
"Yeah." He replied calmly. "I know you must be confused but we don't have time to explain. Where's Stratus?"
"He's out of town." She replied after regaining her bearings. "But Vincent and Yuffie should be around somewhere."
"Good, find them."
----
The dark and mysterious Vincent Valentine unloaded the bullets of his Death Penalty onto the people invading his home, his town, and his land. Men fell quickly at his perfect aim, littering the paved streets with their worthless bodies. At his side was his wife, and Queen of Wutai Yuffie Kisaragi Valentine. She used incredible magic to dispose of the soldiers as he continued to fire of the rounds of his deadly Death Penalty.
"What the hell is going on?" Yuffie finally snapped, using up almost all of her magic power to summon forth a huge black-scaled dragon with huge fangs that glistened in the sun as it flew from the air at incredible speed towards the land. It snapped to a halt and sent forth a shockwave that caused everyone, save Vincent and Yuffie to stumble forward. The winged demon raised its head and let out an ear-piercing roar before firing a huge beam of energy forward and tearing up the land and soldiers. The dragon huffed out a gust of smoke from its nostrils before shooting of into the air, disappearing shortly thereafter.
"You okay Yuffie?" Vincent asked as she crouched, due to the lack of energy from summoning the huge titan known as Bahamut, King of the Dragons.
"I'm fine." She replied and stood, shaking the fatigue away and flashing him her most beautiful smile.
"Nice work." Piper remarked as he stepped up behind them. They both shot round, not believing what they were hearing. "Although I do think you've been slacking if you cant even summon Bahamut without practically dying."
"Piper?" came from the two confused rulers of Wutai.
"There's still more about. Lets go." Piper didn't waste anymore time and strode of down the street.
----
Silence was all he could hear, not the chirping of birds or the scurrying of Squirrels. The entire forest was absolutely silent. He hadn't heard a single sound, other than the crunching of his feet on the autumn grass since he arrived in the wood.
"Strange." He whispered to himself. Stratus Strife turned on his heel and marched back through the forest, weaving through the trees as his pace quickened and then broke into a run. Ducking under a low branch he reached the end of his sprint and almost gasped at the sight. Just as he had feared, smoke was rising of in the distance at his home. Wutai. He wasted no more time and began to charge towards the small out of the way village.
It didn't take him long to reach the gates of his home. An old man lay on the ground, blood pouring from the bullet wound in his chest, leaving him sprawled out in a pool of his own blood.
"What in the name of Leviathan?" he cried. Drawing his weapon, the Ultimate Buster he charged into the street ready to defend his family, friends and home at all costs. A squad of foot soldiers blocked his path, kicking a defenseless young man around the age of thirteen in the ribs as he tried to crawl away. He watched on in horror as the boy clawed at his feet, begging for help. The soldiers laughed and then turned their attention to Stratus, who know looked beyond the breaking point. His brow furrowed and his teeth ground together, contorting his face in anger.
"Get out of my home!" he bellowed.
The soldiers just laughed again and then took aim. Without warning they fired, unleashing a wide spray of bullets on him as he stood still, his face now void of emotion. The bullets came to a stop centimeters from his face before ricocheting of his gray barrier. The soldiers looked shocked at first, and then the lead pulled out a piece of paper and stared at it intently. His face twisted in anger and then sunk into an even more shocked expression than before.
"It's him!" he fumed. "He's the one were after!" The others followed lead, as Stratus just watched them with curiosity.
"Are you done?" he asked with a smirk that would make Piper proud. Before they could answer he dashed forward, slicing the end of the guns off and rendering them useless. The lead stumbled backwards, followed by his lackeys who out ran him as Stratus grabbed the scruff of his shirt. Stratus whirled him round and placed a well-aimed kick between the mans legs. He watched with amusement as the mans eye's bulged out from his head and his lips pursed into a small 'O' shape before a shrill moan escaped his lips and he fell flat on his face.
"Well done Stratus." Piper clapped as he walked up to his old rival. He held one of the soldiers who has attempted to run and was dragging his limp form behind him. Behind him Vincent, Gale and Yuffie followed his lead, all carrying limp bodies. They dumped them into a pile on top of the lead soldier as Stratus tried in vain to form a coherent response.
"Piper?" he managed to ask after a good minute had passed.
"Why is everyone so shocked." He remarked with glee. "You didn't expect me to die just by being stabbed through the chest did you?"
----
An hour had passed since Piper's return and the entire village had been cleaned up. All the attacking soldiers had either fled or been killed and the town was now looking more like itself. A ceremony was to be held later that day for all those unfortunate to had died during the assault.
Piper lent against the right wall of Vincent and Yuffie's Throne room as everyone stared at him, expecting an explanation. Even Hurrii Strife, who didn't really know why she was starring but didn't want to be left out either way.
"What are you all staring at?" Piper said after finally having enough of their staring.
"You." Hurrii replied with childish sarcasm.
"Smart kid." Piper smiled slightly. "Look, if you want to know how I survived then I guess I really can't answer it. To be honest the whole thing is a big blur to me."
"Why didn't you contact us earlier?" Stratus asked.
"Because I didn't remember you." Piper answered quickly. "I've only just remembered who I am. As much as I wish I hadn't. The village were I was staying was attacked by supposed Ranish Soldiers."
"Ranish?" Gale yelled in shock.
"Yes. It would seem someone has revived the company and intends to get rid of its greatest enemy's. They tried to get me to join and after I refused they tried to kill me. Stratus was their next target. And if we don't get to work soon the others will be dead."
"Shi...Erm. I mean Damn." Stratus fumbled and received a glare from Gale.
"Piper is correct." Vincent added. "We better warn the others before it is too late."
----
chaps too. Just to say sorry! Enjoy. Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original Squaresoft (Square-Enix now though) characters, like Cloud, Tifa and Barret. I do however own Stratus
and Piper, and all my other original characters.
Ranish Revival
Chapter 2: Assault on Wutai.
A young girl around the age of three stumbled in an attempt to run as gunfire erupted around her. She had neck length blonde hair and before the current events began held a look of joy in her naïve eyes. She wore a blue dress that fell to her ankles where brown sandals clanked on the ground. She stumbled and fell face first in the dirt, grazing her knees.
A shot was heard in her tiny ears and then she felt a limp body fall onto her, dripping blood onto the dress. She cried in horror as she tried and tried to remove the body but was powerless to do so.
"Hurrii!" another young girl cried as she stumbled toward her friend. She stopped in sight of the body and froze in fear.
"Help." Hurrii whispered as the body began to get too much for her. The girl nodded and after a moments hesitation tried to pry the body from her friends back. With Hurrii help the body was tossed aside and Hurrii jumped to her feet.
"What's going on?" they heard a man cry and then fall silent after a loud gunshot.
Two soldiers approached them with sinister intentions in there eyes. The two girls stepped back in fear, stopping when they came in contact with a wall.
"Don't worry little girls." They sneered.
"Step away from the kids." A voice sounded from behind them. They turned to see Piper Jardel, a black cloak strewn around his body and his Oblivion held at his side. As they took in the sight the thing that scared them the most were his eyes, cold and lifeless and full of hate.
Before anything else could be said the two men opened fire. Piper ran to his left and then sprang forward. The two soldiers where taken of guard as he did this and paused before turning to his new position. The closest one to Piper was reworded with a boot to the jaw as Piper bounced of the wall. The other charged forward but ran straight into a quick flick of Piper's wrist and a clenched fist. The two soldiers where unconscious.
"It's okay." Piper said as he turned to the two girls. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Hurrii?" the other girl stuttered.
"Hey you!" a familiar feminine voice shouted from behind the man.
----
The princess of Wutai looked out of a large window over looking her home after hearing the long forgotten sound of Gunfire. A look of panic crossed her face before she ran from the room. She ran down a long corridor, turning at the end and then out the door. The street was empty, most people having fled the town. She quickly ran down the deserted street and into a more crowded one, Soldiers gunned down innocent civilians and set fire to the houses. This was just like last time. Only this time she was a lot older and would not stand for it. She quickly grabbed her Boomerang and flung it down the street, taking out a few soldiers. Unfortunately she drew the attention of the others and found herself on the wrong end of a hail of bullets. Without thought she raised a barrier around herself, deflecting the bullets and then charged the soldiers, easily dispatching them. After taking care of the rest she ran down the street and came across a man facing two children, one of them being her daughter. Hurrii Strife.
"Hey you!" she shouted. The man froze in what she thought was fear.
----
Piper froze, and then slowly turned to face the woman that had called to him. As he turned he saw the look on her face change from anger, to confused and then surprised.
"Hello Gale." He spoke softly, almost unheard in the dim noise created by the gunshots throughout the village.
"Piper?" she stuttered. "Is that you?"
"Yeah." He replied calmly. "I know you must be confused but we don't have time to explain. Where's Stratus?"
"He's out of town." She replied after regaining her bearings. "But Vincent and Yuffie should be around somewhere."
"Good, find them."
----
The dark and mysterious Vincent Valentine unloaded the bullets of his Death Penalty onto the people invading his home, his town, and his land. Men fell quickly at his perfect aim, littering the paved streets with their worthless bodies. At his side was his wife, and Queen of Wutai Yuffie Kisaragi Valentine. She used incredible magic to dispose of the soldiers as he continued to fire of the rounds of his deadly Death Penalty.
"What the hell is going on?" Yuffie finally snapped, using up almost all of her magic power to summon forth a huge black-scaled dragon with huge fangs that glistened in the sun as it flew from the air at incredible speed towards the land. It snapped to a halt and sent forth a shockwave that caused everyone, save Vincent and Yuffie to stumble forward. The winged demon raised its head and let out an ear-piercing roar before firing a huge beam of energy forward and tearing up the land and soldiers. The dragon huffed out a gust of smoke from its nostrils before shooting of into the air, disappearing shortly thereafter.
"You okay Yuffie?" Vincent asked as she crouched, due to the lack of energy from summoning the huge titan known as Bahamut, King of the Dragons.
"I'm fine." She replied and stood, shaking the fatigue away and flashing him her most beautiful smile.
"Nice work." Piper remarked as he stepped up behind them. They both shot round, not believing what they were hearing. "Although I do think you've been slacking if you cant even summon Bahamut without practically dying."
"Piper?" came from the two confused rulers of Wutai.
"There's still more about. Lets go." Piper didn't waste anymore time and strode of down the street.
----
Silence was all he could hear, not the chirping of birds or the scurrying of Squirrels. The entire forest was absolutely silent. He hadn't heard a single sound, other than the crunching of his feet on the autumn grass since he arrived in the wood.
"Strange." He whispered to himself. Stratus Strife turned on his heel and marched back through the forest, weaving through the trees as his pace quickened and then broke into a run. Ducking under a low branch he reached the end of his sprint and almost gasped at the sight. Just as he had feared, smoke was rising of in the distance at his home. Wutai. He wasted no more time and began to charge towards the small out of the way village.
It didn't take him long to reach the gates of his home. An old man lay on the ground, blood pouring from the bullet wound in his chest, leaving him sprawled out in a pool of his own blood.
"What in the name of Leviathan?" he cried. Drawing his weapon, the Ultimate Buster he charged into the street ready to defend his family, friends and home at all costs. A squad of foot soldiers blocked his path, kicking a defenseless young man around the age of thirteen in the ribs as he tried to crawl away. He watched on in horror as the boy clawed at his feet, begging for help. The soldiers laughed and then turned their attention to Stratus, who know looked beyond the breaking point. His brow furrowed and his teeth ground together, contorting his face in anger.
"Get out of my home!" he bellowed.
The soldiers just laughed again and then took aim. Without warning they fired, unleashing a wide spray of bullets on him as he stood still, his face now void of emotion. The bullets came to a stop centimeters from his face before ricocheting of his gray barrier. The soldiers looked shocked at first, and then the lead pulled out a piece of paper and stared at it intently. His face twisted in anger and then sunk into an even more shocked expression than before.
"It's him!" he fumed. "He's the one were after!" The others followed lead, as Stratus just watched them with curiosity.
"Are you done?" he asked with a smirk that would make Piper proud. Before they could answer he dashed forward, slicing the end of the guns off and rendering them useless. The lead stumbled backwards, followed by his lackeys who out ran him as Stratus grabbed the scruff of his shirt. Stratus whirled him round and placed a well-aimed kick between the mans legs. He watched with amusement as the mans eye's bulged out from his head and his lips pursed into a small 'O' shape before a shrill moan escaped his lips and he fell flat on his face.
"Well done Stratus." Piper clapped as he walked up to his old rival. He held one of the soldiers who has attempted to run and was dragging his limp form behind him. Behind him Vincent, Gale and Yuffie followed his lead, all carrying limp bodies. They dumped them into a pile on top of the lead soldier as Stratus tried in vain to form a coherent response.
"Piper?" he managed to ask after a good minute had passed.
"Why is everyone so shocked." He remarked with glee. "You didn't expect me to die just by being stabbed through the chest did you?"
----
An hour had passed since Piper's return and the entire village had been cleaned up. All the attacking soldiers had either fled or been killed and the town was now looking more like itself. A ceremony was to be held later that day for all those unfortunate to had died during the assault.
Piper lent against the right wall of Vincent and Yuffie's Throne room as everyone stared at him, expecting an explanation. Even Hurrii Strife, who didn't really know why she was starring but didn't want to be left out either way.
"What are you all staring at?" Piper said after finally having enough of their staring.
"You." Hurrii replied with childish sarcasm.
"Smart kid." Piper smiled slightly. "Look, if you want to know how I survived then I guess I really can't answer it. To be honest the whole thing is a big blur to me."
"Why didn't you contact us earlier?" Stratus asked.
"Because I didn't remember you." Piper answered quickly. "I've only just remembered who I am. As much as I wish I hadn't. The village were I was staying was attacked by supposed Ranish Soldiers."
"Ranish?" Gale yelled in shock.
"Yes. It would seem someone has revived the company and intends to get rid of its greatest enemy's. They tried to get me to join and after I refused they tried to kill me. Stratus was their next target. And if we don't get to work soon the others will be dead."
"Shi...Erm. I mean Damn." Stratus fumbled and received a glare from Gale.
"Piper is correct." Vincent added. "We better warn the others before it is too late."
----