A/n: Hey guys, what's up? I'm working on another chapter, so enjoy!
Disclaimer: I can't claim anything other than the storyline, you know the drill.
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"What was I thinking?" Reno said to himself, sitting on his bed, head in hands. "What on earth made me follow such an order?" He continued, recalling the event of his blowing up the pillar that once held up the plate over Sector 7. "So many people... are dead because of me." A slow realization of a force he couldn't control washed over him.
"It's that damn mako crap. It's an enhancer *and* a mind controller. That's why if you get exposed to too much, you're screwed. Why didn't I think of that before? That's why I can't control anything I do anymore, that's why Rufus has gone whack, that's why the demand for mako is so high, so Hojo can have a mindless military at his command." Reno's eyes opened wide, flashing with his sudden knowledge. But at that moment, an urge to get drunk drowned out his revelation and overcame his thoughts.
The brainwashing had taken full effect. He grabbed a beer out of the small fridge he kept in his room. A voice halted him.
"Hey, Reno, what do you think you're doing?"
Reno turned to see Elena standing there, looking particularly overbearing with her hands on her slender hips. He shrugged. "Getting a drink?" He answered in question to the recruit for the Turks. "What's it to you?"
"Oh it's nothing; it's just that if you get drunk now, I get to look forward to a night of getting hit on with cheap pick-up lines."
He looked innocently at her, but killed it by saying, "What, that's a bad thing?"
Elena's anger got the better of her, this time letting her open hand do the talking, leaving a red hand print across Reno's face. She stormed off, eyes clenched as hard as her fists. "Insensitive jerk! Tseng would never say things like that!" She muttered to herself.
Reno's wide eyed stare followed her. "I hope you know that didn't hurt!" He said aloud, then adding quietly, "...much."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rufus sat up in bed again, shaking. "That damn dream again! Why can't I get that woman out of my head?" He thought aloud. A cold, cruel voice entered his thoughts.
"Ignore the dreams. That's all they are, dreams. Until we capture her, think nothing of her." The dry, raspy voice said.
Rufus had tried to fight the voice, but after finding his attempts futile, he slowly realized that he was being controlled like a puppet. The voice seemed to have control over most of Rufus' actions and words. The last time he'd even been close to breaking the weird urges was when he gave those keys to Tifa, and even then it was a struggle. The voice had started right after that, driving him near to insanity at times, but he was getting used to it.
His raven-haired companion slept silently beside him, breathing rhythmically.
He turned to her and stroked the shimmering soft black hair, smiling to himself. "At least I know you'll never turn on me."
The dark figure purred in her sleep.
He turned over, deciding he'd do what he could in the morning. "Good night, Darkie." He whispered before drifting back to sleep.
Dark Nations opened an eye and licked Rufus' ear before growling her own goodnight.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So, are you enjoying your vacation so far?" Elena said to Rude.
"..." The bald man was silent.
"I agree Rude; it might've been a little more fun if there wasn't a chick around." Reno said grinning.
"Oh, shut up." Elena smacked Reno upside the head.
Rude shook his head, smiling to himself.
An unnatural part of Reno snapped. "Elena, if you do that one more time, I'll smack you so hard, you'll be begging Rufus to let you outta ShinRa. You hear me? I won't have someone like *you* make a fool outta me." Reno's normally warm laughing voice turned hateful and cold.
Elena's eyes grew wide. "S... sorry." She said, fear of the redheaded Turk welling up inside.
Reno, surprised at his own action wanted to hit himself. Threatening her was the last thing he wanted to do, in fact, he normally wouldn't have cared. He usually laughed at that kind of thing. He struggled to apologize, but his mouth wouldn't allow it.
Rude went silently back to his beer.
Suddenly the bar door opened, in walking Cloud and two other AVALANCHE members. Elena jumped up. "Imagine meeting you here. Must be fate!" She said, readying herself to fight.
Cloud and companions jumped into fighting positions.
"Elena, sit down."
"But... but Reno..."
"We're on vacation, not a mission. Now even the booze tastes bad." Reno said, shaking his head.
Elena sat down dejectedly. "Sorry, Reno."
Rude sat drinking his beer, thinking to himself. "Reno's changed. I've never seen him like this. He's no fun anymore, he's always drunk. President Rufus has changed too. Something's fishy around here."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tifa sat next to the fence that was holding the chocobos. She sighed and thought about the situation. Most everyone nowadays was pro-ShinRa and anti-AVAVLANCHE. ShinRa had pinned all bad happenings on AVALANCHE, like the plate falling over Sector 7, putting more trust in ShinRa.
Tifa felt that Rufus had betrayed her, acting like he didn't even know her as a friend. Something was different. Thankfully, he'd spared them and let them go. He had even apologized, but for what? It was almost like he couldn't control his own actions. "I'm sorry in advance." His warm voice had remained for that statement before yelling at her to leave.
Something tapped Tifa, pushing her gently forward.
She turned to see who was trying to comfort her.
A blue river chocobo strained its graceful neck over the railing.
Tifa smiled. "Hello there." She said, stroking its downy blue feathers. She sighed and looked the chocobo in the eye. "What do you think? Is Rufus still trustworthy or have I lost him to the dark side?"
The large bird ruffled his useless wings, almost shrugging, but put his head against her chest, as if to say, "Do what your heart tells you."
She smiled and patted its head. "My heart's been broken too many times before. What if I'm wrong?"
The chocobo merely repeated his last motion.
"Ok, ok, I get the picture.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/n: Ok, yes, a short and almost eventless chapter. But it had to be there. I'm now working on the next chapter, and it is definitely more eventful. Please keep the reviews up! Oh I'd also like to give a shout out to generalquistis who drew me a lovely picture for the chapter where Tifa and Rufus make out, much to Scarlet's horror. Thank you so much!! It's on her webpage, Bloodstained Dreams.
~Kage
Disclaimer: I can't claim anything other than the storyline, you know the drill.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What was I thinking?" Reno said to himself, sitting on his bed, head in hands. "What on earth made me follow such an order?" He continued, recalling the event of his blowing up the pillar that once held up the plate over Sector 7. "So many people... are dead because of me." A slow realization of a force he couldn't control washed over him.
"It's that damn mako crap. It's an enhancer *and* a mind controller. That's why if you get exposed to too much, you're screwed. Why didn't I think of that before? That's why I can't control anything I do anymore, that's why Rufus has gone whack, that's why the demand for mako is so high, so Hojo can have a mindless military at his command." Reno's eyes opened wide, flashing with his sudden knowledge. But at that moment, an urge to get drunk drowned out his revelation and overcame his thoughts.
The brainwashing had taken full effect. He grabbed a beer out of the small fridge he kept in his room. A voice halted him.
"Hey, Reno, what do you think you're doing?"
Reno turned to see Elena standing there, looking particularly overbearing with her hands on her slender hips. He shrugged. "Getting a drink?" He answered in question to the recruit for the Turks. "What's it to you?"
"Oh it's nothing; it's just that if you get drunk now, I get to look forward to a night of getting hit on with cheap pick-up lines."
He looked innocently at her, but killed it by saying, "What, that's a bad thing?"
Elena's anger got the better of her, this time letting her open hand do the talking, leaving a red hand print across Reno's face. She stormed off, eyes clenched as hard as her fists. "Insensitive jerk! Tseng would never say things like that!" She muttered to herself.
Reno's wide eyed stare followed her. "I hope you know that didn't hurt!" He said aloud, then adding quietly, "...much."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rufus sat up in bed again, shaking. "That damn dream again! Why can't I get that woman out of my head?" He thought aloud. A cold, cruel voice entered his thoughts.
"Ignore the dreams. That's all they are, dreams. Until we capture her, think nothing of her." The dry, raspy voice said.
Rufus had tried to fight the voice, but after finding his attempts futile, he slowly realized that he was being controlled like a puppet. The voice seemed to have control over most of Rufus' actions and words. The last time he'd even been close to breaking the weird urges was when he gave those keys to Tifa, and even then it was a struggle. The voice had started right after that, driving him near to insanity at times, but he was getting used to it.
His raven-haired companion slept silently beside him, breathing rhythmically.
He turned to her and stroked the shimmering soft black hair, smiling to himself. "At least I know you'll never turn on me."
The dark figure purred in her sleep.
He turned over, deciding he'd do what he could in the morning. "Good night, Darkie." He whispered before drifting back to sleep.
Dark Nations opened an eye and licked Rufus' ear before growling her own goodnight.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So, are you enjoying your vacation so far?" Elena said to Rude.
"..." The bald man was silent.
"I agree Rude; it might've been a little more fun if there wasn't a chick around." Reno said grinning.
"Oh, shut up." Elena smacked Reno upside the head.
Rude shook his head, smiling to himself.
An unnatural part of Reno snapped. "Elena, if you do that one more time, I'll smack you so hard, you'll be begging Rufus to let you outta ShinRa. You hear me? I won't have someone like *you* make a fool outta me." Reno's normally warm laughing voice turned hateful and cold.
Elena's eyes grew wide. "S... sorry." She said, fear of the redheaded Turk welling up inside.
Reno, surprised at his own action wanted to hit himself. Threatening her was the last thing he wanted to do, in fact, he normally wouldn't have cared. He usually laughed at that kind of thing. He struggled to apologize, but his mouth wouldn't allow it.
Rude went silently back to his beer.
Suddenly the bar door opened, in walking Cloud and two other AVALANCHE members. Elena jumped up. "Imagine meeting you here. Must be fate!" She said, readying herself to fight.
Cloud and companions jumped into fighting positions.
"Elena, sit down."
"But... but Reno..."
"We're on vacation, not a mission. Now even the booze tastes bad." Reno said, shaking his head.
Elena sat down dejectedly. "Sorry, Reno."
Rude sat drinking his beer, thinking to himself. "Reno's changed. I've never seen him like this. He's no fun anymore, he's always drunk. President Rufus has changed too. Something's fishy around here."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tifa sat next to the fence that was holding the chocobos. She sighed and thought about the situation. Most everyone nowadays was pro-ShinRa and anti-AVAVLANCHE. ShinRa had pinned all bad happenings on AVALANCHE, like the plate falling over Sector 7, putting more trust in ShinRa.
Tifa felt that Rufus had betrayed her, acting like he didn't even know her as a friend. Something was different. Thankfully, he'd spared them and let them go. He had even apologized, but for what? It was almost like he couldn't control his own actions. "I'm sorry in advance." His warm voice had remained for that statement before yelling at her to leave.
Something tapped Tifa, pushing her gently forward.
She turned to see who was trying to comfort her.
A blue river chocobo strained its graceful neck over the railing.
Tifa smiled. "Hello there." She said, stroking its downy blue feathers. She sighed and looked the chocobo in the eye. "What do you think? Is Rufus still trustworthy or have I lost him to the dark side?"
The large bird ruffled his useless wings, almost shrugging, but put his head against her chest, as if to say, "Do what your heart tells you."
She smiled and patted its head. "My heart's been broken too many times before. What if I'm wrong?"
The chocobo merely repeated his last motion.
"Ok, ok, I get the picture.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/n: Ok, yes, a short and almost eventless chapter. But it had to be there. I'm now working on the next chapter, and it is definitely more eventful. Please keep the reviews up! Oh I'd also like to give a shout out to generalquistis who drew me a lovely picture for the chapter where Tifa and Rufus make out, much to Scarlet's horror. Thank you so much!! It's on her webpage, Bloodstained Dreams.
~Kage