Chapter 39
Sifan Leonhart put his coat on and locked his room door with its key. He walked down to Avatar's room and paused in front of it.
[Maybe I oughta let him sleep some more...]
Sifan took a look at the clock on the wall at the end of the hallway. It read 8 P.M.
He shrugged and knocked on Avatar's door. There was no reply for a few minutes. Eventually, he heard a rustling noise and soon Avatar Fenis sleepily opened the door.
Sifan smiled, "C'mon...you've slept for five hours straight..."
Avatar nodded sleepily, "I'll meet you at the reception in five minutes..."
Sifan nodded and left down the flight of stairs to the reception. He wanted to complain about the dire strait of his room but he decided not to be so whinny. Moreover, he actually felt good he was re-united with his friend.
Sifan walked to the exit and took a look outside.
It was nighttime and a few neon lamps stood on tall posts all across the small town, giving it a bright radiance. Most of the shops were still open and were actually attending to a few customers. Some of them looked like Shin-Ra soldiers. Sifan realized that there wasn't a single place that was devoid of Shin-Ra personnel.
It was a starless night and the waning moon failed to shower its radiance through the dark clouds that loomed in the sky. Under a neon lamppost, Marlene was playing a game of rock-paper-scissors with a couple of children. Phillona and Trex were nowhere to be seen.
[She's so much like Selphie...]
Sifan stretched his hands when he saw Avatar Fenis walk up next to time. Avatar still had a unemotional look on his face. Sifan didn't know whether he was sleepy or whether he was in a strange state of mind.
As the two of them walked out together, Sifan started a conversation, "Did you meet the Fenis Guardian?"
Avatar nodded, "Yes but...he told me some bullcrap I just couldn't believe...."
Sifan shrugged, "Oh yeah and what's the big idea calling me to Lichita hills...?"
Avatar pulled out a newspaper cutting from his pocket and handed it to Sifan.
Sifan walked under a lamppost and scanned the paper article with his eyes. There were a whole lot of details about scientific breakthroughs created by Shin-Ra scientists. However, Sifan's eyes fell on a part of the article that Avatar had emphasized with a highlighter.
Not much is known about this device as yet but what we do know is that Shin-Ra is developing it in the snowy hills of Lichita. It is still in experimental stages but scientists say that it will be done in no time. Psychiatric hospitals across the world are looking forward to this device being released. Mainly because, one of the many features of this device is memory un-compression. Doctors say this device may come in very handy in the treatment of memory losses...
Below the article was a small picture of the device. It looked like a large sphere. From the side of the sphere protruded a thick, tray-like structure on which a man was lying down. A scientist stood grinning near the sphere for the photo.
Sifan looked up into his friend's black eyes, "You wanna hunt down this device in Lichita hills...?"
Avatar nodded, "...I've found the place..."
Sifan stared up at his friend, "You sure about this...? I mean...its not going to be easy breaking into wherever they are storing this stuff.... it belongs to Shin-Ra remember...?"
"Either you're in or out, Sifan..." Avatar replied in a cold voice, "I don't mind going there alone...."
The determined look in Avatar's face wasn't shaken a bit, "We're going tonight...10 P.M."
Sifan sighed, "Fine...I'll come..."
Just then Marlene walked up to the two SeeDs, "Hiya guys..."
She looked at Avatar and smiled, "So...any luck on your past discovery...?"
"No..." Avatar replied calmly.
[What's wrong with him...? He's acting worse than me...]
"Anyway..." Marlene quipped, "Well, dinner's ready in Trex's grandpa's place...let's go!"
"You go on ahead, Sifan..." Avatar mumbled.
"WHAT?" Marlene protested, "No way! You're coming too..."
"I finished dinner..." Avatar lied and turned to Sifan, "I'll meet you around here half past nine..."
Sifan eyed Avatar strangely, "I..."
"Just go dammit..." Avatar muttered under his breath.
"Fine..." Sifan said and turned to Marlene, "I'll be there in five minutes..."
"See you later Avatar..." Marlene said and began to walk away from them.
After Marlene was out of hearing range, Sifan turned to Avatar with a frustrated look, "What's HAPPENED to YOU?"
Avatar didn't answer Sifan's question, "Enjoy dinner, pretty boy..."
With that, he turned around and proceeded towards the bar.
*************************
It was much noisier than Sifan had expected. Trex was already stuffing his mouth with food. Marlene was seated near Trex, complaining about his bad eating habits. Sitting opposite them, Phillona just sighed and watched Trex and Marlene start another argument. A couple of other teenagers sat at the table, gossiping away endlessly.
Trex saw Sifan and mumbled with his mouthful of food, "Hey, Fheefaan, wheref Afhatar?"
"He's loafing about outside..." Marlene replied, "He's already finished dinner..."
Trex swallowed his food and drank a glass of water, "Hey man...don't jus STAND there, take a seat..."
Phillona pulled a chair near her and gestured Sifan to sit.
He shrugged and took a seat near her, "Hi..."
She smiled at him, "How's Avatar doing...?"
"He'd doing grea-" Sifan started but strangely he didn't feel like lying to Phillona, "He's...just not himself..."
She looked said at the worried look on his face, "He'll be fine.... He's just feeling insecure about his past..."
Sifan looked at his plate in thought while Marlene and Trex chatted with the other two teenagers. Phillona cut a large chunk of turkey and put it on Sifan's plate.
"Hey..." Sifan muttered, "I can't eat so much..."
"Shut up..." Phillona muttered back, "I saw the way you stuffed that burger in the restaurant back at Aquadia..."
"Er...I was hungry then..." Sifan smiled sheepishly, "heh heh...and you were acting like you were on drugs..."
Phillona giggled, "Oh well..."
As the dinner went on, Sifan came to know that the two other teenagers were Trex's cousins. They were very interested in his gunblade and Sifan eventually ended up telling them of Squall's Lionheart. By then, Trex had taken more than a few draughts of wine despite Marlene's objections. Soon, Phillona and Marlene had to carry the drunken teenager to his room. Trex's cousins had left early and Sifan stood alone. He sighed when he noticed the clock on the wall show 9:45.
Though he felt it a little rude to leave without informing anyone, Sifan made his way out of the dining room and opened the door to the exit. The cold icy winds rushed through his ears as he heard someone arrive behind him.
Phillona saw Sifan trying to sneak off and sighed, "Running off again...?"
"Well, I told Avatar I'd meet him fifteen minutes back..." Sifan replied as she walked up to him.
"Sifan..." Phillona said, "Avatar doesn't need to be your ONLY friend...you've got us too..."
Sifan felt warm at these words but as usual, he brushed his feelings away. He nodded to Phillona, and walked out of the door towards the lamppost where Avatar Fenis was waiting for him.
*********************
"What took you so long...?" Avatar mumbled irately, "Playing Cuddly-Dudley with the Strife girl?"
"Her name's Phillona, if you didn't know..." Sifan snapped back.
Avatar grinned, "Gotcha! See, I told you you'd like her... "
Sifan heaved a sigh of relief.
[Now there's the real Avatar...]
"So..." Sifan said as the two of them headed towards the town exit, "A little booze and you're back to normal..."
Avatar snickered, "Hmm.... nothing like it..."
Soon they arrived at the foot of the Lichita hills after pushing their way through a zigzagging snow-covered pathway. The hill, which Avatar said they had to climb up, didn't look all that menacing. It looked quite big but the slope angle was very less and the ground looked more or less even. The only problem was however, the icy gusts of wind that swept through the air almost every minute.
"It's gonna be a long climb..." Avatar said pulling his jacket around him, "But its gonna be easy..."
Sifan's teeth clattered as he hugged himself, "Let's hurry up with this thing..."
"There's cave near the top of the hill..." Avatar said as the two of them started their climb, their feet sinking into the snow with almost every step.
"Cave...?" Sifan said, puzzled.
"Yes...inside the cave is actually a Shin-Ra lab for developing all sorts of equipment..."
"Oh..." Sifan said, as another chilly wind whistled through his ears, "but they'll have soldiers on patrol, right?"
"Yes...but not many..."
"Why not...?"
"Scientists work till almost midnight in that place..." Avatar said as they passed a few cone trees that were half-buried in the snow, "They don't like their concentration disturbed by these Shin-Ra soldiers walking around..."
"Y-You have a plan...?" Sifan said, shuddering from the cold.
"Yes..." Avatar replied, his eyes becoming firm, "It doesn't include you though..."
"WHAT?"
"I just wanted you to come along..." he said calmly.
"You're gonna take on all those soldiers by yourself?" Sifan asked.
"Yes..." came the reply.
Any other person would have laughed at Avatar but Sifan didn't. Only because he knew Avatar's capabilities too well. But still, Sifan was worried, "Well, you sure about that?"
"Yes...if you don't think I can take out those soldiers..." Avatar slid out his blood-covered katana and showed it to Sifan, "is this proof enough...?"
Sifan's heart skipped a beat, "...Avatar...this isn't human...blood...is it?"
His friend didn't reply. He just continued to walk uphill with Sifan strolling beside him.
"Garden taught me just the creamy bit of Ninjitsu, Sifan..." Avatar replied, "The past two days however, the Fenis guardian gave me its darker side...stealth assassination..."
Sifan swallowed hard. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. When Garden had first introduced the Ninjitsu branch, students weren't taught the deeper and the darker parts of Ninjitsu. All they learnt was how to use their katanas, shruikens and jumps.
But Sifan had read about it. The REAL Ninjitsu. He had read about how it turned its learners into human killing machines. How it deprived them of a soul.
REAL ninjas didn't feel. REAL ninjas were beyond emotions. REAL ninjas didn't have a heart.
"Avatar..." Sifan asked quietly as they arrived near a cave, "D-Do you want to be...a...real ninja...?"
Avatar turned around and gave him a weak smile, "I already am..."
Sifan remembered Avatar telling him a few hours ago that he hadn't slept in a while. He didn't want to believe it but it was the only logical explanation he could come up with.
[So...Avatar...spent the last two days...and nights with that Fenis guardian... ...becoming...a killer...?]
"Avatar..." Sifan said slowly, "How many soldiers are you...y-you planning to kill...?"
"Four or five..." Avatar replied.
"Did you kill any while you were here...?"
"Just a couple of them..."
"............................."
"I needed practice, Sifan..." Avatar said as they headed to the cave, "A Ninja's stealth kills need perfection...The Fenis guardia-"
"To HELL WITH THE GUARDIAN DAMMIT!" Sifan fumed, "You're becoming a heartless murderer!"
"You're too weak-minded..." Avatar said, sharpening his sword against a rock at the entrance of the cave. "If you want, you can go back.... I'll meet you at your room in the morning WITH an uncompressed memory..."
"FINE!" Sifan snapped, spinning around from Avatar. He made his way back down the hill, not looking back at Avatar once. He couldn't swallow what was happening. He just couldn't.
[In two days...in 48 hours... Avatar's become a mindless demon...]
He just kept walking, ignoring the wind ranting and raving through his ears.
After fifteen minutes of walking, Sifan was almost halfway down the hill. He stood, panting with his hands on his knees. Just then, a snowmobile came whirring through the snow. A middle-aged man was riding it and he stopped near Sifan and lifted his goggles, "Say chap? What are you doing out here at this time of the night..?"
"I..." Sifan muttered, "...I am lost..."
"Well..." the man said, "Wheredja wanna go? I can give ya a lift..."
Sifan's legs were aching and he nodded his head, "I..."
Sifan thought about Avatar for a while and decided to go back. After all, he was still his best friend...a REAL Ninja or not.
"To the cave near the top..." Sifan replied.
The man gave a snort laugh, "Climb on..."
Sifan climbed on the snowmobile and the man accelerated the vehicle uphill with a loud engine noise.
[What is THIS guy doing here...?]
"Well..." the man said as if to answer Sifan's thought, "I need ta replace the broken lights on top o the hill, see? So these damn airships don't crash..."
The man went on and on about his job as the cave drew nearer. Fortunately for Sifan, the loud wind helped him to ignore the man's ramblings about his work. Soon he was near the cave where he had left Avatar. Unfortunately, Avatar was nowhere around.
Sifan got down from the snowmobile, "Thanks..."
"Sure... no problems kid..." the man replied and raced his snowmobile upwards, away from Sifan.
Sifan walked into the cave, slowly and cautiously. There were small bulbs that hung from the top off a single line of circuitry. Sifan walked across the cave slowly, while keeping an eye out for guards. Though the place was dim-lit, Sifan was able to see quite clearly. He quietly walked on and arrived near a large steel door.
What he saw at the door sent a chill freezing down Sifan's spine.
Lying with his head against the cave wall was a Shin-Ra soldier, bleeding from the neck. Sifan crouched near him and examined the body. There was a slit in his neck from where blood was oozing out. The slit was thin but deep enough to kill. It was a trademark of the katana Avatar wielded.
Opposite the dead soldier was another one, sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood. Sifan turned him over. He looked away quickly. Avatar had gored the second one through his heart.
Sifan heaved silently and stood up. He unsheathed his gunblade and made his way to the door. The keypad had already been slashed badly and the door was already wide open.
Sifan inched his way into the lab. The entire place was enveloped in a dark blue radiance. Moonlight poured into the lab from holes on the cave walls. Sifan looked around and his eyes fell on a corner where a dim light was glowing. He wasn't sure whether Avatar was there but he decided to take a look at the lighted corner. As he moved along, he saw that the lab was filled with all sorts of equipments arranged in irregular rows and columns. So much so that it resembled a library of machines and devices. None of them looked familiar to Sifan as he could only see shadows and outlines of them. After tiptoeing with his hand on the wall in the direction of the light, Sifan paused to hear if there were any other sounds. There was not even the slightest sign of anything that looked like Avatar either.
[Avatar must be hiding somewhere...]
Suddenly, he stumbled on something. Sifan looked at the ground and swallowed. Another soldier was lying dead. His shoulders were faced to the right but his neck was twisted to the left. Sifan shuddered. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He cautiously proceeded forward but froze when he heard footsteps approaching.
He looked left and right for a place to hide but there were nothing except for the metal shelf placed against the wall on his left and a large turbine on his right. He had come too far along the wall to turn back and run without being spotted. Sifan flattened himself against the wall beside the shelf, hoping the containers in the shelf would cover him completely. Sifan imagined himself looking from the soldier's point of vision. The only way the soldier would spot him, was if he took a look beside the shelf.
"Why the hell is this place so quiet today...?" the soldier mumbled as the sound of his footsteps drew nearer.
Sweat dripping down his face, Sifan jerked his head sideways and saw the outline of the soldier approaching in his direction. Running would only make noise and Sifan knew he couldn't take the slightest risk. The guard switched on a light behind him and his shadow fell in front of Sifan's feet.
Sifan restlessly glared at the soldier's shadow approached nearer and nearer.
Suddenly the light that the soldier had switched on went off with a bang. Sifan sighed with relief.
"Damn..." the soldier muttered, "cheap bulbs can't take a little high current..."
Almost immediately, from the guard's direction, Sifan heard a sword being unsheathed very fast, followed at once by flesh being penetrated with force and then, a stifled cry.
After that, silence re-haunted the air.
Sifan took a step outside his hiding place and saw the soldier's body lying on the ground, motionless.
Avatar Fenis had killed yet another soldier.
************************
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From the author: in the reviews ur gonna post now...please let me know who's ur fav. Character and why he/she is your favourite Character....
Believe me...Its gonna be necessary to make this fic better...
Well besides that nothing else...oh yeah and the next chapter will be interesting...
Sifan Leonhart put his coat on and locked his room door with its key. He walked down to Avatar's room and paused in front of it.
[Maybe I oughta let him sleep some more...]
Sifan took a look at the clock on the wall at the end of the hallway. It read 8 P.M.
He shrugged and knocked on Avatar's door. There was no reply for a few minutes. Eventually, he heard a rustling noise and soon Avatar Fenis sleepily opened the door.
Sifan smiled, "C'mon...you've slept for five hours straight..."
Avatar nodded sleepily, "I'll meet you at the reception in five minutes..."
Sifan nodded and left down the flight of stairs to the reception. He wanted to complain about the dire strait of his room but he decided not to be so whinny. Moreover, he actually felt good he was re-united with his friend.
Sifan walked to the exit and took a look outside.
It was nighttime and a few neon lamps stood on tall posts all across the small town, giving it a bright radiance. Most of the shops were still open and were actually attending to a few customers. Some of them looked like Shin-Ra soldiers. Sifan realized that there wasn't a single place that was devoid of Shin-Ra personnel.
It was a starless night and the waning moon failed to shower its radiance through the dark clouds that loomed in the sky. Under a neon lamppost, Marlene was playing a game of rock-paper-scissors with a couple of children. Phillona and Trex were nowhere to be seen.
[She's so much like Selphie...]
Sifan stretched his hands when he saw Avatar Fenis walk up next to time. Avatar still had a unemotional look on his face. Sifan didn't know whether he was sleepy or whether he was in a strange state of mind.
As the two of them walked out together, Sifan started a conversation, "Did you meet the Fenis Guardian?"
Avatar nodded, "Yes but...he told me some bullcrap I just couldn't believe...."
Sifan shrugged, "Oh yeah and what's the big idea calling me to Lichita hills...?"
Avatar pulled out a newspaper cutting from his pocket and handed it to Sifan.
Sifan walked under a lamppost and scanned the paper article with his eyes. There were a whole lot of details about scientific breakthroughs created by Shin-Ra scientists. However, Sifan's eyes fell on a part of the article that Avatar had emphasized with a highlighter.
Not much is known about this device as yet but what we do know is that Shin-Ra is developing it in the snowy hills of Lichita. It is still in experimental stages but scientists say that it will be done in no time. Psychiatric hospitals across the world are looking forward to this device being released. Mainly because, one of the many features of this device is memory un-compression. Doctors say this device may come in very handy in the treatment of memory losses...
Below the article was a small picture of the device. It looked like a large sphere. From the side of the sphere protruded a thick, tray-like structure on which a man was lying down. A scientist stood grinning near the sphere for the photo.
Sifan looked up into his friend's black eyes, "You wanna hunt down this device in Lichita hills...?"
Avatar nodded, "...I've found the place..."
Sifan stared up at his friend, "You sure about this...? I mean...its not going to be easy breaking into wherever they are storing this stuff.... it belongs to Shin-Ra remember...?"
"Either you're in or out, Sifan..." Avatar replied in a cold voice, "I don't mind going there alone...."
The determined look in Avatar's face wasn't shaken a bit, "We're going tonight...10 P.M."
Sifan sighed, "Fine...I'll come..."
Just then Marlene walked up to the two SeeDs, "Hiya guys..."
She looked at Avatar and smiled, "So...any luck on your past discovery...?"
"No..." Avatar replied calmly.
[What's wrong with him...? He's acting worse than me...]
"Anyway..." Marlene quipped, "Well, dinner's ready in Trex's grandpa's place...let's go!"
"You go on ahead, Sifan..." Avatar mumbled.
"WHAT?" Marlene protested, "No way! You're coming too..."
"I finished dinner..." Avatar lied and turned to Sifan, "I'll meet you around here half past nine..."
Sifan eyed Avatar strangely, "I..."
"Just go dammit..." Avatar muttered under his breath.
"Fine..." Sifan said and turned to Marlene, "I'll be there in five minutes..."
"See you later Avatar..." Marlene said and began to walk away from them.
After Marlene was out of hearing range, Sifan turned to Avatar with a frustrated look, "What's HAPPENED to YOU?"
Avatar didn't answer Sifan's question, "Enjoy dinner, pretty boy..."
With that, he turned around and proceeded towards the bar.
*************************
It was much noisier than Sifan had expected. Trex was already stuffing his mouth with food. Marlene was seated near Trex, complaining about his bad eating habits. Sitting opposite them, Phillona just sighed and watched Trex and Marlene start another argument. A couple of other teenagers sat at the table, gossiping away endlessly.
Trex saw Sifan and mumbled with his mouthful of food, "Hey, Fheefaan, wheref Afhatar?"
"He's loafing about outside..." Marlene replied, "He's already finished dinner..."
Trex swallowed his food and drank a glass of water, "Hey man...don't jus STAND there, take a seat..."
Phillona pulled a chair near her and gestured Sifan to sit.
He shrugged and took a seat near her, "Hi..."
She smiled at him, "How's Avatar doing...?"
"He'd doing grea-" Sifan started but strangely he didn't feel like lying to Phillona, "He's...just not himself..."
She looked said at the worried look on his face, "He'll be fine.... He's just feeling insecure about his past..."
Sifan looked at his plate in thought while Marlene and Trex chatted with the other two teenagers. Phillona cut a large chunk of turkey and put it on Sifan's plate.
"Hey..." Sifan muttered, "I can't eat so much..."
"Shut up..." Phillona muttered back, "I saw the way you stuffed that burger in the restaurant back at Aquadia..."
"Er...I was hungry then..." Sifan smiled sheepishly, "heh heh...and you were acting like you were on drugs..."
Phillona giggled, "Oh well..."
As the dinner went on, Sifan came to know that the two other teenagers were Trex's cousins. They were very interested in his gunblade and Sifan eventually ended up telling them of Squall's Lionheart. By then, Trex had taken more than a few draughts of wine despite Marlene's objections. Soon, Phillona and Marlene had to carry the drunken teenager to his room. Trex's cousins had left early and Sifan stood alone. He sighed when he noticed the clock on the wall show 9:45.
Though he felt it a little rude to leave without informing anyone, Sifan made his way out of the dining room and opened the door to the exit. The cold icy winds rushed through his ears as he heard someone arrive behind him.
Phillona saw Sifan trying to sneak off and sighed, "Running off again...?"
"Well, I told Avatar I'd meet him fifteen minutes back..." Sifan replied as she walked up to him.
"Sifan..." Phillona said, "Avatar doesn't need to be your ONLY friend...you've got us too..."
Sifan felt warm at these words but as usual, he brushed his feelings away. He nodded to Phillona, and walked out of the door towards the lamppost where Avatar Fenis was waiting for him.
*********************
"What took you so long...?" Avatar mumbled irately, "Playing Cuddly-Dudley with the Strife girl?"
"Her name's Phillona, if you didn't know..." Sifan snapped back.
Avatar grinned, "Gotcha! See, I told you you'd like her... "
Sifan heaved a sigh of relief.
[Now there's the real Avatar...]
"So..." Sifan said as the two of them headed towards the town exit, "A little booze and you're back to normal..."
Avatar snickered, "Hmm.... nothing like it..."
Soon they arrived at the foot of the Lichita hills after pushing their way through a zigzagging snow-covered pathway. The hill, which Avatar said they had to climb up, didn't look all that menacing. It looked quite big but the slope angle was very less and the ground looked more or less even. The only problem was however, the icy gusts of wind that swept through the air almost every minute.
"It's gonna be a long climb..." Avatar said pulling his jacket around him, "But its gonna be easy..."
Sifan's teeth clattered as he hugged himself, "Let's hurry up with this thing..."
"There's cave near the top of the hill..." Avatar said as the two of them started their climb, their feet sinking into the snow with almost every step.
"Cave...?" Sifan said, puzzled.
"Yes...inside the cave is actually a Shin-Ra lab for developing all sorts of equipment..."
"Oh..." Sifan said, as another chilly wind whistled through his ears, "but they'll have soldiers on patrol, right?"
"Yes...but not many..."
"Why not...?"
"Scientists work till almost midnight in that place..." Avatar said as they passed a few cone trees that were half-buried in the snow, "They don't like their concentration disturbed by these Shin-Ra soldiers walking around..."
"Y-You have a plan...?" Sifan said, shuddering from the cold.
"Yes..." Avatar replied, his eyes becoming firm, "It doesn't include you though..."
"WHAT?"
"I just wanted you to come along..." he said calmly.
"You're gonna take on all those soldiers by yourself?" Sifan asked.
"Yes..." came the reply.
Any other person would have laughed at Avatar but Sifan didn't. Only because he knew Avatar's capabilities too well. But still, Sifan was worried, "Well, you sure about that?"
"Yes...if you don't think I can take out those soldiers..." Avatar slid out his blood-covered katana and showed it to Sifan, "is this proof enough...?"
Sifan's heart skipped a beat, "...Avatar...this isn't human...blood...is it?"
His friend didn't reply. He just continued to walk uphill with Sifan strolling beside him.
"Garden taught me just the creamy bit of Ninjitsu, Sifan..." Avatar replied, "The past two days however, the Fenis guardian gave me its darker side...stealth assassination..."
Sifan swallowed hard. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. When Garden had first introduced the Ninjitsu branch, students weren't taught the deeper and the darker parts of Ninjitsu. All they learnt was how to use their katanas, shruikens and jumps.
But Sifan had read about it. The REAL Ninjitsu. He had read about how it turned its learners into human killing machines. How it deprived them of a soul.
REAL ninjas didn't feel. REAL ninjas were beyond emotions. REAL ninjas didn't have a heart.
"Avatar..." Sifan asked quietly as they arrived near a cave, "D-Do you want to be...a...real ninja...?"
Avatar turned around and gave him a weak smile, "I already am..."
Sifan remembered Avatar telling him a few hours ago that he hadn't slept in a while. He didn't want to believe it but it was the only logical explanation he could come up with.
[So...Avatar...spent the last two days...and nights with that Fenis guardian... ...becoming...a killer...?]
"Avatar..." Sifan said slowly, "How many soldiers are you...y-you planning to kill...?"
"Four or five..." Avatar replied.
"Did you kill any while you were here...?"
"Just a couple of them..."
"............................."
"I needed practice, Sifan..." Avatar said as they headed to the cave, "A Ninja's stealth kills need perfection...The Fenis guardia-"
"To HELL WITH THE GUARDIAN DAMMIT!" Sifan fumed, "You're becoming a heartless murderer!"
"You're too weak-minded..." Avatar said, sharpening his sword against a rock at the entrance of the cave. "If you want, you can go back.... I'll meet you at your room in the morning WITH an uncompressed memory..."
"FINE!" Sifan snapped, spinning around from Avatar. He made his way back down the hill, not looking back at Avatar once. He couldn't swallow what was happening. He just couldn't.
[In two days...in 48 hours... Avatar's become a mindless demon...]
He just kept walking, ignoring the wind ranting and raving through his ears.
After fifteen minutes of walking, Sifan was almost halfway down the hill. He stood, panting with his hands on his knees. Just then, a snowmobile came whirring through the snow. A middle-aged man was riding it and he stopped near Sifan and lifted his goggles, "Say chap? What are you doing out here at this time of the night..?"
"I..." Sifan muttered, "...I am lost..."
"Well..." the man said, "Wheredja wanna go? I can give ya a lift..."
Sifan's legs were aching and he nodded his head, "I..."
Sifan thought about Avatar for a while and decided to go back. After all, he was still his best friend...a REAL Ninja or not.
"To the cave near the top..." Sifan replied.
The man gave a snort laugh, "Climb on..."
Sifan climbed on the snowmobile and the man accelerated the vehicle uphill with a loud engine noise.
[What is THIS guy doing here...?]
"Well..." the man said as if to answer Sifan's thought, "I need ta replace the broken lights on top o the hill, see? So these damn airships don't crash..."
The man went on and on about his job as the cave drew nearer. Fortunately for Sifan, the loud wind helped him to ignore the man's ramblings about his work. Soon he was near the cave where he had left Avatar. Unfortunately, Avatar was nowhere around.
Sifan got down from the snowmobile, "Thanks..."
"Sure... no problems kid..." the man replied and raced his snowmobile upwards, away from Sifan.
Sifan walked into the cave, slowly and cautiously. There were small bulbs that hung from the top off a single line of circuitry. Sifan walked across the cave slowly, while keeping an eye out for guards. Though the place was dim-lit, Sifan was able to see quite clearly. He quietly walked on and arrived near a large steel door.
What he saw at the door sent a chill freezing down Sifan's spine.
Lying with his head against the cave wall was a Shin-Ra soldier, bleeding from the neck. Sifan crouched near him and examined the body. There was a slit in his neck from where blood was oozing out. The slit was thin but deep enough to kill. It was a trademark of the katana Avatar wielded.
Opposite the dead soldier was another one, sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood. Sifan turned him over. He looked away quickly. Avatar had gored the second one through his heart.
Sifan heaved silently and stood up. He unsheathed his gunblade and made his way to the door. The keypad had already been slashed badly and the door was already wide open.
Sifan inched his way into the lab. The entire place was enveloped in a dark blue radiance. Moonlight poured into the lab from holes on the cave walls. Sifan looked around and his eyes fell on a corner where a dim light was glowing. He wasn't sure whether Avatar was there but he decided to take a look at the lighted corner. As he moved along, he saw that the lab was filled with all sorts of equipments arranged in irregular rows and columns. So much so that it resembled a library of machines and devices. None of them looked familiar to Sifan as he could only see shadows and outlines of them. After tiptoeing with his hand on the wall in the direction of the light, Sifan paused to hear if there were any other sounds. There was not even the slightest sign of anything that looked like Avatar either.
[Avatar must be hiding somewhere...]
Suddenly, he stumbled on something. Sifan looked at the ground and swallowed. Another soldier was lying dead. His shoulders were faced to the right but his neck was twisted to the left. Sifan shuddered. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He cautiously proceeded forward but froze when he heard footsteps approaching.
He looked left and right for a place to hide but there were nothing except for the metal shelf placed against the wall on his left and a large turbine on his right. He had come too far along the wall to turn back and run without being spotted. Sifan flattened himself against the wall beside the shelf, hoping the containers in the shelf would cover him completely. Sifan imagined himself looking from the soldier's point of vision. The only way the soldier would spot him, was if he took a look beside the shelf.
"Why the hell is this place so quiet today...?" the soldier mumbled as the sound of his footsteps drew nearer.
Sweat dripping down his face, Sifan jerked his head sideways and saw the outline of the soldier approaching in his direction. Running would only make noise and Sifan knew he couldn't take the slightest risk. The guard switched on a light behind him and his shadow fell in front of Sifan's feet.
Sifan restlessly glared at the soldier's shadow approached nearer and nearer.
Suddenly the light that the soldier had switched on went off with a bang. Sifan sighed with relief.
"Damn..." the soldier muttered, "cheap bulbs can't take a little high current..."
Almost immediately, from the guard's direction, Sifan heard a sword being unsheathed very fast, followed at once by flesh being penetrated with force and then, a stifled cry.
After that, silence re-haunted the air.
Sifan took a step outside his hiding place and saw the soldier's body lying on the ground, motionless.
Avatar Fenis had killed yet another soldier.
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From the author: in the reviews ur gonna post now...please let me know who's ur fav. Character and why he/she is your favourite Character....
Believe me...Its gonna be necessary to make this fic better...
Well besides that nothing else...oh yeah and the next chapter will be interesting...