We meet one of my favorite non – playable characters here!
Reno!
I've been going through a strange Reno fetish recently, where I discovered I think he's really cool – personally I think it was how he handled the Don Corneo situation in Wutai that made me realize how awesome the guy was as I play through the game again. Come on – anyone who has played through that scene had to have smiled and rooted Reno on whilst watching! I know I did – I loved the way he taught that pervy little rapist Corneo a thing or two before putting us all out of our misery – I really detest Corneo... but that chapter's a looooooong way away, so let's press on...
It was Tifa who had attacked first, the heavy hulk of nuts and bolts and a whole load or wires tilted towards them dangerously as Barret kept a steady aim towards it though keeping his load of ammunition in it's internal casing.
Cloud's eyes scanned it for a specific weak point – he had known all about Guard Scorpion – he'd had a peek at the blueprints and had gotten to know it's designers – but this mechanical monstrosity was another thing entirely. His eyes flicked over its surface swiftly as he continuously shifted his weight from one leg to the other, his sword poised and ready in his fists.
A rush of cold, frigid air jutted from below as Tifa gave a growl before launching herself at the robot and leaping into the air, her hips twisted sharply and her strong legs clashed into its side, leaving an impressionable dent in it's armor before she flipped backwards acrobatically and landed on both feet to rush in again, drawing back her tight fists and with a fierce cry made vicious impact, her arms, her fists smashing into it's armor before she leapt back in a defensive pose, keeping her guard.
The robot lifted it's light – bulb eyes and a sound of charging and whirring sounded off like a siren and Barret recognized it as the sound his Gun - Arm made before unloading a fresh hail of bullets.
"SHIT! GET BACK!" he cried, snatching Tifa and leaping backwards as true to Barret's personal prediction, a hot rain of bullets spilled towards them, and their feet scuttled backwards to avoid it as the deadly pitter patter rang at their toes as Cloud leapt into the air, his sword at the ready as he slammed down into it from behind, his sword slitting through the armor as though it where paper revealing a set of wires and lights that sparked before him.
The robot steadily turned to face Cloud and Cloud lifted his sword – anticipating a hail of bullets to spray forth. His sword was his shield and they bounced of its surface as a new wave attacked the AirBuster via Barret, the gape Cloud had made making it easier to penetrate its defenses, but not so much its offences that had caught Barret and Tifa off guard.
Two rear cannons near the hovering underside rotary blades became noticeable as a hiss of smoke sounded and two projectile bombs rushed to them, and all Cloud could see was the eruption of smoke, and to hear their cries of pain.
"TIFA – BARRET, ARE YOU GUYS OK??" he called over desperately, thinking it may be the right time to combat the problem before him with Materia after the little task of checking up on his allies.
He checked his supplies upon not hearing their calls – he had three Phoenix Downs upon him. The power of the phoenix held the ability to restore lost life, though known to not always be successful, ninety – nine percent of the time – they worked just fine.
But he did not want to have to use them, Barret and Tifa where stronger than this – he knew. He smiled thankfully upon hearing their replies.
Barret growled as he sat up, his abs bleeding and his head spinning, the trickle of a Limit Break building up inside of his body as he pulled a gasping and wounded Tifa to her feet her own Limit Breaking burning internally – the release would come in it's own time as she summoned her energies to begin a healing Spell as Barret stood before her, his gun aimed straight before him before it spat out the hot chips of lead to it's enemy as Cloud charged up his own green flame, his sword twirling like a baton in his fingers before placing the heavy weapon on his back and jutting his hands out forwards as a roar of flame ripped out of nowhere and wrapped around the robot for a second or two.
The robot jerked for a moment before spluttering, the hovering blades struggling to move it to rotate to attack – something had broken and it had jammed, putting a halt to it's rotations.
Tifa swerved passed the bullets jumping and planting a foot into its rotary bumper and lifting herself with a springy leap and thrust her fist into its face, the bulb eyes shattering a large dent smashing into the internal wires as she backed off, the robot shuddering and shaking, burning wires sounding as it began to break up.
Barret ceased fire, Cloud kept his sword up but waited, Tifa lifted her fists in defense, edging by Barret's side as he edged closer to her. Had they won?
The robot erupted to life once more with a spray of bullets to Cloud that he had to dive to the edge of the corridor to avoid, almost slipping over the edge to what was certainly a long drop to an untimely demise. At this time its cannons spat also and a round of twin bombs behind, their internal heat sensors aimed at the two bodies behind.
It struck them both at the same time – their closeness physically meaning that the bombs impact had effected both of them as they where flung backwards off their feet to skid to a fair distance behind.
Barret sat up with a snarl, his face contorted with fury as blood coursed down his face as he erupted in a glow of flaming red.
His Limit Break had activated.
"Alright Big Shot – try this!" he cried out his muscles pumping with energy as his gun arm thrust forward and a burning glow of orange and red flaming energy materialized before it, burning and swelling to a formidable size, pushing Barret on unmoving feet backwards as he fought to maintain his stance before it flew from his arm and collided with an almighty smash into AirBuster and it shuddered for a single moment before juddering to a halt.
All was still.
"We beat it," Cloud affirmed with a smile. "That was easy." He complimented AVALANCHE with a grin.
"Let's go Cloud," Tifa smiled, waving over to him as she clutched her ribs from the other side of the silenced robot. "Jump over it or something – we gotta go!"
Nodding in agreement Cloud took a few steps back, calculating his leap with precision before he took off in a sprint and sprung from the balls of his feet over the robotic defeat.
No – one saw it coming, and Cloud was not the only one to scream as AirBuster imploded suddenly, the pressure fanning out into the air and Cloud was forced backwards to toppling through the air as it tore through the floor leaving a frighteningly wide gap that Cloud saved himself from with a sharp grab upon a loose wire.
It sagged immediately with his weight and began to tear it, and Cloud shook his head free of the shock before looking at the stomach - churning drop below.
"Oh my God – CLOUD!" Tifa's scream of anguish caught him as he looked over his shoulder to see Tifa throw her arms out towards him, almost toppling over the edge herself to have Barret snatch her around the waist as he looked on helplessly towards Cloud.
Cloud swallowed, blinking back a stinging bead of sweat from his eye and feeling his knuckles bleach white as he gripped onto the wire of which he currently owed his life.
"I'm ok – I'm fine, that bomb might still be set – go!" he ordered firmly, looking back to his two allies as he felt his body dangle like a weight above the hefty drop that awaited him.
"Cloud, man – we can't reach ya's!" Barret called out sadly and apologetically as Tifa gasped desperately, her fingertips stretching out to him but in no - where near of reach.
"Barret – do something!" she begged, her eyes tearing up as she leaned forward towards Cloud as though it would save him from his drop. Barret's brow furrowed guiltily as he looked to Cloud, sadness in his big dark eyes.
"I can't do a damn thing – I'm so sorry man!" he frowned.
Cloud glared.
"I've survived worse than this – so quite talking like it's the end – look after Tifa till I get back, ok?" he spat sharply. He knew that neither Barret nor Tifa believed that he would be coming back, but regardless Barret gave a solemn but affirmed nod.
"Sure thing man,"
"Ok, now go – get outta - !"
In that instant he was gone, the wire snapped and Cloud was suddenly tumbling and Tifa was screaming and getting smaller and smaller, the whistling roar in his ears louder and louder but Cloud did not scream – he would look death straight in the eye as it came for him, his teeth clenched and his muscles locked as he twisted and toppled through the air to see the hard roofing of a building speeding towards him, and he knew that he was going to hit it and be liable to be left there until someone decided to scrape him off like a smear of spilled jam.
He heard a crunch, felt a searing pain run through his body – and then there was nothing.
...
"What the hell?"
The young man looked up to the large monument of the church of whence the crash had come. His clear blue eyes narrowed in suspicion as he gripped his weapon in one had and his cigarette loosely between two fingers in the other. His long hair drifted out behind him in a breeze in a long flaming streak in the wind.
His name was Reno.
His three accomplices looking up also behind the visors of their blue Shinra uniforms as they all looked up to the church roof.
"Man..." a guard whistled under his helmet, lifting his visor to reveal a confused face, shadowed with fatigue and grizzled with stubble. "What was that?"
"The hell should I know?" Reno sighed rolling his eyes as another guard turned to look at him as a timid child would upon dealing with a particularly grouchy teacher.
"Well – cos you're a Turk maybe?" he suggested foolishly, looking up to him as though this particular title gave the beholder an almighty all - knowingness. The young assassin gave a snigger and folded his arms over his chest as his eyes slid to the speaker's direction.
"Oh, yeah – right. Cos all Turks are psychic nowadays!" he laughed mockingly before inhaling his cigarette and exhaling luxuriously before flicking the remainder away onto the ground. The tired and grizzled guard gave a snort. He wasn't in the best of moods and wasn't up to taking sarcasm and insults from a cocky little so and so – even if he did happen to be a first class Turk.
"S'cuse me – but we're older and more experienced than you, so why don't you keep that tongue of yours to yourself?"
"No – you excuse me!" he shot back, whirling around and thrusting his face into that of the guard defiantly. "Firstly – I'm a Turk – that automatically means I'm better than you as far as intelligence, stamina, agility, strength, talent and experience in combat," he began, pausing to take a breath. "Secondly – you're just a random guard picked from the rest of a bunch of losers to come with me here. And Thirdly – I'm the appointed boss here – not you, so you'll put up with my tongue, and like it!" he finished with a cocky grin and sticking out his tongue and bouncing his eyebrows twice in defiance as he pulled to an upright stance.
The Shinra guards grumbled irritably.
He was arrogant – but he was also right. He was more skilled in absolutely everything they had trained in since allying themselves with Shinra – since they had turned up for their first day of training. He was dangerous and equipped with a wide range of techniques in Martial Arts, weaponry and Materia.
He was only twenty – one years old, very young to be in his rank at all, let alone his level of rank – he was one of the best.
Unfortunately – he was also one of the laziest, known to slack off on a job to visit a bar and drink until he had forgotten to pronounce the letters that made up the word "sober", or hit on a passing girl that had caught his eye.
This was the fifth time Reno had been commissioned to do this mission, and he was beginning to realize that his boss Tseng, and employer President Shinra where beginning to lose their patience with him.
"Ok guys – forget about the crash – stupid castle's old enough to cave in anyway, we gotta get her this time." He sighed with a smile, stretching his rather lithe arms behind his head as he looked at the building.
"It's a church – not a castle." A guard sniggered towards his boss's rather naïve mistake of mixing up a church for a castle – it was the first time he had actually ever met someone who had managed to do so. Reno however, didn't seem to care about the correction made of his mistake and merely shrugged.
"Well – how was I supposed to know? I'm an Atheist - don't know shit about any church's or whatever. Religion's a waste of time anyhow. Singing, praying cos they can't take the fact that all there is to death is an autopsy and a funeral (if you're lucky) and a whole load of decomposition – yeah it sucks, but hey, that's the way it goes!"
The guards exchanged glances, confused and bewildered before the one who had removed his helmet took it upon himself to question his words, his brow knotted in confusion as he voiced his words and keeping his own religious beliefs to himself.
"And this has what to do with the Ancient?"
Long hair whipped around shoulders and mischievous blue eyes locked into that of the guard as he dealt a very piercing and very patronizing look. He spoke in a filthy and insulting tone of voice and as though he where explaining a very simple matter to a very stupid child.
"Well, maybe if you guys would stop with the Castle and Church crap, we'd be dragging her back to headquarters by now!"
There was a very sudden and huge explosion overhead that brought them all to look up before a reply was to be shot back to the young upstart Turk. The Plate above them shuddered violently and shook with an almighty quiver that rattled the very stalk of Midgar.
There was silence. A dense smell of Mako and burning steadily drifted down to them below.
"Man – I can't believe those AVALANCHE morons have managed to blow up another one..." the young Turk sighed, running a hand through his chaotic loose strands of hair that hung around his face in bangs. The guards looked up to him with a snigger and with raised eyebrows.
"Well I can't believe that you failed to catch a Flower Girl four times in a row!"
The Turk wheeled around to the guard with a touch of fire to his icy – blue eyes, his lips twisted in a cruel sneer but with a hint of anger.
"You also won't believe how loud people can still scream when I shove this – "he lifted his weapon which looked to be a modified cattle prod, which held more functions than just to deliver electric shocks as his unfortunate victims usually discovered. "- down their fucking throats!" he finished, smiling nastily and flashing twin rows of perfect white teeth – in surprisingly good condition considering his consumption of Alcohol and the fact that he was a smoker.
But the threat had did it, scared the guard into deciding that from now on it would be best to keep his comments to himself as he took a step back and lowered his head as his Turk leader turned on his heels and once again ran his fingers through his hair before setting foot inside the deteriorating Church.
"Well – let's go guys!" he called back with a merry wave. "She's hardly gonna capture herself now – is she?!"
...
"Are you ok?
"Can you hear me?"
"Heh... Back then we could get by with skinned knees!"
Cloud groaned, his head throbbing dully and the voiced echoed faintly through his head like the faint crying of a sad and lonely ghost, his muscles sore and aching as he struggled to open his eyes. Fresh pain imploded within him at the tiniest movement, but he was focused – not on the pain – or even fully regaining his spirits.
It was the haunting voice that spoke out to him.
'Back then?' he thought, his mind spinning and whirring like a top as his body tried to pull him into consciousness, but the voice tried to pull him back, it's melodious quality was appealing, soothing...
"Hello – are you ok? Can you hear me – listen to my voice and focus on it – you'll be alright..."
This was a different voice, sweet and clear and real, and he could feel... tenderness, soft hands tenderly wiping the blood from his face, gentle fingers feeling at his neck for a pulse and the soft brush of long hair gliding by his cheek.
The haunting whispers where gone, and only his savior was here as Cloud opened his eyes slowly, as though drugged, sedated by pain and weariness. He squinted into the light and lifted a hand to shield it, and it hurt to do so. His muscles where tender, his body laden with bruises and cuts.
He felt a cold and wet sensation tipping over him and a great sense of relief of pain and fatigue leaving as sweet glowing and fresh newness washed all over him as he tried to sit up, feeling a frail but determined hand on his back to support him and help him to sit. Whoever it had been, had just doused a potion over him.
"That's it – try to relax," she coached gently. "Don't go moving too quickly – you took quite a tumble! You should take it easy for a little while."
As his eyes accepted the light he turned to see a pair of innocent green eyes blinking at him, framed by a fringe of nut - brown hair, a face of a clear and white smooth complexion.
"What... what...?" Cloud could only manage, forcing himself to sit up straight, lifting a hand to his head, the pain taking time to leave as his bruises and cuts faded from his body, he shook off the dulled ache from his head as he tried to find himself.
He found himself in a large and stony walled house, lined with broken church pews and broken shards of stained glass littered the area before and abandoned alter, whilst windows intact lined the walls with graceful art. Voices reverberated around the room hauntingly and a beam of clear, sweet light shone through the ceiling and upon him. It was surprisingly warm for what Cloud assumed was a church.
"You came crashing in through the church roof, which slowed the rest of your fall down – you weren't injured too seriously seeing as the church is getting a little brittle these days..." the young lady smiled, edging over and sitting by Cloud's side.
She was wearing a familiar pink dress and red cotton jacket.
"And then you hit the flower bed, which cushioned your landing!" she continued, indicating the soft petals of which Cloud was laying upon, and Cloud's eyes swiveled to the ground of which he sat, laden with torn and crushed flowers around his area in a short radius. Outside of that, the flowers where beautiful, well cared for and fresh in their own right in a mixed rainbow of colorful petals, leafed and stalked in green.
"Oh man..." Cloud moaned as he unsteadily got to his feet. The girl arose quicker and was there to steady him as he swayed before stepping off of the flower bed, the girl as his crutch before the potion had taken it's full effect upon him. "I'm sorry, I..."
"They helped save a life – they did much more today than they ever would one by one in the hands of everyday civilians," she smiled in dismissal of the apology she felt was unnecessary. "Don't worry about it – are you feeling any better now?" she inquired kindly, still holding onto his arm, even though it was now obvious that her assistance to help him stand was no – longer required.
"Um, yes – thank you very much!" he smiled, lifting his arm from her grip and disguising his attempt to show her that he was fit to stand unaided by running his fingers through his blonde spikes, shaking out the dirt and dust it had collected as he had fallen from his battle with the AirBuster.
The girl's smile flickered but didn't vanish.
"Do you have any Materia?" she came out and asked suddenly. Cloud blinked. He hadn't been expecting such a question.
"Um... yeah – why?"
"I do too – but mines is absolutely good for nothing! Just a little glass ball!" she smiled. Cloud blinked again, a small smile on his lips, though still puzzled as to what this had to do with anything in particular.
"You probably just need to learn to use it properly," he dismissed, looking at a small glassy ball that lay tied up in her hair ribbon, shinning brightly in the light.
She shook here head.
"I know how to use regular Materia – this one I'm talking about does nothing – It was my Mother's."
"That's weird, Materia that does nothing?"
"Yup!"
The conversation on Materia had run the full length of its short course - Cloud had sensed it would lead to a dead end almost as soon as it had been brought up. The silence that followed was proving to be rather awkward, and Aeris was visibly regretting being foolish enough to bring it up at all, lowering her eyes from him and looking away from him with pink cheeks.
This didn't last long however. To quickly quell the silence, she smiled as she held out a rather thin arm to engage a handshake of friendship.
"I never got the chance to introduce myself the other day. My name's Aeris Gainsborough the Flower Girl. Pleased to meet you!" she smiled, her hand stretched out awaiting the hand of Cloud.
Cloud blinked – 'the other day'? What was she talking about? The other - !
"Here, let me help," Cloud offered and she turned around swiftly with a slight gasp. Her eyes where large and green and pure in a face of clear white skin, and they locked into his for a few minutes, before she smiled up at him, her pink lips turning upwards with a grateful look of happiness.
"Thank you kindly sir!" her voice was so sweet and suited her looks so well as she moved aside so he could crouch down and help her with her task.
"Normally, they're just a Gil – but seeing as you helped me..." she paused, picking up a particular pink and red flower – not unlike the colors she was wearing at the present moment, she reached over and fixed it to his breast. "It's on the house!"
"Flowers on the house, huh?" Cloud repeated the quirky statement, lifting the flower to his nose and smelling it, inhaling the faintly sweet scent luxuriously. "Thanks!" he turned back to the young lady with a nodding smile, which she returned.
"You're welcome! Bye bye!" she finished with a friendly wave and turned away, walking out of the city with a feminine stroll, she turned back to look in his direction, and her head twisted back to where she was going ever so quickly upon seeing that he was still watching.
"Bye!" he called back, with a wave, feeling his shoulders sink as he watched her leave almost regretting to see her go.
"Ah!" Cloud smiled, his memory leaping back to the day of the Reactor One Explosion and his previous encounter with the young lady. "You're the Flower Girl from the other day!"
The Flower girl – Aeris as she had said her name was grinned, flashing perfect rows of pearly white teeth. Her face lit up with real happiness as he had remembered.
"You didn't forget! That's so sweet!" she smiled, her cheeks glowing with a faint pink, her long plait behind her willowy frame swaying gently as her head tilted to the side.
"Uh – yeah!" Cloud nodded, taking her hand in his own and completing the gesture of friendship and trust between the two. "I'm Cloud Strife – Ex – SOLDIER from Nibelheim."
Aeris' face didn't lose its smile, but it grew rather quizzical, cocking her head to the side as she studied him, his clothes and his sword as though it reminded her of someone, but whatever it was that she was looking for in him, she shook her head free of it and came back into conversation.
"Ex – SOLDIER?" she asked, no longer looking at him up and down at his clothes and weapon. "What do you do now then Mr. Strife?"
"Heh – Cloud'll do Ms. Gainsborough!"
"As will Aeris!"
"Sound's good to me!"
"Me too!"
There was a small tinkling of laughter between the two, and Cloud felt his cheeks burn not with embarrassment, but pleasure. He felt comfortable with this girl whom he had barely known, the way he felt with Tifa. It was not an unknown feeling to him, but an odd one. He could not explain it.
"So what do you do then Cloud?" Aeris pressed gently, kneeling down on the wooden church floor and pulling to her side what appeared to be a heavy bo – staff. She did not appear to be planning to use it on him, and didn't look as though she had the heart to actually hurt anything, yet he kept his eye firmly upon it.
He told himself that it was just for self - defense – Midgar was not without its share of sexual offending men (or women) who would gladly take advantage of a small and pretty thing such as herself as well as common pick - pocketing thieves and attackers – nowhere was safe nowadays...
"I do pretty much a bit of everything – a Jack of all Trades you might say," Cloud explained quietly with a polite smile which quickly faded as he saw the reason of which Aeris had reached for her bo – staff...
There was a man watching them.
He was tall and slender but with a defined body of muscle that showed beneath his messily dressed suit – blue suit, his pants creased, his shirt was only buttoned three times and in the wrong holes, and his jacket lapels where lopsided and hung over his narrow frame.
The blue suit was the trademark of the Turks.
His hair was long and a flaming red, tied back rather carelessly, long loose strands hung over his heads and around the pair of dark glasses perched upon his forehead. A singular, small silver hoop hung in his left ear.
He was handsome – good looking in a scruffy and roguish kind of way, his mouth was twisted in a sneer his blue eyes narrowed as he leaned against the doorway, a rod in his hand of some sort twirling elegantly and artistically in his fingers.
He looked around the same age as Cloud and Aeris – perhaps he was a rookie of some sort, as he seemed rather young to have managed to undergo and complete Turk training.
"Um – Cloud?" Aeris said slowly and nervously as she got to her feet and backed away. Cloud looked in her direction, tightening his muscles. "I don't suppose as a Jack of all Trades, you'd be willing to be a bodyguard would you? I don't have much in the way of money, but I'll go out with you if you do this for me and get me out of here..."
Cloud pondered on this. The girl had took care of him and quite possibly saved his very life as he had damaged her little haven of the church and crushed her flowers. It wasn't as though he felt that he would have the heart to charge her payment anyway, knowing in his heart the he owed to her enough.
He withdrew his Sword and stepped before Aeris firmly, and the young man laughed, twirling his rod in his hands before his fingers snapped around it's handle with precision and skill before taking a few steps forward, followed by the louder and clumsier steps of the Shinra guards behind him.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded harshly, his tone of voice indicating loud and clear that he – Cloud Strife – was not to be trifled with as he stood protectively over Aeris and pointing his weapon towards the group of intruders.
"Guys – this weirdo thinks he can take all of us!" the apparent leader grinned turning over to the soldiers behind him with a chortle of laughter – the guards didn't seem to find any humor in this statement, but rose their guard towards Cloud instinctively.
The leader frowned, his little drama of himself not going according to plan and twisted back to the scene before him to see Cloud and Aeris, his smile reappearing as he began a steady stroll towards them.
"Out of curiosity – was that you who smashed the castle roof in just now?" he asked with a smirk, and his followers groaned, hiding their faces and blushing beneath their visors as Cloud's face contorted in confusion.
"Castle??"
"Quite a racket you made – really brought down the house!" he grinned wildly again, and further groans sounded and not just from the Shinra guards but from Cloud and Aeris also, amongst mutters from the guards questioning if he had been drinking again or if he actually thought he was being funny.
He wasn't being funny at all in Cloud's (or anyone else's for that matter) opinion, but he was annoying and obviously a dangerous man as Cloud knew what he was from his suit and from Aeris' nervousness. A Turk. It was never wise to get on the wrong side of a Turk.
"Reno..." one of the guards called out in an exasperated tone as the Turk began to draw nearer to Cloud. "Reno – you want us to deal with this?"
"...Mm... maybe – haven't decided yet..." he spoke, his eyes narrowing a little in thought and looking upwards coming to a halt in the very center of the flower bed. Cloud lifted an eyebrow upon hearing the name 'Reno'.
"You're Reno?" he inquired out of curiosity. He had indeed heard of the Turk called Reno, he hadn't heard much of him, but he knew enough to know that Reno was one of the best, and his guard tightened and his eyes narrowed beneath his brow. "Tseng's lackey?"
"Hm?" Reno brought his attentions down to Cloud again at the mention of his name and that of his boss. He blinked with another smile coming over his face. "Ah you've heard of me!" He twirled his baton – like rod between his fingers again, obviously some sort of absent - minded habit of his before he spoke again. "I'm hardly Tseng's lackey, try Right Hand Man!" he added with relish with a single bounce of his eyebrows and toss of the head, his ponytail swaying behind his back elegantly as he did so. If you don't mind, I have a job to complete so could you kindly piss off or something? I need to speak with the Ancient."
"I'm...." Aeris called out frightendly, stepping backwards, shaking her head towards Reno, a single bead of sweat running down the side of her face. Reno sighed, his voice becoming gentler to listen to.
"Listen Missy – we aren't gonna hurt you or your boyfriend here – unless he tries to attack which will more or less be an effort in vain..." he paused with a smirk towards Cloud. "The President's needing your help, so let's just make this easy and for us both and – "
"Touch her and I'll slice your fucking head off." Cloud cut in angrily, growing very bored and agitated by Reno, and Reno didn't like Cloud's tone or threat at all, his smile vanishing and his eyes narrowing to slits as he tightened his muscles, becoming obvious to him that he was going to have to go through this blonde – spiked moron in order to capture his target.
He drew back in a defensive pose, holding his rod tightly poised in his fist and issued a challenge.
In that same split second before her call rang out, Reno's eyes widened as he caught sight of the color of Cloud's. A deep green blue and glowing with an unnatural and inhuman aura
"Don't fight in here!" Aeris begged almost tearfully, backing away. "You'll destroy the flowers!" she cried out before turning around and fleeing the scene through a large space of which shreds of what used to be a door still hung precariously on their loose hinges.
Cloud backed off a little, glowering towards Reno before turning around and sprinting after them.
Reno loosened his stance, blinking and staring thoughtfully to the door of which they had left.
"He has Mako eyes!" he stated in surprise, flicking his hair from his eyes before turning around viciously and spoke with a snap to his voice. "What are ya waiting for guys?? Let's go!"
He turned and ran very suddenly before coming to a vary abrupt stop, jamming his heels into the soil of the flowerbed and utterly destroying a row of the delicate flowers before turning around with a delicate smile on his lips.
"Don't step on the flowers!"
He licked his lips and turned and sprinted after Cloud and Aeris, leaving a stunned silence in his wake. Then almost immediately, voices sounded irritably and vexed.
"...But he just - !"
"Thinks he's reeeeeeal funny, doesn't he??"
"I fucking hate that guy!"
...
"They're following us," Cloud noted, turning back with narrowed eyes, snatching Aeris by her skinny wrist and turning forward in to come face to face with a flight of stairs, slanted planks and wooden beams above leading to a small hole in the ceiling.
This was their exit.
"Let's go!" he ordered, making swift moments for the first flight of stairs – the steps where narrow and brittle and a potential hazard to slow them down in their escape, and Cloud didn't like his chances of fight against a Turk and three Shinra soldiers.
Raw determination pounded in their hearts, and Aeris gripped onto Cloud's hand tighter as he led her upstairs as Reno and his men appeared through the door, but Cloud didn't give them a second glance.
They reached the edge of the first flight and to a slanted block of wood as they heard Reno give the chilling order to open fire.
The "Ancient" however, was not to be harmed.
Holes burst and cracked through the lower portion of the board, and Aeris squirmed frightfully. But Cloud knew what he was doing.
"I can dodge the bullets no problem, and it's me they're trying to shoot – I'll cross first and draw attention – then you get over and we'll make our way to the top," he instructed, and before Aeris could protest, her ran across that board like a streak of lightening, and true to his theory, the bullets lifted from the board to follow the blonde warrior, spinning his sword like a baton with skill and precise accuracy and for a loud shattering sound of metal on metal rang out aloud in it's deadly hail as Aeris began her tentative steps over the board.
Down below, Reno rolled his eyes with a sigh.
"The hell are you guy's doing?? Here – gimme that gun!" he ordered, snatching the weapon from the nearest guard and ran his slender fingers through his chaotic flames of hair. It didn't take a lot of precision for him to lift his gun and aim, his hand steady as a rock, and Cloud gasped as he saw that it was not him that the gun was aimed towards – it was Aeris.
He fired a single shot.
It did not hit Aeris – but had the effect that Reno had desired. Te bullet tore through the board directly below her foot and any steady flooring it had maintained within a five - inch radius caved in, taking her foot with it.
She cried out once as she toppled over, hitting the board and slid down it despite her attempts to stay firm upon the board, grapping and gouging with fingernails before she eventually slid over the edge, and with a frightened scream dropped to the ground.
"AERIS!" Cloud called out desperately, fear springing up in his heart for his new – found – friend as he watched her hit the ground. His eyes darted to Reno who was already sneering back up at him, a cocky smile on his arrogant face as he issued to Cloud a two – fingered salute wave. Before turning to his three comrades.
"Well boys – my work here is done – don't rough her up or anything – and if you can get her back to Shinra by twelve – the drinks are on me guys!" he turned to walk.
"This is YOUR job!" one called back in angry defiance. "Why should we...?? Awww...!" he growled in anger as Reno sauntered out of the scene, whistling a catchy and happy little tune as a dizzied Aeris got to her feet, swaying slightly and holding a hand to her head as she kept her eyes on the three guards, backing away slightly, beginning to sweat and tremble in fear.
"Cloud! – Cloud help me!"
"Shit, shit, shit, shit!!!" Cloud cursed, looking around for a way to quickly come to her rescue, his eyes darting to and fro from Aeris to check on her safety and around the crumbling heights of the church to find anything – a rope – a projectile of some sort or a... barrel.
He noticed that perched upon the narrow beams above where precariously positioned barrels, looking as though the slightest nudge would topple them from their perches to come smashing to the ground below.
Cloud's mind went into action, devising a risky and rather stupid little scheme in order to ensure Aeris' safety – it wasn't likely to work, but it was a plan nonetheless.
"Aeris – fight 'em if they get too close – then run back up here – I'll take care of the rest,"
Aeris seemed a little doubtful, but was at least trusting enough to follow through with his plan, gripping her bo – staff tightly in her fist, she set off for the stairs, and the guards where on her at once, snatching her by the wrist and with a powerful tug, yanked her backwards and into their grip.
Aeris cried out, clenching her eyelids tightly shut as she slammed her Bo staff upwards and backwards to her captor's face, and there was a thud and a masculine cry of pain and his grip on her weakened. She kicked backwards and tugged violently from his grip with violent shoulder surges and swung her staff the one who came nearest after her captor. Its metallic hulk caught his chin and her jerked backwards with a loud and echoed clack of jaws and teeth jarring as he jerked backwards and Aeris fled, neatly dodging the gasping hands of the third with an elegant dip and swerving of the hips to come to the stairs.
"Get back here bitch!"
The third guard was on her tail and in a defensive pose, all set to intercept and block any attempted swipes that she may throw at him, but he had lost none of his agility, and his two friends where not defeated just yet, walking up behind him with similar poses as they came up to her, and Aeris looked around desperately for any means of quick escape, her staff held out before her as though it would repel her would – be kidnappers, but it wasn't going to happen – they where closing in now, and she began to tremble rather violently.
And then – almost as quickly as it had begun – it was over.
There was a violent and heavy crash and spray of thick black and wood and agonized screams as a barrel from above tipped before her and taking a direct hit upon them, breaking open and releasing the tsunami of tar that had been intended to repair the slates of the church roof in previous times.
Aeris shuddered for a moment, staring as though they may suddenly leap back up and attack.
But they weren't going to. Not anymore.
"Hey!"
The voice from above sounded loud and she tilted her head back to see Cloud's face peering down at her from atop a beam of wood. "You ok down there?"
Aeris broke into a wild smile, her heart swelling tremendously with joy as her cheeks flushed pink.
"I'm fine thank you!" she called back with a polite bow.
"Well c'mon – let's get outta here before that idiot Turk comes back," Cloud called back, lifting himself back into an upright stance atop of the beam.
"Oh – right!" Aeris quickly came back into her current situation and ran up the stairs to quickly come to the board that she had tumbled down from. There where no guns this time, no pursuers, no danger. She tread each and every careful step with struggled balance, and Cloud could see that she was not greatly experienced in combat or any kind of stealth tactics.
Keeping her pace, she made it up to the beams where Cloud reached over for her and took her elegant hand and gently hoisted her up onto the beams.
She smiled thankfully up at him.
He smiled back.
"C'mon – let's go..." He said quietly, walking with her across the beams to reach the ragged hole of the church ceiling. He stepped aside, allowing Aeris to move before him and he placed his hands upon her hips and lifted her, allowing her to gently clamber over the torn shards of wood and sharp slated before leaping up and pulling his full body weight up and over with his arms, to be pulled up by a helpful and smiling Aeris.
They sat down together, Aeris sitting unnaturally close to him for someone only just introduced but Cloud didn't mind.
And yet his thoughts wandered upon the comical character Reno. There was an aura of danger around that young man, and Cloud looked over to Aeris in wonder at what he could possibly need to retrieve her for.
It was all to secretive and disturbing for Cloud's liking, and he had the sinking suspicion in his stomach that this first meeting with Reno was not to be his last.
Yeah – I'm gonna let you guys decide on which girl it'll be who actually gets to go on that date – I know you can get any character to go with him at the Gold Saucer, but Tifa and Aeris are the only ones I feel hold any real meaningful links to Cloud. Personally – I prefer Tifa (despite after reading this you probably couldn't guess) – but if my reviewers choose Aeris – it'll be Aeris. I know it's early, but I just felt I should write this.
Anyways – stay tuned, I've no intention of giving out Ms. Lucrecia Valentine, who appears to be my biggest fan with her multiple reviews, so that'll be enough of the death threats thank you very much you crazy lady!
Oh yes, and many thanks to ShadowofaHalo for his reviews and great stories – want a good read? Check his works out – you will not be disappointed! "Zack's Journal" is a particular favorite of mine.
Still more to come, so keep the reviews coming – they really are much appreciated!
Until Next Time!