They found the man exactly where he said he'd be, calmly polishing his rifle. He looked up as they entered, as if he'd expected them.
"You really want to know why, Shinra?"
Tyren stood in front of the man, looking down at him and spitting out the words angrily, accusingly.
"YOU took my parents. YOU made them prisoners. And why? Because they had the nerve to object to Shinra's mako plant!"
His blood rose, and the words came tumbling out of his mouth as he stabbed his finger at the man.
"YOU ruined my life, turned it into a mess. How dare you! Now they're gone, and I haven't seen them in years. Maybe I'll never see them again! I don't know! It's all YOUR fault, your fault! I hate you, I hate Shinra, I hate them all, every stinking one of them!"
He pounded the wall in frustration, unable to find a release for the pain and hatred that welled up inside of him.
"And I can't do a damn thing about it!"
The man's eyes were stricken, as he silently took Tyren's abuse. Caaliey stepped in and touched Tyren's arm, the anger on her face now moulded into sympathy.
"Don't worry, we'll get them back. You can count me in."
Biting back his lip at his inadvertent tirade, Tyren transformed his face back into his familiar emotionless façade.
"I don't want your pity. You weren't meant to get involved in this whole mess. I didn't want you getting caught up in something that would risk your life."
He turned back to the man.
"So, Shinra, was that enough reason for you? Or is your life worth too much for that?"
The man steadied himself with a few deep breaths.
"In that case, you won't be heading to Midgar. I believe Nibelheim is where you'll find them."
They returned to the same locker room in the airship base, and the man went to work on the locks of a few of the lockers.
"My name's Jag, by the way."
"And why should we care, Shinra?"
Tyren knew he was behaving like a petulant child, but at the moment, he didn't care. The storm of emotions in him was threatening to explode, and it was all he could do to keep them at bay. He didn't want to be reduced to a beast again, especially not in front of this man. He was amazed at how well the Shinra kept his temper, merely biting his lip in response and continuing his work on the locks. Tyren didn't even notice any flashes of anger, or even annoyance, pass his features. He wondered why it was that this Shinra took his abuse with apparent willingness. Before he could say anything else, Caaliey stepped in.
"I'm Caaliey. And the jerk over there's Tyren."
She said it pointedly, aiming her words directly at him. She really was an idiot to trust their names to a likely enemy. Shinra hadn't even said why he thought his parents were in Nibelheim. He decided to voice that thought, before it got away from him.
"And we're supposed to just trust you, of course. You say Nibelheim. Well, I say why? You're expecting us to just follow you blindly? But of course, Oh Great One. Whatever you say, Oh-"
Caaliey, all her previous sympathy now transformed back into anger, cut him off.
"Shut up, Tyren. Ever since we met up with Jag you've been brooding and bitter. You're totally different from before."
"And you know me so well, don't you?" he mocked her.
He knew he'd gone too far when her eyes blazed in fury, but knew that it was too late to take it back.
"Be that way if you must. Stop wallowing in your self-pity and just move on already. I'm sick of it. You're not a kid, you know. I wish I was working with a kid instead of you – they behave much better."
She turned back to Shinra, who had finally finished picking the lock. With a triumphant grin, he flung the door open, and produced a Shinra uniform.
"There's one here, and I'm sure that the other lockers will have more. Put this on, and we'll be able to sneak aboard the Highwind's next flight to Nibelheim."
At the sight of the clothing he had spent his life fearing and despising, the tide of red he had struggled to hold back overcame him. The next thing he knew, he was on the floor, Shinra's knee on his chest, Shinra's arms holding his down. He blinked his eyes, coming around enough to cease the growling at the back of his throat. Slowly, he felt the pressure release, and lifted himself off the ground, Shinra's eyes trained on him the whole time. He noticed Caaliey standing to one side, her face a study in worry. Mentally, he berated himself.
You failed. Again. You can't even stay a human. Now he knows your weakness.
He looked down, and saw scraps of shredded cloth around him. Caaliey spoke up disgustedly.
"What happened? You just went mad. Are you throwing a tantrum over a stupid uniform? Geez."
Tyren tried ignore the accusations of failure being flung about in his mind, and responded with a shrug.
"I don't like this, but according to Shinra here it's necessary if I want to get to my parents. So, let's get this over and done with. It's do and die, anyway."
He turned to Shinra and looked at him challengingly.
"Lead on, Great One."
She was itchy. The uniform stank. It was impossible to breath under the helmet. Yet she trudged along behind the other two, and hoped Jag knew what he was doing. It seemed wrong to her, to be wearing the clothing of her enemy, but she knew Tyren found it harder to swallow. He was so angry and resentful now, and it grated on her nerves. She could understand why he hated Jag – he was Tyren's scapegoat for everything the Shinra had done to him. Yet Jag himself had never done anything to Tyren, and she wished he would see that. In fact, she wished he would see how incredibly stupid, angsty and annoying he was acting. It was like meeting Jag had flipped a switch labelled "Jerk". They halted at the ramp leading into the airship. Actually standing next to it, Caaliey was overcome with awe at its size and grandeur. Staring at it, she barely noticed Jag talking with the two soldiers on guard there, and completely missed whatever excuse it was that he used to get them in. It was only when a soldier behind her nudged her hard and gestured to the two already halfway up the ramp that she was shaken out of her reverie, and hurried to catch up with them.