Note: I'd like to thank doctor katy ever so much, for beta-reading this chapter.
"People scare easier when they're dyin'"
Once Upon A Time In The West written by Sergio Donati and Sergio Leone
DYIN' UNTO DYNE
a Final Fantasy VII fanfic by JetNoir
"Barret…don't ever…make Marlene…cry,"
"Don't know why I decided to go on the goddamn trip anyway," the man snarled as he spun the wheel of the Sand Buggy, "No suspension, suns like a furnace, and I'm talking to myself. This ain't good."
Clamping his mouth firmly shut, Barret Wallace focused solely on driving. Sand flew in the Buggy's wake, most being kicked onto the back of the Buggy, so Barret was fighting with the sand itself, trying to knock it off his body.
Squinting into the distance, he finally saw his destination: as the base of the Gold Saucer reached into the clouds. The Prison that lay underneath it was still standing, and Barret changed his course to match. Beads of sweat formed at his forehead, as the sun kept beating down.
"Damn hot," he muttered.
--
To say that Barret wasn't welcome in the Prison was a very large understatement. The bitter glares he elicited were intense, so Barret made sure he locked the Sand Buggy down as much as possible.
"Don't wanna be stranded here."
If anything, it had become far, far worse since he was last here. Half of the ramshackle huts, and lean-to's had disintegrated completely. The residents seemed not to care however, as they just sat, glaring.
Barret just glared back.
--
Walking down the dusty street, some of the bolder residents of the Prison slowly began to approach Barret. Keeping his gun arm ready, and loaded, he tried to ignore them - mostly unsuccessfully, but at least he was trying.
In his peripheral vision, he saw a small figure rapidly approaching, a child. Couldn't have been older than ten.
"Kid thinks he's King of the damn world," murmured Barret. The kid hadn't noticed that Barret had seen him, and the kid kept on coming, as bold as the sky.
Just before he reached his belt, Barret twisted and grabbed the boy's arm.
"Let me go! Let me go, damn you!" the kid screeched in a high-pitched voice.
"Doin' a little thivin'," asked Barret, indignant, "gonna steal my damn money? What the hell were you thinking'?"
"Need the money," snarled the kid, "now let go of my hand!"
Barret did so, and the kid fell a few inches, landing on his back, sending a cloud of dust into the air.
"Don't steal from me kid. Jus' don't bother."
--
Walking down the dust road, to the dilapidated caravan, Barret's mind went back to his past.
North Corel. Home; memories of home.
"So? What do ya think of the sauce?" Barret smiled at Myrna, and replied:
"Since when do ya make sauces? Ain't natural!"
Myrna flashed him a brilliant smile: "Does that mean you won't even try it?"
"Fine. Fine," he grumbled, lifting the spoon to his lips, "hmm. Pretty damn tasty!"
Myrna just smiled all the more.
--
With a deep breath, Barret raised his hand to the caravan door, and knocked hard. After a few moments, a shuffling noise came along, and it opened.
"Coates," said Barret, "may I come in?"
"B…Barret Wallace? Weren't you in here?"
"Some time ago."
"Yeah. You get into another fight? Get chucked down here again?"
"No," said Barret, "I came here the hard way. Through lots, and lots of desert."
"Why?"
"Simple. Dyne."
"What'd you want with Dyne?" asked Coates.
"I want to claim his body. See he gets a decen' burial."
"Well, I don't have no problem with that. See about your business…and then leave us."
Barret just smiled.
--
"I don't like this!" said Dyne, his voice mostly directed at the woman in the red dress, who was standing at the bar of the pub.
"Dyne," said Barret, "we've been over this a hundred time's. I want Myrna to be able to live a better life than this. I'm sure you want the same for Eleanor and Mylene?"
"These coal mines are our heritage! Our fathers, and their fathers worked all their lives. And we're happy Barret! These new Mako reactors. They'll just make things worse!"
"How?" said Barret, "How can things get any damn worse?"
--
The descent was long and arduous.
"My friend," said Barret, as he kept moving, slipping and sliding down the rocks, "how did this go wrong? How?' It seems to be the word of choice. How'd this get so screwed up?"
In the sky, the sun was beginning to set, as he entered the bottom of the canyon.
There he was. Dyne. His still body, riddled with gunshot wounds, and slightly decomposed, lay there, with no ceremony, in a heap, covered with a slight layer of rocks.
"Dyne," Barret mumbled, "I kept my promise. And I'll keep on keeping it. I'll never make her cry."
Slowly, he knelt, gathered the body in his arms, and started to climb back up to the surface.
--
The special container opened easily, and Barret gently laid Dyne's body in it. With a whisper, it shut around him, and Barret wiped what looked suspiciously like a tear from his eye.
Moving to the Sand Buggy, and marvelling that the tyres were still in place, he started the engine, and sped towards North Corel, as the sun disappeared below the horizon.
fini
Disclaimer: All the characters are copyright to Square Enix; and the story to me. This story has been written on the understanding that you may read it and print it out; but you may not pass it off as your own, hire it out, or sell it for money. You also may not put it on your own or any other web page without my express written permission. Thankyou!
JetNoir