Disclaimer: You know, I didn't create any of these characters! No, really, I didn't… They belong to Square Enix

Chapter 3: Runaway

Vincent and Gon whipped round.

"Was that…" Gon started.

"Scarlet!"

The two of them raced back up the street, sloshing through puddles of rainwater and sliding across mud. They arrived in the large yard only slightly filthier than they had been previously. Scarlet was standing in front of the open woodshed, gun in her hand. She seemed to have forgotten it was fake; either that or she was trying to scare whatever was hiding inside.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded of the shed, "Get the crap out here!"

Vincent slipped and slid across the yard to her side. "What is it Scar?" He peered into the dark depths of the shed.

It was a small, musty space filled with farming tools and the like. On the far wall hung an assortment of guns (real guns this time) and hunting knives. A family of birds seemed to have taken up residence in one of the corners. Someone was huddled beneath their nest, hidden slightly by a large pitchfork.

"Hey, come out here," Vincent ordered. Whoever they were, they looked quite young, and hid their head in their hands when he spoke.

"Good God, Scarlet, I think you scared the shit out of him!" Gon chuckled, "Come on out, Kid, we won't let her bite."

The boy stood up slowly. He squinted as though hit by a sudden glare, although the only light was the moon, which had shaken itself free of the choking clouds.

He was tall and lanky, and very pale. He must have been a little younger than Vincent, fifteen or so. His clothing was entirely black and, though it looked quite well-made, it was ripped, torn, and stained, as if the wearer had rolled headlong through a thicket of thorn bushes. (Something Vincent had been known to do when he was younger.) Silver hair spilled over the boy's shoulders to his mid-back. The eyes that looked out at them were almost abnormally blue and glowed with a strange intensity. In them was a memory of something beyond fear, beyond pain. This boy had the eyes of a soldier lying half-dead on the Warfield. The look didn't fit such a young face.

"Are you alright?" Vincent asked, though it was a stupid question. The boy was obviously not alright. Small, inummerable scratches covered his arms (which added to the thorn bushes theory) and a dark bruise was splashed across his left cheek. His eyes flicked back in forth as though he were looking for a way out, or somewhere else to hide.

"What's your name?" Gon inquired.

"Yeah and why were you in my shed?" Scarlet added.

The boy opened his mouth and coughed. When he spoke, his voice was husky and surprisingly mature for someone of his appearance.

"I-I'm Seph, and I didn't know it was your shed." He bowed his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Scarlet answered, uncomfortable, "It's just a shed."

Seph smiled weakly. It made him look older. Vincent suddenly had no idea how old this boy was. He could be anywhere from 14 to 18. Whatever and whoever he was, he looked like he had been through a lot.

"Maybe you should go home or something," he suggested, then immediately regretted it when a pained expression came over Seph's face. Maybe he didn't have a home to go home to.

Gon seemed to have noticed too. "You should at least get out of the shed. We can give you something for those cuts."

Seph looked down at his arms as though he had only just noticed he had them. His manner was that of a cowed dog that had been beaten for years. He looked like he could do with some food and a bath. Vincent looked down at himself. He looked like he could do with a bath as well.

"Why don't you come to my place, uh, Seph," he said, "I can get you some other clothes and stuff."

Seph nodded and tried the smile thing again. "Okay."

Scarlet stood there for a few more seconds, a look of intense concentration on her face. "I've gotta be somewhere," she announced suddenly, "See ya all later." She turned and headed quickly onto the road, back toward the village square.

Vincent and Gon stared after her. Seph just looked confused.

"What is she doing?" Gon asked incredulously, "She was going home a minute ago."

Vincent shook his head. It was probably nothing. Girls were weird, everyone knew that. Still, it was a little strange. What had meeting Seph made Scarlet need to do?

"I guess I'll see you two later, huh Vince?" Gon said at his shoulder. He looked disappointed. His mother would freak out if he wasn't home soon, and he wanted to stick around. There was so much pent up tension in the air at night.

"See ya," Vincent answered.

"See you," Seph said.

Vincent led his new acquaintance along the street. Seph jumped at the slightest noise and cringed from the smallest light that spilled from the houses lining the road. What could possibly happened to create this much fear in a person? It was like he was expecting at any moment to be attacked from behind. Vincent wondered vaguely if he should offer him his gun. Probably wasn't a good idea. It was fake, and Seph didn't look like the kind of guy that carried a weapon.

"So, have you ever been to Kalm before?" Vincent made a stab at conversation. It would be a miracle if he could get this guy to string together a sentence.

"No." Miracles were definitely in short supply these days.

"Oh, well that's cool. Listen, Seph, I'm sure that you're tired and hungry and stuff," he eyed the boy's underfed frame. "But you can talk to me, there's no one in this village that can hurt you."

Seph gave a hollow laugh, muttering something that sounded like, "I seriously doubt that." The fearful look was back in his eyes. He looked like he was expecting Vincent to jump at his throat.

They entered Vincent's house as quiet as they could, all the better to keep his parents asleep. He had no doubt that they would meet Seph in the morning, and he sure they wouldn't turn him out, but it was best to avoid awkward questions. Bringing a girl home in the middle of the night was bad enough, he didn't even want to think about how strange things could get if his parents got the wrong idea. As this thought crossed his mind, he turned to Seph, looking at him in the light of the lamp he had lit.

Now that he thought about it, this boy would be quite good-looking to the women he ran into. Provided of course, that no horrible defects were hidden beneath the dirt.

"There's a spigot in the back yard. The water's cold, but it'll hardly matter, it's so damn hot outside." Vincent smiled apologetically. "I know it's quaint, but it's really all we've got in Kalm."

Seph shrugged. "It's fine." He crossed to the back door, pulling his tattered shirt off as he went.

Vincent sighed. He sank down onto the couch, but then sprung up again instantly when he remembered how covered in dried mud he was. His mother would not appreciate stains on the upholstery. It was turning out to be an extremely weird night. It had started in victory, and then progressed to a crisis. Everyone was now stuck in Kalm, all because of three goons with guns. Though Erika wasn't exactly what you would call goon-looking. She was beautiful, which made her twice as deadly.

Vincent had read plenty of adventure books; the better-looking the opponent, the harder it was to take them seriously and concentrate. He had begun to have that problem with Scarlet a couple of years ago. Still, they were usually neck and neck when it came to any physical ability, though it didn't seem like there would be any competition between them until this Turk problem was dealt with. .

And to cap all his problems, he had the biggest one outside in the back, standing under the shower. Who was Seph and why had he run away to Kalm of all places? Most people that leave home went to Midgar, which was the only large city on the Continent. Wherever he was headed, he didn't look like he was doing too well. Maybe someone would come looking for him…

Wait. Maybe someone already had. Hadn't Erika said that she, Reno, and Tseng weren't leaving until they found someone? Well, there wasn't anything new in Kalm, except for one thing.

That one thing was currently coming inside from the backyard.

Seph emerged in the living room, seemingly not realizing his was dripping water all over the floor. All of the dirt had been washed away from his skin, making him seem a little less pale than before. The long silver hair that snaked down his back looked considerably cleaner.

"Oh, hey Seph. I'm trying to find you a place to sleep,"

"Uh, Vincent?" Seph interrupted, staring at the increasingly wetter floor. "Would it be alright if I just slept outside, in the back?"

"Sure," Vincent answered, a little surprised. Seph looked like he had been sleeping outside for the last month, had he grown fond of it?

He was smiling now, and bowing slightly. "Thank you, it's just that…I don't really like being inside."

He turned on his heel and went back out to the shower. Vincent suddenly realized that that ruled out getting cleaned up himself. Oh well, he thought, tomorrow is another day.

That was a very true statement, one that should not be used lightly. If Vincent had known what tomorrow would bring, he would have clung desperately onto today.