Now on to the story
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Pieces of porcelain scattered the floor, creating an intricate, abstract design while pieces of food add as the finishing touches of the accidental masterpiece. The abstract work of art reflects what its creator currently feels: despair, worry, sadness, shock and possibly even grief.
How amazing it is, the power media has over a person's emotions. The child went over to the small television set and turned it off, gently dropping his head and letting these negative emotions run through his body. He could not and would not stomach the event he just witnessed.
It was as if he was there, experiencing firsthand, watching at the chaos and the death of a loved one.
Hurried footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs. Long strands of black hair eventually came into view. There was no doubt that it would be she who would come, for the child knows how much a mother loves her children.
"Denzel! What's wrong? Are you okay?" came a slightly worried voice.
The softness, the warmth, the care in those simple words were enough to gently comfort the child. "Tifa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drop the plate. I'll clean it up right away." and he began to get broom.
"No, no, no, it's okay. I'll take care of it. You just grab a seat and relax." Tifa instantly had a broom in her hand and began to sweep the mess- the sad work of art.
Her motherly instincts kicked in, prompting her to solve the problem she knew Denzel had. "So, anything eventful lately?"
"Not much." the boy watched her.
"Not much?"
"Yeah, nothing much."
When Tifa finished the menial job, she returned the broom before sitting down next to Denzel. "That 'nothing much' means 'something much', Denzel."
The boy looked at her and forced a smile. "It's nothing really. Don't worry. The plate just slipped from my hands."
"I see gloom in your eyes. Come on, you can tell me."
The smile slowly faded and Denzel looked away towards the bar. Tifa peered over his shoulder and saw what he was looking at. Over the bar, where she puts the drinks for the customers to see, was an object. It was small yet it meant so much to them. Tifa slightly felt the sadness in the boy and her face no longer shone as brightly. "You miss him, don't you?"
The boy sighed before finally answering, "Do you miss him?"
"Denzel," Tifa placed a tender hand on his shoulder. "I miss him too."
"Will he come back?"
Tifa was shocked at this sudden question. "Denzel! Why do you doubt?"
"I'm not doubting..." he sighed, "I just need assurance." he rested his head on the table, looking intently at the picture on the wall.
"Of course he will come back Denzel. He will not leave us ever again."
"How do you know that?" the boy looked at her, tears are threatening to well up in his eyes.
Tifa let her lower jaw drop as fear began to engulf her. There was a hint of disappointment in her for what the way he acted. Yet, there was still that small amount of fear inside her, slowly invading her emotions. "Something happened, hasn't it?"
"Tifa, I love Cloud." his voice broke, "He's like my dad." the boy placed his head on Tifa as she pulled him into a comforting embrace.
"Yes I know," she gently brushed his hair. "Marlene loves him, our friends love him,"
The boy looked up at her, "How about you, do you love him?"
Tifa paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to say. The whirling blades of the ceiling fan suddenly became a lot more audible.
"Don't worry Tifa, I know you do. Eyes can speak too, you know."
Tifa smiled. Denzel was pretty mature for his age. "You know that Cloud loves us all, right?"
Denzel nodded. The tears had stopped from welling in his eyes. Denzel wiped them away and began to smile.
"That's why he will come back."
It was more than enough of an assurance for the boy and he replied, "Thank you Tifa." he then flashed a grin.
"Alright then, why don't you go up to your room and clean yourself up?" Tifa spoke, letting go of the frail body. The boy nodded and walked towards the stairs. Tifa could sense how short-lived his happiness was. Even if she gave him more than just an assurance, nothing can ever beat an absolute assurance. And the only absolute assurance they can receive is Cloud returning to them.
As soon as the boy was out of sight, she threw away her facade and revealed her true face: A face that was etched with worry and fear. Her motherly composure instantly turned into a helpless child.
Something terrible happened and until she receives that absolute assurance, she will be bothered endlessly. Fear made a home in her heart- fear of losing someone dear to her.
"Cloud..." she pleaded softly, dropping her face in her hands. "please be okay..." her heart began to burn as fear set foot in it.
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"Is everyone okay?" one of the soldiers asked, standing up.
"Just a bit shaken." Yuffie replied. She furiously wiped the dust off her clothes. "Was that an earthquake?"
"Looks like it."
As soon as she was ready, she remembered her two friends who investigated the operation up on the hill. Yuffie gasped and ran towards their position. A not so long ago, Cloud and Vincent made her stay with the van. Of course, she felt like she was treated like a little girl and judging her personality, she hated it; she was more than capable to take care of herself. This can be proved by the past adventures she had with them.
But somehow, she knew why they suddenly treated her this way. The past events of chaos and unrest put a significant amount of stress on the planet. In order for it to recuperate, it had to replenish its energy source, gathering whatever available energy it can feel on the surface.
And that means that all her materias are now marbles with no value. And she and her friends are stripped of their abilities. The great ninja and daring thief, Yuffie Kisaragi is being protected- overprotected, as a matter of fact, because all of them can die easily.
Luckily for them, the planet did not decide on taking away the life force surrounding it, or else every living organism will die. Or better yet, it's a good thing the planet even recuperated. If not, it would've collapsed, sending every living organism to a horrible death.
For now, she had to hurry and make sure that Vincent and Cloud were alright. That was a pretty strong earthquake and who knows what might have happened to them in the hilly forest.
Finally, she heard faint voices. She slowed down to a walk, the voices directing her towards the right direction. Over the small clearing, she could see some soldiers helping up a bomb squad member. She giggled inwardly as the heavy pads prevented the irritated man from getting up on his feet.
Then she heard a faint voice, calmly speaking a familiar word, "Cloud." now her attention was directed at the voice, "come on, Cloud."
She saw a red-caped man, kneeling over a spiky blonde-haired figure. The blonde was not moving, causing her heart to pound wildly. Her eyes shifted from the red-caped man, who was now gently slapping the face of the blonde, to the ex-SOLDIER lying on the ground and locked there.
"I thought we told you to stay with the van."
"I'm not a little girl anymore. Vincent, how's Cloud?" she answered.
"Unconscious. He's fine; just hit his head on a rock."
"Oh." she sighed, the heavy load in her heart disappeared, "here, lemme help ya."
Vincent stood back as Yuffie approached and knelt beside the unconscious figure. She then cracked her knuckles and began slapping him madly, "Come on, blondie! Get up!" she smirked as the man groaned.
She then glanced at Vincent and spoke, "He'll wake up shortly."
Although the approach seemed too rough, Vincent did not comment on it.
"So, all blown up?" the ninja asked, trying to break the silence.
Vincent nodded. "Nothing was left."
"That earthquake was kinda strong, wonder where it came from."
The man shrugged.
They watched as Cloud began to stir and slowly open his eyes. "Cloud! Finally! Ya alright spike?"
"Wha-what happened? Ow..."
Vincent took a few steps closer, "There was a pretty strong earthquake. You stumbled and hit your head on a rock."
"Really? I hit both of my cheeks on a rock?"
Yuffie changed the topic, "Hey, now that we're all okay, why don't we eat somewhere, I'm starving! Cloud's paying, he made me wait!"
"Huh?"
The leaves rustled as sounds of heavy footsteps hurried towards them. A soldier came out of the bushes and hurried towards the lieutenant and whispered in his ear.
The lieutenant's face did not change and remained serious however, there was a hint of concern trying to break through it. He turned to the three people watching them and spoke, "There's a big problem." He then looked at the other soldiers in the area, "We better go." and he followed the messenger. The rest went after them while Vincent and Yuffie waited for Cloud to stand before they left.
As they neared the van, they could smell faint fumes of smoke. Then they saw the men staring at something. When they saw what the soldiers were staring at, they could not help but stare as well.
Due to their vantage point, the view of the settlement was good. And so was the view of the destruction right in the middle of it. The most dominant was a large pillar of smoke which rose hundreds of feet in the air.
"What happened there?" Vincent asked.
The lieutenant, slightly unfazed by the trouble, ordered. "Report!"
The soldiers snapped out of it and one of them stood at attention in front of the lieutenant. "Sir, some unstable ammunition from the armory exploded. The armory and all its contents were taken out."
The lieutenant turned to the three. "We are defenseless. All our ammo and supplies are gone."
Yuffie spoke, her cheerful tone failed to uplift the spirits of all those around her, "Hey, there are lots of ammo from other bases that can be sent here. Can't we contact them?"
"Even if we did, it is much too risky to commission supply convoys. They will be attacked."
"What puzzles me," Cloud spoke, "Is how they know whenever supply operations are underway?"
"We assume that there are spies around. We have begun operations in all bases to track down these spies but unfortunately, no outcome was favorable. Until then, we have stopped all military operations in and out of the cities and the outpost."
"Soldiers do not assume, lieutenant." Cloud corrected. "It's not right to act on suspicions alone."
The lieutenant smiled, "Well then, there ARE spies around."
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Soft steps treaded upon the desert surface. The silhouette of a small creature hurriedly crosses through the vast sea of sand.
On its back was a man- a man wearing clothes which identifies himself as a member of Reeve's famed legions. He slumped heavily on the back of the creature, allowing it to bring him to his desired destination. A man, especially a military man, is known for the straight, upright and confident composure he brings along with him whenever he goes. This composure can only be broken if an external force breaks him.
A certain force however, an external force, caused this man to limply sit on the back of this creature. He wished to close his eyes and rest, to let the pain end. However, he had a job to do; a job which will save his comrades, if he is lucky.
If luck chose the other side however, then this job, id completed successfully, will avenge his comrades.
But first he must make sure that his creature is headed to the right direction. And he must hurry.
He bobbed as the creature took each step, closer and closer to their destination, yet far from it. The patch on his right arm had a unique design which only he and his comrades have. He is very much proud of having it. It was a shield-shaped patch with the silhouette of a black chocobo on it. A sword ran through the chocobo, pointing downwards. Below it was the number IV.
He remembered all the difficult trials he underwent before he became what he was right now. During those trials, his comrades were there, sympathizing with him, all wishing to achieve the same goal.
He remembered how he and his comrades sacrificed themselves for each other. His comrades were there with him in good times and bad times and now that they needed him, he will not let them down. 'Cavalry unit, fourth legion.' he thought.
Blood from a gunshot wound on his side began to drip on his chocobo's feathers. Months of training urged him to take out a handkerchief and wipe the blood off his chocobo's back. During their training, they learned that their chocobos must be cared for and loved by them as an extension of their bodies. A cavalry unit is worthless without chocobos, and it is worthless if there were no soldiers to mount the chocobos.
He felt too weak that he reconsidered the idea. Instead of reaching for his handkerchief, he gripped the harness tighter with a hand, and his wound with the other. His chocobo worked as hard as it could to carry its friend.
Reeve's third and fourth legions of the Avalanche military are stationed in Kalm. It would take him a few more hours to reach his fellow legionnaires in that city but still, his care for his comrades forced him to divert to Midgar and ask whatever help he can get from the first and second legions there. Time was running out and he had to act fast.
This decision would be much better for him. And his comrades.
The scorching heat seared through the wound and drained the life out of him. His hold began to loosen and the world started to spin. Time began to slow down and his chocobo's head began to blur. The sand stretched even further and white spots began to form in his sight.
He pushed himself forward, face full of determination and pain, both fighting for the same spot in his face. Determination had held its ground for a while before pain overpowered it, driving it away from his face.
The man eventually saw nothing but white as he let himself be taken away. He last saw a few glimpses of his chocobo's head and sand, followed by nothing but sand. Then, whiteness completely blocked his vision.
After a few moments of sheer solitude, the whiteness began to fade away, revealing nothing but endless sand again. He lowered his head and saw that he was riding his chocobo. The wound on his side was completely gone. He turned to his left to see four of his comrades riding their chocobos. Behind him, three of his comrades were following in a straight line, all mounted on chocobos.
He looked further back and saw a truck following them. Behind the truck, he could barely see more of his comrades due to the truck blocking his view of them. The sight was awfully familiar. It was like deja vu.
Then he realized that his subconscious mind had involuntarily played back the memory of what happened a while ago. The cavalry unit of the fourth legion was tasked to bring some relief supplies to Raven outpost, following the accident that happened in the armory.
He watched over the hill to the right as a comrade of his emerged and directed his chocobo towards them.
"It's clear over on the east side." the scout reported.
One of the sergeants spoke, "Send another scout up ahead. Report anything to me."
A man volunteered and sped up his chocobo, moving far ahead of the group.
All of them knew that they will be ambushed and they are preparing for it.
A while later, they came across two figures lying on the ground. It took only a few moments to register in their minds that the figures were the scouts that were sent earlier.
Immediately after that, gunfire hailed them. The swift chocobos were able to maneuver in time, sparing the lives of all except one soldier during the initial bursts. The truck immediately sped up while the soldiers on the back fired. This move luckily made a rocket miss them.
The projectile landed on the sand and detonated, spraying it all over the other cavalrymen.
The man heard his sergeant bark an order and immediately, he found himself at rank with some of his comrades beside him. Their sergeant took a position at the left end of their flank and took out a whistle. The man looked on as they faced the hill on the left. On top were flashes of gunfire, directed at them. They calmed their panicked chocobos as bullets sprayed the sand around them.
Then he heard a long, shrill whistle followed by a reverberating yell from his comrades. He heard himself yell as well then afterwards, he realized that they were headed full speed towards the top of the hill. Their chocobos raced each other, vying to be the first to the top.
The soldier saw the man on his right suddenly cock his head back and tumble off his chocobo. The poor man's left leg got entangled with the harness as he fell backwards. The adrenaline rush of the chocobo caused it to not feel the changes that happened on its back. It continued running, dragging the dead legionnaire behind it.
After witnessing the death of a comrade, the man took aim with his rifle and fired at the top of the hill. Months of training taught them to properly aim and shoot whilst mounted on a chocobo. The others followed suit. Next to him, blood spurted from a chocobo's head, causing it to drop forward, taking the yelping rider along with it.
Bodies, man and chocobo, rolled down the hill as shots hit their mark.
Then as they neared their target, he holstered his rifle and took out a small, hand-sized pole from his belt. He flipped the switch and the pole extended, turning into a spear. He aimed it at his unseen target and braced himself. All around him, his comrades were at the same position as he was. Time slowed and he could see bullets pass by him, left and right, their tracers following.
The intensity of the shots grew as they closed the gap between them and their attackers.
As they approached their destination, he could hear yells of fear from the top of the hill followed by a drastic decrease of gunfire at them. He smiled with much enthusiasm as he heard the enemy rout from the charge.
In a split second, his chocobo leapt into the air, and over the top of the hill. He saw one of their attackers quickly backing away from the counter-attack. He didn't allow the man time to react as he drove the spear right into the man's heart. The force dragged the man a few feet before he pulled the spear from the dead man's chest.
It was a victorious onslaught as he speared another man. These guys unleashed chaos at them and now, they were delivering chaos right to their doorsteps.
He was slightly shocked as he took the time to take a look at one of the men he had slain. He gasped at the black uniform, "These guys are..."
His good spirits were short-lived though, as he heard the rapid fire of a high caliber machine gun. Sand popped around him and his comrades started dropping around him, dragging their chocobos along. Apparently, the enemy's Armored Personnel Carrier, equipped with a mounted machine gun arrived to reinforce the nearly lost position.
He watched as another man was swept off his chocobo as bullets went straight through his body. The frightened creature ran down the hill.
He saw another bleeding man crawl towards his dying chocobo, repeatedly calling the creature in pain. He yelled the bird's name one last time before bullets made holes on his body, letting his soul escape.
It was clear that the enemy did not want them to speak of their discovery and was set on killing them all.
It was then that he realized that he was one of the last few men standing. He holstered his spear and equipped his rifle. He was ready to fight to the end.
But before he could urge his chocobo to a charge, a hand grasped his leg. He looked down at the hand, trailing his gaze from it, to the arm, then finally to the man who owns them.
It was their dying sergeant. The officer's dead chocobo lay on his body and his wounds made him too weak to push it off. "Run away... Get... Help..." He spoke with much difficulty. "Tell... Them... Go... That's an order."
With that, the hand fell limply.
Without a word, he urged his chocobo to run, away from the carnage and death, away from the loss and pain. They left towards Kalm, to get help.
But even as they ran, the carnage, the death, the loss, and the pain came with him, as a bullet ripped right through his side.
Bullets then began to rain on him, whizzing by his ear and landing on the sand beside him.
Fortunately, his chocobo ran fast enough and they were able to outrun their pursuers. As the chaos disappeared and silence came, the pain of his wound kicked in.
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"Reeve said that Shinra admitted to losing some landmines." Cloud spoke, closing his PHS.
The three watched as firetrucks and military vehicles sped by, sirens wailing.
Yuffie asked, "Why would Shinra have landmines if they are with the restoration effort?"
"Good question," Cloud replied, "Why would Reeve have ten fully armed legions if they shoulder most of the restoration effort?"
"Shinra's up to something." came a monotonous voice. Vincent was deep in thought.
The three were on their way to the site. As they neared it, the atmosphere became darker and gloomier. Objects can barely be seen and vehicle headlights are the only visible parts of a car.
Cloud and Vincent pulled Yuffie back as headlights and lights from a siren raced in front of her. This time, she did not protest at what they did. "Thanks guys." was all she managed to say.
"Watch your step and be careful." Cloud scolded her.
"Yes papa spike. Hey, I'm not a little girl anymore. I can very much take care of myself."
By now the pungent smell of the fumes had increased in intensity. The three had to cover their noses and mouths with pieces of cloth, either from their clothing, like what Yuffie did, or from their handkerchiefs.
"Hey look!" Yuffie pointed.
Two familiar men walked away from the burning rubble. Both wore rather clean suits. One man wore it improperly while the other dressed neatly. The one who wore it improperly had red hair and a pair of goggles strapped on his forehead. The other was bald and had a pair of sunglasses on. The man with the red hair looked back to see if anyone was following them before they entered an alley.
"What are those two doing here?" Vincent wondered.
Cloud jogged after them, followed by Vincent and Yuffie. He looked left and right to make sure that there were no vehicles passing before he broke into a run. As soon as he did, a truck passed right in front of him.
When it left, their quarries were gone.
As soon as they reached the other side of the road, they looked around, hoping to find any sign of the two mysterious turks. Cloud did not say anything but his eyes asked the question, "Where could they've gone?"
"Looks like they have something to do with this 'accident'." Vincent stated.
The young ninja commented, "Well, whatever it is, they're involved. Turks mean Shinra and since Turks are here, then Shinra's here. Right?"
"We better go to the obliterated armory. We may find the answer there." Cloud spoke.
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The man felt a small tug on his shoulder, followed by a faint voice. With eyes closed, he reached out and felt a solid, curved object. Slowly, he opened his eyes.
"Hey buddy, you okay?" the voice spoke, more clearly this time.
As soon as he focused his blurry vision, he was greeted by the beak of a familiar chocobo. It was looking down at him. "Hey..." he spoke, brushing his hand through its feathers. "Am I dreaming or did you just talk?"
"Alright, he's okay." The voice came. After that, he heard more voices and footsteps, followed by clanging equipment. He looked to his left and saw two men kneeling beside him. They wore helmets with a red cross painted on it. On their right shoulders, each had a patch with a huge cross that seem to encompass the width of their shoulders.
In the middle of the cross was the number II
"Second legion? Where am I?" he spoke.
"At the outskirts of Midgar dude. You're shot pretty bad but don't worry, there's a hospital nearby. It's a good thing we decided to go on patrol." one of the medics spoke as he administered care on the legionnaire's wound.
The current condition the man was in suddenly made him remember, "I need help. We were ambushed on a mission. Is there any way to contact HQ in Kalm?"
"We have a phone in our truck. You can contact HQ on our way to the hospital." The medic replied, helping unfold a stretcher that was handed to him. "You're lucky to have survived. None of those who experienced an ambush ever came back."
The man watched as his chocobo was loaded onto another truck.
"Feed him well and please take care of him." the man spoke.
The medic nodded at the request and continued, "All those who have seen the attackers perished in the attacks. So until now, we have no clues as to how we are going to quell this insurgency." the medic added.
"I've seen the enemy."
All activity stopped and their eyes and ears were directed at the wounded cavalryman. "What?"
"Firsthand. I killed two of them up close and personal."
"Who are they? How do they look like?"
"That's why I need to contact HQ right away."
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A/N
Alright, here's chapter 9. Chapter 10 will come out soon so don't fret. Enjoy.