"Dammit.." Arxen muttered as he and Yuffie walked down the trail of rocks. They had to split apart from the rest of the groups, since Cloud was mad at Arxen for throwing a fit over the fact he didn't get to finish the last battle. Yuffie, feeling pity for Arxen, followed him. She also didn't want to be stuck with them.
As they walked down the trail of rocks, Arxen noticed that they hit a dead in, and he growled loudly as he looked at the giant stone wall infront of them. He punched it, and yelled out. He then turned around, and slid down on the wall, sighing as he hit the ground. Yuffie, curious, walked over and sat down beside him.
"What's wrong Arxen?" Yuffie asked, looking at the blue haired warrior in curiousty.
"Nothing. Just the fact that we hit a dead in, can't find Hiro, Aeris is dead, and finally, apparently I'm not good enough for friken Avalanche without Hiro here." Arxen said, growling in annoyance.
"Arxen, you're a strong guy, I can see that. Hiro saw that too. Just ignore what the others have to say. Cloud's a asshole, and we all have gotten use to that. So is Cid and Barrett." Yuffie explained, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I have to admit..I felt the same way. Aeris and Tifa though, made me feel welcome. As did Red."
"Hiro was the only one who actually welcomed me." Arxen said, as he looked down. "Now he's gone, and I have nothing."
"Well, you've got me Arxen."
Arxen looked at Yuffie, surprised, and then smiled a bit. "Thank you Yuffie." Yuffie giggled and nodded. Arxen then looked up at the sky, which was bleak. He sighed again. "I feel lonely. I miss Hiro already."
"So do I..I was starting to like him.." Yuffie said, looking down. "More than a friend too. He was truly a nice guy. I should of realized that earlier." Yuffie said, sighing as well.
"That was your fault. Friken women." Arxen said, smirking a bit, while Yuffie punched him. "Come on, you girls are annoying." Arxen said, jumping back up, as Yuffie growled in anger at the warrior. Arxen turned and smirked, but then noticed her angry face was gone, instead, was replaced by a shocked one. Arxen blinked. He then looked to where she was looking to see a giant figure, covered in a black cloak, as a regular Remnant would.
"...You shall not pass..." The Remnant choked out, while Arxen removed his double blade. Yuffie got up, and was about to fight, but Arxen pushed her behind him.
"Stay behind me. I'm going to protect you for Hiro." Arxen said, preparing himself. The Remnant had a sword, and removed it. Arxen smirked.
"...You are looking for Hiro Aoyama..." The Remnant said hoarsely, while Arxen nodded, pointing the blade right in the Remnant's hood.
"Oh yea. You're in our way, and holding us up from finding him. Mind getting out of the way before this gets bloody?" Arxen warned, while the Remnant slowly shook it's head.
"...Project H belongs...to...us..."
Arxen blinked in surprised. "Project H...?" Arxen didn't quite understand, and the Remnant chuckled slowly, swinging the sword at Arxen, who blocked it, luckily, and was skid away a couple of feet. The Remnant saw Yuffie running towards him, and backed handed her, sending her into a pile of rocks. Yuffie was knocked out by the force of the hit, and Arxen growled. "You bastard!"
Arxen jumped up and started to swing randomly at the Remnant, who was actually physically fast enough to block all of Arxen's attacks. Arxen gasped as the Remnant slowly chuckled, sending Arxen into the wall. Arxen fell down, his back hurting, as he watched the demon walk up to him. Arxen started to breath heavily, his sight becoming black.
Damn, I can't lose..not now. I need to help Avalanche..I need to find Hiro!
However, his attempts were futile, and he began to fully black out, however, a loud crash was heard before his world went black.
"Arxen, Arxen wake up!" Arxen jumped up, and he shook his head. He shouldn't of, because he had a major headache, his head pounding. However, he ignored it. He looked up to see Yuffie, who sighed in relief. "You're alright.." Yuffie muttered, and Arxen closed his eyes tightly from the headache, rubbing his head.
"What the hell happened..." Arxen muttered, and then he looked up when he heard footsteps.
A man with long blond hair stood infront of him. His hair was in a ponytail, and his hair was smoothed back. He wore a black long-sleeve t-shirt with a white cross with the zodiac symbols around it, and a diagram connecting them. He wore black leather pants and black boots with iron toes, Arxen could tell. His eyes were a crystal green. On his sides were two swords, the hilts looked the same expect for the pommels. One was a sun, the other a moon. The shapes of the blades were different as well, but Arxen had to much of a headache to study the blades.
"You're up, I see." The man said, smiling, and Arxen jumped up, ignoring the pain, but Yuffie stood infront of him.
"He's a good guy Arxen, let him be. He saved us." Yuffie defended the man, who just laughed. Arxen glared at him, but then noticed something. The man almost looked like Hiro.
"..Who are you?" Arxen asked, still a bit weary, but he felt this feeling that he did not have to fight the man. The man's smile remained, and Yuffie noticed that smile was like Hiro's.
"My name is Razen. It is nice to meet you, Arxen." Razen bowed as he introduced himself, and Arxen blinked in confusion. Yuffie noticed.
"He already knew my name too..apparently he has been watching Avalanche." Yuffie explained, crossing her arms. Razen's smile still remained on his face.
"Yes, I have." Razen said, as it would of been the most innocent thing in the world. "It's all because I was watching a friend of yours, however, he doesn't seem to be with you all."
"Hiro?" Yuffie asked, surprised. Razen simply nodded. Arxen sighed. Here was another man looking for the infamous Hiro. What was so special about him anyway? Hiro wasn't all that special, he was normal. Besides the fact he is a excellent swordsman, raised without parents, and transformed strangely right infront of his eyes.
Well he was far from normal.
"I have no clue where he was, he transformed into something and disappeared strangely." Arxen explained, as he held his head. He then noticed the amazed look in Razen's eyes, who then grabbed him by the shoulders, shocking Arxen.
"What into?!" Razen asked suddenly, shaking Arxen, who then proceeded into pushing the blonde off him. Razen stumbled, but caught himself.
"Damn, calm down, he transformed into some weird red-eyed demonic thing." Arxen explained, as he glared at Razen. "Don't touch me like that ever again." Arxen warned, while Razen had a shocked look on his face, completely ignoring Arxen.
"..Dammit." Razen muttered, as he crossed his arms.
"What?" Arxen asked, as he got up from place on the ground, crossing his arms in annoyance. Razen shook his head, looking at the blue-haired boy, a serious look on his face.
"It is nothing of your concern. So I suggest you leave him out from your...quest."
Arxen and Yuffie looked surprised at Razen's sudden change in attitude, however, Arxen played it cool, as though nothing bothered him. "I can't do that. No matter what you say anyway, Hiro wants to be on this quest with us. You have no right to tell us we can't bring him along."
"It isn't just for some selfish gain, it's for humanity's sake...for your safety." Razen explain, turning around, his arms still crossed.
"Hiro is not dangerous! He's gentle, he wouldn't dare hurt anyone without having a good reason-" Yuffie began to defend Hiro, but was cut off short.
"You saw the beast he could become...do you dare even TEST to see if he would do it to you, or to Arxen? Or to Avalance?" Razen said, making Yuffie stop talking, her face becoming a shocked and hurt one. He was right. What if Hiro did change again, hurting her and Arxen? Or Avalanche? Or worse, anyone who was innocent. Arxen noticed Yuffie's face, and he growled, taking out his weapon.
"Don't you dare say that about Hiro. You have never met him, nor do you even TRULY know him!" Arxen yelled at Razen, in a stance about to fight. However, a shocking event took place when Razen turned around. His eyes showed a expression of hurt. He looked down, and sighed.
"You have no idea..." Razen then unbuckled something from his side, throwing it to Arxen. Arxen caught it with one hand, shocked by Razen's sudden movement. "Give that to Hiro when he returns...if he returns." Then he disappeared.
Yuffie looked at Arxen and walked towards him. She sighed deeply, her hand running through her short hair. "What is that..?" She asked, trying to get her mind off that comment Razen made.
"A sword, obviously." Arxen threw a smartass comment her way, and she smiled a bit.
"Wonder why he wanted us to give it to Hiro...and why he acted so strangely when you said he didn't know him." Yuffie muttered, and Arxen nodded in agreement.
"I mean...Hiro may have known the guy, I have no clue...but he acted so weird when we told him about Hiro's....transformation." Arxen said, and Yuffie nodded, remembering the gruesome image of her boyfriend changing into a beast.
They stood in a awkward silence, many thoughts of Hiro and the strange things that happen with him. However, Arxen broke it and sighed.
"Shall we return?"
Later, on the airship
Yuffie, sick to her stomach, was in her room, asleep, while Arxen was on the deck with the rest of the crew. Cloud, however, was missing, and Arxen growled at the news.
"He shouldn't of left..so he's a fucking copy of Sephiroth, who cares? Doesn't matter to any of us. Either way he's our leader." Arxen wasn't afraid to admit Cloud's authority in the group.
"It really hurt him to hear those words...that he was just a clone of the man he hated most. Don't you think that would hurt you Arxen? You just don't understand Cloud's situation." Tifa explained, as Arxen shrugged.
"Yea, I guess you're right..." Arxen muttered, thinking about it. How could he ever know his situation? He was nothing like Cloud.
"Anyway, what happened with you and Yuffie?" Cid asked, and Arxen sighed deeply.
"We fought some huge Remnant, and we lost, but some guy came to our rescue, he was a very strong, capable fighter. He saved me, but he acted strangely, mainly asking where Hiro was. We explained Hiro's transformation," When Arxen said that, everyone looked down or away, mainly cause they didn't need to be reminded of it. Arxen continued. "he freaked out and shook me. He then warned me that we shouldn't let Hiro be with us."
"Wha!?! Why I ougtha kill that mother-" Barret was cut off by Cid, who yelled over Barret's voice.
"There is no DAMN way in HELL we'd ever leave Hiro behind. He's means to much to this team to be left behind." Cid said, and shockingly, to that comment Arxen felt a surge of anger. Again, with Hiro. Praising Hiro. It's always Hiro.
"Anyway," Arxen gritted his teeth. "He gave me this sword and told me to give it to Hiro. His name, he said, was Razen.."
Everyone heard a gasp, and they look at Nanaki. "Razen? That agent from Shinra?"
"How the hell do you know him?" Cid asked, and Nanaki looked at him.
"Razen was a agent from Shinra, a top specialist who took the most dangerous missions, he was even higher than SOLIDER and the Turks. To most people, SOLIDER was the highest, but there were three operatives who were higher and Razen was one of them. He and his wife were of the two. Razen and Lorrile. But Razen's dead!"
That made Arxen wince. He just was in contact with a dead person. "How did he die?" Arxen asked, his attention on Nanaki's shocked expression. Everyone, Avalance, the crew, and even Cait Sith were paying attention to him.
"Well, years ago, Razen was on a secret mission for Shinra, while Lorrile was giving birth to their child. The Arashi Trio, the three top agents, were disbanded at the time, the third, and unknown member quit Shinra while Razen decided to stay with them. After completing the mission, Razen returned to the hostipal to see that Lorrile has been shot to death, while Hojo took the child under his wing. Razen took the baby, and tried to escape, but was shockingly killed in the process. The fate of their child, is unknown..."
All the members of the crew, including Avalance, sat there in silence.
"Anyway..." Tifa said, making the crew look at her. "Right now, our objectives are to find our two missing members, Cloud and Hiro."
"Both are MIA..." Vincent spoke, shocking everyone. "I highly doubt they are both KIA...."
"Hopefully not," Arxen said, walking past him. "if they are...then who knows....we'll just have to get Sephiroth ourselves..." He walked out of the deck, leaving them to their thoughts.
Tifa sighed as she watched the stars, in the middle of the night as the airship flew. Her thoughts were concentraiting on Cloud, missing him.
"Are you Miss Kisaragi?"
Tifa jumped, turning around in fighting position, but was shocked to see a blond woman, dressed in a plain white dress with light emerald green eyes, just staring at her in confusion. She then smiled widely as Tifa stood there confused.
"Don't worry, I'm no threat. I'm just curious if your the girl I'm looking for!" She laughed, and Tifa didn't let down her guard.
"Who are you? And what do you want with Yuffie?" Tifa asked, and the woman's smile disappeared, but then appeared with a confused look and a small smile.
"So your not Miss Kisaragi..."
Tifa then growled, and the woman giggled a bit. "Calm down! My name is Lorrile...I needed to speak to her. But apparently, she is nowhere to be found.."
Tifa's eyes widened, breaking her stance. Lorrile laughed. "What's wrong? It seems like you've seen a ghost...oh yea." She laughed even more, and Tifa just blinked.
"W-Why are you here?"
"Hmm, so many questions need to be answered, but I have no time. I'm sorry dear. Maybe next time!" And in a flash of light, Lorrile was gone.
Tifa stood there, blinking as she tried to contemplate one thing.
What the hell was going on here?
Cloudrules11
