Well, I've taken quite awhile to submit this chapter, and I apologize. My mind for the pastmonths has been occupied with projects, nightly homework, and relaxing during the weekends. I don't think I'll get my chapters edited anymore, though Cless' contributions were helpful it simplytook too long.Plus, I haven't spoken with him since the last timeI submitted a chapter. Anyway, considering I've taken so long (even though I've had this chapter done for a long time) I'll simply shut-up and let you all get to reading. Enjoy.
Company in Fort Condor
What is this chill? Have I felt it before, perhaps in a dream?
"Reno—"
This fear, this unimaginable terror welling up from inside me, should I run? I'm afraid if I run the cold will get me and swallow me whole.
"Reno…"
Who's calling me? Are they somewhere deep within the bone-chilling cold? Oh God, please let me be wrong. There's nothing around me, just the whistling sounds of ghostly winds. Is the owner of the voice waiting for me to move, only to assault me? Perhaps I should—
"Reno!" A horrific face is rushing towards me! The hand belonging to the monster is reaching outward; don't let it touch me!
………………………………………………………………………
I shot up from where I laid on the ground, my heart beating at an erratic pace.
That dream, a terror in its own right, had the same creature that I had seen countless times before in my dreams of the crater, except he was becoming extremely vicious. What could this possibly mean?
A star twinkled in the sky above. Nighttime had fallen; how exactly did I end up going to sleep? I recalled passing through the remnants of Mythril Mines only to stumble to my knees, everything afterwards was a complete blank. From the looks of things, I had passed out quite a distance from the main road.
The darkness reminded me of the eerie solitude that the cold winds had brought in my dream; I rested my chin upon a pair of aching knees.
For a moment, I nodded off again, but the sound of a nearby engine roused me instantly. A familiar van was driving with a purpose down the distant road; it was the Shinra vehicle. Half of me wanted to chase after it hoping that one of the Turks were inside, but that was a very slim chance.
My conscience screamed at me to follow the vehicle, but I murdered its hopes by lying back down. The muffled whine of the distraught desires rebounded back and forth through my head before it inevitably slowed to a complete halt; the Shinra van was gone.
"Why did it have to be me?" I cursed the night sky, trying to muster up enough energy to continue my trip. A nearby disturbance coerced me to my feet instantaneously, gunfire!
An inhuman figure approached me through the darkness, wielding some sort of firearm in its right hand. A few shells were sent harmlessly into the air, lighting up enough of the creature's face for me to see my assailant; it appeared to be a goblin with enough dexterity to use a simple gun.
The goblin was alone, uncommon for this region, and it seemed to be bleeding from a wound on its side. Its running was a bit bizarre and it would stumble every few moments.
As it came close, I pulled my nightstick on him and swung downward on its skull; the sound of cracking bone reached my ears, the goblin was dead. Getting down on my knees, I examined the corpse; a small blade, probably a knife, had made the wound on the goblin's side.
"Idiot, that kill belonged to me!" An enraged hunter shoved me out of the way and looked down at the goblin dead on the ground.
"Don't worry about me, yo, I'm alright." I rolled my eyes, dusting the dirt off my clothes.
He confronted me, knocking me once again to the ground, "You should be glad to be so lucky! I ought to slay you where you stand for taking my prey!"
"What's the big deal about a little goblin? There's got to be hundreds if not thousands of them around here, yo." Reaching over, I carefully slipped the firearm the goblin had used into my pocket.
"I'd been stalking that one all day and night until you came along! Now I have to head back to Fort Condor without tonight's feast—"
"Wait a minute; did you just say Fort Condor?"
"That's right, boy, what's it to you?"
"If you must know, I was hoping to seek shelter there for a night or two; I can't stay too long."
The man's attention was captured, "Is there something you're running from?"
"Yes, the people I worked for turned on me…Shinra Inc."
"I see…well I can't promise much, but I'll see what I can do. Just follow me, I'll show you the quickest path to Fort Condor."
I wanted to thank him for his help, but he appeared to be the type who would rather be given something as gratification than hear words of appreciation.
For the first time, his attire struck me as odd; at first, I'd taken him for a simple hunter, but there was obviously much more. On his left arm was a tattoo of a crow, foreboding and ominous. The man's torso was clothed with animal skin while everything else he wore was strikingly similar to the type of things the Midgar citizens wore.
He had unruly black hair that was grown as to where it would fall perfectly onto his shoulders. His studious eyes were a deep blue, his skin was paler than any I'd ever seen, there were no signs of hunger on his face, and the man didn't seem to have much muscular strength to speak of.
"So, do you have a name I can call you by, yo?"
"Brogan…that's all I expect anyone to remember, boy."
Since I would be following him to Fort Condor, he swept the carcass of the dead goblin up over his right shoulder and headed off into the empty fields.
"What about you, boy, what do I call you?"
"Reno…"
"I could barely hear you, boy, speak up!"
"My name is Reno."
"So your voice can get louder; you had me worried for a bit there."
The man was mocking me, I didn't decide to take the bait and tease him back. I glanced behind me once, half expecting to see a stampede of goblins coming to get revenge on their brother, but nothing but an empty field greeted my eyes. My feet followed quickly along behind the hunter named Brogan.
The crow on his arm, curious in its own right, brought forth a question from me, "That tattoo, why do you have it?"
He looked at his forearm, a smile coming to his face as he answered, "Oh, this thing? An old fable from long ago depicts the crow as the bringer of light to the people of eternal night. Our people use it as a symbol to represent our realization of the freedom we've always been missing because of Shinra."
"Shinra! But Shinra does nothing but give freedom to the people! That's what we're for, yo!"
"Quiet down, boy! You're making a fool out of yourself. If Shinra is for the people then why are they trying to hunt you down?"
I had no explanation.
"Don't worry, it takes everyone awhile to get used to knowing the fact that we've been used."
"Used for what exactly?"
"We're nothing but tools to Shinra; fodder used to feed their incurable hunger."
My right hand began to tighten into a fist before realizing the futility of fighting the man with the crow tattoo. "That's not true; I wouldn't have worked so hard for so many years for something like that, yo. Not anymore…"
"I didn't name you in particular now did I, boy?"
Silence once again. I didn't like talking with this man; he made me question everything I believed in. He made me question Shinra, the Turks, Midgar; he even made me question my entire existence. "How can you be so sure?"
"Sure about what?"
"About Shinra, how can you be so sure they want nothing but to ruin your lives!"
"Settle down, boy…I was waiting for you ask me that."
My heart sank.
"Don't worry; for once you have a point. I can't know anything for sure, all I can do is follow my instincts," he paused momentarily, "and my instincts tell me that even if Shinra isn't trying to destroy us, that there must be something better despite that fact."
I watched the goblin sway to-and-fro over his shoulder, pondering what could be better than living under Shinra's jurisdiction.
"The crow on my arm symbolizes a bit more for me. When I think of this crow I imagine a caged bird. That caged bird doesn't want to stay caged forever, you know? Even if when the bird is released it falls prey to a hunter's trap then it has the satisfaction of knowing it found out what was beyond its little cage." His eyes focused on the crow as he spoke, almost as if he figured the bird was listening to his every word.
"Most of the hunters I've seen don't hunt crows, yo." My joke elicited a chuckle from Brogan's lips.
"Touché, Reno!" It was the first time he'd called me by my name.
"So, Fort Condor, how's it keeping up these days?"
This time he was silent.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Worse. Every day it's bombarded by attacks from the local creatures; it's become to where most of us can't walk around alone outside during the day. The children are getting sick from lack of exposure to the sun, and most of the adults have succumbed to stealing food to keep their own families fed. I'm one of the few who've dared to reap the nearby land of its few easy meals."
"And yet you still hope to fight Shinra? I'm not proud of it, but even the weakest of Soldier could destroy your people in no time."
"Don't underestimate us, boy. Though our group might be turning into a pack of thieves and sick children, we still have the will to fight."
"You remind me of the people I used to work with, yo."
"How do you mean?"
"Fighting when things look bleak, that's what the Turks are known—"
"You're a Turk!" Brogan turned to me with rage while taking a threatening step forward.
I reached down to the handgun in my pocket, trying to figure out what my next words would do to the hunter, "Yes, and we would never in a million years entertain thoughts of hurting your people, neither would most in Shinra for that matter."
He studied me for a moment before facing the other way and heading onward.
I released my hand from the handle of the gun and carefully began following Brogan once again. In the distance I could see the top of Fort Condor coming into view.
"I warn you…if you say the word 'Turks' after we reach Fort Condor you better say your prayers in addition."
"What if someone asks where I'm from, yo? I'm not used to lying about my association with Shinra."
"You better learn; I'll tell everyone you're from Junon."
"That's funny, yo."
"Hmm, what do you mean?"
"I'm supposed to be heading to Junon to catch a carrier."
"Where are you going from there, boy? The carriers there still only take people from Junon to Costa del Sol and back."
"I know, but I have to get to—," I was sure he more than likely wouldn't know what the crater was, so I half-lied, "—Icicle Inn."
"Why there?"
"The scenery, yo; I hear it's lovely this time of year."
He laughed and retorted, "In other words, it's none of my business."
"It's something I'd rather keep to myself, no offense to you, of course."
"No offense taken, boy." He focused on Fort Condor; a group of people dressed just like Brogan were approaching. "If you want to get to Icicle Inn you'll have to somehow make your way to Rocket Town after you get to Costa del Sol. It'll be a long trek, but I think you'll be able to handle it."
"That's a good plan, but why Rocket Town? That place has less going on in it than in the brain of a Chocobo."
"I hear word that they've built a boat launch near there that heads just about anywhere anyone would want to go. Junon, Wutai, Cosmo Canyon; it even goes to Icicle Inn. There are also rumors they take you to the infamous Goblin Forest; I've always wanted to go there so I could return to Fort Condor with a huge feast, but the trip is long and perilous."
I got the feeling he wanted to go with me to Rocket Town, "If I somehow manage to think of a way to get to Junon on foot would you like to come with me?"
He grinned almost too much, "You caught on to my hinting pretty fast, you're smarter than I thought. With a little preparation I'd be more than happy to accompany you."
With his gaze turned away from me I rolled my eyes; this trip would be hard enough alone, let alone with someone else to watch over. Other than Rude, I didn't like to have someone tagging along at my side over long distances.
"Brogan, did you hunt down that little vermin we sighted last week taking our food!" A rather muscular man waved a bulky hand towards the brave hunter blocking me from view. To tell you the truth the voice sort of startled me.
"Not I, per say; I had a little help." He moved aside, revealing me for all to see. I felt like an experiment put on display.
"Who is he!"
"The whelp looks like he's from Midgar…"
"Then he could be from Shinra, right?"
"Shinra! Maybe we should torture him until he tells us everything he knows!"
Brogan pushed a button at his side, sending a noise through the air that hurt the ears. All of the hunters so quick to judge me simply turned their heads to face the man who sent off the sound; it didn't affect them like it did me. I fell to the ground and had to hold my ears for a few moments after the pain subsided to get back to my feet.
"Didn't damage your ears did I, boy?" He gave me a pat on the back. Brogan explained his reasons for starting the device at his side, "Relax, he's from Junon. The boy just came down for a couple days for his art."
"So you mean he's a—"
"Yes, he's an artist from Junon."
Artist? I wouldn't have come up with anything better, but I knew absolutely nothing about artists except that some of them paint and some of them use pencils.
"Here to draw the wonderful wildlife, eh?" The rather buff man with a bald head, which reminded me of Rude, raised his eyebrow in disbelief.
"Yes…putting my brush to a sketchpad is what I live for." Glancing aside, my gut yelled for me to get away; this was the second time it told me something that I didn't have any intention of listening to. Which of the two types of artists used a sketchpad anyway; for some reason I couldn't call the answer to mind.
Brogan, in an attempt to save me from revealing my true profession, grabbed my arm and pulled me aside. As we entered Fort Condor, he shouted back to the bald man, "The two of us are going to take tonight's dinner to the kitchen! I'll meet up with you later to talk about the strange creatures that suddenly disappeared from around Midgar!"
I had almost forgotten about the creatures that had officially ruined the lives of many; the truck that had left Shinra Inc. had strangely met up with no opposition from the hell-spawn.
"So, interested in a little rest yet?" Shifting the goblin to his other shoulder, Brogan gave me a glance.
"Not as interested as I am to know exactly how an artist, who apparently has no armaments to speak of, can take down a goblin, yo."
"You can be an artist or you can be dead—your choice." He was suddenly not too happy with me.
I then decided for my stay in Fort Condor I would be the best damn artist anyone had ever seen, even if it was only my words saying so.
The two of us entered a small hallway with chalk all over the floor; two children were trying to draw crows on the wall with a piece of chalk in their hands, but the crows looked more like eggs with wings to me. When we got closer, the two pairs of eyes noticed Brogan, and then they fell upon me; they suddenly stopped scribbling.
Brogan and I had only been in the room for a second before he asked, "Hey, could you go bring the goblin up to the kitchen? It's right down the hall, shouldn't be too hard to find it."
When I left the room I was met with something eerie, there were two children at the rock wall before and now there was only one. Even stranger, the chalk had been scattered in an almost frantic manner down the hall. The little boy went on drawing even after I spoke, "Hey, kid, where was the girl who was with you?"
He finished his crow, which had now been modified to have the body of a balloon with a stick in the middle, and stared up at me. The girl's picture had been scratched out with chalk.
"The girl, where did she go, yo?"
"—What girl are you talking about?" His voice was innocent yet…strangely threatening.
"There was a girl here only a few moments ago! Did she walk away or—"
He looked at me as if I was crazy.
I shook my head, perhaps I was losing it. Quickly throwing the goblin over my shoulder in a similar fashion to Brogan, I rushed down the hall and tried to find the kitchen. The long-haired hunter with the crow tattoo was right, it wasn't that hard to find.
A few curious faces turned away from the food they were preparing long enough to see who I was. Extending my arms, I tried to offer it to a nearby cook, "Excuse me, I was told to bring this here."
"Put it over there!" He sliced the chicken between his hands directly in two.
I looked; I didn't see where he wanted me to put the goblin. As I began to ask him to repeat himself he shoved me aside.
"If you want to be of some use to us then help out by gutting that for tonight's meal!" A cook across the kitchen indicated the goblin in my hands with her knife.
With a sigh I placed the goblin on a nearby cutting board; I reached for a blade of my own to make an incision. "Great, now I'm reduced to this dirty work." A few moments later, I noticed silence had filled the kitchen that had been bustling and almost annoyingly talkative only seconds ago. I turned to see I was alone. Thinking nothing of it, I faced the goblin only to find it had disappeared from the cutting board. "What in the—" There was a sound of glass shattering in the nearby room.
Putting down the knife, I made my way for the door. "Hello, is anyone there?"
No answer.
The boy that had been in the hallway was still there, drawing yet another picture of a crow. Just as I was about to walk closer to the boy I noticed the chalk on the ground had been crushed in a trail down the hall towards the kitchen. Moving my feet, I noticed that there was chalk on the floor, but my shoes didn't have a bit of it on them.
My hand went to the handgun in my pocket; it didn't have many rounds, but it was better than nothing.
The boy sang; I was frozen in place, "Oh, crow of light, save us from the darkness; bring us wonder from afar to show us what we've missed. One, two, the crow will come; three, four, the light will come; five, six, and then he will come to take it all away—"
"He—"
The boy's head turned to face me, but his body didn't follow, "Yes…he will come. Actually, he already has."
I took a step back.
"He is everywhere…"
"Let me guess, he's nowhere too, yo?"
"No," Anger flared up in his eyes, "that's not what I said!" Suddenly, his hands began forming into claws belonging to a wraith.
"Y-you're one of them! Brogan, we need to get out of here now!" I pulled the handgun from my pocket and held it firmly between both my hands.
Brogan didn't enter into the hallway.
"Brogan! What did you do to him!" The hammer of the pistol clicked in place, ready to fire.
"Oh, he's fine…the hunter Brogan is asleep right now; I'll get to him when he wakes up."
"What happened to all the people here? Did you hurt them in any way?"
"Hurt them? Why no, most of them are wraiths just like me."
I began to pull the trigger.
"Go ahead…do it!" He rushed forward and nearly sent a clawed hand straight through my chest; I managed to roll out of the way, crashing into the wall in the process. The boy continued to morph back into the monster he was.
My arms rose again to try and fire the gun; a hand curled around my neck from behind.
………………………………………………………………………
"Sir, we can't go for much longer like this. Tseng is started to get tired." The least experienced Turk, Elena, worried greatly for Tseng. I also noticed he was beginning to look a little worn.
We couldn't stop, we had to keep going. "Sorry, but we have to push for just a bit longer. If need be I'll drive."
"That's all right, boss. I think I can handle it." He focused his eyes on the road.
Rude tossed and turned in the back seat; whatever the problem was, it appeared to be getting worse.
"Where do we go from here, sir?" Elena still sounded so green compared to the other Turks.
"Anywhere safe…" That was all I said during that drive. We'd passed through the Mythril Mines only an hour ago, and we were now approaching Fort Condor. I knew the place to be thriving with rebels against Shinra, so Tseng steered clear of the place when he saw my displeasure at his mention of Fort Condor. Awhile back on the trail I had sworn I had seen Reno lying out in the field…I drifted off to sleep.
That's it for now. I'm trying to find time to work on this fanfiction again, considering I actually like writing this one. The only thing keeping me from getting the next chapter finished is basically this, I don't seem to feelcomfortable no matter how I start it out. I guess I'm waiting for some ideas. As always, please let me know how I'm doing by reviewing.