Marken: There is much good to come for Talin. He and Seph just have some work to do first.

Author's Note: I'm sorry for the really short chapter but this one was a bit of a rough one to write. A longer chapter is coming next week I promise.

I do not own FF7 or any of its characters. Talin, Unit 28, and some other side characters are mine.

Enjoy and please R&R.


Chapter 57

An Ifrit, unchained and masterless, was a truly terrifying opponent for any warrior. Even in pairs or a small group, it would have been too strong for most 2nd class SOLDIERs to take on. Villagers? Untrained town's folk, with only a dozen Hunters to protect them, wouldn't have stood a chance. The enormity of what Talin had done explained so much of the redhead's recent actions.

It gave context to the brief flashes of smoke, fire, and screams the General had caught from time to time when his trainee's mind had wandered while they'd been linked. But shocked as he was, the revelation didn't change Sephiroth's earlier promise. He wasn't there to judge or censure, only to understand and, if Talin would let him, help his new Lieutenant to overcome the nightmare he'd left behind.

The rain falling with driving force outside the cave mixed with the sharp winds coming down the mountains was quickly sapping any warmth their shelter had retained. Knowing the teen wasn't paying attention to his physical body and wouldn't feel the creeping cold, Seph very carefully wrapped them both in one of the light blankets and laid down with Talin in his arms.

Within the Void, the General pushed his mind firmly against the other's allowing his words to punch past the haze of memory. ~How did you get away? Tell me what happened, Cadet. ~ The title had been used too long between them for him to stop so quickly but it also seemed to work to elicit a response. With a shake, Talin realized he'd been moved but, as the change in position was still comfortable, he didn't protest and struggled to finish his explanation.

~To be honest, I didn't. I'd summoned the Ifrit from a low rooftop near the center of town thinking any creature would be dazed from the summoning and I'd be able to sneak away... I hadn't expected it to be a nearly three-story monster, let alone an elemental one. ~

~Since I was on top of a building, I was safe from the first ring of fire, but that left me in full view when it turned to search for the summoner. I had no choice but to run, ~ Talin's memories flowed rapidly through his mind, but this time he didn't keep them contained. Secret already revealed, he pushed them outward, focusing to sharpen them into images that he narrated while Sephiroth silently sifted what was suddenly available to him.

He'd run as fast as his legs could carry him over the rooftops and then up towards the Well. Its dark cavern wouldn't be safe from the fire of the beast, but he could at least get away from- The unexpected sideways movement of the loose gravel under his foot shouldn't have been enough to topple the teen, but he was in a panic. The uncontrolled use of Mako to aid his speed and the misplaced step into the unstable rock sent him skittering and tumbling back to the bottom of the great hill.

By fortune or fate, he'd missed hitting any of the large boulders and avoided the crags that would have sent him falling to his death, but he wasn't safe. Before he could overcome the dizziness from the jarring fall, a painful, almost crushing pressure wrapped tight around his leg and Talin found himself airborne.

The sound of the Ifrit's roar as he'd been thrown echoed in Talin's ears now as much as it had then. It'd been mixed with the crackling of fire, the shouts of people rushing to fight flame and foe, and the screams of those trapped in their burning homes. There were no soft places he could hope to land and, slow as the moment felt at the time, everything had happened to quickly for any attempt at a landing to be made.

~It didn't hold back. I landed hard, almost on the other side of town, and skidded till I fell into a ditch. I hit my head on something, a rock probably, and when I tried to get up, I couldn't. The Mako I'd pulled was almost spent and there wasn't anything left, I used all of it. The town was on fire, the Ifrit rampaging, and... people were dying. ~

Sephiroth would never admit he felt the hot tear that hit his arm as he lay wrapped around Talin. It was a tale that should have been ascribed to some battle fought in war, not a young man's first-hand account of leaving home. The Lieutenant's thoughts were becoming more and more blurred as he lost his grip on them, but the General could patch together the remainder from the images he saw.

When Talin woke, head aching, blood in his eyes and mouth and nose, and struggled to stand in the pre-dawn darkness, all he saw was devastation. The fire that had been doused hours ago roared back to life and one by one the structures he'd known since childhood crumbled to ash around him. There were no more screams and, as he limped his way around the outskirts to the traveler's wagon, he saw no sign of anyone... not alive anyway.

The tavern, full of alcohol and people, had gone up fast and burned hottest if what remained was any indication, but Talin didn't linger. Nor did he try focusing his fuzzy vision on any of the black shapes within the scorched piles of char and avoided looking in the direction of the house he'd shared with his mother. He didn't want to know if it still stood and wouldn't contaminate his memory of it with the possible ruin it had become.

By some grace of Rald's Goddess, or the fact that it was just a dumb bird, the merchant's chocobo was still sleeping in the shed the wagon was hitched to and both were unharmed. It was at first alarmed at his bloodied appearance, but calmed when it recognized one of the people who'd fed it and willingly took the harness Talin had held out. The redhead had worked with the fluffy yellow brat in preparation for this moment and his perseverance paid off.

He was able to hitch the sturdy creature to the cart with no more than a few soft nudges and a command to sit while he slowly did the buckles and straps to secure the happily chirping creature. Without a backward glance, he climbed onto the front seat and flicked the reins to move them out.

"I never looked back. Not once." The whisper in the dark held too many emotions, spoke too much pain, and Sephiroth shifted to smother the smaller fighter against him.

"No matter your choices, no matter what happened that night, or what might remain to be seen in Taka," The silver 1st leaned down to nuzzle against soft red hair and his voice dropped to a whisper. "You're nothing like the young man I first met in Zack's training room Talin. All your demons will tremble when they see you coming now."

Silently and privately the silver SOLDIER added, If they don't, then I'll ensure that they do...


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