I HAVE UPDATED! Shock
I've actually finished this (Writing binge over a holiday) But I'll sepatate it out into chapters. The rating will go up, due to later violence, and itwill go up to M. Sorry.
Diclaimer needed... again... I don't own FF7, I only wish I did...
An old 'friend', and a new enemy
After about an hour and a half, with lots of cursing from Reno about rotting pieces of junk, they had made it across most of the sea.
"I can see Wutai!" Elena called to Reno, who merely grunted. The chopper had not got any easier to drive during the journey, quite the opposite in fact, and Reno was having to use all his expertise just to keep it in the air. After five minutes of Reno keeping them mainly in the air mostly by praying to every deity he knew, they landed just outside Wutai. They got out quickly and Reno kicked the helicopter, and something fell off it with a crash of metal.
"If that gets off the ground again I'll… I'll give up drinking!" He exclaimed, as one of the windows made a horrible cracking sound. Elena nodded.
"I'll try and get it off the ground again, then," She replied with a grin. Reno sighed, and locked the door, carefully so the door didn't fall off. Reno surveyed the helicopter.
"I think we'll have to commandeer something for the journey back," He concluded. The propeller was leaning on a strange direction. Reno was amazed it had lasted the journey.
"Shall we just leave it here?" Elena asked. Reno nodded.
"Seems like the best thing," He decided. "Anyone trying to steal it would have to get it off the ground first, anyway!" Elena laughed. Reno turned in the direction of Wutai. "Shall we go?" he asked, and Elena nodded. They started to walk towards Wutai. The sun was starting to set, the sky was cloudless and the moon was out. It was a full moon.
"How romantic," Elena murmured. Reno looked over at her. She was looking up at the sky. Reno glanced upwards. The setting sun made the sky glow an orangey-gold colour. He could just see the first stars appearing.
"It is, isn't it?" He whispered in Elena's ear, putting his arm around her shoulder. She turned to look at him.
"Reno…" she replied. He ran a hand through her hair. She smiled at him, the light from the setting sun reflecting in her eyes. "Reno, I…" She started. Reno pulled her towards him.
"It was your idea," He replied, pulling her close and kissing her.
They didn't get into Wutai until long after sunset. The town was brightly lit with lanterns outside shop doors and neon signs, and the light from the main town bathed the nearby Da-Chao Mountains in a faint misty glow. It was almost like a scene from a story-book.
"How clichéd," Reno muttered as they walked along the streets towards the inn. Elena turned.
"What was that?" She asked. Reno shook his head.
"Nothing," He murmured in response. He looked over the mini-canal to the inn. It was newly built, constructed soon after the destruction of meteor to help Wutai attract more tourists. It was more brightly painted than some of the other buildings, and had a neon sign over it saying "Inn" and a smaller one with "vacancies" all in green. Reno sighed. He hated Wutai. It was boring. And it brought back memories of the last time he had come here… and ended up saving Elena and that annoying kid Yuffie from Don Corneo, of all people. He shuddered. That Corneo had made quite a mess at the foot of the mountain, too. For some reason Cloud and the others had found it ironic that Reno had given him three choices… he shrugged it off. The past was, thankfully, the past. Reno fervourently hoped that Yuffie was either out of town or had moved away. He hated her. Stupid Materia-stealing ninja. He wished he'd let Corneo… but then Elena would have fallen too, and he couldn't have allowed that. No-one kidnapped a Turk. The ironic role-reversal was too much to bear.
Reno and Elena walked across the bridge and along the path towards the inn. Reno looked at the pagoda in the distance. It was lit up with bright white lights. Reno hoped the inn had very thick blinds, or he'd never be able to get any sleep.
"What exactly are we here for, Elena?" he asked, wishing he'd read the mission briefing. Elena took said briefing out of her pocket and handed it to him. He stuck it in a handy pocket. "I'll read it later," He told Elena. She shrugged.
The inside of the inn was very similar to the outside: very brightly lit, and painted in vibrant (and, thankfully, matching) colours. The receptionist on the desk had a smile that looked like it had also been fitted with lights.
"Welcome to Wutai! How may I help?" she asked in a pleasant, cheery voice. At 10pm at night, it had to be coffee-fuelled. Why did she need to ask how she could help? They were in the inn, they weren't about to ask for anything but a room.
"We've got a reservation," Elena told her.
"We have?" Reno asked. Elena sighed. Maybe he should have read the briefing… the receptionist took out a book and flicked through it.
"Which one of these?" She asked, handing Elena the book and giving Reno a funny look. Elena took the book and scanned the page.
"This one," She replied, showing the receptionist, who took the book back and turned around to take a key off its hook.
"Room 10." The receptionist told them. "Enjoy your stay!" Yeah, right. In Wutai? Not likely. Elena took the keys and thanked the receptionist, and they made their way up the stairs.
"You really should have read that," Elena told Reno, pointing to the paper sticking out of his pocket. Reno shrugged.
"I guess," He replied. Elena sighed.
"Reno, sometimes you're just impossible," Shedecided. Reno shrugged again. It was probably true. He often relied on other people more than he should. Their room was at the very end of the corridor. Typical. Elena unlocked the door and they went in.
"As long as I can't see any of Wutai, I don't care where I am," Reno told Elena, before collapsing on a handy sofa in exhaustion. Elena was about to say something, but decided against it. He had flown the chopper all the way here without incident, after all. She went to examine the room. Two separate sleeping areas, a bathroom (well, a shower) and the area Reno was currently in. Elena went for the room facing away from the rest of Wutai (she was feeling mean) and put her suitcase under the bed. Reno watched her from his sofa. If he had any spare energy, he would have moved, but his legs weren't currently capable of normal movement. If he had tried moving, he would have seemed drunk (and most people would make that assumption, considering that he usually was). She spent a few moments just staring out of the window.
"Hey, Elena!" Reno called. She turned; a questioning look in her eyes. "How's the view?" He asked. She considered it.
"Nice," She replied eventually, turning back to the window. Nice. What a word. Possibly the most undescriptive adjective in the world. Reno realised that he would have to get up, either that or sleep on the sofa, which he wasn't planning on doing two nights in a row, especially on his own. He sighed, and got up off the sofa, willing his legs to keep him upright.
"Reno, come here," Elena suggested. He shrugged and complied, but sat down on her bed as soon as he got there. "Look out there," Elena instructed, pointing. Reno tried to look from the bed. "You'll have to get up," Elena told him, not looking away from the window. Reno sighed and got up from the bed. Really, did she know how tired his feet were? He walked over to the window, which Elena had opened as far as it could go (and it was a pretty big window). The Da-Chao Mountains were bathed in a cool yellow light, and the moon had risen just above the highest peak. The stars were out, like little pinpricks of light trying hard to be seen above the glow of Wutai's many lights.
"I don't like Wutai," Reno told her "But that," He pointed out of the window. "Is, as you put it, nice." She turned to face him.
"And dark, compared to the rest of Wutai," She replied, smiling. Reno groaned.
"Thanks," He muttered sarcastically, before turning and walking into his room, where he promptly collapsed on the bed. Elena walked in.
"Tired, Reno?" she asked, a smile on her face. He waved her away.
"You try getting that damn piece of junk over the sea. Then you can criticise me," He replied, closing his eyes and willing his energy to return, without much success.
"You could at least read the briefing," Elena hinted. Reno sighed and pulled it out of his pocket. Elena could be very persuasive sometimes, and she had some quite powerful Materia. He scanned the page briefly.
"We're going monster hunting!?" Reno said incredulously, not believing his eyes. Elena laughed.
"Sort of," She replied. Reno read it again. Definitely monster hunting… on the outside. Damn.
"I refuse to go monster hunting," He stated. "Even if that's only part of it," He added, seeing the look on Elena's face. She sighed.
"You don't really have much choice," She replied, leaning over and taking the very creased briefing from Reno. He let her have it, too tired to resist, and too deep in his despair at having to go monster hunting to care. She straightened up.
"I'm going to bed," She told him. Reno nodded miserably. He was tired and in Wutai. Not a good combination. Plus the light filtering in even through the thick blinds was enough to give him a headache, and certainly enough to keep him awake for most of the night. He groaned and put his head under the pillow. If he could, he'd just sleep like this. He was damn well going to give it a try, anyway. He heard Elena walk out of the room, presumably towards her own, but Reno wasn't going to be moving his head any time soon. He tried his best to ignore the sounds and lights of Wutai, and drifted in and out of sleep, which simply left him feeling even more tired. At around midnight he gave up on ever getting any sleep in his room and used what small amount of energy he had to search his pockets for Materia… nothing, as usual. He had plenty of attacking Materia, but nothing healing. Fine. He'd go and beg some off Elena, if she was still awake. He tried to lever himself off the bed. That was a challenge in itself, trying to persuade his aching muscles to do more work. He staggered towards the door, cursing the amount of light being so bright he couldn't sleep, but not bright enough for him to see the various hazards on the floor. He tripped over one such hazard (possibly an empty cup?) and fell onto the door, hard. He swore loudly. His head now hurt along with the rest of him. Great. He fumbled with the handle and eventually got it open with a bit of creative swearing. Light from the corridor outside filled the room he almost fell into. There also appeared to be lights on in the room itself… he stumbled across the room and fell into Elena's door.
"Ow," He mumbled, having exhausted his supply of swear words. He tried to straighten up and knocked on the door.
"I heard you swearing," Came Elena's muffled voice from the other side. "Come in." He pushed the door open and nearly fell on the floor due to lack of support. "What do you want?" Elena asked. She was sat up in her bed, looking like she'd just woken up. That had probably been his fault…
"Can't… sleep…" He muttered, stumbling towards her and collapsing on the bed, falling asleep straight away.
"Yeah…" Elena muttered, shaking him lightly. He didn't stir. "Couldn't sleep, you mean," She said. She doubted she'd be able to move him, so she left him lying where he was. It wasn't that bad; really… she lay back down and went to sleep.
When Reno woke in the morning his first feeling was one of confusion. Not at being in a strange place, as a Turk he was used to that, and not at there being someone next to him… it was the two combined. That was unusual. When on a job, Reno always concentrated on the job. He didn't even drink, let alone pick up women… it took him two seconds to remember exactly what had happened. He moaned when he realised, making Elena stir.
"Hm?" She said sleepily. Reno hastily got off her bed. "Reno?" She asked in a sleepy voice.
"Morning, Elena," Reno replied cautiously. Elena blinked open her eyes and looked over at Reno.
"Hm? What's the matter?" She asked, looking at his face. Reno blinked.
"Nothing…" He replied slowly.
"You were very tired last night, weren't you Reno?" She asked. Reno put his head in his hands.
"Sorry, Elena…" He murmured. She laughed.
"That's fine," She replied, before turning to glance at the clock on the wall Reno was standing in front of. "Hmm… you're up early," She said. Reno turned to look at the clock. It was 6:45. In the morning. Reno groaned.
"I hate mornings," He stated simply. Elena smiled.
"Not a morning person?" She asked.
"It's not that…" He replied. Turks had to be morning people or they'd never get anything done. Even if you didn't join as a morning person you quickly became one, or got kicked out. Elena gave him a questioning look. "Never mind." He said, walking over to the window. Elena turned her face away to avoid being blinded as Reno threw open the blinds. Light poured into the room. Reno looked out of the window at the Da-Chao Mountains, and then pulled a miniature telescope out of his pocket and staring through it at one spot.
"What is it, Reno?" Elena asked, getting out of bed. Reno held up one hand and she stopped.
"We're being watched…" He muttered, closely scrutinising one point on the mountains. He could see someone in the mouth of one of the caves on the mountains, and they had something in their hand which was reflecting light like glass. He slowly turned and stepped away from the window. "From the mountains." He added, seeing a confused look on Elena's face. She nodded.
"Not just monster hunting," She told Reno with a smile. He nodded.
"Meet me by the exit in 15 minutes," He told her. She nodded, and Reno turned and left the room. Once back in his own room, he tried to smooth some of the creases out of his jacket, with varying degrees of success. He grimaced at the state of his clothes and opted for just getting completely changed.
14 minutes and 35 seconds later he was by the exit to the inn. Elena walked up a few seconds later.
"You beat me!" She realised. Reno smiled good-naturedly.
"Tough," He replied. Elena sighed.
"Shall we go, then?" She asked in a hinty way. Reno nodded and they walked out of the door. Reno immediately glanced in the direction of the Mountains.
"We're going up there," Reno told Elena. It wasn't a question. Elena shrugged. She trusted Reno. He knew what he was doing. They started following the path up to the mountains. Reno stopped suddenly when they reached the foot. "Have you got any Pre-Emptive Materia?" He asked Elena. She nodded.
"Why?" She asked.
"Equip it," Reno ordered without explanation. Elena did so wordlessly as Reno got his own Pre-Emptive out and slotted it into a hole on his Nightstick. If it was who he thought he'd seen on this damn mountain he'd need it. They continued walking up the mountain path in silence. Reno didn't like it because it was in Wutai, and Elena didn't like it because… well, she'd been kidnapped and dragged up to the top by the madman Don Corneo. She shuddered. He'd made a very satisfying splat on the mountain floor… Elena shuddered at the fact that she was even thinking like that! "Something wrong, 'Lena?" Reno asked, without looking at her because he was concentrating too hard on a cave in the middle of the Mountain.
"Not really." Elena answered. "You see something?" She asked, trying to change the subject. Reno motioned suddenly for her to get down, and they both dropped to the floor. He held a finger to his lips for silence. Elena nodded. Reno risked a glance over at the cave. The person he'd seen had definitely spotted them, and was moving down the mountain path.
"Damn," Reno whispered. Elena looked over at him questioningly. Reno shook his head, reaching for his Nightstick and checking the Materia. No healing magic! He really should have brought some… well; Elena would definitely have some on her. She always did. He looked back up at the path again, putting his Nightstick back in its holster carefully. Damn. They'd gone. Suddenly alarm bells went off in his head, and he whirled around. Thank God for Pre-Emptive.
"Long time no see, Reno," Said a voice. That voice. Reno shuddered. It was none other than Yuffie Kisaragi, the most annoying ninja ever to mar planet earth.
"Good morning, Miss Kisaragi," Reno said with a forced smile. Elena looked round. Her Pre-Emptive wasn't as high a level as Reno's (which was level 4, he used it a lot) so she hadn't noticed Yuffie's approach. Yuffie had her shuriken out. "Planning on relieving us of our Materia, by any chance?" Reno asked in a very false happy tone. The edge of his mouth was beginning to twitch.
"Well…" Yuffie started, eyeing up the Materia in Reno's Nightstick. "You've got some nice lookin' summons there, Reno…" Reno's Nightstick was suddenly only a few millimetres from Yuffie's face.
"Just you try it, Ninja-girl. I've been looking for an opportunity," Reno growled through gritted teeth. Yuffie backed away uncertainly.
"Geez, Reno…" she said, looking at the Nightstick warily. "What's up with you?" Elena laughed. Reno thought about turning on her, but he couldn't miss any opportunity to hit the damn Ninja.
"Strangely enough, I don't like you," Reno growled. Yuffie backed off uncertainly, holding up her hands.
"Hey, hey, no need to get all mad!" She insisted. "I was… only jokin'. Yeah, only jokin'," She told him. Reno waved the Nightstick in her direction threateningly.
"You… you better be," He managed eventually, trying hard not to give in to the part of his mind screaming 'hit her, damn it!' in a loud, insistent voice. His hand was shaking. "'Cause I ain't giving you any Materia. And I'd just love you to try and take it by force." Even Elena had backed off slightly. She knew from (other people's) experience that Reno in a foul mood like this one was not, under any circumstances, to be crossed, unless you really wanted a Nightstick across the face/hand/nearest available body part. From what she'd heard people say (or, in some extreme cases, scream) it hurt considerably. Yuffie had taken the hint and was putting away her shuriken.
"Well…" She started. Reno lowered his Nightstick, but his hand was still shaking in anger. Yuffie eyed the Nightstick nervously before stepping forward.
"Why have you been spying on us?" Reno asked her suddenly.
"What?" Yuffie asked, confused.
"I saw you, this morning, looking at us from that cave." Reno pointed. Yuffie shook her head slowly.
"Wasn't me," She told them. "I've only just come up here. Haven't been in that cave for ages," She admitted. Reno looked confused.
"Then who was in the cave?" He wondered aloud. Yuffie shrugged.
"Search me. Hey, why are the Turks in Wutai?" She asked suddenly.
"Monster hunting," Reno replied through gritted teeth. "Damn monster hunting. Ugh, if he wasn't my boss I'd make Tseng suffer for this!" Reno started ranting. Elena walked up to him.
"Calm down," She insisted, putting a hand on his shoulder. Reno took a few deep breaths and holstered his Nightstick. Yuffie watched with interest.
"Yeah," Reno muttered. "There's something in the cave." He turned to Yuffie. "If you don't mind, Miss Kisaragi, we're working. So don't bother us." Yuffie tilted her head.
"Sure you don't need a guide?" She teased. Reno tried to stop his hand from shaking, unsuccessfully.
"If I spend another minute in your company I will go mad," He replied. "So please leave." Yuffie looked hurt.
"Aw, please, Reno?" She asked, trying to look cute. Unfortunately, that only made Reno worse.
"Two reasons," He started. "One: I hate you. Two: I hate Wutai. The two combined will not make me happy," He informed her. Yuffie looked at him indignantly.
"What's wrong with Wutai?" She demanded in much the same voice as Tseng had. The difference was he could answer back to Yuffie.
"It's Wutai," He stated simply. "It has crappy cheap bear, daylight-strength lights at midnight and it brings back some very bad memories. That involve you. Now please remove yourself from my sightline," He informed her, turning away. Elena looked at Yuffie and shrugged.
"He's having a bad day," She told Yuffie, looking over her shoulder at Reno. Yuffie tilted her head to one side.
"You're pretty friendly with him," Yuffie remarked. Reno heard that and made a rude gesture over his shoulder in Yuffie's direction, without looking round. Elena shrugged.
"I guess," She replied, and turned back to Reno, who had his eye on the cave.
"I'm going up there," He told Elena, who nodded.
"I'll go another direction. Meet by that cave if you don't find anything," She suggested. Both of them were pointedly ignoring Yuffie, who was staring at them in amazement. They stood up in unison and turned and walked off in different directions. After about five minutes just thinking in amazement of the prospect of Reno and Elena together, Yuffie shrugged and walked back down the mountain to her house.
Elena walked up one of the paths and spotted a cave opening in the side of the mountain that was emitting a strange orange glow. She got out her phone, flipped it open and pressed the button for Reno's number. He picked up instantly.
"Yes, Elena?" he asked, his voice slightly distorted because the reception was bad up in the mountains.
"I've found something…" Elena told him. "A cave, it's glowing strangely. I think you should come over here." There was a slight wait while Reno considered this.
"You go on ahead, I'll come over now," He told her.
"Sure thing. I'll keep you informed, don't hang up," She told him before stepping inside the cave and walking down the long passage in front of her. The whole cave was lit with an eerie orange light which didn't seem to have any source. She could hear Reno humming off-key on his end of the line. Elena reached an intersection. "Reno, I've reached an intersection," She told him. Reno stopped his humming.
"Which way are you going?" He asked. Elena considered it. The left fork certainly seemed brighter…
"Left fork," She told him, and proceeded down it. A little way along there was a three-way branch.
"Oh," Elena said.
"What?" Reno cut in. he had been humming again…
"Three-way fork," She told him. "How close are you?" another pause while Reno thought.
"Near the cave entrance. Which way are you going?" Reno asked. Elena looked down all three forks.
"Middle," She replied, walking down it. She wondered where the strange light was coming from… there were several strange holes in the side of the walls in this passageway. Elena could hear a dripping noise from further down in the cave… she suddenly stopped and checked her Materia. Pre-emptive. Yeah. Maybe she should have levelled it to the same level as Reno's… she shrugged it off and started walking down the path again, when suddenly she was grabbed from behind. When she tried to struggle, the barrel of a gun was suddenly in front of her face. Great.
"Move and you're dead," Growled the gun-holder, a male by the sounds of the voice. Elena sighed.
"Damn," She muttered.
"Elena? Something wrong?" Reno's voice came from her phone. The gun-holder grabbed it from her hand and threw it across the cave. Elena felt like kicking them, but with a gun in her face that wouldn't be wise. She just hoped Reno would keep coming and would have the brains to be quiet…
"Let her go!" Reno yelled from further down the corridor. Typical Reno, making an entrance. So much for hit them in the back of the head before they could react… the man holding the gun turned, Elena could feel his movement.
"Why should we?" He sneered. Elena wished she could see Reno…
"You'll regret it if you don't," Reno snarled. The two people holding Elena turned around, taking Elena with them. Good… their first mistake. Reno looked worried, which was surprising, and angry. Only Reno could combine the two without looking stupid. The man who held the gun was a scrawny-looking middle aged man, and he was acting like he was in control. He obviously didn't know they were Turks… Reno was getting out his Nightstick. He shot a look at Elena which worried her. It was a 'protect yourself the minute they let you go' look. That was never followed by something good. Well, she had Barrier Materia equipped. Reno's Nightstick was worrying the two men holding her. Well, they should be worried.
"Why will I regret it, Shinra-boy?" Said the gunman. That was definitely a mistake. Reno hated being called 'boy'.
"You…" Reno started, the rage clear in his voice, "are about to find out!" He touched one of the Materia on his Nightstick and started glowing with a red light… red? A summon? Was he mad?! Elena quickly shook off the guards, not wanting to take any chances with an enraged Reno.
"Wall!" She yelled, and the protective barrier appeared in front of her.
"Bahamut!!!" Reno yelled in a very scary voice. Bahamut!? Elena cowered behind her shield. She didn't even know he had Bahamut! The cave filled with mist which condensed rapidly to form the giant Dragon, which had been shrunk considerably so it fit inside the cave. Elena heard it claw the ground and roar loudly. She was never going to forgive Reno for this… Bahamut unleashed a blast which rocketed past so close to her Barrier she recoiled towards the other side. Those blasts could disintegrate people! Judging from the scream behind her, it just had… Elena shuddered. Bahamut roared again and she heard it claw up the two men who had held her back and… crush them. Elena really hoped Reno had control of the summon, or she'd be next… the dragon disintegrated the gunman and she could see it through the wall, turning towards her… it disappeared with an explosion of mist, and Elena could see Reno's outline shimmer back into vision. Just then Elena's wall shattered. Reno turned towards her and walked up.
"You… idiot…" Elena muttered, her voice shaking in fright. Reno put his hands on her shoulders.
"Sorry," He apologised. "I just… lost my temper." Elena nodded, extremely angry now her fright had worn off. Reno stood up, looking at something on the wall just behind her. "What's that?" He wondered aloud, walking towards it. Elena reached across the corridor and grabbed her phone, which promptly started ringing. She looked at the screen.
"Oh God…" She muttered, pressing the 'answer' button. Reno looked over, and she mouthed 'Tseng' at him. "Yes, Sir?" She said into the phone. Reno heard a voice in the phone, but he couldn't make it out, he was too far away. "Yes, Sir…" Elena muttered. "No, not yet Sir…" It was a very one-sided conversation. Elena was only saying 'yes' and 'no'. Oh, and 'Sir'. That one was important. Elena shot a hopeless look at Reno, her quarrel with him temporarily forgotten. Talking to the boss was not often high on anyone's list of priorities. After a short conversation, Elena flipped the phone shut and turned to Reno.
"Checking our progress…" She told him. Reno nodded. Typical Tseng.
"Shall we go further in?" Reno asked. Elena considered it.
"I think so," She replied. Reno turned back to the wall, and the orange glowing stone he's found on it. He reached into his pocket, bringing out a largish pocket knife and chipping away a part of the stone.
"It glows…" He muttered. Elena nodded, and scanned the tunnel ahead of them, and Reno held up the glowing chip.
"Let's go," Elena decided. Reno had turned to look at the remains of the attackers.
"Let's search them first," Reno replied, pointing. Elena glanced at the remains. Two disintegrated piles of ash and two horrible mangled corpses. Lovely. She walked over to one of the piles of ash. Reno laughed at the look on her face.
"Get used to it," He told her, walking over to the mangled corpses and quickly lifting anything of value on the bodies. He ended up with wallets and a crumpled piece of paper. "Come on, secret instructions," He muttered, unfolding it. Oh goody, a map of Wutai. How useful. He pocketed it in disgust. Elena was doing a thorough, if slower, search of her bodies. Her search turned up nothing more than Reno's had. Wallets.
"How useful," She muttered sarcastically, getting up. Reno walked up to her and she handed him the products of her search. He took them and pocketed them without much enthusiasm, and they started walking down the corridor. Reno hoped Elena didn't suddenly remember she was mad at him…
After about half an hour of walking they reached what looked like a dead end. And abandoned dead end, which meant either the dead people were all that was there or they were behind them… or weren't even in Wutai. Reno sighed.
"Did we take a wrong turn?" He wondered aloud. Elena had walked up to the wall and examined it.
"No sign of any sort of entrance…" She muttered. Reno grunted.
"Fine," He decided. Elena took the hint and stood behind Reno. She wasn't going to suffer another repeat of Bahamut. Reno examined the Materia in his Nightstick.
"Fire3," He muttered in a bored voice, and a huge blast of fire shot towards the offending wall. Lots of rock crumbled away, revealing a passageway behind. "Genius," Reno muttered, and started walking down it. Elena decided not to argue and merely followed him. The orange light was dying down and this corridor was lit with blue lights hammered into the walls. Reno, who was getting very bored with walking through caves, hit a couple as he passed and they shattered into tiny pieces.
"Don't hit the lights," Elena said in annoyance. Reno glanced at her.
"Why?" He asked. "I've got the glowing stone thing." He pulled it out of his pocket, and the queer orange light filled the corridor. Elena sighed, and she looked so annoyed that Reno stuck the stone back in his pocket and stopped hitting the lights. "Geez…" He muttered. Elena was quite cranky today… maybe he shouldn't have used Bahamut… Reno heard voices from further down the corridor, and put out his arm to stop Elena, who wisely kept quiet. Reno heard footsteps.
"Back down," He whispered, pointing down the corridor. Elena nodded, and they went backwards slowly, trying not to make any noise. "Barrier?" Reno asked, and Elena nodded.
"Wall!" She whispered and a fuzzy multi-coloured wall appeared in front of them both. Reno muttered something about vision and Elena thought go clear, which it did. Reno gave her a startled look, then turned back to watching the corridor. Two men walked down it, chatting. They didn't notice Reno until he'd hit them over the head with his Nightstick. They collapsed soundlessly. Elena gave Reno a thumbs up and she broke the Wall. Reno walked over and gave the bodies a quick search. He was certainly very fast at that… he turned up not much more than the others had.
"Damn," He muttered, handing Elena the products of his search. Two wallets and another map of Wutai. "Shall we carry on?" Reno asked. Elena nodded, putting the items in her pocket. Reno gave the unconscious men a look. "Hmm…" He said. Elena suddenly got a little worried.
"Don't kill them," She told Reno. He looked at her incredulously.
"Why not?" He asked. Elena shrugged.
"I just don't like it," She told him. Reno sighed.
"Well, I'll just make sure they have a nice long stay in sleepy land, then." He decided. "Sleepel!" The two men began to snore. "Happy?" He asked Elena. She was shocked he'd actually listened. She nodded carefully. Reno holstered his Nightstick. "Good," He replied. "Let's go." They continued on warily. Reno could hear sounds of people talking further down. He stopped at the next turn and glanced round. There were five people in what looked like the end of the cave. Four of them looked like hired thugs. Reno took his head away and sighed. Hired thugs. That was almost as boring as monster hunting. He mouthed 'hired thugs' at Elena. She replied with 'how many?' Reno held up 4 fingers. "Plus one." He whispered. She nodded, holding up her Materia questioningly. Reno took it from her and examined it. Barrier, Restore, Heal, Revive (Revive? He hadn't known she had that), Lightning, Pre-Emptive, Earth and Shiva. He handed it back. "Lightning." He whispered. "Get it ready, just in case." She nodded, slotting it into one of the spaces on the gloves she wore. Reno had never noticed the slots before. He guessed he had never really looked. He got out his Nightstick and they crept around the bend. Reno hastily added an All to his Seal Materia. "Sleepel." He whispered. The four thugs dropped like stones, but the smaller person simply turned. "Damn." Reno said. They must've had something to protect them… Reno realised with shock that it was a woman! She had long dark hair, Reno couldn't see her eyes…
"Oh, hello." She greeted. "I presume you are the ones who killed my men?" Reno nodded in shock. She surveyed the two of them. "Hmm… Turks." She concluded. "How interesting." Elena shot a look at Reno, who shook his head.
"Who are you?" He asked the woman. She laughed.
"Such an interesting question, but not one I feel inclined to answer." She replied. Elena was fumbling with her Materia. "What are you doing?" The woman asked, in a tone that implied she knew full well and Elena better stop it now. Elena straightened up, shooting a look at Reno, who shook his head again. "Do we have command? How interesting." The woman mused.
"Tell us who you are or I will have to use force." Reno told her. She laughed.
"Oh, you will, will you?" She raised her hands as if to cast a spell. Reno nodded to Elena. He knew what she'd been doing with her Materia.
"Bolt3!" Elena yelled just as the woman yelled 'Mbarrier'. Lightning bolts flashed and completely fried the thugs that were 'off in sleepy land', as Reno had put it. The woman lowered her hands and laughed.
"You anticipated me." She murmured. "How interesting…" she eyed the guards around her. "Quite strong… Yes…" She muttered.
"I'm losing my patience." Reno informed her. She looked up at him, an amused look in her light green eyes. Light green. That always made Reno think Sephiroth. Poor green-eyed people. She wasn't a Sephiroth.
"Ah, is the little Turk getting bored?" She taunted. Reno gripped his Nightstick tightly and glanced at Elena, who nodded. "We all tire of this little game, it seems." The woman observed. "Well, I will draw this out no longer. Farewell." Before either of them could react, she had… vanished, in a column of orange smoke.
"What the hell was that?" Reno yelled in annoyance. Elena stared at the spot where the woman had been. Reno suddenly realised something. "You killed them." He told Elena, pointing at the bodies of the thugs. Elena realised that at about the same time.
"Oh…" She said, her voice shaking a little. Reno put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sometimes you have to." He told her. "It's part of the job." She nodded slowly. Reno let go of her and walked over to where the woman had been standing. "Monster hunting…" He murmured, thinking. There was no sign that the woman had ever been there.
"I killed them…" Elena murmured, walking over to the corpses. "Get used to it…" She repeated. Yes, it was part of the job. Her sister had always been so… so uncaring about it. Well, Elena was better than her.
"Find anything?" Reno asked. Elena shook her head. There was nothing there but char.
"Nothing, Reno." She told him. Reno shrugged and turned back to where the woman had been. The 'little Turk' comment was bugging him. He hated being called 'little'.
"Who was she?" Reno wondered aloud. Elena walked over to him. There was absolutely no trace of her.
"Shall I call Tseng?" Elena asked him. Reno considered it.
"Go on then." He replied eventually. "Tell him… the target got away." Elena nodded. Not that they had been given a specific target, but… Tseng would understand what Reno meant. Elena took her phone from her pocket, wincing when she saw a huge crack in the case which had presumably been caused by it being thrown into a rock wall. She quickly dialled Tseng's number.
"Hello, Elena." He greeted when he picked up. How on earth did he know it was her? She'd called his office phone.
"Sir…" she started.
"Got away, did it?" Tseng asked. Elena was shocked.
"Yes, Sir, she did." Elena replied. Reno looked up in shock, and mouthed 'he knew?' Elena nodded at him.
"A she? Hmm." Tseng said thoughtfully. "OK, come back here as soon as possible." He ordered.
"Um, Sir…" Elena started.
"Did Reno break the helichopper?"
"It was already broken, Sir." Elena replied, although she could see Tseng's reasoning. Tseng chuckled.
"Ok… I'm surprised the thing got off the ground, to be honest, bit it's the only one we… had. Ok…" Tseng paused to think. "I'll make some calls." He said eventually.
"Yes, Sir." Elena replied, snapping the phone shut. Reno gave her a questioning look. "He's making calls." Elena told him. Reno nodded.
"Back to Wutai?" He suggested. Elena nodded. "And we've got a free day…" He murmured thoughtfully. Elena laughed.
"No drinking." She told him. "But apart from that, I don't care." Reno smiled at her.
"Deal." He replied. Elena nearly fell over in shock. She hadn't expected him to agree! "Shall we go?" He suggested, holding out his hand to Elena. She took it, and they made their way back to Wutai.