"What do you want
"What do you want?" said the dark skinned viera. They were in a back lot behind the bar. She leaned against the bricks on the wall, where the shade was, while the trio stood in the sun.
Cloud dipped his head to keep his eyes below the sun. "Want with what?"
"Don't kid yourself. I know you're not from around here. That's obvious. I'm not some new kid on the block."
"You're right, we're not from around here. But what business is it of yours, where we are from or what we want?"
The dark skinned viera sighed. She opened the lid to one of the trash cans next to her and pulled from it a long shimmering black bow and a crimson feathered arrow. Cloud heard Barret tick his mechanical hand to loaded.
"Relax," said the viera. She stepped out from the shade and aimed the bow Cloud estimated close to eighty degrees towards the sky. In a flash she drew back and fired. Barret and Tifa followed the arrow, shielding their eyes from the afternoon sun, while Cloud studied the viera.
Her face was firm, eyes narrow. She had the look of a war veteran. She twitched her head slightly, and her long glistening silver hair continued to rustle.
"I lost it," said Barret.
"Me too," said Tifa.
The two turned when they heard the whoosh and thud of something landing. About sixty yards down the alley, the arrow had struck a rusty can, dead center, completely vertical, with its crimson feathers directly above the ground pointing towards the sky.
Barret turned back, and uncocked his gun. "Point taken."
"How much do you want?" asked Cloud.
The dark skinned viera lifted the lid of the can and carefully rested her weapon back in its place. She then reached in her pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Cloud.
"Talk to me when you've assembled a crew…" she said. She opened the door to the bar, and the commotion inside could be heard once again. "I'll be here." The door closed.
The card read:
Shara
Assassin for hire…
For the right price.
"She's good," said Barret. They were out in the streets again, with the sky turning red as the day had grown from afternoon to evening.
"Yea, but we probably can't even afford her," said Tifa.
"Let's not worry about it for now," said Cloud. She could help us out a lot. "We need to find an inn before this place gets too dark."
"We're big boys, Cloud, we can handle the dark," said Barret, grinning and polishing his gun.
"This isn't Midgar, Barret," said Tifa. "You don't own every street here. Who knows the kind of crowd that gathers at night…"
Barret grunted.
Cloud looked Barret directly in the eyes, for the first time since they had made the trip. He didn't much appreciate the mechanical man's recklessness. Never had. Now it was time to be firm. "We find an inn, and then start looking for our clan in the morning. We can't afford to lie anything less than low. No one knows we're here and we're keeping it that way. Got it?" Barret grunted again and shook off the spiky blond. "Don't forget what we're here to do."
"Yea, yea…" He clicked his gun on and off.
"You click that gun too enough, you'll start trouble we don't want," said Tifa.
"What can I say, majesty? I'm bored…"
"You-!"
Cloud grabbed Tifa's shoulder. "Just drop it," he whispered. He caressed it and they continued to walk behind the dark mechanical man.
"I'm tired, Cloud…" said Tifa.