Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII…
Unseen Veracity
Chapter 2: Rookie's Exam
The examinees gathered at the center of the room where Lazard told them to do so. Majority of them tried to get to know their fellow examinee except for Raine who refused to talk to anyone.
Raine stood somewhere in the center all by herself. She kept on thinking on what kind of exam the Shinra give to them will. Her alone time was cut when a man who has short, spiky, red hair approach her. She kept on ignoring the man who kept on talking to her.
The red-haired man was named Akai Halberd. He was nineteen years old that was born in Junon. He has white skin and about 10cm taller than Raine. People tend to tell him that he resembled Reno of the Turks a lot but honestly speaking, he doesn't have a clue on who was that person. He's friendly to everyone including with Raine who kept on ignoring him on their first meeting. His weapon of choice was a long spear that has some chains wrapped around its handle. Despite his friendly nature, he can be pretty hot-headed which made him a fire-specialty user like Genesis. He can't stand the ice at all. The only problem with him was that he can't handle a woman properly. Every time he got near to a woman, he started to hiccup non-stop.
"Hey! So what's your name? Out of all the aspiring newbies here, you are the only one who has some sense. Majority of them here just want to enter SOLDIER for the sake of their idols." Akai began to speak.
Raine remained quiet and refused to bond with Akai.
"You're pretty quiet, aren't you? Especially for a man…" Akai continued to speak like nothing happened.
Raine still continued to ignore him.
"At least give me your name… I'm Akai Halberd… You can just call me Akai." Akai bowed down a little to get a clearer view of Raine's face.
Raine raised her head to look at his eyes directly. Her beautiful face that was completely void of emotions made the said man blush. "Raine…"
After telling him her name, Raine left him all alone standing like an idiot. She really can't stand the presence of another person.
Akai began to hiccup non-stop while covering his red face with his right palm. "Wh… hic… Why am I… hic… hiccupping towards a man?"
Lazard stood in front of the examinees and explained to them the details of their examination. On his left and right sides was a cylinder container that was made out of glass. It was a device used in transporting soldiers to different places. Unfortunately, it was still a prototype but it was still usable enough to transport one person to another place.
"In order for all of you to be accepted in SOLDIER, each of you must pass the said exam. All of you will be transported to another place to test all of your skills. The places where all of you will be transported will be in random. Once you get there, a Third Class SOLDIER will be waiting for you in that designated place and he will tell you on what to do. Is there any questions?"
The examinees looked at each other while murmuring some words which Lazard couldn't understand. A hand was suddenly rose which caught Lazard's attention. The examinees moved to the sides to reveal who was raising a hand. It turned out to be Raine.
"Yes?" Lazard pushed his glasses upwards.
"In that place where we will be transported, are we going to fight real monsters?" Raine asked Lazard fearlessly.
Lazard smirked and answered. "Precisely… Any more questions?"
"If one of us died in the examination, will the company take full responsibility?" Raine asked again.
Lazard placed his hands behind his back and faced Raine's direction. "You don't have to worry about that. The Third Class SOLDIERs waiting for you all will make sure that none of you will die. If they already saw that you could no longer fight or things got out of hand, the Third Class SOLDIERs will step in to take you to safety. But that would mean that you failed the exam. Any more questions, sir?"
Raine remained quiet which told Lazard that she no longer have any questions.
Lazard faced everyone again to ask who was willing to go first. "Is there anyone who would like to volunteer first?"
The examinees looked at one another while trying to push one to go first. They all stopped when Raine stepped out of the group and approached Lazard.
"I assume that you would like to go first? Would you like to choose a weapon? Since you volunteered first, I'll give you the privilege to choose your weapon of choice." Lazard told her.
"I don't need it…" Raine replied coldly.
"But you don't have any weapons with you…" Lazard pointed out flatly.
Raine glared at Lazard which made him shut his mouth. Lazard sighed and gave her a man-made colorless materia.
"Use that materia once you finished your exam. It will transport you back here." Lazard handed the colorless materia.
Raine accepted the materia and went inside the device. A white light began to emerge from the device. Once the light disappeared, Raine had also disappeared leaving white orbs floating inside it until it disappeared.
Lazard sighed again. He can't believe that there was someone who will be reckless enough to take the exam without any weapons. He just hoped that the kid will survive. Looking at his face made him unsteady. It was also as if like he was looking on a woman's face. He faced the examinees again and asked for another volunteer.
A red-haired man stepped out of the group with a long spear at hand. "Heh! Akai Halberd is at your service!"
A ray of light landed on an open plain which has a few trees around it. Once the light disappeared, it revealed to be Raine. She looked around the place to look at the Third Class SOLDIER who was supposed to be waiting for her arrival.
"Where…?" Raine pondered to herself.
Another ray of light hit one tree which revealed to be Akai who was hanging on a tree branch.
"Ow…! Of all the places to get transported to, I've landed on a tree!" Akai complained. During his landing, he dropped his spear on the ground.
His spear was picked up by someone that made him stop struggling on the branch. The person who picked his spear was Raine. She stared at his unbelievable state and harrumphed.
Akai scratched the side of his face. "Um… Need some help here?"
Raine switched to a fighting position and swung Akai's spear to an arc which cut the branch where Akai was hanging. Akai fell on the ground with his face first. Raine threw the spear beside him and left.
Akai stood up while rubbing his face. He picked up his spear and followed Raine. "Hey! Wait! At least give me a chance to say thank you!"
Raine looked for the third class soldier who was supposed to be waiting for them. She stopped in her tracks when she saw some blood and claw marks on the ground. Akai bumped into her when she suddenly stopped. She looked at him over her shoulders and glared.
Akai took a few steps back and laughed. He scratched the back of his head due to his nervousness. "Um… Could you please smile even a little? You are pretty scary thanks to your glare."
"Hmph!" Raine looked away and checked on the claw marks and blood that was lying on the ground. She could even see some claw marks in the trees.
"What are you doing?" Akai asked as he kept on following Raine around.
He really found it strange when his bad habit started to surface before. Raine was a "man" so why was he hiccupping back then. He stared on Raine's face again and concluded that maybe because she looked like a girl that's why he was hiccupping. If only he just knew what his bad habit was telling him.
"I'm looking for the Third Class SOLDIER who is supposed to be waiting for us here. He's nowhere to be seen when I've arrived here." Raine answered Akai's question.
Akai's eyes widen in shock and he whistled. "Whoo…! You finally talked! I thought you don't know how to speak. What's your name?"
Raine sighed and walked. She followed the trail of blood that was leading them inside the forest. "I already told you."
"Huh? When?" Unfortunately, Akai didn't heard what Raine told him before.
Raine ignored Akai's presence again and continued to walk. Akai sighed and slump his shoulders when Raine went back to her quiet ways. Making her talk was quite a challenge for him. She would talk for a few seconds and then shut her mouth for who knows how long.
Akai was surprised when Raine suddenly ran. He continued to follow her until both of them stopped in front of a Third Class SOLDIER who was sitting on the ground and his back was on the tree. The SOLDIER was completely covered in blood. He was barely breathing due to his wounds and loss of blood. Raine approached the man quickly to make sure if he was still alive.
"Hang in there!" Raine said as she held the man on his shoulders. Her voice was louder compared to how it was normally.
Akai was even surprised to see a caring look on Raine's face. He never expected that an expressionless "boy" like her could show some concern.
The soldier cracked an eye open and held Raine's arms. "Get… out of… here… quick…"
The man lost his consciousness and dropped his hands to the ground. Akai approached the man and Raine quickly. The killing intent and smell of blood was getting in his nerves. "What happened here?"
"Take the SOLDIER back to the headquarters. He needs to get treated right away. I don't have any support materia with me to help him." Raine told her only company for now.
Akai looked at her and nodded. Due to Raine's small physique, she can't carry the muscular soldier. It was all left to Akai's care. Akai took the man and carried him on his back.
A growling sound was heard around the forest. Five wolves which were 3x its normal size appeared to surround them. Their eyes were red and their teeth were sharper and bigger compared to the normal ones. They slowly approached the two newbies like they were the most delicious food in the world.
"Uh-oh… Is this part of the exam?" Akai looked from one wolf to another.
"I don't think so…" Raine answered. "We have to go and inform those higher ups what happened here."
"Alright…" Akai nodded and he brought out the colorless materia that Lazard gave him as well.
Raine did it as well but as soon as she was about to use it, one wolf attacked them. The two moved sideways to avoid the attacking wolf. Unfortunately, Raine let go of her materia and it rolled somewhere far.
Akai dropped his jaw and shouted. "OI! YOU!"
"Shut up and go! That man will die if he remains here!" Raine ordered him again.
"But… You…" Akai tried to reason out.
"I'll get out of here on my own. Now go!"
Akai clicked his tongue and used his materia. He was left no other choice but to leave Raine on the five hungry wolves that were aiming to eat them. He was engulfed by the white light again. The ray of light shot to the sky again until it disappeared.
Raine raised her fist in a fighting position and examined her enemies. The five wolves ran and jumped towards her with their mouths open.
Most of the examinees have been dispatched. Some of them returned failing the exam while some passed it with no problem. Between the two devices used for transportation, a certain platform stood between it. It was the place where the examinees will appear once they returned from their exam.
White orbs began to gather at the center of the platform forming a shape of a human. The light dissolves and Akai appeared together with the bloody Third Class SOLDIER. Akai fell on his knees while trying his best to lay the man on the floor gently. Everyone looked at Akai's bloodied state. They were wondering on what happened to him. Angeal and Lazard ran towards him while calling some medic.
"What happened?!" Lazard asked while helping Akai in his feet.
Some medics appeared and began treating the man's wounds. They took him to the infirmary to give him proper treatment.
Akai shook his head to clear his mind from panicking. "I landed in some open plain and met with that blondie. When we get there, the Third Class SOLDIER that was supposed to be waiting for us was not around. That blondie started to search and when we found him, five wolves that were 3x its normal size began to attack us. To save that man's life, he told me to go first."
"What happened to the other one?" It was now Angeal's turn to ask.
Akai gasped and ran to one of the devices. "During the wolves attack he let go of his materia accidentally… SHIT! Got to go back! He's all alone there!"
Before Lazard and Angeal could even stop Akai from entering the device, he already entered and transported to where he was sent to before.
Angeal looked at Lazard to clarify something with him. "Are there wolves in the recruit's examination? I'm pretty sure they are only used on the Third Class Promotion Exams."
Lazard called Zack and Kunsel to help those two newbies in dealing those wolves. He was pretty sure that it was not part of the exam. "Zack! Kunsel! Go to where those two are and bring them back here!"
Zack walked towards them while rolling his shoulders. "Roger that!"
Kunsel saluted and went to the device. "Yes, sir!"
The two Second Class SOLDIERs went inside the devices. Zack was completely excited like a kid since that was the first time that he got to use the device. The two disappeared inside the devices and got transported to where Akai and Raine are.
Akai landed in the forest. He looked for Raine who just disappeared. As he walked around, he found Raine's materia. He picked it up and pocketed it. He got to find Raine before something happens to her. He heard some sounds and followed it. He kept on running until he stumbled on one of the wolves' dead body.
"Did he kill this one?" Akai asked to no one as he looked at the lifeless body of the wolf.
He resumed running until the trees before him cleared up. He reached an open space where Raine was continually fighting. He saw her spin around leaving numerous kicks on one of the wolves' rib cage.
The wolf which Raine kicked drop on the ground. She turned around to punch another wolf on the nose, making the impact threw it backwards.
Akai dropped his jaw when he saw Raine fight. It was as if like she was just dancing. "Wow! He's good!"
The third wolf used its claw attack on Raine which was evaded by her quickly. Unfortunately, she failed to see the fourth wolf jumped and attack her from behind. Seeing that Raine won't be able to respond in time, Akai threw his spear like a javelin. His spear hit the wolf's body which rendered it dead. He showed himself to her and stood behind her protectively.
Raine looked at him for a moment before resuming her attention to the remaining wolves. "Thank you…"
"Huh? What did you say?" Akai failed to hear it since he took his spear back and another wolf separated them.
Two wolves began to join forces and attacked Akai while one wolf faced Raine. The two wolves that Akai was facing jumped towards him. Akai twirled his spear to defend himself from the wolf and at the same time slash them with it.
Raine charged on her enemy. She gave numerous punches which were evaded by the wolf. The wolf took a bite on the left end part of her shirt which was torn a little. The two got separated and jumped in the air at the same time. Raine did a spin leaving a heel drop on the wolf's head. The force cracked its skull and it fell on the ground. It tried to stand up but it died later on. After defeating her enemy, she saw Akai struggling against the two wolves. He was using his spear to block the wolves' bites.
"Ack! They're pretty tough!" Akai complained while smiling.
Raine kicked the dead body of the wolf that she defeated towards the wolves. One of them was thrown to the sides while the other one released the spear which made Akai return to Raine's side.
"I guess that made us equal, huh?" Akai's eyes widen when he saw Raine's left arm bleeding. "Hey! Your arm! Does it hurt?!"
Raine glared at Akai because of his stupid question. "What do you think?"
Akai paid his attention back to the wolves. "Well… Your face doesn't show that you're hurt at all."
The two wolves joined forces again and used its poison breath on Raine and Akai which caught them off guard. The two fell on their knees and began coughing.
"Uh…!" Raine covered her nose quickly with her right hand.
Akai's hold on his spear had become tighter. "Damn it…"
The wolves began their attack again. The two rookies expected for the worst to come but it didn't come. They were surprised to see two Second Class SOLDIERs jumped in the middle of the fight and slashed the wolves into two. The body parts of the wolves fell on the ground. The two Second Class SOLDIERs namely Zack and Kunsel ran towards the two rookies to get rid of the poison. Zack gave an antidote to Raine while Kunsel casted an esuna spell to Akai. When Raine and Akai recovered some of their strength, Kunsel casts a cure to Raine. Her wounds began to stitch by itself until no sign of scar or wound can be seen.
"Are you two alright? It was a good thing that we made it in time." Kunsel said to the two.
Akai released a deep breath which he unconsciously was holding. "I thought I was done for…"
"Thank you for saving us…" Raine spoke which snapped the heads of the three men at her quickly.
Kunsel smiled and nodded while Akai looked away. He was blushing and his hiccups were threatening to attack him again. Zack whistled and ruffled her hair.
"You finally talked; blondie!" Zack grinned while ruffling her hair.
Raine elbowed Zack's stomach due to her embarrassment.
Kunsel looked at the other corpses of the wolves. On their way to finding them, they encountered a wolf's dead body as well. All in all, they saw three dead bodies of the wolves.
"By the way, did you two do this?" Kunsel pointed out on the dead bodies of the wolves that were still in a whole.
Raine looked away while Akai scratched the back of his head.
"Uh… Yeah! Kinda… But blondie here killed two… Despite his looks, he's got some hidden powers inside that small body of his…" Akai answered while telling the truth. There's no point for him to lie anyway.
Raine kept quiet as she ignored the strange looks of Kunsel and Zack. She was not that comfortable in the presence of other people.
"I see… I understand… I'll report this to Director Lazard once we get back." Kunsel told them.
Zack continued to grin at Raine. "Talk about potential, Blondie!"
Raine sent some piercing glare at Zack to make him shut up. "Stop calling me, Blondie!"
The three men laughed when they successfully extracted some emotion out of her expressionless face.
The four of them returned successfully to the headquarters using their colorless materia. Kunsel explained to Lazard everything that happened to all of them. After knowing all the details, Lazard found it wasteful to not credit what Akai and Raine did. He finally decided to accept the two in the cadet program.
Akai and Raine became a part of the 300 recruits who just passed the exam. Akai jumped for joy while Raine walked away leaving Akai jumping like an idiot.
"Hey! We've passed and we are now part of the cadets! At least try to celebrate!" Akai chased Raine who was now leaving the place.
Raine continued to ignore Akai like she never heard him. She finally overcame one of the obstacles but there were still more to come. She swore that she will overcome all of it just to find her other half.
"I don't have time to celebrate. I still have to find, brother…" Raine murmured to herself.
She walked passed through one of the Shinra scientists whom she failed to recognize. She didn't even react or beat an eyelash when she saw Sephiroth and Genesis walking pass her. Between them was this Shinra Scientist whom they really respect. This scientist's name was Gast Faremis. He has short black hair and moustache. He wore a white lab coat, brown pants and square-shaped glasses. He happens to be the Head of the Shinra's Science Department.
Professor Gast stopped walking and looked at Raine's back. The look of horror and concern was completely obvious on his face. "What? Cloud? Wait… No… That's not Cloud… He joined SOLDIER two years ago. No… It cannot be… Don't tell me that's his…"
Sephiroth and Genesis stopped walking. They looked at Professor Gast who just suddenly stopped. They followed his gaze and it landed on Raine's back.
"Is there something wrong, Professor Gast?" Sephiroth asked him in his deep voice.
"Don't tell me that feminine boy caught your interest, Professor…" Genesis said playfully.
Gast looked away and shook his head. "No… It's nothing, Sephiroth… and Genesis, I am not interested to young boys who look like a girl."
Genesis released a loud laugh which had somehow caught the people's attention. "If you're not interested, professor, then can I take him? That kid is full of mystery… Something tells me that he is full of secrets that need to be unlocked, starting with his true gender."
Sephiroth shook his head on Genesis' playful remarks
Gast sighed and continued to walk. He decided to find some time to talk with Raine alone. Finding her in this den full of men was something he never expected at all.
"What a reckless girl! Did she come here to look for her twin brother? Oh… Cloud... Just where did you go? Your sister is in this den, full of men, pretending to be a boy! Top it off; there is this double blade commander who is kind of interested with her on whether she is a boy or a girl! Wherever you are, please show yourself… CLOUD!"
Author's Notes: Hm… There is this idea coming in my head. It's another fanfic that is threatening me to write it down. I'll just tell some details, okay? It's a time-travel fic but it's not like any of those other time-travel ones. Here is its summary…
Summary: Cadet Cloud Strife was sent to the future thanks to the unknown materia that he discovered in his training. He saw everything including the future Sephiroth who was about to kill him. The effects of the materia died and he was transported back more into the past. Using the materia has its side effects, he became a she. "The hell with changing the past! I want my male body back!"
Should I write this one instead of continuing "Unseen Veracity"? (In short I'll replace "Unseen Veracity" with this one.) Or… Add this as one of my on-going stories? (But I'll be digging my own grave if I did that! *grips hair* but this idea is hunting me like an after effects of watching a horror movie!)
Ooohhh…! What should I do? Somebody HELP! DX
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