A/N: Sorry for the lateness of this update. The holidays were so hectic. But it did give me time to work on new chapters of this Fanfiction. This chapter is just a little mission Silvia takes on. Not much happens, but I wanted to introduce something everyone is famliar with and I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy 7 characters from either the games, the short anime, or the movie. I do, however, proudly own Silvia and Shadow and all ideas pretaining to them except for anything pretaining directly to Deepground.
Chapter 8: The Lost One
Four days had passed since Silvia's dual with Reno. Three had flown by since disastrous and short lived mission Silvia had been assigned with Reno. She rolled her eyes at the memory. However, what was really on her mind had nothing to do with her eventual payback on the red-haired Turk. Instead, the dark haired teen was thinking of what lay before her.
She knew she wanted to save those of Deepground. They were the only thing resembling a family she had. The Tsviets were like brothers and sisters to her and she wanted to not only help her fellow Tsviets but the others associated with Deepground as well. The problem was how Silvia was going to carry out such a mission. It was practically impossible. Not only was it heavily guarded by the President on the top floor but, also, the SOLDIER's would be sent after her. Taking on SOLDIER in this time where it was at its strongest was a very bad idea.
"Silvia, Shadow, today I would like you to act as Rufus's guards. Rufus is going to be giving a small speech to those living above the plate. Not only will civilians be participating, but the SOLDIER cadets and a few Soldier seconds and firsts will be attending as well. I would like you two to guard the Vice President, but stick to the shadows. Cissnei will stay on the stage with the Vice President." Tseng explained to the two standing in front of his desk, inturrupting Silvia's train of thought.
Silvia shook her head and ground herself to the present. There would be time to think about her plans later. "That won't be a problem. When is the speech supposed to be held?"
"Later this afternoon." The Turk answered.
The Ex-Tsviet and Shadow Beast blinked in surprise. Later this afternoon wasn't a whole lot of time to get everything set up for his speech.
"Also, Rufus said he would like to talk to the two of you before you head out." Tseng added. Without looking up to see if his newest Turk had heard.
Taking her leave, Silvia made her way out of Tseng's office and down the hall. Shadow followed by her side. They had just arrived at the elevator when Silvia heard a voice call out to her.
"Silvia, wait up!" Turning around Silvia looked down the hallway to see a dark red haired woman running toward them. Her dark red hair came just past her shoulders and cascaded down her back in waves. The Ex-Tsviet had only met her once before when she had been introduced to the other Turk's. However, the others hadn't known what to do about Shadow's presence. Silvia was surprised Cissnei actually came up to Shadow and scratched him behind his ears.
"So, we are working together today?" Silvia asked when Cissnei stopped in front of her.
Cissnei smiled. "Yeah. I just hope no one tries anything with us around. Did you know Rod is going to be there too?"
The dark brown haired teen rolled her eyes. Among the Turks, Silvia had only gotten along with Tseng, Reno, Rude and Cissnei. She was still a little uncertain about Veld though. The man was just as hard to read as Tseng at times. Rod was the worst out of the Turks. Rod had made it clear, when they had first met; he did not like Silvia and did not trust Shadow not to attack innocent people.
"As long as he stays away from me, I have no problem with the guy." Silvia muttered. All three entered the elevator and made their way toward the Vice Presidents office.
Cissnei and Silvia talked as they made their way up to the V.P's floor. Cissnei laughed when Silvia told her about the mission Tseng had assigned herself and Reno. It was a little relaxing to Silvia to talk to another girl around her own age. Shelk was only nine years old and the newest member to Deepground when Silvia had left. Rosso wasn't much for conversation unless you wanted to talk about different ways to kill someone or sparing. It was a breath of fresh air to the former Tsviet to talk to someone like Cissnei.
The group arrived at Rufus's office a few minutes later. Rod stood waiting for them. Silvia, Cissnei and Shadow entered and walked over to stand next to Rod. Silvia couldn't help but notice the dark look Rod gave her. The Ex-Tsviet decided to ignore the Turk. She had no idea why he always gave her dark looks, but she chose to ignore the man. Instead she waited for Rufus to tell them why he had called al of them to his office.
Rufus cleared his throat. "You all know you are to be my security detail for today's event. Rod, I want you to make sure those attending have the right credentials. Cissnei will be in charge of my security up on the stage and will stay by me during the speech. As for you Silvia and Shadow, I want you to guard me from the shadows. Do not let your presence be detected by anyone, not even the SOLDIER 1st's who will be attending."
"If I may be so bold, sir? Why do you want her and that…wolf to be your guards? How do we know we can trust them with your safety?" Rod all but spat out his obvious mistrust.
Silvia knew the Turk was only stating what was on his mind. After all, they had no idea who she was or where she came from. Also, with her obvious disregard for the dress requirements, many of the Turk's didn't know what to make of her. She couldn't really blame the man for his distrust. However, she was very surprised when Cissnei spoke up for her before Rufus could say anything.
"Silvia is an excellent Turk! Tseng evaluated her himself. Plus, the Vice President has spoken up for her qualifications. Are you seriously saying you doubt both the Vice President and Tseng's opinion?" The dark red haired Turk asked, rounding on Rod.
Shadow smirked softly seeing the discomfort in the young mans face. Rufus just watched Rod's eyes flicker from Silvia and Shadow then to Rufus. The wolf was impressed the young man had actually spoken up about his doubts.
Silvia glanced down at her friend and just shook her head at her friend. She could tell Shadow found the whole confrontation amusing.
"If that is all, you should all report to your assigned destinations." Rufus told the group in front of him with a bored expression.
As one, the group made their way out of his office and started the elevator ride down to the first floor. If anyone noticed the group's unusual silence, no one said anything. Even other Shinra employees, who entered the elevator momentarily, said nothing to them. Finally, tired of the silence and wishing to show Rod she was not intimidated, Silvia decided to break the silence in a way Reno had taught her over the years.
"Is your name Rod supposed to compensate for something?" She asked innocently.
Rod turned to look at her, a shocked expression on his face. Cissnei and Shadow burst into laughter. If she had had a camera to take a picture of his face, it would have been perfect. Rod tried to come up with a response to her question, but his mouth just kept gaping open like a fish. The Ex-Tsviet grinned broadly and turned her attention to the elevator doors.
XxXxXxXxX
The speech went quite well. Only one person spoke up and shouted "down with Shinra!" Rod acted quickly and pulled the man from the crowd. Silvia had to admit, Rod was a very good Turk. No one realized he had dragged the man out of the crowd until after the speech was over. Silvia was surprised, however when Sephiroth and Angeal showed up for the speech. She had known a couple of the SOLDIER 1st's would show up for the speech, but she had no idea Sephiroth would attend.
Silvia stood in the shadows the whole time watching the proceedings. Nothing happened during the speech itself, afterwards was a totally different story.
Rufus left the stage with Cissnei covering his exit. The cadets left as soon as he was safely inside the building with Rod standing guard outside, waiting for the crowd to disperse. It happened just as the crowd began their walk home. If Silvia had followed Rufus into the building, she would have missed the incident all together.
A young man and a woman had stopped just in front of her shadowed hiding place. Both looked upset about something. It wasn't until she over heard part of their conversation that she realized what had happened. Their daughter had been standing next to them during the speech, but, as they went to leave they noticed their daughter was no where to be seen. Silvia knew this was a job for someone else, but with the traffic and the people traveling to their homes, it would be hard to start a search. By the time anyone started the search, it would be too late.
With a sigh, Silvia stepped out of her hiding place and walked up to the couple. Shadow followed close behind her.
"Excuse me, but, is something wrong?" Silvia asked looking at the sobbing mother and her husband who was trying to comfort her.
The woman sobbed even louder. The man turned to her but eyed the young girl with suspicion. "Who are you? You are just a girl. How can you help us find our missing daughter?"
The Ex-Tsviet resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She forgot how annoying it was to be talked to like a child. "I can help, believe me." Her eyes brighten when an idea came to her. "I am actually a Turk. I know I don't look like much, but I am off duty. If I can help in any way, I would love to do what I can."
"A Turk?" The man eyed her in confusion. But, he seemed to be busy dealing with his distraught wife to actually question her further. "Alright. Our daughter, Elisa, came to the speech with us. She wanted to see the SOLDIER's. So, we brought her." The woman in his arms wailed loudly. Silvia had to fight the urge to flinch. Mako sure had its down sides. "But, as we were getting ready to leave I realized our daughter was no where in sight. She had been holding my hand about five minutes before the speech ended. She said her shoe was untied, so I let go of her hand so she could tie it." Here the man looked down at the ground in shame.
Silvia sighed. This definitely wasn't her cup of tea. She had little to no experience about dealing with children. Shelk had been the closest thing to a child she had come across. Instead of thanking Reno and Rude for the things they taught her, she decided she would curse them to the edge of the earth for the conscious she seemed to have formed.
"I will look for your daughter, if you like. This crowd will make it hard to get help fast enough. But, wait one second please." Silvia informed them. Walking a few feet away, Silvia pulled out her PHS and pretended to talk into it. "
"Think you can help out Shadow?" She asked softly.
Shadow tilted his head down ever so slightly. "Yes. Though I will need a personal effect of the girls to get an exact scent. Too many scents will be lingering around here."
The Ex-Tsviet nodded and closed the PHS. Moving back over the parents she stated she would need a personal effect to help track the girl. "You see my partner here is a professional tracking dog." She told them as a way of explanation. This seemed to satisfy the parents. The mother tore herself away from her husband and handed Silvia a yellow haired doll in a red dress. With a wave good-bye, Silvia and Shadow walked away from the distraught parents after getting their PHS number, promising to call them when she had found something.
Once they were a significant distance away, Silvia crouched down and held the doll out for Shadow. He took a couple of long sniffs before turning away. His eyes were now a pale gold color.
"To think I have been degraded to the simple level of a tracking dog." Shadow huffed. "You could have told them I was a genetically engineered wolf or something."
Silvia smiled mischievously at her friend. "If I had done that, then I wouldn't be able to use your 'tracking dog status' to black mail you sometime."
Shadow huffed again. "What am I going to use on use as Black mail to get you back?"
The dark haired teen just laughed.
XxXxXxXxX
"Got any leads, my friend?" Silvia asked the wolf going from one side of an alley to another.
The sent had led the duo to the train station and down to the Slums. It was a scenario Silvia had hoped to avoid. In the slums there were hundreds of buildings to hide in. Not to mention all the citizens who actually lived in the Slums. Silvia shook her head in annoyance. She just had to be nicer to people. Stupid Reno and Rude….
Shadow continued you sniff the air. "I think the girl's scent leads into this ally. But I smell about five other individuals that mingle with the girls. I suggest we proceed with a caution."
Without saying a word, she motioned her partner to lead the way. A pair of daggers sprang into her hands as Shadow started to make his way into the ally with Silvia following.
The alley itself was dark, letting only a small amount of light leak into the alley. Trash and other debris littered way. The Ex-Tsviet knew the debris and trash was left to lie where it landed so whoever took the girl would know someone was coming their way. Silvia knew now that the little girl had been kidnapped just because of the multiple scents Shadow had found.
Both girl and wolf moved stealthily down the alley way. It was easy to avoid the trash with the Ex-Deepground member's skills. Stealth came natural to them.
It didn't take them long to find a rust pitted door. Listening carefully through the steal, Silvia could hear voices on the other side and came from just beyond the door. Silvia knew that as soon as they opened the door they would be attacked before they could fully enter. Looking around she noticed a window on the second story. The window panes were broken but it was their only other entry point.
Using the other building across from their target, Silvia jumped from one wall to the next with her feet until she could grab the window sill, using her daggers to get a better grab on the crumbling sill. Carefully pulling herself onto the sill, she crouched on the sill and looked down to her partner. Shadow watched from the ground. Both girl and wolf shared a look before Shadow faded into the shadows in the alley. Turning around, she carefully squeezed through the shattered hole and into the room above.
The room seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time. Pieces of the ceiling lay about the room and an old bed lay in pieces about the room. Silvia guessed the rest of the building wouldn't look much better.
As carefully as possible the young woman made her way across the room, while trying to avoid making as little noise as possible so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. Once across the room, she peered around the doorframe to look into the hallway.
The hallway was completely empty but Silvia could hear what the people downstairs were saying a lot better now. At the end of the hallway, a hole had been cut out of the floor and a ladder lead down to the floor below. Silvia cautiously made her way over to the ladder and bent down to peer through the hole.
Five people stood in the room below. Two men stood next to the door, each had riffles slung over their shoulder. The other four were spread out through the room below. Except by a young woman leaning against the wall opposite the door was a young girl with yellow pigtails. There was no mistaking the fact the young girl was the one Silvia had set out to find and Shadow had followed her scent to this location. The only question was: What would these people want with a child?
"Why are we waiting here for? Those idiots probably already told someone about the missing girl!" One of the men by the door scowled angrily.
The woman next to the child seemed to not be fazed by the man's outburst. "Because her father hasn't answered our demands yet."
Blue-gray eyes narrowed marginally. 'What demands? The man and his wife had said nothing about any demands. Could these kidnappers maybe got a hold of the couple and demanded something from them?' Silvia thought to herself.
"You know as well as I do that they won't do what we want. But, if we use the little girl, we could demand a ransom. And that is exactly what we are waiting for an answer about. He better shut down the reactor or else." The other man beside the door added.
The Ex-Tsviet had a bad feeling about this. If these people wanted a reactor to be shut down, the little girl would be put into danger. But, who exactly were these people. Silvia had never seen these people before. They were dressed in rag-tag clothes. Some wore weapons openly while others had to have concealed weapons by the looks of how they tried to cover certain parts of their backs and arms. If all these people were armed it would be hard to rescue the little girl without getting into a fight with these people. Elisa may just get pulled into the fight.
"Shadow," Silvia whispered as quietly as she could. "I think now would be good time to begin."
Suddenly, the sound of screeching and howling echoed from the direction of the alley. The people in the room below froze. As one, they turned toward the door leading into the alley. The sound tapered off only to begin again. After a few moments the woman guarding the girl motioned for a few men to follow her outside. The woman took the two by the door and another woman Silvia hadn't seen before. Together the group opened the door. The strange noise echoed loudly into the room making those who had stayed behind cringe. Silvia watched them go into the alley and close the door behind them. Only two more people in the room remained.
Silvia eased her lower body through the hole and looked around. The other two, a man with dirty blond hair and another man with unruly brown hair, stood against a wall not far from the hole Silvia was looking down through. Both men were staring at the door, their faces white with fear as they tried to figure out what could be outside.
"You think Elfe can handle…whatever the heck is making that noise?" The one with brown hair asked.
Before either could say another word Silvia dropped through the hole in the ceiling and landed lightly in a crouch. Without any delay, she sped across the floor with all the speed of a SOLDIER. Neither man knew what hit them. With a couple of well placed hits, both men fell to the ground unconscious.
Turning around, Silvia made her way over to the girl, Elisa. However, she knew taking slow, deliberate steps would keep the child from freaking out. Elisa, was now sobbing in fright, and huddled in a ball against the wall. Silvia carefully crouched down next to the little girl.
"Elisa, my name is Silvia. Your parents asked me to come help you. Are you okay?" Silvia asked softly. Tseng had taught her that it was best to speak to a child softly if they were terrified. He had tried to teach it to her, but Silvia wasn't very good with children. She never had been.
Elisa sniffed and peered up at her. "Mommy and Daddy?"
Silvia nodded. "Yes. And I believe we should leave now before my friend can't keep their attention." The Ex-Tsviet held out a hand to the little girl. Elisa sniffed a few times, but reached up to grab the Silvia's hand. Both made their way quickly back up to the second floor. Silvia was anxious to get out of the building. She could no longer hear Shadow's screeching outside. Carefully, the Ex-Tsviet picked up the little girl and exited out a window on the opposite side of the building than the way she had entered.
As soon as they exited the building and onto the roof of the neighboring shop, Shadow joined them. All three made their way across the rooftops and made their way toward the train station as quickly as possible.
XxXxXxXxX
The trip back to the Shinra building and the girl's parents went well. They almost ran into a couple of the people from earlier, but Silvia and Shadow were able to get passed them without incident. She let out a sigh of relief when they exited the train station above the plate.
"Miss? Those people said they were AVALANCHE. What is that?" Elisa asked as they made their way back to the location where the speech had been held and where Elisa's parents waited.
Silvia looked at her in puzzlement. "I do not know. But, I think I remember what that is, but I can't put my finger on it."
The little girl was silent. As soon as they arrived at their destination, the girl's parents ran to them, tears of joy ran down their faces. Silvia watched as the parents hugged their child to them.
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Miss!" The husband cried as he began to lead his family home.
Silvia and Shadow watched them walk away. But, just before they got to far away the little girl turned around and waved happily to the girl and wolf. "Thank you Silvia! Thank you wolf-wolf!"
The Ex-Tsviet laughed at the little girl's enthusiasm and Shadow's glare at the name 'wolf-wolf'. But she couldn't stop thinking about the strange ransom demands. Why would the group want one of the reactors shut down? What was AVALANCHE? Silvia blinked a couple of times as she finally realized where she had heard the name 'AVALANCHE' before. AVALANCHE was the name for the terrorist group that was trying to expunge Shinra's use of mako as an energy source. She had heard of the name dozens of times. It would seem that if she was in the past then AVALANCHE would be on the rise again.
A/N: I have a plan for a few chapters for this fanfiction. Sadly, my idea needs a little help. So, if anyone was interested, I need some ideas for some Pranks that Zack and his 'accomplices' can pull on certain members of the science and Shinra staff. If anyone had any ideas, please shoot me PM or just add it in your review. Accomplices, the victim and the prank itself would be very helpful. Please also, Read, Review and Favorite everyone!