::The Last Avatar::

Gamer Edition

0.4

A Meeting Gone Sour

Tutorial

Achievements

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Achievements are much like optional goals that the player can endeavour to perform, some Achievements also have material rewards when completed.

You can check your Achievements from the Player Stats Screen.

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Current Achievements Completed: 2

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Good luck with that Kiddo!

Rue's eye was twitching as she carefully dismissed the annoying screen before her. That could not have been a tutorial, and when had she gotten another Achievement? She only remembered the one about her new Restore Materia that was safely tucked into her bag. She'd use it later on the small scratches on her arm she'd gotten from what Sephiroth had called a Tail Vault; they weren't even hurting her now. You have a high pain threshold remember? Be careful.

She should have known better to think about something she didn't really want to know about.

CONGRATULATIONS!

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!

*World Jumper*

Successfully made it to Gaia through the Time/Space portal!

The sudden appearance of more colourful words dancing in front of her face cause Rue to stumble again and though she didn't fall, had Tera not steadied her mistress it was likely she would have. Again she swallowed back the string of curses that wanted to pour from her mouth, she seriously doubted her present company would appreciate such language when they were already rather tense.

Yes, it seemed the closer they got to the meeting place the more wound up Sephiroth and Tseng seemed to get. Both men appeared to set up like coiled springs and ready to snap into action at a moments notice. It was even making Rue edgy, which in turn, was making Tera edgy and that was unlikely to be a good thing. The Coeurl kept growling at nothing and Tseng had to keep asking her to quiet her pet.

"Alright, we're here," upon hearing the Turk's words Rue looked up.

They were on the edges of what appeared to be an ancient stone Colosseum or something similar from the design. It was obviously Asian in design, so Rue figured it was likely an old Wutain site. There were a lot of people on the other side of the open area, she couldn't make them out in the twilight of sunset, but she figured the tall heavy set man in the front of the others was likely Godo Kisaragi. Leader of Wutai and father of her favourite Ninja Princess. This should be entertaining.

"Rue," Sephiroth didn't look at her as he spoke, his eyes trained on the small army before them. "Just stay behind us, don't speak and if things go badly find some cover," she noted his hand was gripping the hilt of Masamune tightly.

"Okay, I'll try to stay out of the way," Rue assured them quietly.

"You should probably keep Tera close, try not to let her wander off, it might upset them," Tseng added. He seemed a little wary of the Coeurl by Rue's side, though she didn't blame him. Tera hadn't exactly made a good first impression with the Turk. Nodding in agreement, Rue placed her hand on Tera's head gently as they began to walk towards the gathering on the other side.

Seeing the Wutian soldiers who were armed to the teeth shifting tensely upon seeing Sephiroth moving fluidly towards them, Rue found herself suddenly very aware of where she was. This was a war zone. A war zone in a fictional universe. She had died and been transfered here somehow. Sephiroth was eventually going to go nuts and try to kill everyone at some point in the future. Her cat had been turned into a monster. And oh god she was going to throw up. Breath. Stop thinking and breath.

Tera rubbed her head against Rue's side bringing her back out of the torrent of fear that had begun to overflow in her put of her stomach. Looking down she gave the Coeurl a grateful smile and rubbed the creatures ears in an effort to calm them both down. The familiar action worked up to a point, Rue was able to zone out a little as Sephiroth and Tseng began their talks with Godo and, she squinted, his guards. What were they called? Wu-something. Ah. The Wusheng. That's right. Good memory.

Looking around them, she had a feeling that these talks, whatever they were about, would not, in fact, end well. There were far to many soldiers here for this to be about peace. No. This was about something else. At least for Godo.

Tseng was doing most of the talking and it seemed Sephiroth was only there for intimidation purposes. She would have thought he was bored if not for the continued grip on his blade. Godo did not look happy, all his body language indicated not only was he not interested in what Tseng was telling him, but that he was becoming more agitated and aggressive. At least that's what it seemed like where Rue was standing, Tseng didn't look to bothered by Godo yelling in his face; but again, that was part of the man's job. Punch 'im Tseng! I would!

"I will not allow one of your damned Reactors on our Ancestral land!" Rue blinked as the agitated man roared at Tseng. To his credit the Turk didn't even appear to flinch in the slightest and Rue found a tad more respect for the man getting spat on as Godo was practically frothing at the mouth in his rage. Unfortunately his raised voice put Tera on edge and she growled softly in warning. Rue rubbed the Coeurl's ears again, in an attempt to stop Tera from pouncing on the man as he had with Tseng and to alleviate some of her returning stress. She hadn't missed the attention that had suddenly been placed on her because of her protective pet's growl, some of the soldiers and one of the Wusheng were eyeing her over. Assessing how much of a threat she was when this turned all the way south. Because they all knew it would. It's good you can read a room like this.

Sephiroth shifted slightly, bringing the attention back to himself with ease and Rue wondered briefly if he'd done it on purpose. She watched, almost fascinated, as he seemed to coil up even tighter while his grip on Masamune's hilt tightened. And then, everything happened at once.

She wasn't sure how it started, or what the catalyst really was, but suddenly everyone had their weapons out and Tseng had her by the wrist, tugging her down and away from Sephiroth. It was so loud. The bangs, she supposed distantly, were likely the Wutain soldiers shooting their guns at them. She could hear the ring of Masamune flying through the air, men shouting and a few roars of whatever monsters they'd loosed on the 'Demon of Wutai' if Rue remembered correctly. She could feel her probably uncomfortably tight grip on Tera's mane, keeping the Coeurl with her and out of the fray. Just breath.

Tseng pulled her behind what appeared to be a rock formation from the little Rue could see in the darkness early evening. He looked a little frazzled and led her to the back of the small indent in the rock.

"Stay here, stay down, it'll be over soon and we'll come get you and then we can all go home," he told her tensely. He was obviously trying to reassure her, it wasn't working all that well, but Rue gave him a small smile and a nod.

"Okay, I'll be fine, Tera's here if someone finds me and I can always beat someone over the heat with my bow if need be," she lightly punched the Turks arm in a light attempt to calm the man down. Was Tseng always this tense in the games? No. He was nowhere near as self assured he acted in the games. He looked a little younger too now she thought about it. "Stay safe, I don't want to have to use all my potions and MP patching you two up, you know," she grinned at him. Tseng stared at her a moment and then snorted at her words.

"Got it, I'll tell him you said that," with those somewhat amused words Tseng stood and headed back out to the battle. The moment he was gone Rue's smile faded, she was not liking this trip to Gaia at all so far. There was way too much danger and she'd only been there a few hours.

"What next?" the slightly exasperated words were almost like a challenge to the universe. Well, the universe didn't want to disappoint. You don't want to know.

!*~*~*BONUS SCENE*~*~*!

Sephiroth pulled back slightly when he saw Tseng run back out into the small battlefield, flicking enemies away with barely a twitch of Masamune. He gave the Turk a pointed look, or what he hoped was one, he hadn't quite got a hold of facial expressions yet. Genesis had been helping.

"She's fine," Tseng assured him. The dark haired man was calmer than he had been before he'd dragged Rue out of sight and Sephiroth felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease, but a discomfort in his stomach made him worry. He wasn't sure why either of these things occurred. He wasn't injured. Maybe he'd ask Genesis and Angeal about it later.

"She better be," was all he replied with. He heard a snort of laughter from the Turk and glanced back at him after dispatching yet another Wutain soldier that had practically thrown himself at Sephiroth. Cannon fodder, all of them.

"She said, and I quote, 'Stay safe, I don't want to have to use all my potions and MP patching you two up', if she can joke, she's fine," Sephiroth found his lips twitching at the thought of the clumsy teenage girl he'd stumbled upon by chance. She was a strange one, that was certain.

"I shall endeavour to comply with her request," he told the Turk before turning his attention back to the battle. He'd contend with Kisaragi's cannon fodder, and whatever else the man thought to throw at him as swiftly as possible. Maybe they'd even get lucky and he'd take the man himself out. Hm, unlikely. He decided, Kisaragi and the Wusheng had fallen back and were watching him annihilate their warriors. Nothing new there.

"Enough! Fall back! We will show the Demon of Wutai our true might!" he heard the Lord of Wutai call to his men. Sephiroth watched cautiously as the remaining Wutai soldiers quickly ran back to the edges of the ruin they'd been lured to. Perhaps their information about how organised Wutai was had been a little understated?

He was about to ask Tseng if he had any insight into what Kisaragi was talking about when he heard a high pitched shriek from behind him along with an earth shattering roar.

!*~*~*~*~*!

Rue had just settled herself down with Tera by her side when she noticed something sticking out of the rock near her. With a slight frown on her face Rue reached out and hesitantly grabbed the item. She thought it was a stick at first, but when she looked closer Rue realised it was an arrow. Rue softly hummed the Final Fantasy Seven victory theme as she wrenched the arrow out of the rock it was wedged in. She did wonder, vaguely, how an arrow got wedged in a rock in such an out of the way place. It was only when he rock started shaking and a growl behind Rue ruffled her hair, the smell making her want to gag, that the teenage girl realised that the rock she was hiding behind wasn't, exactly, a rock. Told you, you didn't want to know.

Turning around Rue found herself staring into a beady, but quite large, yellow eye. It was glaring at her. Another growl, more bad breath, thank god it wasn't a Malboro, and Rue found herself unable to hold in her scream as the huge monster rose up to tower over her. A roar that sent her tumbling to the ground, also had her skittering backwards as quickly as she could; it worried her it looked like one of those monsters Zack had fought, or would fight, at the Fort Tamblin mission. Weren't these things supposed to be anti-SOLDIER monster-weapon-things? What the hell is this soldier thing you keep bringing up?

Tera skidded into position in front of Rue, hissing and growling in warning, not that the monster before them paid the Coeurl any attention. It was far more interested in the teenage girl behind the hissing ball of fury.

"What are you doing! Get out of there!" the shout from Tseng brought Rue out of the panic induced mind-blank she'd been trapped in. Heart in her throat Rue scrambled to her feet, backing away from the towering creature while Tera followed still hissing away uselessly at the thing. Part of her wanted to use the arrow she'd pulled out of it, the other, far more rational part of Rue, knew she had never used a bow before and was unlikely to do any lasting damage if she even managed to hit the thing. No matter how large it was. What are you doing? Bend!

The monster took a step, shaking the earth beneath her feet, and raised its ridiculously large spike-covered club. Teal eyes grew large as Rue realised it was going to swing at her, the scream burst forth, unbidden like the last one, and she dove left. Tera followed and the two barely escape being turned into pancakes, the ground once again shook beneath Rue when the club hit the place she'd been standing only seconds before. Her arms hurt, so did her knees and she was breathing far too erratically. She had fallen badly, something about rolling, she thought. Yes. She should have rolled with the fall. Hm. She'd have to remember that. Next time.

"Move," she growled at her self. Again Rue scrambled up to her feet, she ran blindly as the lumbering beast behind her roared again and began following her. She could hear gun fire and somewhere in the back of her mind Rue found herself wondering what the hell the two idiots she'd come here with were doing and why the monster was even still alive. They had fucking Sephiroth for goddesses sake. "I'm going to murder them," Rue huffed as she slipped on the rock beneath her feet. Every step the damned thing took shook the ground making her already uncoordinated steps even worse. We really need to work on that. Keep moving. Don't stop moving. Breath.

She heard the sing of Masamune again, it was closer than it had been before, the creature behind her roared. It didn't go down though, it kept following her and it seemed closer than before. Don't look back, she told herself. If you look back you'll fall on your face. They always fall when they look back in the movies. Don't you dare look back.

Her feet slipped again, there was water on the rocks, she realised as the ground rose up to meet her. Rue attempted to roll into the fall, like she knew she should, but she didn't think she did it right. It hurt, her shoulder throbbed and she couldn't get her breathing under control. Turning around Rue found herself looking up at the towering monster before her, it's club raised, poised to crush her. Bend.

She couldn't move. Couldn't think. Bend.

There was nothing she could do. BEND.

AN: This chapter just poured out of me. I'm not sure how good it actually is in hindsight, but we're almost out of the 'Prologue' portion.
ACT ONE: LEVIATHAN will begin in a chapter or two. Expect Shenanigans. Lots of them.
For now, well, I think it's fairly obvious what's going to happen next chapter.

The Bonus Scene, well, it just came to me and I figured it would be a nice way to give insight into other characters besides Rue without constantly switching POV's and such all the time. So there will likely be more as we go along. I doubt it will be every chapter, but every once and a while one of these will pop up.

You have no idea how extensive my notes for this story are and are added to with every chapter so I can keep track of everything. Even what's in Rue's bag and what she has equipped. Achievements and Skill Trees. Stats. All of it. I'm such a geek and I love it. Ha!

Reviews are great, they make me smile and give me magical writing abilities. Till next time!

RLK