Final Fantasy VII: Black Gold

Aveline swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. She stared at the man across the room from her, hot, frustrating sadness rising in her chest like heartburn. “You don’t know me,†she snapped, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, grunting at the lance of agony that ran down her knee. The bandages on it were thick enough to double the joint’s size, and she found it hard to look at. She sat up carefully, keeping her torso as straight as possible. She made to stand, but Sephiroth put up a hand, catching her eye.

“Enough,†he began, his tone dangerous and low. Aveline halted her movement immediately, finding it hard to hold the eye contact. “Enough defiant stances and stupid shows of strength; they only hinder you further by the end of it.â€

“I don’t understand,†Aveline stammered, blinking away her tears. “You said you wouldn’t help me… that I was pathetic. Why save me?â€

“Your knee isn’t broken,†he replied dully, turning to look out the window behind the chair he sat in. “But it is fractured slightly on the outside. A silly injury from a careless mistake.â€

She hung her head, looking down at the bandages. He’s right, she thought miserably. Of course he is; he doesn’t need to know me to read me like a book. I’m a sloppy fighter with no real motivation or careful training. I want to be like him, but I can’t. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl, I don’t know. But I do know he’s the only one that can make me better, and I won’t take no for an answer.

“Just let me explain,†Aveline began, her voice much more steady now. “I hate everyone and everything; all I want to do is be stronger. After everything I’ve done, all I’ve been through, I know that strength is the key to success. And I can only achieve strength through proper training. I can’t be properly trained without defiance, conviction, motivation, and grit. I have all of those. All I lack is a proper teacher.â€

Lightning sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment; this kid was supposed to be trained by her? Someone that obviously didn't take his job seriously or care about respecting her at all? She did not want to believe it, but... an order was an order.

She folded her arms over her chest, swallowing several rude retorts that wouldn't solve anything. "What was your name, kid?" she grumbled, but half her attention was on Zack; she knew that whenever he got a phone call where he spoke very little it was important and meant business.

 

"The name's Lent Mitsuri. 15 years old. Second Class... Yadayadayada." He told her, as he picked up Zemetsuguri from the floor and slung it onto his back, removing the cloak he had on and revealing his SOLDIER uniform.
Great... she thinks I'm some good for nothing runt with no respect.
Well, can't say I blame her. Oh well.
He smirked, "As much as you won't believe me. It's a pleasure to meet you." he said, making a mock bow.
...Yeah, like that would help things.
Not. All it would serve to do is make him look more disrespectful. Lent really wasn't good at this kinda thing.

 

"Who me? Mission?"Cloud pointed to himself and looked down. He was still in uniform and even has his rifle with him. He looked up at Lightning, wondering if it was fine to leave her with the new guy. "What's the mission?" He asked as he stood up, picking up his rifle. He flashed a look towards his unsipped beer and than towards Lightning. "Must not be anything big if she isn't coming and I am."

Reno's teeth started to grind. In the Turks, he was probably...third when it came to battle prowess. Though he's never seen Tseng fight himself, he figured Tseng had some hidden capabilities. He wondered if he could take on Legas, who was once known as the Legendary Turk, the Death God of the Battlefield. The redheaded Turk watched as Legas leaned forward and fell...before landing on his feet in front of him. "Aren't you nimble, pretty boy?"

Legas smiled and turned to face Reno. "'Tis why the women love me."

"Get to the point. What's your gameplan with AVALANCHe?"

Legas shrugged and scowled. "This whole fighting thing? I be lyin' if I said I didn't enjoy it. But the Turks, I could live without. So here's what I'm offerin'. I become a mole. I join AVALANCHE. I get to feed Shinra info and we get to stop the terrorists. But when it comes to...altercations with Shinra, I get to fight to...keep my cover, of course." He smiled. Truth was, if he stayed with the Turks, he'd do more espionage than fighting. This way, he could do more of his beloved battlng.

 

“Wrong,†Sephiroth countered calmly. “You do not have conviction, motivation, or grit; you are annoying and stubborn and naïve. You may have hatred, but that is not strength, and you will not attain it with just that emotion, either.†Aveline angrily opened her mouth to counter, but Sephiroth continued swiftly, “For instance, it took you much longer than necessary to observe and analyze your surroundings when you woke; a real SOLDIER member would have known within five seconds what the parameters of the room were, available exits, the time of day, weapons within reach or close by, and the physical condition of their own body. You…†He paused and sighed, glancing over at Aveline. His expression did not change at all when he observed her face was now covered in tears. “You,†he continued, “failed miserably at all those fundamental tasks that should have been second-nature to any proper fighter… in fact, you still haven’t achieved those basic, yet vital bits of information that are key to your survival.â€

Aveline sniffed, rubbing her bandaged hand over her cheeks, soaking up her tears. She was silent for a moment, eyes now on the floor, before she began, uncertain: “I… I was never taught any of those things. A capable fighting stance good for all situations is-â€

“There is no one stance fit for all,†he cut in smoothly. His tone was still calm, eloquent, and polite enough, but Aveline felt as though he was shouting in her face, just like her brothers. “You know so little, child.â€

Aveline ground her teeth. “That’s why I went searching for you. It’s not my fault; I only know what they taught me.â€

Lightning scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You're kidding me," she muttered under her breath, and then shook her head. She looked over toward the door where Zack and Cloud were.

"Looks like you boys are going to be busy for the rest of the night," she said loud enough for them to hear. "I'm guessing I'll see you later, then."

She turned again to look at Lent, scowling. "You," she started, grabbing the boy's shoulder and steering him toward the door. "Let's go... now."

Lightning pushed her way past Zack and Cloud, half-shoving Lent in front of her. She walked a few steps away from the bar and then stopped, pushing the boy away from her roughly. "This isn't a joke, right?" she snapped, trying hard to keep her voice low and calm. "You better not be messing with me, kid."

 

"Sheesh... Oh ye' of little faith." Lent muttered as he got shoved out the bar and she questioned him.
"Why would I lie about this eh?" he asked, "If you don't believe me, you can always ring up the big boss yourself or the Director.
I mean, he said I was the one meant to inform you, so if you call up you'll get us both in the shit but what do I care?" he said as he jammed his little finger in his ear and scratched an itch completely nonchalantly as he said this.

 

Lightning crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine," she sighed. "I get it. Just know this from the start," she added, her tone immediately getting more vicious, "I'm not a teacher; I'm a fighter, first class SOLDIER. If you have a question, ask; if not, just watch and shut up, understand?" She sighed, looking up and blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. This is ridiculous, she thought angrily. What am I supposed to do with him now that I'm stuck with him?

 

"Sure thing." Lent responded lazily.
He stretched and looked at his knew instructor. "So... I got a question; ...what now then?" he asked obviously.
It wasn't like they would just stand here.
He could tell Lightning was pissed off by the news she had just received. Well, can't say I blame her. But sheesh, she knows next to nothing about me. I guess I'll just have to show her what I got when I get the chance. he sighed and bought a hand to his face so it almost looked like her was face palming.

 

Lightning looked around; the streets were practically empty and dark enough that it was getting hard to see; the cobblestone roads were wide and clear enough, and tall street lamps made certain that things were well-lit in certain areas, but this street wasn't that bright at the moment.

"I don't care what you do," she said, not looking at Lent. "I've got nothing for you to do right now, considering it's almost one in the morning. But you don't look like you're tired at all."

 

"Not really." Lent shrugged. "I'm pretty tireless." he stated simply.
"Well, I guess with the time and the fact you've got nothing to do for me, you're telling me to get lost?" he asked as he looked down the road in the opposite direction to where Lightning was looking.

 

"I..." Lightning began, and then stopped, thinking: If I'm supposed to make this kid better, I should learn more about him; it doesn't make any sense to claim to be better than him if I'm missing vital information. There's a reason he's been assigned to me like this, whether I like it or not... he's gotta be good.

"It's Lent, right?" she started again, turning to look at the boy. "What's your weapon?"

 

Lent sighed, missing the point of her question. I knew she'd question me about this...
He pulled the big blade off of his back, turned it around so the hilt was to her and held it out for her to take.
"Right, I know only first classes are allowed Custom Equipment and that I'm only a Second Class." he sighed. "It's a new type of Weapon I've come up with." he told her as he let her take it. But he didn't think he should say anything else unless she asked.
...Was she going to confiscate it and make him use one of those shit SOLDIER swords?

 

Lightning took the sword carefully, weighing it in her hand. She looked it up and down for a moment, from the end of the hilt to the tip of the blade... and sighed. This is different, she thought.

Lightning handed the weapon back to the boy, the sword feeling too odd in her hands for her taste. She moved her hand behind her back, closing her fingers around the hilt of her weapon in its sheath. A moment later Lightning had her gun-sword in her hand, and, flicking her wrist easily, extended the blade out to its full length.

"You think you're good enough to have a custom weapon like that already, huh?" she said sharply.

 

"Heh, well, it's the first of it's kind and I made it myself." he smirked. "Not being funny, but I think I of all people would know how to handle it." he had to wonder why she was drawing her own weapon.
Was she testing him? or going to test him?
He just kept his eyes on her blade, a small quiver of a smile on his face.

 

Lightning ground her teeth, still frustrated by his attitude. "You stupid kid," she snapped, tightening her grip on her sword's hilt. "That's not the point; you're not allowed to have the damn thing." She paused; she didn't care about his background, his life, his family, or anything like that; if she had to teach him all she needed to know was his battle skills and his common sense level... and there was no reason in wasting time, either.

"Here's the deal," she continued, widening her stance and bending her knees slightly. "Show me you know how to use the weapon well enough... and I'll let you keep it."

 

"Heh, you got a deal." He told her as he took his own stance.
He looked at her and observed... she really didn't give a damn about him... which also meant she wouldn't be afraid to hurt him.
This would be interesting.
Regardless, he much preferred things this way. At last, a chance to cut loose and fight.
"Ladies first." he told her, and then he realised. shit I hope she doesn't think I'm being sexist.
He just genuinely wanted her to make the first move.
He was also aware that in battle, doing this could prove fatal and she would probably make him aware of that. But... this was just his style.

 

Lightning exhaled slowly, clearing her mind in half a second: a target, a goal to reach; that's all that matters. She took three easy, fluid steps forward, her smaller blade catching Lent's bigger one, but Lightning didn't put all her strength in her arms; one quick sweep of her right foot and she'd knocked Lent's left leg out from under him. She grabbed a handful of his hair on the side of his head while he was off-balance, pulling him down swiftly to the dirty pavement. Once his back hit the ground, her boot was on top of his swordarm's wrist, pinning it down.

"You're slow," she hissed, her fingers starting to sweat; she wouldn't be able to hold him down by his hair and wrist for long. "Slow and cocky, kid."

 

"I prefer to think of it as waiting for the... opportune moment." Lent told her as he smirked.
He had been hoping for something like this. She was close now. It would be difficult for her to dodge, and heck, she was First Class. She could handle this.
Suddenly his free hand caught fire.
...Black fire. "Look. No Materia." he told her as he thrust his hand towards her mid section.
She had only one option, she could dodge, or take the hit. But this would show her for sure he was more than originally meets the eye.
He'd never heard of anyone else other than fiends and monsters using magic and such without Materia. This! Was one of the reasons he was regarded so highly. Of course, she hadn't seen his skill yet. This was only the beginning.

 

Lightning gasped, thinking quickly; she pushed back on the ball of her right foot, sending herself flying backward and out of the line of fire. She landed a few yards away, the tip of her gun-sword scraping loudly on the pavement through the action. Breathing heavily from the shock, she tried to calm herself, eyes narrowed, weapon still ready.

"What the hell are you?" she growled, eyes narrowed. "Explain... yourself... now."

 

Lent flipped up onto his feet and extinguished the black flames dancing in his hand. "I told ya, I'm SOLDIER; Second Class. Lent Mitsuri!" This time he jumped after her, swinging his large sword into hers, clashing with hers a few times and then locking himself in place with her and engaging her in a sword lock.