Final Fantasy VII: Black Gold

Lightning caught each strike easily, countering at first with just one hand on her weapon. She held her ground when he locked his blade against hers, and she placed her left hand over her right for more support. I don't get it, she thought, digging the heels of her boots into the ground to keep her balance. Magic with no Materia... someone would have told me about this before assigning him to me. It doesn't make sense.

Lightning, for one of the first times ever, found herself questioning the order she was given, and it made her stance falter; her arms began to shake and her sweaty palms were slipping on her sword hilt. She let out a cry of frustration and spun her blade away from Lent's, taking a step back.

"I said explain," she gasped, flicking her wrist to fold up her gun-blade now. "Not reiterate. How can you do that... with your hands?"

 

"Well, I don't know. It's like asking how some Chocobo can fly and some can't.
I just do it..." he shrugged as he clicked his fingers and a small black flame appeared there like what you would see from a lighter. He clicked his fingers again and it disappeared.
"Before you ask me why I can. I've got no idea on that either." he shrugged again, showing that he didn't really care about it.
He flipped his sword over and slammed it into the ground and leaned against it.
"So... We gonna continue or what?" he asked casually, not seeing the big deal behind the weight of his words on his mysterious ability.

 

"No," Lightning sighed, as if the answer were obvious. "I don't fight an opponent I don't know everything about. That much should be obvious." She put her weapon back in its sheath, flexing her hands slowly. "Keep your damn sword; I don't care if it's against the rules."

She turned around, placing her hands on her hips, still catching her breath. Lightning looked up at the night sky, completely black and void of stars; she knew that there were plenty up there, shining down on them, but with all the city lights and constant glow of Mako from the reactors, there was no chance of being able to see anything but black nothingness.

 

"But isn't that the point of battles? You fight opponents you know nothing about? I mean, I know nothing about how you fight. So that should be pretty fair." he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, sheesh, SOLDIER should be prepared to face the unexpected right?"
Then he sighed. "Wish I never showed you my flames now, it cut the battle way too short. Talk about lame.
I could have probably won without them anyway." he muttered, pulling his sword out of the ground and slinging it on his back before turning around. He took a few steps forward and then stopped to look skyward at the stars as well.
...All of the lights in the sky are stars...

 

“What your brother and father taught you.” Again, Sephiroth phrased it as a fact with something more behind it, not a question. Aveline nodded. He put his elbow on the arm of his chair, his gloved hand tilted up to rest his cheek on. He stared at her evenly, as if she were supposed to speak next, but Aveline had no idea what to say. He sighed again, and Aveline could tell now that he was getting exasperated with her. “Are your brother and father certified, trained SOLDIER instructors at Shinra?” he asked, staring hard at her now. Aveline shook her head slowly. “Do you know all the details about how one even achieves higher classes?”

“No,” Aveline said aloud, biting her bottom lip.

“It’s Mako, child. The only ‘training’ you received was from your family… that doesn’t want you… that is disappointed in you.” He stopped here, and Aveline finally understood. She didn’t want to, and it hurt more badly than any hit or defeat she’d taken from Drey and her father in combat.

“It’s a joke,” she began softly, looking down at the floor, the tears in her eyes furious ones now. “The strings they pulled to get me into Shinra at all… the bullshit training they gave me… I was never meant to be SOLDIER, or to aspire any higher than I’ve already gotten.”

-----------------------

Lightning tensed at the boy's last statement, fresh anger rising in her chest. Who the hell does he think he is?! she screamed in her head, her nails digging into the sides of her skirt, her back straightening with the new tension in her muscles.

I'm first class, damn it; Zack and I worked so hard to get here and this kid comes in and thinks he can beat me after knowing me for an hour? I should beat him down now, take that stupid sword from him... put him in his place right from the start. But she knew she shouldn't; causing even more of a raucous in the Midgar streets at this hour would bring complaints, and Zack would never forgive her if she shamed SOLDIER in any way tonight.

"Lent," she started suddenly, turning swiftly on the spot. "Meet me in the SOLDIER training rooms at 9 a.m. You can bring your sword, but you won't be using it. Understand?"

 

"Yeah, sure thing." He said raising an arm of fare well in a lazy manner. "I won't use my flames either then. I hate the darn things anyway." he added as he started to walk away without looking back.
He didn't mean to piss her off so much, but it was too late now.



OOC: He then went and found Zack and Machina, and proceeded to shove his sword where the sun doesn't shine, and put the two on a spit roast where he slowly cooked them over intense hot black flames.

 

Caleigh left Rae to go sit on the couch in the front room. She was a little hungry, having only drank at the Green Dragon, but she didn't fix herself anything. Instead, she got out each knife that was hidden in her outfit, laid them out on the small table in front of the couch, and drew a cloth from a pocket inside her jacket. She hadn't used them today, but cleaning her knives was something she enjoyed doing. Each blade was different and had a story behind it, but Caleigh tried not to think about that as she picked up the shortest one and ran it along the cloth in her hand.
Tomorrow, I'll take the kid for a walk. Hell, if I have to I'll carry her on my back. Someone around here has to recognize those bright blue eyes of hers. She paused in her thoughts, placing the shortest knife down and picking up the next. Those eyes... They're so much like the eyes of SOLDIER. What if she's...?

 

Leonhardt sat upon one of the stools of a resident bar within Sector 6, the drink was pretty much horrible but he couldn't expect the Slums to have the best drinks in the town, especially in the Slums, he just decided to come here by his own choice, Wall Market was as busy as always until he rubbed his hair messily, if his family could see him now working with the terrorist group AVALANCHE that hated Shinra's ideals, including building those Mako Reactors to drain the Planet of it's lifesource.

"What a eye-opener huh, but everyone else just lives their lives out as normal here." He thought solemnly, his dream of being a SOLIDER was pretty much denied by the fact there was no demand for new employees or recruits but with all honesty, Leonhardt at least wanted the chance to meet a First Class. "Low chances of that happening, guess I just have to take things as they come." Leo thought and pushed away the empty glass he had in front of him, not many people questioned his intentions or his sword that remained sheathed on his hip.

 

A shadow interrupted the pool of moon light on the floor by Caleigh. She didn't move to see who was standing outside the window -- the shadow of a rifle told her not to. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that they were SOLDIER. Her hold the knife she was cleaning tightened when she heard a male voice confirm her fear. She wasn't concerned about herself; it was Rae that her thoughts were on. Now that she was starting to piece together exactly who Rae was, she wanted to help the girl even more. There were still pieces missing in the girl's story. Barret wouldn't let her hear the end of it if some stupid SOLDIER got the best of her.
They can't get to her. They can do their worst to me, but they won't touch Rae.
Caleigh stood from the couch, knife still in hand and crept to the shadows of the room. She'd wait for them to come to her -- surprise was on her side.

 

Sephiroth gave her a small nod, as if patting a child on the head after it solved a simple math problem; in short the praise was not worthy of the deed.

Aveline didn’t know what to say; she’d thought that this was the truth, had even come close to admitting it or confronting her father with it, but she never had the guts. Hearing this man say it to her so easily, and admitting it aloud to herself was more than she could take. Tears kept falling down her cheeks, burning her bruised, scraped skin. I was given what I am not by my skill, but to keep me quiet and happy: let the useless girl of the family have third class and keep her there with no assignments, no hope of moving forward, for the rest of her life.

“I’m going to say this,†Aveline began, her eyes still on the floor, her vision nothing but white and grey blurry circles. “And I don’t know if it makes a difference, but here goes… I’ve got what it takes; I can be as strong as every other first class SOLDIER because I want to be; you can train me day and night, have them inject me with whatever they want, beat me and torture me till I’m perfect, I don’t care. That’s what I want to be, more than anything, and… I’m happy to die doing it. It’s my father and Drey that are at fault for all this, for treating me like nothing but trash my entire life; I’ve had enough. I want to see the looks on their faces when I’m strong enough to kill them both.â€

Sephiroth held her gaze as she spoke, listening intently; the girl seemed sincere enough, and he did believe her, but… the more he looked at her, he found himself getting an old feeling in his head, like a migraine that was coming on, but not quite in full effect. A memory, he thought suddenly, though his face held the same expressionless look. It was something he rarely ever felt, and… this time… it was a dull picture in his mind that flashed on and off, flickering in different shades of red and grey and sickly green… A lab, dully lit with test tubes and cords everywhere… and… a girl? He looked away from Aveline, down at the floor, closing his eyes, trying to focus on collecting the memory more clearly. A young girl, with white-blonde hair and pale skin, crying, screaming… she looks familiar… did I know her? “Know…†Yes. He frowned at the next image he remembered: She died in this lab… wherever it was, whenever it was. Did I care? Do I care? I don’t know. He opened his eyes and looked up… and made the connection: Aveline looks like her; that girl... who was she? Where was she? He didn’t know, but, if it was part of a key to his past, he was going to find out.

 

Cloud said nothing but raised his rifle to his eyelevel and pointed it at the door. Beneath his helmet, his face was obstructed almost completely, but he could see perfectly. He didn't think he would see any action, especially from AVALANCHE, today

"Yeah. He's a mole, he says. Should we trust him?" Reno spoke into the phone as he ran across a rooftop. "I don't like this, Tseng, none of it. It's all too...convenient." His eyes darted across his surroundings, but he couldn't find Legas anymore. "Fine," he said, finally giving up as he stopped. "He lives up to his name anyway," the redheaded Turk said as he looked around.


Legas ran through the alleys, smiling. It all went according to his unfinished plan. AVALANCHE trusted him and let him join his ranks. The Turks now knew so he didn't have to worry about having his cover blown by some form of 'misinformation' since he told Caleigh a slightly untrue story. He quickly turned a corner. He was free from Shinra, in a sense, but was now able to fight. The Legendary Turk was ba-"Uh oh," he quickly turned his corner back and slammed his back against the wall. He had just reached the address Caleigh gave him...and SOLDIER was there. "Not good, I say," he whispered as he peeked around the corner.

 

Cloud quickly moved forward, standing slightly behind Zack, but his rifle was side-by-side with Zack. His eyes darted around, looking for a target. "Now what?"



"And here I thought this was gonna be my day after all," Legas muttered as he quickly moved towards the other side of the building as the SOLDIERs approached him. He had to knock them out...and he had to do it quietly. Wait a darn second...I'm wearin' Turk clothes! He stopped running and turned around, seeing the SOLDIERs. "You the ones sent to get AVALANCHE?" He asked, showing no faltering and hoping his bluff would work. In fact, he had no idea if that was right, but it couldn't have been a coincidence that they were storming the same building he now knew AVALANCHE was hiding in. "I'm the Turk backup. What's the plan?" He was glad it was the third class SOLDIERs he was talking to. He couldn't take out a SOLDIER First Class himself...quietly.

 

Caleigh waited, her breathing silent and muscles ready to move. How many could she take out before she could call for backup? Would she even have a chance to call anyone? There was only one light on her home -- Rae was trying to sleep. The SOLDIER were coming in now, closer to the hidden AVALANCHE operative. A 3rd class SOLDIER made the unknowing mistake of getting to close to her. This kind of thing wasn't Caleigh's forte; she was a recruiter and an information-gatherer not a fighter, but she could defend herself well enough. Before the 3rd class SOLDIER could make a move to fight back, Caleigh had his arm twisted behind his back and her knife in his rib-cage. She kicked him away and, just as she was turning around, received a blunt set of knuckles to the right side of her jaw.
"Damn," Caleigh snarled, rubbing the sure-to-swell injury. She looked to the offender and saw it was another 3rd class. Flipping her knife to a reverse hold, she smirked at the SOLDIER, making a point of meeting each of their eyes. "Looks like we're doing this the hard way, boys."

 

“You realize I didn’t just learn everything,†he began quietly. “There’s more to it than that. One thing is certain, though; you will never make the same mistakes you did tonight again. Do you understand?â€

Aveline’s heart skipped a beat, and she cocked her head to the side, as if she didn’t understand what he’d just said. “You…†she began slowly, “you’re going to help me, then? I know SOLDIER members are assigned Mentors, but I’m not asking for official tr-â€

“Your weapons are a problem,†Sephiroth cut in, reaching inside his coat to pull out several potion bottles. He threw them casually at Aveline, who caught them clumsily with her bandaged hand. “You have too many blades, all over the place and in different sizes; it’s sloppy, immature, like you can’t make up your mind what you want. I can understand you being an exception to the rule of having a customized weapon before reaching first clas, but all your daggers are ridiculous.â€

 

OOC: Hi everyone! I'm Tana and I'm so excited to start this RP! :D

Vance took a long drag on his joint, finishing it off. He stood up and moved deeper into the cave that was now his home, the soft, green glow of the Mako pool at the back seeming to emanate even brighter. He passed out a moment later, his body exhausted from the drugs he’d just put in it for the last few hours. But sleep never sat well with Vance since arriving here on this island; he woke from a nightmare about his dead child, and, while he wiped the sweat from his brow he noticed the Mako glowing brighter than ever, nearly blinding him. He slowly walked over to the source and found an unmistakable formation of Materia in the middle. He sighed, his head spinning, higher than an airship; Vance had no reason, no drive to even try and bother with the pool of Mako or the Materia.

How long have I been on this stupid island now? he thought to himself. A year, I think? And still no sign of anyone, no reason to try and change the world. It’s all Shinra’s fault; I was First Class SOLDIER… but it’s just a title they give you to make you feel like you’re going somewhere and making the world a better place. What a bunch of bullshit. It’s the damn nightmares; I gotta smoke to keep them away, but it rarely ever works.

Vance rolled his neck from side to side, stretching the stiff muscles there. “It’s always the same,†he said aloud, his voice echoing around the dull, damp cave. He and his child would be playing outside in the yard of their home in Midgar, and his ex would come and call them inside for dinner.

“She comes down the stairs,†he continued to himself. “The most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She tells me to go get the kid, but…†When Vance goes outside into the yard again, the once-green and beautiful scenery is now dead and desolate. He looks for his child but can never find what he seeks, and, running back into the house in a panic, he finds it is also destroyed and empty. Just like my heart, he thought depressingly.

“That’s when I always wake up,†he whispered. After the loss of the kid I let the most beautiful girl I’d ever known drift away. She left me, and, by the time I went after her, it was too late. “She was killed in an accident at a Mako reactor. That’s when I stole this stupid raft of a boat and ended up on this island… talking to my damn self.â€

And that vocalization of how long he’d been here, by himself, smoking is life away, was enough: Vance put out his joint, and stumbled to the very back of the cave to the gentle green glow of his salvation. As he stood of the edge of the pool he thought one last time about his lost family and closed his eyes, letting himself fall in.

At once he felt as if his mind was being pulled apart as the knowledge of the Lifestream invaded his head. He felt his very sanity being yanked away from him and his lungs burned as he used up the last breath of air he took before taking the plunge. Just as he was about to slip into nothingness, two voices rang out inside his head:

“Vance!â€

“Daddy!â€

He knew one of the voices as his lost love, but the other was nothing he knew.

“You must move on and change the world,†his ex continued. “You have the power to help, so do something. Don’t join us just yet; you must carry on.â€

“What do you mean ‘us’?†Vance tried to shout with no success.

“We will be waiting for you,†the second voice spoke. “I know you don’t know me, but I am your child.â€

Even in the Lifestream his tears began to slow as the child spoke to him for the first time.

“You are a knight of justice and your heart is true,†his love spoke to him. “You are a knight for those that don’t have to power to protect themselves… a knight of the world.â€

The words struck Vance’s heart like a blacksmith striking hot iron, forging his mettle stronger with each word.

“We are with you; we are your Knights of the Round. In time we will help you change this world so that everyone can be truly happy.†And with those last words, Vance knew it was now or never; with his remaining strength he kicked and pulled his way to the surface. Breaking the surface and taking a deep, life-saving breath, Vance climbed out of the Lifestream. He turned his eyes to the Materia forming at the center and he swore, for a moment, he saw it sparkle and heard his ex’s voice saying “I love you.â€

That’s it, he thought determinedly, trying to get his breathing back to normal. I’m fixing up my boat to get the hell out of here and setting sail in any direction. I don’t know what I’m going to do or where to even start, but, if I keep my eyes open, I’ll find what I need to change the world.

 

Words weren’t needed anymore; and with a sore jaw, Caleigh didn’t want to use them. Didn’t actions speak louder than words anyway? If she even tried to figure out why SOLDIER were in her home and throwing punches at her, it would only distract her from protecting herself and Rae. The 3rd Class SOLIDER who’d sucker punched her came at her again. She caught his fist this time and forced it upwards, swinging her knife to deflect the gun he was about to fire at her. The SOLDIER freed his wrist from Caleigh’s grasp and knocked her knife away. She could try to recover it and risk being shot at or she could disarm the SOLDIER and use his weapon against him. Black eyes glinted under bangs in the dark as Caleigh grabbed the barrel of the gun the SOLDIER was holding and twisted it so that he had to release his grip. But before she could even adjust her hold on the gun to fire it, she was stopped by a burning sensation and something warm dripping down her right arm. She didn’t look; she knew what had happened.
Another 3rd Class SOLDIER couldn’t wait his turn and now his bullet was in Caleigh’s arm. She grit her teeth. She’d never been shot at before in life, much less actually had been shot. And it hurt like a bitch. Tears of anger and pain threatened to spill from her dark eyes but she wouldn’t give them the chance. She let out a vicious yell as her left hand pulled the trigger and shot down the SOLDIER who’d punched her, right arm hanging by her side.
The sound of a gun firing jarred Rae to open her eyes. She heard Caleigh yell before more shots were fired. Shining blue eyes wide, Rae struggled to find the energy to get the blankets off her and get out of the bed. She rolled off the bed, onto the floor, and stayed there on her side, half curled in a ball. Heart racing, she could only wonder what was going on, and if Caleigh was okay as even more guns shots sounded.
“Damn, Shinra scum!” Caleigh coughed out blood. She collapsed to her knees, her eyes going to the two bullet holes in her chest and abdomen. S-shit… This can’t be happening. I’ve got to keep Rae safe; she can’t defend herself against these bastards. She raised the gun with a shaking hand and held down the trigger. The SOLDIER that had shot her twice fell to the floor dead. Caleigh coughed again, further staining her black outfit with dark red blood. She glared at Zack, Cloud, and the remaining two 3rd Class SOLDIER, every ounce of her hatred for the Shinra Electric Company reflected in her eyes. Zack stood out as the obvious 1st Class among them, drawing Caleigh’s attention like a magnet. She pointed the gun at him but no bullets flew when she pulled the trigger. But she refused to surrender and just lie down and die. Getting to her feet, she tossed the emptied gun aside. “Why?! Why are you here?”