Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy Seven: Shadows of the Light ❯ Arc One: Rebirth of ShinRa ( Chapter 11 )

Arc I: Rebirth of ShinRa

Part XI:

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*Outside of Midgar-3 years ago*

Raven paced back and forth on the beach near Midgar. She silently tapped the flat of one of the daggers, her brother had given her several years ago, against the palm of her hand. She smiled to herself at the memory of her brother who had first helped her to train with them. Then her smiled faded when she thought of what she had learned of her brother who had been a first class SOLDIER. He was listed as missing in battle.

' No Raven, don't think of sad thoughts. Think of Rufus who is coming tonight,' she stopped pacing to look out at the blue waves that gently kissed the white sand. 'I'm going to tell him. I've decided, I'll tell him tonight how I feel.' Raven sat down on a rock where she propped her elbows on her knees and her jaw in her hands.

'Where was he? He was late!' She sat there until the sun set behind the waves. She felt like

crying but she bit her lip to control her emotions. 'There had to be a good reason for not showing up. What if he was hurt?!' Her green eyes widened as she hurried off the beach back to Midgar.

Raven arrived on top of the plate several hours later. She paid no attention to the guards as she ran into ShinRa Headquarters to search for Rufus. "Hey stop! You're not allowed in here!" a SOLDIER yelled. Strong arms circled her waist and lifted her off her feet, to carry her back outside.

"No! Put me down!" Raven screamed at him, twisting in his grasp. "I have to see Rufus! Let me go you fool!"

"Mr. ShinRa isn't here and even if he was I doubt he would have anything to do with a little street rat like you!"

"You lie! He's here!" she hissed as she finally wiggled out of his vice-like grip. Raven raced for the elevators and smiled because she knew she was much faster than the SOLDIER pursuing her. Her gladness was short lived as she lost her footing on the steps and landed hard on her left knee.

She recovered quickly but she lost the time she needed to make it to the elevators. She turned around, drawing her left dagger to stick in his ribs and cried out as the SOLDIER's sword swiped across her upper arm forcing her to drop the weapon.

"Freeze." Raven looked up at the dark haired Turk, from where she had fallen, and sighed with relief.

"Tseng...." the guard began.

" Leave her alone unless you wish to know how far it really is between the plate and the ground below." Tseng hissed softly.

"Yes sir." the SOLDIER sputtered before hurrying away. Tseng pulled Raven to her feet and picked up her dagger.

"Tseng is it true?" she asked sadly. "Is Rufus really gone?"

"Yes," Tseng sighed. "His father sent him away, without saying where, to complete his training to be the Vice President of ShinRa Inc. He told me to give this to you with a message not to forget him." He dropped a silver ring in her hand.

Raven recognized it as the silver band Rufus wore on his pinky. His initials were carved on the top in very intricate detail. A tear slipped down her cheek as she slipped it onto her finger and turned to walk out of the building.

"It just wasn't meant to be." she told herself as she struggled not to cry. "We come from different lives. He deserves so much more than a poor girl from Gongaga. Someone who is his equal." She turned around to look at the leader of the Turks. "Tseng tell Rufus that I have disappeared. Tell him I am dead. Please, tell him anything you want. Rufus doesn't need me, I won't hold him back." With that she turned and raced out the front door to start her new life as a hired mercenary.

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Siiro scowled up at the mansion then glanced over at his brother's sleeping form. Yes he knew that Raven was in there because the mansion belonged to Rufus ShinRa. He recalled the last time that he had seen Rufus face to face. A light growl escaped him as he remembered looking straight into the double barrels of Rufus's shotgun. He would have been a goner if it weren't for Raven's forgiving nature. She had calmed Rufus enough to spare Siiro's life. The words that Rufus had said to him were still fresh in his mind even after all of these years.

*"If I catch you near Raven again, I'll blow your head off." *

Siiro had told no one of that humiliation, not even his own brother. Siiro glanced up at the window that was still lit up and smiled to himself. What a delight it had been to learn his newest mission would enable him to follow Raven. Once she had joined the mercenaries it was child's work to keep track of her. He had been so angry to see her wrapped in Rufus's arms as he ran with her from the docks. He had thought that the last of the ShinRa was dead, killed by the Diamond blast.

After awhile he decided that he was glad that Rufus had survived. Now he had the chance to repay him for his little embarrassment -- and for the trouble one of his Turks caused him. Once Rufus left Midgar, Siiro had thought that gave him the opening, he was searching for, to take Raven out from under him.

Unbeknownst to him and even to Raven, Tseng always seemed to know where she was. He had kept track of her for almost three years until his near death in the Temple of the Ancients. His illness had caused him to lose her. But Siiro hadn't. He managed to keep track until meteor appeared and Rufus was thought to be dead.

"Damn you ShinRa," Siiro growled. "I'll make you suffer, then I'll kill you slowly. I'll have my revenge..."

***

Raven jolted up in her sleep when Luca jumped on her head. She glared at the little moomba and tried not to laugh as she scolded him. It took a few minutes for her to realize that she was alone in the room. "Rufus?" she felt her heart do a flip when there was no answer. He was nowhere to be found. "Damn it Rufus you left without me!" she leaped to her feet, ignoring the dizziness that she felt until it vanished. She ran into Rufus's bedroom where she had left her crossbow and scooped it up to throw over her shoulder. "You aren't leaving me behind Rufus ShinRa." She pouted then her look became determined. "I guess that I'll have to follow you after all."

*

Riya scrambled to her feet, sheathing her dagger, as the dark form of a man approached. For a moment, she thought it was Ferris and couldn't quell the brief disappointment as she realized it was one of the Turks. 'At least he'll be able to tell me what's going on.' She smiled reassuringly at Anaimone before stepping towards him. "Reno."

Reno stood beside Riya while Rufus was speaking with Silvara. "Would you come inside with me for a minute?" he asked her with a wave of his hand toward the door. "There's something I like to show you."

Anaimone looked at Reno suspiciously, and then clapped her hand against her hip to grasp his and Riya's attention. "Secrets? No like." She frowned and shook her head sadly. "Maybe I go too.... Learn of trust." Looking at Riya with questioning eyes, Anaimone pushed herself off the ground in a skillful manner, and waved towards Kuku to stay put.

Riya flashed Anaimone a grateful smile as she nodded. Quite frankly, something in Reno's intense gaze was setting her on edge. Her gaze shot past him to where Rufus, Silvara and Ferris were standing before she answered him. She slowly turned her eyes back to him, keeping her face an expressionless mask. "All right, Reno, but lets make this quick." She turned to enter the mansion.

Anaimone slid the wooden spear into a leather strap on her pack to lower her chances of attracting unwanted attention from these strangers around her and motioned for the tired Ku to follow her and Riya into the mansion. As much as she disliked enclosed shelters to the spacey fields of the grasslands, she owed Riya as much as to stay by her side in return for helping her out in the jail.

Her mouth twisted slightly as she thought of the hunters who attacked the baby Ku a while back and remembered the joy in their eyes, and their pleasant hooting as they began to slaughter them. 'Bad men... They deserve to be locked up in their jail.' Anaimone heightened her senses while nearing the amazing structure and tried to focus on the sounds about her, rather than the haunting memories of her arrest. She wouldn't have attacked the uncivilized men if they left the Ku alone anyways...

Raven was seething inside at what Rufus had done. 'Hadn't he said that he would take me with him?' She stifled the urge to scream by slamming her fist against the wall. "Still as protective as ever." she sighed, biting her lip. She adjusted the crossbow to fit better over her shoulder and slipped down the stairs towards the back door. The first person that she saw was Reno. He was getting ready to come into the house.

" Damn it he'll stop me," she muttered. "I don't have any time to argue with Reno."

Raven looked around her and finally spotted an open window to her left, facing the beach. She grinned and slipped through it just as Reno was opening the door. 'Ha! Made it!' Her happiness was short lived when she bumped into something solid. She looked up at the familiar face. " Tseng! Oh no, you're not gonna stop me," she grumbled walking past him. "I don't care if he told you to tie me up to keep me here, it's not gonna work!"

Tseng looked down at Raven calmly. "Tie you up? I believe that would defeat the purpose of bringing you with us wouldn't it? Rufus is still here, he's at the front porch. If you'll follow me I take there." He turned to walk toward the porch where Rufus had a printout of the blueprints of the ShinRa Building and was speaking with Silvara.

*

Siiro couldn't believe his luck as he peered at the side of the mansion from his place in the shadows. Rufus was there, standing outside with three other people, a girl and a guy and he could also see Tseng standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Something caught his eye and he nearly erupted in laughter.

Raven leaped out of the large window that was set fairly high off the ground. Siiro didn't think he had ever seen her so angry. 'Its time to make my move,' he thought to himself happily. 'It won't take long to put her to sleep and spirit her away before anyone can know any different.' Siiro was about to leap after her when he seen Tseng's glance turn toward the cautious girl. Siiro cursed when Tseng moved towards her and Raven ran right into him, almost knocking herself down. She looked up at him, fire dancing in her eyes and was saying something to him heatedly. Siiro couldn't make out her words, he could only see her bite her bottom lip enough to draw blood as she looked up at the Turk.

" Raven--Rufus--Tseng-- all in the same place. This is no coincidence," Siiro's mouth curled into a wicked grin. "No this was meant to be. Everything I've ever wanted is finally within my reach."

****

"Odd? You want to know about odd? Huh!" The aging woman glared at Vincentia mysteriously. "Some woman ran up a muck with a group on chocobo's hours earlier. How's that for odd?" Vincentia returned a thankful nod for the information, and adjusted the black veil and long cloak which hid her waist-length blue hair and deep violet eyes from the public who may take the historic features of her line of sorcery as threatening.

She elegantly followed the large chocobo tracks through Junon, and tried to cover her own. It was no doubt she was attracting attention from the large crowd, and nervously smoothed the lengthy black silk dress that swayed on her hips with every leading motion. 'I'll have to explain my mission briefly...' She thought to herself when she was in voice reach of the busy looking people in front of the ShinRa mansion. 'I never thought ShinRa would be behind the rebellious few... Hadn't they crashed a while back?' She drew the veil back from her face revealing herself, and approached the band of people. Her knees trembled as she recognized the Turks, and turned away from any of the eyes she knew were on her. "I'm but a messenger from the Governor of Gregor." It took her a few moments longer to realize that these people must be the mercenaries, and introduced herself with a graceful bow. "I have an important matter to discuss with the leader here..."

***

Silvara was getting impatient, not to mention a touch nervous. Being this close to Ferris was starting to grate on her nerves, especially the way he was making a point to ignore her. Still, it couldn't be helped, she'd just have to tolerate him until the mission was over. Once it was.... She glanced towards the mansion as a movement caught her eye, and a strained smile shaped her lips when she saw one of the Turks leading Riya and Anaimone into the mansion. Riya glanced at her and Silvara managed a cheery little wave, the last thing she needed was for Riya to come along. Things would be difficult enough without her friend trying to protect her, besides, Riya had no experience with this sort of operation and she'd just get in the way.

Silvara chuckled. 'But it seems that steps are being taken...hope that guy doesn't do something dumb.' Her eyes touched Rufus's in silent amused inquiry before another figure drew her attention. Silvara hid her thoughts behind an expressionless mask as the woman approached but something about her made the hairs on the nape of her neck want to rise. Ferris must have felt it too, his expression had frozen in a neutral smile but she could see the wariness behind his amber gaze.

Silvara shifted her attention back to the stranger and forced herself to relax when the woman removed her veil. 'Well that explains that.' The bounty hunter's intense gaze swept the stranger, her lavender eyes drifting over the black dress and full cloak, searching for possible hidden weapons. 'Of course, if I'm right about her, she wouldn't exactly need them but it be good to know.' Still hiding her thoughts, Silvara thought about the woman's request. 'Messenger? Right. who just happened to know we were here.' Her eyes narrowed, 'Governor of Gregor? Why would he be interested? I don't like this.'

She let her thoughts wonder, '...I guess in Izlude's absence, Raven is our leader.' She shot Rufus a furtive glance, 'I doubt Rufus would even have been interested in our group if it hadn't served his own purposes. Still,' her thoughts returned to the study, 'I could be wrong.' Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited to see how Rufus wanted to handle the woman's request.

Ferris watched the messenger carefully, for some reason the young woman's presence was disturbing. His eyes hardened imperceptibly, 'so she was sent by the Governor of Gregor? Why? If we were this easy to find...well, I suppose it doesn't matter, after tonight...' He let his gaze touch Silvara, noticing the tense set of her shoulders and the way her hand clenched when she crossed her arms. 'She feels it too, what is it with this woman?' He glanced around through the gathering darkness, wondering if anyone else was hidden in the darkness, watching them. 'Oh that's just what I need, with everything else going on...to start getting paranoid.' Letting a bored expression cover his face, Ferris continued to watch their unexpected visitor, trying to remember anything he'd ever heard about Gregor and its Governor.

Rufus looked at the woman with narrowed eyes. "How did you find this place?" he asked her. He handed the printout in his hand to Silvara. Then said to the bounty hunter, "These are the blueprints you'll need to look at our path is marked in red." He turned back to the woman, walking down to her he looked her in the eye. "What is the message? "

"The Governor wishes that a representative of the mercenaries would come to his presence to discuss a matter that might be of interest to you..." Vincentia waved her hand through the air in a delicate motion as she explained herself further. "It is a matter concerning Sierra." She said coldly, and recognized the intense gaze of eyes searching her. "I assure you, the Governor does not intend to harm anyone."

*

Reno walked up the steps waiting at the top for Riya and the other woman. "It's right up here.. not much further." he told them. He walked past the stairs towards an oak door that was stained black. He opened it and stepped aside so that they could go in before him. "It's right in there." he told them pointing inside the dark windowless room. "The light switch is on the right wall as you go in, and it should be on the table in there." he waited for the two women to enter the room.

Anaimone folded her arms across her chest and slumped her shoulders back, while her face twisted in annoyance. "No windows? Like jail... Enter, but leave quickly." She brushed by the doorway, and Kuku followed close behind her curiously, sniffing the air.

After the two went into the door he closed and locked it. " I'm sorry I had to lie to get you up here and do this but I had no choice.. lets just say someone doesn't want to see you hurt."

*

Raven's face reddened as Tseng turned away from her. 'Doesn't he remember me? I thought we were friends.' She was suddenly embarrassed for several reasons. She had assumed that they had left her behind and then she had snuck out of a window and yelled at Tseng. She followed him around the side of the house and spotted the others talking to some strange woman. The woman made her uneasy for some reason. Other than that she felt a mysterious but familiar presence nearby. She just couldn't place it. Raven hurried up to Rufus, feeling a cold dread in the pit of her stomach. Something wasn't right.

Raven looked at the woman who had spoken and stepped out from behind Rufus to stand beside him. "I am highest in command of the mercenaries," Raven told the woman. "Who is this Governor, what business does he have with Sierra? I can't just trust you with the life of one of my men without knowing what this is all about. For all I know you could be leading us into a trap and I can't risk that. We have lost too many lives already because of Sierra." Her green eyes flashed with hatred for Sierra.

Vincentia fell into a soft stride beside Raven, glancing at her from the corner of her eye. "If it's life and death you're worried about I suggest that you have a representative come with me to the Governor of Gregor immediately. Sierra is planning to overtake all the major cities on this continent by force, leaving their highest company with the option to surrender or die. Gregor, too, is in danger of being destroyed, and many more lives will be lost. The Governor wishes to present you with an opportunity you might find tasteful. I know not of the details... He is a man of mystery, and being his daughter I can tell you that he has no intentions of taking any lives. I pray that you accept his invitation."

Rufus watched the woman with narrowed cold blue eyes. He then turned away from her walking back towards Silvara. When he reached the top step he turned to look down on her with distain. "You will have to wait till we are done here before anyone goes with you, if they decide to go with you. I don't trust any governors.. they like to play both sides of the court most of the time." He turned to see Raven standing not far from him. Then he turned to the others "Everyone ready? It's time to go." He turned back to the woman.

"I don't know how you found this place but I hear one word of its location breathed to anyone and you'll find yourself going home in a wooden box." He turned his cold blue eyes away and started down the steps as he reached the bottom he whistled sharply. Dark Nation ran out of the double oak doors, down the steps to his side. He started walking towards the gate. "Everyone follow me if your going." he said. The Turks, Tseng, and Rude took the point walking in front of Rufus as he reached the gate, with Elena walking beside Raven.

Raven looked at the woman coldly one more time before moving away. She walked next to Elena in silence as she watched Rufus. He certainly wasn't in a very good mood and it worried her. It wasn't a good idea to be distracted during a battle. Raven only hoped that he would not let anything get to him during a fight. The last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt. Then she glanced at Elena and smiled when she caught her watching Tseng.

"Don't you think he's cute?" Elena asked her. "Why doesn't he notice me?"

"Maybe you should make him notice you," Raven smiled.

"How do you get Rufus to notice you?" she asked.

"Huh?" Raven stared at her blankly for a moment. "err.. well I never really though of him as noticing me."

"Seriously?" Elena asked. "He hides his feelings well, I can see why you would think like that."

Raven looked at her feet. "I lost him once Elena, a long time ago. I have no idea why or how it happened," Raven sighed. "I do know that I can't let it happen again. I don't think that I could handle it." Raven twisted the silver ring on her finger.

"I think he feels the same way," Elena assured her.

"Really?" Raven felt her spirits lift a little.

"Err I'd better be quiet. They're giving me that look again," Elena pouted. Raven bit her lip to hide her smile.

"It's gonna be a long night," Raven sighed. "Rufus had better tell us his plan soon."