Reno's Story

Reno swore under his breath as he scratched his head. He had absolutely no idea as to where he was, much less which floor he was on. It seemed that the elevator he had taken was only made to go up, and for some odd reason, he had the very feeling that he wasn’t supposed to be there at all too. About to give up and jump out a window, Reno heard a pair of footsteps stop behind him.

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be in the Infirmary?” asked the person, voice noticeably that of the guy who had been with Strife on the first day Reno woke up.

“Not anymore. Got discharged for good behaviour,” joked Reno as he turned around, blinking as he saw that there was another man besides Blacke.

“Really? Never happened to me,” pouted the black haired man.

“That may be because you do not have any good behaviour, Zackary. They must put you to sleep if they even want to have some peace and quiet,” sighed the long silver haired man by Blacke’s side, pinching at the bridged of his nose.

“Oh, come on Seph! I’m not that bad, am I?”

The man just shook his head before looking at Reno. The redhead felt a bit uncomfortable under the scrutiny, but he didn’t dare show it. He wasn’t known to back down either in the slums.

“Anyways, wanna hang out with us, kid?” Blacke asked as he turned back to Reno.

“Doubt it. I was just on my way to leave, so if you could kindly point me to the general direction of the elevator for the first floor, I’ll gladly be on my way home.”

“Sure man, you just gotta-“

Blacke was suddenly stopped by the silver haired man placing his hand over his mouth, looking behind them, as if hearing something distantly. He then motioned for Reno to move against the wall before he pushed Blacke in front of him, easily blocking him from view. Blacke took on a relaxed pose, arms over his head as he leaned against the wall with only his shoulder blades while Reno half half-crouched under him.

“Ah, Sephiroth! Just the person I was looking for!” came a young and arrogant voice.

Reno now really had the urge to look out from under his protection.

“Mr. Shinra. Was there something you needed?” asked the silver haired man’s voice.

Reno had to swallow, not having expected the man to actually be the renowned Great General Sephiroth.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Rufus simply? Mr. Shinra is my father, not me,” huffed the young voice. “And as for what I needed, it would seem there is to be a conference going on tomorrow but I can’t go without a proper escort, or so says father. Would you or any other SOLDIER be able to attend with me?”

“I do not see any objections into going myself,” replied the General.

“Hey! I wanna go too!” exclaimed childishly Blacke.

“I don’t mind you both coming, but I must warn you that you may bore yourself to Planet’s dept,” snickered the heir to the Shinra Company.

“Better then doing reports, I bet!” replied Blacke.

“You do need to finish those reports one day, Zackary,” scolded Sephiroth.

“Yeah, one day.”

Rufus laughed at the first class SOLDIER’s childishness.

“Well, I have to get going. Oh, and one word of advise, Zack.”

“Yeah sir?”

“Sephiroth would be much better with his coat to hide someone from view completely, especially since you are known for not being able to hold in place for more than a minute. Good day, gentlemen,” chuckled the teenager.

Zack moved forward and scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he smiled goofily, Sephiroth shaking his head while he had his hand to his forehead. Reno raised a brow to them, just catching a glimpse of the blond who had just been there.

“Thanks for the help. So, where is the elevator?” asked the redhead.

“I’ll show ya,” volunteered Zack.

“You can just tell me. I’ll manage on my own,” replied dismissively Reno.

“Doubt it. Tseng already told everyone from downstairs what you looked like, so there’s no way you could ever get out.”

“I’ll manage, I tell ya,” replied stubbornly the redhead.

“And I’m telling ya, you can’t make it out of here without a bit of help. Soon as you hit the sixth floor, you’re done for. Not to mention the elevators all have cameras in ‘em, so he probably already knows where ya are.”

Reno shrugged, giving Zack a smirk after.

“What would be the fun in that if there wasn’t a light challenge?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Then you might just wanna leave by the garage.”

“There a garage?” asked Reno, all amazed.

“Yep! With all kinds of vehicles! A little boy’s wet dream,” sighed dramatically Zack.

Sephiroth simply shook his head and started to walk away, knowing that the other SOLDIER wouldn’t be too far behind him.

“So…how do I get there?”

“Go down that elevator over there to the lowest floor it can go and then I’m sure you can manage it to the stairs on the other side of the building without much trouble. On the lower levels, there’ll be guards, but I’m pretty sure you can outsmart them. You continue until you reach a floor with ‘Station’ written on the ground and there will be the building’s garage. Have fun!”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks again!”

Reno ran off, huge smile on his face. At least now he had a better idea on how to escape this place, and if he was lucky enough, he could steal one of the vehicles and sell it to at least get him food until he found a job, or just resolved back to prostitution like his mother was doing at the end.

He held his breath, wincing as he heard some shouts come from right around the corner. It seemed he hadn’t been that discreet and that the guards were now really on his case. And just to his added luck, he was just across the door to the garage. A bit more time and he would have been home free!

“Look everywhere! He can’t have gotten too far away!” came a shouted order.

What made Reno even more nervous was the fact that he’d noticed those after him looked only to be rookies and that they were allowed to carry a gun with them. Did he really want to end up like swish cheese?

Listening closely, Reno managed to make out that they were about five meters away from him. Chances were, he could hit the closest on the head, steal his weapon and leap for the safeties of the garage while the confusion of how he’d gotten so close yet they hadn’t spotted him would be raging with his pursuers.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he jumped out of his hiding spot and just as he had expected, manage to hit a guy on the head with enough force to make him lose his weapon before he dashed with it in the garage. He was even luckier when he locked the doors, knowing they wouldn’t be getting in so soon.

He smirked as he looked at the beauties surrounding him, slowly strolling around, examining each of the vehicles, making a fast analysis of each’s worth and how easy it would be to run with. His gaze finally landed on the motorcycles and he was more then pleased at the selection that was there.

Straddling one, he cackled as he leaned over and checked the engine that wasn’t covered over by its bodice. He frowned as he looked at what looked like to be a generator chamber, yet it was empty and the clear item needed to even make the bike work. Looking around more closely, he realised it was the case for all of the vehicles.

“Fucking piece of shit!” he yelled out in frustration.

“Not at all, Mr. Drizden. They are simply generated by materias, all depending on the type of materia you like to use,” came Tseng’s voice, Reno turning around to see the man smoking in the shadows while he watched the redhead.

“So, you need to program the type of materia you like in the bike? What if you lose that materia? Or it gets stolen?”

“Rare are people who would dare to steal from Shinra, not to mention that those allowed to use those vehicles are more than powerful enough to defend themselves. It’s also logical to carry at least a second if not third of the type of materia,” pointed out the Wutainese.

Reno gave a nod before sighing and looking over at the opened door of the garage.

“I wouldn’t make it out, would I,” he said in defeat.

“No, you would not. I am presently free to accompany you to your mother and sister’s grave at the moment and to gather any other items you may need from your old apartment. They are only emptying it tomorrow.”

“Can we go?”

Tseng nodded, hearing the need that Reno had to at least say his last good-byes to his family before being taken away from anything he remotely considered familiar. He motioned for Reno to join him in the jeep he was presently sitting in, the redhead wordlessly complying.

It only took about twenty minutes to get to destination, Reno not needing to be told where his sister and mother had been laid, seeing as there were only two new graves in the small cemetery. Tseng waited in the jeep, keeping a close eye on Reno and keeping quiet even though he could easily hear what was being said.

“Hey ma, sis. Looks like you get to leave together. You’ll need to go straight to Heaven. Ya know fine well I ain’t good enough for that place. I’d just mess up their entry carpets like I used to do to yours ma, when I snuck out. I don’t mind going to Hell though, might be a bit more interesting than Heaven. If I find dad, I’ll make sure to pop him one in the arse for ya two, okay? I’ll really miss you. Oh and Jen’, take care of ma real good for me, ‘cause I hope you won’t be watching me from up there. I ain’t going to be messing with the right crowd from now on, jus’ like I never did. Bye, I love ya both,” whispered in the end Reno, doing his best to hold back his tears as he sat, knees up to his chest with his arms around them, looking at their graves.

He’d have to thank Tseng later for allowing them such a pretty place to lay in peace, seeing as he had no doubt the man had been the one to pay as soon as he learned that these were his family.

Getting up, he turned to Tseng with a smirk and tilted his head to the side.

“So? Where do I have to sign?” he asked as he left the cemetery.

“Welcome to the Turk Training Program, Reno Drizden.”

They drove back in silence, Reno not needing anything from his past life.

The redhead rubbed at his eyes, looking around at the sorry bunch of men and few women who were present and trying out to join the Turks. Not many even looked like they would pass the physical test, but who was he to talk, seeing as he was a skinny little kid that looked like he’d just rolled out of bed, which was the exact case.

“Hey kid! Shouldn’t you be running to your mother?” asked someone behind him.

Reno turned around only slightly and raised a brow at the huge guy that flexed his muscles at him.

“I should ask you the same, but I think it’s clear your mother wouldn’t even want you at arm’s length,” he replied dismissively before turning back to look at the crowd.

The man took a hold of his shoulder, but he didn’t have time to do more then force the teenager around since Tseng and three other men entered the room. The eldest of those men had a long beard and looked to be as stoic as the Wutainese man. The second looked to be a fat piece of nothing, laughing to himself with a horrible laughter that made Reno’s hair stand on ends. The last one was bald and wore dark glasses, clearly Tseng’s inferior as he stood behind the black haired man and that Tseng himself stood behind the other two.

“Welcome everyone! As you all know, we are presently recruiting for Turks and I am sure you are all eager to start the training and win that position. My name is Heidegger and I am the one in charge of the Turks’ division. This here is the leader of the Turks, Jeremiah Andric. He will be the one to decide if you are adequate or not in the end. Good day to you all and good luck!” said the fat man before leaving.

The long bearded man took a step forward and it was clear from his gaze that he was analyzing who would be potential candidates.

“This will not be an easy task, for the Turks only allow the best of the best to work for them. There are various reasons for this, including endurance, obedience, strength of will and also the ability to push back your humanity to sometimes accomplish deeds that should never have even existed. Those who will not be able to stomach these conditions, please leave at this very moment, for there will be no silken gloved hands handling you here.”

No one moved, a few clearly rethinking their reasons for joining or wondering if they could actually stand up to all of that stress. In the end, no one left.

“Maybe you should head for the doors right now, kid,” snickered the bully in Reno’s ear.
“Or you should. They’re not going to be wiping your ass for you, after all,” he snickered back.

The bully, as an answer, shoved Reno roughly forward, making more than a few fall forward too. It was enough racket to catch the Turks’ leader’s attention.

“What is your name, boy?” asked the man with a cold voice.

Reno actually tilted his head to the side before he smirked widely, seeing Tseng tense up behind his boss.

“Trevor, sir! He’e tha aply fo’ t’e j’b!” he said with a very bad slur.

Tseng would have surely hit himself on the forehead had people not been watching him so closely. The one behind Tseng simply raised a brow.

“Well, Trevor, I do hope you straighten up a bit before you attend classes. Turk training is even harder than a SOLDIER’s training.”

“Ah’m s’re ah ca’ de’l with it all.”

This time, Reno smirked at the elder man, Andric seeming to come to a decision before telling everyone to head to their assigned dormitories, which had already been decided and as to whom their room mates would be. Reno didn’t need to be asked twice, needing a bit of time alone.


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Well.....here it is.....third chapter.......hope you enjoy it.
later