onepassingnight | In Memoriam

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In Memoriam

[The dream's setting is dark, bleak, and overall is one of a depressing nature. The sky overhead is black with dark heavy clouds blocking out a great deal of light from reaching the ruins beneath them. A once proud city brought down to its metaphorical knees, ripped asunder for its crimes and torn even further apart due to more than one fight between inhuman forces within its wreckage.

It's largely deserted and abandoned, anyone who enters does so at their own risk. Those specified dangers not fabricated to keep people out of it, can kill a person if they're not careful. Yet there is one person moving among the twisted mass of metal, concrete and broken glass. For this brief time, he's discarded his white suits as well the remainder of his companions. He's in a black turtleneck, black jeans, black boots and fingerless gloves complete the ensemble.

His movements are cautious, but more because he's seeking something rather than trying to avoid endangering himself amid the wreckage. Occasionally he pauses to pull against some of the wreckage to look beneath it, or to create a space through which he can proceed through. Finally he seems to reach the largest mass of wreckage within the city, and considers the large opening, resting before him like some massive maw of a beast waiting to be fed.

It takes him a moment to visibly gather up the courage to plunge into that hole, blue eyes briefly glancing up to a half hidden moon before he turns and enters the hole, determination written upon his face and in the set of his black clad shoulders. Before he vanishes entirely into the dark, the moonlight glints off the metal of a shotgun strapped to the young man's back, along with the sight of another smaller gun resting against his side. He's ready for nearly anything he might encounter in the dark and he's bound and determined not to leave it until he's found what he's come there for.]

[ooc: guess who finally exhausted himself waiting for news? Yep, Rufus is sound asleep and currently dreaming of heading into Midgar to rescue Tseng.]

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Are you looking for something?

[Her ferry, a small craft that looks almost silver in this light, hovers in the air in this dream where there is no river for her to drift along, and where she is not here to claim him and his memories and past - unless he rushes into the danger and falls here.]

Get on, stranger, and I'll bring you where you're going.

[He pauses at the question and at the command, he eyes her with distrust, mixed with wariness.]

How do you know where it is I'm going? I haven't even told you why I'm here or what I may be looking for.

[What fools mortals be, to greet the simplest things with such complications.]

Every mortal is on a journey. You want to be somewhere.

From your words, I take it you are not mortal?

[He's had bad experiences with things that weren't human so you'll have to excuse his distrust and stubborn caution.]

How do you know where I need to go when I don't even know where that is right now?

[All he has to go on currently is the fact the man he seeks is somewhere beneath this wreck of a city. He has no idea unfortunately, just where beneath he might be found.]

Men never know where they're bound. However, as the ferryman, I do.

The ferryman hm? And just how are you graced with this knowledge?

[Trusting complete, inhuman strangers is not very high on his list. Especially when they claim to be all-knowing.]

[She's already said it: there was always only one possibility. She can be patient; after all, the end is always already assured. If he wishes to run himself ragged with needless effort for nothing, she also won't raise a hand to stop him.]

Will you find where you're going on your own?

[He's nothing if not stubborn and determined when he's got his mind set on something. Even in dreams.]

Eventually. Even if I must tear this place asunder, I will find what I'm seeking.

How determined. Yet you shun what could bring you there. In the end, mortals fail themselves.

All I have is your word you can bring me there, you give me no evidence that you truly know what I'm searching for, or even how you manage to know it. You'll have to forgive me if I'm not inclined to trust complete strangers who give me nothing but condescending airs of superiority with nothing to back up their words.

[A mist starts to shroud the boat as Lethe makes ready to go. It's rare for her to offer any hand at all, and she doesn't seem particularly invested in the offer being accepted. He can suffer in his own fate.

He is also not the one she must stop at any cost. She can leave him.]

We'll meet again later.

[He's more than content to let her go her own way, even though he's been learning how to humble himself and accept aid; that stubborn streak of doing things himself is still there to rear its ugly head at times. This now of all times, is once such time.]

If you say so. Now if you'll excuse me, I've business elsewhere.

[Meaning down under the ground of his wreck of a city, a wild goose chase in the vain attempt to deny reality.]

[Before he gets too far into the maw, a sound triggers behind him. A hand reaches out and to grab at Rufus' shoulder, out of the darkness of the city.

It's only Reno though. He's followed Rufus there, staring at the city as if he had never seen it before, amazed at the sheer destruction of the place he'd once called home. It was the first time seeing it in this way.]

Boss.

[He seems to know why Rufus came here. There's no comment, no recriminations for having slipped off. Just understanding.]

[The word manages to keep any reflexive drawing of either weapon in check and he briefly studies the redhead silently before nodding once in acceptance. He'd only left solo because he hadn't wanted them to try and convince him to turn back, that this was a fool's errand best left to them if anyone.

When he finally does speak after their moving again, its soft and quiet.]

Thank you.

[Reno nodded. Words didn't seem quite right at the moment. He knew there was no stopping Rufus, not after what had happened. It was something he wanted to do, too. Tseng was one of their own.

Like always, he would be there at Rufus' back.]

[In a way he appreciates the lack of conversation, or even comment on his gratitude toward the redhead for following him without trying to dissuade him from this. He certainly felt more at ease despite their surroundings and the task at hand, having Reno at his back.

The two of them would fight their way, tooth and nail to get to Tseng if need be. If he had to, he would tear this place apart to find the man. So far they hadn't encountered anyone or anything, but who knew how long that would last?]

[Following Rufus around was his job. That he wasn't denying, but he wondered if there wasn't a better way to do this. So, after a while of searching, Reno spoke.]

Boss, maybe we should just head right to the center.

[The suggestion was considered silently for a minute and eventually followed by a short nod.]

Very well. If we don't find him there we can work our way around the center in an outward fashion until we do.

[The turk nodded, hefting his EMR on to his shoulder again. He wanted Tseng back, too. The idea of being left to take care of the Turks was disturbing, and he already had to deal with that temporarily in the real world.]

We'll find him, Boss.

[The was no response to that other than a nod of agreement and the black-clad blond began to lead the way down through the barely lit corridors of this underground area, seeking its center.

As they delve in deeper, the details of the walls and even the floor they're walking on take on an almost fuzzy cast to them, as if somehow they're not completely real or they're only half formed at best. Rufus doesn't pay any heed to this flaw though, and soon enough they reach the center of things.

It seems like a surprisingly large cavern due to its massive expanse and relative shape, but despite its size, its rather easy for anyone to see that there's nothing here.]

[Making a noise of frustration, Reno turned around to scan the area thoroughly before heaving a sigh, shoulders easing into his usual slouch.]

Nothing here. Figures.

[Walking back over to Rufus, he kicked at a pebble on the floor.]

Boss... you're really- I mean... you sure this is the right thing to do?

[It was several minutes before Reno got an actual answer out of the man, the blue eyes continuing the roam the area and its lack of exits, save the one they had entered through. No matter how many times they passed over the area though, it remained the same.]

No...

[Following the word came noise from around them and above, a craze of cracks spreading along the walls of the cavern. The point that they all seemed to race toward was centered over the blond currently standing within the room's center.]

[That really made Reno nervous. It looked like the place was going to cave in. Grabbing Rufus' arm, his turk pulled him away from the cracks, back to the exit.]

Boss, come on, he's not here...

[It was hard saying that, and even worse to say it to the boss.]

Looking at an empty room... ya think Tseng would want that?

[For a span of seconds, Rufus almost felt like resisting the pull, but the rebellious thought didn't last long and he allowed himself to be dragged back to the exit and beyond. Reno's timing was impeccable as a second after they'd left the room, shortly following the redhead's first statement, the cavern collapsed in on itself, blocking any way back towards it with debris and a cloud of dust.

The voice which answered the question asked was a bit ragged and rough, though whether that was from the slowly fading raised dust or withheld tears would be a matter of debate.]

No.

...Boss.

[No way. He wasn't really going to- was he? Reno didn't make an issue of it. He couldn't.]

You know... [He trailed off here for a long moment, palm on one hip and his EMR in the other hand. How would the boss react?]

... Going after wild goose chases. Sometimes they're easier than what you need to do.

[Yes, he knew now this was nothing but a wild goose chase, but Reno was right in fact that engaging in it was far easier than acknowledging the reality.

Somehow, the blond standing with the redhead looks far younger than his twenty-eight years, eyes closed and voice quiet, though it still holds a roughness to it.]

...haven't I lost enough already?

[There is nothing he can say to that. No words to comfort him. The only thing that came to mind was 'You aren't the only one' or 'I've lost everything, too' or some ridiculous crap like that, that wouldn't help one bit.

It was one thing when Reno had a hard time coming to terms with something, it became something more of a legend when Rufus Shinra himself couldn't.]

Now that's just selfish, Boss.

[It felt strange, what he was about to do. Using the same arguments Tseng had used on him not too long ago. Reno loved his job, and he didn't regret joining the turks one bit, but still there was frustration.]

Do you know what kinda sacrifices we make to become turks? We put our lives on the line every day for you, for the company, keeping your secrets and your agendas. Not a thought about what we gotta put up with, or what we got to do. Espionage, murder, kidnapping, genocide, we got to do it all for the company. And we got to keep our mouths shut, even if it means we're killing off our own family. We don't get anything important outta it except more blood on our hands. You know the only way out for us is death, so... just... just give him that.

[Yes, perhaps his desire to keep the man alive was selfish. He wasn't the only one to have lost someone special when they'd lost him, he knew that. He had just been in a sense selectively blind to the rest of his 'family' suffering, due to his own denial over actually finally losing Tseng.

He knew far too well what Reno was telling him had been true. Some might call it horrible and perhaps even unbearable to live like the Turks did, but considering what he'd grown up in and around, it was just a way of life. Reno had made a point though and as much as he was loathe to accept it, there was no way he could undo what had happened.

He finally nodded once in response to the small speech. His voice was still partially rough when he spoke, but at least he was now working on dealing with the reality of the death instead of denying and running from it.]

Let's get out of here.

It was the most peace Kadaj had ever felt. He wasn’t thinking. His brain was turned off and all that existed were the most basic of functions. He simply stared at the moon which was partially obscured by dim clouds and twisted metal. The young remnant took comfort in knowing Mother was among the dark skies. He had survived for a reason. The thought that Mother still needed him, still wanted him began to stir his mind back into its normal workings.

He made a small, distressed sound, unable to move, and instinctively took stock. Kadaj felt cold, his skin even a little numb in places and stinging in others. Shifting his head a little, his vision fuzzed out for a moment, then focused on his left hand.

Well, that explained why his arm wouldn't move. There was a half-inch metal rod sticking out of the concrete beneath it and through his forearm. He'd have to sit up to pull it off. Only problem was a thick layer of debris pinned across his chest. It kept him firmly in place.

Trapped. Helplessness was not something Kadaj was accustomed to—ever, and he never wanted to be. His eyes snapped wide open and panic deeply took root.

“Brothers!” He cried out as loud as he could, which turned out to not be very loud at all. "Sephiroth!" A groan of frustration. His noises were nothing but a mere raspy whimper, if one could even call them that.

Rufus heard someone begin making noise behind him even as he'd begun to enter that dark tunnel and paused in thought before turning around to quietly heard toward the direction he'd heard it come from. Any hopes that it could possibly be Tseng were crushed though when he took note of the slim form and pale hair and face.

If not for the perhaps dire straights Kadaj was in, Rufus might have pulled one of his guns free to demand to know just where Tseng was. Instead, he just stood there, neither threatening nor offering aid to the remnant, as he considered if Kadaj had had anything to do with Tseng's disappearance or if he'd just had gotten trapped while skulking around these ruins.

Considering pass interaction with the other man, any questioning him would be a waste of his time and likely just antagonize him further about the man's disappearance. Thus the blond turned away from the man to once again head for the tunnel's mouth. A fitting reversal of their positions, considering the last time he'd dealt with the young man, he himself had been essentially trapped within that wheelchair, unable to do anything until the very end, because to do anything would have revealed the secret he'd kept up unto that moment.

When she'd first found herself within the wreckage, it had taken her a few minutes before she'd actually realized the identity of the city. The scope of the damage makes her wonder just what might have befallen it, but those thoughts are derailed as she hears someone calling her name.

It takes her a moment to actually locate the speaker of the voice, but upon doing so, there's another surprise. The young man beneath the debris looks similar to herself, but not identical, not like the male counterpart she's already encountered once in dreams. She might have placed him in a category of being akin to Kuja, except for the fact he knows her name and was calling for her by that name.

Comrade or foreigner though, she has decided to help him free of his entrapment. Studying the way the debris lay before beginning to pull it away from him. "Don't move until I'm finished." she warned him as she worked. She didn't want him accidentally causing further debris to be upset onto them via his own attempts to squirm free while she was already removing it herself.

As the figure neared, Kadaj visibly stiffened. In his mind he wasn’t going to make it. He had lost and it had been a worthless fight too. All of this could have been avoided. Yazoo had always warned Kadaj to keep his anger in check. And it was that anger that now made him fall at the hands some traitor. He had failed Sephiroth and he had failed Mother. There was nothing he could possibly do to make up for this mistake. Perhaps, if he entered the Lifestream he might be able to return. Yet, that was entirely up to Sephiroth. It was unlikely to happen. Why would Sephiroth bring back such a weak puppet, such a failure?

He knew the figure was talking to him but it was all static to his ears. Kadaj held his breath while he waited for that intense pain in which his whole body would contract in--death. But it never came, and as the seconds passed by he merely became more numb. Blood (something he felt he should be alarmed to have) poured from his mouth and torso as his surroundings wavered precariously. He clung desperately to consciousness.

He paused and took a deep breath, mumbling an unintelligible remark about hurting everywhere, and then, after closing his eyes, opened them and saw something amazing.

“It’s, it’s you!” He cried out, heart elated to new heights. He wanted throw both arms around her and never let go. Kadaj could not speak. His eyes feasted on her and he thought that he would like to stare at her forever, and that would be enough. Mouth agape he raised his hand to touch her face but stopped just short of doing so. He wouldn’t touch without permission. “Mother, I…”

Where was he supposed to begin? Emerald eyes remained utterly fixated on the figure before him. “I kn-know you want Seph-Sephiro-Sephiroth more…” the words came between big breaths, “but I want to be your favorite!” Kadaj fought the clogging exhaustion in his body. He had to stay conscious for Mother! “If I can’t, it’s o-okay.” He braved touching her, tracing his fingers down her cheek “I just want to make you proud.”

The blood concerned her more than his words. She knew how trauma could make one say nonsensical things and thus she paid them little enough mind, if he thought her his mother, perhaps that would aid her in helping him. She used words she'd heard directed toward other children years and years ago, in another place, another time. They'd just feed the other man's delusion for now, but if it kept him mollified until she got him out of the precarious position he was in now and to somewhere she could examine his injuries and then treat him, then she saw no real harm in keeping that delusion going.

"You have made me proud. Just hold on a little while longer for me, alright? This place isn't safe to stay in, so we need to move away from it. Can you hold onto me while I move you away from here to somewhere safer?"

There is the sound of softly falling steps in a likely familiar rhythm up from the path ahead of Rufus. Within moments a rather large guard hound trots out of the gloom ahead, though instead of the usual black or red coat this one is white and seems to glow faintly in the darkness. Larger than Dark Nation had been, the hound regards Rufus from a distance for a long moment before sitting.

It's blatantly obvious that the beast isn't going to attack the blond, and the glimmer of silver and diamonds around its neck is a clear indication of domestication.

When he'd first spotted the hound, he'd tensed, waiting to see if he needed to draw a weapon or if the animal had other business here. When it seated itself, before him, he didn't entirely relax but he let himself slowly, cautiously close the distance between them.

He'd never seen a hound of this color before, that and the fact it's wearing a collar interest him more than the possible reasons it might be here in the first place. It's possible in his mind that perhaps maybe, the hound might be like Dark Nation, one of Hojo's specimens.

When he finally comes to a halt, its within barely arms reach of the creature and he slowly crouches down before it, voice quiet as he speaks. "Do you live here?"

The hound huffed a sigh, dark eyes regarding Rufus like a babysitter might a favorite (if troublesome) charge. It stood, looked down the corridor and back at Rufus.

If Rufus was intent on continuing he'd need a guide in the maze that was Sector 0.

Rufus silently noted the action silently and straightened up before moving to stand beside the hound. "You're to be my escort then?" he asked, voice holding a faint hint of possible amusement.

"Very well then, lead the way."

A nod, and the hound circled once around Rufus before picking up an easy stride further down the corridor to a warped and buckled door that said it was a broom closet.

It rather clearly wasn't a broom closet beyond the part of it that was one. The destruction Meteor had wrought had smashed the back of the tiny room open to reveal a small service elevator.

That still had power.

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In Memoriam

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