onepassingnight | 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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.

In Memoriam

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