![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Title: Thy Willful Enemy: Stolen Night
Author: GW Katrina aka![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
icedark_elf
Beta:skeren
Series: Thy Willful Enemy, chapter 4(aka Ninja Zack verse)
Wordcount: 1,418
Summary: Missions have a nasty tendency to change in the middle....
Previous stories are found here
It was just a few weeks after her sister came that Amara had to leave. It was good that Lord Godo wanted his bodyguards happy, and he had graciously allowed Rusha and her baby a room in his home. Knowing that they would be taken care of there, Amara had been much more relaxed over this.
She didn’t like this place. Wutai had its mountains, but they didn’t seem this harsh. The wind whipped around the sharp peaks, howling like dragons.
Or it might have really been dragons. They all knew that there were dragons in these mountains, but all reports put them lower down, or in the caves. She hadn’t expected any to be this far up.
It had take several days to get to this point of the mission. Nibelheim, for all that it was a small town, seemed to have a large amount of people who traveled all through the mountains surrounding it. It had been most frustrating to get this far.
That’s when she caught the warning whistle. Did -nobody- in this town ever stay at home?
“I know you are out there.”
A silent snarl, and Amara pulled a blade. They had made it this far without having to kill someone, and it was galling that they were almost into the reactor itself when she would have to. Silently apologizing to the spirits, she shifted up so that she would be able to see the woman who was talking.
“You wouldn’t happen to be missing a spy, would you? Former Turk, went missing a while back, called Vincent?”
Amara froze.
“He’s not dead, you know. And I want to get him out.”
Her partner looked up at her, and Amara gave him a helpless shrug. Finally, after a long moment, she signaled to watch for danger, and she slipped out into the open.
“Why?”
She still wasn’t the most at ease in this language, so she kept her words short. No point in giving away a weakness.
The woman, who was small and blonde, looked at her. “Because he was a Turk. Even if he was a spy, he was also a Turk. And we watch out for our own.”
“Turks don’t leave Midgar.”
The woman shrugged. “Some do. Like ones that Hojo turns into an experiment.” She met Amara’s eyes calmly, no sign of fear in her blue eyes. “He’s here in Nibelheim, you know.”
Amara frowned. Vincent….
If this woman was talking about Vincent, Amara had the duty, not only to family, but to Lord Godo, to collect him. Vincent had been one of their better spies, and….
Amara missed her brother.
She didn’t remember much about him. He had been older, much older than she and Rusha. But he still had taken the time to see them, to show them how to use a gun. Which their mother had had a fit over. He had taken the time to play with them.
She wanted him back.
“Why trust you?”
The woman smiled. “Because you have to. My husband is inside the reactor, and it’s locked down from the inside. He’ll let you in if I say to, but if you don’t, well, he can easily call Shin-Ra from in there. Even if I officially “failed” the tests, the Turks know I’m here. And they know why. Won’t take long for Hojo to collect whatever it is that he has in the reactor, and you’ll never get it.”
She quirked a brow. “I want to help you, honestly. Shinra has lost the trust of the people he depends on most by letting Hojo play experiment instead of just killing Vincent. He was a spy, they wouldn’t have faulted him that. But giving him to Hojo….”
The woman went quiet.
“What you want?”
“I….” Definite hesitation now, and Amara frowned mentally. The woman had been confident till now. What could be so bad that she hesitated to say it?
“Take us with you.”
///
Well, this was going smoother than Nidara had hoped.
She had been living in this horrid little town for the last five years, since she had passed her Turk exam and been pulled aside for a special mission.
A Turk had been given to Hojo for experimentation, and, now, Veld wanted it dealt with. So she, as the newest recruit, was being given this mission.
Officially, according to the records, she failed out due to health issues. And she and her husband, a man she had met in Midgar, had gone back to his home town. There, she had set about hunting for Vincent. All records pointed to him still being there, and, after almost a year, she had finally found the secret entrance to the basement lab.
She had explored, and found the coffin that Vincent had been put into. Hojo had a sick sense of humor.
But the man refused to wake up. He was alive. She had found his pulse easily, and his breathing was regular. But…he just would not wake up.
Not that Nidara would have known what to do if he had. Technically, he was a spy, and she had failed out of the Turks. If this mission was completed, she still couldn’t go back to Midgar. Hojo still had Shinra’s ear, and if he suspected the Turks had anything to do with freeing Vincent….
Most likely, Nidara would have to stay here for a few years, just to keep any connections from showing, and then she would be sent on missions similar to this one. Settle into a town, do something, then leave again.
That wasn’t why she had joined the Turks.
There were new rumblings of war, and Nidara….
She and Orrin wanted out of this town. Orrin had left it for a reason, and it wasn’t hard to see why. And Nidara was -not- a country girl. She had lived in Gongaga, which, while small compared to Midgar, was a major city compared to Nibelheim.
Well, had been.
Her family was dead now. No thanks to whatever had happened in the reactor down there. Veld had made sure she had gotten the news of what really happened, and she really did want nothing to do with Shin-Ra now.
Letting a reactor go just to blame terrorists….
It didn’t matter.
Right now, she had to focus on this.
The woman, who was definitely Wutanese, was talking with a man who had joined her, their words odd to her ear. She knew a bit of the language, but it had never been a major focus of hers.
They seemed to be arguing, but not. It was hard to figure out. Maybe they were debating the idea. Nidara hoped so. She didn’t want to go back to Nibelheim, nor to Shin-Ra.
Then the woman turned towards her.
“Why?”
Short, to the point.
Nidara took a deep breath and told the truth.
“Shin-Ra killed my parents and baby brother. They destroyed Gongaga just to start a war. I don’t want them to win.”
There. Now she was just as much a traitor as Vincent was. Well, maybe not, but she was working on it.
Something passed though the woman’s eyes.
"Your name?"
"Nidara Strife."
Another moment of quiet, and she saw the studying look the woman gave her. Nidara wondered why that news about Gongaga got such a visible reaction from her.
“Do we have an agreement?” she asked, instead.
///
That night, the Nibelheim reactor went up. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, since the reactor was so far in the mountains, and on the wrong side of the mountain to send the deadly rain towards the town. But the people knew that the streams were going to be contaminated for months, and nobody knew the cause.
Shin-Ra, of course, declared the act an act of terrorism by Wutai, but those inside the higher levels of Shin-Ra said Hojo was more furious than the President over the situation.
Nobody had seen the group of ninja from Wutai slip out of town, leaving with two traitors, a spy, and a stolen specimen.
Well, one had.
But when Sephiroth was taken from Nibelheim to Midgar, he did not tell anyone. They didn’t seem to know, and it would be his secret.
He didn’t have many, but Sephiroth had this one.
Maybe, one day, he’d get to see Vincent again.
Maybe, this time, the man would be awake, instead of sleeping from whatever Hojo had done.
Sephiroth wanted his father back.
*cackles and runs off*
Author: GW Katrina aka
icedark_elfBeta:
skerenSeries: Thy Willful Enemy, chapter 4(aka Ninja Zack verse)
Wordcount: 1,418
Summary: Missions have a nasty tendency to change in the middle....
Previous stories are found here
It was just a few weeks after her sister came that Amara had to leave. It was good that Lord Godo wanted his bodyguards happy, and he had graciously allowed Rusha and her baby a room in his home. Knowing that they would be taken care of there, Amara had been much more relaxed over this.
She didn’t like this place. Wutai had its mountains, but they didn’t seem this harsh. The wind whipped around the sharp peaks, howling like dragons.
Or it might have really been dragons. They all knew that there were dragons in these mountains, but all reports put them lower down, or in the caves. She hadn’t expected any to be this far up.
It had take several days to get to this point of the mission. Nibelheim, for all that it was a small town, seemed to have a large amount of people who traveled all through the mountains surrounding it. It had been most frustrating to get this far.
That’s when she caught the warning whistle. Did -nobody- in this town ever stay at home?
“I know you are out there.”
A silent snarl, and Amara pulled a blade. They had made it this far without having to kill someone, and it was galling that they were almost into the reactor itself when she would have to. Silently apologizing to the spirits, she shifted up so that she would be able to see the woman who was talking.
“You wouldn’t happen to be missing a spy, would you? Former Turk, went missing a while back, called Vincent?”
Amara froze.
“He’s not dead, you know. And I want to get him out.”
Her partner looked up at her, and Amara gave him a helpless shrug. Finally, after a long moment, she signaled to watch for danger, and she slipped out into the open.
“Why?”
She still wasn’t the most at ease in this language, so she kept her words short. No point in giving away a weakness.
The woman, who was small and blonde, looked at her. “Because he was a Turk. Even if he was a spy, he was also a Turk. And we watch out for our own.”
“Turks don’t leave Midgar.”
The woman shrugged. “Some do. Like ones that Hojo turns into an experiment.” She met Amara’s eyes calmly, no sign of fear in her blue eyes. “He’s here in Nibelheim, you know.”
Amara frowned. Vincent….
If this woman was talking about Vincent, Amara had the duty, not only to family, but to Lord Godo, to collect him. Vincent had been one of their better spies, and….
Amara missed her brother.
She didn’t remember much about him. He had been older, much older than she and Rusha. But he still had taken the time to see them, to show them how to use a gun. Which their mother had had a fit over. He had taken the time to play with them.
She wanted him back.
“Why trust you?”
The woman smiled. “Because you have to. My husband is inside the reactor, and it’s locked down from the inside. He’ll let you in if I say to, but if you don’t, well, he can easily call Shin-Ra from in there. Even if I officially “failed” the tests, the Turks know I’m here. And they know why. Won’t take long for Hojo to collect whatever it is that he has in the reactor, and you’ll never get it.”
She quirked a brow. “I want to help you, honestly. Shinra has lost the trust of the people he depends on most by letting Hojo play experiment instead of just killing Vincent. He was a spy, they wouldn’t have faulted him that. But giving him to Hojo….”
The woman went quiet.
“What you want?”
“I….” Definite hesitation now, and Amara frowned mentally. The woman had been confident till now. What could be so bad that she hesitated to say it?
“Take us with you.”
Well, this was going smoother than Nidara had hoped.
She had been living in this horrid little town for the last five years, since she had passed her Turk exam and been pulled aside for a special mission.
A Turk had been given to Hojo for experimentation, and, now, Veld wanted it dealt with. So she, as the newest recruit, was being given this mission.
Officially, according to the records, she failed out due to health issues. And she and her husband, a man she had met in Midgar, had gone back to his home town. There, she had set about hunting for Vincent. All records pointed to him still being there, and, after almost a year, she had finally found the secret entrance to the basement lab.
She had explored, and found the coffin that Vincent had been put into. Hojo had a sick sense of humor.
But the man refused to wake up. He was alive. She had found his pulse easily, and his breathing was regular. But…he just would not wake up.
Not that Nidara would have known what to do if he had. Technically, he was a spy, and she had failed out of the Turks. If this mission was completed, she still couldn’t go back to Midgar. Hojo still had Shinra’s ear, and if he suspected the Turks had anything to do with freeing Vincent….
Most likely, Nidara would have to stay here for a few years, just to keep any connections from showing, and then she would be sent on missions similar to this one. Settle into a town, do something, then leave again.
That wasn’t why she had joined the Turks.
There were new rumblings of war, and Nidara….
She and Orrin wanted out of this town. Orrin had left it for a reason, and it wasn’t hard to see why. And Nidara was -not- a country girl. She had lived in Gongaga, which, while small compared to Midgar, was a major city compared to Nibelheim.
Well, had been.
Her family was dead now. No thanks to whatever had happened in the reactor down there. Veld had made sure she had gotten the news of what really happened, and she really did want nothing to do with Shin-Ra now.
Letting a reactor go just to blame terrorists….
It didn’t matter.
Right now, she had to focus on this.
The woman, who was definitely Wutanese, was talking with a man who had joined her, their words odd to her ear. She knew a bit of the language, but it had never been a major focus of hers.
They seemed to be arguing, but not. It was hard to figure out. Maybe they were debating the idea. Nidara hoped so. She didn’t want to go back to Nibelheim, nor to Shin-Ra.
Then the woman turned towards her.
“Why?”
Short, to the point.
Nidara took a deep breath and told the truth.
“Shin-Ra killed my parents and baby brother. They destroyed Gongaga just to start a war. I don’t want them to win.”
There. Now she was just as much a traitor as Vincent was. Well, maybe not, but she was working on it.
Something passed though the woman’s eyes.
"Your name?"
"Nidara Strife."
Another moment of quiet, and she saw the studying look the woman gave her. Nidara wondered why that news about Gongaga got such a visible reaction from her.
“Do we have an agreement?” she asked, instead.
That night, the Nibelheim reactor went up. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, since the reactor was so far in the mountains, and on the wrong side of the mountain to send the deadly rain towards the town. But the people knew that the streams were going to be contaminated for months, and nobody knew the cause.
Shin-Ra, of course, declared the act an act of terrorism by Wutai, but those inside the higher levels of Shin-Ra said Hojo was more furious than the President over the situation.
Nobody had seen the group of ninja from Wutai slip out of town, leaving with two traitors, a spy, and a stolen specimen.
Well, one had.
But when Sephiroth was taken from Nibelheim to Midgar, he did not tell anyone. They didn’t seem to know, and it would be his secret.
He didn’t have many, but Sephiroth had this one.
Maybe, one day, he’d get to see Vincent again.
Maybe, this time, the man would be awake, instead of sleeping from whatever Hojo had done.
Sephiroth wanted his father back.
*cackles and runs off*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
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*highly amused!* Zack has a big family! =D
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No, actually, it's just part of my continuing storyline that Nidara is Cloud's mom, and that she has a younger brother. In some stories, that comes into effect.
Mostly, that was mentioned to keep my own personal lines straight. *grins* And I like having backgrounds for people. It's fun. And to connect Nidara to the tragedy.
Though, given those spikes of hers, it would make sense for her to be related to the chaos of the spiky hairs that is Gongaga.
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I love your Nidara, by the way. I'd love to see, some day, a world in which she actually was officially a Turk, instead of "officially" failing out, or actually failing out. Because you'd have to wonder what would happen if Cloud had grown up in Midgar with a Turk-mommy. *snicker*
And as my roommate said about Gongaga, "They are indeed a spiky-haired people."
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Nidara is fun. This is the second world she was almost a Turk in. The other was Fresh Beginnings, but she doesn't get any mention. Don't even think her name is told.
She's also a -major- character in OGToF.
Cloud tends to have a Turk parent, with me. I'm not sure why.
But, yeah, people in Gongaga all have the spikey. It's got to be genetic.
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And Wutai might. Won't that be interesting?
From: (Anonymous)
@_@
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