Taking Care of Reno: Advent Children
Chapter 10: The Search
“You seein’ anything yet?” Reno asked, and Rude shook his head. They’d circled the lip of the crater and then descended below the cloud layer into the depression itself, slowly scanning the vast area. There was little to see that they hadn’t already seen. Certainly nothing to indicate that their quarry was using the location as a base of operations, or a prison for the children they’d taken.
“What about the forest? Seems like it’d be a good place to hide,” Rude pointed out.
“S’pose it’s possible… but we’re not gonna see shit from the air. I went over it the last time I was up here. Twice. The fuckin’ trees are just too thick.”
Still… it wasn’t as if they were accomplishing anything down here. Reno pulled back on the stick, sending them skyward again. Once they were clear, he directed the helicopter out towards the sprawling forest on the eastern side of of the continent.
“There aren’t even any fuckin’ roads up here, if they’re still in that truck somehow. ‘Bout the only thing even on this half of the continent is that camp the archeologists were usin’ for awhile,” he added. “Guess it’s worth a look, at least.”
Some ten minutes later, the pair had landed on the beach just south of the Bone Village. Rude was making his way towards the overgrown trail… but something on the sand had caught Reno’s eye. The redhead knelt next to the remains of a fairly large fire. He held his hand out, over the charred wood, and was a little surprised to feel a small amount of heat coming off of it.
“Hey… Partner!” he called out, and Rude turned back from his own investigation. The bald Turk joined him momentarily. “Still warm. This was burnin’ not too long ago. Maybe a day.”
“… Someone’s been on that trail, too,” Rude replied. “Counted at least two clear sets of footprints. Very possibly three. Looks like they came and went a few times.”
“Sounds like we better check out that camp.” He stood, and the two Turks cautiously made their way towards the Bone Village, pausing in the underbrush on the periphery of the camp, watching.
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s here…” Rude noted.
“Yeah. It doesn’t look like it. Stay here and cover me. I’m gonna check out a few of those tents.”
The redhead darted from cover and crept stealthily towards the first of the structures, peering inside. There was sleeping bag on a pallet, as well as a pile of blankets that looked suspiciously like a second makeshift bed., and a crate of supplies that seemed to have been picked through a few times. Like the fire on the beach, he doubted it had been there for long. Animals would have found it eventually if it had, and aside from being less than carefully packed, the contents of the crate were intact.
He moved to the bedroll. Blood stained the fabric in a few places, and he spotted a pile of discarded bandages nearby. Someone had been hurt, and their injuries treated here. Reno frowned slightly. Something told him that whoever it was, it wasn’t one of the trio of silver-haired men they were chasing. Nothing seemed to injure those bastards.
With that in mind, he moved quickly to clear the other tents, and after confirming that they, too, were empty, waved for Rude to join him.
“Find anything interesting?” he asked, appearing from his hiding place.
“Well… someone’s definitely been here recently. Least one of ’em was hurt. Left a bunch of camping shit behind, so either they left in a hurry or they’re plannin’ on comin’ back. My money’s on leavin’ in a hurry if they had injuries to take care of.”
“Hmph… So the question is, where’d they come from?”
“Only two options there, partner,” Reno replied. “Either they came up from the beach, or outta the forest. I’m guessing that fire on the beach was a signal fire. Maybe they were lookin’ to get rescued by a passing boat.”
“And given that they’re not here anymore, seems like they caught one’s attention not too long ago.”
“… Whaddya s’pose the odds are?”
“Of what?” Rude asked.
“That it was ‘Lena and Tseng tryin’ to get outta here before those fuckers caught up to ’em.”
Rude shook his head. “Kinda grasping at straws. Could’ve been anyone,” he replied, but frowned thoughtfully. “But… if they did escape from somewhere nearby and were stuck here all this time… it would explain why they never contacted us.” He glanced back down the trail again, silent for a moment.
“What are you thinkin’ partner?”
“Three sets of footprints. Who the hell’s the third belong to?”
“… Maybe one of those assholes did catch up to ’em.”
The two men looked at one another for a few seconds, before simultaneously turning and heading for the trees.
Elena sighed and hung up the phone. She’d tried all of their numbers. All three had eventually gone to voicemail. She’d finally left a message on Reno’s. Hopefully, he’d get it soon. She turned back to the Turk leader, who winced as the young doctor added a few more stitches to his forehead.
“I take it there was no answer…” he said.
“No… I had to leave a message.” Elena glanced up at the doctor. “How is he?”
“Oh… he’ll be fine. But… er… he should really take it easy for awhile. And I wish you’d stay long enough for me to get an x-ray…”
“We don’t have time for trivialities,” Tseng said firmly, as the stitches were being covered with fresh bandage. “Are you finished?”
“I-I… well… yes, I suppose so…”
“Good.” He swung himself off of the table, flinching in pain as his newly wrapped ribs protested sharply. “Elena. We’re leaving.”
“Tseng…” she started, but the look in his eyes made her stop and simply shake her head. “Yes, sir…” she grudgingly agreed. No amount of arguing was going to make him stay put any longer than he had to. At least the worst of it had been seen to. Once they reached Healin, she’d slip out and see if Ward was in today. Tseng might attempt to argue with the good doctor, but odds were he’d fail.
As they stepped out into the waning sunlight, Tseng suddenly stopped short, eyes turning toward the southern sky. The younger Turk was about to question him on the matter, but before she could, the familiar sound met her ears as well, and she quickly followed his gaze.
“Supplies from Junon,” he stated, eyes firmly locked on the tiny specs visible against the clouds.
“Are they headed here?”
“They must be… They’re much too far east to be bound for Edge,” he replied, smiling slightly. “I think, Elena, that we have just found our ride home.”
It was growing dark by the time they found their way to the ruins. Reno hadn’t even realized they’d been on a road at first, it was so ancient and overgrown… but eventually, they began to see the remains of markers, and then small structures.
“The fuck is this place?” Reno asked as they reached the top of cliff, and found themselves gazing out over what was left of a very old city. “And how the fuck did we not see it from the air?”
“Hmph… the valley and the forest must have hidden it,” Rude noted. “… The forgotten city of the Ancients.”
“… You wanna run that by me again?” the redhead asked, one eyebrow rising. Rude snorted softly.
“It’s an old Cetra city. It’s what the people running the Bone Village were looking for, before the mako contamination from the crater ran them out. Supposed to have been the capital city of their empire.”
“Tch… Why do you just randomly know shit like that?”
Rude smirked. “Because some of us spend our free time enriching ourselves instead of playing video games?”
“Fuckin’ nerd,” he responded, teasingly. Reno leaned forward, peering over the top of a large rock, down into the valley. “… Well, fuck me…” he breathed.
“I’ll pass.” His partner quickly joined him, however, and it didn’t take him long to spot what had caught Reno’s eye.
“Rude… Am I seein’ things, or is that like… damn near every kid in Edge?”
They were still some distance off, but the crowd was hard to miss. There was a lot more than just a truckload of children down there. They numbered thirty or forty, easily… and there could be more hidden amongst the trees, for all they knew.
“What could they want with so many of them?” Rude asked. The redhead shrugged. Fuck if he knew… but whatever it was, it probably wasn’t anything good. That, however, was of secondary concern. Reno sought out the masterminds of this little gathering, and eventually spotted two of them near a small lake.
“Found the assholes that nabbed ’em. Don’t see their boss, though. Come on… Looks like they’re busy keepin’ an eye on the kids. Let’s get in a little closer and see if we can’t find a few other prisoners they might be hidin’.”
The pair scrabbled down the small cliff, avoiding the path that led into the city, and skirted the large gathering, keeping to the shadows of the trees. As much as he would have liked to hurry, the last thing Reno wanted to do was get caught in enemy territory. Soon enough, though, they were clear of prying eyes. They could still hear the sounds of uncertain conversation in the distance, and both men kept quiet as they crept from one building to the next, peeking through windows and half-open doors in their search for their missing comrades.
“… Look at this,” Rude said in a hushed tone as they approached the next small building. A heavy lock hung from the door, badly damaged. The redhead hefted it in one hand, pulling it free of the hasp and studying it.
“Shot open,” he replied, just as quietly. He eased the door open, and slipped inside. Rude hurried to follow. The room beyond was empty… but clearly hadn’t been in the recent past. Blood had dried in spatters on one wall and the floor nearby, and a brownish red handprint decorated the arm of a small chair in the corner. Reno had seen that pattern enough times in the interrogation room back at Shinra Headquarters to have a pretty good idea what had caused it and how much force was required to speckle the ceiling with blood as well.
“They wanted information,” Rude said, darkly.
“… And knowin’ Tseng, they didn’t get shit. ‘Lena wouldn’t’ve talked, either.” His eyes narrowed angrily. Those scum were going to pay for hurting her. He turned and headed for the door, only to be brought to a rather abrupt halt as Rude seized him by the shoulder and hauled him back around.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Rude, don’t you fuckin’ try to –”
“There are two of them out there. The third is probably around here somewhere. We know they’ve got Rufus, not to mention all those kids out there. You can’t just get pissed off and walk out there, guns blazing. Think, Reno. It’s what you’re good at. ”
Reno scowled, but backed down. Rude was right. Going on the offensive right now would almost certainly result in them getting their asses kicked. And that was the best case scenario. No… they couldn’t do this alone.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?” Rude asked, following the Turk’s second in command.
“Tch… Where dya think? We’re heading back to Edge. We wanna have any kind of chance at savin’ anyone from these fuckers, we’re gonna need some backup.”
~end chapter 10~
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