(FF7)Left in Shadows(Mortals_Dream+Anjeru)

[Anjeru]

"You have your orders," Tseng was saying, though she was opt to tune the man out. "Sephiroth was said to be spotted in the lands between Cosmo Canyon and Nibelheim. I'm aware that isn't very helpful, but search the area throughally. It is likely the rumor is false, but we cannot allow it to pass if it is indeed true. Understood?" The upwards infliction at the end of his sentence made the novice turk snap back to attention. Tseng's brow rose, "well? Understood or not?"

"I understand," Anje said. "I am curious to know why Rufus has ordered a novice like myself to research into this rumor. If it is true, I know for certain I am no match for the great Sephiroth. I'm likely to be killed."

Tseng shook his head. "Like I told you, it is a 99% chance the rumor is false. There is only a 1% chance of you actually coming face to face with the man. Anyhow, you aren't ordered to aprehend him. Just to verify if he is alive and in the area. We cannot risk him coming after Shinra again. We've just managed to rebuild what was lost."

Anje sighed. "Understood. Tell President Rufus I will follow the order and report in daily. He will know the moment I find the man, if I do." Tseng nodded, "Then off with you. We should not waste time."

She turned and left the briefing room, making her way to her private quarters. Anje hadn't been with the Turks for very long, only a few months, so she wasn't happy to be send on such a delicate mission. If the rumors were true, she knew she could end up dead. No Turk stood a chance against the Great Sephiroth, but she had no choice. The President's order was of the highest rank and she had to follow.

Walking into her room, she grabbed up her keys, her weapons(which consisted of a pair of pistols and a semi-automatic), keycard, and cellphone. Then she left the building they'd established in Junon to make her way to the vessel awaiting her arrival. She boarded the boat and before too long, she was in Costa De Sol and getting into her waiting vehicle.

When she arrived at Cosmo Canyon, she made camp just inside the forest that had been lowered to ground level by Cloud's team when they'd defeated one of the Weapons. Each day, she reported back to Tseng that she had not sighted Sephiroth no matter the distance she traveled.

On the 4th day as she made her way back to camp, she was struck dead in her tracks at the sight that greeted her. The Great Sephiroth was standing in the short, redhead's campsite. His dead, cold eyes were staring directly into her own emerald hues. Her hand shot to grasp onto the pistol concealed on her back; there was no way she could escape now that he'd spotted her.

"You," the man started, "are becoming a nuisance. You are in the way of my plans. I can't have that, now can I? Mother would be most displeased."

Anje knew she was in trouble. "I'm not here to interfere," she reassured, "I was just sent to verify whether or not you were alive."

"That's the problem. If word gets out I'm alive, Cloud" the name was said with clear distaste "and his band of misfits will hunt me down. My plan cannot be at risk of exposure at this time." The man's eyes gleamed maniacally. "Which means now that you have seen me, you must die."

With that said, the general charged her, sword aimed directly for her chest. She managed to dive to the side to avoid the blade and as she rolled to face him, she pulled the pistols from the back of her belt. She tapped the button on her cell that she knew would ring Tseng; he would hear what was going on and inform the president. Cloud and his friends would know, one way or another.

"Sephiroth!" She deliberately said the man's name, knowing Tseng would snap his attention in response. "Even if you kill me, they will find out. You will be stopped!"

"Unlikely," Sephiroth responded. "Now, die!"

Anje fired the pistols but the general was fast, blocking the bullets with the blade he always carried with him. He darted at her again and shouldered her to the ground. As she hit the dirt floor hard, he was quick to shove the sword into her upper left hand shoulder to pin her. She lost grip on her pistols as she fell back and cried out in pain as the blood spurted; she couldn't move as the man hovered over her.

"It's a shame really," he said as he kneeled down and touched her now blood-stained shoulder length hair. "But it can't be avoided."

Anje growled angrilly and spit in the man's face, "kill me if you want! It won't matter!"

He locked his hands around her throat and squeezed, making it so she couldn't breathe. She clawed at his hands, trying desperately to breathe but her vision began to fade. She wheezed and then, everything went black.

(I'm aware this is a long intro. You don't have to post nearly this much. ^^; He takes his sword and leaves her there, thinking she is dead, but she is holding on barely.)

 

[Mortals_Dream]

Vincent leaped through the trees, his powerful legs taking him from tree to tree as easily as any squirrel. He was hurrying through the woods but his dark eyes were still taking in every facet of the land in front of him, searching for the one thing that he had come her to find. He hadn't been ignorant of the rumors of Sephiroth being in this area, and he had even been in the area searching when he had gotten the phone call. Apparently Shinra had lost one of their Turks in the area and she had seen Sephiroth herself. Of course it was hard to tell if that was what she had really seen or if she was just shouting that out of fear, but it had been worth looking into. Vincent didn't care too much about Shinra but the world was finally being put back together and another visit from Sephiroth wouldn't be good for anyone.

His sharp eyes caught sight of something and one hand went down to the large handgun on his belt and drew the weapon. The three barreled weapon tracked across the forest floor until it came to rest on the slender form lying on the forest floor. Blood had stained the grass around the body, the wound the blood had come from obvious on her shoulder. The black haired man kept the weapon on the woman, not for sure if this was the missing or Turk or not. It wouldn't be the first time that he had seen a person playing dead in order to get the drop on a person.

A breath shuddered her chest though, taking a lot of the choice from Vincent's hands. It was go down there and try to save her or watch her die in front of him. The man might seem cold to many people but he still didn't see any point in letting a woman die if he could stop it.

Vincent landed on the ground beside her and flung his cape to the side so that he could kneel beside her without in the way. He reached to his blet and pulled the thing vial of one of the many potions that he carried aroudn with him. It wouldn't heal her wounds completely, that woudl take some time but it would make it so that her recovery woudl be assured. Instead of the sure death that there was now. He tipped the potion down her trhoat, the light green liquid pooling in her mouth and slidding down her throat. Vincent could tell it did her some good, her labored breathes becomeing easier and the sluggish flow of blood stopped.

 

[Anjeru]

The day kept playing through her mind like it was on permanent repeat, the pain slicing through her again and again like Sephiroth was still there, stabbing her repeatedly. The wound the general had inflicted upon her continued to send shock waves of pain throughout her shoulder, arm, and chest. Then there was something cold pouring into her mouth and instinctively, she swallowed the liquid. Almost instantly the pain dulled and she could breathe easier, her chest not falling or rising in sporadic bursts anymore.

She hovered in and out of consciousness, trying to work her way out of the shadows that now envolped her. It took a great deal of time - she wasn't sure how much time passed before she managed to even crack her eyes open. All that came to her were shapes and everything was blurry. She couldn't tell if it was night or day anymore, either. She coughed a little and managed to open her eyess a bit more, a figure kneeling beside her coming into view.

The blurry figure didn't look familiar to her and she tried to push herself up, but she couldn't seem to keep herself up and fell back the mere inch she had managed to push up. "W-who are you?" she managed to ask gently, still feeling a little weak. "Where am I?" Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait! Sephiroth! Where is he?!"

 

[Mortals_Dream]

Vincent looked down at the woman as she began to stir from her unconcious state. It looked like she was finally starting to wake up from her wounds, faster than he figured the potion woudl do on its own. She must be a bit tougher than she looked. Still it was obvious that she wan't going to be going anywhere anytime soon, her wounds still making her too weak to move anytime soon.

"Vincent." The dark haired man said, answering her first question with his normally quick speech. "Sephiroth isn't here anymore if he ever was. Just lay down and rest. You aren't going to be able to do anything about it if he is anyway." Vincent placed his hand on her good shoulder and pushed her back to the ground.

"Your boss was looking for you." Vincent stood to his feet and let hsi gaze look over the trees around them, making sure that there wasn't anythign out there. Sephiroth aside there were plenty of monsters in the area that could take a hurt woman like her easily. In fact it was suprising that it hadn't happened already.

 

[Anjeru]

She groaned but allowed him to push her back down. Vincent, he said was his name. She remembered hearing from the Senior Turks about someone with that name, who used to be one of them before Hojo went mad and experimented on him. "He was here..." she said defiantly as he seemed to question whether or not the General had been there. "Hence why I am in the shape that I am right now." Her head turned to glance about, glad when her eyes landed on the tent she had constructed before Sephiroth had invaded her small camp. "He's up to something, that bastard." She cursed softly, then turned her head to look back at him. "I believe I owe you thanks...even if Tseng did send you, I probably would have died without your help. He got me pretty good." She sighed, trying to push herself up again so she could maybe get to her supplies. "I'm surprised he didn't kill me. He seemed dead set on doing just that."