Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Unforgivable Sinner ❯ Introduction ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

ØPrologue;
The first thought that struck Rain was that she had to see him! She hadn't talked to Sky for at least two years, and then it was only to scream words at him she really, really wished she could take back! Words that should never had been spoken. The Chocobo she'd rented was a real stubborn pain, but she wasn't the one who gave into them blasted feather-brains and tugged the reins with all her might to make it make a left turn, not a right one! The grief of being too late to reach Nibelheim in time tore at her very heart and gave her strength, winning the fight with the big bird. Swallowing back tears, Rain knew she had no other option then to return to Midgar. Now she was truly alone. Her brother had died merely hours before she'd arrived and after that; Rain knew she wasn't very welcome by her brothers widow. And so she began on the long way back to Midgar...
1. Introduction
"Okay, Birdie... which way is Midgar...?" Rain pondered as she gazed at the horizon, slowly realising she wasn't too sure she was on the right track after all. The chocobo seemed more occupied with poking at the grass with it's beak rather then worry on pesky details such as which way to go. The dark haired woman sighed resigned and tugged at the reins again, deciding that by going to the right; she wasn't in any danger of going around in circles yet. Luckily the bird managed to outrun the two monsters they encountered, as the feeble gun hanging at Rain's waist was a thin comfort. Soon she fell into gloomy thoughts about her future and was about to let the tears flooding her eyes run freely in her misery when voices snapped her out of her trance. Pulling at the reins, Rain tried in vain to halt the big bird as she wasn't too sure what kind of people she would meet here in the middle of nowhere! The chocobo, however was in no mood to listen to her and eagerly trotted towards the tiny forrest where the voice came from. "Noo..." Rain muttered in frustration, her arms aching from pulling at the reins, but her eyes quickly darted up from the back of the chocobos head when she heard them.
"Hey, hey, what do we have here, fellas?" A tall man grinned, surrounded by his three friends. ShinRa soldiers. Rain swallowed hard, feeling her skin prickle with nervousness.
"Uhm, hi... I'm just... on my way home. Nice to meet you, buh bye now!" She yanked her chocobo around and dug her heels into it's sides, making the bird jump forward with a startled 'wark'!
One soldier suddenly appeared in front of her and grasped a hold of the reins, "not leaving so soon, pretty girl?"
His smile told Rain she was not going to avoid trouble this time, but she tried to keep from panicking. "I have to. S-someone is waiting for me, so I have to g-go! Now! Let go!"
The other soldiers surrounded her as well, and soon she felt them groping at her legs to pull her down. "No! Stop it!" Rain decided she gave up on staying calm and went into full panic mode; delivering a hard kick in the face of the nearest soldier before pulling her gun and aimed unsteadily at them in turn. "S-stay away from me!"
The soldier who'd fallen over as he received the kick, got up with a murderous glare, while his companions merely laughed at her. "That wasn't very nice, little girl... You're going to make up for that by being very nice to me!" He moved fast, there was a sound as her gun went off and Rain felt her chocobo run off yet hands held her back.
Falling, she saw the world span wildly around, Meteor mocking her from it's place and she heard herself scream...
-
Cid and Vincent watched the Highwind fly away into the horizon; the others would keep the airship to reach the other continents for their lost leader, Cloud, who'd been missing since he'd lost his mind and delivered the black materia to the frozen Sephiroth. The cave had collapsed and they were forced to flee; leaving the numb shell of their friend behind.
Yet, they all believed he was alive. They had to belive he was alive!
Cid began to march, rather determinedly, east-wards.
The former Turk raised his eyebrows a notch and followed; "you have a specific destination?"
Cid shrugged and lit up his cigarette. "Just thought that now we were in the neighbourhood, I'd drop by Rocket Town. Them folks always were the jumpy kind, and now that damn �&/ Meteor is hangin' in the sky; they're probably runnin'round in circles. I AM the chief of that town, y'now!"
He glared over at Vincent, who merely shrugged.
They walked in silence for a while, then, maybe it was the shining bright weather or the need to take their thoughts of the gloomy future that made Vincent feel the urge to poke at Cid's weak point, he cleared his throat innocently before speaking. "It's not... Shera you are worried about, by any chance?"
The words had barely been uttered before the pilot halted abruptly and puffed angrily at his cigarette. "Hell no! As the chief of that town I have a certain responsibility for the "/#(/& people living there! It's just an unfortunate coincidence that Shera lives there, but then she always goes out of her way to &(/& annoy me!"
Cid stomped on and Vincent sighed as he followed again. "I'm quite sure that isn't true." Shera seemed to him like someone completely incapable of doing anyone harm intentionally.
Cid glared irritated over at him and snorted haughtily. "Well, you haven't been living with her for years now, have you?!"
Vincent nodded thoughtfully. "Which brings me to my second question: why is she living in your house?"
Staring intensely at the horizon, Cid shrugged. "When we were assigned to Rocket Town, we decided it would save us time and money as we were working on the space-program. And after that (&$ Shera messed up everything... I don't know. I was too angry to talk to her, and she just... stayed."
Deciding he'd interfered too much with other peoples business, Vincent let the silence fall again, but not without a slight admiration for the woman that had endured Cid's wrath for so long.
Their thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of gun-fire.
-
The two gazed quickly at each other, but at the sound of second scream, both darted towards the sound with weapons ready. By a tiny forrest, four ShinRa soldiers were surrounding a dark haired woman who held a tiny gun in front of her with shivering hands.
"Hey!" Cid called out, "don't they teach you any manners in ShinRa? Be nice to the ladies, fellas!"
Vincent merely pulled forward his shotgun and got ready for trouble.
The soldiers spun around and at the sight of the intruders, the captain paled. "It's AVALANCHE! Fight them, you idiots! Kill them!"
Cid and Vincent barely managed to jump away to avoid the grenade thrown at them. Then the pilot ran in for the kill, while the former Turk kept his distance and let the ShinRa soldiers do the running from the bullets he sent their way.
The incredible loud explosion from the grenade threw Rain off balance, and she felt the ground greet her again. Numbly realising she'd lost her gun, Rain whimpered softly with pained worry.
- Looks like I'm getting to see you again after all, Sky, Rain thought resigned, flinching as she felt someone lightly touch her face. She managed to open her eyes and gathered herself to make out the face that swam into focus. It was a man and his long,jet black hair blocked out the bright sun with silky ease.
"Are you ok...?" She heard him asked in a deep, calm voice, but Rain was unable to answer. Her body simply refused to obey! Her head singing with throbbing pain and it became harder to stay awake.The man gave a slight concerned frown and Rain found that he was really handsome, pale enough to be the angel of death. The world began to swim again and the last thing she remembered were a pair of ruby coloured eyes locked with hers...
-
The woman went limp in his arms and Vincent swallowed hard. She felt too frail and too alive for him to hold so close. He felt a chill down his spine as darkness moved inside him, and wearily realised the monsters were reacting to her warm life. It was pure willpower that enabled him to ignore them, carefully gathering the slender form up in his arms. He could swear he could feel her warmth seeping through the golden metal Hojo had used to replace his arm...
The former Turk coolly ignored the rumbling earth as Cid managed to throw a Earth2 and knock out the final soldier which lead to the pilot discovering that the insane pain currently raging through him came from a bullet wound in his leg. "Damn..." Cid muttered as he saw the blood running. A short silence. "Hey, Vinnie? You don't have any Restore materia, huh?"
"No." A flat answer.
Cid bent his head with a sigh. "Me neither... /&"#$!!! Just my luck!" He forced himself to loosen his white scarf and tied it tightly around his leg, wrily relived that the bullet hadn't hit a few inches higher; damaging his knee. "That oughta hold it together until we get to Rocket Town..." Cid gazed over at Vincent, who was gazing slightly uncomfortably at the woman in his arms, asking curiously; "how is she?"
Vincent quickly looked over at Cid and shrugged; "I think she'll be ok. Just frightened and a light cut above her eyebrow; probably from the fall of her chocobo, but I don't think it's any cause to worry."
Cid shook his head confused. "Wait a (&$# minute! Chocobo? Why do you...?"
His question faded out as Vincents gazed towards the ground: covered in chocobo tracks.
Cid snorted embarrassed and tested how much weight he could put on his wounded leg; "Alright! Fine! So... what are we gonna do'bout her?"
Once again the attention was brought to the limp woman in Vincents arms and there was an awkward silence that the former Turk finally broke; "what is there to... do? We cannot leave her here!"
Cid sighed resigned and got ready for a long, painful trip to Rocket Town. "Alright. Alright. Come on then."
Vincent kneeled down and placed the woman gently on the ground. "One moment. I just want to make sure she wont get cold."
Cid raised his eyebrows surprised as Vincent took of his cape and placed it around the woman before lifting her up again. "My, my, Vince. Didn't know you were such a gentleman!"
Suddenly Vincent heard an echo of a laugh, remembered a flash of mirthful eyes and felt the ghost of a woman's light touch on his arm. And that voice; never knew you were such a gentleman, Vincent! As always, the pain hit him like that very first time, and Vincent closed his eyes briefly as he remembered his own reply; only with you, Lucrecia. I will do anything for you.
Vincent felt the monsters stir inside him again and this time he let them rise to just below the surface of his skin. Their aimless anger felt easier than the feeling of loss and unbearable guilt. He'd do anything for her. Except saving her...
The smirk on Cid's face died when he saw the ice-cold look in Vincents eerie eyes and for the first time could the pilot see traces of... anger in his face?
"I assure you, Mr Highwind, that I am nothing like a gentleman. And it would be very foolish of you to think so." Vincents voice were as cold as his eyes,
Cid merely stood staring after him as he strode off, several seconds passed before the pilot managed to gather himself enough to limp in the same direction.
-
The trip was continued in silence, yet Vincent could feel the pilot's nervous glances at him. It took a lot to make Cid Highwind nervous. Almost as much as it took to make Vincent lose his temper. The woman showed no sign of regaining consciousness, she appeared dead to the world. He wondered idly what she was doing in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a gun which she obviously didn't know how to use.
Vincent was relived to see Rocket Town in the horizon but was unable to keep his thoughts from continuing to wander. The loss of Aeris was still heavy in the air, and Cloud's disappearance was not improving things. Their escape from Junon was the only positive thing that had happened these last days, and by the looks of the ever approaching Meteor; it very well might be the last positive things as well!
They entered the town and headed straight for Cid's house.
"That woman better have that materia," Cid grumbled, leaning heavily on his spear to ease the weight on his wounded leg. He slammed the door open, and hollered; "Shera! Where the �$ are you?"
There was the sound of papers collapsing and a nervous voice squeaked; "I-I'm here, Captain!"
Vincent strode over to the sofa and gently lowered the unknown woman onto the soft cushions. Crouching beside her a few seconds, studying her, he started as he realised his human hand had reached out to stroke away a dark lock of hair from her face. She'd been crying not too long ago, Vincent noted absently, easily recognizing sorrow when he saw it.
"Dammit, woman!" Cid cursed angrily as Shera scrambled into the room. He flopped down on the chair and gingerly examined the blood stained cloth around his wound. "Are you planning on letting me bleed to death?! Get the �$/ Restore materia!"
Shera's eyes widened at the sight of Cid's injured leg and she automatically raised a hand to her heart; "I-I'm sorry! I didn't notice..."
"Shera! Get the damn materia!" Cid interrupted angrily and massaged his temples in irritated motions as she ran off.
Two seconds later, Shera returned with the materia before she nervously walked over to the former Turk and gazed down at the wounded newcomer. "Who is she...?"
Vincent made a faint shrugging movement. "We don't know. On our way here we encountered a group of soldiers hassling her. She fell off her chocobo. We figured we couldn't leave her there."
Fighting off a faint smile, Shera crouched down beside him. "That was... kind of you."
Frowning, Vincent got up and moved away while Shera took a closer look at the injured stranger.
"She will be ok. She just needs some more rest," Shera declared quietly, and gazed up at Vincent. "Would you mind bringing her upstairs? There are two guest rooms there, you can place her in one of them."
The former Turk nodded and gathered the woman in his arms once again. Walking up the stairs, Vincent heard Cid's voice and and Shera's stuttering reply, but merely focused on the task given to him; respecting others privacy as much as he wanted others to respect his. He'd been in Cid's house before and knew which rooms Shera referred to. Managing to open the door closest to the stairs, Vincent walked inside to place the woman on the bed and backed away.
There.
Wait.
Hesitating, he reached out to place a blanket over her. He was never bothered by cold, but knew she might very well be. Shock and a hit to the head would not be made better with a severe cold on top of everything!
Backing away again, Vincent paused once more in the doorway and gazed at her. She was no fighter, that much he was certain about. Her hands were too soft, her arms too slender and her dress certainly unfit for any fighting. So, what would drive a big city girl out into the world of monsters and bad men? (And make her end up in the arms of one who was both?)
Vincent shook of his thoughts, knowing it was no point in wondering. The answers would present themselves soon enough. And with that, he retreated to the other guest room. Would he sleep tonight... Or would the nightmares return again with the taunting sounds of the monsters swirling in his blood...?
-
Everything was soft and warm, and she really didn't want to wake up.
Rain found herself relaxing for the first time in weeks, yet...
Slowly, her eyes opened and focused, as she realised she had no idea where she was. The memory of the soldiers flashed pass her eyes, but everything went blank from the moment she fell of the chocobo. There had been shouting. Bullets flying and explosions.
And a pair of ruby-coloured eyes...
Rain sat up, gasping softly with pain as she then lifted a hand to her aching head. Those eyes... The knock on her head must have made her see things that was not real! Glancing around, she quickly realised she was in somebody's house and not in some jail for attacking those soldiers. Rain got up and tried to make herself somewhat presentable before she made her way out of the room and down the stairs
Voices, a grumbling man and a startled woman.
Peering in, she saw a brown haired woman put a few cups in the sink, gather herself before turning to face the blonde man by the table. "Tea, Captain?"
Rain blinked puzzled, glancing over at the man who was rubbing his face tiredly.
Captain? She could tell by his muscular back and strong arms that he could easily be an army captain, but something about his impatient posture told her that was not the case.
The blonde man nodded testily, "Yes, yes. Y'now I always have my #$& morning tea!"
My, someone was grumpy in the morning! Rain watched as the woman quickly moved over to pour the warm water into a cup she'd placed in front of the blonde, and found herself wondering how she would make her presence known. It would appear that her patrons was not out to harm her or Rain figured she'd be dead instead of placed in a warm bed.
However, before she could say or do anything, the woman glanced up from her tea-pouring and noticed her. Rain smiled carefully. "Good morning."
At least she figured it was morning...
The woman gave a friendly smile and signaled towards a chair by the table. "Morning! You want some tea?"
Rain gave a barely noticeable nod and walked over to the chair. "Yes, please, if it's not too much trouble."
The blonde man, a ruggedly handsome man at that, placed his cup down and waved her words off. "Of course not! Now... I'm Cid. That there is Shera."
Sitting down, Rain managed another nervous smile; "I'm called Rain." She accepted the cup Shera gave her, thanked and took a sip before continuing; "I'm afraid I don't remember much of what happened..."
Cid leaned back and lit up a cigarette. "Well, me'nd Vinnie just heard ya screamin' and found ya surrounded by some #&$& ShinRa soldiers!"
Cid watched her cautiously as Rain frowned slightly; "yes, those soldiers... " She then smiled weakly to Cid, "I guess I should explain, huh?"
Cid nodded with a shrug as he tipped the ashes of his cigarette; "wouldn't hurt."
Everybody started as the entrance door opened, but it was only a well-known, red-caped figure that entered and Shera exhaled relived; "Vincent. Would you like some tea as well?"
The former Turk shook his head silently, "no, thank you."
-
Rain was staring mesmerized at the shadowed figure, having already abandoned the image of ruby eyes, jet-black hair in silky, long lengths and pale skin to a concussion and a vivid imagination. Yet, the man obviously called Vincent was very much real.
A red cape and his red bandana, aided by his long and disarrayed hair, hid most of him from vision as well as making his eyes more prominent. The sun glinted of something gold and Rain was startled to see a golden glove of some sort on his hand. The long fingertips like deadly claws. She noticed his wary eyes caught her looking and Rain felt a blush enter her cheeks. It wasn't polite to stare, much less ogle openly.
Cid signaled for Vincent to have a seat at the table as well, and sighed irritated when he declined that as well. "Well, Rain here was just about to tell us what she was doing in the middle of nowhere with them �$ ShinRas!"
Vincent merely nodded and Rain shifted uneasily before starting, eager to find something else to focus on. "Uhm, you see... I work at this bar at Midgar, but then I got word that my brother was ill and I had to go to Nibelheim and see him. Only... when I got there... he... " She hastily wiped away a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye with her sleeve and sniffled, the memory of her brother still an open, bleeding wound. "Anyway, I had no choice but to return to Midgar. That was when I ran into that ShinRa patrol. They wouldn't let me pass and kept throwing these suggestions..."
Cid snorted angrily and waved the cigarette to underline his words. "I tell ya, those #&$ ShinRa soldiers are nothing but trouble!"
Vincent frowned slightly. "It's not safe to travel alone. Specially for someone who'd never been out of the big city."
Rain blinked surprised as she gazed up at the silent figure. "How did you know this was my first time here?"
Cid grinned and lifted his tea-cup with a smug look. "You were going in the wrong direction."
Rain moved her attention over to him and once again looked utterly puzzled. "I was?"
"Yupp. Midgar is the other way. You were heddin' fer Rocket Town." Cid sipped to his hot tea.
Rain felt like a complete idiot, knowing she was about beet-red now.
And so it was decided that Rain would stay with Shera until the final battle was over and they could make sure she actually got to Midgar. It was really Shera that insisted, but all objections was quickly silenced.
-
Vincent was silently polishing his gun as he was sitting by the window when Cid's PHS rang. Cid jumped up from his chair as he was told Tifa and the others actually had found Cloud, in bad shape, and the Highwind were comming to get Cid and Vincent. The pilot instantly began loading up on his precious cigarettes, while Vincent merely gazed up at Meteor. Time was starting to run out. Maybe he deserved to die, but there were so many innocent souls on the Planet that did not. He'd not been able to save himself; but maybe he could save them? Maybe everything wouldn't be in vain...? Without taking his eyes of the burning Meteor, Vincent clicked shells into his gun and placed it into the holster.
The pupils in ruby eyes dilated as the Meteors burning tail was reflected in them, and Vincent tensed.
- Look at the pretty colours! All consuming fire! Burn! Burn EVERYTHING!
The former Turk shuddered and turned his face away from the window, forcing the Galiant Beast silent.
"I've never thanked you." A voice spoke up and Vincent glanced at the woman beside him.
Rain gave a careful smile.
He merely got up abruptly and walked pass her. "No need, I assure you."
Darkness was shifting inside him and Vincent forced himself to walk out into the sunshine he felt he didn't belong in. Never peace. Always fighting. Vincent closed his eyes, knowing he deserved the punishment, but sometimes it simply wore him down.
"Ready, Vince?"
"As always. Then I can assume the Highwind will be here shortly?" He glanced over as the pilot stepped out beside him.
Cid exhaled a grey cloud while staring at the sky. "Yepp, my baby should be here in no time!"
Silence fell over them, and Vincent didn't mind it. He found himself more comfortable in silence as conversation was not his strongest side. People-skills were not among his strongest sides even when he was somewhat human. Perhaps that was why he'd ended up in the Turks... He was never good at chatting, but then again; few were as deadly with a gun as he was. Among the Turks, that was all that mattered.
Fifteen minutes later they heard the distant sound of the Highwind, and Cid gathered up his things. "Time to go!" He gave a weak grin to Vincent. "Ya think Spikey is messed up bad? Or should I say worse...?"
Vincent kept his ruby eyes on the approaching airship. "We'll find out soon enough." He reached out and caught a hold of the rope-ladder that was tossed down to them, motioning for the pilot to go first.
-
They climbed on board without greater difficulties, but the news was not good. Cloud's mind was somewhere no one could reach him, and Vincent shuddered at the empty look in the Mako eyes. Then Cait Sith revealed that ShinRa was now after the four Huge Materias, planning to use them against Meteor. Barret went into an amazing cursing-seizure when learning that the ShinRa was planning on ruining Corel to get one of the Huge Materias.
Cid had to shout to gain his attention; "�$!!! Barret! Shut up! We're not going to let ShinRa get their filthy hands on that Materia!"
Yuffie raised her eyebrows and gazed quizzically over at the pilot. "We're not?"
Cid walked over to the young man piloting the Highwind and began instructing him for their immediate travel to the small mining-town. Vincent was not thrilled about leaving Tifa with the apathetic Cloud, but she was the first to point out that he would help more by aiding the others than baby-sitting her. The former Turk cast a final glance at the man who'd awakened Vincent from his nightmares, and found himself hoping for a miracle. Vincent Valentine hadn't hoped for so many years he'd almost forgotten what it felt like...
Of course they were too late to stop the ShinRa train when at their destination, but then Cid got his hands on another train and they set off to catch the one with course for Corel. After a nerve-wrecking train-ride, they actually got a hold of the Huge Materia and Vincent was re-acquainted with another feeling; nausea. Maybe Cid Highwind was the expert on things in the air, trains should be kept a long distance away from him!
Keeping silent, he closed his eyes briefly as he tried to tell his insides that the world had stopped shaking and the clanging sounds of rails were figments of his imagination!
Hearing Cid voice his concern over a certain blonde, Vincent agreed in a somewhat steady voice and it was decided that they would return to Mideel and check on Cloud and Tifa. Arriving there, they barely had time to talk to the depressed Tifa, when a WEAPON decided to attack, and Vincent felt a shiver of fascination at the sight of the huge monster... No sooner had they chased it away, when Cid declared things couldn't get worse, then the life-stream began breaking through the surface!
-
After a long nap, Rain soon found herself restless and wandered down to check if she could help with anything. She found Shera with her nose into some blue-prints and peered over her shoulder. "What is it?"
Starting, Shera glanced quickly back her before giving a friendly smile. "It's a new solar-driven plane!"
And before Rain really had the chance to say anything, Shera began rambling about the plane and it's supremeness to anything made in their day! Nodding and smiling, Rain let her talk while politely trying to listen. Half of the words she had no idea what meant, and the other half gave Rain the impression that Shera had to be some kind of airplane genius!
Waving off the compliment with an embarrassed huff, Shera blushed and stared down at the papers again, "I'm hardly any mechanic virtuoso, that would be the Captain!"
Rain sat down on a chair by the table, looking thoughtfully at the scribbles on the papers that meant nothing to her, "Captain...? That would be Cid, right?"
Fidgeting with her pencil, Shera nodded without taking her eyes off the blue-print; her pony-tail bouncing with her movements, "Captain Cid Highwind, that is correct."
Raising an eyebrow at the formal tone, Rain shifted innocently in her seat. "So... you two live together, huh?" She received another nod and Rain studied her nails even more innocently. "You two... close?"
Starting violently, Shera dropped her pen and stared wide-eyed at her from behind her glasses. "W-what?!"
Laughing silently, Rain shrugged. "It's obvious you got the hots for him, Shera!"
Turning beet-red, Shera shook her head even more franticly than before. "There is n-nothing going on between me and the Captain!"
All thanks to Cid, no doubt, Rain thought with faint amusement. "Why not?"
"It w-would hardly be appropriate!" She gathered her papers nervously and huffed aggitated.
Growing up and living in Midgar had taught Rain one thing; if you want something, you have to fight for it! Picking up the pen from where it had fallen to the floor, Rain handed it to the flushed Shera. "I'm getting a bit restless. Can I help with something?"
Blinking surprised, Shera gave a careful smile. "You're our guest. And you were hurt! You should rest!"
It was clear that she was not used to people offering to help, but Rain knew she would go insane if she wasn't put to work soon. Her life in Midgar started before the sun rose and ended long after it set, she was not used to sitting idly by while other did all the work. And one more hour staring up at Meteor would surely put her into a serious depression! "I want to help," Rain assured. "Please? Consider it my gratitude for your kindness and let me repay you in taking dishes and vacuuming!"
Laughing silently, Shera hoisted her papers slightly, wrinkling her nose as her glasses slid. "There's really no need. But I recognize restlessness when I see it...! I'm sure we can think of something for you to do!"
A little housework and some futile mechanic lessons later, a ruckus made the two women exit the house. A caravan of ShinRa soldiers were making steady progress over to ShinRa nr 26, and Rain saw Shera pale.
"Oh no... The rocket!" Shera whispered, then bolted out of the house before Rain had the chance to stop her.
"Shera! No! Wait!" Rain cried out, running after her, "Shera!"
Arms went around her and halted her abruptly, and Rain kicked furiously at the soldier holding her back, "let me go, you idiot!"
"Sorry, miss, no one is allowed near that rocket! Orders, you see," the soldier explained flatly, carrying her back to the house easily despite her struggling.
Rain strained to see if some soldier had gotten hold of Shera, "but you don't understand! She's not going to let you take it!"