The New Turk

The New Turk

(This is my first fiction, so please be gentle...
This story is also A/U. Extremely Alternative Universe, with some sameness to the Final Fantasy VII game.
First of all... AVALANCHE is doing only ‘small time’ crimes, like Sector Seven and Mako Reactor blow-outs and such.
This is a Turks/Shin-Ra story. I will TRY to keep the Turks in character, as well as the ‘heros’ of AVALANCHE when the Turks run into them.
Yes, the first few chapters are those that are needed for every good story, I think some call it ‘build up’ but I call it a pain in the ass...
And Yes, to all those who inquire, I have permission from the person who ‘owns’ the character of Sephiroth’s Twin, and she allowed me to use her character. Her only request... was to change the name, so voila! Sephirena.
Okay, enough of my senseless rambling... on to my fiction. As horrible as it may end up being.

In the Past... ((Long Before the timeline of Final Fantasy VII))

The eighteen year old female stood at the entrance of the huge Shin-Ra tower, her head thrown back as she looked up towards the top of the massive building. Her long silver hair was tied back in a long, thick braid, and her light blue-green mako fueled eyes were shining even in the dingy air of Midgar. She wore a tight, white tee shirt and a pair of black, long pants with boots. Over her clothes, she wore a dark black long trench coat.
She took a deep breath and walked towards the door of the infamous Shin-Ra tower. Today, she wanted to get a job, but not just any job, she wanted to be a Turk.

“Pardon me... where are the Turk Recruits suppose to go?” Her gentle, sweet voice rang out like honey, with a deadly poisonous sounding undertone.

“60th floor.” The secretary spook, her shoulder holding a phone, her fingers racing along on the keyboard.

The young woman went to the elevator and pressed the ‘up’ button. Then she took a step back and waited for the elevator to arrive.

“Hello... where are you going?” A deep voice thickened with an accent spoke to the woman.

“60th floor...” The woman spoke, turning around to see a dark skinned, dark haired man standing beside her. This man was dressed in a long sleeve shirt, buttoned up along the chest. The woman smiled, imaging the perfectly tanned, chiseled chest that lay underneath. The man wore a pair of nicely fitting black jeans. His shoulder length black hair was parted directly down the middle and shiny and almost perfectly kept.

“Same with me.” The nineteen year old Tseng spoke in his Wutan accented voice again, “Name is Tseng Wulong.”

The woman held out her hand, “I am Sephirena.”

“Do you have a last name Sephirena?” Tseng said, taking her hand and shaking it.

“I am not sure” Sephirena smiled, looking at the young man’s dark brown eyes and dark skin.

“I am terribly sorry, I did not mean to insult...” Tseng said as the elevator arrived at the bottom floor, he allowed her to enter the small chamber first.

“No, you did not insult me.” Sephirena assured him as she pushed the button for the sixth floor.

The two were the only two in the small elevator compartment. They remained silent for a few floors.

“So... how old are you Tseng?” Sephirena asked him, eyeing him out of the corner of her eye.

“I am nineteen.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from? Your accent is very...” Sephirena looked down, afraid that she had said something wrong.

“You mean sexy? I have heard that a lot... but no, I do not mind... I come from the village of Wutai on the northern side of the Eastern Continent.” Tseng said, catching the young woman’s eye and blushing a bit.

“Interesting...” Sephirena said, smiling a bit.

“Yes, but I’d rather not talk about that... tell me, where are you from? I detect a hint of an accent in your voice as well.” Tseng said, thinking of his past.

“I was born in Midgar and then sent as a young, young baby to Mideel, where I was adopted.” Sephirena said, “So the accent you hear is Southern Continent.”

Tseng looked up at the number as they went up slowly, marking the floors they were passing. It currently read twenty four.

“So, do you mind if I ask you something?” Tseng asked.

“Sure...”

“Why do you want to be a Turk?”

“The man I believe to be my biological father was a Turk, and I believe he died saving me, sending me to Mideel to live. I want to live up to what he did.”

“I see... who do you believe was your father?” Tseng said, engrossed in this young woman’s story.

“I believe it was Vincent Valentine... but I have also heard that my father is Dr. Eugene Hojo.”

“I... I see, so you are related to the young Sephiroth?” Tseng asked, everyone who traveled in either Junon or Midgar knew of the nineteen year old Sephiroth, who was already a First Class SOLIDER.

“Yes, he, in theory, is my twin brother.”

“I can honestly see the family resemblance.” The young Wutan chuckled.

“As do I... and I believe that if I become a Turk, I can look up some information in my spare time.” Sephirena looked at the number, it was only thirty eight now, they must have gotten the slowest elevator in the whole building.

“Enough of that...” Tseng said, feeling that talking of the strong, wondrous Sephiroth was causing this woman to be stressed. “Do you know what we are in for as Turk Recruits?”

Sephirena shook her head, causing her braid to flail a bit. Tseng, joking as a teenager did, ducked and laughed, “Watch it!”

“Sorry...” Sephirena laughed. “But no, I do not what is in store for us.”

“I have heard horror stories about it. Long hours, bad food and tough, non-stop training.”

“Trying to scare me, are you Mr. Wulong?”

“No need for formalities, if anything, you are about my age... but yeah, I am trying to scare you... did it work?”

“No, as for the training, I say, bring it on, I can do it.”


Tseng smiled, “Not many women have made it through the training.”

Sephirena looked at him sternly, “I am going to make it through if it kills me, this is all I have wanted to do for my entire life.”

Tseng was thrown back, “Wow, you have heart and drive for this job. I really hope that you make it through.”

“Tseng, if I make it through training, I am dragging you with me.” Sephirena grinned at him, “I have heard that having a friend in the training helps.”

Tseng extended his hand, “Friend then?”

Sephirena grabbed his hand in a firm grip, “Friend.”

***

The two new Turk Recruits stood in an office on the 60th floor, waiting with five other hopeful Turk Recruits, waiting on the Turk who would show them what they would do.

Sephirena glanced around, besides herself and Tseng, there was a young man about twenty five with shortly kept greenish black hair and he was dressed in a tee shirt and pants, Sephirena guessed that he wasn’t as strong as the others by the look of him.

Then there was a woman who looked almost thirty, wearing lime green sweats, Sephirena wondered what she was doing trying to be a Turk, since this woman looked as if she was going shopping.

There was another man that looked only twenty two, with blonde hair, and he was wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt, Sephirena looked at the too pale man, thinking that he couldn’t make it through the training.

There was yet another ‘woman’ who looked as if she was only sixteen, and had long stunning strawberry blonde hair, immaculately kept, and she wore a stunning lavender top with rhinestones, and low slung jeans with high heeled boots. Sephirena could tell just by looking at her that she would last only four hours or less, this prep wasn’t strong, and looked as if she would quit as soon as she broke one of those nicely done nails. Inside, Sephirena wondered if she maybe thought that she was trying out to be a secretary to the President or something.

The last man in the room was a man with a short buzzed haircut, his skin was the color of dark chocolate and he was tall and thin. Sephirena guessed that he was strong, because his muscles could be seen through his short sleeved shirt. This man also wore jeans.

“I’m slightly nervous.” Sephirena said.

“So am I...” Tseng nodded.

Just then, the leader of the Turks, one Mr. Sean Morgan.

“Greetings, young cadets.” Mr. Morgan spoke to the handful of young adults, “Today is the beginning of your hell, if you make it through these four weeks of intense training, you will become one of the elite of all Shin-Ra, a Turk.”

Sephirena glanced around the room, the young girl seemed to shiver at the sound of such training. Even the men seemed afraid. But not Sephirena, she was looking forward to it, she had wanted to be a Turk all her life. She glanced at Tseng, and by the look she got, she could tell that he too was looking forward to it.

“I will tell you now...” Mr. Morgan was saying, “It isn’t going to be fun, nor is it going to be easy... in fact, only two of the seven here will make it through.”

Sephirena looked out of the corner of her eye, and saw that Tseng was looking at her. She almost understood what he was thinking, she wanted him to be a Turk with her.

“Also...” Mr. Morgan continued, “If at anytime you give up, want to quit or whatever you happen to call it, just say so or get up and leave, nobody here will think of you any different. Don’t think of it how much you failed, but think of this as how much of this difficult training you finish.”

Mr. Morgan frowned and had the young recruits line up, so he could see them one by one, as if they were pieces of meat.

First up, Mr. Morgan looked over the older woman, the thirty year old who was wearing the sweats. “Name?”

“Judy Lawn.”

“Call me Sir.” Mr. Morgan replied.

“Judy Lawn, Sir.”

“And how old are you Lawn?”

“Thirty three, Sir.”

“And why do you want to be a Turk?”

“I want to become stronger, Sir.”

Mr. Morgan laughed heartily, “That is the wrong idea when you are with the Turks, Lawn.” With that, Mr. Morgan moved on to the darker man with the short hair. “Name?”

“Randolph Moore, sir.”

“Age?”

“Twenty four Sir.”

“And why do you want to be a Turk, Moore?”

“Because they are respected and strong, Sir.”

Mr. Morgan shook his head and moved on to the next man, the one with the green-black hair, “Name?”

“Norton McCurtous. Sir.”

“Age McCurtous?”

“Twenty three Sir.”

“And why do you want to become a Turk?”

“I want to protect the president and uphold the law”

Mr. Morgan turned towards the pale, blonde man. “Name?”

“Jordan Ivy Sir.”

“Age?”

“Twenty one Sir.”

“And why do you want to become a Turk, Ivy?”

“Turks are the cream of the crop, high on the hog of life Sir.”

Mr. Morgan turned toward the nicely dressed girl. “Name?”

Sephirena saw that the girl looked as if she was going to cry, “Ashlee World, s...sir.”

“Age World?”

“I...I... am eighteen.”

“World, you lie, how old are you?”

This time, a tear escaped from her eye, smudging her make-up ever so slightly. “I am seventeen sir.”

“Yes, you are... why are you here? I cannot allow you to continue if you are under the age of eighteen.”

“I am aware sir, but please let me try to go through the training.” The young girl begged.

“Sir!” Lawn spoke.

“Yes Lawn?”

“Let her try it, I bet she will be gone by the end of today.”

“Yes, and you will be gone by tomorrow, do not talk unless you are spoken to, Lawn, and that goes for all of you.” Mr. Morgan spoke, then he turned back to the young girl, “If you make it through the first week, I will request from the president that we allow you to join...”

World just nodded.

Mr. Morgan then turned to Tseng, Sephirena watched him out of the corner of her eye.

“Name?” Mr. Morgan spoke.

“Tseng Wulong sir.” Tseng’s voice was calm and cool, his ever present accent thick.

“Age?”

“Nineteen Sir.”

“And why do you want to be a Turk?”

“It is a demanding job that I feel that I can push my body to do everyday.”

Mr. Morgan nodded, “Good...good...” Then the man turned to Sephirena.

“Name?”

“Sephirena Sir.” Her voice was strained, nervous but full of confidence.

“No last name?”

“Sir, I am not sure.”

“Then tell me what you think it is.”

“Valentine, Sir.”

“Valentine? Vincent Valentine? Oh... I see, you are Sephiroth’s kin, very well, but don’t think that it is going to grant you extra special treatment, Valentine.”

“I am not expecting that Sir.”

“Good, now, why do you want to be a Turk?”

“It is in my blood and the only job I was born to do Sir.”

Mr. Morgan nodded and looked over his recruits. “Follow me,” He spoke, leaving the room, “And Valentine,” He pointed to Sephirena, “Remember, no special treatment.”

***

Mr. Morgan lead the group up to the sixty fourth floor.

“Here is where you will get your clothing, solid blue jumpsuits that you are to wear everyday in training.” Mr. Morgan lead them to a room on the sixty first floor. “You will be allowed every other day to wash your uniform, and at that time, you will be given something to wear. You will also be given four pairs of skivvies, five pairs of socks, and a pair of shoes to wear, along with two sports bras for the women. Collect your things and meet me in the cafeteria down the hallway in one hours time, at exactly o’ eight hundred.”

With that, Mr. Morgan left the group to collect their things and talk.

“I do hope that my jumpsuit matches my hair.” World was saying.

“I don’t think she will last very long,” Tseng mumbled, standing in the line for the gentleman.

Each person was given a paper to fill out, with their sizes and such on it.

Tseng and Sephirena sat next to each other and filled out their papers.

Tseng couldn’t help it, he had to look at her paper and see her size.

Sephirena smirked at him, “Reading over my shoulder are you?”

Tseng nodded, “Sorry...”

“No need to apologize... really,” Sephirena stood up and took her sheet to get her jumpsuit.

Tseng smiled as the few numbers floated in his head, ‘Bust 36D, waist 30 and hips 34.’ He filled out his paperwork and went to retrieve his own items.

***

Twenty minutes later, Sephirena, Tseng and the older lady named Judy sat in the cafeteria.

“So, Sephirena, what do you think will be the most fun?” Tseng asked.

“Taking a guess, it will either be handgun training or pepper spray day.”

“You mean when they spray you in the face with mace?”

“Yes, and you are a poet and didn’t know it... but I mean, if World is still with us, I’d gladly take a face full of pepper spray as long as I got to see her do it as well.”

Tseng nodded, and the two continued to chat as the other recruits joined them. At exactly o’ eight hundred, Mr. Morgan walked into the cafeteria. “This is where you will be eating your meals, whatever we give you, no questions. I personally see everything that is made under this roof, so I know that, even though the meals don’t look very good, and aren’t delicious, they are good for you.”

Mr. Morgan turned to look at all of the recruits that sat, holding their bundles in front of them. “How told you that you maggots could sit down?”

Sephirena, Tseng and everyone else shot up.

“Now, stand against the wall.” Mr. Morgan pointed. Like well trained dogs, everyone obeyed. They all held their bundles and stood with their backs against the wall.

“Now,” Mr. Morgan spoke, “Every day of the training will be this way, you will wake up at four hundred hour, breakfast will be by five hundred, and then training will begin at six hundred. Training will run until eleven hundred, then you will be allowed an hour for lunch, then back to training at twelve hundred. You will then be trained until o’ sixteen hundred hour, where you will be allowed to eat dinner, then you will train until twenty hundred hour, then you will have an hours worth of free time before lights out. Do you have any questions?”

World lifted her hand, “Sir?”

“World?”

“What ever happened to four a.m. and four p.m.? I don’t get this sixteen hundred hour crap.”

Mr. Morgan looked at the young woman, who seemed to be terrified of him. “It is military training time, get use to it, or else you are going to be in a lot of trouble. Now, for the rest of you, onward to your chambers.”

Mr. Morgan showed the group out of the cafeteria and towards four small rooms, each with two beds in them. “Partners in each room,” He looked up, “Okay... genders mean nothing in here, so don’t be shocked if you end up in a room with someone of the opposite gender.” Mr. Morgan looked around at the group of young cadets. “Valentine and Wulong... you are in room one.”

Sephirena glanced at Tseng, silently thanking Shiva for sharing a room with someone she knew and not World.

“World and Lawn, room two.” Mr. Morgan was saying, “Moore and McCurtous in room three.” He looked at the last boy, “Ivy, you are in a room by yourself, but don’t think that it means that you’ll get any special treatment.”

Ivy nodded, “Yes Sir.”

Mr. Morgan looked at the seven recruits that stood there, “That is the end of it training today. Tomorrow we start with the hard stuff, if you try on your uniforms and find them not to fit, go back to the room and tell them. You may have full run of the 64th floor as well, which is the work out and common room. Here are your cards, but keep in mind that you cannot go beyond the sixty fourth floor.”

Sephirena took her key-card and looked at Tseng. Tseng looked at her.

Mr. Morgan nodded and left, leaving the recruits by themselves on the sixty fourth floor.

Tseng opened the door to their room, “I am going to get settled.”

Sephirena nodded, “Good idea.” She too entered their room, she shut the door behind her.

***

“Do you mind if I try on this stuff? To make sure it fits?” Sephirena asked, holding up her uniform.

“Sure, I’ll turn around, to give you some privacy.” Tseng said, he had already unpacked their allotted one bag of personal items.

“Thanks.”

Tseng turned around and hid himself from the woman, which, he guessed, was naked by the sound of rustling fabrics. “Is it safe for me to turn around now?”

“Yes, and it fits.” Sephirena said.

Tseng turned around and saw Sephirena was in a pair of shorts and a white tee shirt.

Tseng also noticed that she had killer legs, but that was the male in him. He smiled, “What are you going to do?”

“I think I’m going to work out a bit, then eat something, then maybe relax before training tomorrow...” Sephirena said, grabbing one of the two white towels that hung on the back of their door. “Maybe wash my stuff so it won’t be so itchy...”

Tseng nodded, “Washing those sound like a good idea... wait for me, I’ll join you in the gym if you want me to.”

“Sure... I want to see what I am up against.” Sephirena smiled then turned her body and exited the room.

Tseng felt his breath leave his body. It was going to be hard, Turk training, and on top of that, sharing a room with Sephirena. But, he thought, it’s better than sharing it with any one of the other recruits.

***

When Tseng entered the gymnasium he noticed that Sephirena was lifting weights, bench pressing. He wore a long black pair of shorts and a plain grey tee shirt. He walked over to Sephirena.

“How much you lifting Sephirena?”

“Fifty.”

“Just fifty?”

“I am trying to lift more, shut up.” She stopped her reps and sat up to look the Wutan in the eye. “Like you can lift more?”

“I think I can.” Tseng smiled.

“Prove it, I think I can outdo you anyday.” Sephirena wiped some sweat covered bangs out of her face and stared at Tseng as she stood up, motioning towards the weights.

“Gladly.” Tseng lay down and wrapped his hands around the weight. Fifty pounds, he thought, no sweat. He pushed against the weights and they barely moved at first, then he managed to really pump them.

“Wow.” Sephirena said after Tseng got done with his reps. “Now what do you want to do?”

Tseng smiled, “How about if we work on our legs then?”

The two continued working out until almost noon, and didn’t notice that Mr. Morgan and Mr. Valentine were watching them.

“So, she is your daughter then Vincent?”

“I am not sure, Lucrecia never told me.” Vincent hid his metal arm, he was the head of development, a desk job, since he had been reanimated.

“She is using your last name.” Mr. Morgan said.

“I am aware, but I doubt she wants to use the last name Hojo... I don’t blame her.” Vincent said, watching her work out.

“So, what am I going to do about this?” Mr. Morgan looked at the former Turk- now office worker of Shin-Ra.

“Don’t go soft on her, she looks as if she has heart and really wants this job.” Vincent said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me... I must go finish some reports.”

“Yes Sir.”

***

Sephirena and Tseng sat in the cafeteria at lunch time. Tseng had some noodles and fruit, Sephirena had a cheese burger and tomato juice.

“That was a good workout Tseng...” Sephirena said, adding a pinch of salt to her burger.

“Yes, it was, and I am going to be sore for the next month.” Tseng said.

“Because of just today’s workout or the whole Turks training?” Sephirena laughed, bringing her burger up to her mouth.

“The whole thing, but it is going to be so worth it.” Tseng rolled some noodles around his fork.

Mr. Morgan, Mr. Valentine and two other Turks came into the cafeteria to get their meals.

“Tseng... I really am going to try my hardest to get that prized blue suit.” Sephirena said after chewing a bite, and eyeing the Turks.

“Me too... man, I’d love to be a full fledged Turk one day.” Tseng smiled.

Vincent glanced over at Sephirena and wondered if he was her father or not. That was the one thing that Hojo never told him, who the father of the now infamous Sephiroth was... but he always guessed it was himself. Sephirena even had some of his features, his nose, his lips... but her eyes, those were her mothers.

“Earth to Vincent...” one of the other Turks spoke to him.

“Sorry, distracted.”

***

Sephirena and Tseng were in the small room that was full of washers and dryers.

Sephirena had convinced Tseng that they could save money if their clothes were washed together, and he let her wash his uniform.

Tseng sat on an unused washer, reading something in Wutanese, Sephirena was sitting beside him, reading her own book.

When one of the other recruits walked in.

World.

Sephirena saw movement out of the corner of her eye and she looked up. “Greetings World.” She spoke to the girl.

“Hi, what are you two up to?” Ashlee seemed overly cheery and perky.

“Washing our uniforms so they won’t be so itchy and stiff tomorrow.” Sephirena said.

“Oh... did you happen to see the underwear they gave us? Hideous.” Ashelee held up a pair of the solid white granny-panty type things.

“Yes, mine are washing in the washer over there...” Sephirena pointed.

“He doesn’t talk much, does he?” Ashlee World looked at Tseng.

“I talk, just when there is someone to talk to...” Tseng glanced up from his book.

“Well... you guys have to SHARE a room, that sucks, at least I get to share a room with a female. An old one at that...” Ashlee didn’t notice that the two had returned to their books in an effort to hide from her. “But I think I can make it through the training. But that room... ugh, plain white walls, it needs some color... or something.”

“Look, Ashlee, I am glad that you wish to chit chat, but I really would like to finish this book and then return to my room... if you don’t mind.” Tseng said.

“Fine then,” World stuffed her clothes in a washer, all of them, the dark blue uniform, the white underpants and socks and bras, in one washer and set it on hot water. She slammed the lid shut and walked out of the room.

“I didn’t mean to piss her off...” Tseng mumbled.

“I think it worked very well though.” Sephirena grinned, “So what are you reading?”

“Great Poems by Wutan Masters.” Tseng looked at her, “It’s in Wutanese...”


“Now that is something I’d like to learn...”

“What? Wutanese?”

“Yeah, I’d like to learn it, you know, to either travel or just for fun.”

“I can teach you if you’d like...” Tseng offered.

“Could you?”

“Yeah, during our free time... and every Sunday, when we get the day off.”

“I didn’t know that we got Sunday’s off from training.” Sephirena thought.

“Yeah, more of a free day to relax and revamp ones body, I guess... but would you like to learn Wutanese?”

“Yes that would be fun.” Sephirena said, just as the washer turned off, the one that held their uniforms. She jumped off the washer and went over to throw the clothes in the dryer.

***

It was almost eight in the evening, and Sephirena sat down on her cot and was writing in a book. Tseng had just came back from hanging out with the guys at the gym, and saw her writing.

“What are you doing Sephirena?”

“I’m writing.”

“What?” Tseng sat beside her and tried his hardest to grab the book, “A diary?”

Sephirena pulled the book away from him, “No, it’s a journal, I am going to keep it throughout training as a moral booster and something to keep my mind off the pain.”

“Is there anything about me in there?” Tseng continued to fight her for the book.

“Yes, but nothing bad, it’s all ‘Tseng is my roommate’ and things. Trust me, this is PG rated.”

Tseng smiled, “Sure it is... We have to get up early tomorrow... I’m going to grab a shower and go to bed, alright?”

“I had a shower already.” Sephirena said, showing Tseng her wet braid.

“Do you always keep your hair in a braid?” Tseng joked, grabbing his towel and his sleep pants.

“It keeps it out of the way, yes.” Sephirena said, folding her book up and going to her small trunk to get her sleep wear.

Tseng nodded and left, leaving Sephirena to dress into her pajamas, pretty but plain, red long pants and tee shirt.

She was almost asleep when her keen ears heard Tseng enter the room from his shower. “What time is it Tseng?”

“Eight fifteen.”

Sephirena laughed, “Military time...don’t forget it.”

Tseng chuckled and Sephirena could tell by the sound that he was laying down, the rustling of his bed clothes could be heard. “It’s o’ twenty fifteen hours then... did I say that right?”

Sephirena nodded sleepily, “I think you did...”

Then there was silence.


((Thank you, review if you want to... I don't care!))