high voltage

Clutching her wounded side, Tifa looks up with cheeks marred by dirt and drying blood. She gasps, her body almost shooting away from the Turk. Her attempt is not successful --instead, she winces in pain as blood seeps through her fingers. Having encountered her fair share of fights, Tifa knew when her body is at its limit. Now is one of those times; when pain tears through her being and her vision is shaken.

However, he could hear the troops calling out, knowing they would show up and see what is happening. For that he must improvise.

Tifa’s plead wasn’t left unnoticed as the Turk motions his free hand into the open collar of his jacket to take out a potion. He shifts his position so his hand is hidden behind his form and right in front of Tifa. The potion disintegrates as soon as its contents are released, in the process of healing the brawler. Fangs make an attempt to bite at Reno’s weapon, resulting in the fiend becoming electrocuted and releasing a loud growl. The Turk takes this chance to propel his one leg and land a kick to its jaw. This prompts the beast to move backward just enough for there to be an open space for them to escape.

“No one told me there would be a ten feet tall brute rampaging east from back there—“ Reno voices towards the trooper that informed him about the stranded Avalanche member. It was half a lie since the Turk did see the fiend from the top of the column he was standing. But he’d rather this be seen as an ‘accidental encounter’.

“What’re ya waitin’ for? Get to work!” The Turk commands.

“Yes sir!”

As the troopers fixate on the fiend, the Turk finds this chance to turn to Tifa.

“Lost your buddies?”

Misfortune has taken a liking to the fighter, for her journey thus far has been naught but perilous. Rest --of the soul and body is just out of reach, deceivingly attainable yet fleeting and unsure. This time, Tifa was certain her journey would end; though not as nicely as she had hoped.

She had ventured too far from the others, and is struggling to bear the fiend's inflictions. Her mind is becoming hazy, and the edges of her vision are blurred with confusion. A knee falls to the floor and a dull ache encapsulates her leg. Ill-equipped, the fighter had run out of potions. She attempts to survey the area, in hopes of finding a chance to escape. When she looks back however, the creature had cast a limb in her direction and the fighter is convinced that this is the end.

“Sir! A member of Avalanche has been spotted east from here. They appear to be alone. We surveyed the area for the others but couldn’t see anyone.”

Perched onto one of the tallest columns once belonged to a building, now completely in ruins, Reno raises himself up and to inspect the horizon. Not a human, but a fiend captures his frame of sight in the distance, in the same location the trooper mentioned. Looks like Reno’s got two options. One— let the fiend take care of it. Or two, be nosy about it.

“Looks like someone’s in deep shit. Let’s snoop then.” Reno half hopes It’s Cloud. He has unfinished business to do, after all. With one fluid frontal flip, the Turk lands smoothly on the ground. Except, he won’t be wasting his time walking there. Instead, he’s off in a trail of jagging electric particles.

He’s hidden behind a tree, facing the back of the creature that appears to be in attack mode.

“C’mon, c’mon, who is it?” Reno moves to the side just enough to spot the long flowing black hair belonging to— Tifa.

Reno throws one more look around. Where’s that merc? Shouldn’t he be going hero or something? On one hand, it isn’t Reno’s business to intervene. On another, his conscience is telling him that he shouldn’t just leave the girl behind to fend for herself. Oh, and one more. Pretty sure Rude would’ve been on the go to save her by now.

The cub gave Reno another lick for good measure before he gave his hand a sniff as a soft growl emitted from his throat. One day he'd be big and strong enough to help take down Avalanche and not have the Turks do all the work. Even though the scent was faint it still lingered in his nostrils ike something rotten and the cub hated it.

Not the scent itself. It more or less reminded him that he was still small and unable to help with anything or to do any real damage yet. Still just a liability if anything happened to him on a real mission.

Once the wound is disinfected, Reno starts bandaging it. Meanwhile, he could hear Simba talking. He’d rather not risk any of that. The last thing he’d want is Simba ending up hurt too.

“Nah, it’s a’ight. I’ll handle him myself.”

Most of the times Reno is only messing around whenever he encounters Avalanche members. Of course, if his mission doesn’t involve having to fight them. But that merc— he’s always giving his all. Unless someone else tries to stop him, Reno is almost sure he could kill straight off. Well, it’s something Reno could relate to. Then again, he still can’t phantom how a guy like him could get this powerful in a battle. Compared to other SOLDIER members, he stands out each time.

Training sounds good. One way to let the steam off as well.