#kunselxsoldier

[exiled-turk]

what exactly the enhancements entailed, veld could not honestly answer that question. the details provided in-house reference mako and nothing else, but he believed that about as much as he believed that the sky was neon green.

mako poisoning and addiction had very exact symptoms; changing the coloration of the affected person's eyes, visual and auditory hallucinations - usually borne from the affected person's memories - in extreme cases unconsciousness and a comatose state.

so why were SOLDIER operatives losing their memories, hair greying, skin a deathly pallor, lethargy, inability to retain weight or understand and retain instruction?

would that be the ending for the boy? hopefully not. loathe as he was to admit it, lodbrok's actions had been morally correct. he had done what he'd done to save innocent folks. and if there was any karmic justice in their world, then maybe he'd saved the kid from going down the same path broden seemed unable to veer off of?

' i hope not, ' veld looked to kunsel, a small smile tugging the corner of his mouth upwards,

' if you had stayed at shinra, then that would have been your story ... i don't care much for lodbrok, but listen to him. he and i have differing views on this world, but he doing his best to make sure you don't end up like broden and a lot of others. '

The crunching of the gravel was the only thing Kunsel could hear after those words. He had asked for an answer and he had gotten one.

Broden was like him. More like him than he had realised.

Glenn's cohorts of SOLDIERs had been candidates of peak fitness, trained in warfare and battle tactics. Minds sharpened by countless missions ... but after him had come the active class SOLDIERs. Troops enhanced by mako and whatever else the scientists of Shinra could cook up. Super SOLDIERs.

Step by crunching step passed by until the teenager dared ask his next question. "- will that happen to me too?"

He had had those enhancements. Had been brought to Hojo's floor and strapped into the chair. Given his tattoo and told well done. Nausea and headaches had followed in the days immediately after that, slowly subsiding when he had become accustomed to his heightened strength and senses. But the more Kunsel listened to whispers within the company and then the SRC, the more he heard of SOLDIERs having expiry dates.

"- the expiry date, not the agreed terms."

[soldier-lodbrok]

Kunsel for @kunselxsoldier !

[holyguardian]

he had sworn never to call the number when she'd given it to him by cosmo canyon - it was just another possible thread that could lead someone to them. but he hadn't factored in a rebellious teenager and his need to act out. he took precautions, not using his own cell, but a phone broden kept in the back room of the inn. she picked up on the second ring, 'i have kunsel, an old friend of mine found him in kalm, tell lodbrok i'll meet him near junon.'

@kunselxsoldier and @soldier-lodbrok

Ifalna knew better than to pick up on a strange number and answer. She waited, as always, for the other end to speak first. Though in this rare case she didn't have to wait longer than a beat.

It was Veld's voice on the other end.

He would hear a sharp inhale from her end at the mention of Kunsel. Oh. Oh, thank Gaia, her boy was safe... he was safe, right?

"Is he unharmed?" There came her first yes or no question. She could already feel the clock ticking down before the seasoned Turk would simply hang up. That had happened a few times to her already with Glenn, calls from the field weren't time to chat.

"The family and the farm, none of it is compromised?" Of course she wanted to know what happened. Had Kunsel been harassed by Shinra? It was easy enough to figure out how a teenager had gotten to a place they weren't supposed to be, she wrangled her own window-climbing-sneak artist after all. Though usually the pair of them were trying to get somewhere together, at least Aerith had been left out of this whim to walk memory lane.

"Thankyou Veld." The worry that creased Ifalna's expression tinged her tone. She could be grateful and concerned at the same time. People were multifaceted.

[exiled-turk]

continued from (x)

he was still trying to get a read on this boy. the integral cog in the wheel of SOLDIER, and yet one that few could put a face to. in hindsight, his skills might have been more attuned to the turks than SOLDIER but too little, too late with that thought.

why was he pushing the matter of gast though? now that was a ghost from the past. another who had fallen through the cracks and fallen foul to hojo's hunger to get his own way.

glancing up as the man pushed the subject, veld squared him with a stare for a few uncomfortable moments before he spoke again, honesty winning out over games. there was nothing to be won or gained in twisting the truth here.

' myself and vincent were partners back then - we were attached to hojo and lucrecia. but neither of us killed gast. ' abandoning the pages he'd been leafing through, veld folded his arms and rested against the edge of the desk, ' your turn for the truth - what's got you dredging up ghosts? '

@kunselxsoldier

[loqis]

@kunselxsoldier | X

They had been fucking kidnapped.

Loqi could still not wrap his head around how that had been possible. They had walked out the training grounds for a celebratory diner at one of the bars. And instead of drinks they now had this shit.

They didn't even know where they were. Some cave system, though the entrances had been sealed off with containers and steel doors. It was organized.

Some had panicked a little, others assumed it was another trial by SOLDIER. They needed to keep calm. Loqi had walked the perimeter, though then suddenly a face he could barely recognize anymore had shown up.

Kunsel. Oh.

How he had looked up at that prick a few years ago. Before he had just... vanished. Killed in action.

Well. That had been a fucking lie apparently.

Loqi's eyes glared at the older one in the dim lighting of the cave.

He would've been angry at Kunsel anyway. But his words... it took Loqi a moment, before he realized what this alluded to. Kunsel was against Shinra.

"What?!", he threw back sharply, stepping forwards and in front of the group of other SOLDIER recruits, who seemed just as confused.

"You're a rebel now? Fucking AVALANCHE? Or the SRC? Fuck you, either way!", he cut at him sharply, throwing a hand up in a gesture as if Kunsel was nothing more than trash to be disposed off.

"You left... well. And? Did it pay off? They made a damn show of your supposed death... you have a little golden badge mounted on the training room of SOLDIER, did you know that? We saluted to it every day."

[proxnotxaxfool]

“ everyone i ever cared about is dead. ”

brows lifting, reno looked to his right, then over his right shoulder; nobody. then over his left shoulder. still nobody. doing a full three-sixty on the spot, reno pulled a grimace when he came back around to face kunsel.

rooting around his pocket for a few seconds, the turk finally fished out his phone, holding it out in an offer to the SOLDIER.

' — here. call someone who gives a shit. '

[heavensbled]

@kunselxsoldier from here

Half dead in the doorway, holding on to the sound of footsteps thundering nearer, his head is pounding right along with them compounding until he's grimacing in pain. The door creaks open like the crack of thunder and his shoulders sag, body goes limp against the doorframe.

Thank god he's home...

"S-orry buddy...didn't...have anyone else to go to." Field dressing's a standard course and if anyone had the supplies to patch him up right and keep it hush, it's Kunsel.

"Mind...helpin' a friend out?" Leaving behind a blood trail's just as good as shouting his name in the slums, that kind of thing gets noticed quick on the off chance a fiend snuck past the Watch but it was a risk he was willing to take. Maybe Kunsel's got some pull down here, maybe no one knows him, maybe no one cares. Any one of them is just fine by him.

[wingsdreamt]

@kunselxsoldier | continued from (x)

Zack clearly struggles to bite back a series of strongly-felt suggestions he might have for Kunsel while listening to his line of reasoning. If Kunsel can affiliate himself with the WRO then they can’t be all bad, the rational part of him reasons. The irrational part of him is more keen on convincing him that they can’t be all good, either.

There’s a bit there that doesn’t totally rub him the wrong way, though. WRO adjacent. He can work with that.

“Heh.” Rubbing his hand across the back of his neck, Zack has enough sense to look abashed. Not the first time they’ve had to meet halfway on their agree to disagrees. 

“Okay,” he exhales with emphasis. If it were anyone else, Zack would have already ditched this junkyard the moment he found his legs. “‘Kay…” 

The repetition helps with psyching himself up, or so he likes to believe. 

“Hey, c’mon, I’m in one piece, aren’t I? You’ve seen me in worse shape.” Zack directs a playful jab at Kunsel’s shoulder, then tips his head in the direction of the door with an eager tap-tap of his boot on the floor. “Fine, but can we please do the whole poking and scanning me not in the name of science later? I wanna hear more about this innkeeper friend of yours. Food that doesn’t come out of a liquid drip, real bed, a hot shower…” He trails off dreamily. 

[housetummelt]

@kunselxsoldier | X

She had been handed a bunch of files on possible candidates for her research. And his had been one of them. He was young - and foolish. Like all those coming from SOLDIER. Ida almost felt bad seeing him sit there. He was just a boy. Between her own sons' ages. But those soft eyes were steeped with Mako. He wasn't for long. Ida remained standing, overlooking the maps and documents on the desk - and the sitting SOLDIER.

"I require a bodyguard for my research. It is a small mission, should not be too dangerous for those as trained as you are. The mission will take place close to where you hail from, that is why I picked you. You know the surroundings of Kalm, the Mythril mines and its varmins. They should pose no threat to you and I always like to trust those local to regions. Would you be available for such?"

[dxnzelstrife]

"Sorry, I missed that. Could you repeat what you just said?"

The kid didn't blame him given that ShinRa was noisy but Denzel needed to do the task that had been set out for him by his mother. "I gotta find...um...this place and person." Reaching into his pocket, the five-year-old pulled out a piece of paper to hold out to Kunsel which indicatied which department his father was working in. "Dad forgot his lunch so Mom wants me to bring it to him all by myself."

[holyguardian]

@kunselxsoldier 💕

[soldier-lodbrok]

@kunselxsoldier | X

Some scrapes, some bruises. That was all superficial. And shock clearly across the kid's face. Glenn mustered him as he sat in the grass. How old could that boy be? Looked about Aerith's age. Maybe a tiny bit older - or the uniform just made him look that way. It still clenched his gust when Glenn thought about how young the new SOLDIER recruits were.

"The SRC doesn't take prisoners.", Glenn's tone was calm as he crouched down in front of the kid, clearly identifying his own affiliations. He wouldn't lie to that boy's face. he didn't want to make him aggressive and lash out - or fearful and run away. Though the latter option still was the better one.

Laying a hand on the kid's shoulder, Glenn nodded towards the thick forests.

"Can you walk? Does anything hurt? We can treat your worst right here, but you will hav eto let us check you over. I have two friends with me. They won't harm you. None of us will. We didn't attack you. But whomever did will surely be here in a short while, checking for any survivors. And they will make sure there are none."

He paused, letting those words sink in. It was a kid, sure, but he had gotten military training, no doubts. And he was logical thinking enough to expect being taken prisoner. So Glenn hoped these words got through to him.

"I won't force you to do anything, kid. But I wanna help. If you come with us, we will get you some place safe and maybe we can even drop you off at a place you want to be. But you won't make it out alive, if we stay here."

[holyguardian]

@kunselxsoldier | X

There was a certain type of comfort in hearing Kunsel's approaching footsteps. It wasn't like she had planned to pull him away from the comfort of the inn or the merriment of the group, but it also wasn't like she hadn't been hoping for the company.

Aerith's smile was bright when he reached her, full of warmth. Not quite the same as her more bubbly or playful smiles. It was the kind that reached her eyes and etched wrinkles into her skin, the kind that lingered.

He barely even got to sit down himself before she scooted closer. If he asked she might have teased that he were her personal heater, it had nothing to do with her mushy-feelings.

They had been through a lot together in their weeks of travel. Had it already been a month? More? It all seemed to blur, and yet here she was feeling just as boy-crazy as ever, and here Kunsel was somehow still as strong and steady by her side.

Aerith was pretty sure this was what love felt like. An 'I love you' didn't come easy from her. It felt like if she admitted it out loud then it too would be taken from her. So she said it in other ways.

That night it was hidden in her smile and the way she pressed a kiss to his clothed shoulder before her head rested there. His fingers intertwined with hers and she gave him a small squeeze.

There was a small silence after he spoke. For once she didn't race playfully into the conversation, or hold him at arms length by dancing around the subject. Instead she hummed a thoughtful tone.

"Didn't feel right." It was a simple admission. Something small, but to get that much out of her usually came after a great amount of trying to tug her mask down.

"For once everyone looks so carefree. I know it doesn't mean we don't have our troubles, but while it's this happy... I didn't want to bring the mood down." Aerith turned her head to look at him. "It's nothing serious. It's pretty silly, actually."

She exhaled a small sigh and she elaborated further. "An older woman said I was like a ghost from the past. She was rattled by seeing me, and the last thing she said was that she didn't want any trouble. I don't think she could have run any faster from me or that conversation, but I'm pretty sure she was talking about my birth mother. I have nothing to prove it, just a feeling... Maybe I finally connected to my natural Ancient wifi. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking."

[exiled-turk]

“Just lookin’ at you is makin’ me sober.”

he should have stopped them the night he'd found them at the train station. ifalna would never have forgiven him, but he was a turk - forgiveness wasn't in the stars for him. and his life would have been a hell of a lot easier.

he would have been commended for securing two of the companies assets in ifalna and aerith. lauded for identifying a rogue asset in lodbrok and prevented him from absconding with a promising SOLDIER recruit.

but aerith wouldn't have known anything outside of shinra. ifalna probably wouldn't have survived - even he could see the effects the machinations of hojo had had on the woman. her little boy wouldn't exist either.

and kunsel wouldn't be doing stupid teenage shit like this. eyeing the lad where he sat and spat venom at him, veld clipped the lad's ear and scowled at him. lodbrok was having a terrible influence on the kid.

' watch you tongue, kunsel. you drew enough attention to yourself for broden to call me. you have no idea how lucky you are right now. '

[loqis]

i did the best i could with the information i had at the time.

He was a Nifen. Definitely. He hadn't admitted it yet, but it was noticable. The slight accent, the way he behaved, a few parts of his attire. Maybe he wouldn't even want to keep it a secret. But it fascinated Loqi nonetheless. he had started in the military, fast-tracked to become a mech pilot... but that had all ended before he had grown out of elementary school age. Their family had fled here and instead of a general or something, he now was a hunter. He didn't know any other life. But this one did. He had a life that Loqi maybe could've had.

And somehow it sparked Loqi's curiosity.

Shaking his head, he helped the guy get the bags from the truck. He was one of many refugees now.

"No one will hold your past against you here. If you join us and do well with our rules, you'll be a hunter. End of it. My dad always says there is a road back for all of us."

@kunselxsoldier

[proxnotxaxfool]

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