“Vincent, come on… Wake up buddy…” There was that hand again. His closed eyes frowned behind his dark sunglasses as he looked up at Reno.

“I’m not asleep, idiot…” Why out of all of the Turks did it have to be Reno? He sat up on the chair he had been reclining in, looking out over the short stretch of water between them and the shore. “Did you get any word from Tseng?”

“Yeah… said someone was going to meet us with a couple of chocobos…” The younger of the two remarked, staying well out of Vincent’s tight ring of personal space. He had heard all of the legends, and he had fought this man… no he was a demon among men, dark and powerful to an extent that no one had ever witnessed… head on and had seen the destruction that could be wrought not only by his fabled transformations, but also by his own brute power. Every Turk had at one point dreamed of being like Vincent Valentine. Even their leader Tseng, who had taken up the leading position after his mysterious disappearance, had wanted to be like this fearsome man at one point or another. Reno felt himself filled with an overwhelming pride at being the one chosen to work with Vincent on this mission of- wait… Tseng had never told him what they were doing, just to stay with Vincent until the job was done. Should he ask?

“Who is it?” Vincent’s voice was rough, his face a mask of stoicism around his dark glasses. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. This man had the ultimate poker face, and people generally didn’t perceive a person with his unique facial structure to be capable of an act like murder. It made him the ultimate Turk. No one knew him, no one suspected him, and after a few drinks, no one probably remembered him either. “The one with the chocobos, who is it?”

“Tseng didn’t say… Just that there was someone he knew who lived in the area that owed him and had some chocobos available for us to use.” Reno replied, wondering why it was Vincent was so tense suddenly. They were in Costa De Sol; they might as well relax for a bit, kick back until the chocobo guy showed up. But if the elder Turk thought something was wrong, he might as well go along with it. Vincent was much older; his skills honed far better. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Something just doesn’t smell right…” The elder replied, not removing his small lensed, dark glasses from in front of his eyes. Was he trying to disguise himself incase they ran into any of his friends? Sure he looked different with the shades and the new suit on, but wasn’t the metal hand and his long hair and wide red headband enough to give him away right away? “There’s a familiar scent in the air…” his eyes shifted under his glasses to look at Reno. “And you need to shower…”

“Very funny…”

“I didn’t say it to be funny, you seriously stink.” Vincent had stepped behind him as he was saying this, and managed to shove Reno off of the boat. “I’ll see you on shore Reno, have a nice swim!” He called as the boat drifted toward the docks.

Finally he had gotten rid of that insufferable twit… As the boat docked, he strolled down the gangplank. Of course now he had no idea where he was supposed to meet this person with the chocobos, but how hard could it be to find a person with a couple of rather large birds in a town like this? As he walked through town a familiar scent caught his attention. It was the same one he had gotten a whiff of earlier on the boat, but he couldn’t place the perfumed aroma precisely. It seamed a bit evil, almost as foul as the demon’s aura he and Sephiroth carried around everywhere. Except that now Sephiroth was dead, gone for good, his particles scattered to the edge of the life-stream where they would purify and someday rejoin in life again.

“You bastard!”

Vincent rolled his eyes as he slowly turned around. Just as he had suspected, there stood Reno, soaked from head to toe. He reeked of salt water, washing away his hope of finding that aura. “There, now you smell much better Reno. Did you enjoy your swim?”

“No I didn’t enjoy my swim!” Reno yelled as he came toward him, shaking a fist in the air as if trying to intimidate Vincent. It was a vain attempt at best. “I didn’t enjoy it at all!”

“Excuse me, but do you two happen to be Turks?” Vincent had been about to punch Reno again when he heard that sweet voice. He turned east, toward the beach, to see a girl standing before him. He lowered his glasses, it getting hard to see with the sun setting, even though it was behind him. She had long, silver hair, pale blue-green eyes that looked like pools in their innocence. She wore a familiar looking long black coat, though the one she was wearing lacked the armor plating over the shoulders to make it actually be that coat, a pair of black pants and a crimson shirt, the color of blood, were worn under this coat. She also wore a black pair of boots, secured around her thin legs with white straps. “I happen to be looking for a couple of Turks I was supposed to meet a few days ago, but they never showed up.”

Reno jumped behind Vincent, swallowing audibly. “Yikes… its Sephiroth come back from the dead again… in a much shorter woman’s body!”

The elder of the two shook his head. “You’ll have to excuse my partner; he’s a bit of an idiot. But yes, we are.”

“Are you Mr. Valentine and Reno then?” The girl asked. She was about five foot three, and both of the blue-clad men towered over her. She eyed Vincent in particular, her eyes resting on his claw of a hand. She seemed more curious as to the tale of that hand than afraid, which most people were, especially when the whole thing was exposed the way it was. He had rolled up the left sleeve of his jacket and white shirt as he always did, although the right sleeve remained down upon his wrist.

“Who would be asking?” The elder of the two responded, completely removing his glasses and gazing coolly at the young girl in front of him with his red eyes.

“I am their guide, that’s who I am.”

“Wait… you mean to tell me that you’re Okihema the chocobo breeder?” Reno stepped forward and asked her, looking and sounding dumbstruck, which wasn’t hard to accomplish with him. She nodded proudly.

“Yeah… And I’ve been waiting here for three days!” Okihema shouted at them. “What the hell took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, that would have been my fault.” Vincent spoke up, placing his sunglasses in the breast pocket of his jacket. “I punched Reno here out for a three day period back in Junon. If I had any idea that you would be waiting for us, I would never have done it.”

“Yes you would have! Don’t lie!” Reno calls out, even though he knew better than to do that with Vincent so close, but the elder Turk only glared at him.

“Whatever… you two look tired. I rented a cottage on the shore to stay in, we should just spend the night and leave in the morning.” Okihema told them, not really wanting to hear a one-sided argument between Reno the loud mouth and the ever silent sentinel Vincent.