In The Absence of the Sun

Chapter 5

As I walked out of my office I decided to postpone going to my apartment. Instead I think I’ll pay a visit to the local bar. And since it’s run by Shinra I get the drinks for free.

As I walked in I found that Lennie was already sitting at his usual barstool. Lennie was dark skinned with a fairly thin build. His hair was dyed bright yellow and he fancied himself to be a pretty good pilot. But don’t we all?

I took my place next to Lennie; we always sat in the same spot.

"What’ll it be Highwind?" asked Abe the bartender.

Abe was a portly man in his forty’s, an average bartender. Except Abe had the inside line on some Shinra news, so he could be a very useful source of information.

"So Cid I hear you had quite a run." Said Lennie from the left of me. I’d almost forgotten about him.

"Damn right. One of the worst runs I’ve ever had workin’ for Shinra."

I went on to explain what had happened and went through the dogfight play by play. When I was done I had drawn practically half the bar around and all were listening intently.

"Wow Highwind looks like you were busy." Said Abe.

"Now that’s the understatement of the year." I muttered.

"So I take it you’re glad to be rid of that kid." Said Lennie.

"Hell yes, that kid was nothing but a pain in the ass."

As the thought of the kid passed through my mind I couldn’t seem to get it out of my head. No the kid was nothin’ more than a pain in the ass and he always would be. He was out of my hair now and I’m gonna leave it that way.

Abe turned around when he heard the word "kid".

"Hey ya know I just heard somethin’ about a kid from up top. Look like the suits up there wanna keep him quarantined. They think he’s infected or something." Said Abe.

"Did you catch is name?" I asked, trying not to sound over eager.

"It was something like Victor Summers. Some weird thing like that."

"Was it Hector Winters?" I asked.

"Yeah that’s what it was! How’d you know?" asked Abe.

"Oh I dunno. Just thought I’d heard something like that before. That’s all." I said.

"Huh, well I’m sure glad I’m not that kid. Cause if I know Shinra, and I think I do pretty well, then that kid is gonna be in for a rough time, and then some." Abe said.

"Yeah glad I ain’t him." Said Lennie as he nursed his drink.

"Yeah that’d suck." I piped in.

"Yeah." Came another voice from my right.

I looked over to see a half-drunken man with grizzly hair and a Shinra pilot’s uniform. I just ignored him and went back to Abe and Lennie.

Suddenly the news came on and everyone watched for some mention of Lircos village, but there was none.

"That’s kinda weird they didn’t mention your little exploits on the news Cid." Said Lennie.

"Well maybe the suits up top haven’t finished digesting it all yet. They like to analyze the shit out of everything." Said Abe.

"Yeah that’s probly it." I said.

"Or maybe Cid here is just pulling our legs." Said the man to my right with a smirk.

"Man what are you talking about? You’re just jealous, I bet you couldn’t have made it through that dogfight."

"Oh yeah, like I couldn’t handle three fighters." The man said in a definitely drunken tone.

"You saying that I’m lyin’ about this?" I asked loudly, catching a few glares.

"I’m just sayin’ that I think you’re exaggerating a bit. Cause you don’t look like no hero."

"You callin’ me a coward?!" I growled.

"What if I am?"

"Then I’ll teach you a lesson you’ll never forget."

"Bring it on!"

"Hey you two knuckle heads knock it off!" yelled Lennie.

Everyone in the bar was now watching.

"Now whoever the hell you are, we all know that Cid ain’t no coward. You’re obviously drunk. Now I got no problem with you getting drunk, but if you’re gonna fight do it somewhere else." Said Abe.

Abe’s speech didn’t register with either of us though. So we turned back to face each other.

"What’s the matter coward, you afraid to fight?" taunted the other man.

"That’s it you’re goin’ down!" I yelled.

I downed the rest of my drink and threw my flight goggles and jacket on a barstool.

This guy was definitely drunk, but I hadn’t quite reached that point yet.

I let the other guy make the first move since he had a disadvantage. He swung a hard, yet poorly aimed punch. I easily jumped out of the way.

I don’t know who this guy is. But if you’re callin’ Cid Highwind a coward it don’t matter who you are.

I hopped around a little more to try and disorient this guy and then I went in.

I swung a punch and firmly connected with his cheekbone. He spun back and grabbed onto a barstool to steady himself.

"Now really man think next time before you go pissin’ me off again." I said.

But this guy still hadn’t gotten enough. He lunged at me and actually managed to land a punch on my jaw.

I tasted blood but I ignored it. This bastard had gone too far.

I immediately dove at him and with one punch it was all over.

My punch landed right square on his eye. He’d definitely feel that in the morning.

The other guy was now on his knees. I watched him for a few moments to make sure he wouldn’t attack me from behind and then I turned around.

I collected my belongings from the barstool and exchanged a look with Lennie. We both had the same idea, what the hell was this guy thinking?

After putting on my jacket and flight goggles I threw Abe a few gil and walked right out the door.

Authors note-Although some people may be wondering where this series is going I assure you that it will get more interesting, hopefully anyways, but right now only me and anya know where this is going, and you’ll just have to wait and see.

Go on to Chapter 6