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Revised! I deleted the old one.

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Fantasy 30: Wyvern

Years ago... "Look at this!" Reno, the new rookie at the Turks called. He held a strange egg.

"Leave it, we need to focus on our missing," the leader replied.

Reno looked at the egg curiously. He wondered what kind of animal would hatch from it. But he knew that taking it along would be impossible. "Good bye little one." He walked over to a pile of leaves to place the egg there, but tripped on some protuberant tree roots and fell, the egg escaping his grasp. "Oh, no! Come back here!" Miraculously, the egg did not break but it rolled away and fell into a crack on the ground. It sounded as if it landed on water. Reno peeked into the crack and saw a green glow. "Life stream? Sorry little one..."

"Reno! Hurry up!"

The young Turk rushed to meet his team, certain that whatever was in that egg, had not survived.

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Present day... "It's over there!" Elena called as she shot tranquilizers at the creature, but the small dragon-like animal swiftly avoided the projectiles.

"We have to catch that thing before it causes more damage!" Tseng led the pursuit, with Rude and Elena close behind.

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Reno had just finished taking a shower after staying at Shinra overnight; he usually slept though most of his night shifts. It was not until after he was fully dressed, and after adjusting his goggles to sit on his forehead exactly the way he liked them, that he finally answered the insistent ringing of his cell phone.

"Reno where are you? We have an emergency situation! Report to the cafeteria immediately." Tseng did not give Reno enough time to answer before a voice in the background called him and Tseng had to hang up.

Reno wasn't sure what this was about. How serious could a cafeteria emergency be? Maybe it was a food fight... and he just got out of the shower. He shrugged and grabbed his electro-rod from his locker, then headed to the elevators.

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"Reno, look out!" Rude's warning came a second too late. The strange miniature dragon had already jumped on Reno and... licked him.

"Hey little guy! Stop, what are you, a dog? Dragon things aren't supposed to lick," Reno patted the creature's head and it emitted a combination between growl and purr, but it was in a happy tone so Reno guessed it was purring more than growling. "Rude, where's the emergency?"

"You're holding it," the thing, whatever it was, had been very hard to catch for Tseng, Elena and Rude, but Reno caught it effortlessly and Rude didn't know why.

"Rude, the creature?" Tseng rushed over followed by Elena.

"There is it!" The funny thing was, Elena was pointing more at Reno than at the little animal he was holding.

"I hope you're talking about this guy," Reno petted the happy little animal again; it seemed to have taken a liking to him.

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"A why-ren?!"

"It's a wyvern, Reno," Tseng corrected. They concluded that the creature was not a baby dragon but a wyvern.

"I've heard about them, the legend says that wyvern eggs need to be kept in the life spring to hatch," Elena recalled.

"Life spring... Could it be life stream?" Rude asked.

"Yes, probably, the life stream has received various names over time," Tseng agreed.

"Well, it did come out of a crack in the basement, and there's that underground cavern bellow," Elena added.

"So there's life stream under Shinra and this little guy came from there..." Reno held the little wyvern. He wasn't sure why the baby trusted him, but didn't appear to trust any other humans.

The life stream was all over the planet, and by coincidence or destiny, the currents of life had brought the egg from its resting place, to the life stream river that flowed bellow Shinra, where it hatched. Reno didn't remember that it had been him who accidentally placed the wyvern egg on the life stream, thus allowing the baby to grow and hatch over the years after recovering from its long hibernation. The baby wyvern somehow recognized Reno by instinct and trusted him as his hero, protector and daddy.

"This little guy is pretty cool. I think I'll keep him," Reno received a collective look of disapproval from the other Turks. "What? It's better than abandoning him in the city?" He did have a point.

Tseng took a deep breath and came to a decision. "Reno, I will give you the mission to watch over the baby wyvern and keep him and yourself out of trouble. This is an official Turk mission and I expect you to take it seriously." Tseng was already regretting his decision.

Reno had not been listening at all; he was playing with the wyvern. "We need to name him!"

"We need to fix the mess he made," Tseng tried to set the priorities straight but he knew it wouldn't work on Reno.

Elena pulled out her cell phone and made a call. "We need a clean up crew in the gym, halls, kitchen and cafeteria, that's an order from the Turks." She shut her cell phone before whatever unimportant employee had the chance to reply. "It's fixed."

"Good, now we can get to the important part, like naming the wyvern." Reno waited for a few name suggestions, though he would most likely end up choosing the name himself, unless someone came up with a name he really liked.

Tseng tried to remember if there was anything else that they needed to do, but could not think of anything. "It is the only wyvern; why not just call it wyvern?" It sounded logical to him, but it was too obvious so no one else approved.

"That wouldn't be very original, he deserves a better name." Reno petted the little wyvern who was dozing off in his arms.

Elena decided to participate in the naming process. "How about Chibi Turk, or Blueberry, or..."

"Dragoon," Rude voiced.

The little wyvern emitted a high pitched happy squeal that the Turks did not know if it was an approval or a yawn. "Dragoon it is!" Reno agreed.

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Holding Tifa's hand for support, Cloud took a deep breath and answered the phone. He was fine with listening to messages, but a bit jumpy about answering the phone. He didn't want to receive bad news that would be all the more shocking if he heard them live, or at least that was his logic. "Strife Delivery Service."

"Who is this?" At first the male voice came as a surprise for Reno. He wasn't even calling about delivering anything; he was calling Tifa about babysitting. True that he was using the number from the Strife Delivery Service fliers that were all over the city, but Cloud never answered the phone anyway, Tifa always did.

"Cloud Strife from Strife Delivery Service," great, just great; Cloud finally mustered the courage to answer the phone and it turned out to be a wrong number, but the voice sounded familiar. "Who are you?"

"Oh it's you; I didn't expect you to answer the phone because you never do. It's Reno of the Turks. Finally getting over your phone phobia, Cloud?" Reno laughed.

"I don't have phone phobia, I'm not afraid of phones," Cloud frowned, "I'm just a little nervous about answering phones that's all," he muttered under his breath. Tifa squeezed Cloud's hand in reassurance and nodded when he glanced at her.

"Is Tifa there?" Reno asked, taking note of Tseng's look which indicated he should hurry up and find a babysitter for Dragoon.

"Yes, but why are you calling her on my phone?" Cloud felt as if he was losing a little piece of his newly regained identity by losing his phone.

"Because she always picks it up, now put her on unless you have a babysitting service to go with that delivery service." Reno petted Dragoon who sat contently on his lag wagging his tail.

Cloud considered the possibility. The Shinra postal service was a big competitor for Cloud's small business. Reeve was the only one who hired Cloud as often as possible. "Yes, I do."

"How much?" Reno asked.

There was a pause, "Tifa how much do babysitters charge by the hour?"

Tifa blinked, she had thought this was about delivering a package, not babysitting. Then again Cloud needed all the help he could get with his business. "I guess it depends on how many children need to be watched and how old they are."

"50 gil an hour," Cloud replied. Hey it was more than he made in a day lately.

Reno knew having a pet was expensive, especially if he had to hire a babysitter because Tseng kept warning him not to leave the wyvern alone. Hopefully Reno could get the baby wyvern to trust Cloud, and Cloud should be able to handle keeping Dragoon out of trouble. "Okay, I'll take the baby to the Seventh Heaven and come pick him up after work." Reno hung up without saying goodbye, a fact that unnerved Cloud.

"Hello? Reno?" The sound of the line going dead invaded the phone. "He hung up on me... Tifa he hung up on me!"

"There, there, it's alright," Tifa hugged Cloud and tried to console him. She would have to warn the Turks to be more tactful and considerate when talking to Cloud on the phone. "What kind of deal did you make?"

"Babysitting... I hope you don't mind that I technically stole your client," Cloud confessed.

"It's fine, I'm busy with the restaurant and bar anyway." Tifa looked thoughtful, "although, it's a little unusual that Reno would call about babysitting, that was Reno of the Turks right?"

"Yeah, that's the only Reno I know," Cloud nodded. "He said he was brining the baby over here." Wait, the baby? Reno had a baby?

Tifa looked curious. "Reno's baby? Who's the mother?"

"I don't know," Cloud would just have to ask about it when Reno arrived.

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When Reno arrived at the Seventh Heaven, Cloud could only stare at the creature in his arms. "His name is Dragoon."

"What kind of crazy experiment did Shinra use on the poor child?" This was unforgivable, for Shinra to experiment on a defenseless baby and turn him into a dragon-like creature. Furthermore, if Reno agreed to let them do it, Cloud would personally make him regret it.

Dragoon gave a high pitched whining growl and Reno tried to comfort him. "Don't be mean to my pet or I'll fire you!"

"Your pet? You mean he was never a human baby? He's always been a dragon?" Cloud felt relieved but at the same time tricked. Reno didn't say the baby he was supposed to take care of was a dragon.

"He's a wyvern, not a dragon, and his name is Dragoon," Reno tried to give Dragoon to Cloud, but the wyvern clung to his daddy and refused to let go. "He doesn't like you very much..."

Tifa witnessed the scene and curiously looked at the wyvern. "I thought wyverns were extinct." Books told the tale of the last dragoon knight to ever come into contact with a real wyvern, was the legendary Kain, but that was many years ago.

"Is the baby here?" Marlene ran down the stairs. She had heard from Cloud that there would be a baby over for the day and she wanted to see him. Denzel followed close behind, also curious about the child.

Dragoon looked at Marlene and Denzel. These humans were small and didn't scare him. The children approached and smiled at the baby wyvern. Well, Cloud never said it was a human baby, they had simply assumed it was; goes to show you it's not good to jump to conclusions.

"May I?" Marlene asked.

"Me next," Denzel requested.

"Sure," Reno allowed Marlene to hold Dragoon. "He likes you two." The Turk looked at Cloud, "Strife, you're fired," he looked back at the children, "Marlene and Denzel, you're hired. Take care of Dragoon for the day, he's a wyvern and he likes chicken."

"Yes!" Of course the kids were all too happy to agree. They got to play with a baby wyvern all day and even got paid for it.

Cloud simply stared open mouthed, he wanted to say something but the words refused to come out as Reno walked out of the Seventh Heaven. "It's karma," he whispered. Well he did steal Tifa's babysitting job, so now Marlene and Denzel stole his.

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Dragoon flew around with a pair of shorts stuck on his tail, one shoe on his right paw and a shirt in his mouth. "Come back here!" Cloud Strife chased after the little wyvern who had made a mess in his closet.

"Dragoon!" Marlene and Denzel followed trying to catch him but the baby didn't want to be caught by the angry looking Cloud so he didn't stop.

Tifa watched the chaos unfold and sighed, she should have known it would end like this, but other than a messy closet there was no harm done so she could find some amusement in the situation.

Cid was just walking in when the little wyvern flew over his head. "What was that?!"

The wyvern returned, curious about the new human and thought that perching himself on the head of said new human would be safe enough.

Cid picked the creature off his head and looked at it. "Some kind of dragon?"

"He's a wyvern," Denzel pointed out.

"And his name is Dragoon," added Marlene.

Cid took the shirt from Dragoon's mouth and handed it to Cloud, "I'm guessing this is yours." The shoe fell off Dragoon's paw, "and that too," Cid looked at the shorts on his tail, "and that."

Cloud looked embarrassed and snatched the clothes. He quickly picked up the shoe retreated to his room without saying a word.

"This is a rare new pet you two got here."

"He's not ours, Dragoon is Reno's pet," Denzel explained.

"Yeah, we're just babysitting him," Marlene was certainly enjoying taking care of Dragoon, though she did feel a little sorry for Cloud as did Denzel.

"I have a feeling this little guy will be troublesome..." Cid was right, from broken dishes to accidental arson; the wyvern was in fact quite troublesome.

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Several months passed and both the Seventh Heaven and Shinra Headquarters had felt the destruction caused by the wyvern. Reno placed his pet on the desk and collapsed into his chair; he leaned back and closed his eyes. Taking care of Dragoon was certainly a big workout. Dragoon purred and chewed up some paper work.

"Reno, you can't keep him anymore," Tseng knew that Reno would be hard to convince.

It didn't surprise the leader that the redhead was soon clinging to the wyvern. "He's my baby and I'm not letting him go. Who's going to take care of him?"

"Reno, you have to let him go, let's not forget the chocobo incident," Tseng reminded.

Elena grimaced at the memory and agreed, "Tseng is right, Dragoon belongs out in the wild, you can't keep him forever."

"Just because he hunted and ate a few of Rufus' price winning chocobos, even if the birds were a lot bigger than him, doesn't mean he'll try to eat us!" Reno defended.

"I didn't say he would," Tseng tried to reason with Reno, "but clearly Dragoon doesn't need you to feed him anymore and he seems to have taken a liking to raw chocobo meat more so than fried chicken..."

"Then I'll give him raw chicken then..." Reno insisted.

"Reno..." Tseng rested his case; Reno had to come to terms with the situation himself.

"Haven't you ever heard of 'if you love it let it go'?" Elena asked.

"That's just a stupid excuse so people don't have to admit they couldn't keep what they love," Reno pouted and continued hugging the wyvern who licked his face happily and wagged his tail.

Rufus suddenly threw the door opened and pointed at Dragoon, a few golden feathers in his hand, "he has to go!" He threw the golden feathers on Reno's desk; they must have been from Dragoon's latest victim. Just as suddenly as he came Rufus stomped out and slammed the door shut.

"I heard wild chocobos taste better anyway," Rude offered.

Reno nodded, "yeah, I know..."

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Just outside of Midgar Reno, Rude, Elena and Tseng had gathered to release Dragoon. "Okay Dragoon, you're free to go. If you need anything, you know where I live. Take care of yourself." Reno hugged the wyvern. Dragoon licked him and purred then flew off as if he understood...

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Reno's Point of View

Who ever told Strife he had a good singing voice was a big fat liar. He's usually quiet and he should remain quiet. Okay, so maybe it's a good thing if he speaks a little more, no one likes Mr. Moping, but speaking and singing are two very different things; screeching and singing are even more different.

I don't know why I agreed to come to the karaoke party at the Seventh Heaven. I haven't had a turn to play yet, because Turks go last and every member of Avalanche is here. I don't even know why Tifa invited me or why I agreed to come. My questions are soon answered when Tifa comes by and fills up my glass. I'm her best customer next to Rude and the booze is on sale today; that explains a lot.

I empty my glass, the liquid burning down my throat. It doesn't take a lot for the drunken mood to be ruined for me and listening to Strife is making me sober. I raise my glass again, signaling for Tifa to bring me a refill, then consider running away for the sake of saving my ears. The guys of Avalanche can't sing. Strife may be done, but now Barret's up there poisoning the sound waves, this sucks.

Tifa refills my glass and I reconsider my options, maybe I'll endure this for a while longer, Turks are tough after all. I can take another horrible song, but it looks like Tuesti can't. He's been sitting in a corner twitching since Strife let out the first earsplitting note. He looks pathetic clutching Cait Sith like that. Maybe he'll snap and tell Barret to shut up. I would do it myself, but then Tifa will be mad and it's not a good idea to make the bartender mad.

I finish my glass again and lean back, closing my eyes and trying to mentally block out the sound while wishing for Barret to catch on fire. Even if I try not to show it, I know my expression must look like I'm being tortured, and I am.

Then a miracle happens, my wish s granted and Barret randomly catches on fire. People are yelling and running around in circles. If I still had any liquor left in my glass, I would throw it at Barret and say I was trying to put out the fire and that I didn't know alcohol was flammable. Too bad my glass is empty, but it's still amusing to watch Avalanche panic.

They finally put the fire out and Barret looks like he's okay, too bad. He's cursing like there's no tomorrow and pointing at something near the ceiling. I look up and find the cause of the fire. I had my eyes closed and wasn't paying attention, so I thought Barret really did randomly catch on fire, but it wasn't random.

I stand up and run towards him, "you're back!" Dragoon returned! I set him free and he came back. Not only that, the little guy has grown quite a bit, he is now the same size as Marlene and knows how breathe fire even if it's just a bit!

Dragoon tackled me and licked my face; his tongue is warm but doesn't burn, despite the residual smoke coming out of his mouth. "Dragoon! I missed you little guy." This time, my wyvern is staying no matter what anyone says.

End of Fantasy 30

Disclaimer, I do not own Final Fantasy VII. This story was inspired by a scene in Final Fantasy II for the Gameboy Advance, where Firion has to take a wyvern egg to the life spring. Thanks to Quiet N Cryptic for the karaoke idea.