Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is (c) Square-Enix, etc. I'm just having some fun, messing around with their characters.
Notes: I needed to write something with Yuffie in it, and it's strange how fond I'm becoming of having her explore unknown caves. Other than that, this fic doesn't really have a point to it.

Into The Dark

The echoes of solitary drops accompanied Yuffie's descent into the gaping hole. The distant hum in the background reminded her of one time she had visited an underground water deposit with her father when she was little - the sounds of insects had been exponentially multiplied in there also. Other than what her ears told her, she had little means to examine her surroundings. Colours had long blotted away into tones of grey, and even those had eventually faded into near indistinguishable highlights in the dark that told very little of the real shapes behind them.

This was not to say that the ninja was anything less than ideally equipped for the situation. When he had sent her on this mission, Reeve had provided her with a complete WRO survival pack, and she also counted on the assortment of climbing gear attached to her harness, but Yuffie chose to keep the miner's lamp on her forehead turned off. She knew that if she were to light it, every living thing that inhabited in the dark, from pesky insects to possibly more dangerous fiends, would be drawn to her.

So it was that Yuffie gripped the rope suspending her, and kept her eyes riveted below in search of any obstacles that might present themselves, while slowly pushing the rope to descend.

Further down, the rope reached its end. The princess was momentarily surprised, suddenly realising how far down she really was. The entrance to this precipice was located in a gallery close to the top of the Da Chao mountain in Wutai. Having lived there her whole life, she knew for a fact that that was at an altitude of approximately twenty-five hundred meters. Adding that to the length of rope she had brought, she estimated that she was now even lower than the ground in which her city lay, and it would not be long till the drop reached even sea level.

Unwilling to give up her mission because of a failure in equipment, Yuffie risked some light to evaluate her situation. Thus far, she had not heard or seen anything to indicate that there were any dangerous beasts in the vicinity, so, reaching in one of her backpack's side pockets, she took out a lightstick. With one hand she tugged at the cylinder attempting to snap it at arm's length. As soon as she heard the distinctive sound, the ninja let it drop.

She almost laughed when it landed with an echoing thud about half a meter below, but the sudden swarm of insects made her think twice about opening her mouth, lest she swallowed any. She quickly unbuckled her belt, dropping and rolling safely away. Gazing round at what was finally turned visible in the sphere of greenish light projected by the stick, she found nothing too remarkable. There was nothing to comment on, other than the stalagmites rising from the rocky ground, and the tips of stalactites where the occasional drop of water shyly glinted.

Consulting her compass, she determined her new direction. She had twelve hours to get there and back if she wanted the light marking her exit place to still be active, though she was confident that she could still find it in the dark if necessary.

Reeve had been searching all over the world for Cetra artefacts and machines, after the accidental discovery of Cid's airship, the Shera, some years ago. He had even hired the archaeologists from Bone Village, among many other experts, to use their ultra sound technology to map out and uncover potential spots where such artefacts may have become buried deep within the soil over the course of the passing millennia.

Recently, they had been mapping the western continent, and so it was that Yuffie had become involved in the project when they discovered something in the area of Wutai. Taking advantage of her adventurous spirit and past cooperation with the WRO, Reeve had recruited Yuffie to be the one who investigated this find, since it was so close to her home.

She had not minded doing the job at first, but now that she was actually down at the location, she was starting to curse Reeve and his persuasive skills (not that he had needed them to convince her, but that was not the point). Now that she was on foot and her mind had more room to wander about, she was really starting to dislike this place. Deep underground, musty places were not her kind of thing; she imagined perhaps Vincent would feel more comfortable there with the crypt-like, dark and solitary ambience. She could even imagine the bats that would be hanging close to the ceiling, however high - or low - it may be. So far, however, it was not too bad; more monotonous than intimidating, really.

A faint light permeated the dark, meaning that there was possibly another exit nearby. Listening closely to the quiet surroundings for disturbances and finding none, the ninja deemed it would also be safe to turn on the miner's light attached to her headband. This allowed her to periodically consult the greyish diagrams the technicians had supplied to guide her to the place where the Cetra goods were supposedly stashed. For all the sense she made out of them, however, they might as well have been ads from the Turtle's Paradise. In the end, she got to her destination through luck and exhaustion of options.

Her destination happened to be another stone gallery, but one much different from the ones she had seen before. The walls were polished and the floor was tiled to form monochromatic patterns and pictures with the differing tones of sandy grey. The vaulted ceiling was very high and stalactite-free, supported by two parallel rows of thick columns. These columns were also decorated with various symbols and scenes, presumably from Cetra mythology, painted with vivid blues, reds and gold that had resisted the passage of time. The corridor in front of her, formed by the two rows of pillars, lead directly to a golden niche where rested an elegant chest.

Yuffie needn't have been the greatest materia hunter to see that this was what she was looking for, and that the treasure was right in front of her. She ran down the aisle, always keeping an eye out for further treasure that might have been invisible from the entrance, and kneeled down before the arc.

The light reflected off the shiny surface enough to cast wavy golden reflections over her eager face, when she tugged at the lock. It was stuck at first, but with some coaxing, Yuffie got it to open with a satisfying crack!.

A cloud of dust immediately spread from within, which left the ninja princess's lungs aching for clearer breath, but when it dissolved and she recovered enough to look inside she was... disappointed. Inside the velvet interior laid one single item, shaped like a bizarre cross between a sceptre, a gun and a remote control. Obviously, not knowing what it was, Yuffie just grunted and stuffed it in her bag to hand over to the science crew waiting for her to get back.

She hoped it was worth the trouble she had getting there, or Reeve would never hear the end of it.

Approximately one hour later, she was back where she had entered the complex of caves, pleased to find her lightstick still burning strong. Leaping up to catch the rope and her harness, she was soon dangling in mid-air, fumbling with the gear to re-attach it to her belt. In no time, she had made it back to the surface.

---------------

One month had passed since she had gone on that mission and Yuffie was not faring well. She had fallen terribly ill and none of the doctors who had seen her could find out what was wrong.

Coughs constantly wracked her body, leaving her weak and her throat bleeding. Her voice, once so full with life, was little better than a feeble rasp, and the prognostic was that she would lose it altogether very soon, if she lived that long. Her body was very weak, due to the fact that she ate very little and whatever fluids and nutrients made it to her circulation via IV were rejected by her own body.

Her friends from AVALANCHE had come to see her and had been staying in Wutai for the past weeks, but their strength and support barely reached her, for Yuffie was almost always unconscious. Whatever moments she had in wakefulness, were haunted by feverish delusions and violent hallucinations that forced the medic staff to administer sedatives and drugs that put her back in her semi-coma, lest she harm herself.

No one had a clue as to how she had contracted such a disease. The symptoms were well known, but the regular treatments had no effect whatsoever, leaving the doctors at a loss. Some had been desperate enough to suggest mako treatments similar to the ones ShinRa had performed on SOLDIERs to strengthen their bodies, but the conclusion was that the princess was in too fragile a condition to withstand them and her disease was already too deep to be purged by her immune system alone, be it reinforced or not. Materia also had no effect, in fact, the one time a doctor had thought to use it to relieve Yuffie's pain, it had actually worsened the situation, so that solution was wisely put aside.

The truth was that Yuffie was steadily growing weaker and would inevitably die, and no one knew how to stop it.

On the fateful day that the princess joined the lifestream, two more people had been diagnosed with the same condition.

These two were scientists from the WRO that had been closely working on investigating the artefact Yuffie had brought from the Da Chao mountain. They exhibited the same symptoms, if on a minor level, and were promptly taken with great measures of isolation to the finest medical facilities in Edge, to receive the mako treatment that could possibly save their lives. The connection between the three cases was evident, and now so was the origin of the malady.

Tests were made to the surface of the Cetra artefact that revealed vestiges of an unknown virus. Upon this discovery, everyone was alarmed that it might be related to Jenova and the rumoured virus she had spread to decimate the Cetra. However, upon finer examination, the virus seemed perfectly mundane and rather primitive even, comparing to the varieties already known. It was not what one would expect to see on an alien species.

Samples were sent to specialised virologists in Edge, who were accompanying the progress of the two patients sent there from Wutai, and after more testing, an unexpected discovery was made. Far from being an alien threat, the microbe was nothing but a primitive form of the flu virus, conserved through time by the special conditions in the cave where it had been found. Separated by a gap of millennia from the average human's immune system, it had proven deadly and resistant to modern treatments, which were utterly inadequate.

After that, a team was sent to Wutai to sterilise all the material and locations which had been in contact with the artefact, and a vaccine was given to every individual in the population.

Instead of the traditional delivery to the watery realm of the god Leviathan, Yuffie Kisaragi's body had to be cremated so as to eliminate any traces of the disease. On the day that the ceremony was held, Lord Godo's heart was mourning doubly for his daughter that would not be able to enter the water dragon's realm in peace. However, a small part of him consoled him in saying that his stubborn daughter would make her way into any place she so desired.

Atop the platform in the center of the pagoda's square, Yuffie lay deceptively peacefully with arms crossed over her abdomen. She bore a white silk kimono graced with delicate yellow flowers made in fine line and an orange obi with the same motif. Beneath the formal robe, though, she wore the typical shorts and tiny top that she had always favoured in life for her fighting. At her feet, her shuriken was stabbed into the wood with its slotted orbs of materia faintly glinting in the dying sun, mimicking a silent guardian.

The pyre was lit and the youngest saviour of the planet passed on to a quieter world, welcomed by the arms of a woman dressed in pink.


- End -