Disclaimer to end all disclaimers: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters. However the plot and any original characters and things I come up with belong to me. So back off.
**Chapter re-posted**
A/N: My third fic. Another one featuring Yuffie I know, but this was another story idea I had to try out. If I didn't I would have died of creative starvation! I hope you guys enjoy this one. Please be sure to leave a review. They really help motivate us writers to keep spittin' out chapter's y'know.
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It was below freezing. Yuffie rubbed her hands together furiously, feebly attempting to rub some feeling back into them. Her short breaths came in wisps of smoke before her eyes, and her heart began to race.
Where was she?
Grumbling she took off the thick glove covering her hand, wincing as the cold nipped at her fingers, and pulled a tattered map out of her pocket. She unfolded it, frowning down at the parchment. According to the map she should have made it to Icicle Inn by now. This didn't make any sense. Irritated she took out her compass and frowned at. That way was north? She had thought she had been going west! Yuffie whacked the compass repeatedly on her arm, and then stared down at it again. Now it said she was heading south.
The ninja let out a fierce growl, tossing the compass away. It seemed it would do her no good here. Something was causing it to go haywire.
Yuffie shrugged off her backpack, preparing to set up camp. The sun was nearing the horizon and soon it would be too cold to put up a tent. She didn't want to get caught in that situation, so she worked quickly. There were quite a few moments where Yuffie managed to get tangled in the mess of canvas and poles, and there were quite a few times when she smashed her fingers trying to hammer the tent's pegs into the ground.
Needless to say, she cursed quite a few times as well.
When she finished the sun was hovering dangerously over the horizon and Yuffie watched it descend for a minute before scurrying into her tent.
It was a special tent. She wasn't stupid enough to use just any old ordinary tent out here. This tent was infused with magical properties, straight from a materia. A mid level Fire materia, in its second level of crystallization, was the warmest thing one could use without roasting themselves.
As Yuffie climbed into her sleeping bag, she began to think about how things seemed to have changed since Avalanche's battle against Sephiroth. Cloud and Tifa were married. Cid and Shera were engaged and expecting a baby. Barret and Marlene had moved to Corel, which had improved greatly and increased in size. Elmyra had moved to Kalm, and though she wasn't part of Avalanche, she was treated just the same. Reeve, after revealing himself as Cait Sith and nearly getting killed by Barret, moved to Mideel and was helping the villagers make a new and better town.
What had Yuffie done in the past two years?
First, after the spectacle with Holy, she went back to Wutai, the materia of Avalanche on her back. She had received a grand welcome, and was publicly acknowledged by her father as a brave young woman. Yuffie remembered how she had beamed like an idiot, happy to be accepted by her father again and hailed by everyone as a hero. At first it had been fantastic. She had started to get along with her father, and though things were a bit awkward and every now and then they'd get on each other's nerves, she really had believed things had started getting better.
But then came that horrible turning point. Her 17th birthday.
Her father had been so proud. "Now you really are a woman," he had said, "Now it's time you started looking for a husband."
Yuffie had balked at that. "A husband!?" she had cried, "What am I gonna do looking for a husband? I'm only 17!"
"You've come of age," the old geezer had said, "Soon you will be the Queen of Wutai, you need a husband to continue the Kisaragi line!"
At this she blew up. "You want me to get knocked up!?"
And all the bridges they had built were burned down.
She went traveling again after that. She couldn't stand her father. In fact she hated him now. She didn't want to take on the responsibility of Wutai, and she sure as hell didn't want to get married. How could he actually expect her to rule over a city when she could barely keep herself in check? It was stupid, the whole thing. She wouldn't give in to him, and she knew he wouldn't give in to her. All of it was a matter of pride, and sometimes that was all either of them really had.
Yuffie didn't visit any of her friends on her travels. She didn't want them to see her in such a situation. She didn't think she could bear having their perfect lives disrupted by her awkward teenage problems.
With a sigh the young girl closed her eyes, and slowly she drifted off to sleep. Yuffie dreamt dreaming dreams that she would forget early next morning.
****
Eyes fluttering open, Yuffie sat up with a yawn, rubbing at her eyes. The sunlight filtered in through the tent, and with a sigh, the ninja crawled out into the cold morning air to greet it properly.
Then she remembered she wasn't wearing any of her warmers, and gave a short cry as the cold air all but bit her skin. Arms wrapped tightly around her arms, the girl turned, ready to scurry back into the tent.
And that's when she saw it.
It was a black fuzzy thing sticking out of the snow. It grabbed at her attention, because it was the only thing besides her and her tent that wasn't white.
Yuffie frowned. "What the-" As she neared the thing, she gave a small gasp when realization dawned on her.
The thing was an animal, nearly completely buried in snow.
Grimacing, the ninja started to dig the animal out. "Ugh…grossness," she muttered, hands and fingers numbing as she dug. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized just what the animal was…
A black cat.
She leaned in closer as she dusted the snow away from it, and as she did so, she could hear it's faint breathing. Without even stopping to think about it, Yuffie scooped the animal up into her arms, hugging it close to her body and shivering at how cold it was. Still cradling the cat to her chest, Yuffie retreated into her tent, where she remained for the rest of the day, trying to warm the cat up as best she could.
*****
Yuffie spent the night at the same spot, feeling it best to try and stay where she was, at least for the moment, seeing as how she was lost and with a sick cat in her care. She cradled it fiercely to her chest, happy to see another living thing out here in the tundra, and happy to have rescued it in time before it could die. It was weak, too weak to move, but it was breathing easier and its eyes had opened partially, which Yuffie took as a good sign.
Scratching it behind it's ear, Yuffie murmured, smiling softly, "I bet you don't have anything to worry about now do you? …Still, what were you doing out here, cat?"
The cat didn't respond.
Yuffie stayed one more night.
****
The next day, she gave the cat water and some canned tuna she had stashed away at the bottom of her pack, and the cat ate gratefully. Yuffie laughed slightly at the eagerness of the cat, which had gained a lot of strength in the short time with her.
"You're a pig, now aren't you?" she teased, petting it. The cat purred in response, it's blue eyes locking with her brown ones. Yuffie smiled down at it. "Well, cat, looks like you're strong enough now. We'll leave first thing tomorrow for Icicle Inn!"
****
It was horrible. The next morning had
started innocently enough. But as the
morning progressed, the wind had increased in speed and strength, and was now
blowing with a vengeance, seemingly determined to blow Yuffie right over. The cat was held tightly against her chest,
and the girl was slightly unnerved at how still it was. Was it dead or something? Or was all the wind and snow just scaring it
stiff?
Yuffie grit her teeth as she leaned against the wind, her face and ears numb with cold. It was foolish to spend two extra days resting. Her provisions were low, and now she was caught up in this blizzard. For a moment, a sudden wave of fear washed over the girl as a particularly strong gust blew her back a few steps. Would she die out here? Where the world would never find her again? Would she be just another poor sap who had succumbed to the horrible storms of the northern continent, forgotten by all, and lost to the world?
Yuffie doubled her efforts as she pushed onward, fighting her hardest against the winds.
No. She wouldn't die here. Like hell she would.
But her body was tired and it was steadily growing colder. Yuffie began to lose feeling in her fingers, her legs turned to lead weights. As the seconds ticked by, Yuffie began to feel like she was floating along. As far as she was concerned, her legs and feet weren't there anymore. The ninja stumbled in the snow, but she fought to keep her balance. If she fell, then it would be the end of her…
Her foot dragged, and she toppled onto her side, still clutching the cat to her chest.
It was dark. The falling snow blocked the sun out. The wind howled past her ears hauntingly. Yuffie stared listlessly ahead of her as the snow steadily began to cover her body. With numb fingers, the girl slowly unzipped her jacket, enough for her to look inside.
The cat stared up at her with half-closed eyes. So it was almost dead then.
Yuffie hugged the creature more tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sorry…" she rasped, her throat going dry and seizing up. She stared into the cat's eyes and smiled shakily. "Y'know, it's not so bad…this dying thing…" And her eyes slowly drifted shut.
The cat gazed at her face for a long time, before snuggling closer to her chest.
"My thanks to you…my friend." It whispered quietly, before fading away into a cluster of blue lights. The lights entered Yuffie's chest, and the girl began to glow with a faint light.
The storm continued to rage on.
****
"Give me some jerky Taerk."
"No. Get your own damn jerky."
"What!? After I helped you with your supplies?"
"You didn't help me with anything."
"I did to!"
"Packing my bag chalk full of peanuts isn't my idea of helping, Beatrix."
"Jeesh, you're such a jerk! …Hey. Do you smell that?"
"…Yeah I do. What do you think it is?"
"…Smells like a…cat. A big one too. Kind of funny though, I've never smelled a cat like that before…"
A pale girl with fiery red hair stopped at the top of a small hill, her nose raised in the air. She sniffed tentatively, like a bloodhound sniffing out its quarry. A large muscular man, considerably taller than the girl, stopped at her side, doing the same. His hair was a dirty blond, and cropped short. Blue eyes narrowed, the man kneeled down in the snow, sniffing the ground. "It's a bit faint, but something did come through here, not too long ago I might add…"
The redhead took a few steps forward and crouched down as well, sniffing the ground. "The scent's gone, Taerk." She said slowly.
Taerk scowled, "It…must have been caught in the storm from yesterday. That's the only reason I can come up with." He stood. "Come on, we have to go."
The girl, Beatrix, stared back at him with wide eyes. "Taerk…This isn't just an ordinary cat. This thing is HUGE and…" she faltered, wrinkling her nose. Taerk glared at her in annoyance.
"What is it?" he asked grumpily. Why so much fuss over a simple animal?
Beatrix shook her head, "The cat scent is mixed with another scent…a human one."
Taerk's eyes widened a little as the implications of that finally hit home, "…A hybrid?" he asked quietly. Beatrix shrugged.
Gritting his teeth, the man stared around. After a moment he pointed at the spot where she last sniffed. "You say the scent ends about there?" she nodded grimly. Taerk sighed and kneeled down next to her.
"Help me dig." He ordered shortly.
Beatrix didn't argue.
A/N: Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Is this a good start?
Special thanks to Alan Bates for helping me out in this chapter. Hopefully I corrected what was wrong with it.