Hi there! You can feel free to skip this annoyingly long intro if you please.
This is my first Kingdom Hearts fic (and it is Kingdom Hearts, 'cause I couldn't categorize this under a triple crossover, so just so you know, there are also a lot of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII elements in the first few chapters), so I hope I did all right.
It's also my first chapter fic, so I'll try to update…eventually.
Ok, I've played KH1 so far, and watched Advent Children, and parts of Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus, and that's about it.
Oh, and read wikipedia and fanfictions (great sources of information, I know).
So, needless to say, I know very little about either Final Fantasy game, and I won't be able to update later chapters until I finish KH2 (I'll work on it over the summer when I get the chance).
I apologize in advance for sporadic updates (due to busy-ness and clueless-ness) and mistakes in my characterization, situations, concepts, or events. I tried to keep this relatively canon (despite the fact that these characters said Hollow Bastion was their childhood home, but…)
And the grammar errors are intentional (I'm a grammar fanatic, ask Kagetora no Tsume).
Wow, half a page of author's notes. If you've read this far, congratulations!
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII and all related characters and concepts (this would be really long if I did it for the whole story so…I own nothing. )
Enjoy!
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It took three days for Gaia to fall to the darkness.
Granted, they had been seeing those odd dark monsters for a long time. About a month ago, rumors of strange new creatures began to circulate: black creatures with eyes of fire, which could move like shadows and, when killed, dissolved into a rough heart form before disappearing into the Lifestream. They had never been seen before, and no one knew exactly where they had come from. There were many kinds reported: small or large, flying, swimming, walking, floating; the list was endless, much as the monsters had turned out to be. However, at the start, there were so few of them that no one worried overmuch about their sudden appearance.
What a mistake that had been.
About three days ago, the shadows, which had been getting slightly more numerous as time went on, began to attack towns. At first, the villagers had repelled them relatively easily. Gaia was a world of warriors, and most people knew either how to defend themselves or what to do as an alternative. There were few casualties, but though no one openly communicated their worry, they began to murmur that, maybe, these shadows were more dangerous than they seemed.
Cloud himself had taken part in some of these battles, and was surprised at the overwhelming number of weak shadows; the numbers themselves were not overwhelming, but there were so many more weak shadows than strong ones. It made no sense, as far as he was concerned.
Between the sporadic fights, Nanaki and Aeris spoke of a restlessness in the back of their minds, as thought the Lifestream was uneasy. None of the rest of them paid any heed, though. The Lifestream was often uneasy (as any Power of Life and Death must be), and besides, they had increasingly more pressing concerns.
The second day, they found that the number and strength of the monsters (who came to be known as 'Heartless' when they realized where they came from: it was not a sight Cloud wished to view again, though he knew he would) had drastically increased. People began to die in greater numbers, and all of them could feel the pain of the Lifestream in the very back of their minds, as though the planet itself was dying. Cid took Shera and Aeris in his airship in an attempt to give aid to those outlying villages besieged by these new enemies. All too often, however, they arrived too late. Barret, in an attempt to save a small group of children, was lost to the monsters.
On the third day, it all ended.
They had all felt the increasing distress of the Lifestream as a constant nagging in their minds, a begging from the planet itself for salvation. Nanaki had been constantly on edge, jumping at shadows and speaking sharply to all. Cid, in one of his reports, said that Aeris was behaving much the same. They all felt a little uneasy, but no one knew what they could do. They had begun keeping shifts in the night, constantly fighting a growing stream of Heartless. Then, suddenly, an intense moment of agony, and silence.
Gaia was dead.
All of them knew, though no one said anything, that, from the moment the planet died, no matter what happened, the battle was already lost.
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Cloud held his sword at the ready as he drove the motorcycle he had…'commissioned'…toward yet another group of the shadow monsters. Less than three hours before, he had gotten a call from Shera. A large, flying Heartless had attacked the airship, and though they all escaped relatively unscathed, they were being mobbed by more and more of the creatures as time went on.
So, as Yuffie, Tifa, Nanaki, and Vincent went to fight the monsters out of Midgar, Cloud found the largest, fastest vehicle he could and drove in the general direction the airship had gone. If the sounds in the background of the call were any indication, he needed to get there as soon as he could.
He drove toward yet another seemingly endless swarm of small, weak Heartless that had congregated in his path. He slashed at them left and right, could feel them colliding with the oversized motorcycle, getting caught in its wheels, and dissipating. It took several minutes before he was able to leave the remnants behind, their weird antennae waving in his direction as he sped away.
Cloud could barely see the wreck, a smudge on the horizon surrounded by a sea of black. Flashes of light and a low rumble like thunder told him that he was not too late-yet. Resolutely, he hefted his sword again. It was going to be a long fight.
Several minutes later, he had barely dented the horde of Heartless. He had managed to force himself through, however, and was nearing the wreck of Cid's beloved airship, which was lying on its side, a mess of splintered wood, bent metal, shattered glass, and snapped cables. From the midst of the wreckage, he could hear the blasts of some large gun, amidst some rather colorful comments from the pilot and the odd, high-pitched "sound" of magic, almost beyond hearing range. A few moments more, and he could see Cid perched on a bit of rubble, blasting away haphazardly at anything that moved. Come to think of it, that's probably why Aeris and Shera stood behind him, shielded by a bit of rubble. Aeris was casting spell after spell on the dark creatures, but for every one that fell, five took its place.
Cloud swerved violently as Cid turned his way, trying to avoid the bullets that ripped through the Heartless ranks. A moment later, Cid saw him, and redirected his fire.
"About $%&^#* time you got here!" he yelled over the noise of the gun.
The next hour or so passed in a blur of slashing, the roar of the motorcycle, the blasts from the gun, Aeris' shouts and the subsequent sounds of magic, and the discomfort of fitting four people on one, albeit large, motorcycle.
Then they were speeding back to Midgar, praying they would make it there and that there would still be a Midgar to return to.
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Yuffie, Vincent, Nanaki, and Tifa stood in a knot, surrounded by yet another horde of shadow-monsters. Midgar was no more, and, as far as they knew, they were the only survivors.
Tifa delivered yet another roundhouse kick to yet another black critter. They had been fighting for so long, and she could feel the weariness beginning to drag at her, but she resolutely pushed that thought to the back of her mind, to dwell among her other thoughts of desperation, tiredness, futility, and, in general, pessimism. She had no time for that now.
Yuffie threw her shuriken again and again, but the ninja was used to jumping around during battle to avoid attacks. She was not well suited to standing still, surrounded by enemies. Vincent had given her his cloak in an attempt to provide her with added protection, and Tifa did her best to help, but despite their efforts, the younger girl's legs were scratched and bleeding from innumerable claws, and her strength was flagging.
Nanaki was having a worse time of it than even Yuffie; he was closer to the ground and the Shadows than the rest of them were, and his fighting style involved close contact slashing and tearing. He was strong, and determined, but he was hard-pressed to keep from being overwhelmed by the monsters.
Vincent stood on the other side of their little circle. He had adopted his Chaos form in order to fight off a huge, black monster (somehow, she felt it should be called Darkside), and though he had succeeded, Tifa could tell he was more tired and injured than he was letting on. He continued to fire round after round with his gun, Death Penalty, devastating the Heartless ranks at point-blank range, but his breathing was becoming more and more labored, and through the Shadows, she could see blood dotting the ground beneath him.
Yet they still came. And they kept coming, and coming, never ending, always coming, and they kept fighting on and on, for what she didn't know, because the town was dead, and the people were dead, and the world and the planet itself was dead, and the things kept coming, and though they kept fighting, it was hopeless, because they would keep coming, and coming, and…
A scream broke into her desperate thoughts, and she turned as best she could to see where it had come from.
And watched helplessly as Nanaki was born down by the sheer weight of numbers, and dragged under the horde, and though she fought desperately, she could not reach him in time. She heard him scream again, and then the creatures fell back, and she saw her feline friend with his chest torn open, and a new Heartless struggling out of the place where his heart had been. And she could feel silent tears running down her face, but she fought on, and forced this new thought to the back of her mind with single-minded fierceness.
And then, with a harsh tearing sound, two more of the huge monsters (Darksides) rose up at the edge of the horde, and began slowly making their way toward the small group of desperate survivors, wading through the mass of their weaker 'allies'. Tifa's morale hit rock bottom.
If one of the creatures had given them so much trouble, how could they hope to handle two more?
She heard a…noise…and Vincent was streaking past her in some other form of his, opening a path through the throngs of Shadows. Tifa grabbed Yuffie by the arm and the two of them ran close behind their friend. Tifa felt hope well up in her. They were going to escape!
And then they were out, and still running for all they were worth, because the horde was still there, and it was coming after them. Vincent turned back and looked at Tifa wordlessly for a moment. She nodded, feeling fresh tears well; she turned to Yuffie, but the younger girl seemed oblivious to anything but their sudden freedom, and her eyes were shining with hope, a hope Tifa was loath to dash. It wasn't until Vincent started to run in the opposite direction, toward the monsters, that reality sunk in, and the ninja froze in shock; but Tifa was already dragging her on, and she had no choice but to follow her friend as they fled from the creatures at a dead run.
Tifa pushed another of her thoughts to the back of her mind, to be dealt with at a more opportune moment.
If such a moment ever came.
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The motorcycle was dying by the time they found Tifa and Yuffie.
The two girls were obviously exhausted, but they were still running, yet another horde of the shadow creatures at their heels. Cloud drove the slowing vehicle toward them; it had been assaulted by one-to-many Heartless claws, and they had taken their toll. There was time for a brief flurry of hugs and exclamations of joy and sorrow before they were once again surrounded.
They formed a defensive circle, and each of them knew this fight would be their last, and even if they came out alive, there was nowhere to go, and nothing to be done, because the planet was dead, and the people were dead, and the creatures kept coming, and coming, and…
Yet none of them said anything, and all thoughts of death and futility and fallen comrades were pushed aside in preparation for the fight for their lives.
Yuffie held a pair of long knives in her hands, her shuriken useless at such close range (besides, the time it would take to return would leave her helpless). She slashed down creature after creature, screaming Wutain war cries over and over again in helpless rage at the creatures that had taken her friends.
Cid stood next to her, spear in hand, turning the air blue in a war cry of his own as he knocked his attackers aside.
Tifa and Cloud stood across from them. Tifa found new strength in her rage, and channeled it into her punches and kicks; the place in her mind where she had forced her pessimistic thoughts insinuated a prayer into her mind that her strength would last. Cloud slashed around him with his sword, determined not to let any more of his friends die.
Shera stood with Aeris inside their circle, blasting away with the gun Cid had salvaged from the wreck of the airship. Aeris tried and failed desperately to keep up with the injuries her friends sustained, tears streaming down her face at each cry of pain she could not silence with her healing.
And so the six of them fought on.
And still the creatures came, and kept coming, joining the horde, stronger ones, until none of the companions remained unscathed, and still the hordes came, carpeting the landscape in black, and all thoughts faded as fire and ice and lightning rained down from the monsters and spears of darkness rose from the ground and claws slashed and teeth tore and still they fought, because what else could they do?
Desperation set in, sparing none of them, as Shera's ammunition ran out, and Aeris' casting slowed, and Cid's spear broke and he was forced to use the broken end, and Tifa heard her wrist snap, and Cloud's sword became harder to lift, and Yuffie's legs once again ran red with blood despite the protection of her…missing…friend's cape.
And then, suddenly, in a last ditch effort to save what remained of its life, the remnants of the Lifestream surrounded the last survivors, lifting them up, taking them through the rift the Heartless had created when they had invaded Gaia.
But the Lifestream was damaged and dying, consumed by darkness just as the planet had been, and, in its weakness, it allowed Shera to slip into the void that was the connection between the worlds.
The five remaining companions were deposited in a field in some world they instinctively knew was not their own, and they realized their loss, and wept, and wept for their other lost friends as well, and the people, and the towns, and their planet, their world, while curious onlookers gathered to stare at the newcomers who fell from the sky.
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Yay, finally finished the first chapter!
The end was a little weird, but they had to get to Radiant Garden somehow!
Anyway, this is going to be a collection of events from Kingdom Hearts as seen from the Final Fantasy characters' point of view; I'll try to alternate between characters, with some added scenes ('cause Aeris and Yuffie don't really get many events as compared to Cloud and Leon).
The next chapter is my attempt at how Leon got to Radiant Garden, but I know less about FF8 than FF7, so it may be a while before I figure out how to write it…
I appreciate reviews, and if you noticed something I messed up, please tell me!
Sayonara!