Pale slivers of moonlight stretch down into the barren alleys. A young woman lies in the middle, slowly waking from her sleep. Bright aquamarine eyes stare down at the ground as her weak limbs lift her into a sitting position. She inhales shakily and glances at her surroundings, rubbing the back of her hand against her eyes as she does so. The faded stone walls of buildings rise up from the ground around her; broken windows, dirty yellow light, and silence. For a second she begins to think she's completely alone and no one inhabits wherever she happens to be, if she's really gone anywhere at all. Chills run over her skin as she stands, tugging at her frayed black shorts and ripped, white button-up shirt.
Milky white toes curl against the asphalt while bare arms cross over her adequate bosom. A frown tugs at her pink lips as she begins to walk, long silver hair swaying against her back. The sound of footfalls forces her to stop dead in her tracks. Turning around slowly, toward the approaching person, she slowly realizes it's quite the opposite of a mere human. Unlike herself, the hound striding closer adorns murderous intent in its golden eyes.
The creature's striking eyes alone drive her head to ache and vision to falter; a forgotten memory close enough for her to touch. The large black dog takes the opportunity to creep closer. Fear sweeps over her body as she takes another step away only to fall backwards, landing roughly on her butt. The hound pounces immediately; standing over her as she lies motionless. A whimper leaves her throat as she tries not to gag from the smell of the creature's rancid breath spewing into her face. Drool dribbles down from the corners of its mouth as dark yellow teeth bare themselves at her. A growl sends her body into a trembling mess as she tries to back away only to be stopped by a massive paw pressing down on her chest. She's never been more afraid or vulnerable. So full of fright she closes her eyes, waiting for what comes next.
Sounds explode around her; gunshots, whines, footsteps. Suddenly she feels as weak as she looks. Never has she been this vulnerable and full of so much fear, yet she cannot stop her eyes from opening. Frigid blue orbs refuse to blink away as the creature is kicked away from her by a dirt scoffed black shoe. Dark eyes stare down at her with an empty confusion. Her own fright continues to build as she crawls backward; wanting no more than anything to get away from the man in his black suit.
Everything about him is finely cut and proper; black hair pulled into a tight ponytail, outfit perfectly ironed out and hanging about his body, and those eyes held onto a sharply angled face that studies her. Not even an eyebrow rises as he begins to question her, "What are you?"
It throws the girl off guard as she finds herself backed against the wall of a building. Suddenly aware of herself she stands confidently before the tall man. A hand reaches up to brush over the two cat-like ears on her head, the man watching the whole time. Mouth shut and nerves hidden from the outside, she stares back at him.
"You'll come with me, creature from another world."
"No." her objection is strong willed as she brings her hands in front of her frail body, prepared to fight if she must. On her world she was considered one of the strongest until she was overcome and sent here or maybe she was her all along. Pressing the headache away from the forefront of her mind, she watches as he raises his gun.
"It wasn't a choice."
Taking a deep breath, the silver haired girl dashes forward. Her speed startles the armed man as she send her hand flying out to grab at his wrist, forcing him to drop the gun. Being smaller she's able to duck down just as he reaches for her. Instead she rolls to the side, jumping back up to her feet. Both stand staring at one another, trying to determine who will spring for the gun or who will run.
Just before either can move, a bullet bounces off the ground between them. The man glares up to the right where another stands on a rooftop. "Vincent, stay out of this."
"I can't do that Tseng." This Vincent strides forward till he's a matter of feet from them both. He dresses just as Tseng does; color, style, and manner. The only difference between the two is that Vincent has his hair cropped short, angling down to frame in his face and piercing, muddy red eyes. "I know what you're doing with them."
She glances between the two, concerned. Tseng pays her no heed, merely talks around her. "You don't know anything."
"Reno told me." Vincent raises his gun to level with Tseng chest. "Back away or I'll shoot." Tseng takes a step away from her, seeing as his gun lies on the ground out of his reach.
Her gaze meets Vincent's and she finds herself having to pry away from it. Not believing that he'll shoot her, seeing as he just saved her, she dashes towards him. Thinking he can't react too fast with his arm holding the gun, she runs at full steam. It doesn't seem to be enough as he switches hands, the gun idling in mid-air for a second at most, and spins around. One arm circles around her and she's forced up against his chest.
The click of metal on metal is followed by the barrel of the gun erupting, sending the bullet into Vincent's side. Even so, he does his best not to crumble to the ground at such a minor wound. Instead he pushes her forward, spinning around to fire off a round to distract Tseng. Once his clip is empty, Vincent dashes forward and tugs her along. Turn after turn, shortcut after shortcut; they keep moving until they're sitting inside of a small, abandoned house.
Inside, she leaves Vincent's side as he slides down the wall to the ground. His free hand clutches at his side while the other lays the gun down. As she watches his chest rise and fall steadily despite the blood he's already lost, she feels... bad about it. Kneeling down in front of him, she keeps her hands in her lap. "Thank you, for interfering."
He scoffs and raises his head, the bangs at the sides of his face swaying at the movement. "My pleasure." Neither say a thing as Vincent works to keep pressure on the small wound, making sure it clots and that no more of his outfit is tarnished by the blood. "Vincent Valentine," he states suddenly as he rises to his feet.
She watches, slightly confused, as he ambles over to a couch she hadn't even noticed before. Being able to see through the darkness, she should have taken note of it. "What?"
"My name."
"Oh..." Stretching as she stands up, she moves over to sit next to him as well as bring him the gun. "Mine's Riku." She licks at her lips in an effort to stall before her question. "What do they do to people like me?"
"Experimentation. Disection. Torture. Those are just the ones that I've found out. It'd be safer to get you back to wherever you came from."
"Why did you help me?"
Fingers stained with drying blood, he grabs at her upper arm. Vincent tugs her close so that their faces aren't even an inch apart. The only thing she can do is stare into his eyes that begin to glow a bright crimson. After what she can only think is an eternity, but is really a few seconds, he releases his grasp and turns away. "Because I was a starting point." Without looking he points at her ears. "I lack the add-ons in favor of abnormal abilities."
Riku can only swallow and look away. She can still feel where his fingers where, as if he had burned her skin. Something inside of her stirs and she can't deny one fact; crimson is a lot more comforting than the haunting gold she remembers. "How do I get home?" Receiving no answer, she looks over just in time to see Vincent shake his head. "So then where do you suggest I go till I figure it out?"
Wincing as he stands, Vincent grabs for the gun and puts it back in the holster at his side. "You'll go with me unless you want Tseng or one of the others to catch you." He moves swiftly to the left and she immediately takes note of a small staircase with no banister. Glancing up she sees that the ceiling, as well as the roof, has some holes. "We'll stay here for the night."
Not wanting to be left behind, Riku follows him up the stairs. The wood creaks under their weight until finally they're on the second floor. Scanning the are she notices only one bed, one dresser, a lantern, a bowl of strawberries, and rose atop it. Vincent leads her to the bed where he hands her the bowl then moves to address his wound. She collapses onto side of the bare mattress and begins to pick that fruit, munching on every other one. Between bites she sneaks glances across the room to where he's bandaging his side, the pale skin a stark contrast to the darkness.
Setting the bowl back on the dresser, she watches as Vincent walks back tot he bed with a large, wool blanket. He leaves his jacket on the floor and sit down across from Riku. "Get some sleep. We move in a few hours." The dark haired man lays with his back to her, the blanket pulled up over his waist. Looking at the warm material she realizes just how cold she really is. At first she keeps her back to him on the small bed, listening to the soft breathing that comes from him not a few moments later.
Just as she closes her eyes she sees those pools of dirty gold glaring at her, trying to suffocate her. Her eyes snap back open as she gasps, forcing her breathing to even back out as to not wake the savior sleeping next to her. Which is when she takes a deep breath and rolls over, doing her best not to move the bed too much or make it squeak too loudly. Never will she admit to it, but she moves close up against his back and clutches at his shirt. For a second she thinks he tenses up, not having been asleep, but before she knows it she's fast asleep with her face buried in his shirt and the blanket up around her shoulders.
In the midst of hell and running from her own demons, she manages to find one safe haven - if only for a little while.
A gift for a friend, she mentioned a certain pairing and I asked for a few prompts ( neko, strawberries, rose ) and worked them in. Nothing like some Gender Bend to start off the New Year. :'D