...Cloud brought back the Yoshiyuki, preparing for another strike against the hideous creature before him. As if the fact that WEAPON was ravaging the planet wasnt enough, he had to deal with stupid things like this. Cloud prepared to swing, but then stopped. He looked more closely at the monster. Why was it just sitting there like that? It was then that he noticed the faint orange glow that eminated from the thing. It had cast Regen! Any strike he made with his current equipping would merely be neutralized in a matter of seconds. He glanced down the row of his party mates to Yuffie. "Hey Yuff! Help me out real quick. I'm gonna summon." Yuffie turned her head to him and gave a quick nod. As he began to focus his energy, he saw her out of the corner of his eye as she produced a flame from her hands, which shot forward to encompass the monster. Tifa, taking all this in, was willing to help Cloud with a spell if he needed it, but for this particular moment, she was trying to defend from the creature's advances. She could feel her anger growing as the monster hit her over and over. Suddenly, she could no longer take it, and went berserk in a flurry of punches, kicks, and flips that left the monster stunned. Cloud was ready by now, and was suddenly and quickly engulfed in a red light as the party faded to invisibility. The earth trembled as the summon spell began to take effect and a beautiful woman appeared from on high. The woman seemed to be normal enough and the creature felt confident that it could also defeat this human along with the rest, until she suddenly sent a focused ice blast flying into its horribly mutated face. The creature panicked as it froze over. It couldn't breathe, it couldn't move. Was it possible these puny little human creatures had defeated it? It watched through the ice as Cloud and friends reappeared. Cloud thought to himself "Now is the time", and brought the Yoshiyuki high above his head. Focusing all of his energy to his limit, he drove forward, impaling the creature on his sword, and added insult to injury by bringing the sword upward through the monster's body, slicing into two neat halves. Cloud stole a kiss from Tifa and high fived Yuffie as the monster burst into a pile of chunks and goo, and then disspated into the lifestream in the form of energy.
"C'mon", said Yuffie, "Let's get back to the Highwind before Barrett gets pissed". "Hey" Cloud replied," I'm the leader, not Barrett. Let's head into Kalm and get some grub." Yuffie thought this over a moment and then flashed a smile at Cloud, and with a wink said," Alright, but you're paying, I'm low on Gil. And if Barrett yells at me, you owe me a new materia!" "Well, let's hurry up then guys", Tifa chimed in, "I want some ice cream, and standing here jabbering isn't getting us to Kalm any quicker." Cloud sheathed the Yoshiyuki and said "You're right, let's go. No promises on that materia though Yuffie." Yuffie stuck her tongue out and resolved to steal an "all" materia from Cloud later, and the three friends started off for Kalm.
Yuffie smiled and licked at her ice cream. This had been one of the best days of her life. Actually, that was kinda weird, considering the fact that in about four days the planet was going to be blown to bits by Meteor, the WEAPONs were wandering around attacking anything that wasn't green and growing from the Earth, and Sephiroth was chilling out in a bubble up north, stopping Holy from saving their butts. You'd think she'd be worried, but for some reason, none of this concerned her right now. She was just purely happy. She had passed her father's test in Wutai, and gotten three new materia today, counting the "all" she had "borrowed" from Cloud. She liked her new materia; one called a giant water dragon called Leviathon, and the other stole from monsters whenever she cast a spell. That meant more goodies to sell, which meant more Gil and more materia! She giggled at the thought of all that new materia and then looked across the table and the room to the bar where Tifa and Cloud sat on beat up old stools. "They are so oblivious to the fact that everyone is looking at them", She said to no-one but her ice cream, which was slowly falling off the cone. When Cloud looked over to the table, she made a kissy face, then pretended to stick her finger in her throat in a "Gag me" gesture. Cloud seemed to consider making a gesture of his own, but instead went back to lavishing attention on Tifa while he still had the chance. Yuffie thought she was the only one who knew that Cloud and Tifa were now officially together. Though they tried to hide it from everyone on the ship, they all knew that the two at least wanted to be together. Yuffie had heard Cait Sith and Red XII talking about it this morning as she sat at her reserved seat in the hall of the highwind, trying not to be sick as usual. It wasn't that it really mattered if they were together or not, it was just something for everyone to focus their nervous minds on. Yuffie shrugged and went back to licking her peppermint ice cream.
Cloud looked over to Yuffie and saw her blow him a kiss, and then pretend to gag. He raised his hand to about midway up his body, but then thought better of it, and dropped it to his side again. After all, she was only joking with him, and everyone needs to have some fun sometimes. especially these days. Of course "fun" didn't necessarily explain the empty materia slot on his new sword where his "all" should be. It hadn't just fallen out of his it's slot, he was sure of that. He'd decided to worry about it later though. Why waste his time worrying about one little materia when he could be relaxing with two of his favorite people in the world. He looked to Tifa as her tongue darted out to take a lick of her ice cream. She stopped in mid-lick, and gave him a cute little puzzled look with her tongue halfway sticking out. She finished her lick and then said "What". He laughed a little and said "You have ice cream on your nose" He watched as she crossed her eyes, and then leaned in and kissed the ice cream off of her nose. He ran a hand through her hair, and then glanced up as their beers finally arrived. They got up from the stools and went back to the table.
Yuffie looked up at Cloud as he and Tifa arrived with two beers, and she frowned. "Where's mine?", She asked rather demandingly. "Aren't you a bit young to be drinking? You're still a child" Cloud responded, to which Tifa added "Yeah, we'd hate to be blamed for corrupting you." Yuffie looked hurt, and whined "I am NOT a child. An' besides, I help you guys fight monsters all the time, I think I've at least got a beer comin'." "Yeah", Cloud said," but you volunteered to come with us. Of course at the time you were planning on stealing our materia, but you still volunteered. Which reminds me. There's an empty materia slot on my new "Heaven's Cloud" that I was going to put my "all" materia into, but I seem to have lost it. You don't maybe happen to have one do you?" "Yeah", Yuffie replied," but it's gonna cost you. How much are "all" materia going for nowadays? 900 Gil?That sounds about right." "I'll give you 1 Gil" Cloud said "and I wont ask you where you got 900 Gil to buy an "all" materia which I'm willing to bet is already partially mastered". "1 GIL?!?! That's highway robbery! Yuffie protested. It'd hafta be at least 250 Gil". Cloud thought for a moment and then said "Tell ya what. You give me the "all", and I'll go buy you a drink." "Buddy, you've got your self a deal" She said, and unlocked the "all" from her "Wind Slash", tossing the materia lightly into the air for Cloud to claim. He snatched it out of the air and headed off toward the bar to get her a drink.
Tifa watched Cloud walk over to the bar, and then turned to Yuffie with a smirk on her face. "Why are you lookin' at me like that? I didn't do nothin'"Yuffie insisted nervously. "Except sucker Cloud out of a drink for his own materia", Tifa offered amusedly. Yuffie smiled and said,"aww, he prob'ly knew it wuz his anyway". Tifa laughed and said "Still, you're getting almost as good as I am at pushing his buttons." Yuffie smiled from ear to ear. "Pushin' 'em? I'm installin' 'em." She giggled again and took a bite out of her ice cream cone. "You know",Tifa offered," beer and peppermint don't go very well together. If you're gonna drink, you better finish quick." "I'll finish before he gets back" Yuffie replied confidently. "Oh yeah?", Tifa scoffed ,"Feel like putting your money where your mouth is? He's just grabbed your beer. Finish it before he gets here, I'll give you 200 Gil. Don't, and you buy the next round of drinks. Decide if you're up to it quickly, because he's paying for it now." Yuffie looked at Tifa, then Cloud, then her ice cream, and instead of answering, shoved the ice cream into her mouth. Tifa saw this and turned to Cloud, yelling," RUN, GET OVER HERE". Cloud sprinted across the table, vaulting a chair on his way to the table. When he arrived, Yuffie's cheeks were puffed out and Tifa was cracking up. "Looks like we get free drinks" Tifa said to Cloud. "Nuh-uh, I'm all done" Yuffie said, trying to make her cheeks look normal. "Nice try Yuff", Cloud said with a chuckle,"But I can see the ice cream when you talk." Yuffie swallowed hard and frowned. "Don't worry" Cloud said, "I've had enough to drink. A leader needs a clear head. Just get one for Tifa". Yuffie begrudgingly got up and headed for the bar. As she passed Cloud, he stopped her and whispered "Just have him put it on my tab. You owe me." She looked at him for a second, smiled, then hugged him and kissed his cheek and skipped off to the bar. Tifa gave Cloud a weird look and asked "what'd you say that made her that happy?" Cloud thought for a second and said "I told her she could try my new materia later."
Yuffie returned with Tifa's beer and the three friends sat and shot the breeze for a while. They discussed their travels, the WEAPONs, Sephiroth, and just about everything from who was gonna race the chocobo next time they were at Gold Saucer to what the weather was like now that Meteor was in the atmosphere. Cloud was about to recount his first mission with AVALANCHE, which was also when he met Aeris, When Yuffie saw a shadow land on his shoulder. She looked up just as the newcomer spoke. "Well if it isn't Cloud and the gang." Cloud's head lifted up a bit from its previously relaxed position and Cloud responded "Hello Reno" with a slightly sarcastic tone. " It's good to see you again. We thought the Turks had all died in Midgar." It was a woman who spoke next. "The Turks dont give in that easily"Tifa glanced up now "Well if it isn't Elena. How's the world's favorite working woman?" "She's about to beat your sorry..." Elena burst out before a third voice barked out "ELENA! Dont be so soft." "Damn right Rude" Reno responded, "That's why chicks shouldn't be Turks". "What can we do for you boys?... and girl" inquired Yuffie curiously. Reno did his trademark hair flip and said, "Even though Shinra is outta commission, Elena feels we should complete our last mission." "Which was to find and kill me if I remember right", Cloud said with a grin on his face. "Bingo", Reno replied," So if you would kindly step outside." Cloud caught a look of amusement in Reno's eyes, and decided he needed to talk to him privately. He motioned for Reno to move closer and they conversed, during which Cloud nodded and laughed. Cloud and Reno then returned to the group and said, "Okay girls, let's go". Tifa and Yuffie nodded and got up from the table. The Turks moved to the door of the bar, and Cloud motioned for them to wait outside. "We'll be right out." He yelled with a wave.The Turks headed out, Elena first, running, followed by Rude, and finally, with a flip of his hair, Reno. Tifa looked to Cloud inquisitivley "What's going on Cloud? You don't usually look this relaxed before a big fight." "That's because this isn't a big fight." Cloud assured them. "Reno said that Elena's being overzealous, and he wants us to beat he up a little, to make her think before she acts." Cloud laughed and headed for the door, shouting back "C'mon, this'll be interesting."
Outside, Elena had already begun preparing for the fight. She was sitting doing stretches on the ground when Cloud's party exited the bar. As Cloud walked up to her, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a green materia, which he tossed to Yuffie. "You're first", he called to her, and smiled as her face lit up. Tifa tapped Elena with her shoe and said "You ready? We don't have all day to deal with you guys." Elena looked up at Tifa and nodded a response. "Let's go", she said confidently as she struck a battle pose,"We Turks are gonna take you guys down." Cloud didn't bother unsheathing the "Heaven's Cloud" as the battle started.
"Bring it on" shouted Elena "We're gonna beat you down, right guys?"She waited for a response and when none came, she looked to her left, then her right, and a look of dawning comprehension and horror came over her face as she saw Reno and Rude leaning against the wall of the bar, smoking. Yuffie smiled, and cast the spell associated with the materia Cloud had given her. Elena laughed and snidely said "YOU IDIOT! You just cast Magic Barrier on the wrong side!!" Yuffie smiled even more and said "No, I just saved your life!" Elena showed a look of confusion as Cloud cast a spell that sent her flying 70 feet back and through the window of a nearby building. It was over. Cloud's party and the remaining Turks ran over to where Elena had landed, and stood over her battered body."What...was that...spell...?" Elena asked as Reno paid for the broken window. "That" Cloud responded "Was "Ultima". It's been know to cause up to 6000 Hp in damage." "That's why I casted 'Mbarrier' on ya" Yuffie said with a grin as Elena passed out. Cloud and Reno shook hands and the two groups went their separate ways.
"C'mon", said Yuffie, "Let's get back to the Highwind before Barrett gets pissed". "Hey" Cloud replied," I'm the leader, not Barrett. Let's head into Kalm and get some grub." Yuffie thought this over a moment and then flashed a smile at Cloud, and with a wink said," Alright, but you're paying, I'm low on Gil. And if Barrett yells at me, you owe me a new materia!" "Well, let's hurry up then guys", Tifa chimed in, "I want some ice cream, and standing here jabbering isn't getting us to Kalm any quicker." Cloud sheathed the Yoshiyuki and said "You're right, let's go. No promises on that materia though Yuffie." Yuffie stuck her tongue out and resolved to steal an "all" materia from Cloud later, and the three friends started off for Kalm.
Yuffie smiled and licked at her ice cream. This had been one of the best days of her life. Actually, that was kinda weird, considering the fact that in about four days the planet was going to be blown to bits by Meteor, the WEAPONs were wandering around attacking anything that wasn't green and growing from the Earth, and Sephiroth was chilling out in a bubble up north, stopping Holy from saving their butts. You'd think she'd be worried, but for some reason, none of this concerned her right now. She was just purely happy. She had passed her father's test in Wutai, and gotten three new materia today, counting the "all" she had "borrowed" from Cloud. She liked her new materia; one called a giant water dragon called Leviathon, and the other stole from monsters whenever she cast a spell. That meant more goodies to sell, which meant more Gil and more materia! She giggled at the thought of all that new materia and then looked across the table and the room to the bar where Tifa and Cloud sat on beat up old stools. "They are so oblivious to the fact that everyone is looking at them", She said to no-one but her ice cream, which was slowly falling off the cone. When Cloud looked over to the table, she made a kissy face, then pretended to stick her finger in her throat in a "Gag me" gesture. Cloud seemed to consider making a gesture of his own, but instead went back to lavishing attention on Tifa while he still had the chance. Yuffie thought she was the only one who knew that Cloud and Tifa were now officially together. Though they tried to hide it from everyone on the ship, they all knew that the two at least wanted to be together. Yuffie had heard Cait Sith and Red XII talking about it this morning as she sat at her reserved seat in the hall of the highwind, trying not to be sick as usual. It wasn't that it really mattered if they were together or not, it was just something for everyone to focus their nervous minds on. Yuffie shrugged and went back to licking her peppermint ice cream.
Cloud looked over to Yuffie and saw her blow him a kiss, and then pretend to gag. He raised his hand to about midway up his body, but then thought better of it, and dropped it to his side again. After all, she was only joking with him, and everyone needs to have some fun sometimes. especially these days. Of course "fun" didn't necessarily explain the empty materia slot on his new sword where his "all" should be. It hadn't just fallen out of his it's slot, he was sure of that. He'd decided to worry about it later though. Why waste his time worrying about one little materia when he could be relaxing with two of his favorite people in the world. He looked to Tifa as her tongue darted out to take a lick of her ice cream. She stopped in mid-lick, and gave him a cute little puzzled look with her tongue halfway sticking out. She finished her lick and then said "What". He laughed a little and said "You have ice cream on your nose" He watched as she crossed her eyes, and then leaned in and kissed the ice cream off of her nose. He ran a hand through her hair, and then glanced up as their beers finally arrived. They got up from the stools and went back to the table.
Yuffie looked up at Cloud as he and Tifa arrived with two beers, and she frowned. "Where's mine?", She asked rather demandingly. "Aren't you a bit young to be drinking? You're still a child" Cloud responded, to which Tifa added "Yeah, we'd hate to be blamed for corrupting you." Yuffie looked hurt, and whined "I am NOT a child. An' besides, I help you guys fight monsters all the time, I think I've at least got a beer comin'." "Yeah", Cloud said," but you volunteered to come with us. Of course at the time you were planning on stealing our materia, but you still volunteered. Which reminds me. There's an empty materia slot on my new "Heaven's Cloud" that I was going to put my "all" materia into, but I seem to have lost it. You don't maybe happen to have one do you?" "Yeah", Yuffie replied," but it's gonna cost you. How much are "all" materia going for nowadays? 900 Gil?That sounds about right." "I'll give you 1 Gil" Cloud said "and I wont ask you where you got 900 Gil to buy an "all" materia which I'm willing to bet is already partially mastered". "1 GIL?!?! That's highway robbery! Yuffie protested. It'd hafta be at least 250 Gil". Cloud thought for a moment and then said "Tell ya what. You give me the "all", and I'll go buy you a drink." "Buddy, you've got your self a deal" She said, and unlocked the "all" from her "Wind Slash", tossing the materia lightly into the air for Cloud to claim. He snatched it out of the air and headed off toward the bar to get her a drink.
Tifa watched Cloud walk over to the bar, and then turned to Yuffie with a smirk on her face. "Why are you lookin' at me like that? I didn't do nothin'"Yuffie insisted nervously. "Except sucker Cloud out of a drink for his own materia", Tifa offered amusedly. Yuffie smiled and said,"aww, he prob'ly knew it wuz his anyway". Tifa laughed and said "Still, you're getting almost as good as I am at pushing his buttons." Yuffie smiled from ear to ear. "Pushin' 'em? I'm installin' 'em." She giggled again and took a bite out of her ice cream cone. "You know",Tifa offered," beer and peppermint don't go very well together. If you're gonna drink, you better finish quick." "I'll finish before he gets back" Yuffie replied confidently. "Oh yeah?", Tifa scoffed ,"Feel like putting your money where your mouth is? He's just grabbed your beer. Finish it before he gets here, I'll give you 200 Gil. Don't, and you buy the next round of drinks. Decide if you're up to it quickly, because he's paying for it now." Yuffie looked at Tifa, then Cloud, then her ice cream, and instead of answering, shoved the ice cream into her mouth. Tifa saw this and turned to Cloud, yelling," RUN, GET OVER HERE". Cloud sprinted across the table, vaulting a chair on his way to the table. When he arrived, Yuffie's cheeks were puffed out and Tifa was cracking up. "Looks like we get free drinks" Tifa said to Cloud. "Nuh-uh, I'm all done" Yuffie said, trying to make her cheeks look normal. "Nice try Yuff", Cloud said with a chuckle,"But I can see the ice cream when you talk." Yuffie swallowed hard and frowned. "Don't worry" Cloud said, "I've had enough to drink. A leader needs a clear head. Just get one for Tifa". Yuffie begrudgingly got up and headed for the bar. As she passed Cloud, he stopped her and whispered "Just have him put it on my tab. You owe me." She looked at him for a second, smiled, then hugged him and kissed his cheek and skipped off to the bar. Tifa gave Cloud a weird look and asked "what'd you say that made her that happy?" Cloud thought for a second and said "I told her she could try my new materia later."
Yuffie returned with Tifa's beer and the three friends sat and shot the breeze for a while. They discussed their travels, the WEAPONs, Sephiroth, and just about everything from who was gonna race the chocobo next time they were at Gold Saucer to what the weather was like now that Meteor was in the atmosphere. Cloud was about to recount his first mission with AVALANCHE, which was also when he met Aeris, When Yuffie saw a shadow land on his shoulder. She looked up just as the newcomer spoke. "Well if it isn't Cloud and the gang." Cloud's head lifted up a bit from its previously relaxed position and Cloud responded "Hello Reno" with a slightly sarcastic tone. " It's good to see you again. We thought the Turks had all died in Midgar." It was a woman who spoke next. "The Turks dont give in that easily"Tifa glanced up now "Well if it isn't Elena. How's the world's favorite working woman?" "She's about to beat your sorry..." Elena burst out before a third voice barked out "ELENA! Dont be so soft." "Damn right Rude" Reno responded, "That's why chicks shouldn't be Turks". "What can we do for you boys?... and girl" inquired Yuffie curiously. Reno did his trademark hair flip and said, "Even though Shinra is outta commission, Elena feels we should complete our last mission." "Which was to find and kill me if I remember right", Cloud said with a grin on his face. "Bingo", Reno replied," So if you would kindly step outside." Cloud caught a look of amusement in Reno's eyes, and decided he needed to talk to him privately. He motioned for Reno to move closer and they conversed, during which Cloud nodded and laughed. Cloud and Reno then returned to the group and said, "Okay girls, let's go". Tifa and Yuffie nodded and got up from the table. The Turks moved to the door of the bar, and Cloud motioned for them to wait outside. "We'll be right out." He yelled with a wave.The Turks headed out, Elena first, running, followed by Rude, and finally, with a flip of his hair, Reno. Tifa looked to Cloud inquisitivley "What's going on Cloud? You don't usually look this relaxed before a big fight." "That's because this isn't a big fight." Cloud assured them. "Reno said that Elena's being overzealous, and he wants us to beat he up a little, to make her think before she acts." Cloud laughed and headed for the door, shouting back "C'mon, this'll be interesting."
Outside, Elena had already begun preparing for the fight. She was sitting doing stretches on the ground when Cloud's party exited the bar. As Cloud walked up to her, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a green materia, which he tossed to Yuffie. "You're first", he called to her, and smiled as her face lit up. Tifa tapped Elena with her shoe and said "You ready? We don't have all day to deal with you guys." Elena looked up at Tifa and nodded a response. "Let's go", she said confidently as she struck a battle pose,"We Turks are gonna take you guys down." Cloud didn't bother unsheathing the "Heaven's Cloud" as the battle started.
"Bring it on" shouted Elena "We're gonna beat you down, right guys?"She waited for a response and when none came, she looked to her left, then her right, and a look of dawning comprehension and horror came over her face as she saw Reno and Rude leaning against the wall of the bar, smoking. Yuffie smiled, and cast the spell associated with the materia Cloud had given her. Elena laughed and snidely said "YOU IDIOT! You just cast Magic Barrier on the wrong side!!" Yuffie smiled even more and said "No, I just saved your life!" Elena showed a look of confusion as Cloud cast a spell that sent her flying 70 feet back and through the window of a nearby building. It was over. Cloud's party and the remaining Turks ran over to where Elena had landed, and stood over her battered body."What...was that...spell...?" Elena asked as Reno paid for the broken window. "That" Cloud responded "Was "Ultima". It's been know to cause up to 6000 Hp in damage." "That's why I casted 'Mbarrier' on ya" Yuffie said with a grin as Elena passed out. Cloud and Reno shook hands and the two groups went their separate ways.