Lulling the Beast

When he's angry, he flees. She's strangely the only one who can bring him back.

"Yo, Vince! Where the hell did ya run off to!?" Smoke drifted through the branches and a gloved hand came through to push back the bushes. Cid's scruffy face came through next and his blue eyes darted around in the dark before he shook his head and pulled back. "Not here!"

Nanaki emerged from the deep brush to his right and also sighed. "Not here, either."

Their unanimous silently chosen leader sighed, running a gloved hand through his hair. Beside him, Tifa and Aerith swayed with unknown unison, worry striking across both of their faces. After spending weeks together, the two became more and more alike. It confused the hell out of Cloud and only made Yuffie feel like she had the sisters she always wanted. Barret came up behind Cloud and put a heavy hand on his shoulder. Cait Sith, who was waddling behind the group the entire search, came forward with a look of grief. The cat shook his head. Cid chewed on the cigarette he hadn't bothered to throw out. Yuffie tried to whistle the tune Cid was humming earlier, but it wasn't coming to memory. She seemed to be the only one who didn't look worried about the situation.

"Guys, he always comes back, stop your worrying!" She crossed her tiny arms against her tiny chest and huffed a strand of hair out of her face. Nanaki shook his giant mane with disagreement, both Tifa and Aerith's eyes widened at her, Barret and Cid snarled something immature, but Cloud did shrug. "See, even Golden Boy agrees with me!" He visibly flinched at 'boy,' but she ignored it and continued. "He just needs time to blow off steam, flap those demon wings a bit, attack some innocent Chocobos. He'll be fine!" With a wave of her hand and a turn of her body, she continued back down their original path with the rest of the party looked more weary and tired as ever.

"What if he doesn't this time?" Tifa sighed.

"What if he hurts himself?" Aerith exclaimed back.

"Or someone else for that matter!" Cid bellowed with an agreeable nod from Barret and Cait Sith. "We gotta find him before he… he… Well, the hell would I know, but he's dangerous! That freakin' demon is probably terrorizing some innocent folks right now!" He tossed the paper and tobacco from his lips and pulled another stick from his breast pocket. "Hell, we should get the brat to find him. She's the one who pushed those God damn buttons of his."

Cloud nodded grimly, not particularly wanting to put their Materia specialist in any danger, but Cid was right. She said something, Shiva knows what, and he just ran off, horns and wings extended. Chaos was looming and it discomforted his ability to project his team. With a final sigh, he turned his head back to the opening of the path and saw Yuffie standing impatiently.

"We'll head out after you find him, Yuffie. You're good at tracking people! See where he went!" Before the girl could voice another word, he turned away from her and huddled the group back into the brush. "And be careful!" He hollered, of course as an afterthought for their youngest member.

She could see very quickly Tifa and Aerith look back with even more worry on this motherly/sisterly eyes, but Cloud was quick to pull the leaves and snap the branches shut. Before the eerie silence of the forest, she could hear the heavy laughing of Cid and Cait Sith. Those pricks.

The look of utter shock crossed her face and she stood silent for more than five seconds ever in her life. She honestly believed the man was okay, but why did they have to send their sprite, young, adorable friend to look for the dangerous, evil, and scary demon? She was starting to think this 'friend' term was shrinking more and more with these people. How dare they! She was royalty for goodness sake! When the silence finally became too much, she groaned very loud and audibly, hoping they would hear the torture they were about to put her through. "I hope you know… Without me, you can't save the God damn world, Chocobo Head! Good luck find my body parts after Monster Man rips me into tiny Yuffie pieces, you jerk!" She blew a fat raspberry at nothing and glanced at the closest tree and climbed like a squirrel; swift and fast. No use tracking someone if you can't get above them.

Something primal, animalistic escaped from Vincent's lips and knocked him backwards against the tangled brush. Behind him was a mess of branches, leaves, and deep, bloody claw marks against bark and wood. He had been traveling on foot just as long as his wings took him hours before. Nothing but the glowing light of a rising sun told him how long he had been moving.

You cannot run away from it, dear Host. You cannot run away from us.

"Silence, demon. You do not have control over me any longer."

They all knew that was a lie. His legs finally gave way and his entire body came forward into the bushes. He was surrounded by thorns and leaves.

You are so clumsy, Host. Stop fighting us and give in.

He ignored the demon this time and focused more on controlling his pounding, always dying heart. The transformation back into his human form took more out of him than would help a dire situation. Every time was a near death experience and the pain of recovering was never worth the banter and screaming of the monsters in his mind. And as his self-inflicted wounds started to heal, he groaned softly and slowly to calm his breathing. The gashes in his back dulled, the throbbing in his temple, too. All he needed was rest and the control would be completely his. Only an hour and he could fight away the pounding of claws and fists against the cage of his brain. Another deep sigh escaped his chapped lips and even the beasts in his mind started to lull with his breathing… Until a snarl from the Beast snapped his blood eyes wide open.

He quickly shot his head up and saw a figure standing over him, hands on their hips. Animalistic instinct calculated the situations before he could even blink.

Prey… frail, small in size… ALONE. An easy target, won't you say, Beast?

"NO!" His mind thundered, but it wasn't enough. He did not have the strength left.

Again, something primal gurgled in his throat and the throbbing pain of something splitting through his temple exploded once more. The taste for blood burned his tongue and his mouth gaped at the incisors lengthen past his lips. And as he rose without the help of his arms, he heard the small creature take a step back, but nothing more. It watched him with wide eyes of wonder, mouth slightly open with interest in this transformation. The horns protruded and grew sharp, along with all his nails splitting through the fabric of his gloves again. Yet, horror did not strike the creature's face, however, even when his vision filled completely with red.

"The puppy won't scare me off, Vince, so, cut the act and get your ass into gear!" Yuffie exclaimed loudly.

His transformation suddenly ceased and as he loomed over her short build, she neared his face and jabbed a finger at his torn, flesh and fur chest. He really didn't scare her, which puzzled and surprised everything within him. "And don't think you can weasel yourself out of this one! Cloud's real mad you did this again! You're getting night watch duty for a week! Maybe even a month!"

Lacking the human vocal cords to produce actual words, the half Beast, half Vincent grunted and snarled, pushing his face toward hers with spite. He wasn't about to let this girl tell him what to do. He was an animal! A BEAST!… A dribble of poison saliva came down his lips, causing the ninja to do the exact opposite of what the Beast wanted. She grinned at him, staring at his mouth.

What is wrong with this child? Why does she not hide from our horrific advances? Kill her, already!

In response to his inner demons, he snarled again and roared right into Yuffie's face, blowing back her hair and scaring all the birds right out of their morning nests. Even the monsters that loomed in the shadows fled from the darkness. Again, she surprised all his demons by shrieking in disgust, not fear.

"Ughhhhh! Say it, don't spray it, Vincent! Don't cha know you're supposed to act proper around royalty?" Stumbling backwards and shaking out her hair, she dabbed her cheeks with her wrist, wiping whatever spatter and spittle got on her face. When she thought her face was clear, she offered another goofy grin to his stunned expression. "Don't worry, though. I forgive you, but don't think you can just go around screaming in people's faces! That's so rude! … Now, are we just going standing around in the woods or can we go home now?"

Why does she not fear us, Host? Is her mind broken?

The Beast took a step backwards and allowed Vincent to gain a bit more control. Not even he knew the answers to Chaos's questions. His hair was still wild, but the fangs that scarred his gums finally began to retract back to normal. The man sighed and formed some sort of human noise that Yuffie recognized as trying to speak to her. She turned her head in interest and waited patiently for him to say whatever he was trying to mumble. When it started to become too much for him, she shook her head and put a hand on the side of his head. Her small hand ran through his dark hair, directly to the scruffy ear that replaced his human one.

"You don't have to say sorry, Monster Man," she said quietly, scratching gently against the fur and hair. "I should be sayin' sorry this time… Didn't mean to push those scary buttons again." Like a dog, the Beast murmured with comfort and pushed into her hand. It was more than enough to get the animal to return to the cage inside Vincent's mind. Only after moments of soothing scratching, the Beast was lulled and gone. Yuffie pulled away before Vincent's eyes cleared.

"Why do my monsters not frighten you, Yuffie?" Vincent's voice was thick with exhaustion from the transformation back into his original skin. He hunched over and nearly tumbled forward, but Yuffie was there to catch him up his arm. She was silent, but she shrugged, holding on his arms and looping her other around his thin frame. He still towered over her, even in this state. "They have done unimaginable things. Horrible, disturbing things… Please do not face me like this again. I cannot control what they could have possibly done to you."

They walked slowly in the direction of camp and Yuffie was humming a tune she heard back home. Vincent remained silent, listening to her song. It reminded him of his own home. After a while, when the sun was high above the horizon's mountains, she finally spoke. "If I think about what could hurt me or kill me, I won't have the control to stop it before it does. I wasn't afraid of you because I told myself not to be. Even behind those claws and teeth, I can't beat monsters if I pee my shorts and run in the other direction. How embarrassing would that be?" She laughed quietly and shook her head. "Just some words of wisdom, my dark and gloomy friend," she pulled from under his shoulder and walked ahead a couple of steps before turning back to him. He had finally gained the strength to stand on his own and he watched her with narrowed eyes. "If you keep worrying about your monsters hurting us, it's gonna happen whether you can control it or not. They live inside you, not the other way around. Stop letting them push you around and tell them whose boss for once!"

Vincent remained silent, but not because he wasn't listening. He was pondering this. It was something he never considered he could have complete control over. God, the girl was right. Some spunky, rude, childish girl was giving him… a man three, no, five times her age and size, advice on handling his inner demons. The demons who had been homed inside his mind and chest and soul for the last thirty years. He had spent more than his entire life on the Planet controlling his beasts, but because had to… not because he got to? Would thinking like some sort of optimistic fool truly change how his beast bleed through his cracks? Taking charge? Well, it didn't sound too absurd. When did she get so smart?

A chuckle escaped his lips and he shook his head. Yuffie's eyes went wide. "What? What's so funny?" He didn't say anything but floated past her with a small, hidden smile behind his cowl. She frowned and crossed her arms as he passed by. "I think it's a great idea! If they're living in your head, they gotta listen to everything you say! Your head, your rules!" When she realized the distance between them was too small, she took off in a jog after him. "Like, I'm the boss right now and you have to listen to everything I say! Carry me back to camp, Monster Man! I spent all night looking for your ass and I deserve a reward!" He was reluctant at first, but couldn't stop her crawling up his back like a squirrel and the happy whine of the Beast when her fingers tangled back into his hair.

I honestly love the idea of Yuffie either being fearless against Vincent's demons or totally thinking Galian Beast is adorable. Thought of this the other day and finally had time to write something. Next few weeks are going to be killer.

Please review. They make me happy, as always.