Battle Frenzy
By Childhood Aspirations
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts II, or Final Fantasy. Isn't it painfully obvious?
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They were everywhere. The writhing masses swarmed through the canyon, the individual bodies of the light-devouring midnight black Heartless indistinguishable in the chaos, a chaos of their own making.
Where it not for the group who stood against the invasion, Hollow Bastion would have been made a mere memory by the time the sun set that evening.
But there was that group. There was opposition, and that collection of warriors fought for their home and for the lives of their friends with a passion undimmed.
A small, slender flash of black and silver was Yuffie, darting in and out from amongst her opponents, delivering a quick slash here and a stab here, and then taking a step back to watch as the Heartless toppled over on each other in a twitching heap.
Bursts of colors identified Aerith, casting magic spells and giving herself a wide berth as the Heartless shied back, afraid of the bright lights that hurt their eyes and the magic that roasted them and shocked them and any other number of painful options.
The Gunblade wielder stood calmly, surrounded by Heartless. The very tip of his sword rested on the ground, but only a great fool would think Leon had his guard down. A tense, comparatively silent moment passed and then a Heartless leapt into the air, antennas quivering in anticipation as he launched himself at the man, twisted fingers reached for his heart. The Gunblade whistled through the air and the Heartless vanished in a thin cloud of black smoke.
Above the canyon on the plane, on a small plateau of rock, another man danced. His enormous sword, swathed in tattered cloth and leather straps, swept through Heartless with enviable ease. Cloud paused for a moment to catch his breath during the lull. His sharp blue eyes searched the horizon, narrowing when he saw her. That long black hair streamed behind her as she ran toward him, strong legs and arms pumping as she sprinted.
"Cloud, wait!" Tifa shouted, but the spiky-haired blonde disappeared from sight around the rock corner. She huffed in frustration and prepared to give chase to him yet again, but suddenly Heartless surrounded her. She clenched her hands into fists, holding them in front of her, waiting. The Heartless attacked. One booted foot caught the one behind her and shoved it away. Her fists pummeled the ones in front of her, but they just kept coming. With a shout, Tifa launched a spinning kick and decked half of them.
Cloud ground to a halt. That shout echoed in his ears. Gritting his teeth, he turned on his heel and fled back up the way he had come, back towards that stone plateau…back towards her.
She was surrounded by Heartless, fighting for her life, but he somewhere in the back of his mind, Cloud noted admiringly that her fighting skills had far from diminished. Still, there were too many.
His sword swung in the air. "Duck!" he hissed at her. In a flash, Tifa was crouched down, her head resting on the ground. Cloud leapt into the dance once more, dispatching the Heartless with cold intensity and grace.
Tifa straightened slowly, brushing dust and dirt from her clothes. Without any prelude whatsoever, she faced him, resting the majority of her weight on one leg as one hand sought its resting place on her hip.
"Why do you keep running from me!" she demanded, striding forward. Before he knew what was happening, Tifa pulled his head down, crushing her lips against his.
Passion stormed, sparks exploded in his head, and lights flashed. Desire enflamed him, and he wrapped his arms around her, tugging her closer to him, in spite of his enormous sword. If there was one time he considered his weapon cumbersome and difficult, this was it.
They drew apart finally, staring at each other and panting.
"No more running," Tifa said firmly, albeit a bit breathlessly. Cloud opened his mouth to tell her that at the moment, he would do anything she wanted of him, (after that kiss, how could he not?) but the enemy interrupted them.
"More Heartless," he said softly, blonde brows drawing down in cold fury.
"I'll take care of this level," Tifa whispered. "You work your way farther down." She kissed his jaw, right below his ear. "Be safe." And then she was pulling away from him, taking her defensive stance and urging him to leave, impatience spilling into her voice as she focused on the task ahead.
Cloud studied her, drinking all of her in, for just the briefest moment before he turned and ran away from her, fighting his way down to the lower levels of the canyon where his friends were. Heartless melted in his path, cloven in two by his sword without even a pause on his behalf.
Passion raged, and fury, and denial, and…sorrow…?
A swirling, raging sea of emotion combined with the adrenaline that pumped through his veins: a frenzy. It almost drove him mad.