Dark Embrace

II. Fledgling

"I'm a dragon?"

Cloud smiled at me and his eyes appeared to glow brighter. I wondered what he was; a werewolf's eyes change color when they glow, and he didn't have angel wings, or a fox tail, or fangs, or really anything that would identify him as a particular species. Aeris could draw in her wings, but Cloud didn't smell like an angel.

"Technically speaking, you're a baby dragon. Very young for your species, and there's very few of you left." Cloud stepped closer. I heard Aeris' wings rustle briefly but didn't turn to face her. "If you fought Sephiroth, he'd know you were a dragon, and we'd never be able to get you away from him."

I stared at Cloud a moment. "Uh huh."

Then I walked to edge of the building and sat down, crossing my legs since I didn't feel comfortable dangling them over the edge.

We were very high up, and dragon or not, if I've got wings I've never seen them. I reached up and tugged absently at my collar. I would've liked to have claws, too; I'd have sliced that bastard in half years ago.

Cloud sat down beside me. Aeris had still not moved. He didn't say anything, just swung his legs over the side of the building and stared across the skyline.

"So if I'm a dragon..." I said slowly. Neither one of them moved. "If I'm a dragon, why do I look and smell human?"

"You don't." Aeris finally spoke. She sat down next to me on my other side. "No one in the Citadel has ever seen a true human-" For some reason, this made Cloud flinch. "- And of them all, only Sephiroth is anywhere near old enough to know a dragon-scent."

"Old enough...?" I trailed off.

See, I have no idea how old I am. None. For one thing, no one in the Citadel knew how humans aged. And I don't remember anything before being brought to the Citadel. I don't know how old I was then, or how long I'd been there now.

It's hard to judge time when you've rarely seen daylight.

Cloud leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "The last dragon, Cid Highwind, vanished from By av Engel over six hundred years ago. No one knows what happened to him."

There was a lie in that statement somewhere, but damn if I knew what it was.

Aeris laughed lightly. "He told us if we ever found another dragon, they should take the name Highwind as well. It might even be the thing that finally calls him back."

He told them?

Damn, these two were old.

"...Damn, you two are geezers." Aeris laughed. Cloud scowled, but there was humor in his eyes.

"Anyway...you do look like a human, mostly, so Sephiroth wouldn't know the difference unless he fought you."

"...Difference?" I caught myself tilting my head around idiotically to see what Cloud meant. He laughed and laid a hand on my shoulder and I flinched away, wide-eyed. He pulled back hesitantly.

"Sorry. Um, your eyes are different. The pupils are slits, and you've got extra eyelids, like a cat. Human's eyes are..." he paused. "Human's eyes are like mine, only they don't glow."

I turned to face Cloud and stared at his eyes for a moment. He just sat and let me look. I raised a hand to his face without realizing and whispered without thinking, "What are you...?"

I dropped my hand, shaken, and looked away. "Ah, sorry." It's really, really rude to ask someone what they are. Normally I don't give a damn, but these were my rescuers, here. First impressions were important.

Cloud shook his head with a faint smile. I fought the impulse to dodge his hair.

What? It's sharp, damn it.

"It's ok," Cloud said quietly. "But, that's a conversation I'd rather not have right now."

I nodded, embarrassed to look at him. "Right. So...differences."

"Well, normally dragons have got a crest...here..." Aeris reached out to brush a hand across my neck, but I dodged without thinking about it and caught her wrist. I blinked and dropped it, ashamed.

"I...uh..."

Aeris shook her head. "No, it's okay. I should know better; Cloud was just as bad at the beginning." I glanced at Cloud sharply, but he was paying attention to something only he could see.

But, 'at the beginning?' Had Aeris taken Cloud from the Citadel, too?

"There should be a crest along your neck," Cloud said abruptly. "If you take off your collar, it should be visible."

I shook my head. "It doesn't come off. Hojo put it on when I first came to the Citadel and he, I don't know, melded it to my neck or something."

Cloud cursed. Loudly and quite creatively. I mean, I learned some new words and I think there were a couple of references to sexual suggestions that I really don't think were possible. Unless you were extremely flexible. And probably not then. "Hojo...? Fuck. I knew this couldn't be this easy."

Aeris laid a hand on his shoulder. He reached back and laid his over hers, and she looked at me, her wings flaring in what I assume was a nervous gesture. "Hojo. How long were you around him?"

Confused, I tried to think of every time I'd ever been around Hojo. "Um, not long. I mean, Tifa got me and put this collar on, and then...uh...she brought me to him, and said something like 'I need you to make sure this stays locked.' Then he gave me something, a shot of something, I think, and I don't remember anything for a while...but when I woke up, I was back with Tifa's pack and the collar was solid, it wouldn't come off and it doesn't have seams or a latch or anything. I never saw Hojo again, but Tifa kept threatening me with him, she said she'd have him do worse or that she'd trade me to him if I lost..." I stopped, suddenly aware I was babbling. Cloud reached towards me again, but made sure I saw his movement.

I held myself as still as I could while he ran his hands over the collar, confirming what I'd already said. Finally I couldn't take it any more and jerked away.

"Yuffie," Aeris knelt next to me, "is there anything else, at all, that Hojo did?"

I was silent for a moment, then rolled up my sleeves and the ends of my pants. I was wearing the standard loose gray clothing of the wolves, so it was hanging off my frame to begin with.

Aeris looked dismayed when she saw the cuffs on my wrists and ankles. Cloud had returned to his cursing. Do go on, Cloud, you have no idea how you're expanding my vocabulary. "And, Hojo did this?"

I shrugged uncomfortably and let my clothes drop back down. "I actually don't know. I mean, they weren't there and then I had this strange fight..." I trailed off. "I was fighting one of Sephiroth's wolves, only he had traded him to Hojo, I think, cuz he was wearing Hojo's stuff 'stead of Sephiroth's blue," all the Alphas have different dress codes, "and I lost, pretty badly, I mean he beat me to hell, and when I woke up later I had these cuffs on. They were kinda glowin' at first, with these weird symbols on them, but I must have imagined that cuz they faded and I never saw them do that again." I shrugged. "I guess Hojo must have put them on, cuz they're made the same way as the collar, just without the spikes."

Cloud moved abruptly, so fast I didn't even see him, much less dodge. He had both my wrists in his hands before I realized what he was doing. I jerked, panicked, but he held fast and stared at the cuffs. His eyes glowed brighter and symbols flared up along the cuffs. I think I growled or something, but I'm not sure. My ankles glowed too, then spikes shot from the cuffs, shredding my clothes where they hung too low. Cloud jerked back, cursing, and he brought his slashed hands to his mouth with a hiss. I stared at the cuffs; they matched the collar, now. They were the same solid iron interspersed with shining silver spikes.

Yeah, silver. The wolves were careful of my collar; I'd made a habit of twisting my head just enough to stab them with a spike. It wouldn't kill them, but it weakened them considerably. If my wrists and ankles had been spiked, too...Well, it would have made those fights a hell of a lot easier.

I looked at Cloud, who had bandaged his hands clumsily. I've got no idea where he got the bandage material from. Aeris sighed and I twisted back to look at her.

"Well," she said wearily, "normally, we'd take you to someone who could teach you, but since there isn't anyone..." She trailed off. Cloud stood up with a sigh.

"I guess you can come live with us, Yuffie. At least, till we find another dragon."

I leaned back and looked up at him, resting my weight on my elbows. "I thought Cid Highwind was the only other dragon? And no one's seen him in years?"

Cloud winced slightly. "Yeah..."

"So...you have no idea how long I'd be living with you."

"No, we don't. Cid might show up again, now that there's another dragon in By av Engel, or he might have died years ago." Cloud shrugged. "We've got no way of knowing."

Aeris stood up and flared out her wings. "So are you coming with us?"

I glanced down at my wrists and toyed with the spikes a minute. They looked cool, even with shredded cloth hanging from them. I held one up and thrust my arm forward experimentally, imagining one of Tifa's wolves in front of me, and grinned. I stood up slowly and let my arms drop to my sides, looking briefly at the matching spikes on my ankles, kicked experimentally. Nice. I straightened again, looked at Aeris, cocked my head and grinned.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that. Take me home."