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Distance
Chapter 4: A Little Birdie Told Me
The dragon was GINORMOUS and it could be smelled from a mile downwind!
"You're late!" Tifa called as she ducked under the dragons black claw and then jumped back when the Dragon rammed it's snout down into the ground where Tifa had previously been.
"Ran into a few old friends, DUCK!" Yuffie shouted. Tifa ducked just as Yuffie hurled a lightning bolt at the Dragon. It struck the scaly beast in the eye, and it howled as it reared about, thrashing wildly in pain.
Tifa swallowed the urge to gape and question Yuffie fully. That could wait until later.
"It's scales are like armor plating! My dagger didn't even make a scratch dammit!" Tifa jumped into the air and landed on the Dragon's tail harshly. It gave an odd yelp before flicking Tifa off like a bug.
"Not all of it's scales are like armor! It's eyes, snout, belly and throat under it's jaw are vulnerable! If we can get it's mouth open, maybe I can shoot it's uvula!" Yuffie hollered and landed on the Dragon's head. She grabbed onto one of it's horns and held on for dear life when it began thrashing about.
Yuffie growled, (fed up with feeling like a salt shaker) and jumped off. "STOP MOVING DAMN YOU!" She shouted and kicked the Dragon on the back of the head.
The Dragon's head hurled forward, smashing into a large jagged block of crystal. It howled eerily as it tried to dislodge it's skull from the sharp crystals.
Tifa shuddered at the sight.
"Tifa! Go for the throat!" Yuffie shouted as she unsheathed her katana.
Tifa yanked a katana from her hip, and jumped from crystal to crystal while evading claws and angry swipes. Yuffie landed on a crystal and then jumped again. Once both got onto the same crystal, they nodded to each other. With practiced grace they both sliced their katana's at the dragon's throat furiously, mirroring each other in a dizzying dance. Their sword tips barely touched one another as a thick strand of light shot out from them and wrapped around the dragon's neck.
"You should have told the dragon not to lose it's head Teef!" Yuffie grunted as she and Tifa jumped off the crystal.
Schnick!
The body disconnected from the head, and slumped to the ground while the head remained lodged on the crystal.
"So much for the uvula." Tifa said dryly.
Yuffie gave her a sheepish smirk. "Ya, so much for it." she said and then narrowed her eyes when Tifa smirked. "You would have done the same thing."
"Of course I would have! But you're starting to pick up on my habits. That kick proved it." Tifa chuckled as she patted Yuffie on the shoulder.
"Tifa, you've stuck around for the last four years, it was bound to happen and vice versa." Yuffie shrugged.
"That's what friends do Yuf. They rub off on each other. Now, what are we looking for?" Tifa asked as she looked around.
"The Eye of Leviathan. It's a giant sapphire the size of your fist." Yuffie said and began moving around shattered scales.
Tifa stumbled a bit. "The size of my fist?!" she exclaimed.
"Yes. It's said to hold the secret history of how the Door of Darkness came to be, why it was created, why it was sealed and by whom." Yuffie said as she kicked a small piece of bone out of her way.
"Where would it be safe to use it?" Tifa asked hesitantly as she caught up to Yuffie.
"Probably in Radiant Garden. So that way the others can see as well." Yuffie winced.
Tifa winced as well.
"I don't know if Cloud and Aerith got together or not, but you should at least try to fight for him. Aerith's too shy to make a move on Cloud, and Cloud… well I know for a fact Spikes doesn't love her the way he loves you… he's just to dense to see it at the moment." Yuffie said as her eyes shifted into a warm gold color.
"How do you know that? And don't tell me a little birdie told you or else I'll give you a black eye!" Tifa threatened, causing Yuffie to laugh wholeheartedly. Tifa hadn't been able to land a punch on Yuffie since they had started traveling together.
Yuffie moved a few feet ahead of Tifa who was standing there with her arms crossed expectantly.
"Call it ESP." Yuffie said with a wide grin as she clasped her hand on her elbows and began walking towards a large blood red crystal fissure.
"Yuffie!" Tifa exclaimed.
"Well! You said not to tell you a little birdie told me! Besides, a ninja never reveals her secrets!" Yuffie laughed and took off running with Tifa in hot pursuit.
…………………
"Aerith! Cloud! Squall!!" Sora shouted as they rushed down the stairs near Merlin's home.
"It's Leon, dammit!" came a familiar bark.
"We saw Yuffie!" Kairi shouted, causing glass to shatter.
They had expected to see Aerith first, but were extremely surprised to see Leon barge out of Merlin's house. His hair had grown down past his shoulders to his elbows. His face was shaved, surprisingly. The last time they had actually seen Leon, he looked like a mountain man, with a big bush beard that rivaled Merlin's in frizziness. It was nice to see Leon's face.
"Leon! Get your butt back in here so I can cut that mop of yours!" Aerith bellowed.
Leon scowled darkly over his shoulder, causing Riku's brow to arch. When had Leon become so defiant?
"Get in here." Leon said as he reentered the house.
Sora and Riku blinked at each other and then followed Kairi into the house. Both boys had to stuff the urge to fall to the floor laughing. Aerith had a bubblegum pink cape with bright yellow chocobo's around Leon's shoulders, and had started cutting his hair. He looked pissed. Not to mention absolutely ridiculous!
"You saw Yuffie!? Is she well?! Has she been eating?! Has she settled down anywhere?!" Aerith gushed.
"Yes, we saw Yuffie. She seems well, older, more than a little closed off, she lost her baby fat," Kairi started off.
"You wanna talk about Hot Mamma!" Riku said, as his brows arched slightly. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Yuffie's always been a looker but…. Wow!"
"She's beautiful!" Kairi said.
"And harsh. She snapped at Kairi." Sora said, causing all the occupants in the room to gape.
"It was my fault for her snapping at me. My mouth run away from me." Kairi said.
"What did you say to make Yuffie snap at you?" Aerith asked hesitantly, dreading the answer.
Kairi's guilty look said it all.
"What's with the book?" Cloud asked quietly.
All three teens grew serious.
"Yuffie made it. It's the reason why we came here. The Heartless still remain." Sora said as he handed the book to Leon.
"How can that be? Shouldn't they be roaming around here if they were still around?" Aerith asked.
"We're unsure as to how they still remain. These Heartless are different. They have human builds. Some have human features, some are horribly disfigured. If it weren't for Yuffie we might have gotten ripped to shreds." Riku said.
Leon touched the lion engraving, and he felt a familiar presence on it. And he felt a surge of peace rush through him. He then flipped it open, mindful of Cloud looking over his shoulder.
"The book is a detailed log of all the Heartless Yuffie and Tifa have come across in the last four years. These new Heartless are strong, and nothing like we've seen before. And Tifa was with her too." Sora said.
Cloud's eyes flickered to Sora and Aerith flinched slightly. "You saw Tifa?" Cloud asked.
"No, she was somewhere else when Yuffie saved our necks. She and Yuffie were searching for something. Yuffie forced us to leave before we could see Tifa. Riku thinks they were looking for a dragon." Kairi said.
"Dragon?!" Leon and Cloud exclaimed. Riku held up the picture and waved it slightly.
Aerith snipped the last of Leon's hair and both he and Cloud were across the room and next to Riku in the blink of an eye.
"This is a picture of Yuffie and Tifa. The back of the picture was dated two weeks ago." Riku said, handing the picture to Leon.
Cloud looked over Leon's shoulder.
"Wow," both said at once.
Aerith couldn't help but wonder, was Cloud saying 'wow' at the sight of a grown up Yuffie? Or at Tifa?
………………
"Tifa! Up here!" Yuffie called out, then reached into a small cubby hole in a sheet of rock.
Her hand wrapped around something smooth, and she yanked, causing the thing to dislodge with a small clink.
"Did you find it?" Tifa asked.
"Oh I found something, but… this isn't the Eye of Leviathan." Yuffie said slowly.
"What is it?" Tifa asked as Yuffie pulled out a Garnet the size of a tennis ball. Oddly, the garnet had a golden sunburst in its center.
"The Heart of Kannon… to my people, Kannon was known as the Goddess of Compassion and Mercy. But… I thought the Heart of Kannon was in the Sacred Temple back in… According to what I remember of my teachings, Ida, who was a protector of monks, and Jizo, a protector of Mankind, pleaded with Kannon to teach the Seven Great Monks an ancient chant that would seal away an ancient evil…" Yuffie rubbed her temple, trying to remember. "Kannon, was merciful and taught the monks, but made them vow never to teach more than the seven students that would surpass them, and only to take on students worthy of such titles. Her compassion and mercy made her dearly beloved." Yuffie murmured.
Tifa noticed the deep frown on Yuffie's face.
"Something tells me this wasn't what you expected." Tifa said.
"… No, it wasn't what I expected. This jewel is supposed to be back on my home world. Something tells me the Ancient Scriptures were switched a bit to keep the secrets of the Door hidden from prying eyes." Yuffie said as she carefully held the jewel in her hand. With a small flick of her wrist, the jewel shrunk to the size of her thumbnail.
"One day, you have to teach me how to do that." Tifa said.
Yuffie chuckled. "One day, maybe. One day."
"If you don't mind my asking… how did you learn that trick?" Tifa asked.
Yuffie grinned.
"A little birdie told me."
Ok! That's it for this chapter! Again thank you sooo much for the reviews!