Chapter 10 – Close Call
Reno opened one eye. He was sure neither of them had realised he had been awake. He listened but could hear nothing. They must have gone to sleep themselves. It was almost dawn, and Reno could see the light streaming in through the murky window.
"Reno?" he heard Yuffie's voice from the other side of the room. Well, there was no point in pretending to be asleep now, he thought as Yuffie made her way over to him.
"Little help?" he said, in a slightly annoyed voice. He had been lying down for ages now and it was started to get even more painful. Yuffie carefully put her arm around his waist and helped him to sit up. Reno smiled at her. Who would have known she could be so gentle?
"So, how are you?" she said kindly. Reno was shocked; no snide comments, no insults, no threatening. Was she ill? Yuffie looked at him when he didn't answer.
"Well, I refused to go with Cloud, I may as well make the most of being with you two." Reno stared at her even more.
"What? He was here?" he asked, angrily.
"Yeah, while you were asleep."
"But…why are you here then?"
"Because…I am. Now shut up Turk-boy, before I hurt you even more."
With that she got up and went to wake Rihanna up. Reno stared after her. What was she thinking? She left her friends to be with him and Rihanna. Not only were they hopelessly lost in the middle of the Great Glacier, but Reno and Yuffie had been sworn enemies for…a long time.
"What are you staring at?" Yuffie's voice brought him back down to reality. Rihanna was standing, rubbing her eyes. Reno looked from one to another.
"Just thinking…" he said distantly.
"Does it hurt?" Yuffie said smirking.
"Huh?" Reno was clearly not paying any attention to her at all.
"Never mind." She said, laughing slightly.
"So Reno. How are you today?" Rihanna asked him. Reno wasn't so shocked at his sister asking him so this time he answered.
"I'm alright." Reno said.
"I find that hard to believe. You only came around a while ago."
"Well, I'm good enough to move on, anyway."
"But what if we run into more monsters?" Rihanna said worriedly.
"Don't worry, you got me now." Yuffie's voice came from the corner.
"That's what got me like this in the first place." Reno said, smirking.
"Yeah, well…" Yuffie couldn't come up with a suitable come-back, making Reno smirk again.
"So anyway…" Rihanna interrupted. "What are we doing?"
"Let's go." Reno struggled to his feet. He knew himself that he really wasn't ready. But the boredom of waiting around until he was would probably kill him first. He ignored the twinge of pain that ran through his whole body and smiled. Rihanna looked unsure but she wasn't going to argue. Yuffie looked equally unsure, but she was ready to go too, so she stayed quiet.
So once again they reached the cave, without any sign of any monsters. Reno tried not to lag behind but it was getting harder and harder. As they walked up the slope that Yuffie had previously led them away from, Reno stopped and tapped the two girls on the shoulder to get their attention. They both turned around simultaneously.
"Give me your gun." Reno said seriously. Confused, Rihanna pulled her gun out and handed it to Reno. He took it and walked cautiously up the slope, gun at the ready. Yuffie and Rihanna watched him look forward with immense concentration, then he fired. Reno handed the gun back and walked further up the slope, Yuffie and Rihanna following him. Right ahead of them was a monster, similar to the one that attacked them yesterday, dead on the floor.
"How…?" Yuffie began. Reno tapped his nose and laughed weakly.
"I'm a Turk." He said, simply.