To Love an Ancient 2: An Aeris and Kadaj Story
7381 words
19 pages
Chapter 10 'Kwee-Kwee'
Disclaimer
Nope, I don't own Final Fantasy 7...but I sometimes adopt their kawaii bishonens! (Most specifically the silvered haired kind.) lol
Author's Notes
Hey you guys. Sorry for not uploading sooner. Life and Uni has kept me rather busy….sigh…and so has Dirge of Cerberus. Lol. Nevertheless, enough about me, how have you guys been doing? I hope you have all been well.
Hmm. Oh this is another thing. I know I have asked this before, but I think it was quite a while back. However, I'm gonna ask again. Are there any Aer/Seph, Final Fantasy 7, KH fans on Myspace? I would love to know, as I would feel more than welcomed, if u guys messaged me, if only to just say hi or howdy. Lol. For you see, the majority of ppl I know on that site aren't overly keen with fan-fiction, let alone with odd couplings such as Aeris and Sephy-kins, so it would be nice to know a fellow reader to chat about random ff crap. Lol. For a link to my Myspace, simply click on my pen-name and then my homepage, and you'll be directed to it. x
But um yeah, back to this fic.
As for my musical muse. It is completely Evanescence this time. Blame her album, the 'Open door.' It is truly addicting. Especially her version of 'Lacrimosa'. I simply love it. Oh and 'Sweet Sacrifice', 'Call me when your Sober' and 'Cloud Nine' and …ah! Let us just say that all her works are so very inspirational before I begin to reel off the whole entire OD album. Lol.
Now enough of my rambling…
And on with the fic:
The brunette's face blanched, as realisation slowly dawned upon her.
'This chocobo isn't fat...it's pregnant?!'
"And I…I…I think she's giving birth...right now!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Turtle Inn Pub. Avalanche vs. the Turks
0o0o0o0o0o0
"I'm telling you for the last time, we haven't got her man!" Reno sighed, turning his calm ice blue eyes upon a visibly angered, blond haired Ex-SOLDIER.
"And why should I believe you?" Cloud countered fiercely, as he eyed each blue suited Turk in turn, who were all seated at the same bar table riddled with half empty glasses of beer and other unnameable beverages.
"Psssh, that's your loss then, not ours," Reno answered with a dismissive wave; much more interested in the cigarette that he cradled between his fingers, and the amber liquid, which stared back at him from within his glass. "So stop bothering us and go grab yourself a drink. You really look like you need one pal."
The blond's mako eyes narrowed into a callous glare, and his dark gloved fingers curled around the base hilt of his sword that was sheathed behind his back. Cloud was more than ready to cleave the said Turk's scrawny hide in two.
But…
The blond slid his eyes towards the barman, whose small, coal like eyes watched his every movement, like a tiger who had caught sight of his prey and was only waiting for the right moment to pounce. He then moved his gaze to the other individuals inside the bar, some who had hunched themselves up in the tightest corners of the pub, while a couple of battled hardened civilians stared right back at him, as if he was their greatest source of entertainment they had ever seen in years. In all honesty, the Turtle Inn bar was considerably lacking in customers, and for that, Cloud was partly grateful, for if a fight did break out, then the blond knew that he would have the space to swing his sword without the worry of severing the head of a poor innocent sitting right behind him.
"Cloud!"
The blond whipped his head to the side as Tifa crashed through the doors of the pub, her ample chest heaving, and her hair splayed out in every awkward direction. Barret came in puffing behind her, followed by Red, a swearing pilot, a boisterous ninja and then finally the darkly mysterious, crimson-eyed gunman known as Vincent Valentine.
"So have you found her?" Tifa panted, while eyeing the pub around her with a slight frown. Having worked as a barmaid for many years, the brunette could tell when a place was having good business. However, the ambiance of the Turtle Inn, left much to be desired.
Cloud did not respond to the brunette's question, and instead turned away from his stalwartly companions and fixed his cold mako eyes upon Reno.
"Where is she?" His voice left no room for argument. However, it didn't prevent a certain red haired Turk from laughing his head off.
"As if we would tell you, even if we did know!" Reno guffawed loudly.
Tifa had tensed her fists, while Barret tried his best not to raise him gunarm and blast a hole through the arrogant Turk's forehead.
Cloud mentally growled to himself. Reno was grinning wildly at him and Rude was sipping his drink, seeming without a care in the world. However the unfamiliar faced, blonde haired Turk, kept on sneaking uneasy looks towards Vincent and Barret, unable to keep a stern face like her other blue suited associates sitting right beside her.
Cloud furrowed his eyebrows in clear agitation. He did not know what game the Turks were playing, but it was seriously ticking him off. He was really considering about drawing his sword, and as if Barret had read his thoughts, the burly gunman raised his gigantic gun-arm into the air, causing the barman at the counter to clench his whitened fingers under the table, where he kept his own weapon of defence.
"Come on Cloud, we can take them!" Barret growled while eyeing Rude; who had stopped drinking, to stare at Avalanche with his dark and intelligent eyes, which were hidden beneath his black narrow shades.
"Yeah, I'm right beside you Cloud," Tifa added softly from his side, raising her red dukes to her chest. Cid added his own vocal comments while Red and Vincent made no response at all.
"Yeah! Me too! Me too! I'm ready to go kick some Turk-key ass!" Yuffie chipped in from behind, winning three rather threatening glares from the blue suits sitting at the table.
Reno shook his head indifferently before slowly moving his long boned fingers inside his blue jacket, withdrawing a packet of cigarettes and a lighter that was carved with various tribal scrawls and elaborate crimson curls.
"Feh…" The red headed Turk sighed, turning his head down to focus on the task of lighting his cigarette. "Look Cloud, we just haven't seen her, kay." Reno stated carelessly, as he raised the his cigarette to his mouth, lighting the end, before taking a slow long drag, and exhaling the dark toxic fumes into the air with an unconcealed satisfied sigh of pure pleasure. "Just think about it you guys…. Even if we did have Aeris, don't you think we would have long ago disappeared from this shabby backwater village, and headed back to Shinra?" the redhead questioned with a slurred smile as he moved the lit cigarette so that it lay nestled between the knuckles of his middle and index finger.
"Hey! Don't make fun of my town!" Yuffie threatened hotly, whilst raising her gloved fists at the arrogant redhead.
Reno merely chuckled, and blew a cloud of smoke towards the angry teen's direction, smirking widely when the ninja started a sudden bout of coughing.
"So if you haven't got Aeris, why are you here?" Tifa asked sternly, as her dark, thin eyebrows knitted in clear distrust.
"We're off duty." Rude answered quietly.
"Yeah! In addition, we like the drinks here! They're cheap and affordable without having to taste like chocobo piss!" Reno cheered while raising his beer class to everyone in sight. "In addition, they also come with these cute umbrella thingies that I so adore," the Turk continued on as he removed the mini parasol from his drink and inspected the tacky decoration, nearly cutting himself on the sharp wooden tip. "So why don't you come and sit with us Cloud, and chat about things." Reno offered loudly, while patting an empty seat beside him, pausing for one moment, to give a rather mischievous wink toward a certain Zangan fighting brunette.
"Reno!" Rude and Elena chorused together in clear agitation.
"I'll pass." The blond swordsman replied rather bluntly much to the relief of a certain blonde haired Turk and his fellow team-mates.
"Awww, such a pity," Reno sighed while raising his glass to take another large sip of his cold and bitter beverage. "It could've been fun!" he chuckled much to the chagrin of every member of Avalanche that was present. "Ah well, good luck with finding Aeris!" He cheered proudly, causing both Elena and Rude to groan in irritation beside the slightly intoxicated red head.
Cloud has seen enough. Not even bothering to hide his irritation, the swordsman pivoted on his foot and left the bar, leaving the rest of his team standing rather clueless inside the rather lonely bar.
"Cloud!" Tifa called out anxiously ready to follow her blond haired leader.
However...
The red head's ice blue eyes seductively slid from the door of Cloud's hasty exit, and turned towards a certain brown haired beauty. "Hey Tifa hunny, why don't you stay with me for a little while. There is always room for one more." He suggested rather lasciviously, wriggling his left eyebrow in an indecisively unsexy manner, which managed to make him appear even more repulsive to the brunette's dark eyed gaze.
The brunette wrinkled her nose in clear disgust.
"Thanks but no thanks Reno," Tifa answered coolly before turning and leaving the bar as swiftly as her leader had done.
"Damn. Pity she's Cloud's girl. I bet she would have been really fun," Reno sighed, as his lips curled up into a dirty smile.
"Hey! Don't talk about Tifa that way, you dirty piece of scum!" Barret bellowed, as he arched his gun-arm at the Turk's head.
"And why not? I bet you would want a piece of her too if Cloudy wasn't in the picture," Reno answered cockily causing Barret to see red.
"Why you-you! That's it! Today, you're going down Turk! I'm gonna get my revenge for what you did to Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, and for everyone else you crushed on the seventh plate! Your blood is going to smear this floor and I'll-"
"Barret-"
Barret paused his raging ranting, to turn his dark eyes upon a certain crimson cloaked gunman "Wha did 'ja say Vincent?"
"-put your gun down," Vincent voiced quietly, as his crimson eyes remained fixed on the barman, who was now holding a rather impressive AR15 machine gun, with the barrel cocked in Avalanche's direction.
"But Vincent! The Turks are 'da enemy an' dey are helping to destroy the planet! Evil murdering bastards! There is nothing good about them, nothing whatsoever! " Barret bellowed, not even noticing the barman at all, even though Red, Cid and Yuffie had gone silent at the behemoth size weapon directed at their heads.
The crimson eyed gunman closed his eyes briefly at the burly gunman's words. "That may be so," Vincent answered quietly, as his mind tortured him of memories stained with blood. Of memories where he stood still and did nothing. Of memories where he could hear his beloved screaming and yet he could not voice anything. He remembered all the times he was so weak and useless, and the times where he was pathetic and utterly defenceless.
And then he opened his eyes, and saw the gun in the barman's hands.
"But…while their past sins may incur us to act with wrath, we have to remember that the spilling of blood simply begets more blood, and in the end, the stains of our bloody vengeance will merely be passed down into the hands of another…"
The burly gunman blinked, totally baffled by the Ex-Turk's cryptic words.
"What ya saying foo'? Speak the same English like the rest of us!" Barret called out, causing Vincent to shake his head.
"Um, I think what Vincent is trying to say Barret, is that there is someone pointing a gun right behind you!" Yuffie yelped.
"Wha?!"
The burly gunman turned around in surprise.
The barman moved his finger towards the trigger.
"Don't." Vincent threatened quietly, as he held his own gun and aimed it towards the now white faced barman, who after seeing the pure demonic crimson of the Ex-Turks eyes, realised that if tried to shoot, his life would be over before his finger even dared to pull the trigger.
"G-get out. You're al-all banned," The barman warbled fearfully as he used his hefty gun to point towards the door. "I-I-I give you t-w-wenty s-s-seconds to get o-o-out of my pub."
The Ex-Turk nodded in understanding and placed his gun back inside his holster, making his way to leave.
"But what about me?! I'm the Wutai Princess! Yuffie Kisaragi! You can't ban me!" The grey eyed teen exclaimed, stomping her feet and creating a general ruckus.
"Fine. Everyone but you," the barman amended weakly, looking every Avalanche member in the eye except a certain crimson cloaked individual.
Barret looked ready to voice something, but all it took was one cold look from the taciturn Ex-Turk to silence his oncoming words. Red merely padded towards the door, and Cid made his way over to the entrance, shortly pausing by the cigarette vending machine to draw out his Lucky 7 favourites before leaving the building.
"Ha! See you guys later!" Reno called out, waving widely at all of Avalanche's retreating backs.
Barret growled to himself, yet reigned in his temper. If there was something that he hated more than the former President of Shinra, then it was the people who worked under him.
"Yuffie. Come on, lets go," Vincent muttered quietly, waiting beside the door as the said ninja continued to harass the barman.
"Awww, no fair. Just when things were getting interesting," Yuffie whined as she reluctantly made her way to the pub entrance, swinging her large shuriken at her side as if it was an oversized Frisbee. "Awww, Vincent, are you sure you ever were a Turk? You act too much like a softy toffee to get any work done, let alone to ever harm anyone!"
The dark gunman's eyes narrowed in warning, and Reno, Rude and Elena all instantly sobered up by the young ninja's words.
"Yuffie," Vincent said darkly.
"Hey! Hey! I'm going! I'm going! Sheesh, can't anyone take a joke nowadays?!" Yuffie muttered to herself, shaking her head and leaving the pub with all eyes watching her from behind.
Vincent sighed, and made a dramatic turn to leave, causing his voluptuously crimson cloak to fly up into the air. He was just about to leave when…
"Hey, you. Yes, you in the red."
The dark Ex-Turk paused in his tracks. He did not need to turn around to know who had called out to him.
"You look like you have a rather interesting story to tell…" Reno continued on, as he leaned forward in his chair, his icy blue eyes blazed wide in pure fascination. "What's your name again? Vincent what?"
Vincent paused for but a moment, considering the purpose of answering such an inane question, before slowly tilting his head to the side to send a rather cold glance at the crimson haired Turk.
"Why do you wish to know?" The dark gunman voiced slowly yet quietly, his face remaining coldly passive all the while.
Reno smiled, revealing a clean upper row of brightly whitened teeth.
"Because…. I want to be friends with all of Cloud's friends!" the roguish red head crowed, cackling to himself as if he had said something insanely hilarious.
Rude face palmed his head into his hands, while Elena looked upwards to the heavens in prayer for her saviour Tseng to come and rescue her from Reno's inane stupidity.
The gunman knitted his dark brows, and his lower lip tightened in consternation.
"I am no-ones friend," Vincent answered softly.
"Ah, so you the loner type eh?" Reno voiced, as he drew his fingers inside his jacket.
Vincent didn't even bother to respond.
"I no longer associate with anyone within Shinra," Vincent remarked indifferently, before pivoting on his way, and shutting the entrance door behind him.
"Unsociable bastard," Reno snorted, before drowning another glass and belching loudly, much to the misfortune of his fellow blue suited associates.
Elena put her head in her hands. The life of a Turk was getting too much of her.
'Tseng, where are you…?'
"Hey Elena."
"What?" She grumbled in her hands refusing to look at her red haired associate.
"Be a doll and buy me a pack from the vendor, oh and another bottle of um…what's that umbrella drink called again?"
The blonde Turk's face frowned in her arms. "Go get them yourself Reno,"
"Hey hey hey! Who's your superior here?" The red Turk growled in warning, clenching both of his fists on the table.
"Not you. That's for sure," the blonde replied rather dismissively. She turned her warm caramel toned eyes upon her most amiable companion.
"And speaking of my superior, I'm going to look for him, right now. Rude, call me when Reno stops acting like such an uncivilised drunken idiot."
"Hey I resent that!" Reno spat out with a cruel glare, before laughing his guts out soon after.
The bald Turk nodded slowly, as his serious dark eyes watched the fair haired woman stand from their table. His gaze then slowly turned back to his rather plastered friend, who was currently licking a beer matt coaster with unbridled enjoyment. Rude sweat dropped and turned his head away, too ashamed and embarrassed to look at his drunken partner any longer.
'….Reno…'
0o0o0o0o0o0
Wutai Streets- AVALANCHE
0o0o0o0o0o0
The team-mates of Avalanche eventually found their leader sitting beneath a cherry blossom tree that had lost all of its colour and beauty. His legs were parted, and his face and hands were concentrated on the dull and grassless earth beneath him. However, what was indeed strange, was how the swordsman's broad sword was lying unsheathed and on its side, quite some distance from the blond, as if someone had thrown his sword away, and the owner had no care or interest in claiming it back.
"Cloud?" Tifa voiced tentatively, as she began to move slowly towards her head drooped leader. The rest of her team stood uneasily behind her, watching their leader with mixed thoughts and feelings.
"Cloud?" The brunette repeated, when the blond gave her no answer.
"She's not here.." Cloud voiced quietly. "She's gone…and I have failed her…. again…"
"It wasn't your fault," Tifa began softly as she knelt by her leader, who refused to raise his head to even attempt to look at her. "No-one could have expected such a thing to happen."
The blond's face turned thoughtful, before falling further into a disheartened frown.
The swordsman sighed, as he raked a gloved finger through his bedraggled blond strands. "But it isn't only that Tifa. It's just…" The blond paused, his words falling silent as he remembered the sorrowful look Aeris had sent his way last night, and the way her eyes…her wide green eyes stared at him with so much fear….with so much terror.
"I…" he began, as his mako tinted eyes flitted from his clenched hands. "I had a feeling that something wasn't right with Aeris when we first found her….but…I…I…"
'…I did nothing…'
The blond fell silent, and Tifa sent an anxious look to Barret to see if he had anything to say to help their leader. The burly gunman scratched the back of his head with his human arm feeling sympathetic to the blond's shame.
"Yo Cloud, so what do you want us to do then? Are we gonna look for Aeris? Or are we gonna stay in Wutai to wait for her, or what?"
The blond swordsman shrugged his shoulders, too caught up in his own self shame to even contemplate the thought of moving his head to meet the gunman's eyes.
"Well, you are still our leader man. That's your job an all. You tell us what to do, and we do it…" Barret added, with a clear frown.
The blond sighed, and very reluctantly raised his head to the sky.
"I don't know what to do," Cloud, replied honestly, causing a certain blond pilot to roll his eyes, mumbling about stupid, young kids who were too shit scared to decide on things that he considered were so relatively simple.
Barret grunted and scratched his head once more.
And then mako tinted eyes glanced over, in search of a certain crimson cloaked gunman.
"Vincent?" the blond asked quietly.
The gunman in question tilted his head to the side, as his dark intelligent eyes took on a more calculating look.
"You told me earlier, that you knew Aeris wasn't in the town because you couldn't sense her…" Cloud stated softly, whilst looking at the crimson eyed gunman.
The Ex-Turk nodded slightly in agreement. "I did…"
"Then if that is true…" the blond paused then, to release a soft disquieted sigh of utter misfortune. "…wouldn't that mean you possess the ability to sense her if she was somewhere else?"
The gunman frowned. He knew the direction where Cloud was taking this conversation.
"So you want to use me to find her…." the gunman murmured quietly, as he turned his eyes to the side, to gaze at the sakura trees, which had lost all traits of their former beauty and charm. Now they seemed barren and void of life.
The swordsman regrettably nodded. "Yes….but…not by yourself. I'll be going with you."
"But what about us Cloud?" Tifa voiced in confusion. "What about Avalanche? We are a team, remember?"
The blond frowned. "But Aeris…" he began weakly. His plans of taking on Shinra seemed like a fading memory after all that had happened regarding the repeated loss of their mysterious green eyed companion.
"That just means we'll all have to go and find her together. Hell Spike, use 'yer damn head. It ain't rocket science or anything." Cid interrupted, as all eyes turned on the older blond who was currently playing around with his silver lighter.
The swordsman nodded. "I guess…" Cloud consented, as his eyes turned back to the stoic gunman. "Will that be alright with you Vincent?"
"It's fine," Vincent agreed, closing his eyes to send another prayer to the heavens. How did he get himself into such situations?
Cloud's lips twitched weakly at the gunman's answer, partially surprised that he did not even need to do any coaxing to win the Ex-Turk's favour. However, that fact in itself rather puzzled him, and made him think back to Yuffie and Tifa's earlier hints of Aeris and Vincent having a rather close connection to one another. However, the blond dismissed the idea as quickly as it came. Whether Aeris and Vincent were dating or had some form of illicit love truly did not matter. What mattered was finding Aeris, and if he needed the help of the Ex-Turk to find her, then so be it.
"Alright guys. Let's go back to the Inn, and get the rest of our stuff," Cloud commanded firmly, as he pulled himself off the ground and made his way to his discarded sword. He hoisted the massive blade over his shoulder and sheathed it to his back with expert ease.
"Oh and Cid…" the blond paused, as he fished around in his pockets, finding nothing but lint and low level materia.
"Looking for this?"
Something, green caught his eye, and the swordsman instantly raised his hand to catch the flying projectile. The blond blinked in confusion as he stared down at the familiar bag of gil in his hand, then back to a certain grinning ninja.
"Huh?"
The blond blinked in pure befuddlement.
Yuffie winked before dashing away into the direction of the inn.
Cloud shook his head. He simply didn't want to think about anything anymore. Pivoting on his foot, the blond made his way to a certain swearing pilot, and held the pouch out to the older man's gaze.
"Take it," Cloud offered quietly, as his mako tinted orbs took in the perplexed hue of the older blond's visual gaze.
"Huh? What's this for?" The pilot questioned warily.
"You told me earlier that you had no materia," the swordsman replied as he planted the small, yet hefty bag into the pilot's now outstretched palm. "There should be at least 1500 gil in there. Hopefully, this should be enough to buy at least two types of mid level materia."
"Aww schucks, thanks kiddo," Cid replied, genuinely thankful for the gil. Due to the crazy fiasco that had occurred in Rocket town, he had no time to pick up his wallet, and he had personally been dreading the fact that he was running low on cigarettes. Forget buying materia. Cid knew exactly where he was going to spend all this gil.
'Hmm, I wonder what Wutai tobacco is like…?' The blond pilot pondered aloud with a growing smile on his face.
"See yah guys and gals in a bit," Cid stated with a wave, before jogging most enthusiastically to the closest item store he could find.
The remaining members of Avalanche turned to Cloud with a few sweat drop expressions etched on their faces.
"Well…" Cloud began slowly, scratching the back of his head. "If any of you guys feel the need to buy anything, now is the right time to do it."
"Well I'm running low on ammo. What about you Vincent?" Barret called out. The Ex-Turk nodded in agreement. He didn't need to check his magazine cartridge to know that it was empty.
"Alright Spike, Vincent and I are gonna go and get ourselves some ammo, wait for us outside the Inn okay!" The burly gunman bellowed, gesturing for Vincent to follow him.
As the two departed, this only left Red, Tifa and Cloud.
"Do you need to do anything Red?" Tifa questioned gently.
The fire beast shook his head in negative. "I am fine Tifa,"
She turned her head to her leader.
"Cloud?"
The blond smiled weakly whilst shaking his head.
"Alright. I guess that means we should all then go back to the Inn then," Tifa voiced lightly.
"Yeah," Cloud and Red agreed together, before making their way back to the Wutai Inn.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Somewhere unknown on the Central continent...
0o0o0o0o0o0
Kadaj couldn't believe it. They had wasted three hours. THREE HOURS of their precious time. And for what…?
Well….the reason was currently sleeping in the arms of a certain brown haired, green eyed demi-Cetra.
"Mother? What are you doing?" The silver haired teen cried out in aghast, eyeing all the blood, which was splashed across the grassy ground, on his mother's clothes, and smeared all over the bundle within his mother's hands, and even on his own leather gloves and clothes. The sight repulsed him.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Aeris voiced out in muttered irritation. Her mood had snapped over an hour ago. Aiding a chocobo to give birth had the ability to drain every ounce of patience from anyone. However the moment Aeris stared down at the tiny baby chocobo in her arms, and heard its first squeaky squalor, that moment was enough to bring the brunette's kindly, motherly nature out into the open.
The chocobo… was simply….so utterly...so...unbelievably...adorable!
"Kwee- kwee…Kwee-kwee," the tiny thing whimpered, wriggling and snuggling against the brunette's warm chest.
"Awww," Aeris thought fondly as she began to pet the little bird's head, feeling her heart warm in happiness when the bird began making sounds of pure contentment.
'Kwee-wee-wee." it sighed happily as it drew out a small cheeky pink tongue from between its parted orange beak. The chocobo's eyes were closed beneath a pink layer of skin, which was usual for newly born birds. Its skin and tiny feathers were matted with blood, and other birthing liquids, that Aeris tried brushing away with her fingers and a scrap of cloth that she had torn away from the bottom of her dress.
"Mother! H-how can you touch that disgusting thing?!" Kadaj all but cried. "That beast's blood is all over you. It's contaminating you!" he protested. In all honesty, the sight of the blood did not bother the teen at all. It was the fact that his Mother could be enraptured with a stupid and hideously ugly pink ball of skin and bloody feathers that was truly getting to him. Aeris was smiling at it. She was cooing over it. Her long and delicate fingers were smeared with the stupid creature's liquid life remains. Her eyes glimmered with feelings of warmth and laughter, and she giggled every time the little monstrous thing nuzzled its stupid repulsive head against her soft bosom.
The teen bit his tongue, and clenched his fingers at his sides, as he watched the maternal scene of his Mother and the chocobo, with cold and viciously calculating eyes. He sneered in amounting frustration. He simply could not understand why his Mother would want to touch such a revolting and ugly thing. He clearly disapproved of the disturbing closeness this ugly beast had with his beloved Mother.
And Kadaj was envious.
No… not just envious,
He was insanely jealous.
And he hated it.
This feeling…
This feeling that was getting stronger and stronger inside of him. He could not stand the way the chocobo's head was allowed to be so closely nestled to his Mother's loving breast. So close to her heart... To all her warmth and purity... While he wasn't..
It felt like the chocobo was stealing all his Mother's love away from him.
'…well… if that pink and yellow deformity wants to take away MY Mother…then I'll simply have to take away HIS…'
Kadaj's narrowed mint eyes slid to a certain yellow feathered figure, peacefully resting behind his dark haired mother, and he grinned.
The teen's dark gloved fingers slipped inside his leather materia bag, and withdrew an orb emanating of pitch darkness. Kadaj did not bother to look down at his hand. The ominous powers oozing from the orb in his hand and into his consciousness was telling him that he had chosen the right piece of materia.
His lips curled even more.
'Destructive materia….Death materia…'
Kadaj continued to stare at the resting chocobo.
To him, the large bird looked like a single flab of lard. A fat slab of yellow feathers, which was unaware of the dark fate that was soon to befall it.
'Heh eh hehe…..I will teach you to take my mother away from me…'
And then Kadaj began his silent chant of death. The glyph of the ancient Thanatos curse burned through the air, and yet Kadaj was the only one to sense it's devastating power.
His words were soundless; his eyes flared, as the dark mystic energies of his curse were directly absorbed from the mako orb in his hands, and into his own inner lifestream running through his body.
'…death….death…death….Thanatos...the drive to die.'
His thin pale lips twisted up into a feral grin, and the teen's green eyes glinted with a cold malice as he continued to stare at a certain sleeping chocobo, that had been unfortunately forgotten after everything that had occurred.
And it was there, in his eyes, which shined the soul of his maker. Bloodthirsty, and ruthless, Kadaj raised the materia above his head and closed his eyes. In his mind, he could hear the mother chocobo's pulsing breath, erratic and fearful. Her heart, palpitating at uneven levels, getting quicker and quicker. Moving faster and faster. The teen bared his teeth in a wicked smile, concentrating on moving the energies of both the death curse and the chocobo's inner spirit into his left hand. Then with a deliberate flex of his hand, Kadaj crushed his fingers inside his tightly fisted palm.
"WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKK!!!"
Suddenly the large, fat chocobo screeched out in front of the incredibly amused teen, and Aeris whirled her head behind her to stare in pure horror, as the bulky yellow chocobo began having violent convulsions before her very eyes. Her wide green eyes dilated as the bird squealed and screamed, and tossed its fat head from side to side as if in pure agony. Then both Aeris and Kadaj watched as the gigantic bird suddenly pulled itself to its feet and began sprinting away, as if trying to escape the nightmare that had surrounded her entire being. However, no sooner than the bird began running, did the chocobo crash to the ground. The scythe of the Thanatos curse had been finalised. Death had prevailed over the chocobo's battle for life.
Aeris raised a trembling hand to her mouth. Too frightened by what she had just seen to even cry. The baby chocobo in her arms, as if sensing her distress began squeaking to gain the brunette's attention once more.
"What…what just happened?" Aeris whispered weakly, as she hesitantly raised herself to her feet, with the little bird in her arms, and began timidly moving towards the fallen bird.
The brunette dropped to her knees, checking the large bird's pulse, then her beak for a sign of breath. There was nothing. With its large pale pink tongue lolled out to the side, blue eyes blind of life, and long legs askew, if Aeris was once unsure what was wrong with the bird, now she knew for certain.
The chocobo mother was dead.
Aeris felt her entire body freeze in shock, and for one moment, her life stopped.
Behind her, the silver haired teen stood there expressionless, yet victorious. It was becoming so much more difficult not to smile in victory.
'...What happened?'
'…The chocobo…'
'She's…dead…'
'…...'
'…but how…?'
'…why...?'
'…..'
'..was...?'
'…is it my fault?'
'Am I the one to blame?'
'..Was it because..I was too focussed on her baby chick…'
'...that I forgot all about her…?'
'…why…?'
'...why did I not notice..'
'... that she was in so much pain..?'
'I learnt my knowledge of pregnancy from...'
'...the books that I read at home...'
'But they were about human births..'
'…not animal…or chocobo ones…?'
'Why...?'
'Oh why can I never do anything right?'
'Why do so many...'
'...bad things...'
'...keep on happening...'
'...to me… ?'
'…why do I...'
'...have to experience...'
'...so much death?"
'…I…I can't take this...'
'... I can't take this feeling of pain..'
'...I dont want to see any more death!!!'
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Mother…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
The brunette raised her wet and tearful eyes, to stare into eyes of the most mystifying mint hued oblivion. The eyes of 'him' were now looking down upon her. They were staring right down into her soul. The eyes of her saviour. The eyes of her lover.
'….Sephiroth…' her mind whispered as her tears began to overflow from her eyes and drip down her pale cheeks. Aeris felt herself drawn towards his hypnotic eyes. Eyes that were painted with the cold memories of the past, and yet were tinged with the passions of a potential future. Her body reacted before her mind did. With one hand cradling the orphaned chocobo to her chest, her other wrapped itself round her mint-eyed saviour, Aeris sought out the unconscious need for her beloved….in the arms of another.
"Shussh, its okay Mother," Kadaj soothed, indulging in the feeling of his Mother's body pressed so closely against his own. Her arm wrapped around his hips, and her damp face sobbed against his side. He closed his eyes, inhaling her flowery scent. Now this was the feeling that he had longed for. This was the moment he had craved since time began. His Mother wanted him. His Mother needed him.
And Kadaj knew that he would grant her anything…
…anything she could ever want.
Carefully, the teen lowered the brunette's fingers from his hips, and pulled her up to her feet, where Aeris clung to him as if there were no other anchor that could hold her to the very planet she stood.
"But why…?" Aeris murmured through blurry tears. "Why can't I escape my own guilt and sadness?" The brunette moved a fist to her mouth, fighting against the tears, which threatened to drip down her face.
"….why do you feel guilt…?" Kadaj voiced quietly, as he wrapped one possessive arm around his Mother's waist, while the other cradled the brunette's head, letting his fingers languidly slide through the soft and luscious strands.
"Because I am weak…and a failure… I fail at anything I do… I can't do anything…" Aeris whispered brokenly. "My real mother died because of me. My adopted mother is in hiding because of me. My first boyfriend failed to return to me….and Seph…you…you died because of me… because I was too blind to see what you wanted from me…I was far too stupid…and for that I'm sorry…"
The fingers stroking the brunette's hair stopped, and the teen felt his heart crash to the floor…
'Seph…….Sephiroth….my mother called me Sephiroth…'
Kadaj could not explain why he felt so much pain after hearing such a realisation. He knew he should have felt honoured. He had been compared to the Great Sephiroth. The soon to be ruler of this world, and of his kind.
And yet…
Kadaj didn't.
Slowly extracting his hands and arms from around his Mother's frame, the teen took a few paces back, nearly tripping over the yellow-feathered carcass behind him. It was that specific action which awoke Aeris from her memories of the past and to the reality that she was facing now.
The brunette blinked. "Kadaj..?" She voiced quietly as if awakening herself from a forgotten dream.
"What is it Mother?"
Aeris stared down at the baby chick in her arms, then at the chocobo's lifeless mother with a prolonging sadness. "Isn't there anything we can do…about her?"
Kadaj mock-regrettably shook his head in negative. 'As if I would revive the same beast that I killed...'
Planting the little chocobo in her lap, the brunette knelt before the dead creature and clasped her hands together. The teen blinked, unable to work out as to what his Mother was trying to do.
"Mother what are you…?" Kadaj began.
"I am praying for this poor chocobos soul to have a safe journey back to the life stream…" Aeris voiced as she brushed a few stray tears away.
The teen blinked. The unspoken question was written in his eyes.
'…why?'
'why would she care for something so...'
'...dumb and stupid?'
"Why are you so upset Mother? Why do you cry? It's just a dumb bird. We can always find another one to…" Kadaj was unable to finish his statement after seeing the look on his mother's now clearly enraged face.
A flash of fury coloured the brunette's bright-eyed gaze. "How dare you say such a thing? All forms of life are important Seph, whether you may appreciate them or not!"
The teen flinched outwardly and his hands tightened at his sides.
'Seph..'
However, the brunette paid no heed, fully oblivious to her verbal blunder.
"Look Kadaj, I don't know who taught you to think of life as something so expendable and unimportant, but everything deserves to live. Whether human or chocobo! What gives you the right to think that chocobo is so worthless?"
'…because it is worthless.' the teen thought cruelly. '…and I would kill it again, if I could…'
'...if you could hold onto me again mother...'
"What gives you the right to believe that its life is such to throwaway?"
'…because I soon will be part of the next generation of beings living on this polluted planet, as will you mother.'
Aeris sighed. She had an instinctive feeling that the teen had not truly understood a word that she had said.
"And what about him?"
The brunette gestured to the tiny chocobo in her lap.
The young, silver haired swordsman shrugged indifferently. He really couldn't care less what happened to that stupid chick. For all he cared, he could toss the damnable bird into the ocean right now and end its pathetic life.
"Well I guess that means we'll have to keep him."
The teen paused, as his thoughts grinded to a halt. Did he just hear what he thought he heard?
"W-what?!"
His eyebrows arched up in pure bafflement.
"We'll have to keep him," Aeris repeated with a slight smile, as she picked up the chocobo from her lap and held it securely to her chest.
"But Mother…" Kadaj tried to protest. There was no chance in hell that he was going to let that chocobo enter the Promised Land with his Mother.
"…we can't…"
"Why not? This poor thing can't fend for himself. He would become prey to all sorts of predators. And what's more, he has just lost his mother. Nope, my minds decided. We're keeping him, whether you like it or not."
Kadaj frowned, feeling no anger or resentment for his Mother's words and decisions. No, the teen directed his anger at the small chirping chick that was nestling against his Mother's snugly chest. The consolation that he had killed the little chocobo's mother held no meaning now. It seemed that whatever he tried, that baby chocobo would always be one-step ahead to mock him.
"As you wish Mother…" the teen consented softly, all the while, trying to think of all the macabre ways he could destroy the pathetic yellow thing without his Mother not knowing.
'…yes the river…' the teen sniggered to himself. '..Or an unfortunate fight with an enraged and hungry behemoth…or maybe a much more fitting death would be...by a chocobo eater..'
The teen shook his head. His revenge could come later. Now he had to decide on what to do now.
"So where are we anyway?" Aeris questioned.
"I think we are on the central continent, and since we no longer own a chocobo worthy of riding, we will need to continue walking up north, until we find another more convenient method of transportation," Kadaj vocalised, panning his eyes towards the dark green forest which stood in the distance, then behind him at the shoreline of endless water.
The brunette nodded in understanding. "So are you ready for an uber big adventure Kwee kwee?" Aeris asked the cute little bird to which the chocobo squealed and chirped happily. "I certainly am!"
'Kwee-kwee? She's given that thing a name?' Kadaj frowned darkly, and tugged at the brunette's elbow, to help his Mother to her feet, all the while, glaring at the pink skinned monstrosity in the brunette's arms.
'Just you wait...' the teen thought cruelly, quickly curling his lips into a warm and genuine grin when his eyes met his Mother's for one split moment, before guiding her towards the nearest forest to the North of them.
Author's Notes
Heh, Now this was certainly an emotional chappie. I actually enjoyed writing it, even though it dealt with a little bit of morbid content, and a death of a poor chocobo. How could Kadaj be so cruel and evil…?! Hurting a pregnant chocobo…and then killing it just because he is jealous of its baby. Awwww, Now baby Kwee kwee's an orphan. But we needn't have to worry. I'm sure Aeris will be willing to be his Mother… however; I doubt that Kadaj will want to play any part in being the birdie's father or brother. Lol
But yeah, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and I have to apologise for the lateness. Hopefully I can pelt out a couple more chappies out before Xmas.
Ja ne
Aerseph4eva
P.S
Any questions or comments? Feel free to notify me through email or my myspace. Lol. Simply click on my username at the top of this page and I'm sure you'll find it. Lol. x