Disclaimer: I dun' own nothin', yo! (Barret included.) Thanks to Novocain for beta-reading and to all of you for reading and reviewing. Your support is tremendous and it quite literally feeds my motivation to write! I can't wait to read your comments and/or constructive criticism. :)
Chapter 11
Locked Horns- Part One
Wutai had always been sunny and exotic, and these two facts made it a pleasant district for visitors from all over the world after the war with ShinRa had ended. Travelers usually came either on their own or in packs, united by a common sense of dress that would simply scream "I'm a tourist, please steal my money" if only it had a mouth. They were different, yet the Wutaian people had gotten used to their presence, light and multi-colored as it was. It was hard, therefore, for the locals to be shocked by the appearance of foreigners who walked the streets of Wutai.
This morning, however, was special; women exchanged curious glances and fishermen stopped in the middle of arranging their nets to look at the newcomers, a tall man in crimson and the runaway princess of their land. She was exactly like they remembered her - and most of them knew her well, given that they had watched her grow up, offering her treats and a kind word when, little and jolly, she roamed the streets of her birthplace. Perhaps she had grown up a bit, but she remained short and generally flat (although, it's not like men, especially, dared look in depth; she was their princess after all).
Wherever they passed, the mismatched couple attracted everyone's stares like a magnet. And the tension among the crowd of silent watchers kept building up, as Wutaians collectively held their breath and waited for something to happen: a bell to be rung, a soldier to come.
"Pssst, Vince! That old man with the big hat was looking right at you... And this one at four o'clock, you see him? Bulky, three dewlaps, thick moustache? Right. He's ogling you like you're a steak. You know, I think he f-a-n-c-i-e-s you," she whispered conspiratorially, as she tried to catch up with his long strides.
She stole another glance around. Her country was the same like always. It looked the same. It smelled the same. If the distant odor of raw fish didn't make her queasy, she could have very well been nostalgic.
"Hey, slow down, not all of us have freaky, mako-powered legs!"
Vincent started walking even faster, if that was possible. It was apparent he was ignoring her constant nagging so as to leave the center of Wutai as fast as possible. He was a man of the shadows; being stared at like that was complimentary only for someone attention-seeking, like Yuffie. He wished he had a corner to hide into. And a cup of strong coffee. He really needed one at the moment.
"Do you reckon they are talking about me?" she asked gleefully between huffs.
"Yes," he replied not as enthusiastically.
"Ooh, heh heh. I knew they'd still love me; they always did - this way, Vince." She took a turn on the left and they continued walking down a smaller, narrow street. "But I never expected they'd be lightning-struck! They must think I'm so cool-"
"Or why have you made such a sudden appearance, who is the man walking next to you, and what's going to happen on the inside of that pagoda," he finished, pointing with a movement of his head at the five-story building in the distance.
"Wow, it talks," she said, eyes wide for a second, but then her expression changed to a pout. "But you're no fun!"
"I never had time for such luxuries."
Yuffie pursed her lips, her gaze fixed on the scenery around them. Never had she seen in her numerous journeys a place where the green of the trees and the red of the buildings co-existed in harmony. One would expect they would clash terribly, but they didn't - not in Wutai. That was another thing for her to ponder in the faraway forests and deserts of their planet.
"I guess I had more time on my hands than I could handle," she admitted quietly. "But I wish you weren't always such a Drama Queen, Vince. I mean, honestly, spending time with that Da Chao statue over there is usually more pleasant. And let me tell you something, that dude is made ofstone."
They were now in the path that led to the imperial territory where the pagoda was. The fauna in this area was denser and wilder. Yuffie felt a small chill scrambling up her spine like something spidery. She closed her eyes and tried to think of daisies and shiny-new shurikens, of Barret in that awfully funny costume and of anything else she could use as a safeguard, but she could not laugh. And she could not fight it.
So it won. She opened her eyes and a flashback of seeing the same trees fleetingly while she ran in full speed towards the Da Chao Mountain hit her like a huge rock straight at the chest. Pant, pant. Sob. Pant, pant, pant. Whimper.
Mom…
Kick. Scream.
MOM!
The little girl's screams rent the air. A couple of birds from the branch of a lonely tree nearby fly away with a flapping of their wings. Time is a shred cloth at her feet. She tries not to choke from the lump on the inside of her throat. Her eyes are watery and tingling from the cold. It feels like a thousand needles are striving to penetrate her round, childish cheeks. There are dead bodies at the foot of the mountain, but she ignores them; she doesn't even see them as she gives in with no-one to hold her as breaks down-
And then Vincent's hand was steadily on her arm, his deep, haunting eyes searching her own.
She blinked once, twice to clear her gaze from the bleakness, and looked away. He didn't ask her what was wrong – classic Vincent, but she was grateful for his silence this time - yet he maintained a close distance as they resumed walking. Yuffie was sure he was occasionally checking her face for signs that she was still having unsettling thoughts. But she had already shut that part of her brain out firmly, leaving Ol' Merry Yuffsters to return in all her rotten glory. It was a technique she had undoubtedly mastered.
"We're almost there."
"Are we?" asked Vincent somewhat sarcastically, his head tilted at the side.
"Yep, Mister I-Know-Every-Fucking-Thing. This is my hometown and I get to make all the dramatic announcements, like 'We're almost there', 'Brace yourselves', 'I swear they'll pay for this', and 'Godo is gonna throttle me'. Capito?" she challenged.
"Fine," he said, looking around indifferently. "Besides, everyone knows that the comic relief says night-night first."
"HEY! Whah? Did you just speak like a normal person? For the love of Leviathan!" She bounced in front of him, trying to block the way, only to quickly return at his side when he didn't even slow down.
"If by normal you mean ridiculous and childish."
Ouch. Touché.
"…Did you just call me childish? If there is one thing that you know Ihate-"
"Would you kindly stop repeating yourself?" Vincent's voice rang a tad bit louder than normal.
Yuffie felt a small wave of adrenaline surge through her. Goodie, goodie; a pointless fight just for the sake of it, because she had annoyed the hell out of him. Or because a bee was buzzing in his ear. Or better, because they both suppressed too many things and talked about nonsense all the time.
Anyway, it was the perfect prelude to her encounter with Godo.
"Oh yeah? Why? So that I don't boreyour Majesty?" The ninja girl tripped on a fallen twig and caught his cape so as to not fall dead flat on the ground. There was a slight chance her father wouldn't be thrilled if she showed up in his palace mud-stained and bruised.
"Yuffie… stop doing that," he scolded her.
"Stop doing what?" She looked up with bright, innocent eyes.
"Wiping your hands on my cape," he said in a deadpan.
"I was merely holding it because I'm so enamoredby you that I simply couldn't resist the temptation of touching your torn, chocobo-smelling and unwashed-since-Ifrit-was-a-cute-little-fireball cloak," Yuffie said, refusing to back away from their current argument.
'Really now, he is so… insufferable at times. And, come to think about it, there is something terribly wrong with both of us. Why can't we just have a normal conversation, a normal day even, without any dizzying emotional status changes? We behave like teenagers! NO, I'm eighteen and I don't count as a teenager anymore. No, I don't. Not, not, not, not, not! Shut up, Yuffie. Am I talking to myself? Gaia, Gaia, I'm talking to myself, and I bet tomorrow I'll be hearing voices, and the day after it –gasp!- I'll be seeing the pale, freaky woman with uncombed hair and ragged clothes in the mirror, and - wait… that'd be me. Oh, crap. I am still a teenager!'
"Wake up."
Yuffie snapped out of the charming conversation she was having with herself quite abruptly.
"Sorry, Vince, you were saying..?"
"That my only worry was of different nature," he repeated.
"I'll just pretend I understood that."
"Let me rephrase: I was worried you'd steal anything you could put your hands on."
The way she could see it, there were two options. 1) Take it literally and play offended. 2) Take it the Yuffie way and have some fun. She examined both choices carefully; a group of six soldiers was coming their way. Vincent was in Intimidate Mode, but the soldiers with the Wutai uniforms didn't falter. They'd soon be there. If she could just take advantage of that and- Nyuk nyuk nyuk! We have a winner!
Okay.
Easy one.
"Oh, yeah… You're speaking out of personal experience, is that right?" she wondered loudly. "Like yesterday, when you stole my delicious, handmade chocolate cookies and ate them in secret. Don't think I didn't see that creepily perverted smirk of satisfaction after youdevoured them…"
The soldiers - within hearing range for quite some time - stared at the tall man, some in wonderment, others trying not to snicker. The youngest looking one even halted for a moment. Yuffie, for her part, looked as clueless as possible, while she watched Vincent's back in front of her straighten up and his stance become unmistakably rigid. And then he turned a little, feral eyes narrowed in an 'I want to slash you in two and make barbecue rolls with your fingers' look.
She could finally sympathize with all the monsters which had the extreme misfortune of meeting Mr. Vincent Valentine, formerly of the Turks, currently Princess Ridicule.
"If you're wondering what that smell is, let me clarify that I had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with it," she mumbled. "And, uh, you're probably right; they should brand me 'bad for old, vampire-like gunslingers' reputation' and lock me away in a prison in Corel - but could you turn the laser eyes off, please? I think we'll be able to play Catch with my pretty little head in a bit if you don't stop that."
She saw his eyes soften momentarily with a sparkle of mirth and then harden again, as the leader of the imperial guards prepared to speak. He was a rather short man, in his early forties perhaps, with very short, chestnut hair and restless eyes, Yuffie noticed. He looked quite uncomfortable and the ninja suddenly had a visualization of him fiddling with a leaf from the wild gardenia next to his foot and trying to find a way to tell his mom that he broke the vase. Alas, instead of fulfilling her fantasy, he cleared his throat and tightened his hold on his pike.
"Miss Kisaragi, your father wishes me to accompany you and your companion to the pagoda; it'd be for the best if you followed me willingly."
She really hated her father, oh yes, she did. He was always seeking ways to remind her who was in power.
Yuffie opened her mouth to reply, but Vincent cut in, throwing a warning look her way.
"We'll follow."
It was what they were there for, after all.
Not that this tiny fact was enough to lighten her mood as she dragged herself to the impressive building, occasionally glaring at the members of her entourage. But when the twin doors opened with a creak and she came face to face with the tired and gloomy expression on her father's smug face, the entire database of her mind was erased temporarily, except for one thing.
She had a fight to win.