I'm back with another chapter, finally! I am so sorry for the long delay again. I've been busy lately. I'm working more since I'm no longer going to school, I'm making plans to get a place with a couple of friends and plans to go to a con, Anime Central, that I'm going to at the end of this month with the same two friends has also been keeping me busy. I have been working on this chapter, and it's finally done. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them.
Chapter 13 Adventure
Vincent woke up early, as he usually did. He checked on Rose to find her sleeping relatively peaceful next to him. Deciding she would be alright to be left alone he got dressed and left the room. When he walked out he was relieved to see that Yuffie was not among those that were up.
"Good morning Vincent." Tifa greeted.
"Good morning." He greeted as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"How's Rose?" she asked.
"Sleeping." He answered simply.
"Vincent…about what happened last ni-"
"I am not at liberty to say what happened with Rose." He quickly cut her off. "She will tell you when she's ready and no sooner than that."
"I understand that Vincent. I was going to say, don't you think she should possibly get some help? Aerith is a psychiatrist for the WRO soldiers, she should be able to help her. She's someone that Rose knows and will be more likely to open up and heal." She replied.
Vincent gave a small sigh. "I was going to talk to her about that. The final decision on whether she does or not is her's."
"Vincent, can I have a word with you?" came a voice from the door.
He turned to see Red standing there.
"Yes." He answered. He grabbed his mug of coffee before following him out to the next room.
"Vincent, were you planning on accompanying Rose and Yuffie to the mako caves?" Red asked as they entered the next room.
"Yes I was. I know how Yuffie can get and with the disappearances lately, it has everyone on edge. Rose doesn't have that much experience in fighting yet and I don't want her having to fight for her life right now." He answered.
Red nodded. "Yes. Also there have been some issues that have been resolved with the Red Stone Wolves. I don't want the issues to become unresolved again."
"What kind of issues?" Vincent asked. The Red Stone Wolves were always relatively peaceful creatures that lived in the canyon. He couldn't understand how there could be any issues with them.
"Their territory had been invaded by the humans who live in the canyon. They understand that it happens and won't be bothered by it as long as humans stay away from them. They can be looked upon at a distance, but they are not to be approached." He explained. "If they are approached, there will be conflict, even if the human does not mean harm."
"You want to make sure the girls don't get into trouble with the wolves." Vincent said.
"I know that Yuffie usually won't mess with them, but she can be unpredictable at times." Red said.
"Yes, she can." Vincent replied as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Why are you still in bed? We've got caves to see!"
They both turned towards the voice that was obviously Yuffie's. Not wanting her to make any trouble with Rose, Vincent made his way back to the bedroom. When he got there he saw that Rose was on the floor and Yuffie was standing over her. It was apparent that Yuffie had pulled Rose off the bed and she had tried to prevent it and only succeeded in getting the blankets and pillows pulled off with her.
"Yuffie, do you really need to try to start with Rose right now?" Vincent asked from the doorway.
"She wasn't up yet, so I thought I'd help her out." Yuffie replied with a grin.
"You do realize that this is a stone floor, right?" he said.
The grin slid off the ninja's face as she turned back to Rose. It soon turned into a playful scowl when she saw that she was cuddling with the pillow and blanket on the floor.
"You really can't be comfortable." She said.
Rose's eye cracked open before closing again. "Depends on your definition of comfortable."
"Rose!" Yuffie started to protest but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Yuffie, give her a little more time. Sometimes it takes her a while to get going in the morning." Vincent said.
Yuffie sighed. "Okay. I'll give you one more hour Rose. If you're not up by then, I'm coming back." With that she passed Vincent and left.
Vincent put his mug of coffee on the small dresser before helping Rose stand. "She didn't hurt you when she pulled off the bed, did she?"
She shook her head. "No. I'll be out in a bit. I just want to get dressed first." She said with a small stretch.
"You do have a little bit of time if you want to sleep a little longer."
She waved a hand at that. "I'm awake now anyway."
Vincent nodded as he picked up the mug again. "We'll see you shortly." He said before leaving the room and trekking back to the kitchen area.
It was only fifteen minutes when Rose appeared in the kitchen. Only minutes after Sephiroth and Cloud had.
"Good morning everyone." She greeted as she entered. "Anything I can do to help make breakfast?"
"You can scramble those eggs if you want." Tifa answered, nodding at a small bowl of eggs before turning her attention to the French toast.
"Will here be any veggies or cheese that will be added to them?" she asked as she started cracking them open.
"No. There are some people who don't like them in the eggs." Tifa answered, looking at Yuffie who was leaning against the wall.
"Come on, give me a break. Green peppers and onions in eggs is disgusting." She said.
"I used to think so to, but I grew to like them." Rose said with a smile as she started cooking.
"Wait, let me see if I've got this straight. Red is worried about the Red Stone Wolves, so he's asked you to tag along with Rose and me?" Yuffie asked as she, Rose and Vincent made their way into the canyon.
"He doesn't want to take any chances." He replied.
"This isn't fair! This is supposed to be a girl time for Rose and me." Yuffie replied, crossing her arms with a huff.
"You do have a tendency to be a little unpredictable Yuffie. That's why I'm accompanying you two." Vincent said.
"Name one time when I was unpredictable." Yuffie challenged.
"Well, there was that one time where you stole everybody's materia and ran off to Wutai with it." Rose supplied.
"I, uh, yeah, but…" Yuffie flustered.
Rose snorted as she watched Yuffie try to come up with a viable reason for her to have done that. The corners of Vincent's mouth twitched as he tried to keep himself from smiling. Rose did have a point, and Yuffie couldn't talk herself out of it. She probably never would be able to.
"Hey, come on this isn't fair! Vincent was supposed to answer that, not you!" Yuffie said, trying to regain her ground.
"Alright, you stole our materia." Vincent said.
"That's cheating! You're just repeating what Rose said!" Yuffie argued.
"Well, that was an unpredictable move on your part." Rose said. "Most of the materia I had was mastered, I was ticked when you did that."
"Well…." She thought for a minute before retorting. "You weren't there, so it doesn't count! Vincent has to think up a different scenario!"
"How about bringing attention to us?" Vincent said as he stopped. His attention was on one of the higher cliffs where a deep red colored wolf stood.
Yuffie also followed Vincent's gaze and gasped. "Oops. I didn't think I was speaking that loudly."
"This is a canyon Yuffie. Your voice will carry." He replied.
Rose was speechless as she gazed up at the wolf as it was joined by another with a cub.
"Wow." She breathed. "They're so pretty."
"Yes they are. I don't know about your world, but these guys will kill you if they feel the need to." Yuffie said as they continued to stand there, looking at them.
"These wolves are usually peacefully Yuffie." Vincent said.
"Yeah, well you didn't have the experience I did." She replied.
The first wolf they saw turned from the trio and walked off, followed by the other two.
"I wish we could have been a little closer. I would have liked to see them a little better." Rose said.
"Someday perhaps." Vincent said. "Right now, it's too dangerous."
"Well, now that they're gone, let's get going." Yuffie said enthusiastically.
They had to climb down farther into the canyon before they could get to the area to start climbing up. Yuffie wasn't joking when she told Rose that to get to the caves of Materia was a hike. She was also right that it was worth it.
"Wow, it's so beautiful." Rose said as she walked into the caves after the two. She reached out and stroked one of the crystals with the tips of her fingers. It was cool to the touch, but she also felt the power contained in it. Just like she felt with the materia she had learned to use.
"You can't find materia in its natural state like this often." Yuffie said. "This is one of my favorite caves."
"If you come into the back, you'll see why it's one of her favorites." Vincent said, beckoning her to follow them.
She did what was asked and followed. In the back of the cave was a seven foot wide hole that stretched to the back of the cave. Inside the hole was a pool of blue liquid.
"This is mako that hasn't crystallized yet." Yuffie said.
"Wow, this is beautiful." Rose said, approaching the pool. She kept her distance though. If she fell in, there was no telling if she would come out of it and if she did, she would be lucky to have survived.
"Respectful, but cautious. Smart." Yuffie said, watching Rose look at the pool.
"I really don't want to get poisoned by mako." She replied. She let her eyes wander around the cave, looking at the different crystal formations.
'And to think she was so upset the night before.' Chaos commented.
'Yes, she was.' Vincent replied.
'It must have been hell for her to live like that.'
'We can only imagine.'
'Which is why you should have killed that bastard.'
"You have to wonder." Rose said as she continued to gaze at the crystals.
"Wonder about what?" Vincent asked, forgetting about the conversation Chaos had tried to start.
"If the theory that all souls return to the planet, and mako is the life of the planet then that means the living creatures is a part of the mako." Rose said. "Can you imagine the knowledge that this materia could possibly hold?"
Yuffie contemplated that for a moment. "Wow, I never thought about that."
"It is an interesting theory." Vincent added.
"Then again, the Planet probably wouldn't want us to have that knowledge." Rose said as she reached out a hand and stroked a crystal. "We would do very destructive things if we had any of that knowledge."
"Indeed, humans are very destructive. Any knowledge given to us, we abuse." Vincent said.
"Come on you guys, that's not entirely true." Yuffie said.
"Perhaps not, but its true for the most part." Rose said and continued before Yuffie could say anything to argue about it. "Shinra is the perfect example Yuffie. Look at what that company did when they discovered Mako. They used it to created electricity and nearly killed the Planet in the process. They also created weapons using the mako and experimented on humans with it. Knowledge is a powerful thing, but if abused can lead to destruction."
"You're right about Shinra, but knowledge that we've gained through our journey to save the Planet became a great benefit to us." Yuffie replied.
"How long will that last until someone gets a hold of that knowledge and abuses it?" Rose asked.
Yuffie opened her mouth to say something, but when she realized she didn't have an answer for that she closed it again.
"We'll worry about that when it happens." Vincent said, answering for Yuffie. "If something like what Shinra had done happens again, we'll be there to stop it. That's why AVALANCHE stayed together."
"And the friendship we've created! Don't forget about that Vincent." Yuffie added.
"Yes." Vincent said after a moment. "Yuffie, if there are any other caves you wish to show Rose, we should get going."
"Right. Come on." Yuffie said, leading the way out of the cave.
The group visited 3 other caves before finally heading back. There were more caves Yuffie wanted to show, but it would have to wait until another visit to the canyon. The sun had made its journey across the sky and to the west when the trio made it back to where they were staying with the group.
"Hi guys. Did you have fun?" Aerith greeted as the three came in.
"Yeah, we did." Rose answered with a smile as she took a drink of water from the glass she had taken out.
"I forgot how hot it can get out there." Yuffie said. "Rose, we should go for a swim."
She seemed to pause for a moment, before continuing what she was doing. "Nah, I don't think so."
"Come on Rose, it'll be refreshing after the climb." Yuffie pressed.
"Maybe next time Yuffie." Rose replied. "I'm supposed to meet up with Cloud and Sephiroth about getting my sword after seeing the caves, remember?"
"Oh….that's right." She replied, seeming to deflate a little.
"We'll hang out later Yuffie." Rose said, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah. Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and have a swim." She said, turning and leaving.
"Rose, may I have a word with you for a moment?" Aerith asked.
"Yeah, sure." She answered.
Aerith took a breath to gather her thoughts a moment. "Rose, is there something you need to talk about?"
She was taken aback by that question, but recovered as quickly as she could. "I don't know what you mean."
"Considering how you reacted to Cid's joke last night, I would say that you do." Aerith gently replied. "If you need to talk about something, I can help."
"I don't need to talk about anything." Rose said and she moved to walk around her, but she stopped her by putting her hands on her shoulders.
"Please Rose. It's not good for you to keep things bottled up." She said.
"Rose, at least consider it, please." Vincent said as he stood at the doorway.
Rose sighed as she looked at Aerith. "I'll think about it."
Aerith removed her hands from her shoulders and Rose left the room.
"Her spirit has been hurt Vincent, but I can't help her unless she wants it."
"I know. I'll try to talk to her later to get her to accept your help." He replied.
"If we are to repair her spirit to what it was before, we're going to have to hurry." She said.
Rose made her way down the stairs to go outside and nearly ran into Reeve in the process.
"Oh jeez! I'm sorry Reeve." She chuckled.
"No harm done." He replied with a chuckle of his own. "Where are you off to?"
"I'm supposed to meet with Cloud and Sephiroth." She answered. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find them, do you?"
"I believe they were heading to the weapon shop. Do you know where that is?" he said.
"I think so. Thanks Reeve." She said before going the rest of the way down the stairs and out the door.
Reeve watched her disappear out the door before continuing up the stairs himself.
Rose quickly made her way outside and to where the stores were at. She quickly found the weapons shop and went inside. She found Cloud and Sephiroth in there.
"That might be too heavy for her to start off with." Cloud said, handing the sword back to the owner.
"Perhaps this then. This one is lighter." The owner said.
"That one might be a bit too long for her." Sephiroth replied.
"We don't want something that's too long, or too heavy." Cloud said. "This may be more difficult than I thought."
"Maybe it wouldn't be the best idea for me to get a sword?" Rose asked as she walked up to the three.
Cloud whipped around to look at her. "When did you get here?"
"About a minute ago." Sephiroth answered, unfazed that she had just walked up to them.
"You have eyes on the back of your head?" Rose joked.
"No. Thankfully I don't have that." Sephiroth answered.
"The final decision is up to you Rose, but we may need to do some more shopping unless you want one that is custom made for you." Cloud said, handing the last sword back to the store owner who gave a small bow of his head before returning the swords back to their places.
"I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to learn since you two would be teaching me." Rose said, crossing her arms. "We could do some more shopping around to see what is out there."
"Alright, there's no rush on it." Cloud said. He thanked the store owner before the three walked out. "How did you like the caves?"
"They were pretty and interesting." Rose answered. "It's amazing how mako bubbles up to the crust and crystallizes like that."
"Mako in it's natural state is the most beautiful." Sephiroth said.
"Yeah. We saw a pool of mako that hadn't crystallized yet. That was cool." Rose replied.
"I wondered if she was going to take you to that cave." Cloud said.
"I hope you kept your distance from it." Sephiroth said.
"I did. I don't think mako poisoning would be fun." She replied. She stopped to look at the canyon. It really was different and pretty with the setting sun. There were so many colors she had to stop and appreciate it.
"Coming Rose?" Cloud asked when she had stopped.
"Actually I think I'm going to stay out here and enjoy the sunset." She answered.
"Suit yourself." He replied.
"Just don't wander too far into the canyon." Sephiroth warned before the two left her.
"I won't, I promise." She said before venturing out. She wanted to find a bit of a higher place to watch the sun set and see the colors change in the canyon.
She made her way a little into the canyon to find the best spot to sit and watch the sunset. She was only there for twenty minutes when she heard a commotion of yelping and howling. She made sure she had all her equipment before making her way down from her perch. The only thing she was missing were her bracers since they would have been in the way during the climb earlier.
She followed the noise coming into a small clearing surrounded by rock. She saw four guard hounds surrounding a deep red wolf against a rock. She quietly unhooked one of her throwing stars and slowly stood, not wanting to give away her position before she could do something.
She took careful aim. If she messed up she would end up hitting the wolf instead of the guard hound that was advancing on him.
She carefully aimed and sent the star flying. It was a direct hit to the head of the guard hound, killing him instantly. Once his lifeless body hit the ground the remaining three turned and focused on Rose, starting to advance on her.
She quickly made her way out of her hiding spot from behind the rock and into the clearing. She knew that if she was trapped against the rock, she would be done for. The guard hounds were slowly advancing on her, not paying attention to the wolf that had made its way from the wall and out of the clearing.
Rose took a defensive stance, throwing star in hand. She wasn't going to try to run. She was in for a fight and she knew it.
The three remaining guard hounds advanced into a v-formation. The guard hound on her left started for her at a run. She threw her throwing star at him, making him jump back immediately. The guard hound on the right took that chance to run at her, but she was too quick. She threw a right kick at him as the guard hound in the middle came at her. She tapped into her fire materia and engulfed him in flames. He howled in pain before he fell to the ground.
As the middle guard hound fell to the ground the one on the right seemed to study her, trying to figure out her movements and her next plan of action. While that was going on, the one on the left ran at a circle to get behind Rose. She turned as she grabbed a throwing star. She threw it at him as he leapt at her and he fell to the ground.
The remaining guard hound leapt at Rose's exposed back. She turned to attack, but didn't get a chance this time. She was knocked to the ground, the force of the guard hound's attack sent her sliding against the rock tearing up a side her back. She reached for another throwing star as the guard hound made a leap to make the killing blow. A gunshot rang through the air as the guard hound fell beside her dead.
She looked at the guard hound for a moment with wide eyes before searching for the source of the gunshot. She found Vincent quickly making his way towards her. Cloud was also with him, but he went to the other guard hounds to make sure they were dead.
"Are you alright?" Vincent said, kneeling down next to her and helped her to sit up.
"Just some scratches. I'm fine." She said.
"I think they're more than scratches." Vincent replied as blood started to blot on the back of her shirt. He helped her to stand. "Let's get you back so we can get you patched up."
She nodded as she allowed him to help her stand.
"What were you doing out here?" Cloud asked a little sternly, after making sure the guard hounds were dead.
"I heard yelping and I came down here to see what was going on." She answered. "I saw a young wolf surrounded by them and I helped."
"A wolf this close?" Cloud asked, not entirely believing it.
"Yes." Rose answered sounding sincere. She winced a little as the pain started on her back.
"Cloud, let's get her back and patched up first." Vincent said.
Cloud nodded and they helped her back up the cliff.
"How did you know where to find me?" Rose asked as they walked back.
"We heard howling and came to see what was going on." Cloud answered.
It was a short walk when they made it back.
"What happened?" Tifa asked as the three walked in.
"She got into a fight with guard hounds." Cloud answered.
"We'll take care of it."Aerith said as she and Tifa took her into another room and shut the door.
"I can take care of this." Rose said facing the two.
"Rose, there's no way you can take care of this wound. It's on your back." Tifa said approaching her.
"Really, I can take care of it." She replied taking a step back.
"Rose please, let us clean it up and we'll heal you." Aerith said.
"I don't need to be healed. I've gone years without it, I can handle it." She replied.
"At least let us clean out the wound and bandage you up." Tifa said, gently taking hold of her upper arm.
"Really, I can take care of it." She repeated.
"Rose, you'll need help with it." Aerith said as she stepped around her and started to carefully peel away her shirt.
"Please, stop." Rose whimpered, but it was too late. Both of the other women's eyes widened when they saw the countless scars on her back.
"Rose, what…?" Tifa questioned as she looked back at her. Rose's eyes were shut as tears started making their way down her face.
"Rose, we're sorry." Aerith said, the two women seemed to have an idea of what had happened to her.
"Please don't tell Marlene and Denzel." Rose quietly pleaded with a small sob. "I don't want them to know what had happened to me."
"We won't." Tifa promised, then turned to Aerith. "Let's get her wounds cleaned and healed."
Aerith nodded in agreement as they got to work. They carefully peeled off the rest of her shirt and discarded it. The girls worked as gently as they could, but the cleaning process of the wound was especially painful for Rose. Once that was done, they gave her a light heal and got her wounds to close. Once that was finished Tifa left the room to get her a fresh set of clothes.
"I'm sorry." Rose said. "I shouldn't be crying over nothing."
"This isn't nothing Rose." Aerith gently replied. "Judging from how you reacted to Cid's comment last night and these scars, you went through hell on your planet." Aerith knew there was no telling how damaged her mind was until Rose opened up to her.
"I….did." she replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Aerith asked. When Rose didn't reply she continued. "Rose, the more you talk about it, the more it can help."
"It….it all started on my fourteenth birthday…"
A/N: I think the title to this chapter is a little lame, but I couldn't figure out the best title for it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully the next one will be up soon. I will try to reply to those who left a comment/review. If you don't want me to do this at the end of each chapter, let me know.
MysticPhoenix1992: You changed your penname! You confused me for a minute till I figured out who you were, lol. When I get time again, I'll get back to reading your stories again.
Yaoi-Beloved: I know the pairing is a little weird, but I do remember reading somewhere that it was the original concept. I didn't want him to be a bad guy for this story, so I went with it.
Kero: Don't worry about it. I'm glad that you're continuing to wait for the next chapter. Thanks for the patience and I hope you keep enjoying.
Rose With 2 Sides: I'm glad you like it. My life is a little busy, but I will try to keep updating as quickly as I can.
A thank you to all of you who have been reading this story thus far. My email was filled with messages of you favoriting my story, me as an author and alerting to my story (I haven't checked my email in a while, lol). Thank you so much, it's you guys that keeps me going.