(Que victorious fanfare) I... have... returned! Man, I can't believe anyone still reads this... But a promise is a promise, and even though I lost my inspiration for this for a while, I am going to finish. So here's for those of you who're still waiting to see what's next.
Ninja
21
Yuffie moaned, her stomach threatening to empty itself once again as she stared over the side of the ship into the cerulean waters below. She tried to comfort herself with the knowledge that they were almost to Mideel, but then the ship rocked yet again and a new wave of nausea overcame her. "Uggghhhh..."
Beside her, Vincent was leaning against the railing and reading a book as if to pretend he didn't know her, despite his other hand still being quite soundly shackled to hers. Fortunately for the both of them, neither the sailors nor the other passengers dared to come close, intimidated both by Vincent's mere presence and the awful noises that the seasick girl was making, so they'd been spared still more grief about their odd predicament.
"Ngh... Vinnie... are we there yet...?" She mumbled for the twentieth time in the past hour. Or maybe two hours. Yuffie's grasp of time had deteriorated with the pain in her gut, and she really didn't care how long it had been in any case, so long as it wasn't much longer.
Vincent looked up from his book and slowly gazed around, face neutral aside from a slight rise to one of his eyebrows. "...Were we not bound together, I would tell you to hop off this vessel and check. But seeing as that is not in my best interest at the moment: no, we are not there yet." He managed to mark his place with one hand in a manner that would have been much more interesting to Yuffie had she not been in such pain, and tilted his head to a spot towards the front of the ship. "However, I do believe I see land ahead."
Yuffie began to cheer up considerably, spirits lifting in a way that prevented her from reaching out to smack him irritably, though she was still tempted for his earlier comment. "Really? Thank gawd..." She lifted her head and followed his gaze. Ahead she could make out the distant lush green of the island of Mideel, a sight she welcomed more than the rarest materia on the planet. "So we'll get there in..." She tried to calculate the distance, but gave it up as hopeless as her stomach did another flip.
"Ten minutes is my estimate," he filled in for her, sliding the book into one of the pockets in the inner lining of his crimson cape. "Twenty or so to dock and get us all off board."
"Twenty... Ugh... Can't we just jump overboard once we get close enough...? I need off..." She squeezed her eyes closed, voice rising into a whine. She cursed her motion sickness yet again silently.
"You'll live." he replied, in an obvious "no" to her pleading. Yuffie grumbled and wondered absently if she should do it anyway, but decided against it on the principle that she probably wasn't heavy enough to cause him to join her overboard, and didn't feel like dangling painfully from his arm over the side on the ship where people on land were certain to see her as she waited for him to haul her back up.
Despite her impatience and terrible illness, Yuffie had to concede that it didn't take all that long before they had let her off the ship. The fact that she was shackled to Vincent was all that had kept her from throwing herself on the blessed, still ground and kissing it in relief. Not that she hadn't still attempted it.
In fact, she had been so happy, she hadn't even complained very much as Vincent pulled her along into the town.
Yuffie looked around, taking in the changes that Mideel had undergone since the attack by Weapon as she walked next to him, waiting for her stomach to settle. They had been quicker to start repairs than Corel had, but then again, she supposed it had been easier to procure both the materials and money here. The hot springs were now world-famous and attracted many tourists, while the jungle surrounding the town provided plenty of lumber for reconstruction. Yuffie was looking foreward to seeing just how good said hot springs were. I mean, after all... I owe it to myself after all the crap I've been through recently...
Her thoughts must've shown on her face, because she heard Vincent's deep voice laced with partial annoyance next to her. "We aren't here to play, Yuffie."
"Wha...? I didn't even say anything yet!" She huffed indignantly, glancing over at him from the corner of her eyes.
"True. However, I am well aware of what you are thinking, and my answer is no."
She pouted slightly before latching onto his arm, blinking her large stormy blue eyes up at him adorably and thinking it probably would have been a slight less awkward if the movement hadn't caused the arm in question to rise up at the elbow, his hand practically cupping one of her breasts. She fought off the immediate blush and tried to pretend she didn't notice, hoping to Leviathan that Vincent didn't. "C'mon... Pleeeaaasssseeeee...?"
He arched an eyebrow and looked down at her, garnet eyes trailing down to the awkward positioning of his hand, fingers twitching slightly as if he was seriously considering feeling her up. He smirked lightly. "I didn't realize you were willing to resort to such methods of persuasion, Yuffie. Especially not in the middle of town." She blushed and spluttered, but he cut her off smoothly. "However, even if I had any interest in delaying my search for Cyrus a moment longer than necessary to give in to your request, the fact remains that we couldn't enter the hot springs as we are. Unless, of course, there is a mixed gender area."
Yuffie turned a slightly deeper shade of red as she thought about that. Images rose unbidden to her mind, of a very undressed Vincent soaking next to her in the hot springs, warm water dripping down his muscular chest in ways that made her want to trace after the droplets with her finger. Mmm... That doesn't sound bad at... ah, cut it out, Yuffie!
The eyebrow raised a bit higher as he watched her face, and she found herself panicking for a brief moment, almost certain he'd read her thoughts. Couldn't put it past him, with all of the other strange things going on with him...
"Uh..." She cleared her throat, trying to quell the blush, aware that he was waiting for her response. He looked entirely too amused in her opinion. "Y-yeah... I guess yer right..." She coughed slightly and lowered her arms, body heating up a bit as his hand slid back down her chest to its rightful place by his side. "So! Um... what's the plan, Vinnie?"
He looked around the town, eyes trailing over the buildings. "First, we should reserve a room at the Inn. From there, we can go about our search."
"Makes sense... Do we have enough gil with us, though? I mean... I'm kinda runnin' low, since most of mine was in Rikki's saddlebag..." She patted the pack tied around her hips in emphasis, the small amount of gil she had left jingling somewhat pathetically. "Not to mention we're gonna need new supplies and stuff."
Vincent started walking toward the cheaper looking of the Inns, not seeming very perturbed by their lack of funds. "I have enough with me to last us long enough, provided we do not spend it on frivolous things."
"...So until then, it's cheap shelter and cheaper food, right? Just perfect..." She sighed. Then again, I guess I'm used to it by now... "Anyways, that stuff aside... just how're we gonna search? Walk up to some random person and say 'Heya! Know where we might find some sorta suspicious lab-lookin' thingy?'"
"Of course not. We shall simply ask whether or not anyone matching Cyrus or his companions' descriptions has been seen around town, or if there are any strange buildings in the area. One would assume that they have to visit for supplies at one point or another." He pulled open the door to the Inn, which could have used some oiling in Yuffie's opinion, because there was a long, loud creak as it moved. She stepped in with him, looking around the rather run-down interior, already missing the beds of the Villa and Professor Gast's house.
"So..." She continued once Vincent had paid for their room, testing out the feel of the bed. This made the ones in the Nibelheim mansion seem heavenly in comparison. "If nobody knows anything? What then, oh great and wise leader?"
He shrugged slightly. "Then we rent a chocobo and begin searching the island ourselves. If that is still futile, we secure a skiff and begin searching the smaller surrounding islands."
She groaned. "Ugh... Man, that could take forever..."
"Indeed." He nodded solemnly, brushing a long strand of hair from his face with his claw. "Let us hope it does not come to that."
"Well... let's get started..." She stood back up, wondering if it wouldn't be more comfortable to sleep standing up later. "Information and stuff first, right?"
He simply nodded, heading back out the door, pulling Yuffie along with him. Man, I gotta take another shot at pickin' these damn locks...
"Watch where yer goin', lady!"
Mizu jumped, stuttering her apologies to the man though he had been the one to nearly run into her. She had never been to Costa del Sol, but so far she wasn't enjoying her visit. It was pretty enough, beautiful, actually, with its clean-swept streets and stonework that was both simple yet pleasing and the sound of the waves in the distance was lovely, but Mizu could not find herself very interested at all in staying any longer than necessary. In her opinion, it was both too hot and too humid, and the people...
She wasn't much of a people person. The flame-haired Ancient much preferred ancient civilizations to the kind that were still around, and the people here were much too rude for her tastes. The men were giving her creepy looks... for that matter, many of the women were giving her similar looks, and at least three had tried to entice her into the bar for who-knows-what. The ones who weren't interested in getting her drunk wouldn't even give her the time of day, even when she politely asked where she could purchase a ticket to Mideel.
She looked down at Aileen. The little girl was loving it. She ran around the docks, examining this and that, nearly tripping over her long pink dress in her excitement.
"Big sister, look at that! That's a biiiiiig boat, isn't it?" She smiled up at her and tugged on the cloth of her dark green dress. "Is that the one we're going to ride on?"
Mizu looked up, one hand moving up to shield her eyes from the exceedingly bright Costa del Sol sun. "I... well, maybe..." She was already feeling a little nervous. She didn't get motion sickness, but just the thought of standing up on the deck of such a tall ship was enough to set her on edge. She looked around until finding a person who looked as if he might work on the ship in question and walked over to him. "Excuse me..."
He cut her off with a gesture, writing something down on a clipboard before looking up at her. "Yeah?"
"Um... Is this ship heading for Mideel by any chance...?" She shifted nervously, wringing her hands together. The crowded docks were starting to get to her.
"This one right here?" He motioned to the large vessel behind him and nodded. "Aye, settin' sail in an hour or so. Headed for the hotsprings? I'll sell ya yer tickets. How many?"
"U-um... One for myself, and Aileen..." she pointed to the little girl, who grinned adorably and waved at the sailor, "...and two chocobos."
He nodded, making a few notes on the clipboard. "Adult, child, two chocos... Five hundred and sixty five gil." He held out his hand.
That was a bit pricey in Mizu's opinion, but then again chocobos tended to raise the price on pretty much anything, and she'd never sailed quite such a distance before. Much less to a resort town. She pulled out her money and set it in his waiting hand.
"Thank you, ma'am. Here're yer tickets," he placed the gil in a pouch and handed her four tickets, "Have fun."
"Ah..." She started to thank him, only to be cut off by the over-excited and somewhat hyper little girl beside her.
"We will! Thank you, mister!" She grinned widely, and pulled her towards the ship. "Come on, big sister Mizu! Let's go on the boat!"
"Y-yes..." She smiled slightly, mentally prepping herself for boarding the ship. In an hour, they would be on their way to Mideel. And, hopefully, those unfinished translations.
"Vinnie, I'm tired of this...! Can we do somethin' else now?" Yuffie asked, trudging along beside the sullen gunman. They'd been walking around asking for the whereabouts of Cyrus and his group for hours with absolutely no results, and her feet were starting to hurt. That, and she was getting damn tired of hearing people wondering, not very discreetly, either, whether or not she and Vincent were the victims of a perverse sex game gone wrong.
"And what do you suggest?" he asked, sounding weary. Apparently he was just as tired of this as she was.
"Well... Let's do some supply shopping. I kinda remember somethin' about my gettin' a discount here..." Yuffie never forgot when she was able to get something for cheap. In fact, buying discounted items sounded so good, she felt her spirits beginning to rise already. She glanced over at Vincent to gauge his reaction.
He looked up at the sky, the faintest traces of orange beginning to appear amidst the blue in the beginning of sunset and nodded his consent. After all, it wouldn't do to be unprepared, and he'd made it sound as if they were very low on gil indeed. The possibility of reduced prices was probably a welcome thought to him as well.
She pulled him along with her in search of the item shop, scanning the signs above the various doorways. They had passed it earlier, she recalled, and she was fairly certain it had been somewhere in this general area. Weapons... more souvenirs... damn town has more souvenir shops than Wutai... Ah... "Jake's item shop, huh...?" She grinned proudly upon having found the shop again and pulled Vincent to the door with her. "Heh, well, hope Jake's ready for -me-, because... Hey, what's the big idea? The door's locked!" She frowned and tried pulling on the handle yet again, but the door remained just as locked as it had been the first time.
Vincent glanced at the sign in the window and she was almost certain she saw him roll his eyes. "Yuffie, the door will not magically unlock simply because you keep making a fool of yourself. The sign says that the proprietor of this shop is away gathering ingredients for his medicines. We shall simply try back again tomorrow." He started to walk away from the shop slowly, tugging his arm and causing her to jerk backwards a bit.
"Ack... Fine. Stupid door." She kicked it at the same time Vincent had tugged her foreward, causing the hapless ninja to lose her balance. She reached out and grabbed the nearest available object for support. In this case, that object happened to be Vincent's cape. She gripped the crimson fabric tightly and wobbled a bit, nearly pulling both of them down to the dusty ground.
He straightened himself, regaining his own balance much more quickly than Yuffie herself could manage, and shot her a withering glance of annoyance. Yuffie noted that his eyes were already starting to glow faintly in the approaching sunset, and concentrated on his boots, grumbling. "Don't gotta pull me like that..."
"Forgive me. I had not expected you to assault the door," He sounded somewhat amused despite having nearly been thrown to the ground, and Yuffie perked up slightly, glad he wasn't as mad as he'd looked. "Now... do you plan on releasing my cape?"
"Eh?" She glanced to her hands, which still held the flowing garment tightly and blushed a bit, dropping it. "Ah, right... Just gettin' my balance back. Besides, it doesn't really matter, does it? Not like I'm holdin' ya back or anything." She grinned and brushed her bangs aside, where they fell neatly into place once again.
Vincent opened his mouth to reply, but whatever it was he'd been about to say was cut off abruptly as a small figure rushed up to them from out of the trees not far from the item shop. Yuffie barely had time to register short brown hair and wide blue eyes before the thing slammed into her, nearly sending all three of them down yet again. Had it not been for Vincent anticipating the impact, Yuffie was almost certain that she would have fallen over this time. She looked down in shock and tried to make sense of the situation.
"P-please, lady, you gotta help me!" the boy looked up, and Yuffie was a bit annoyed that he hadn't even bothered with an apology. She noted that the kid didn't look much older than Aileen. What he did look like, though, was a lot dirtier. Leaves and various plants from the jungle stuck to clothes that looked in poor repair, and she noticed quite a bit of sand on him.
"Whadaya mean, 'I gotta help you'? I don't -gotta- do nothing! You didn't even apologize fer almost knockin' me on my ass!" She growled, glaring angrily at the boy.
"I-I'm sorry, but I really need help!" He tugged on her shorts, sky blue eyes wide and full of fear. "It's not for me, but my dad, you see? He fell into some quicksand, and I don't know how long he can hold on to that vine before it snaps, you see? Please please please, lady, mister, I'm begging you! We'll give you free items from our store! Just help me!"
Yuffie's eyes lit up upon hearing one of her favorite words in all of existence. Free. Free beat discounts every time. She placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, nodding. "Of course we'll help!" She pointedly ignored the raising of Vincent's eyebrow at her abrupt change in attitude and continued. "Don't you worry, kid, because Yuffie Kisaragi and her side-kick, Vinnie, are on the job! Lead us to that poor man!"
"Side-kick...?"
"Oh, thank you, lady! Thank you so much! This way!" He turned and ran off into the jungle from whence he'd came, voice overflowing with relief.
"I'm not sure I like being referred to as..."
"No time, Vinnie!" She cut him off by running after the child and into the thick green leaves of the jungle plants, careful not to lose sight of him. It was difficult, since the lighting was becoming progressively poorer and the urchin's clothes already tended to blend in with the surrounding area. Only Yuffie's keen senses and training kept her from losing track of him, though she reflected that if she had gotten off track, Vincent would probably steer her back on course. But she didn't really want to have him feeling any more smug about his superior abilities than he already did. At least, he did in her opinion.
The boy finally stopped in a slight clearing, veering off to the right. "Dad! Dad! I brought help, you see? We're gonna get you outta there!" He turned to Yuffie and Vincent, pointing to the ground. Yuffie came to a stop, assessing the situation.
A man who was clearly the boy's father (either that or the kid was the guy's clone, they both had brown hair of the exact same hue, though the man's eyes looked to be a darker shade of blue) was nearly chest deep in quicksand and slowly sinking lower. He clutched a vine for dear life, though Yuffie noted that it wouldn't be long before the makeshift lifeline tore away from the tree it was attached to.
"A-ah... Yes, good work, Josh! Didn't doubt you for a minute, you know!" He smiled reassuringly at his son before turning his gaze to Yuffie and Vincent. "Thank you..."
She nodded and walked around the pit to the vine, careful not to become trapped herself. Josh made a move as if to follow, but Vincent stopped him. "Stay over there. We do not wish to rescue the both of you."
"Oh... Right. Sorry..." He looked down, crestfallen, and Yuffie felt a little bit sorry for him. She pushed the thought aside and grabbed the vine, feeling her body heat up slightly as Vincent grabbed it as well, leaning against her, his hands right next to hers.
Ah, bad time to think those thoughts again, Yuffie... Focus! She shook her head slightly and called over to the remarkably calm item-shop owner. "Okay! Vinnie and I're gonna pull... You try and pull yerself out as we do, okay?"
"Alright...!" He looped the vine yet once more around his arm and signaled that he was ready.
"And... HEAVE!" She pulled with all her might, and noticed that the man was rising from the quicksand quite a bit more rapidly than she'd anticipated. It was then that she noticed that Vincent seemed to be pulling most of the weight, and she found herself feeling just a bit annoyed. She had the sneaking suspicion that she could stop and it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference. She didn't stop, however. She had to at least pretend that she was doing something useful, damnit.
Within a few minutes, the man was out of the pit and on firm ground, taking deep breaths and absently wiping sand from his clothes. Yuffie noted that his clothes were every bit as poorly mended as Josh's, and while the quicksand may have been partially to blame, she suspected that they hadn't been very much better beforehand. He stood up.
"Oh, I simply can't thank you enough for your help... I thought I was a goner that time for sure, you know?" He smiled warmly, and Yuffie couldn't quite get over how very... plain he looked. He and his son, and come to think of it, the old man at the Icicle Inn item shop had to have been the least conspicuous people she'd ever seen. The type you typically didn't even bother asking for directions. She wondered if anyone had ever mentioned it to them. "My name is Jake, and I run the item shop in town, you know? You two look like adventurers... I know it's not much of a repayment, but please stop by tomorrow and help yourselves to some supplies..."
"You are most gracious. My companion and I will indeed pay you a visit tomorrow." Vincent said, stopping Yuffie before she could get so much as a word in edgewise. "But I believe we should all be heading back to civilization before nightfall. I've no wish to be in the jungle at night."
"Ah, yes, a wise decision. It's a very dangerous place, even during the day you know..." He took Josh's hand and the two followed behind them, the four returning to town as one group. They parted ways with one last round of 'thank you's from the two shopkeepers, and Yuffie found herself following Vincent back to the shoddy excuse for an Inn.
They entered and headed straight for their room, pausing at the door only long enough for Vincent to open it and close it, turning the key securely in the lock. It was now time for the part of the day Yuffie found herself least looking foreward to.
Only she didn't find herself dreading it as much as she had the last few times. In fact, she'd woken up rather pleasantly earlier, and as long as Vincent kept his fangs to himself again, she thought it wouldn't be bad at all. She glanced over at him.
If Yuffie was becoming more comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as Vincent, then the expression on his face was enough to tell her that he seemed to feel the exact opposite. The previous times, he'd looked rather uncaring. Now, as he sat on the bed and took out his Death Penalty for its nightly polish, Yuffie thought she saw the faintest flicker of unrest in his eyes. She tilted her head slightly, raising an eyebrow as his gaze flickered over to her and his tongue ran briefly along his lips to dampen them.
"Heh, just get in the room and yer already thinkin' naughty thoughts?" She leans back on her free hand, the fingertips of her left hand brushing against his leg lightly every time he moved the polishing cloth along the smooth metal of his gun. Yuffie had to admit that the contact wasn't exactly making her own thoughts any purer.
"...Perhaps," he tilted his head towards her ever so slightly, the look of apprehension now replaced by cool indifference that belied his amusement when a light blush formed on her face. He set the now-shining gun away but didn't move his hand from the spot it had rested afterwards, so that Yuffie's hand remained on his leg.
She shifted a bit, not sure whether the source of her discomfort was the bed or the fact that her hand was pretty much in Vincent's lap. She decided it was probably a combination of the two. Gotta think of somethin' else... get him to move our hands... "So... all done with your gun... I guess it's bedtime now?"
He nodded, laying down slowly so as to give Yuffie time to maneuver next to him on the bed. To her slight dismay, he rested his hand on his stomach, and Yuffie could feel the slow rhythm of his breathing. Maybe a bit too slow... She shifted her hand slightly to at least make it a bit more comfortable, and smiled slightly as she felt his breath catch for a split second as it moved just a little bit lower than she'd wanted. She hadn't touched anything major... Though she was starting to wonder what he might do if she did...
"Egh... Starting to think like that damn Chaos..." she mumbled to herself, not aware she'd spoken aloud until she heard Vincent's voice next to her, sounded rather somewhat amused and interested at the same time.
"Oh...? Chaos wants you to know, you're to feel free to act on those thoughts at any time." Yuffie couldn't quite tell if he was holding back a chuckle or not, but she could practically envision the smirk on his face.
"Hmm... Is it you or Chaos who wants me to, I wonder?" She grinned slightly, tone light as an obvious joke. She felt Vincent shift slightly, and glimpsed the soft red glow of his eyes in her peripheral vision. They never left her, even as her eyelids grew heavy and sleep began to claim her.
His answer never came.
End Chapter
And there you have it! First chapter in, what, 2 years? I sort of forgot where I was going with this, but the ideas that are flowing through me now are much better, I'm sure of that much. For any of you still reading... another thank you for all of your patience and continued support.
Kai