GUESS WHAT GUYS?! I'M REALLY EXCITED! I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO THIS SINCE BEFORE THE SUNKEN GELNIKA CHAPTER, AND I THINK I WILL! IT'S VIOLET SHADOWS IN VINCENT'S POV CALLED CRIMSON DEMONS, BUT I'M HOPING TO ONLY PUBLISH IT AFTER I FINISH THIS. YOU GUYS KNOW HOW I AM WHEN I PUBLISH A NEW STORY WHILE WORKING ON ANOTHER, THE FIRST NEVER GETS DONE, SO I'LL HOLD OFF FOR A BIT, BUT I REALLY WANT TO DO IT, THOUGH MY PAST ATTMEPTS AT HIS POV HAVEN'T BEEN THE BEST...
~1 Year Later~
I look around us at the grassy land, Ruka bounding happily through the tall weeds. Vincent sighs as she bounces on a field mouse, catching the creature and bringing it to him. His nose crinkles slightly and he steps around her, following me a little closer than before.
"That dog still refuses to stop killing animals."
"She loves you," I grin back at him, adjusting the backpack on my shoulders.
Just like you?
Hush.
Okay, so I haven't told him. But cmon, how long have I known? Three years? Give me a break, you'd hesitate too if you knew he still sat there and brooded over your sister, who he was completely smitten with. The "L" word is like poison to him.
Ruka barks in annoyance at being ignored before running after Vincent again. He mutters something as she pulls on the end of his cape, yanking the material from her teeth. The dog whines and pounces on the cape again, Vincent reaching the end of his patience while I struggle to contain a laugh.
You're a cruel human.
Yes, and?
"So I take it that you're not a dog person?" I ask, teasing evident in my voice. He glares at me.
"You've known this for a long time."
"Yep," I laugh, shoulder bumping him. "How much longer until we get to Kalm?"
"Perhaps we will arrive tomorrow."
"Perhaps?" I groan. "That's awful. We've been traveling for days."
"Years, if you count everyday we have traveled."
"Make that decades for me," I shake my head, fishing through my bag. "I'm hungry."
"You could always eat the grass." Salad.
"I hate you." He gives me a sidelong glance before shaking his head to himself, continuing to wrestle his cape away from my energetic dog. Finally, he loses all of his patience, drawing his gun and aiming it at her. "Vincent!" I scold, snatching the weapon away. He glares at me and pulls it back, shoving it into this holster irritable. "You can't shoot pets!"
"She's not a pet, she's a nuisance."
"Don't call Ruka a nuisance," I scowl at him. Ruka barks upon hearing her name, running toward me and rubbing her body against my legs happily, tail wagging. I kneel and scratch her ears, which looks more like I'm massaging her face, mumbling high pitched baby talk at her to annoy Vince. He huffs and drops his bag on the ground.
"We should camp here."
"But it's barely after sunset," I frown, kissing Ruka's nose. She licks my cheek and runs toward Vincent. He pushes her away with his metal plated shoe and glares at her as she steals my attention from him once again. He's Vincent, he's just like that.
"Yes, and you're tired."
"No I'm not."
"I can tell, Violet," he sighs. "Words are not the only ways to express moods and feelings."
"You're just grumpy today." He frowns at me and gets started in making a fire in the clear patch we found in the grass. I sigh and start pitching our tent, Ruka panting by my side.
"We should be in Kalm soon. Then you may eat to your heart's desire."
"I swear you're trying to starve me to death," I roll my eyes.
"You are perfectly fine without food," he points out.
"Shut up." Once camp is set up, Vincent begins to clean his gun, me boredly petting Ruka's head. It's like this every evening, until one of us speaks up and a slow conversation is born. Tonight is no different. Why should it be?
"What makes that animal so special?" Vincent asks quietly, concentrating on his weapon. I swear he thinks that thing is his child or something. I suddenly get an idea for my excuse. Well, one of them anyway. I have millions.
"I love that animal just as much as, if not more than, you love Cerberus." He scoffs.
"I don't love anything." Ouch. "Or anyone for that matter, including Ruka." I cringe and turn my head away so that he can't see my expression.
"And Lucrecia?" He's silent for a long time, enough time for me think he's just ignoring me now.
"... I don't know." I clench my jaw and look down at Ruka. I moved on from David, agreed to isolate myself from society, and gave up a normal, albeit eternal, life for this, and he's not even trying. He's just waiting to magically get over her, but it doesn't work that way. You have to set your mind on it, tell yourself that you don't love them anymore, until you start believe it. That eventually takes effect on your true feelings and BOOM, you're all better. Sitting by a fire and wondering how many ways he could've saved her isn't really helpful.
"I think I'm gonna turn in for the night," I sigh, standing and kicking my boots off. Lately, our conversations with someone feeling emotionally worse than before, that person going to 'sleep', or going for a 'walk'. Really, that person is on an angry demon rampage against all the wildlife or they're laying awake and wondering why the other person said what they did. Vincent looks at me over his shoulder.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Fine," I mumble, unlacing my boots and setting them outside the small tent.
"You've been going to bed much earlier lately," he notes, turning back to his weapon.
"Yeah, well," I stare at the grass under my feet. "Don't worry about it." Then I escape into the safety of thin gray fabric, curling up on my side, as close to the side as I can get. Such an oblivious moron. Huffing in annoyance, I cross my arms and shut my eyes.
You said...
And I will. I just have to wait until he's asleep.
Why?
None of your business.
What feels like, and probably is, hours later, the tent opens and in comes Vincent. I relax, my breathing slowed and eyes shut. I can feel his eyes on me, crimson rarities burning into my back. Then he sighs and lays down on the other side of the space, back to me and gun by his head, just in case. Nearly half an hour later, the tension I can sense in his body relaxes and I slip out of the tent without waking him up. Shadow pushes at my boundaries and I push back, willing her to wait until I get far enough away that it's hard to see our camp. That takes about ten minutes of fast walking on my part, but it's worth it when Shadow breaks out, a relieving feeling to my tired soul.
She shifts into a behemoth and races toward a pack of wolves that's out hunting, slaughtering them all as they howl and yelp, barking and running to either escape or attack. Not one animal is spared and Shadow charges on to a group of wild chocobos. I cringe and look away as she tears one's head off with her massive teeth and claws at the other two. Roaring loudly like the monster she is, her next pray squawks and tries to fly away, but she bats it right out of the air, killing for fun, not for food.
Suddenly, her attention directs toward a shape in the very far distance, a smirk twisting on her beastly lips and her behemoth body fading into something... Disgusting.
Get me the -$+ out of his body now!
You can only keep me entertained with children's toys for so long. It's time for some real fun.
He's gonna kill you!
No he won't.
Behind the figure flaps a bright red cape, long black hair fanning out behind him as he runs toward us. His brows push downward quickly when he sees who Shadow has become, yet somehow he can never tell when she's shape shifting or when the illusion is real. The power of deception. You take away your demonic aura and replace it with Hojo's own. Disgusting.
"I should've killed you on the mako cannon," Vincent growls as he comes to a stop, Cerberus aimed at us.
"What ever could you mean?" Shadow cackles in Hojo's insane voice. "I told you we would see how the mako juice was reacting." Vincent's lip twitches slightly before he pulls the trigger, sending three bullets through our shoulder. 'Hojo' smirks and draws his crappy pistol. "Ah, so you would like a fight, Vincent, my boy."
"The fight was over long ago," Vince shoots back lowly. Shadow laughs and drops the gun.
"Well then, why don't you just try and take me on?" What did he mean by the mako cannon? He killed Hojo there three years ago. Vincent narrows his eyes and shoots again, Shadow skillfully evading each one before giving up on the whole "be an evil scientist" thing and summing her sword, slashing at him. Vincent fends her blade off, blocking each strike with his metal claw. Then he swipes at her, cutting a wide gash across her chest.
"Why do you do this to her?" He frowns, rolling under a slash and firing again. Because she's a jerk.
"Because I deserve to show the world my power," she sneers, cutting his bicep after three fake moves in a row. He clenches his jaw and claws at her. Shadow smirks and catches his arm, using it as leverage to throw him back. He somehow manages to land steadily on his feet, his gloved hand gently touching his left shoulder before he starts firing again. Ow. Ow. Ow. Okay, will you stop charging the angry guy with a gun please?!
I'm almost there, wimp.
I'm not a wimp, moron.
I'm not a moron, wimp.
"Die mortal."
Okay, let me out, you're not gonna get away with killing my boyfriend.
Technically he's not...
Technically he is.
But he never...
Because he's too shy to ask.
So what next? He's your fiancé without a proposal? Your husband without a wedding?
Shut up, we both now we'll never get that far.
Since when am I mixed into this messed up relationship?
Since you decided that you like Chaos.
That was years ago.
Yes, and?
But...
Let me out. Or I'll do it forcefully.
She huffs and brings me back with a brilliant flash. I very gracefully give the grass a hug, because, you know, I just love it so much. Oh, the dirt too. Delicious. Shadow managed to heal most of her wounds before sending me back, but I still have three long claw marks along my cheek and a bullet in my upper right arm. Vincent holsters Cerberus and quickly kneels by my side.
"Violet..."
"It's your fault she attacked," I blame quickly, so he doesn't get mad at me again. "You know I hadn't let her out in awhile, you know that pisses her off, yet you still came out anyway."
"I was not expecting to see Hojo of all..."
"She's a shape shifter!" I cut him off, getting to my feet. "She did it with Lucrecia, don't you remember!? Lady of Nightmares, that's what she feeds off of. Fear!"
"I don't understand why..." He starts, his brows drawn together.
"I doesn't matter," I snap. "What did you mean by 'I should've killed you on the mako cannon'?"
"..."
"Vincent?" I cross my arms. "You did kill Hojo, right?"
"Yes," he glares at me. Then his gaze softens. "But... When Reeve sent me and Yuffie to Midgar, I went up to the cannon and he was there."
"Alive?"
"I... Don't know. But Yuffie's thermal camera.."
"So you didn't kill him?" I roll my eyes. "Great."
"Stop interrupting me," he growls, eyes narrowing on me with bitter annoyance. "I apologize for attacking Shadow, could not possibly know you were out tonight unless you had told me."
"I didn't want to tell you," I scowl. He looks about ready to throw his hands in the air and yell "fine".
"Why?" He demands, arms crossed.
"You were being a jerk!"
"How?"
"Who, what, when, where," I list back with an attitude I know he despises.
"You're impossible," he huffs.
"Yeah, and so are you."
"How am I impossible?"
"I've given up pretty much everything I had before for you because you wanted to go walk around the planet forever, and you're always either thinking about my sister or being angry for no reason except that you're 'tired'. I'm just so sick of having to sit there at night and listen to talk to yourself about how much you loved her and all that crap." I look out toward the glow of our dying fire. "I feel like you're not even here anymore."
"... Violet," he sighs, arms dropping down to his sides. "I care about you very much, but I do not know if I am even capable of loving anyone anymore." I set my jaw and my eyes narrow.
"You're just as bad as Reno," I mutter.
"Pardon m..."
"Always hurting me, only it's worse because I can't tell if you don't realize it or you don't care."
"Reno hit and stabbed you, called you pathetic, worthless, and ugly everyday," he fires back, agitated again. "I have never once laid a finger on you when it was not necessary to contain Shadow, much less stooped low enough to beat you."
"But you sit there and talk about how beautiful and lovely and oh so great Lucrecia was. It's always 'Lucrecia this' and 'Lucrecia that'. What do you think that is to me?" I narrow my eyes, stepping closer, and hissing: "Beating and stabbing. Calling me worthless compared to her because I never can be who she was. That's what you want from me, I know, alright? I just can't be her."
"I'm not asking you to," he shakes his head, bringing his hand up to my cheek. I push his arm away roughly.
"Don't touch me. Lucrecia may have found it nice, but you know I hate being touched when I'm this pissed off."
"Why do you think I'm still so crazed about her?!" He finally snaps, voice raised in exasperation.
"You still there and talk to yourself about her, you continuously insist that we visit the cave, heck, you even tell her how much you love her in your sleep. It's just... Annoying!"
"And so you compare me to Reno?!"
"That's the first person that came to mind!"
"Oh great, so you accuse me of wanting to be with your dead sister when you're daydreaming about that Turk!"
"No, I'm not! I told you, it was the first name out the many, alright?! Geeze," I huff, arms crossed tightly. I'm sure he can see the violet swimming in my eyes because I can see the gold in his. We need to calm down before the emotional stress allows a gap for our demons to go through and try to kill each other.
"... Of the many?" He finally breaks the silence, frowning down at the grass.
"Forget it," I shake my head. "You go back to brooding over her, I don't care. Just know that there comes a point where you have to decide if you want this or if you can't handle it. But Vincent, leading me on for three years isn't the way to go about it. You either want us or you don't, but don't push the question down until we start having screaming matches every night like we are now. I'm giving you three more days," I look straight at him, catching his eye. "If I don't get an answer, I'm packing my stuff and leaving."
Then I turn on my heel and head back to our camp, leaving him alone in the night to deal with the wounds Shadow inflicted. I'll just wait until tomorrow to clean out the stupid slashes across my face. I've got so many scars from that silly gauntlet by now, courtesy of Shadow stupidly challenging Vincent too many times. I didn't want to resort to petty threats, but I can't just sit on the edge of my seat waiting anymore. It's killing me. I love him, but I can't do this anymore. Fighting everyday over the silliest things, using each other's weaknesses to hurt each other until one snaps and goes to relieve their demon(s). It's killing me, and it doesn't even seem to mildly annoy him much. Where did I go wrong?
DRAMA! OH HOW I LOVE YOU! I WAS KINDA SCARED THAT WRITING DoC WOULD BE BORING, BUT I JUST RANDOMLY CAME UP WITH THIS CRAP AND I'M LOVIN' IT. BADAH BA BA BA...
QOTD: IF YOU COULD SHIP ANY CHARACTER IN THIS STORY WITH ANY OTHER CHARACTER, WHAT WOULD THE PAIRING BE?
ME: GUYS, I'M ALL FOR DAVIDxVIOLET. TRUST ME, YOU'LL UNDERSTAND THE FEELS IN A FEW CHAPTERS ;)
