Saria: So… tired…
SA: Just write already! You know what you want to.
Zas: Actually, I think she wants chocolate cake.
Saria: CHOCOLATE!
Tori: (groans) I'll make one for her and the reviewers.
zzzzzzzzzz
The house had obviously been abandoned for quite some time if the dust was anything to go by. Thankfully though, an odd chandelier of glowing crystals still lit the room. The room if one paid the machinery no mind was in slight disarray, the type that people unintentionally cause in their day-to-day lives: an open book here, a cup there, little things. And then you began to notice the damage, bullet holes in some of the walls, tables that had been obviously shoved out of the way.
Zack was looking over the machinery while the rest of us spread out through the room. I took the staircase down to where the bedroom should be but instead found myself in a short hallway. Walking to the first doorway I found a bedroom in terrible disarray, like a struggle had happened. Books were scattered all over the floor, an end table overturned, even the bed looked like it had been shoved around.
Tifa entered then and looked at the books that littered the floor.
"Loveless, Tales of the Cetra, Ancient Civilization," she read off. "Strange books for Aeris's mother to have."
"I doubt she was here alone," Cloud called from the hallway. "Tifa, would you come up here? Zack is near useless with technology and I think he's going to break something."
Tifa called back, "I'll be right up," and then gently set down the book she had picked up on the bed before she left.
Exiting the room also, I moved down the hall to the next door which stood wide open. Inside was a crib, a few soft toys, and Aeris. She seemed fixated on the room, moving through it slowly, touching the baby blankets, the toys, and finally stopping at a small table where a simple picture frame stood. She wiped the dust from the glass and stared at the photo.
"Are you ok?" I asked when she began to tear up.
"Oh, Rachas." Aeris hurriedly wipe her eyes and tucked the picture away. "Sorry, did you find something?"
"Not really, but there are some machines upstairs. One of them even looks like a recorder of some sort."
We climbed the stairs and were treated to the sight of Zack being pinned on the floor by Cloud and Tifa had confiscated the Buster sword while Cait Sith tinkered with one of the machines.
"What happened?" Aeris asked.
"Zack got into a fight with the machine. We stopped him from doing anything rash." Cloud's voice was edged with humor despite the fact he managed to keep a straight face.
"I think I've got it!" Cait Sith announced as a screen lit up.
Staring at the old screen, I felt my eyes begin to water. I know that in some regards Gaia is ahead in technology and in many ways they are behind, but why the hell did this thing look like it had been built in the 1950's? Even accounting for 20 years of advancement, this still left about 40 years of difference!
Aeris stared at the green screen that had three choices listed: The Original Crisis, What is "Weapon?", and Confidential. "What are these?"
"I can think of one way to find out," Cait's paw was positioned over what appeared to be a play button but he hesitated and glanced back at Aeris.
Aeris stared at the screen for a moment longer then nodded. "Play "Original Crisis" first."
A man with a dark brown hair wearing a lab coat with a very kind looking face appeared, he was working on the same machine Cait Sith currently worked with. Aeris's mother also appeared and the resemblance was striking. They both had green eyes, long brown hair, and jaw-line.
"Camera's ready!" Professor Gast said then turned to Ifalna. "Then, Ifalna, please tell us about the Cetra."
"2000 years ago our ancestors, the Cetra, heard the cries of the Planet. The first ones to discover the Planet's wound were the Cetra at Knowlespole."
"Tell us Ifalna, where is this land called Knowlespole?"
"Knowlespole refers to this area. The Cetra then began a Planet-reading... It's like having a conversation with the Planet. It said something fell from the sky making a large wound. Thousands of Cetra pulled together, trying to heal the wound. But because of the severity it could only heal itself over many years."
"Do the Ancients, or rather the Cetra, have special powers to heal the planet?"
"No, it's not that kind of power. The lifeforce of all living things on this planet become energy. The Cetra tried desperately to cultivate the land so as not to diminish the needed energy."
"Even here, so close to North Cave, the snow never melts. Is it the Planet's energy gathered here to heal its injury?"
"Yes, the energy that was needed to heal the planet withered away the land... Then the Planet... It tried to persuade the Cetra to leave Knowlespole, but..."
"Ifalna... let's take a break."
"I'm fine... When the Cetra prepared to leave the land they loved... That's when it appeared. It looked like our dead mothers and brothers, showing us specters of our past."
"Who is the person that appeared at North Cave?"
"That's when the one that injured the planet, or the "Crisis from the Sky", as we called him, came... At first he approached as a friend, then deceived them, and finally... Gave them a virus. The Cetra soon went mad, turning into monsters." She fell to the ground.
"Then, just like the ones at Knowlespole, he approached the other Cetra clans, infecting them with the virus."
"You don't look well... let's call it a day."
Cloud had let go of Zack soon after the video began and the other three had joined us around the machine. Now as the video ended there were several moments of silence before Zack turned to Aeris.
"I see where you got your looks."
Tifa on the other hand turned to me. "This "Crisis" and the "Calamity" you've spoken of are the same thing, Jenova right?"
"Yeah," I responded with a nod. So, future problems were alluded to already, namely the virus that Ifalna mentioned, it had to be Geostigma.
"Who's the man?" Cloud asked.
"Maybe it'll be in a later video."
Aeris had been the only one to stay quiet thus far, seeing her mother's image after so long must have been both relieving and upsetting.
"Let's play the next one," Cait Sith turned and pushed the next play button.
"Ifalna, if you could comment on the thing called 'Weapon'?"
"Yes, the one the Professor mistook for a Cetra... was named Jenova. That is the "Crisis from the Sky". The Planet knew it had to destroy Jenova... you see, as long as Jenova exists, the Planet will never be able to fully heal itself."
"Back then, Weapon was a weapon the Planet produced of its own will?"
"Yes, but there is no record of Weapon ever being used. A small number of the surviving Cetra defeated Jenova and confined it. The Planet produced the Weapon, but it was no longer necessary to use it."
"So the Weapon no longer exists on this Planet?"
"Weapon cannot vanish; it remains asleep somewhere in the Planet. Even though Jenova is confined, it can still come back to life at some time. The Planet hasn't even fully healed itself yet. It is still watching Jenova."
"Where is Weapon?"
"I don't know, I can't hear the voice of the Planet that well. Times… have changed... The Planet… is probably watching the situation closely."
"Thank you Ifalna, that will be all for today."
"Well there's some good news," Zack declared as the video went dark. "The Planet is paying attention and it has weapons we can use!"
"I don't think it works like that," Aeris replied. "It sounds more like something the Planet produces when it has no other choice. What are the Confidential files about?"
"Let's see." Cait Sith turned back to the console and started the last video.
"What are you doing prof... I mean honey?" Ifalna could be heard asking.
"I'm thinking of taping it on video, but it's not working right..." Gast replied.
"What are you going to tape? Is there something I haven't mentioned?"
"No, that's not it. I'm going to record my beautiful daughter. And when she's sleeping, her face… looks like an angel."
"First we have to figure out her name. You can make the video later!" Ifalna said.
"I've already decided. If it's a girl, then it'll be Aeris. That's that!" Everyone held their breath at the name Gast mentioned.
"You are so selfish! But it is a good name!" Ifalna giggled. "Yes a good name, considering it came from that forgetful head of yours." The video ended. Glancing over, I saw that Aeris seemed to be fighting back tears.
"I never knew who my father was... Mom always told me he was a wonderful man, kind and humble... I'm happy I get to see who he was." A few tears ran down her face. Cait decided to go ahead and play the last file. This time it had the video working.
"Video again? We just got through taping!"
"Please don't say it that way. It's our lovely daughter, both yours and mine! Don't you want to capture her childhood on videotape?" Gast looked and sounded like a doting father.
"If you keep doting over her like that, she won't grow up to be strong. Aeris is different from the other children. I wonder what dangers await her..."
"Never say that. I will protect you and Aeris no matter what! You and Aeris are my treasures; I will never let you go!"
"I feel so much better darling... If I hadn't met you..." Both got close and were about to embrace when a loud knock was heard.
"Who could that... I was about to... How dare they intrude on our 'private time' together!"
"I will send them away." Ifalna walked to the door only to jump and run back to Gast.
"It's them!"
"I've been searching for you Ifalna. Or should I say, Cetra! Long time no see Professor Gast." Several gasps could be heard as Hojo made his appearance.
"Hojo... How did you know?" Gast gasped.
"Believe me I had to turn over a stone or two to find you... Two years I waited. That's how much I wanted this new sample… Ha, ha, ha!"
"New sample? You don't mean Aeris!" The MP's with Hojo pointed their guns at Gast.
"Aeris? What a nice name… Ha, ha, ha!" Hojo just laughed. Gast shouted at him.
"That's it! I'm severing all ties with Shinra! Hojo, please leave." Suddenly, Ifalna knelt before Hojo.
"Please, Aeris has nothing to do with it! All you want is me, right?" Ifalna pleaded. Hojo shook his head.
"I need all of you for the experiment. You understand don't you, Professor Gast? We can change the future of the Planet!"
"Don't worry Ifalna, I'll take care of this." Gast hugged his wife. Hojo sighed.
"Please don't put up a fight. I don't want any harm to come to my precious sample... Hmmm…" Hojo looked in the direction of the camera. It sent shivers down my spine how it looked like he knew we were watching.
"What a funny looking camera. Guard! Destroy it!" The MP turned and fired and we lost video feed, but the audio was intact.
"Be careful with her!" Hojo laughed as the sounds of struggling could be heard in the background.
"Ifalna! Take Aeris and run!" A single gunshot rang through the speakers and Ifalna's cries could be heard.
"Oh and uh… don't forget the child! Hmm... A video? The Ancients… Weapon? Heh, heh, heh… a mountain of treasure! Thank you Professor… Ha, ha, ha!"
"Graaah!" Zack roared, his rage coming forward in a violent display while Aeris finally burst into tears. Her tears broke his fit and he instantly turned to comfort her.
As a game, this could be viewed in a detached sort of way since Aeris was dead and you couldn't go and chase down Hojo and kill him. Right now I'm barely maintaining my calm and stepping hard on the urge to go Hojo Hunting.
"Hojo really does mess everything up." Cloud looked enraged himself though he was controlling it a lot better than Zack had been. Tifa didn't look any calmer. "He rips families and people apart and calls it science, and Shinra enables him!"
"Let's just get ready to leave tomorrow." Zack sounded very drained then as he offered Aeris his comfort. "And just so you're all aware, all of the paths out of the village aside from the slopes are closed so you each need to find something to use. Cloud and I already got snowboards."
"Alright!" a yell came from the rafters, causing me to jump a bit. There was Yuffie perched on the rafters. "A bed tonight!"
"Red was also given a map of the slopes. I'd suggest everyone take some time to read through it."
We departed the house then and headed back to the inn where we found our things waiting exactly where we had left them and quickly dragged them up the stairs to our rooms. The inn was actually pretty big and wasn't having a lot of traffic right now so I ended up sharing a room with Yuffie.
Realizing that I was going to need to find some form of transportation for myself, I walked back out as soon as I had dumped my clothes. I did want to change, but I would let that wait until after a hot shower and that was going to wait until I had no plans to leave the inn again that day.
Weaving through some of the busier streets of town I tried to weigh my options. I didn't know how to snowboard and wasn't going to break my neck trying to learn tomorrow. On my last attempt at snow skiing I had been fighting a fall over half the time I was standing and found it VERY different from water skiing. A sled was always an option, but what would I do with it after? In the end I opted for a small single person sled made of wood. That sled was useful for carrying the extra supplies I gathered on the way back to the inn.
"Hey Rachas, you seen this crazy map?" Cid called when I entered the inn.
"Not yet," I called back. I somewhat remembered the map on the game and that thing was a little ridiculous, especially if it belonged to an explorer in an environment that he should be familiar with for years.
The map was worse than I ever would have thought possible, and I had seen some pretty bad maps before. There was no scale to it; a tree was as big as an island and almost half the size of a lake. Directional guides were vague at best and the whole map appeared hand drawn.
"Did someone spill coffee on it?" I asked after a moment.
"Probably, but it's the only thing that seems to be available."
Groaning, I grabbed a sheet of paper and copied the map before heading upstairs for a hot shower. Before going to bed that night I pulled out the journal of Lucrecia Crescent for the first time since I had taken it in the Shinra Manor and felt her memories rush through me. Pushing them down, I began to read through the first few pages of the book. While the material was very interesting, you could get the feel that unlike Hojo she intended no harm in her experiments and theories. She authentically thought having Cetra in the world again would be a good thing.
Cloud and Zack glanced over our group the next morning as we walked towards the slopes, doing a final quick inventory of equipment and supplies. Vincent, Zack, Cloud, and Cid all had snowboards. Tifa, Kunsel, and Yuffie each had skis. Aeris, Red, Barret, Cait Sith, and I all had sleds.
"Buncha wusses," Cid declared at the sight of the sleds. "Using those things instead of one of these!" He brandished his snowboard.
"Do you even know how to use that?" Cait Sith asked and I heard the twang that indicated Reeve was in control.
Cid laughed loudly. "How hard can it be?"
"Famous last words. May I have your plane after you break your neck?" I called over.
Cid glared at me. "You're not even a pilot, not taking a risk like this!"
"If I learn to snowboard it won't be in a do or die situation. I only take calculated risks where the reward makes it worthwhile."
"Ergo not a pilot!"
"Not a cowboy pilot!" I responded hotly.
"Back to that now?" Cid demanded as he took a step in my direction.
"Alright you two, we don't need a fight right now." Tifa stepped between us. "Geez, you'd think two pilots would get along well."
"I insist that she's no pilot!" Cid declared, earning a glare from me.
"And I insist that your only skill is doing a subpar job at flying an aircraft!"
"Stop now," Cloud ordered as he pushed us apart then took another step toward the slope.
"Wait!" A man called from behind us. "Don't go down there! It's dangerous."
"We should be just fine," Zack reassured him and the man seemed transfixed by Zack's glowing eyes.
"Ok, I was just trying to advise… Who are those people over there? Looks like trouble."
Everyone turned to see what was going on and a collective groan could be heard from a number of us as a line of blue MPs could be seen coming towards us being led by a blonde woman.
Elena was breathing hard as she skidded to a stop in front of Cloud who had moved to the back of our group.
"You guys…" she attempted to glare at us while still panting from her short sprint. "I won't let you go any farther!"
"What's down there?" Kunsel asked.
"It's a SE-CR-ET. It doesn't really matter! But you really got guts doin my boss in like that!"
"Usually a secret matters," I countered.
"We didn't do that to him," Kunsel added. "It was Sephiroth!"
"Don't think you can fool me you liars!" Elena was visibly red with rage.
"We're not lying, it was Sephiroth." Cloud was standing before Elena now, trying to make her understand.
Elena didn't even consider his words. "Don't even try to act innocent! I'll never forget it!"
"Oh man…" Cloud's look towards Elena was pitying and it seemed to make her even more mad.
"Looks like talking alone won't cut it. You're going to have to feel some pain!"
One of the MPs stepped forward and seemed to do a once over of each of us. "Just you… and me!" Apparently this guy really wasn't in the loop since he was pointing at Cait Sith.
"No! I can handle him." Elena shoved the guard back. "There's no way he can avoid my punch."
Cloud stepped slightly to the then as Elena swung at him, overextending her arm and throwing off her balance as she tumbled down the icy hill.
"Elena!" One of the MPs yelled as they both chased after the Turk as she rolled head-over-heels down a hill amidst the scattered laughter of AVALANCHE.
"Let's not waste time," Red called as he headed up the rise to the slope.
"Well, she gets my vote for funniest Turk," Yuffie said as she gained control of her laughter.
Zack laughed also. "Reno is going to be heartbroken if he ever hears that."
Staring down at the slope that extended far below us, I had to admit that I was glad to have chosen something as safe as a sled. The run started out ok but the slope quickly got very steep. Glancing over, I felt a twinge of self-righteousness to see Cid sweating.
"So… uh… Who goes first?" Barret asked as we all stared down the slope.
Everyone was shifting now, even Zack looked apprehensive over going first on this monster of a mountain.
"Ya sure there's no other way?" Cait Sith asked as he stared down the white slopes, glancing around for any possible trails.
"The villagers said there weren't any," Cloud stated as he stepped forward, taking a deep breath as he did so. "Everyone stay close!" he shouted as he kicked off the top of the hill.
Zack hesitated only a moment before laughing and kicking off after Cloud as did Tifa. The rest of us followed soon after.
We didn't move in any kind of formation aside from follow the Cloud. Several laughs could be heard as we started to speed up, mainly from Yuffie, Zack, Aeris, and me. Red was trying his best to steer his sled using his paws and didn't look to be having a good time but neither was Cid who was having trouble just standing.
Everything went well until the first steep incline. Neither Cid nor Red were capable of braking or slowing down so they went flying down the slope, Cid actually going airborne over a drift of snow.
"Are they ok?" Aeris asked loudly. A string of expletives reached us later, courtesy of Cid's mouth.
"I'd say he's just fine," Kunsel answered with a grimace.
"I'll get them." Vincent leaned forward and gathered speed quickly, shooting after our two wayward members.
The next problem arose when we reached the first intersection. Everyone was so busy trying to pick out the tracks of Red, Cid, and Vincent that no one took charge and called a direction. Thus Cloud, Zack, Barret, Tifa, and Yuffie went left, Aeris, Kunsel, Cait Sith, and I went right.
"Guys, we have a problem!" Kunsel yelled as soon as we noticed the split. "Try to stay close!"
The slopes continued to get steeper and three of us weren't very maneuverable so disaster struck in the form of trees.
"Ahh!" Cait Sith screamed as he hit a snow drift and went flying.
"Keep going, I'll get him!" Kunsel shouted at us before he turned hard, stopping himself rather suddenly.
I still reached for my brake and yanked it only for it to catch a rock and snap. I stared at the broken rod that was formerly my brake in shock then glanced over at Aeris. She saw the rod also and gaped slightly.
"This could be b- AAHHH!" I screamed as I hit a snowdrift this time and flew in a different direction, losing sight of Aeris. I hit the ground hard and skidded away from my sled. Jumping back up, I looked around but saw no one. Maybe I could catch up to them because I was really going to need help to survive the snow.
Turning my sled back upright, I climbed back on and started my descent anew. The end of the trees came quickly and I eagerly tried to spy someone else, but no one was in sight.
The rest of the ride was very rough; without any brakes I had to swerve the sled left and right to try to control my speed and avoid obstacles. Though there were no snowmen for me to worry about avoiding, there were plenty of fallen logs and snowdrifts. Hell, even the half-pipe field of rolling snow boulders proved to be real!
Finally I was moving through the crystal caves. There was hardly any room to maneuver and I was moving at breakneck speeds now, but I really wished I had a camera right then because they were absolutely beautiful. I was so distracted that I didn't see the approach of the end of the cave until I was already flying.
zzzzzzzzzz
Aeris shivered despite the thick layers of clothing she currently wore while just ahead of her Vincent easily shot down the two insect-like monsters that had attempted to attack them. It had been sheer luck running into him after losing Rachas. The former Turk had managed to remain close to her throughout the rest of the course and found her quickly after they had gone flying.
"Let's keep moving."
Vincent's voice surprised her a bit, but she was quick to follow the man.
"Thank you," she stated as she reviewed all he had done for her thus far.
Vincent seemed to stiffen a bit then turned slightly to glance at her. "No problem."
"Do you know which way to go?"
"North."
"Do you think the others are alright?"
Vincent didn't answer immediately. "They should be fine."
zzzzzzzzzz
'This could have been worse,' Cloud thought as he stared at Red. They had landed rather close by to one another, Cloud following Red's howl as he crash landed near a hot spring and his sled skidded to the water. Red hadn't been completely dunked, only a paw got wet in fact, but they had rushed to dry it as much as they could before starting out.
"Do you smell anyone else?" Cloud asked as he tossed away his spare cloth that he'd used to dry Red.
"Not yet, the sulfur of the spring is a bit too strong."
"We should head towards the cabin indicated on the map," Cloud said as he pulled out the brownish paper. "With any luck that is where everyone else is headed."
"Alright then. North isn't it?"
Cloud nodded then rolled up and put away the map to prevent it from being damaged by anything.
zzzzzzzzzz
Tifa sighed and smacked Cid hard upside his head to snap him out of his Fascinated state before he could hurt himself.
"Fucker!" Cid yelled as he grabbed his head. "Where the hell did that snow bitch go?"
"I knocked her out before assisting you." Tifa nodded at where the humanoid monster lay in the snow.
Cid walked over to the ice woman who had dared to cast a confusion spell on him and spat on her. "Serves ya right, ice bitch."
"Did you see where Red and Vincent went?" Tifa asked.
"No, ain't seen Red or Doom and Gloom since the slopes. He came up and was trying to help the mutt slow down while yelling at me to sit down. Then we got separated at a fork in the path."
Tifa groaned then picked through her things for a compass.
"So, where to from here?"
"We head north and hopefully run into the others."
Hopefully? Well shit. Might as well get going though," Cid said as he set off right as Tifa pulled out her compass and checked the direction. Surprisingly he was headed in the right direction.
zzzzzzzzzz
"Hey! You're going the wrong way!"
Barret groaned at the voice that shouted at him. "What'er ya talkin 'bout? I'm headin north!"
"But there is a hot spring in that direction!" Yuffie bounced excitedly from her perch on the tree. "And I see Cloud and Red!"
"Let's go!" Barret took off in the indicated direction.
zzzzzzzzzz
"Thank you for helping me back there," Cait Sith said as he brushed himself off and jumped back onto his mog.
Kunsel shrugged as he glanced around at their surroundings. The partially frozen lake they had landed next to was indicated on the map if he remembered right, so climbing the slope should be easy enough.
"Quite the fall we just had, do you need a moment?"
Cait Sith shook his head. "I'm just fine. Probably best that we start moving right away."
"Yeah, temperature is well below freezing and some of us aren't equipped for this weather."
"Would an ice ring help?"
"No, that would just prevent someone from getting hurt by a magical ice attack. It is sheer cold that would do us in here. So, which way…"
"North to reach the cabin indicated on the map."
"Ok… North it is." Kunsel glanced back at the lake. "We'll have to skirt the lake to go that way."
zzzzzzzzzzz
Cold… It was very cold. That was what roused me. Wiping at my eyes, I managed to force myself upright then stumbled to my feet. Nothing hurt, but there was a bit of a deep ache in my body. Turning slightly, I glared at the white landscape, wondering how I ever found these sorts of scenes pretty.
The remains of my sled were scattered about and for no reason I gathered some of the pieces and strapped them to my pack. Maybe I could demand a refund for the sled breaking.
I was near a dead tree and a narrow stretch of water with a narrow bridge crossing it. Pulling out the map copy, I found that there was a pretty fair distance to go before I'd reach the cabin. To top off the problem, I had no clue where anyone was!
The idea of yelling was quickly scrapped when I saw two of the insect-like monsters scurry through the trees. Not hesitating to see if they had noticed me, I rushed over the bridge and found the trail leading to the next area.
At some point while heading uphill, an inhuman screech sounded behind me. Glancing back, one of those mutant centipedes was charging up the hill at me.
"Of all the…" I fired a high powered bolt spell at the centipede, frying it instantly.
"Ha! I did find someone!"
Whirling around, I saw Zack standing just over the rise that I was climbing a moment ago.
"Are you ok?"
"Fine," I called back as I continued up the hill.
"Had a little run-in with one of those suckers myself. It bit my arm and I'm out of antidote. Got any?"
"Zack," I groaned as I pulled out my Heal and cast Poisona and followed that up with a Cure. "Why were you headed this way anyway?"
"I was looking for everyone else. Are you alone?"
"Yeah, and we should probably head to the cabin on the north end of the slopes, it's probably where everyone will head."
"Have you seen Aeris?" he asked as me started moving again.
"We got separated on the slopes after my brake broke."
We were silent for a few minutes longer as we continued to trek up the hill, following the directions of my makeshift map as well as we could. It was kind of weird actually; we really hadn't been alone for a long time, not since Cloud woke up actually.
"Who are you anyway?"
I blinked at Zack's question and stared at him. "What?"
"Who are you? You don't say anything about yourself until we come across it ourselves. Your heritage, your powers. And you once said that teams should be forthcoming."
"Zack, this isn't the time for this," I dismissed.
"Then when will it be? How can I trust you after some of what you've done? Even going so far as forcing me to forget about telling you about Banora."
"What do you want? An apology?"
"How about an explanation? Why are you like this? What happened?"
"How about this: I'm an obsessive-compulsive over-achiever with an IQ in excess of 140. I'm hard on myself when I can't achieve something I set out to do but refuse to change my goals."
"That wasn't what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?" I demanded, irritation finally setting.
Zack hesitated then finally asked. "Back when I first thought my parents might be in danger and we got into that argument, you defended your love of your grandfather but didn't bother with your parents… Come to think of it you never mention them. Why?"
The temptation to use the Jedi Mind Trick to force Zack to drop this particular issue was overwhelming. But that would have been abusive and if Zack ever found out, he really wouldn't ever trust me again.
"I still can't figure out why you're like this, I mean your parents are always your parents!"
"My parents weren't like yours," was my response.
"What do you mean?"
I sighed then wondered how I should word what I was about to say then decided to just say it as simply as possible. "They called me a disappointment."
"What?"
"A disappointment."
"Why would they call you that?"
I glared slightly at the surrounding landscape then took a deep breath. "They had a plan for me: I'd go to school, start an appropriate career, marry a man they approved of, and then become a home builder. I didn't agree."
"So you had a disagreement?"
"I started an engineering degree and though they didn't approve, they decided they could live with that. That arrangement went out the window when I announced intent to become a pilot."
"They can't still be mad-" Zack cut off then and murmured, "Banora…"
I shrugged. "I won't meet them as long as I'm part of this world, and we weren't close to start with. As proof of that, I was disowned not even a week later."
Silence fell again and after a while we began to hear the sound of water rushing by. Glancing up, we saw a deep, narrow ditch ahead of us that had a river running through it. A quick check of the map showed us to be on course so we turned a bit more of a northern direction and continued towards the cabin. As we crested the hill the wind really began to pick up and snow began to fall.
"Geez!" I yelped as I attempted to yank my jacket up to cover my face.
Zack yelped also, his arms crossing in the driving snow. "Man this is cold!"
zzzzzzzzzz
Cloud and Red were walking through the snow fields now, the biting wind cutting through their clothes and fur. To make matters worse, the winds kept changing directions on them, confusing their sense of direction. It was so cold that Red had declared he couldn't smell anymore.
"If we stay out in this much longer, we're the ones who will need rescuing." Red had to shout to be heard over the roaring wind.
"I realize that!" Cloud called back as he clapped his hands, trying to force some feeling back into them. Reaching back into his pack, he grabbed another of the markers they were using to hopefully alert anyone who might be following them of which direction they had gone. He could barely see the last one so now was the time to set it.
"Do you see anything?" Red was just barely ahead of him, but Cloud hoped that he was seeing something.
"No, but I hear a whistling, like the wind passing over the mouth of a cave!" Red's shout was excited and Cloud eagerly pushed forward also.
There was definitely a cave ahead of them; Cloud was just starting to make out the outline of it. He set one more marker before entering the cave with Red.
It wasn't much warmer inside the cave than out, but they were out of the wind at least.
"Well, we have an opportunity to warm up and let some of the others catch up before continuing," Red remarked as they took in the cave.
Cloud nodded as he stared at the ice cave, disappointed that the entire place was ice. There was nothing else here.
"Let's move a bit deeper, away from the mouth."
"Good idea." Red led the way back a couple steps before stopping. "There's something here."
"What?" Cloud asked as he pulled out his sword.
"I smell something else in this cave."
Cautiously, Cloud stepped past his friend and moved deeper into the cave, turning a dark corner before he saw a huddled figure.
"Hey, you ok?" he called out.
The figure gave no response, didn't move at all in fact.
"Hey!"
"Still no response and Cloud took another step closer and was finally able to make out the figure of a woman. She was completely blue from head to toe, her figure stiff. So still… too still.
"I think we found someone who got lost." Cloud told Red as he reached down to check for a pulse.
The body gave a jerk as his hand drew close, head coming up and her nostrils flaring.
"Good, you're alive," Cloud said as the woman stood.
Her eyes caught his then, cold and hard as ice. "You got a lot of nerve trying to touch me with the same dirty hands that touched that filthy hot spring! I'll never forgive you!" The voice was colder than the storm outside and Cloud jumped back out of reflex right as she breathed out an icy breath.
"It's an ice monster!" Red yelled as he rushed forward and cast Fire on the monster, causing her to flinch slightly and scream.
"I can tell!" Cloud brought his sword to bear as he replied.
The ice woman stared at them, her icy eyes filled with hatred. Then her hand moved through her hair, her stance a mockery of an attempt at seduction. Cloud felt nothing but a glance over at revealed his friend to be staggering slightly, no longer focusing on their foe.
"Red! Focus!" he called but found his yell drew Red's attention onto him. Cloud yelled as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding a strike by Red only for an ice spell to hit him. Shaking it off as quickly as he could, yet again he had to dodge an attack by Red, this time being aware of the snow woman's next spell.
She glowered at him when he barely dodged her icy breath then her hand came up to her hair again.
All around him the world wavered and tilted. He couldn't tell what anything was or who/what he was himself. He was holding something though, and there was something he had been trying to defeat…
A sharp pain brought Cloud back to reality with a cry and he kicked, trying to dislodge Red from his leg. As he did this, an ice spell came at him again and he felt his arm go numb due to cold.
A yell sounded behind him and a roar of gunfire could be heard. Turning his head he saw Barret standing in the center of the turn to reach this area, a shivering Yuffie right beside him.
"Cloud!" Yuffie yelled as she hurled her shuriken. Her aim was skewed because of her shivering and the shuriken went wide of whatever her target was, clattering off a wall.
Not delaying a moment longer, Cloud slapped Red's head, simultaneously curing him of the confusion and freeing himself.
"What?" Red was alert a moment later then focused angrily on the monster that had placed such a spell on him. His charge overtook Cloud's own and he clamped onto the leg of the "woman" angrily, holding her still as Cloud slashed across her torso.
The snow witch screamed and raised an arm which was chopped off by Cloud's next swipe.
Both Red and Cloud disengaged when she exhaled yet again and launched another ice attack. The attack was cut short though when Yuffie who had to sneak behind the ice monster to retrieve her shuriken, planted it deeply into the snow witch's head.
"Yeah! Yuffie wins!" Yuffie shouted as she jumped, slipped, and fell on the ice. She was so distracted that she didn't notice the materia that the monster choked out, spitting it at Red's feet.
zzzzzzzzzz
This place was terrible, simple as that. Several minutes after starting across the snowy fields, Zack had declared that he saw something and went running up to it. That something was a marker and we saw another in the distance. On an unspoken agreement we decided to follow the markers.
The wind was a terrible thing and I seriously regretted not getting a scarf or a ski mask. My lips were chapped and bleeding and the cold slipping through my clothes. I was seriously shivering as well, barely able to keep walking as the temperature seemed to continue to drop. Breathing was short and rapid… Weren't those signs of mild hypothermia?
"Do you need some help?" Zack asked from beside me and I immediately shook my head. If I was really becoming hypothermic, the last thing I needed to do was stop moving and let my body cool down.
"It's very… cold," I managed to drag out between breaths.
"Yeah."
"When we are… out of here… I'm gonna buy… the villa in Costa… Del Sol and… demand a… mandatory vacation for… everyone."
"You do that and I will love you forever."
"Do you see… anything?"
"Nope, just the next flag."
"Hear anyone?"
"Nope."
One foot forward, other foot forward. First foot forward, second foot forward. My eyes were on the ground to watch my steps now and for a moment I considered removing my gloves to check my fingertips but discarded the idea as stupid: my hands were already becoming slightly numb, I was not going to risk exposing them to the cold.
Zack seemed to be just fine, stupid mako enhancements. There were moments that this world seemed obscenely unfair and this was one of them. Why the hell could Zack run around in a sleeveless uniform and he seems just fine and I was in almost full ski gear and bordering on hypothermia?
A stumble interrupted my thoughts and I had to focus to remain standing. Zack was by me a moment later, his arm going over my shoulders.
"Not used to this sort of thing, are you?"
"No…"
"Well, good news is there's a cave right in front of us!"
Forcing my head up, I groaned when I realized that at best we were halfway across the field. I really needed to warm up though and this ice cave was our only shelter.
Zack helped me into the cave and we moved back, away from the entrance right as a yell of "Yuffie wins!" rang through the air. Zack and I glanced at each other before walking around the turn and finding ourselves staring at Barret's back!
"Hey guys!" Zack called.
I got the pleasure of seeing Barret jump and yell as he swerved around and Red turning to face us with a materia in his mouth.
"Looks like the markers are working!" Cloud said with a smile.
"I'll say!" Yuffie was stumbling a little and her lips were blue. "We saw you guys at the hot spring and ran after you but would have lost you in that storm if not for those markers!"
"Looks like we have several people who need to warm up before we go anywhere," Red said after he tucked the materia into his pouch. "Too bad we don't have anything to make a fire with."
Zack spied the remains of my sled then. "I think we may have gotten lucky!"