By a Fraction of a Degree
A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129
Rated T for Violence and Language.
I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.
Part II: Reunion
Chapter 39, Dawn of Judgment Day
January 2nd [ ν ] – εуλ 0008
Kunsel rubbed his eyes and yawned as he walked onto the bridge to see Cid manning his post. He'd come back onto the bridge after taking a rest not that long ago. "Mornin," Cid grunted.
"Where are we?" Kunsel asked.
"We're almost there," Cid pointed out over the horizon. It was early, though because they were so far north, the Sun was only casting a dim glow behind them, lighting the way in a twilight that cast long shadows over the snow covered wastes ahead of them, pointing the way towards the great Gaia's Cliffs that marked the crater. They were still a thousand miles away from the North Pole, but even here, the area was still capable of producing twenty four hour nights in places.
Kunsel gripped the papers he had in his hand subconsciously. They held the details Cissnei and Mao had gathered while up here, mapping out all the caves ahead of them, telling them the layout and what creatures to avoid in order to get to the small barrier they would come to. Somehow, they would find a way to punch through it. He didn't know how, but he was not going to let Zack languish in Sephiroth's clutches like he'd let him do in Hojo's. Cloud seemed to have decided he felt the same way after their talk the previous afternoon. When he'd gotten up a little while ago, he'd found the other swordsman practicing in the lounge. There was a drive in his movements, a quiet desperation that hadn't been there before.
Personally, he was glad. They needed that right now, if they wanted to get through the next few hours, or days, if it took that long. He ran through all the possible formations in his mind, thinking about the best way to position everyone. If they were going to fight more of Jenova's ilk, it would be best for the party to be at least somewhat close together…
It would probably be best if most of the distance fighters were in the back, with Aerith in the center. Someone should be guarding her since her abilities lent themselves best to healing…
"You look like you got a lot on your mind," Cid observed.
"Just thinking strategy," he said. "And hoping we'll still have somewhere to get back to once we're done."
It was true. Mao and Tanjuu had thought of coming along, but it had been decided they should stay behind, just in case Shinra thought they could make a raid on the lodge. Even if it had been only briefly and in the dead of night, they couldn't ignore the fact that fires and smoke had been visible over their hideout, and that might have alerted someone. It was something they had already planned for a long time ago, and they even had a shelter a certain distance away, but it never hurt to have the extra protection either. That didn't mean he wasn't worried about it.
Cid grunted and Kunsel ran a hand through his hair nervously. "There's just so much to consider. For all the information Cissnei was able to find about the layout, we still don't know just what is in the deepest caverns, and that's the most important part. Never mind what happens after this."
Cid laughed. "That's the best part. If I'da thought this was gonna be easy, I'da stayed in Rocket Town rather than mess with this $#%&. Besides, I think we all know that Sephiroth is somethin' we have to face."
Kunsel nodded. More than one on this ship had demons to face here. Cloud most of all, but it wasn't just him. Freya had her share, as did Tifa, and to a certain extent, he did too. Less than the others perhaps, but simply because it was the former general's madness that had set him on the path to try and find Zack in the aftermath of that fateful fight in the reactor. It wasn't just their fight anymore either. It was Barret's because of Marlene, Cait Sith and Reeve's because they felt the need to set something right in the aftermath of so much wrong done without their approval or consent by Shinra, Aerith's for what had happened to Zack, Cissnei's for her guilt, Nanaki's for the Planet, and Cid's because after so much had been taken from him, this ghost from the past was trying to destroy everything that remained.
"You're right," he said and then laughed. "You're a lot more perceptive than you let on. No wonder Freya has a soft spot for you."
"Maybe, maybe not," Cid the pilot let out a stream of smoke from his cigarette, "But I don't need to be perceptive to know she's got a soft spot for someone else too."
Kunsel looked away, pretending to be examining a small snow-covered bluff on the ground hundreds of feet below them. He hadn't quite known what to think about it when she'd first kissed him at the Gold Saucer, and maybe he'd felt a little awkward about it. At one time, she'd been charged with keeping Zack and Cloud prisoner, let them be taken by Hojo, held him at gunpoint, had even entertained the notion Shinra would take her back, but still, a lot had changed since then. She'd changed, and maybe… in spite of the harder feelings he'd felt against Shinra for what they had done to his friends, maybe he'd changed a little too…
Maybe… they could meet each other halfway. He felt a small smile spread across his face. Perhaps it would be all right, once this was over…
"Captain, we're picking something up on radar behind us. It looks like a Shinra Military Transport Helicopter." One of the crew looked up from the instruments on the left side of the bridge.
"Are there any others?" Kunsel asked before Cid could say anything.
"No sir… just the one."
Cid considered for a minute before saying "Keep an eye on them. If they do anything hostile, prepare for combat…"
"Well the thing is sir, they seem to be… hailing us."
"It's not ours?" Kunsel asked.
"No, it's a standard Shinra channel sir."
"Patch it through. Let's see who these crazy $%#*!$%# are." Cid ordered.
Almost immediately they heard a familiar voice crackling through the speakers. "…Highwind?"
Kunsel scowled at the window in front of him. What were the Turks doing here?
"In the flesh Red. What brings you to this hell hole? If you're looking for a fight, you've got one!"
"That's not it at all!" Elena's voice sounded slightly frantic over the speakers. "We just want to talk!"
"And why should we believe you?" Kunsel asked.
"Sephiroth…" Elena was hesitant as she spoke the name. "He got Tseng…"
Yuffie let out another cry as she raced up the wall again, this time attempting to push off a stalactite that hung near the hole. She almost managed it before falling back to the ground in a crouch.
"Have you considered using your weapon?" Tseng asked.
She pulled the shuriken in front of her, eyeballing the width of the hole to see if it would fit. "It might work." She thought about it a little longer and then reached for the headband she wore with the forehead protector on it. After untying it, she knotted it around the shuriken so that the protector dangled off of one end as a weight. She sincerely hoped her knot-tying skills would be sufficient for this. Not long after, she positioned herself a little further away and aimed her weapon carefully before letting it fly up through the hole. It caught on the edge, before falling to the side, anchoring itself securely, the headband dangling slightly through the hole.
"Yeah!" Yuffie fist-pumped the air and then took a final run up the wall, grabbing onto the headband and reaching for the edge of the hole. Nothing seemed to be coming so she lifted herself out and looked around, staying crouched to the ground.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Tseng called up to her.
"What's that?" Yuffie asked.
"I know the way out. Without me, it'll take you a lot longer," Tseng said.
"That'll have to wait," Yuffie said.
"Then what do you intend to do?" The Turk asked.
"I want to find Zack…" Yuffie said uncertainly.
"Is that so?" She looked behind her and her eyes widened as she saw the menace that had hurt so many of her friends. The demon of Wutai, the Silver General, the mad man that refused to die, stood before her, and all she could think was that she really hoped her own life wasn't about to end. "If you think you can escape," he drawled. "Go ahead. Even with that child's toy, all that awaits you is the icy wastes. Take the Turk, but your friends stay here."
Yuffie stood, holding her Shuriken defensively and knowing she could not fight this man alone. No amount of confidence would have given her the gumption to try lightly. There was a difference between being confident in one's abilities and being suicidal after all. The man reached out with the Masamune, lifting her chin with the tip. "Do not fear child of Wutai, soon, all things will become a part of me, and the world will begin anew. So take your enemy and bring Cloud to me. I will be waiting."
She couldn't do anything but stare, for once at a loss for words. He smiled hungrily before lowering his sword and vanishing down a lightless tunnel.
After a moment, she reached back down into the hole and allowed Tseng to reach up and grab her headband. At last, she managed to get him up.
"Are you sure you remember the way out?" she asked.
He nodded. "If we can avoid fighting we'll have a chance."
"All right. As soon as we get out, I'm calling for help." Yuffie reattached her headband and checked the area one last time for any more surprises.
"The others are coming, I suppose."
Yuffie nodded, offering an arm. "Yeah… don't get too comfortable. I'm only helping you because you know the way out. If I get any feeling that you're trying to trick me, I'll throw you so hard you'll land on the other side of the Crater."
"I understand, Princess…" It might have been her imagination, but Yuffie could have sworn she heard a wry note of humor in the man's voice.
The Highwind had come to a stop, sheltering an Arctic tent and a small civilian sky hopper. True to her word, Liz had been camped out at the top of the cliff, watching the cave entrance from a safe distance, and upon coming within range, they'd contacted her to set up a beacon so they could get in close. It was here that the party aboard Cid's airship now stood in the snow, opposite the three non-renegade Turks.
"This had better not be a trick," Kunsel said.
"It's not," Elena assured him before looking around surprised. At last, her eyes landed on Freya. "Where's Zack?" she asked.
"None o' your damn business," Barret growled. "Tell us what ya want, or get lost, Turks."
"Relax," Reno tapped his EMR rod carelessly over his shoulder, though the tone of his voice was still serious. "The only orders we've got here, are to see what happens, right Rude?"
"…Right." Rude adjusted his sunglasses.
"Anyway, we've got no orders to stop you, but we do need to see if we can locate the director." He shot a look over at Freya, Cissnei, and Liz and added, "Our acting director in his absence has made a decision that he's too valuable to leave here."
Freya nodded. "I see. This acting director, would he happen to be you, by any chance?"
"That's strictly on a need-to-know basis," Reno said, a sloppy grin on his face.
"Can't argue with the guy in charge," Liz said with a shrug.
"And what does Rufus think about this?" Kunsel asked.
"He said we could use our own discretion."
"That may be so." Kunsel folded his arms. "But we'll be keeping an eye on you." He looked around at the others. "I want us ready to move out within the hour…"
He was interrupted by the sound of a PHS buzzing and almost immediately after he saw Cloud open his handset, and check the caller ID before answering in surprise. "Hello?" He listened for a moment, holding the phone slightly away from his ear as the person on the other end was apparently shouting, and then said "Yuffie, slow down, where are you?"
Cissnei looked through the door into the sickbay where Rayleigh was looking over her former boss. Yuffie had already passed inspection with a clean bill of health, aside from being very cold, and had been sent to the galley with Tifa and Aerith to get something warm to drink. They had found her very quickly, thanks to Liz's tracking device, but had been especially surprised to find Tseng with her. He looked very much the worse for wear, but considering he had apparently been down there a while, he'd gotten off lightly.
Rayleigh had just finished with her sense materia and had placed it back in her doctor's bag. "You were right, you've got three cracked ribs and that ankle is definitely broken. That cut on the side of your face will probably scar too, since it wasn't healed quickly enough, but I'm also detecting very small traces of mako in your system."
"I'm not surprised. I was in that chamber for several days before Ms. Kisaragi joined me. Sephiroth left me in there on the assumption I would die. There was enough snowmelt dripping down into the cave to keep me alive but I knew it was also pulling loose sediments from the crystal formations that made up the cave walls. I decided mako poisoning was far more tolerable than death by dehydration, even with the possibility of negative side effects." Tseng was sitting up on the bed, though he did look unusually tired.
"At the very least, you don't seem to have ingested enough to make your eyes glow," Rayleigh said, offering him a glass of water from the sink.
"Something I am quite relieved about," the Turk director agreed, taking the glass in one hand.
The doctor went on. "Your ribs should mend just fine, but I'm afraid your ankle will have to be reset soon so it can heal properly. It would probably be best if you didn't move around too much for a while."
Tseng nodded and leaned back on the bed. "I'll try not to."
At that moment, someone's PHS buzzed and Reno answered it. "Mr. President…?"
Cissnei walked away from the room. Freya and Liz were also in there to keep an eye on their guests, so it should be all right. She walked past the crew cabins, looking into the galley to find Yuffie talking to Aerith. "The only thing I know is that he wants Cloud for something. He said he wanted me to bring him down there… And Zack… I think he hurt him, but I don't know how bad… "
She paused as Aerith put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be all right," the flower girl said. "We'll get him back."
Yuffie's expression hardened with determination. "Yeah… We'd better teach that monster a lesson. He stole my materia." She stood, reaching for her shuriken. "When are we leaving to take him out?"
"Soon," Aerith said. "Kunsel wanted to have a final meeting and then we'll go."
"All right, I brought some things onto the ship before I got carried off, I'm going to see what I have and then I'll go to the bridge."
Aerith nodded and watched the ninja leave the galley and spotted Cissnei when Yuffie passed her. She smiled and walked out into the hall to join her, pulling on a heavy jacket over her regular clothes. "How is Tseng?" she asked.
"He'll be all right," Cissnei said. The two of them walked along the hall together in silence for a little while before she spoke again. "How are you holding up?"
Aerith sighed. "I'm all right, but I wish I knew if Zack was. This is the second time he's disappeared…"
"I'm sure if he has his way, it'll be the last," the young Turk replied.
Aerith nodded looking out the window, her expression determined. "Then we'll work together to make it happen. I lost him once, I'm not going to lose him again."
Cissnei nodded and made to walk ahead of the Cetra. "I feel the same way…" she muttered, hoping she was out of earshot. "And I'll do everything I can to help bring him back to you…"
She was too far away to hear the Cetra whisper, "I know…"
Cloud and Tifa were alone on the weather deck, waiting for the others, looking down at the snow-covered crater. It wouldn't be long now. They'd decide their formations and then they would go. He was ashamed to admit part of him was a little anxious, and he was more than a little uncertain about this plan, but at the same time, something told him he had to do this, even if it killed him.
"Cloud?" To his left, he noticed Tifa, several feet away. "We'll get them back, I know it," she said, coming a little closer.
He nodded and looked back out the window. "We will, I just hope they're still all right. Sephiroth won't go easy on them. The only reason he let Yuffie and Tseng go was because he didn't care. He probably doesn't even care that we're all going to go together to stop him."
"Well then," Tifa said, "we'll just have to show him how much he underestimated us. We'll teach him a lesson, won't we?"
Cloud nodded, and at last, he reached over and picked up the Buster Sword from where it was leaning on the railing, securing it underneath the sheathed Yoshiyuki on a magnetic harness he'd found in a storage closet near the back of the ship. "Right. When we get there, we'll find Zack, and we'll take Sephiroth out together. Just like we said we would."
He turned around to face Tifa, feeling slightly stronger knowing she was going to back him up. Along with Zack, she'd been there for him throughout this ordeal, even when he couldn't be there for himself. As their eyes met, he struggled to find the words that would adequately match his thoughts. "Tifa… before we do this… I think there's some things I want to talk to you about… though I don't really know what to say… heh… I guess nothing's changed at all… kind of funny isn't it…" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away frustrated. He'd messed up again, hadn't he.
Tifa smiled, and came a couple of steps closer, her breath fogging the air between them. "Cloud… Words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking…" she was next to him now, putting one arm around him, the unspoken gesture clearly saying 'I think I already know.'
Awkwardly at first, Cloud lifted his arm and returned the gesture, almost stopping halfway out of pure anxiety. Was he moving too fast? What if he screwed this up too? Slowly, but surely, he allowed himself to relax. Tifa still wasn't flinching away. If anything she was leaning into him, nuzzling into his shoulder as though seeking warmth. He tried again. "I don't remember much from when you went into the Lifestream, but… I think I remember hearing your voices, calling me back… If we survive this…"
"We will." Tifa whispered. "And when we do… We'll find what we're looking for…" They looked out at the darkened snow beginning to fall into the crater below. It wouldn't be long now.
"I hope so…"
At that moment, they heard the door swing open and parted as though they'd just burned each other. When Cloud looked over to see who it was, he saw Barret and Nanaki climbing up to join them on the deck. "You two ready ta go?" he asked.
"We were waiting for you," Cloud said.
"We didn't hear that much…" Nanaki began.
"… Were you listening?" Tifa asked, her tone purely mortified.
Barret glared at the planet's Guardian. "Leave'em alone," he growled.
Nanaki sat down near the railing. "My apologies."
At that moment, Kunsel emerged onto the deck followed by Freya and Aerith. "The others'll be here shortly," he said. "Rayleigh's almost done with Tseng, so the Turks'll be up soon too." True to his word, it was hardly another five minutes before everyone with the exception of the crew who were staying aboard, and Tseng who was in no condition to fight, were on deck waiting for the briefing. At first everyone was just talking among themselves, but finally, Kunsel cleared his throat, holding several pieces of paper in his hand.
All heads on deck turned to the brown-haired SOLDIER and he looked over each of of them in turn. "All right. We all know why we're here, so I'll cut to the chase. This is primarily a rescue mission, but secondarily, we're hoping it will also be seek and destroy. If we run into Sephiroth he will be eliminated. What I have here, are Cissnei, Liz and Mao's reports from their search of the caves. From this, and from what Yuffie and Tseng have told us, while there are a couple of ways to get to the main caverns, for the most part, our plan is to stick together. We're all competent fighters, we should be able to get by with our numbers. That being said, there are a few things we should keep in mind."
He looked over at Cloud. "Cloud, you and Tifa stay close to each other. I'll want you at the front with me and Cid, taking point." He looked to the others. "In general, at least a couple of us are going to stick close to Aerith, since she's our best healer. According to the intelligence, this cave is full of monsters. Don't get too far away for anyone else to help you. We want to make sure we don't lose anyone else on this."
At last he looked to where Reno, Rude, and Elena were standing. "What are your plans?"
Reno leaned against the railing as he spoke. "We've gotten the call from Rufus. If he can't be responsible for ending this himself, he'll at least have a hand in it. We're in."
Barret narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust'em."
"I'm not too keen either," Cid agreed.
Freya shook her head. "We need all the help we can get though."
"Not to mention, I think you've all heard it by now," Reno laughed. "No mission is impossible for the Turks. With us on your side, you can't lose!"
"I guess that settles that," Cloud said. He couldn't care less at the moment. More than anything, he just wanted to get going.
Kunsel nodded. "Okay. Let's go." One by one, everyone started climbing down the rope ladder until they were standing on the edge of the crater, leaving only Liz and Dr. Rayleigh on the weather deck. The martial artist had offered to stay with the doctor, not only to keep her safe, but also to ensure nothing happened to the Highwind in their absence.
Once everyone was on the ground, Cloud and Tifa hurried to get to the front where Kunsel was waiting with Yuffie, Freya, and Cissnei. "The hole I went through is at the base of the cliff. It shouldn't be that hard to get to. After that, we're going to need the rope," the curly-haired Turk said.
"We've got plenty. I took care of that with Barret and Cid," Kunsel gestured to the rope he was carrying over his shoulder.
With that they started picking their way down the slope into the crater. It was slow going. They had to be mindful of the snow and ice on their path, and it was narrow and steep. At some points, they even had to use the ropes to lower themselves down rather than climb. This wasn't a problem for the SOLDIERs in the group, or for Nanaki, but some of the other less physical party members like Aerith and Cait Sith definitely had points where they were running into trouble. It didn't help that in spite of how well they had equipped themselves for the weather, it was still bitterly cold.
They were about halfway down when Cloud lifted his gaze above the inside of the crater and found himself looking at a black sky, carpeted with more stars than he'd even seen back in Nibelheim. The dim twilight of the sun, shining up from the far south couldn't even reach them here. Without their flashlights, or advanced eyesight where applicable, they wouldn't have been able to see anything at all down here.
It wasn't until several hours later, when they approached the center of the crater that he began to see signs of a familiar green glow permeating from shafts coming up out of the ground. There was definitely a lot of Lifestream here.
"So much pain," Aerith muttered behind him. "Back in Banora, we were definitely at the sight of a wound, but that was like a clean cut that was already healing. Here, it's as though the Planet itself is in agony, even so long after it happened."
"It's not hurting you is it?" Nanaki asked in concern.
She shook her head. "No, but it's still so sad. Whatever is down there is like sand in a wound that's already infected. The Planet's really in pain."
Cloud turned his attention back to where Kunsel and the two renegade Turks were standing around a particular shaft through which the green glow was filtering. It lit the three of them in an eerie hue before disappearing into the night as the brown-haired SOLDIER pulled out a piton and reached for a hammer. With efficient strokes, he secured the metal spike into the ground and after Freya handed him her rope, he proceeded to tie it to the attached hook. Once that was finished, Freya let the other end drop into the hole.
"There's a tunnel below this," Cissnei said. "As long as there aren't any monsters around, we should be able to get in without any trouble."
Kunsel looked like he was considering who should go first and so Cloud stepped forward. "I'll go," he offered.
Kunsel offered him the rope. "Let us know if you need help down there," he said.
"Be careful," Tifa added. Cloud nodded and after taking hold of the rope, he lowered himself down the hole. It wasn't long before he was beyond the threshold of the cave ceiling and he found he was looking out at a vast cavern filled with deposits of mako crystals. Tendrils of Lifestream floated up into the air, fogging the area and making the cave seem to give off its own eerie glow. In the distance, a vast chasm split the stone, opening an abyss even further below as liquid Lifestream flowed into its depths. The area was silent as a tomb apart from the echoes of the green substance streaming into the gap and dripping water from a source he couldn't locate. He lowered himself at least twenty feet down before he finally felt solid rock under his boots, and at that point, he reached for his flashlight, shining it up the hole to signal he'd made it.
Soon afterward, he saw Tifa slide down, followed by Barret, with Nanaki, and then Kunsel, holding Aerith on one arm as he lowered both of them down. Yuffie followed soon after with the Turks and Cid bringing up the rear.
"This place is amazing…" Nanaki said, his quiet voice echoing over the cave's interior.
"We can gawk later," Cloud said. "We need to find Zack and Vincent."
"He's right," Cissnei agreed. She considered for a moment, and then gestured towards a tunnel that seemed to be headed downward. "We need to go that way to get to the barrier."
"I think I recognize this tunnel!" Yuffie said. "After Sephiroth let us go, we almost had a run-in with something really nasty right around here. We had to hide but I was really worried it'd smell the blood on that Turk."
"That Turk happens to be our director," Elena said coolly.
"And I saved his ass," Yuffie returned.
"Which I'm sure he's grateful for," Kunsel said, attempting to head off the argument. "Now Yuffie, what was it you almost ran into?"
Cloud could hear Elena grumbling a little in the back, but the ninja was clearly more interested in the attention directed at her. "I think it was a Behemoth or a dragon or something, I didn't get a good look since I was trying to stay out of sight. If I'd been on my own, I could have gotten away like it was nothing, but with that other guy, I had my hands tied, you know?"
"Whether it was a dragon or not could be kind of important," Freya said. "Do you remember anything about the way it moved? Or what kind of sound it made?"
Yuffie rubbed her chin as she considered the question. "I'm not sure exactly…" she hedged. "It seemed to make some kind of roaring noise, though I couldn't tell if it was furry or had scales…Kinda hard when you aren't looking…"
"Well that helps us a helluva lot," Cid grumbled. "What good are ya?"
"I do know it sounded big…" Yuffie said.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud," Reno said at last. "Was it a 'Roar' or more of a…"
"RAWWWRRRRRRR!" At that point, everyone who was not engaged in the current conversation drew their weapons.
"Yeah, it sounded exactly like that," Yuffie said, looking at Reno, clearly impressed.
"Shut it Yuf! I think we're about to fight your monster!" Barret was already unloading his gun at the source the noise which had actually been on the opposite side of the cavern. Cloud was already holding the Yoshiyuki at the ready, his eyes landing on the gigantic King Behemoth that had just walked into their path.
"Well, what do you know?" Yuffie brandished her shuriken after taking a position next to Cissnei. "It was a Behemoth after all."
I'm so excited! Next few chapters are going to be big! Well Behemoths are generally big but we're talking bigger than that. I can hardly wait!
Ahem... anyway, on the original timeline: The party just made it to Icicle Inn. They head out snowboarding first thing tomorrow morning.
Later!