Another Time, Another Place
Authors Notes- Contains slash, angst, swearing, violence and character death.
Pairings- Sephiroth x Kuja, Cloud x Aeris, Vincent x Tifa, Rufus x Tseng, Reno x Yuffie.
Disclaimers- I own none of the characters mentioned hither.
Cid had to land the Highwind quite some distance from the town. It was useless on the rocky treacherous mountains and instead they had to land near the warmer coast. Tifa watched the land grow nearer until there was a soft thump and powdered snow flew up from the landing, obliviating everything.
"You'd better get dressed warmly," Yuffie said as Tifa entered the main room. "I was up here a few months ago with Flash and I woke up in the Chocobo Sage's house with hypothermia. And he couldn't remember what he'd done with all my materia for days. Turned out he'd accidentally fed it to that green animal of his,"
Tifa nodded. She had packed lightly for the journey, but she pulled some more layers on top of her usual rather skimpy outfit. "We'd better take the Chocobo with us," She said, shivering as cold air swept in from the open doors. "We might end up staying for a few nights,"
Flash and Storm were side by side in the plane stables. The black Chocobo seemed quite enamoured with Yuffie's little gold Chocobo. Tifa patted them both fondly.
"Come on," She lead the two out to be loaded up with various things. "No rest for you two, I'm afraid,". The two Chocobos looked quite justifiably annoyed, coming out from the warmth of the little stable into the cold Northern atmosphere. "Sorry," Tifa said apologetically. Storm ruffled his feathers and pecked her in an not entirely friendly way as the snow started to pelt down, melting on his back.
Within ten minutes they were ready to go. Both Chocobo were loaded up with what luggage they had brought. Storm was quite used to this sort of behaviour as Tifa had regularly gone out for days with him. Flash was less impressed and neither of them were particularly pleased with the weather after the warmth of Wutai and Costa del Sol.
"Are we all ready?" Cloud asked. Everyone seemed to be. "We should make it within about seven hours or so," He said apologetically. It was a long way inland and trekking up the side of the mountains was arduous. The snow, which had momentarily ceased, re-doubled it's efforts.
They had been walking for about two hours, Tifa thought, when they took the first rest. It was hard to keep track of time. They had quickly reached the plains and been lost in a world of whiteness. There was no relief anywhere- the sky, the ground, even the air was full of whirling snowflakes driven into their eyes by the bitter wind. Cloud was up ahead with Cid, the two Chocobo jogging behind. Vincent was slightly to the side of Tifa and the sight of his red clothes were welcome after all the painful brightness.
"You ok?" Barret asked, jogging alongside her. Tifa nodded. She felt too cold to risk talking. "I don't believe ya," Barret smiled. "Why don't you get that lazy no-good Chocobo of yours to carry you for a bit?" He asked. Tifa shook her head.
"They're loaded enough as it is," Speaking felt strange with her face frozen into numbness. Barret shrugged and headed off to join the others. Tifa plodded along gamely, lost in thought.
By the time they reached the mountain base, they were all exhausted. Yuffie had nearly got lost after falling behind and wandering off-track. Vincent went to search for her and returned with Yuffie white-faced and stumbling with exhaustion. Barret ignored her protests and lifted her forcefully onto Flash's back.
"I can walk!" Yuffie insisted, as she fell forward drowsily and let the bird carry her onwards over the rocky ground. The rest of the group walked steadily onward, ignoring the bitter cold and steep incline. They were within an hour's walk of the settlement when trouble struck.
"What's that?" Tifa called to the others as a faint howling caught her attention. The group had straggled out over some distance and she had to run to catch up with Cloud.
"Sounds like Bandersnatches," Cloud said, listening.
"Some kinda goddamn monster?" Cid asked, hefting his javelin in a threatening manner.
"Big, wolf-like things. Nothing to worry about on their own, but they usually come in packs-" Cloud had barely finished explaining when he saw the first dark shape circling the group.
"Hey!" Yuffie looked up startled as a dark shape bounded sleekly towards her. She shaded her eyes against the snow's brightness, trying to make out the shape. Flash stumbled over a hidden rock and fell heavily onto one knee. The shape lunged forward. Yuffie screamed.
The group span around upon hearing Yuffie scream. More shapes suddenly materialised around them like some dreadful magic trick. Dark, furtive shapes skulking behind a snow screen, wistful howls coming towards them. The monster that had threatened Yuffie crouched and leapt again, just clipping the edge of Flash's wing with a row of bright teeth. The Chocobo cried in pain and plunged to its feet, shaking off the monster and running away in a sudden panicky burst of speed.
"Yuffie!" Tifa cried. They all knew the consequences of getting lost in these mountains. She grabbed Storm's reins and leapt onto him, balancing somewhat awkwardly above the load. With a word, he broke into a gallop and raced across the treacherous surface towards the rapidly disappearing Yuffie.
- - - - - - -
It took almost ten minutes for the rest of the group to see off the pack and gather. "We'd better get after them," Cloud said in a shaken voice. "They can't spend the night out here,"
"It'll take hours of searchin' to catch up with those Chocobo," Barret commented. "We ain't going to make Icicle Inn tonight,"
Thoughts raced through all of their minds- of Tifa and Yuffie falling into a hidden icy crevasse, stumbling over a cliff, being attacked by the vicious hungry monsters of the region or simply freezing to death out in the blizzard. Then Vincent spoke.
"I could go after them," He said quietly. "If I transformed, I could see them far easier from the air. And Chaos doesn't particularly mind these conditions,"
"Might be the best decision," Cid said. "I hate to think of those two out there in this #&%!@! weather but vampy here's got the best chance of all of us,"
"We'll carry on to Icicle Inn then," Cloud said and they parted ways.
- - - - - -
It was ages before Flash finally stopped. The young Chocobo raced wildly across the mountain side, dodging splintered black trees that rose starkly from the ground. Yuffie clung weakly on, exhausted and thrown about wildly. Several times she almost slipped from the saddle as they raced along at dangerous speed, stumbling over the rough ground. Once, a crevasse seemed to open below them and only a huge leap saved them from falling into the icy gash. She sobbed quietly as she was jerked in the saddle and almost swept off by low branches. Then the tears froze on her skin in the cutting wind. It wasn't until they hit a snow drift that the Chocobo stumbled and fell forward, throwing Yuffie violently forward over its head. She landed hard and skidded on her side, the frozen snow drawing blood from scratches across her exposed skin. And she lay still.
Tifa went as fast as she dared in the difficult terrain. Storm wasn't used to this at all. Jagged black rocks rose from the snow, deep drifts threatened to drag him down and once they hit a patch of ice and made them skid sideways out of control. It was the most frightening ride of her life, especially after Yuffie disappeared from sight and she continued blindly on. Several times, Tifa felt Storm dodge great holes in the ground and each time she pictured Flash falling as one of the holes opened up beneath him. "Yuffie!" She cried, standing up in her stirrups. There was no answer beyond the rise and fall of the wind. It seemed to acquire an almost malicious note.
Yuffie thought she heard someone call her name. She raised her head an inch or so and opened her eyes. All white, as far as she could see. Was she in bed? She did feel quite deliciously warm. Snow was surprisingly insulating when it covered you in a soft blanket. And there was no pain now she was completely numb. She thought she heard voices again but she felt like she was in the grip of some powerful, pleasant anaesthetic. She dropped her head again and closed her eyes drowsily.
Tifa's voice was becoming hoarse. She felt tears threaten as she surveyed the scene. If only it would stop snowing! Yuffie might be just a little outside her vision. She began to turn Storm left, for no particular reason. They may have headed almost any way. Storm threw his head up and resisted. "Please Storm, behave yourself!" She pleaded as he turned the other way and set off purposely. "We need to find Yuffie!" The Chocobo ignored her frantic yanks at the reins and broke into a jog. Was he going back to the others? "No!" She kicked him and considered leaping from the saddle. But she wouldn't survive very long on her own and that would do Yuffie no good. She was still considering what to do when Storm let out a welcoming Waaark! and she saw the injured figure of Flash ahead hunched miserably against the wind, one leg bleeding and cut.
- - - - - - -
Meanwhile, Chaos wheeled above them, riding the cold winds with ease. Any feelings of worry Vincent may have felt were wiped away as the demon took over. His sharp eyes surveyed the world as he searched for a trace of Tifa and Yuffie, hoping he wouldn't be too late to stop them stumbling from a cliff or being attacked by monsters. Was that a patch of colour in the distance? He went into a steep dive, cutting through the cold crisp atmosphere.
- - - - - - -
"Flash!" Tifa cried out. Storm jogged over and greeted the smaller Chocobo enthusiastically. Tifa slid bonelessly from his back and stumbled weakily. "You did know what you were doing," She hugged the black Chocobo apologetically. "Now what have you done with Yuffie?". She briefly examined Flash's wound and then began walking to the right. And stopped dead in horror as she almost stumbled across the jagged edge of a sudden drop that opened, almost unseen before her. Had Yuffie been thrown over here?
"No!" Tifa cried, her voice choked with misery. She knelt and slowly felt before her until she felt the jagged icy edge of the cliff under her hands. Hardly daring to look, she peered over the edge and stared into oblivion.
"Please no.." She whispered senselessly. The black rocky cliff dropped steeply, occasional jagged outcrops showing against the winds that swirled and smashed themselves against it. There was too much snow to see how far down it went and whether she could have survived if she'd fallen that far. No splash of colour, no green blotch against the white. She slowly backed away and saw blood melting into the snow where Flash had stumbled and came down. If she had been facing the cliff there was a high chance that Yuffie had gone straight over!
Tifa didn't know what to do at all. She knew what she wanted to do, and that was curl up in the snow in a miserable little ball and wait for her hero to come and save her. But this was the real world and she needed to help Yuffie. She stood, tired and weak, and began walking in a circle around the Chocobo. Perhaps Yuffie had stumbled away from the scene. Perhaps.
It was only five minutes before Chaos's dark shape showed against the steely clouds. Tifa heard a whistle that was somehow different from the wind, coming from great demon wings, and looked upward to see an enormous black shape land softly not far away. There was a soft red glow and Vincent ran towards them.
"Are you ok?" He asked. Tifa shook her head.
"I think Yuffie might have gone over the cliff," She said, her voice soft with misery. A flicker of something passed over Vincent's usually impassive face. Of course he'd end up blaming himself for not coming faster. Tifa felt tears warm her numbed face. Vincent moved, perhaps to comfort her although he seemed incapable of such behaviour.
"We'd better carry on searching," He said awkwardly. Tifa nodded and they headed in opposite directions to continue searching the area. "Don't go too far," He warned her. "It's easy to lose your sense of direction,"
Tifa plodded through the snow gamely. Nothing but absolute whiteness. No Yuffie, curled up and complaining bitterly about how long they'd taken. Nothing as far as she could see. And then as she stumbled along blindly, she saw a tiny insignificant splash of red to her left. Fear brought her frozen muscles to life and with a sudden burst of speed she raced over and saw splashes of bright blood melting into the ice besides a lumpy patch of snow. She knelt and scraped away at it blindly, feeling something faintly soft below the thin layer. Green showed. "Yuffie!" she cried and reached, pulling the unconscious girl from the snow that buried her alive.
Vincent heard the thin cry and set off unerringly in the direction. He grabbed the Chocobo on the way and pulled them along with him, Flash limping miserably along. Then ahead of him he saw Tifa's back and her long dark hair speckled with snow. She cradled something in her arms and Vincent feared the worst.
Yuffie was alive, though weak and dangerously cold. Tifa wrapped her coat around the girl and held her tightly, unsure of what to do. Vincent arrived silently and cast a soft green glow of Cure magic around her. After a few minutes, Yuffie's dark brown eyes fluttered open and met Tifa's worried red ones. "Where am I?" She asked, disorientated. "Did Sephiroth come back?" Tifa shushed her silently and shook her head.
"We'll have to get her back as fast as possible," Vincent said quietly. He began transferring most of Storm's load onto Flash and used another dose of Cure to halt the pain and bleeding for the smaller Chocobo. Tifa looked up.
"Can't you take her as Chaos?" She asked desperately. Vincent shook his head.
"The wind gets worse higher up," he stated. "She'd freeze instantly,"
With that he turned away and pulled another materia from his collection. Time magic glowed against the cold background. "Haste," They watched as a reddish glow surrounded the two Chocobo. Tifa lifted Yuffie onto Storm's back and climbed behind her, wrapping her arms tightly around the younger girl. "Sorry," She whispered apologetically to Storm.
"I'll fly ahead and take them directly there," Vincent said, walking away. "Tifa, hold onto her," With that, Vincent was surrounded by light and suddenly Chaos rose against the sky.
The ride back took less than an hour with the Haste materia. Chaos darted ahead, selecting the easiest route and leading them away from difficult terrain. Tifa clung on desperately as the world passed by in a nightmare white haze. When they finally skidded to a halt and saw the lights of Icicle Inn welcoming, she was barely able to hold onto any more. Vincent took Yuffie from her, and steadied Tifa as she slid to the floor. Her legs almost gave way and she leaned against his side, trembling with exhaustion.
Icicle Inn blazed with warmth. There was a rush of voices as the sad little trio limped in. Yuffie was asleep again and lay unconscious within Vincent's arms. Tifa was streaked with blood from Yuffie's scratches and shaking uncontrollably as she held onto the wall. Cloud was there and instantly he raced over.
"What happened?" He demanded, sudden concern crossing his face as he saw Yuffie's silent form, streaked with blood.
"She should be fine," Vincent stated. "She just needs rest now," Cloud took the young girl from Vincent and carried her speedily upstairs. "You look rather dead too," Vincent said, turning to Tifa. "Go get some rest,"
She nodded and headed upstairs. When she finally reached her room, she collapsed onto the bed and instantly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.