Never Knew You
Part Two
Notes:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
His mission sounded simple enough: Go to Lucrecia's cave one last time. And tell her that Sephiroth was destroyed. He felt he had to do this. Sephiroth was her son, of course, and he felt he owed her that. His last atonement for her suffering.
Cid had vollunteered to go with him. He didn't want his friend to go alone, worried he might do something drastic by seeing his lost love. The pilot had explained his reason as just "to get away from the house" and for soemthing to do.
But Vincent knew Cid too well to accept his explination. Aware of the fact that the blond was there to watch him, he had wanted to move quickly, anxious to get to the cave.
Then the nightmares had come...
Those horrid relivings, as it seemed, of the experiments in the Shinra Mansion basement. The time when he bacame what he was now. And as painful as these were to him, he didn't dare explain them to Cid. Chaos could taunt him as he liked, but he would not drag the other in this anymore than he had unwittantly done himself already.
"I don't remember it takin' this long before..." Cid mumbled beside him, as the two rode gold chocobos along the path. Golden chocobos were rare, but each of the AVALANCHE members were given one as thanks for saving the Planet from Sephiroth. This came in very handy for the mission at hand.
"It might be because we didn't know what we were doing last time," Vincent answered the remark
Cid seemed to smile and frown at the same time. "You and your logic, Vin..."
It was humid this time of day, and the path they were riding seemed twice as long. It was rather uncomfortable riding the birds for an extended period of time, and as much as Vincent hated to admit it, his rear end was beginning to hurt.
"Vin, we gotta stop for a rest. My @$$ is hurtin like @#$%..."
Vincent almost laughed. Leave it to Highwind to say what he himself would not. 'And in a rather intersenting way, ne?' Chaos snickered from inside his head. He frowned.
Cid took this reaction as a reply to his outburst. "But if you wanna keep goin, that's okay..."
Vincent shook his head sharply, both to answer his companion as well as to clear it. "No, that's fine. We could both use a break, I suppose," he slid off the gold bird, "These things aren't the most comfortable to travel on."
"And that's puttin it mildly..." Cid muttered, joining his friend, who was now sitting in the grass beside the path.
The two sat in silence for awhile, the Chocobos making restless little noises every now and then, until Vincent couldn't take it anymore. Silence made his demons talk.
"Highind, why did you come with me?" he asked suddenly, causing Cid to start.
"Huh? I just wanted somethin to do, Vin. That's all." It was half the truth at least. Cid did want something to do. And if that 'something to do' involved being with Vincent, all the better according to the pilot.
"You're just here to make sure I don't kill myself or something like that," Vincent frowned.
"Actually, I hadn't thought of that," the blond replied hontestly, "Why? Are you planning that?"
"No, but..." he looked away from the other, "But...why else would you follow me here?"
Cid sighed inwardly. He hated when his friend talked like this. "You want the truth Vin? I came with you because you're my friend. And I wanna help..."
Another uncomfortable silence prevaded. Finally Vincent stood, holding his arm out to the other. "We should get going." I apologize.
Cid nodded, and let himself be pulled up by the taller man. "Yeah." I'm sorry too.
That's how it worked between them. It was unspoken. Each knew what the other meant, though neither said it aloud.
Hopping back on the golden birds, the pair continued on thier way to Lucrecia's Cave.
***
"Aw @#$%..." Cid glared at the cave, "We gotta climb now?"
"It appears so, Highwind," Vincent's voice nver changed its tone, although he too was crestfallen.
The earth had shifted during the earthquakes caused by Meteor's coming. Now the only enterance to the cave was higher up than either had expected. This meant a rather dangerous climb, with no equipment.
"@#$%..." Cid repeated this obsentity, then grabbed a rock jutting out of the cave-turned-cliff and started climbing. Vincent sighed and joined him, leaving the golden Chocobos on the ground.
Neither had much for conversation during the climb. Vincent, as usual, said little to nothing at all, and Cid mostly just repeated certain obsenites. About an hour later, they were nearing the top, when suddenly the rock Vincent was holding onto crumbled.
Vincent cried out in alarm as he began to plummet down the cliff. He squeezed his ruby eyes shut and prepared to hit the ground.
The impact never came. He looked up in amazement to see Cid holding the dark-haired man's cloak with one hand, while holding the rocks with the other.
"Highwind!" Vincent gasped.
"Don't worry Vin! I got you!" Cid struggled to pull Vincent back up, "@#$%!!"
The cloak was tearing. Both heard the sound of ripping fabric. Vincent continued staring at Cid, who was pushed to his limit trying to keep his friend from falling.
"Just let go Highwind," Vincent called.
"NO! Just listen! I'm gonna swing you to the cliff. You gotta grab the edge before this cape rips. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand!" Vincent allowed himself to be rocked toward the edge of the cliff, then dug his metal claw into the stones.
Secure in the knowledge that Vincent was safe, Cid let go of the cloak. They continued to climb.
"Thank you," Vincent said quietly.
Cid shrugged. "No problem. you'd have done the same for me!"
Soon Vincent had climbed ahead of his companion unconciously. Then he felt a tugging on his cloak. He thought it was the pilot, needing a pull up or something. He looked down. Cid had stopped also.
"It's stuck, you know," Cid stated, referring to the red fabric, "Caught in some rocks."
Vincent rolled his eyes. He was tired of this trouble. Keeping ahold of the wall with his claw, he undid the clasps of the cloak with his flesh hand, and let the cape fall, until it waved in the breeze like a dark crimson flag.
"That's one way to do it," Cid smirked.
Fortunately, the rest of the climb felt no incident. The pair stood at the enterance to teh cave, trying to catch their breath before stepping inside.
The cave was quiet and damp, like most caves were. But for some odd reason, it wasn't dark. A flickering light was present, lighting the caverns. Curious, the two walked towards the source of this light.
They came across a single man, sitting silently in one of the caverns. A small candle sat beside him, and from the size of it, Vincent guessed the man had been there for some time.
Moving in closer, they managed to see the man's face. Long brown hair, pulled into a loose ponytail. Eyes closed in concentration behind circular spectacles. Vincent's heart leapt in his throat. He managed a small hiss to the pilot beside him.
"Hojo!!!!"
To Be Continued....
Part Two
Notes:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
His mission sounded simple enough: Go to Lucrecia's cave one last time. And tell her that Sephiroth was destroyed. He felt he had to do this. Sephiroth was her son, of course, and he felt he owed her that. His last atonement for her suffering.
Cid had vollunteered to go with him. He didn't want his friend to go alone, worried he might do something drastic by seeing his lost love. The pilot had explained his reason as just "to get away from the house" and for soemthing to do.
But Vincent knew Cid too well to accept his explination. Aware of the fact that the blond was there to watch him, he had wanted to move quickly, anxious to get to the cave.
Then the nightmares had come...
Those horrid relivings, as it seemed, of the experiments in the Shinra Mansion basement. The time when he bacame what he was now. And as painful as these were to him, he didn't dare explain them to Cid. Chaos could taunt him as he liked, but he would not drag the other in this anymore than he had unwittantly done himself already.
"I don't remember it takin' this long before..." Cid mumbled beside him, as the two rode gold chocobos along the path. Golden chocobos were rare, but each of the AVALANCHE members were given one as thanks for saving the Planet from Sephiroth. This came in very handy for the mission at hand.
"It might be because we didn't know what we were doing last time," Vincent answered the remark
Cid seemed to smile and frown at the same time. "You and your logic, Vin..."
It was humid this time of day, and the path they were riding seemed twice as long. It was rather uncomfortable riding the birds for an extended period of time, and as much as Vincent hated to admit it, his rear end was beginning to hurt.
"Vin, we gotta stop for a rest. My @$$ is hurtin like @#$%..."
Vincent almost laughed. Leave it to Highwind to say what he himself would not. 'And in a rather intersenting way, ne?' Chaos snickered from inside his head. He frowned.
Cid took this reaction as a reply to his outburst. "But if you wanna keep goin, that's okay..."
Vincent shook his head sharply, both to answer his companion as well as to clear it. "No, that's fine. We could both use a break, I suppose," he slid off the gold bird, "These things aren't the most comfortable to travel on."
"And that's puttin it mildly..." Cid muttered, joining his friend, who was now sitting in the grass beside the path.
The two sat in silence for awhile, the Chocobos making restless little noises every now and then, until Vincent couldn't take it anymore. Silence made his demons talk.
"Highind, why did you come with me?" he asked suddenly, causing Cid to start.
"Huh? I just wanted somethin to do, Vin. That's all." It was half the truth at least. Cid did want something to do. And if that 'something to do' involved being with Vincent, all the better according to the pilot.
"You're just here to make sure I don't kill myself or something like that," Vincent frowned.
"Actually, I hadn't thought of that," the blond replied hontestly, "Why? Are you planning that?"
"No, but..." he looked away from the other, "But...why else would you follow me here?"
Cid sighed inwardly. He hated when his friend talked like this. "You want the truth Vin? I came with you because you're my friend. And I wanna help..."
Another uncomfortable silence prevaded. Finally Vincent stood, holding his arm out to the other. "We should get going." I apologize.
Cid nodded, and let himself be pulled up by the taller man. "Yeah." I'm sorry too.
That's how it worked between them. It was unspoken. Each knew what the other meant, though neither said it aloud.
Hopping back on the golden birds, the pair continued on thier way to Lucrecia's Cave.
***
"Aw @#$%..." Cid glared at the cave, "We gotta climb now?"
"It appears so, Highwind," Vincent's voice nver changed its tone, although he too was crestfallen.
The earth had shifted during the earthquakes caused by Meteor's coming. Now the only enterance to the cave was higher up than either had expected. This meant a rather dangerous climb, with no equipment.
"@#$%..." Cid repeated this obsentity, then grabbed a rock jutting out of the cave-turned-cliff and started climbing. Vincent sighed and joined him, leaving the golden Chocobos on the ground.
Neither had much for conversation during the climb. Vincent, as usual, said little to nothing at all, and Cid mostly just repeated certain obsenites. About an hour later, they were nearing the top, when suddenly the rock Vincent was holding onto crumbled.
Vincent cried out in alarm as he began to plummet down the cliff. He squeezed his ruby eyes shut and prepared to hit the ground.
The impact never came. He looked up in amazement to see Cid holding the dark-haired man's cloak with one hand, while holding the rocks with the other.
"Highwind!" Vincent gasped.
"Don't worry Vin! I got you!" Cid struggled to pull Vincent back up, "@#$%!!"
The cloak was tearing. Both heard the sound of ripping fabric. Vincent continued staring at Cid, who was pushed to his limit trying to keep his friend from falling.
"Just let go Highwind," Vincent called.
"NO! Just listen! I'm gonna swing you to the cliff. You gotta grab the edge before this cape rips. Got it?"
"Yes, I understand!" Vincent allowed himself to be rocked toward the edge of the cliff, then dug his metal claw into the stones.
Secure in the knowledge that Vincent was safe, Cid let go of the cloak. They continued to climb.
"Thank you," Vincent said quietly.
Cid shrugged. "No problem. you'd have done the same for me!"
Soon Vincent had climbed ahead of his companion unconciously. Then he felt a tugging on his cloak. He thought it was the pilot, needing a pull up or something. He looked down. Cid had stopped also.
"It's stuck, you know," Cid stated, referring to the red fabric, "Caught in some rocks."
Vincent rolled his eyes. He was tired of this trouble. Keeping ahold of the wall with his claw, he undid the clasps of the cloak with his flesh hand, and let the cape fall, until it waved in the breeze like a dark crimson flag.
"That's one way to do it," Cid smirked.
Fortunately, the rest of the climb felt no incident. The pair stood at the enterance to teh cave, trying to catch their breath before stepping inside.
The cave was quiet and damp, like most caves were. But for some odd reason, it wasn't dark. A flickering light was present, lighting the caverns. Curious, the two walked towards the source of this light.
They came across a single man, sitting silently in one of the caverns. A small candle sat beside him, and from the size of it, Vincent guessed the man had been there for some time.
Moving in closer, they managed to see the man's face. Long brown hair, pulled into a loose ponytail. Eyes closed in concentration behind circular spectacles. Vincent's heart leapt in his throat. He managed a small hiss to the pilot beside him.
"Hojo!!!!"
To Be Continued....