Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Lady Death

Cloud slid off of his chocobo with practiced ease and turned to help Tifa off of the selfsame black-feathered back that they had been sharing. She supported herself on his shoulders and smiled her thanks as he placed her easily on the ground, the thick grass beneath helping to steady her landing.

The black chocobo, one of the teenaged chocobos of Ryu's brood, threw back its head and squawked cheerfully. It waited for Yuffie and Zeno to dismount from its sibling, large eyes blinking. Once its sibling was free, they both made their curious cooing noises and dashed back across the plain, heading towards the ocean and Wutai.

Yuffie waved like a lunatic at their departing backs, even though she knew just as well as the others that the two chocobos couldn't see her. "Say 'hi' to Cloud Junior for me!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Cloud sighed. "Yuffie, why the hell did you have to go and name that gawky little thing after me?"

The ninja stopped waving and turned to Cloud, sticking her tongue out at him. "I told you. He looked like you."

"So this' Rocket Town?" Zeno commented, staring up at the buildings in front of them. "And who lives here again?"

"One of our friends, Cid Highwind," Cloud replied with a quick grin. "We met him almost five years ago, and we haven't really seen him since. Actually," he added with a ponderous frown, "I wonder if he even remembers us."

"Who else would that oldie have to remember?" Yuffie commented slyly. "He's probably the true leader of Rocket Town by now. I wonder if he and Shera have gotten anywhere…?"

"Oh, Yuffie," Tifa groaned. "Please, don't even go there."

* * *

"The Captain? Oh, he's probably at the Highwind," the Shanghai Inn's owner said in reply to Cloud's question. He pointed in the general direction of where the huge airship was located. "Will you folks be staying here tonight?"

"Maybe a little later. Book a room for us, please. If we're not back by, oh…say about two hours from now, you can give the room up," Cloud told the man. "Put it under the name 'Strife.'"

"Strife," the man muttered as he wrote the name down in his check-in book. His eyes widened for a bare instant, and then he was staring back up at Cloud again with awed brown eyes. "Cloud Strife? The Captain's friend?"

"Er, yes, I suppose that would be me," Cloud muttered.

"You…you stayed here before, didn't you? With your other friends! Maybe five years ago, before you…saved the Planet…" He turned his eyes towards Tifa and Yuffie, moving them past Zeno. "I think I remember these two ladies. Where're the others?"

Tifa smiled warmly. "We got a bit split up, but we're trying to get back together with them right now to show them our, um…newest addition to the 'family.'" She pulled Zeno out from the back of the quartet. "This' Zeno."

"Zeno?" The owner's eyes inspected the young man. "He reminds me of that other man, what's his name? The rather strange, quiet one with the red eyes."

"Who, Vincent?" Yuffie responded. "Yeah, sounds like a fair description to me."

"And what happened to him?"

Cloud shrugged. "We really don't know. He sort of disappeared not too soon after we…well, yeah."

The man shook his head slowly. "I'm not too surprised. You could tell from his stance that he didn't really belong in the group. There must have been some ulterior motive for him being there."

"How do you know so much, old man?" Yuffie demanded eagerly.

" 'Old man'? Hmm. Well, after seeing as many people as I have witnessed with these eyes…" He tapped the side of one of his eyes. "You get to learn how to observe people very well."

"What brought Vincent up, anyway?" Tifa asked curiously. Hearing what the man had to say made her gentle heart feel slightly ashamed that she had never tried to talk to Vincent. However, the mysterious man's chilling aura and the reminder of the dangerous power he carried within him kept Tifa well away from even greeting him.

"Well…I happen to know someone who reminds me of him. I was sort of wondering if they knew each other…Oh, I shouldn't delay you four much longer! Have a nice talk with the Captain, and I'll hopefully see you again in a couple of hours!"

Cloud nodded at the hotel owner and herded his group out of the Shanghai Inn, heading towards the back of Rocket Town. In place of the leaning rocket that had given the village its name years ago, towered an airship with a motif written on the side of one gondola: The Highwind.

Zeno stopped well within the shadow of the Highwind and simply stared up, showing the first amazement he had ever exhibited since they had left Wutai. "Wow. This is so…cool."

Cloud chuckled, remembering the exact same words he had said years ago, but of a different, smaller vehicle. "Let's introduce you to the pilot, kid. He'll probably be willing to give us a lift in it, too…well, hopefully."

The group went up the ladder that led into a platform with a rounded bottom suspended from the mid-bottom portion of the Highwind. The only protection that helped prevent people from falling off was a guardrail traveling around the outer edge of the platform. Here, Yuffie found memories flooding back to her of spending her first few terrifyingly airsick minutes on the Highwind lying eagle spread on this same deck, too green in the face and queasy to move. Eventually, she had somehow managed to drag herself down to the cargo area of the Highwind, where she spent most of her time convulsing in misery.

"Memories, Yuffie?" Cloud teased when he saw Yuffie blanch at the sight of the familiar wooden deck.

"Oh, shut up, you pokey headed jerk," she muttered back, feeling airsick already even though her feet hadn't even left the ground yet.

"Excuse me. Can I help you?"

The woman emerging from the stairway that led into the cargo bay and cockpit of the Highwind had brown hair tied into a bun and wore a white lab coat. She stared at them with confused light brown eyes, as if she were trying to remember if she knew them from somewhere. "Do I…?"

"Shera!" Tifa exclaimed, running towards the older engineer. "How are you? How's Cid?"

Shera frowned as she examined the younger woman. "Wait…Tifa? Tifa Lockheart? Is that you?"

"Of course it is!" Tifa laughed. "Who else would it be, Shera?"

"Oh!" Shera looked past Tifa to the other three that still stood on the deck. "Then all of you are…Yuffie and Cloud? But who's he, then?" She turned to Zeno.

"We're going to introduce him to you," Cloud interrupted with a smile. "But first, we have to talk to Cid. Where is he?"

"The Captain's below in the cockpit," Shera replied, pointing downwards at her feet where the cockpit was presumed to be. "He practically lives there now. Follow me; I'll go see if he's busy or not!"

The foursome trailed after the woman as she descended on the familiar metal stairs and led them over a ramp towards a separate room. Zeno kept turning his head as they passed by equipment and other storage, dark black eyes wide with amazement.

"Boys with their toys," Yuffie muttered in resignation.

"Ya? What is it?" A gruff voice answered to Shera's tapping on a nearby control panel. A dirty blonde head poked up from the front of another control panel, where he had apparently been repairing something.

"Captain? There're some people here to see you," Shera replied patiently.

Cid Highwind slid out from behind the control panel, wiping his hands on an already oil-streaked cloth. "Yeah? They'd better have something pretty damn important, or I'll—" He stopped short as he stared at the people waiting behind Shera. "It's…"

"Cid!" Cloud called, smiling despite himself at the sight of the rough pilot.

"Damn!" Cid roared, bounding forward with the energy of a teenager twice his junior. "Cloud! Hell, but it's good to see you idiots again!"

"Yeah, wonderful to see you, too, you moron," Yuffie shot back as she was whacked heartily on the back by Cid. "Oof! Take it easy, why don't you! Your dumb little airship here caused me enough pain in the past!"

Cid turned to Cloud, his grin widening as he caught sight of Zeno, who was half-hiding as usual behind the rest. "And who's this, Cloud? The kid looks like I'm going to eat him or something!"

Cloud dragged Zeno forward by the arm. "This kid's Zeno. Sort of my nephew, okay? Take it easy on him!"

"Nephew, huh?" Cid examined Zeno, chewing on a cigarette that hung out of the corner of his mouth. "Say, you look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"

Tifa tapped Cid on the back, drawing the pilot's attention to her. "We'll talk to you about him later, Cid," she whispered in a tone that was low enough so that even Zeno didn't catch her.

Cid nodded. "So, what brings you guys here? Just to introduce this kid to me?" He glanced at Cloud. "Knowing you, you probably want something…"

"Um, not exactly," Cloud bluffed. "Well, uh…it's sort of…personal."

"Hey, I get it." Cid turned to Shera. "Shera, can ya show the kid around the Highwind? It looks like he's dying to take a good look at the place. And get some tea while you're at it."

"Yes, sir," Shera replied, beckoning to Zeno. "Right this way, Zeno."

Zeno left, giving one suspicious backward glance at the group of old friends before leaving, the door sliding shut behind him.

* * *

"…So this is our mechanics room. It, um, needs its annual repairs, so please don't mind the mess…" Shera led Zeno into the room that was lined with huge metal canister-like machines that were completely silent at the moment. "Dusk?"

A dark-haired head of hair appeared from behind one of the "canisters," much in the same way that Cid's had from behind the control panel. However, this person was a girl in her early twenties and had the looks of someone who didn't come from anywhere in this area. "Yes, Shera?"

"Zeno, this is our head of the Highwind staff, Dusk Hart," Shera introduced. "Dusk, this is Zeno. He's sort of visiting."

Dusk rolled neatly out from behind the "canister" and rose, extending one hand towards the man. "Hello."

Zeno took her hand and shook it, examining the girl carefully. She was slender and as graceful as a dancer, although she had the frigid air of a day deep within winter. Her appearance was of someone who belonged in the house of a noble rather than the mechanics room of an airship, clad in a protective coverall. Her hair was long and raven black, at the moment bound out of her way in a ponytail, and her eyes were a strangely glowing bloody red. Her face was icily pale, and the way her lips remained together suggested that she didn't smile very often.

Why does she remind me of me? Zeno thought to himself as he released his grip. She carries herself like a fighter, not a mechanic. And the way she moves…

"Motor Ten is finished, Shera," Dusk said, interrupting Zeno's observations. "Eleven and Twelve will be finished by early tomorrow."

Shera nodded in satisfaction. "Take a break, Dusk. You've been working all day. Come on, you can help me show Zeno around, since you probably know this place better than me."

Dusk nodded in slow agreement, then turned and stripped off her worker's coverall, hanging it on a hook from a wall. Her outfit underneath was obviously not her best clothing; it consisted of a simple tank top-and-shorts combination. "Have you gone to the kitchens yet?"

"Ah, no. And speaking of which, the Captain is speaking with the other members of Zeno's group and asked for some tea."

"The usual?"

"Probably."

Zeno continued his brooding as the two women led the way into the next room, his eyes resting on Dusk's back.

She's hiding something, too…just like Uncle Cloud…

* * *

"The kid's…what?" Cid stared at Cloud in complete shock. "You're kiddin' me, right?"

Cloud shook his head regretfully. "Unfortunately, no. There's a very good chance that he is the reincarnation of Sephiroth. He doesn't know it yet, but he's starting to act more and more like…him. How old do you think he is, Cid?"

Cid chewed his cigarette nearly in half. "Huh? Well…mid-twenties, I'm guessin'."

"He's four and a half."

Cid dropped his already-extinguished cigarette. "What?!"

"He grew quickly not only in his mother's womb, but once he was born as well. Physically and mentally, he's about twenty-four. And…Cid, he's a deadly fighter." Cloud frowned slightly at the memory. "Hell, last time I sparred with him, he beat me to the ground with three moves. And…he's fast. He's more than fast; he's…I don't know. Faster than anything I've ever seen before."

"But his hair…"

"And his eyes? It doesn't really excuse anything. I mean, damn…his hairstyle is still the same. The bangs and the length, never mind that he keeps it in a ponytail. Zeno's no normal kid. He reads almost excessively, too, as if he's hungering after some knowledge that he can't get from us. And…" Cloud paused. "Well, he's had some dreams recently. He said that it was like someone was calling him, and then he got a vague image of a crater. More specifically, it sounded like the North Crater."

"Something's calling him to the North Crater?" Cid frowned. "What would it be? Jenova's dead, isn't she?"

"That's…what we think. But there's a bare possibility that she might not be," Tifa answered. "I've been thinking about it, and…What if that last Jenova we fought in the Crater wasn't really the last one? What if there was another piece hidden somewhere, and its grown back into a full Jenova? Just…waiting to strike."

Cid shivered. "Damn. And here I was thinkin' that you guys had some good news at last. Well…does the kid know Dusk?"

"Dusk? Dusk who?" Yuffie asked, wrinkling her brow.

"Dusk Hart, my head of the Highwind staff. She's…sort of strange, too."

"Like how?" Cloud questioned with the curiosity of any human meeting with foreign news.

"Well, she's…actually, she kinda reminds me of Vincent. You know, the stiff? Black hair, red eyes, fighter, ex-member of the Turks…"

"Who? Vincent or this Dusk person?"

"Both of them. They're so similar that it's uncanny. Just that Dusk is a girl, and Vincent's…well. She doesn't seem to have an artificial limb, though. Smart kid and one hell of a mechanic, but it's the way she arrived in Rocket Town that had me thinking."

"The way she arrived?" Tifa repeated. "How?"

Cid scratched the side of his head. "Well, this kid's got a bounty on her head. It's a bounty for murder…just like how most of the Turks have, too. Except…she's got a nickname on hers." His voice lowered as he spoke. "They call her Lady Death."