The Headless Aftermath and Other Rats in the Sun
A piece of prose brought to you by: Readers Like You!
Phoenix Down
"Help! Help! We're being repressed!" (The Socialist peasant in the movie, "Monty Python's search for the Holy Grail.")
"What took you so long?" Yuffie rubbed her eyes and asked sleepily as Vincent returned. In his arms was a huge amount of firewood.
His cape was slightly torn and his face was scratched and smeared with filth.
"I ran into a few monsters. But it was not anything that I could not handle." He tossed the firewood to Yuffie's feet.
"I collected, you build."
"What?!" Yuffie exclaimed as she sat up. "I don't know how to build a fire with nothing!"
"Don't you have any materia?"
She paused, and looked to her cold feet.
"...Don't you?" She asked quietly.
"NO! I've been in a basement for five years!" He snarled back. He scowled as he sat down beside her.
"Well... uhm. I guess we could rub two sticks together. Or clap rocks, you know?" She suggested as her face rose to meet his red eyes.
"You do it. I collected firewood. Besides," He added as he clutched his metal claw. "I only have one GOOD hand."
"Fine!" She dove down to the firewood, and took two presentable looking sticks. Harshly, she began rubbing them.
Under the deep-set moonlight and chilly night breeze, Vincent watched her with a hidden amused expression.
Every try she made, was in vain.
"...Are you going to keep failing? I'm getting a bit cold, you know. And the night isn't getting any younger."
She threw the sticks aside, and glared at him. "Then, why don't you start helping and stop complaining!!"
He chuckled to himself.
"I've figured it out. You came to see me because you were lonely. You really can't stand me, can you?"
She didn't reply. Yuffie picked up to more sticks and began rubbing them together.
"That's it, then. You came to find me because you were lonely. If someone were closer proximity to you, you would have sought them out."
"............I can survive JUST FINE by mySELF, thank you very much."
"Then, why can't you make fire?" Vincent picked up a twig and spoke as he traced the tip of it around his feet.
"...I can- see!" As Yuffie talked, a spark flew up from her sticks and ignited the surrounding kindling.
"Hmph. Took you long enough."
"In your FACE, Tall-Dark-and-Scary!"
"Whatever. Here, help me feed the flame. Don't smother it."
Not a word went between them as they fed the tiny orange fire. It took nearly a half hour and several more stick rubbings before a healthy flame withstood the wind and darkness.
Yuffie laid down several feet away from Vincent, and encompassed her head with her thin arms.
Vincent sat upright with his arms wrapped about his stomach, and leaned against a large rock, trying his best to rest his eyes.
"Vinnie?"
"Don't call me that." Vincent responded coldly as he stared into the fire.
Yuffie raised her head a little. "Don't be such a prat."
Vincent retorted with silence.
"Can I call you Vince, then?"
"Fine." He subsided and slid downward as so only his head rested against the rock. His lengthy raven colored hair made spider web patterns upon the stone's surface.
"Why are you... so... screwed up?"
"Define 'screwed up?'"
"Like..." She searched for words as her eyes searched the ground for nearby insects. "Like, your anti-social, and you dress weird, and you get those weird spaz-mo moments, and ... and like, like you never talk to anyone, or anything. And you have this thing with Hojo and Lucr-"
He shot her an icy, bullet filled glare.
"See, like- like moment's like THAT! Why don't you TALK to anyone like NORMAL people!? And WHY do you sleep in a COFFIN in the Shin-Ra's BASEMENT! It's really, really CREEPY."
"Because. I. Want. To."
Yuffie sat up. "That's not a good enough REASON!"
Vincent sat up. "Why do you steal people's materia?"
"Because it's at least USEFUL!" She screamed.
They stared at each other. One could feel the ice dividing the great gapping space between them with a thin, cold line.
"Your such a PRICK, Vincent!"
"...And your... such a... brat, Yuffie."
"OH! Look whose using name calling, now!"
"I don't WANT to get a argument with you, Yuffie. You know, you haven't changed since "The Incident," you know? It has been five years, and you STILL act like an immature 16 year old."
"And YOU don't know how to even HAVE fun!"
Vincent replied with a grunt.
Yuffie rolled her eyes into, what seemed like, the back of her head.
"That's such a guy thing, you know that?! You're just like ever other guy! Your- your like- cold, and you grunt, and you hide your emotions to act all big, bad, and macho, and everything, and dramatic, but you know what!? You know what, Vincent, your NOT!"
"Your entitled to your own opinion."
She sat up on her knees, and her voice echoed off into the treetops.
"Yeah, I am, and you know what MY opinion is of you-"
She was cut off by a loud, rolling growl off in the black forest.
"Hold me." Yuffie swallowed.
~
Reeve cursed. He dropped his eyes down, and stared at his well-polished shoes. 'Just HOW could these people TRUST a man like Dante Julius?' He thought to himself. 'He is a prick, and a snake. Dark days are coming to Midgar- and the rest of that world, for that matter, again.' Reeve shoved his cold hands deep into the crevasses of his pockets, and flipped up his leather jacket's collar.
The cool cobble stone streets wandered into shadowed corners and filthy walls. Midgar was a dank city art night. 'Come to think of it,' Reeve thinks silently to himself, 'Midgar is a midnight city. It always seems dark out even on the brightest and crisp of days...' He lifted his face and looked up into the "sky" as he walked down Sector 2. It wasn't even a sky. It was truly a ceiling.
A ceiling at Dante Julius now had complete control over.
As Reeve continued his walk, a stench crawled under his nose. He glanced to his side, and saw a homeless woman smile up at him. He tossed a few gil that he had in his pocket to her, and continued on.
Upon a park bench, and under the halo of sodium yellow streetlights, a couple of women were talking together.
"I think that' he is kinda... you know, cute- for a president."
"He isn't better looking than Rufus."
"That doesn't really matter, uh, do you think that he will do a good job-"
Reeve ignored them, and continued on. He thought to himself- that they had no idea what they were in for.
"Reeve... oh, god, Reeve, is that- uh- you? I- I can't fucking believe it's really... really... you."
As Reeve turned the corner, a weak voice came out from a black, oily ally way.
Reeve stopped, and removed his hands from his jacket pockets.
"Tseng!?"
~
Tifa walked from drawer to closet, collecting her things. Her lacy panties, her jeans and hair dryer. She sighed. She didn't want Barret to know that she was leaving his house early to see Cloud.
All these years, she thought that she was in love with Cloud- never had he reciprocated the feelings back to her.
Then Aeris came along- since she died- she and Cloud left so many things unsaid.
At least- there were so many things she left unsaid to HIM.
She was never jealous of Aeris, not really. She felt that she was happy that there was a woman in Cloud's life that was capable of making him happy. She was just sorry that it was not she.
Then, Aeris died.
What now? After, "The Incident," they just went their own ways. Barret and Tifa were still close friends- they had been for years. They were in AVALANCHE together. Why didn't she see that he was looking for someone to love- and someone to be a mother to Marlene?
But... she had feeling for Cloud...
What will come of this... will things change after she goes to Costa del Sol and TALK to him- really talk to him?
How will Barret feel? She didn't want to loose her friendship over this...
Is it- worth it?
This could be true love!
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Cloud REALLY doesn't feel that way. But he sounded excited over the phone to hear from her. Maybe he just wanted to be friends again.
Tifa sighed, and threw her t- shirt on the bed beside her suitcase. Then, the tossed herself on top of it, and felt herself cry.
It was not a bitter weep, but a subtle cry.
The silky white sunlight slipped through the window glass, and settled onto her skin.
A piece of prose brought to you by: Readers Like You!
Phoenix Down
"Help! Help! We're being repressed!" (The Socialist peasant in the movie, "Monty Python's search for the Holy Grail.")
"What took you so long?" Yuffie rubbed her eyes and asked sleepily as Vincent returned. In his arms was a huge amount of firewood.
His cape was slightly torn and his face was scratched and smeared with filth.
"I ran into a few monsters. But it was not anything that I could not handle." He tossed the firewood to Yuffie's feet.
"I collected, you build."
"What?!" Yuffie exclaimed as she sat up. "I don't know how to build a fire with nothing!"
"Don't you have any materia?"
She paused, and looked to her cold feet.
"...Don't you?" She asked quietly.
"NO! I've been in a basement for five years!" He snarled back. He scowled as he sat down beside her.
"Well... uhm. I guess we could rub two sticks together. Or clap rocks, you know?" She suggested as her face rose to meet his red eyes.
"You do it. I collected firewood. Besides," He added as he clutched his metal claw. "I only have one GOOD hand."
"Fine!" She dove down to the firewood, and took two presentable looking sticks. Harshly, she began rubbing them.
Under the deep-set moonlight and chilly night breeze, Vincent watched her with a hidden amused expression.
Every try she made, was in vain.
"...Are you going to keep failing? I'm getting a bit cold, you know. And the night isn't getting any younger."
She threw the sticks aside, and glared at him. "Then, why don't you start helping and stop complaining!!"
He chuckled to himself.
"I've figured it out. You came to see me because you were lonely. You really can't stand me, can you?"
She didn't reply. Yuffie picked up to more sticks and began rubbing them together.
"That's it, then. You came to find me because you were lonely. If someone were closer proximity to you, you would have sought them out."
"............I can survive JUST FINE by mySELF, thank you very much."
"Then, why can't you make fire?" Vincent picked up a twig and spoke as he traced the tip of it around his feet.
"...I can- see!" As Yuffie talked, a spark flew up from her sticks and ignited the surrounding kindling.
"Hmph. Took you long enough."
"In your FACE, Tall-Dark-and-Scary!"
"Whatever. Here, help me feed the flame. Don't smother it."
Not a word went between them as they fed the tiny orange fire. It took nearly a half hour and several more stick rubbings before a healthy flame withstood the wind and darkness.
Yuffie laid down several feet away from Vincent, and encompassed her head with her thin arms.
Vincent sat upright with his arms wrapped about his stomach, and leaned against a large rock, trying his best to rest his eyes.
"Vinnie?"
"Don't call me that." Vincent responded coldly as he stared into the fire.
Yuffie raised her head a little. "Don't be such a prat."
Vincent retorted with silence.
"Can I call you Vince, then?"
"Fine." He subsided and slid downward as so only his head rested against the rock. His lengthy raven colored hair made spider web patterns upon the stone's surface.
"Why are you... so... screwed up?"
"Define 'screwed up?'"
"Like..." She searched for words as her eyes searched the ground for nearby insects. "Like, your anti-social, and you dress weird, and you get those weird spaz-mo moments, and ... and like, like you never talk to anyone, or anything. And you have this thing with Hojo and Lucr-"
He shot her an icy, bullet filled glare.
"See, like- like moment's like THAT! Why don't you TALK to anyone like NORMAL people!? And WHY do you sleep in a COFFIN in the Shin-Ra's BASEMENT! It's really, really CREEPY."
"Because. I. Want. To."
Yuffie sat up. "That's not a good enough REASON!"
Vincent sat up. "Why do you steal people's materia?"
"Because it's at least USEFUL!" She screamed.
They stared at each other. One could feel the ice dividing the great gapping space between them with a thin, cold line.
"Your such a PRICK, Vincent!"
"...And your... such a... brat, Yuffie."
"OH! Look whose using name calling, now!"
"I don't WANT to get a argument with you, Yuffie. You know, you haven't changed since "The Incident," you know? It has been five years, and you STILL act like an immature 16 year old."
"And YOU don't know how to even HAVE fun!"
Vincent replied with a grunt.
Yuffie rolled her eyes into, what seemed like, the back of her head.
"That's such a guy thing, you know that?! You're just like ever other guy! Your- your like- cold, and you grunt, and you hide your emotions to act all big, bad, and macho, and everything, and dramatic, but you know what!? You know what, Vincent, your NOT!"
"Your entitled to your own opinion."
She sat up on her knees, and her voice echoed off into the treetops.
"Yeah, I am, and you know what MY opinion is of you-"
She was cut off by a loud, rolling growl off in the black forest.
"Hold me." Yuffie swallowed.
~
Reeve cursed. He dropped his eyes down, and stared at his well-polished shoes. 'Just HOW could these people TRUST a man like Dante Julius?' He thought to himself. 'He is a prick, and a snake. Dark days are coming to Midgar- and the rest of that world, for that matter, again.' Reeve shoved his cold hands deep into the crevasses of his pockets, and flipped up his leather jacket's collar.
The cool cobble stone streets wandered into shadowed corners and filthy walls. Midgar was a dank city art night. 'Come to think of it,' Reeve thinks silently to himself, 'Midgar is a midnight city. It always seems dark out even on the brightest and crisp of days...' He lifted his face and looked up into the "sky" as he walked down Sector 2. It wasn't even a sky. It was truly a ceiling.
A ceiling at Dante Julius now had complete control over.
As Reeve continued his walk, a stench crawled under his nose. He glanced to his side, and saw a homeless woman smile up at him. He tossed a few gil that he had in his pocket to her, and continued on.
Upon a park bench, and under the halo of sodium yellow streetlights, a couple of women were talking together.
"I think that' he is kinda... you know, cute- for a president."
"He isn't better looking than Rufus."
"That doesn't really matter, uh, do you think that he will do a good job-"
Reeve ignored them, and continued on. He thought to himself- that they had no idea what they were in for.
"Reeve... oh, god, Reeve, is that- uh- you? I- I can't fucking believe it's really... really... you."
As Reeve turned the corner, a weak voice came out from a black, oily ally way.
Reeve stopped, and removed his hands from his jacket pockets.
"Tseng!?"
~
Tifa walked from drawer to closet, collecting her things. Her lacy panties, her jeans and hair dryer. She sighed. She didn't want Barret to know that she was leaving his house early to see Cloud.
All these years, she thought that she was in love with Cloud- never had he reciprocated the feelings back to her.
Then Aeris came along- since she died- she and Cloud left so many things unsaid.
At least- there were so many things she left unsaid to HIM.
She was never jealous of Aeris, not really. She felt that she was happy that there was a woman in Cloud's life that was capable of making him happy. She was just sorry that it was not she.
Then, Aeris died.
What now? After, "The Incident," they just went their own ways. Barret and Tifa were still close friends- they had been for years. They were in AVALANCHE together. Why didn't she see that he was looking for someone to love- and someone to be a mother to Marlene?
But... she had feeling for Cloud...
What will come of this... will things change after she goes to Costa del Sol and TALK to him- really talk to him?
How will Barret feel? She didn't want to loose her friendship over this...
Is it- worth it?
This could be true love!
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Cloud REALLY doesn't feel that way. But he sounded excited over the phone to hear from her. Maybe he just wanted to be friends again.
Tifa sighed, and threw her t- shirt on the bed beside her suitcase. Then, the tossed herself on top of it, and felt herself cry.
It was not a bitter weep, but a subtle cry.
The silky white sunlight slipped through the window glass, and settled onto her skin.