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.
Vincent and Red XIII had taken first guard over the Black Materia. They guarded it within their room with great care. It would take a remarkable person to get past the keen senses and intuition of the pair.
Red XIII studied the black orb. "It's strange to think how so much power can be held here," He mused, gazing into the opaque ball. A dash of scarlet swirled slowly across the surface. It was so dense, so dark that not even his amber eyes were reflected in the surface.
"But it's only dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands," Vincent pointed out. "It takes great power to summon Meteor. Without that power, it is as harmless as a child's toy,"
"Even so, I would hate to see it left unguarded," Red XIII shivered. "I would rather it was destroyed, but to destroy something of this power would be unthinkable. It could cause any kind of imbalance in the Lifestream,"
"You are wise beyond your years," Vincent commented as he stared out of the window. Red XIII was but a child in terms of his species, although he had lived almost as long as the former Turk. He was blessed with a great lifespan, whereas Vincent was effectively immortal thanks to Hojo. The two of them would walk the Planet long after their comrades had passed on to the Lifestream. If the Planet still existed. Red XIII shivered and whisked his fiery tail nervously across the floor.
"Someone has entered the village," Vincent said in a tense, strained voice.
"It could be anyone," Red XIII said as he bounded up to look.
"I doubt it," Vincent stared down at the person. Dressed entirely in black, they would go unnoticed by all except Vincent. Red XIII stared intently, but the figure seemed to melt into shadows. Vincent's breath caught in a slight gasp.
"Take the materia and rouse the others," Vincent said in a neutral, calm voice.
"It's him?" Red XIII said, frozen in position.
"Just go!" Vincent whispered and pushed the cat like creature towards the materia. Red XIII sprang to life and grasped the Black Materia firmly within his jaws. He clipped it into the armband he wore around one paw and bounded sleekly from the room. Vincent waited until Red XIII had left before pushing open the window and slipping onto the roof as silently as a shadow. He had seen the sudden Mako-green glow of life in the blackness. He would follow the figure.
- - - - - -
Yuffie was lost in pleasant drowsy dreams of Materia and naked Renos, when a sudden pressure awoke her. "Go away..!" she mumbled sleepily.
"Yuffie, wake up! It's important!"
Yuffie didn't want to wake up into a world on edge, where comrades died and they faced an unimaginable danger. But the pressure was there and she opened her eyes to see Red XIII's paw on her shoulder.
"We could be in great danger!" He hissed. "We need to get out of here, quickly!"
Yuffie sprang out of bed instantly, despite being clad in little more than a bra and underwear. "Oops," She blushed and hastily pulled her clothes on. "Wake Tifa and get out of here!" Red XIII said quietly. "I'll get the others. We're going out the back way,"
Yuffie and Tifa moved as quickly and quietly as they dared, following Red XIII. The red creature had roused the others and they stood tense and worried in Cloud's room which was nearest the back. "Out the window!" Red XIII hissed. "Sephiroth is around the front. Vincent will slow him down if he follow," A rush of concern ran through Tifa at the thought of the dark man against the dangerous Sephiroth. She had become strangely attached to the distant, lonely man. But she bit her lip and reminded herself that Vincent could look after himself.
They quietly crept out of the window and down the ivy into the neat garden behind the Inn. The garden faded into a forest at the end and they could make their way through there to the Highwind without being easily detected by Sephiroth. Cloud made his way out first, dropping silently to the ground. The ground dropped steeply behind the inn and it was a long way down. Tifa went next, moving silently with great agility. Kuja didn't bother with the ivy and simply floated earthward in a soft silver haze. The others followed quickly until only Yuffie and Red XIII were left.
"Go on!" he pushed her with one massive red paw. Yuffie trembled. She wasn't particularly fond of heights. She heaved herself up into the open frame reluctantly and looked at him pleadingly. He glared at her and she reached out and caught hold of the rather flimsy ivy. It felt unpleasantly pliable beneath her fingers and she gripped it tightly as she slid out and nudged her feet into holds. Yuffie had barely lowered herself beneath the window when her hand slipped and she panicked, grabbing for the window. Her hand slipped on the smooth wood and she fell towards the stony ground, biting her lip to avoid screaming and giving them away.
The impact she braced herself for never came. Instead a sudden light flickered and she found herself hovering perhaps two inches above the ground. Kuja had his hand raised and an amused smile playing on his lips. As the light slowly faded she landed with a soft, almost inaudible thump. Red XIII twitched his tail awkwardly and wondered how he could climb down without hands. That problem was solved as Kuja repeated the spell and brought him smoothly and easily towards the ground in another silver bubble. "Let's go!" Cloud whispered and they ran silently into the woods.
"What about Vincent?" Tifa whispered as they entered the darkness. Cloud looked sideways.
"He can take care of himself," He replied gently.
'He knows,' Tifa thought and blushed. Knows what? That Tifa was.. rather fond of Vincent in some way? He didn't seem worried anyway. She concentrated her energy on running as they sprinted through the darkness towards the parked Highwind. The woods seemed to be pulsing with life and somehow more alive than they ever were by day. Tiny sounds came from all around and a thousand eyes watched the intruders race through the darkness.
Part of Tifa expected Sephiroth to spring out from the shadows and bring the Masamune slicing through her at any moment. Perhaps he was on the ship, waiting to attack them when they had their backs turned? She pushed away those unpleasant thoughts. If Vincent said he would take care of Sephiroth, he would.
The Highwind sprang to life under Cid's touch and they rose into the air. They looked out over the dark forest to the village and Tifa gasped. A glow of orange lit the sky, a smudge of colour in the darkness. She felt the colour drain from her face.
"He hasn't.. he hasn't torched Kalm? Has he?" She asked Cloud meaninglessly. Cloud shook his head sadly as the flames leapt skyward. "Vincent.. all those townspeople..." She murmured quietly.
"Vincent will get out of there just fine. He always does," Cid said as reassuringly as he could.
"It's our fault that the place is on fire though, isn't it?" Tifa leaned forward and watched as it was consumed by flames. "And it was our fault when we killed all of those people in Midgar.. I can't do anything right," She leaned her head despairingly against the cool metal.
"Never think that was your fault," The voice was that of Rufus. He had his back to them as he stared out into darkness. Tifa nodded miserably and reached out for his hand. The former president seemed rather surprised but he didn't pull away as Tifa held on for comfort.