Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)", nor do I own anything you've seen in Final Fantasy VII.
Summary: When a demon begins to terrorise the village of Wutai, the frightened townsfolk decide to appease it the old fashioned way. Yuffie is sacrificed to Chaos and taken back to its lair. Can she survive the demon? AU. Yuffentine.
A/N: Thought of this a couple of weeks ago, wrote it in two. Didn't have the time to type it all up until now, but now it's here and you can read it all and... yeah. *grin* Forgive my rambling, I'm very proud of this fic. Complete and total AU... just pretend that most of FFVII never happened.
GREY SKY MORNING
Part I - The Nightmare's Beginning
The panic had already begun, spreading through the village like fire in a Mako refinery. The whole village milled before the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods as though the all-too-human five within could save them from the wrath of the demon.
The attacks had begun weeks ago with no rhyme or reason to the selection of victims. As random and unpredictable as its name*, Chaos took its toll on the town, sometimes destroying houses, sometimes swooping to catch up a screaming villager in its claws. As the bystanders watched, it would rip the unfortunate to shreds and discard the remains with bloodcurdling roars of triumph. Eight new graves stood by the great bell, their stone stares accusing.
The villagers had had enough, and now they turned to their leader and protectors. It was midday and the demon would surely attack soon. "Lord Godo," they cried. "Lord Godo!"
Yuffie didn't know why they bothered. Her father was just one man, and not an exceptional one at that. There was absolutely nothing he could do against the demon. Yuffie watched from the back of the crowd as the villagers fell silent. The doors to the temple were opening.
The Five Mighty Gods stood in a row on the steps leading into the pagoda. Yuffie named them in her head: Gorky, Staniv, Godo, Chekhov, Shake. Godo cleared his throat impressively. Yuffie rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to make snide comments throughout the speech that was undoubtedly coming.
"People of Wutai!" He addressed them. "We, the Five Mighty Gods, have a plan that may save us all!" The audience was silent, listening with rapture born of terror. Yuffie stifled a giggle - to say one thing for Godo, he sure knew how to work an audience.
"Legends tell us of monsters slain by heroes. Sadly, Wutai has none. We have no magical blades, no legendary rings." Godo looked grave. His speech was slow and halting, as though he was reluctant to finish. Yuffie raised both her eyebrows - what the hell was the old coot on about? "Legends also tell us, however, of monsters appeased by sacrifice, the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden or a newborn child..."
Yuffie saw several mothers clutch their children nervously.
"...Or in this case..." Godo's voice was strained. "...a princess."
Yuffie's eyes widened to a point where it would have been comical under different circumstances. A princess?! Godo's eyes were firmly fixed on her. The villagers had begun to look toward her. Yuffie felt a shriek rising behind the lump in her throat.
"WHAT?!"
The outraged screech echoed around the square. Yuffie couldn't have cared less. "No way, old man! I did not agree to this!"
Godo's face tightened and became colder. "It is for the good of Wutai, Yuffie..."
"What about the good of Yuffie?! Or the Kisaragi line, huh? I'm your only heir, old man!"
Godo's shoulders slumped slightly. "I'm afraid I have... no choice..." He turned to Chekhov and Staniv, locking eyes with the female warrior. He raised a resigned hand toward Yuffie and dropped it. Chekhov nodded stiffly in unison with the other Mighty Gods. They ran towards the outraged Yuffie, who had drawn her Conformer. The shuriken gleamed in her hands as her eyes darted around the faces of the villagers closing in on her.
Oh gawds... there's no way I can win this! They've got me totally boxed in, and I can't just cut my way through the villagers... In her indecision, she left herself open to attack. Someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her off her feet. Yuffie screamed and thrashed, sweeping her shuriken wildly through the air.
"Hey! Hey, let me go! You can't do this to me!" She felt a sudden pain in her arm, then nothing. The Conformer clattered to the ground along with all her materia. Yuffie wailed. "Wait! This isn't fair! I have rights, dammit! I DON'T WANNA BE A SACRIFICE!"
There was a sharp blow to her neck and Yuffie slumped, unconscious. In the blossoming silence there sounded a roar. Chaos was coming.
*
When Yuffie came to, her wrists were sore and her head ached abominably. Her first thought was Uuurgh... which one of you crummy bastards gave me sake...?
As her brain kicked into action at the sound of a roar, her second thought was Omigawds, I'm gonna die! Her eyes snapped open. She was bound under the red archway that led to the main square of the village, her wrists caught in two thick leather thongs. She flexed her legs and stood properly, wincing as pins and needles burned in her fingers. Grey eyes wide, she looked around, slightly panicked.
Right out in the open... I'm a goner! She tugged anxiously at her bonds, tears of panic and terror stinging her eyes. Oh man... oh gawds... Da Chao help me, I'm really @#$%ed this time!
Villagers peered out from the Pagoda of the Five Mighty Gods. Yuffie eyed them frantically. "Help me!" She begged, hating how her voice echoed. Chaos will hear me. The next roar was so close. The townsfolk shrank inside, locking the doors. Yuffie, despairing though she was, couldn't let them go that easily.
"You bastards! I'm gonna come back and haunt you all! I hope all your houses fall down. I hope Leviathan floods the whole town. I HOPE CHAOS EATS YOU WITH WASABI SAUCE!!" She slumped, tears running down her cheeks. "How can you do this to me?" She whispered miserably, swinging forward on her ropes.
One creaked a little. Yuffie blinked and swung backwards. It creaked again. Adrenaline flooding her system with new hope, she wriggled frantically, swinging backwards and forwards when she tried to break the rope. Chaos roared; it was at the edge of the village. Yuffie could hear its slow wing beats. She threw herself back and forth, pulling at the ropes with all her might. Her wrists felt as though they might break before her ropes did.
"Come on, come on, come on.... please... break... please... break..." Yuffie urged the leather, staring at the sky, then to the Pagoda. She could see people peering at her through the cracks in the shutters, mouths open in the twisted fascination that allows a human to watch a spider die from insect spray.
The leather creaked once more, then snapped. Yuffie slammed into the other pole. Dazedly, she blinked, then began to scrabble frantically at the knot that held her other wrist. It was too high for her to see what she was doing, especially with the sun in her eyes like this, but a worried glance to the west told her what she had feared; Chaos had spotted her.
The demon roared and went into a stoop. Yuffie let out a strangled cry of fear and fought the leather that held her wrist all the harder. Her left hand fumbled with the knot as Chaos swept pas her and landed heavily with another loud roar. I wish I weren't right-handed! She thought, mind flooded with fear. She tugged at the knot, terrified.
Hot breath on her neck. Yuffie nearly swallowed her tongue. Trembling, left hand still pulling at the rope, she turned ever so slightly to find Chaos looming over her. Yuffie whimpered, clutching her hands to her shoulder. It took her several moments to realise she was free.
Chaos raised a massive purple arm and swiped at her with a snarl. Yuffie screamed and threw herself out of the way. One pillar of the lucky red arch splintered, showering Yuffie with chunks of wood. Chaos roared in fury and flapped its great wings, whipping the air around them into a miniature tornado that tore at Yuffie, robbing her of balance as she tried to regain her feet and flee. She moaned in terror as Chaos towered over her. Help me, help me, someone please help me... She tried to run.
Chaos leapt into the air with a wild snarling as Yuffie pelted across the cobblestones. Her eyes were fixed upon the doorway into her father's pagoda; salvation. Even if Chaos tore the house down, she could hide in the secret tunnel. She had nearly made it to the stairs when the demon ploughed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Yuffie was crushed beneath the demon for several moments before it seized her and lifted her from the ground. Yuffie screamed long and loud, squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the final blow...
...which didn't come. Yuffie was still dangling - her arm hurt from where Chaos' claws dug into it. Maybe it doesn't know where to slice first? She wondered giddily. The great wings were beating, the wind from them whistling past her. It was cold. Gingerly, Yuffie opened her eyes.
She goggled as the ground swept past beneath her, tiny trees and the ribbon of river that wrapped Wutai securely. Yuffie stopped breathing as her stomach turned over. No longer caring about being eaten, Yuffie started wailing loudly. "Omigawds-if-you-don't-put-me-down-RIGHT-NOW-I'm-gonna-blow-chunks-all-over-you!!!"
Chaos rumbled something unintelligible. It sounded annoyed.
"I'm totally serious! You're be a purple half-digested pizza and sushi monster then! Aaaaaaiiiiiuuuurgh, I'm gonna be SICK!" Yuffie clapped her free hand over her mouth as Chaos lifted her up to its face. I don't want to throw up, she thought adamantly as Chaos looked her in the eye. Its eyes glittered a dangerous blood red. Yuffie gulped as it bared its teeth in what she might have recognised as a wicked grin if she hadn't been shaking so hard... and screamed as it let go of her.
Her nausea was forgotten immediately as she plummeted toward the trees and the sharp rocks of Da Chao. I'm dead, she thought, still screaming at the top of her lungs. She felt a painful jerk as claws grabbed her once again. Several moments later there was cool air on her skin and she was dumped unceremoniously onto cold stone.
Yuffie stared at the ground beneath her shaking hands and fainted dead away. Chaos snorted, threw the jumble of limbs into a corner and settled down to wait. Prey was no fun when it wasn't screaming.
*
Someone was sponging her forehead with a cool cloth. Relieved that it had all been a horrible nightmare and vowing never again to eat sushi together with pizza, Yuffie opened her eyes and let out a cry of dismay. This wasn't her room; it wasn't even Wutai.
"You're awake. How do you feel?" The voice was deep and soft. It would have been pleasant to listen to but for its hollow nature. Yuffie's eyes shifted from the stalactites to the speaker and she let out a soft gasp. The concerned eyes were the same demon red as Chaos' had been. His hair, though messy, was long and shone like black satin. A scarlet bandanna tried and failed to keep it from his face. He waited for her to say something, thin face pale even in the dim light. Yuffie recalled his question and considered.
"My arm is really sore. So are my wrists. My knees are grazed a bit, I think. My head hurts. I feel sick." She listed her grievances for him, sounding like a two-year-old and not caring. Who knew? Maybe she could still get a designer band-aid and a lollipop out of this.
"Your hands are grazed, too." The man informed her, re-soaking the cloth in a small bowl and dabbing at her temple. As Yuffie watched it go away tinged with blood, she wished and doubted that the indifferent stranger kept her kind of lollipop. "Where does your arm hurt?"
"Uh. All over. Mostly near my shoulder, though. It's sort of a numb ache..." She yelped, fire exploding in her arm as he moved it. "Don'ttouchit!" He frowned, gently probing her shoulder with his fingers. Yuffie bit her lip.
"I think it might be dislocated." He said offhandly. Yuffie made a 'why me?' sort of noise. "I'm going to put it back in. It might hurt a bit. Bite this and keep your arm completely relaxed. On the count of three, I want you to tense your arm." His hand held the stick in front of her lips. Yuffie opened her mouth nervously and held it with her teeth.
"Ready?"
"Mmogh1."
"Good. One..."
"Glrrrrgh!" Yuffie's cry of pain was muffled by the stick, but it still echoed through the cave. The stranger had yanked viciously on her arm, twisting it and making her scream. A dull 'pop' echoed in her skull and the dull ache of stretched muscles became noticeable once more as the screaming agony subsided.
"Say 'ah'."
"Gho dh Heghl! 2" Yuffie spat. Her teeth were clenched so tightly, she'd be surprised if the stick wasn't paper. The man tugged at it insistently. Eventually he prised open her jaws to retrieve the stick, which went away with a near-perfect mould of Yuffie's teeth.
"Is that any better?" The man asked. Yuffie gasped and glared at him.
"Yeah, it's fantastic. Now I can feel all the pain properly." She growled, vaguely recognising that she was being ungrateful. "Where am I? And, uh..." She sat up slowly and glanced around. "Where's Chaos?"
The scarlet-cloaked man stiffened as he picked up the cloth that had fallen from her forehead. She noticed he kept his left arm hidden in the folds of his cloak. As he straightened again, he spoke softly. "The demon has withdrawn, for now." His red eyes were far away.
"Withdrawn? Did you chase it off?" Yuffie gaped at him. "Wow. You're cool." The man looked sadly at the ground. "I'm serious - you're way cool. You saved me!" She giggled quietly and flexed her arm gingerly. "You oughta come back to Wutai with me. My dad will give you a huge reward."
Then she remembered the ease with which Godo had sent her off to rob travellers of their materia, had sacrificed her to a demon. Sadness seeped into her grey eyes. "On second thoughts, he might be mad you brought me back..." She murmured. Her head dropped briefly into her hands, causing the man to look away uncomfortably. Yuffie sighed. She had never really gotten on with Godo. She bet he was celebrating now. After all, he thought he had got rid of his two biggest problems in the one day. Her jaw clenched. Well, if he can celebrate about this, then I can, too. Yuffie stood up quickly, resolutely ignoring the pain in her legs. Chaos must have thrown her around a bit. She couldn't remember properly. Striding over to the man, she held out her hand.
"I'm Yuffie Kisaragi. I was princess of Wutai, but some moron had the brilliant idea of using me as a sacrifice to Chaos. Now I guess I'm just some ninja who's lost her shuriken..." Her eyes flickered as she recalled the pathetic and oddly final sound the weapon had made as it fell to the cobbles.
"I am Vincent Valentine." His tone was cool and detached. Yuffie's hand was ignored. Not to be outdone, she kept it there, willing him to acknowledge it.
"Pleased to meet you, Vincent." She responded brightly, hand still outstretched. Vincent seemed to realise something was expected of him. Instead of shaking her hand as she had expected, however, he kept his left hidden still and grasped hers with his right, bending to brush the back of it with a kiss.
"The pleasure is all mine." He reciprocated politely. Yuffie struggled briefly with the urge to giggle. Instead she grinned widely and let her hand fall to her side. Vincent stared at her blandly until, uncomfortable, she looked away.
"So, uh... where is this place? What time is it? Do you know how long it'll be until Chaos comes back?" Yuffie glanced around warily at the bone-strewn cave. One encounter with the demon was plenty for her.
Vincent glanced at her sharply. "We are in a cave on the opposite side of Da Chao from Wutai. It is, perhaps, very early morning or simply late at night. The demon will return whenever it feels like it." He caught her stormy eyes with his intense ruby ones.
Yuffie shrank from the concentration of his gaze. "Where do I go? I don't want to go back to my village... my people already hated me. Chaos would attack it anyway, and they'd think it was all my fault." She whispered. "I don't want to stay here with Chaos!"
Vincent's eyes flared dangerously. "Stop saying its name!" He hissed, voice gruffer than it had been just moments ago. He had broken out in a sweat, moving back with a staggering motion. Yuffie cringed back from him, afraid of the strange luminescence in his eyes. Vincent's hands rose to shield his face protectively and Yuffie let out a strangled cry of horror. The hand he had kept hidden was no hand at all, but a monstrous collaboration of bronze and Leviathan knew what else. Where his right hand was covered with a fingerless black glove that bared the digits of a pianist, his left was a whole other story. Normality ended at the elbow. She might have thought it a gauntlet had not the metal twisted itself under the flesh visible before his sleeve. She gazed in fascination and horror. There was a curving cuff just before his elbow. A smooth bronze cylinder made up most of forearm, running from the cuff to where a crude wrist had been shaped with several more sophisticated, overlapping cuffs. The bronze that gloved his hand ended at the knuckles, where five great, glaive-like claws extended at odd angles. She could see the bronze screws that held the claw-arm together and her stomach turned, revolted, as she imagined them being gruesomely drilled through flesh and into bone. She made a dry retching sound, covering her mouth with both hands. Vincent, looking shamed by both the claw and his lapse in control, hid it from view.
"I am sorry." He said softly, dully, eyes downcast. "I did not mean to frighten you."
"What is that thing? What happened to your arm?" Yuffie screeched. Vincent's eyes were whirling scarlet pools that became black holes and sucked all warmth from the cave.
"Please... the demon will return soon. You must hide." He told her, neatly evading the question. "If you do not return to Wutai-"
Despite her shock at the claw, Yuffie railed at this. "There's no way I'm going back there." She returned matter-of-factly.
"You must." There was sweat forming on Vincent's brow again, a barely perceptible note of desperation entering his frozen voice. "The demon-"
"I know it's coming back soon, Vinnie." Yuffie said snidely. "I'd never make it to Wutai if the demon is so close." She wandered to the back of the cavern, where three smaller openings were situated. Calmly, she peered inside the middle one.
"It is closer than you know..." Vincent murmured to himself. Yuffie ignored him, grabbing a chunk of rock and, after a short hesitation, a thick, strong-looking bone. She didn't want to go crawling into any enclosed spaces without some kind of weapon. She got down on her stomach in preparation to squeeze through the tight space.
"Wait." Vincent's voice was almost hopeful. Yuffie looked back over her shoulder, impatient.
"You gonna rant on about the demon, or are you gonna say something intelligent?" She asked caustically.
"The left tunnel. There are items there you may find of use. I have hidden them where the demon cannot reach. If you wish, you may hide there." Vincent replied tonelessly. Yuffie grinned.
"Aw, thanks a bunch, Vinnie." She shifted over to the left-most tunnel. "You gonna come through after me?"
"My priority is your safety. I will remain here." At her look of disagreement, he added, "I will be safe."
"O-okay, Vinnie. I'll see ya." Yuffie said, secretly wondering whether she would. Where in Leviathan's name did he expect to hide if not where he'd just told her to? Maybe this place he has his stuff isn't very big. She thought as she wriggled into the larger opening of the left tunnel. Another thought struck her as she struck her head painfully on the uneven ceiling. Maybe he's got materia stashed here, too. Heh heh heh, sucker! She crawled faster. Chaos is my meat. With a weapon and some materia, I'll have Wutai grovelling before me... Her pleased snickers preceded her. "Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk..."
*
Vincent slumped against the cool wall of the cave, breath whistling painfully in and out of his lungs.
STOP FIGHTING, HUMAN.
The voice was thick and dark, scented heavily with evil and death straight from the pit itself. It did not echo in his skull, rather it was absorbed, flat and tinny like a cello on a recording. Vincent stifled the revulsion that threatened to make him pass out. Never, demon!
YOU ARE WEAK. YOU CANNOT HOLD FOREVER.
Chaos' tone was sneering and triumphant. Its consciousness butted at Vincent's like a steel battering ram at rotted wood. With the demon's barb came a flooding of Vincent's system with the white-hot blood-lust, the thirst to kill. Almost the demon's howl of longing escaped, but Vincent nearly bit through his own lip to hold it back. The girl, the girl will come back if she hears. She must not be a victim again. Not once, not again.
THE GIRL IS NOTHING. RELEASE ME!
Vincent collapsed to the floor of the cave, gasping with the fore of the monster's demand. The cave flickered alarmingly before his eyes. The demon's roar filtered through his own lips as he lost his hold on Chaos.
LET ME OUT, HUMAN!
"NooooaraaaAAAAAAAARGH!"
*
Yuffie looked back the way she had come as an earth-shattering roar filtered through the rock. She grasped her bone club more tightly as she huddled on the pile of blankets that was probably Vincent's bed. Nervously, she glanced around the cavern.
"I hope Vinnie found a safe place to hide." She said, wincing at the hollow sound of her voice in the sparse 'room'. Yuffie wrapped a blanket around her shoulders to ward off the chill of the cave. It was too long for her no matter how she arranged it, so she hobbled over to Vincent's meagre store of items, tripping and nearly falling several times. Examining it, she found there was almost nothing there to eat. Yuffie sighed and nibbled a Mimett Green morosely. She looked at the Hi-Potions consideringly, but decided rather sagely that there was nothing wrong with her that sleep wouldn't fix. She made a face as she swallowed the last of the Green. Besides, she didn't want to actually owe Vincent anything.
Too sleepy to bother with searching for materia, Yuffie crawled back over to the 'bed'. She scrabbled with the blankets, trying to make the makeshift futon less lumpy. Finally she gave up and just cocooned herself in all the blankets she could. She wished it were warmer - Wutai never got this cold, not even in the depths of winter. All the blankets there could not have warded off the chill successfully. She shivered and closed her eyes tightly as another roar reverberated through the cavern. The strange, faint green glow that pulsed along cracks in the walls made the world blackish pink through her eyelids. Yuffie hoped once more that Vincent had found a safe place to hide before she drifted off to sleep.
---((~~((~~(*)~~))~~))---
A/N: I have a Foolish question... why do we have the height of Summer and yet the depths of Winter? *ponders* Intriguing... a strange tongue is the English language. ^^ Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the first part of this fic. It's a pretty shameless excuse for a Yuffentine, but I do hope you'll recognise and covet the small shreds of plot I will toss out among you along the way.
Please review! You'll get extra plot! Or extra fluff, depending on your preference. *grin* Hugs go to Wyrren, who is a Fabulous and Wondrous beta reader who actually understands quite a lot of the drivel that spills from my lips on a daily basis. Er... wow, long Author's Note. Ought to leave you all to your scattered sanity, now. Ja!