The Bandits, Chapter 12
Strangers in a Strange Land
Perry's POV
All I could feel was myself on the ground. When I finally opened my eyes I looked up and saw a grassy field. It looked very familiar to me.
"Yuffie? Anyone?" I asked standing. I saw them all on the ground. At least they made it with me.
"Everyone okay?" I asked them all. They began to get up slowly.
"I'm hanging on." Cloud said first. Everyone turned out to be fine. The ship wasn't. "The ship crashed from this. I couldn't control it. We can't leave for awhile." Cid told us. "Fine. I'm in no hurry to leave." I said to everyone.
"How are you sure this is your world? We could be in another one." Vincent brought up. "I know we're in the right place. I can feel it in my soul." I told them all. "Where do we begin to look?" Tifa asked. "I suppose we could try and find civilization. I warn you all that we may look weird to everyone." I told them all. We began to walk down the large hill we were all on.
"This place feels so different. It's kinda scary." Yuffie said walking next to me. "Don't worry. I should be able to guide you all." I assured her. "Now I know how you felt when you came to our world." Barret said. "Strange isn't it?" I chuckled.
Eventually we reached something that looked like a small city. It was burned to the ground though.
"Where is this?" Vincent asked. "This looks like Hester did this." Hazel commented. "I found a sign. Maybe it can tell us something." Yuffie said blowing dust off of it. "No way!" I said aloud.
It was my hometown. They must have destroyed it. I knew everything here was probably dead but I ran ahead to find out. Eventually I reached the place that looked like where my house was. It was completely gone. I searched through the rubble and found nothing left. Then removing one final piece the next thing I saw was heart breaking. It was my parents, dead. They were still holding hands but looked like they were burnt and cut. I placed the piece of rubble back over them. I couldn't bear to see it anymore.
"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked finally catching up to me. I remained silent beginning to cry. "What did you find?" she asked. I was still staring at the rubble. She made a connection and went to check it; she knew what was wrong after that. She began to cry a little too.
"I'm so sorry Perry." She said hugging me. Everyone else came up and they soon learned what happened. It got to everyone as much as it did to me. This only made me want to kill my clone even more. Him and that bitch, Hester.
Hazel's POV
Perry's parents are dead. Everyone seems so depressed. Why? They had no relation to anyone else and had never met before. Why were they so upset over something that didn't affect them? I had to ask them.
"Vincent, why is everyone sad?" "Our friend lost something dear to him. We all are affected by what happens to one of us. Relationships are symbiotic almost. What happens to one, happens to all." He told me. "But why don't I feel anything?" I asked him. "Don't you? Look closer Hazel. You're crying." He told me pointing to my cheeks. I felt them and there were streams of tears falling from my eyes. This was the first time I ever cried.
"This is new to me. I never thought I was capable of crying." I said the tears weren't stopping. "You may be a clone but you still have emotions. Some of us hide them but there are present in each one of us." He continued. I think I'm beginning to understand human beings a lot more. Maybe if I tried hard one day I could be considered human. "Vincent, will I ever be human?" I asked him. "I believe if you try you can be." He told me.
We all searched around the city for any survivors. I doubt this would be possible. We were just about to give up when we heard some banging noise. It looked like some kind of underground entrance. We went over to it. Somebody was down there. There was a lock over the door though. Perry quickly cut it off.
Yuffie's POV
"Somebody's in there." I said out loud. We removed the lock on the door. It looked like a basement entrance. When we opened it nobody was there. Then a monster leapt out of it. I drew my shuruken and threw it at it. It was hurt but was still alive. Perry was still in pissed mode so he quickly cut the thing in two.
"Let it all out." I said patting him on the shoulder. "I was. I just need to take my mind off of it." He said. I know what its like to lose a parent, losing both must really hurt. I'll help him any way I can.
"I'll go down and look for somebody." Cloud volunteered. "Be careful." Tifa said to him as he walked down the stairs. Moments later he came out with a teenage girl in his arms. She was around my height and build. She had fairly long black hair with a white headband on her head. She wore a dark blue shirt that said "Cupid's Arrow" on it. She had on blue jeans and black shoes.
"I found her. Looks like she was trying to get away from the monster and passed out." Cloud explained to us. "Poor girl. She must be the only survivor." Aeris said. "Wait a second. I know her!" Perry announced to us. "You do?" I asked. "Yes, you could call her one of my friends. We need to tend to her." He said. "There should be some stuff for her in the airship. We should head back." Cid told us.
We all walked back to the airship and there was some equipment left onboard that wasn't destroyed in the crash.
Perry's POV
I never thought I'd see her again. I was planning to ask her out the day after I was done testing the virtual reality equipment. Then well everything came into my life. She was on the grass sleeping. She hadn't woken up yet. It was getting dark so we made camp by the ship.
"So Perry. Tell us about this girl." Tifa requested to me. "Gladly. Her name is Michele. We've known each other for years, but never really talked until recently." I stated. "Recently? You mean before you came to us?" Yuffie asked. "Yes. I was planning to ask her out the next day." I said. "Really?" Yuffie pouted. "Calm down Yuffie. This was long before I even met you." I said to her.
"I think she's waking up." Hazel said sitting near her. "Ugh. What happened?" Michele said propping herself up. "Don't worry. You're safe with us." Tifa told her. "Who are you guys?" she said looking a bit scared of us. I mean I would be too. A bunch of people with swords and guns would scare most.
"We won't hurt you Michele." I said to her. "Who are you?" she said looking at me funny. "You don't remember me?" I asked her. "I can't see your whole face." She said in an angelic voice. "Oh, sorry." I said loosening my sis' scarf so my whole face was visible. "You look familiar. Perry?" she said. "That's me. Nice to see you again." I told her smiling and re-adjusting my scarf. "But you're dead!" she said sounding shocked. "Dead? I'm very much alive." I told her. "But about a year ago your death was announced. You were never seen after that days you left." She said. "I wasn't dead. I kinda left our world." I said knowing she wouldn't believe us. "Whatever the case I'm relieved to see you." She said.
"Could you tell us what happened?" Vincent asked her. She looked scared of him a bit. "Well I remember seeing this weird lady and somebody that looked like Perry enter town and then everything was being destroyed. I hid in my basement hoping they wouldn't find me. I was living down there for awhile. Luckily I had enough food." She told us. "I had a feeling this would happen." I said sternly. "Everyone else is dead I suppose?" she said starting to cry. "I'm afraid so. I'm sorry Michele." I apologized. She buried her face in me and cried for awhile.
Tifa's POV
This Michele seems like a nice girl. What do we do with her though? We can't leave her at the ship. "What do we do with her?" I asked everyone. "Don't leave me here! Take me with you." She pleaded. "Michele, this won't be a fun trip. We're gonna have to fight deadly battles. You could die!" Perry said showing her the reality of the situation. "I figured as much. I'll do whatever I can to help you guys." She offered.
"She could help us." Nanaki proposed. "If we gave her some weapons and materia she may be able to defend herself. We looked around for a weapon for her. Nothing she could use. "I have an idea." I said. "Michele come with me." I led her to the back of the ship and told her a few things and handed her one of my old fighting gloves. "But I'm not very strong." She told me. "Not with this." I said handing her some of my extra materia that raises strength. "Now punch that rock in half." I told her. "Are you nuts? I can't do that. It'll hurt." She whined. "Just try it." I told her again.
She looked nervous but struck the rock with her right fist. About a second later the rock was reduced to pebbles. She looked at her own fist in amazement. "How'd I do that?" she wondered. "Materia. It seems to work here. The materia I gave you increases your strength level. So as long as you have those two with you you'll be stronger than normal." I informed her. "Cool. What's this glove called?" she asked me. "If I remember correctly, God's Hand." I told her. "Thank you. I'm sorry I don't know your name." She said. "Let's introduce you to everyone." I offered.
We walked back to everyone around the ship. "Everyone Michele wants to know our names." I told them. "My name's Cloud. I guess it's nice to meet you." "Name's Barret. Don't piss me off." "C'mon guys. Be a little nicer to her." "You already know me." Perry said. "The name's Yuffie. Pleased to meetcha! By the way, I'm Perry's girlfriend so don't steal him!" Yuffie snapped. "You have a girlfriend?" Michele asked. "Yeah. A lot has happened." He said.
"I'm Cait Sith, but my real name is Reeve." "I am Nanaki. I am sorry if my appearance startled you." "Just a little. A talking wolf isn't ordinary." Michele said. "My name is Vincent. My occupation is...forget it." "I'm Aeris. Perry's sister." "Sister?" "Long story." Perry told Michele. "Name's Cid. Best pilot in the whole damn world. Any world for that matter." "Call me Hazel. Don't be fooled by my appearance." "And my name is Tifa." "You know my name's Michele. Nice to meet you all."
"We should head for bed. We'll look for Hester tomorrow." Perry suggested. "We'll explain everything to you tomorrow. Just rest for now." I told her. "Okay."
Perry seemed a bit happy to at least have one of his friends alive after his tragic loss. We all went to sleep inside the wrecked airship and it wasn't that bad of a night. Tomorrow though. That would be the hard thing.
Strangers in a Strange Land
Perry's POV
All I could feel was myself on the ground. When I finally opened my eyes I looked up and saw a grassy field. It looked very familiar to me.
"Yuffie? Anyone?" I asked standing. I saw them all on the ground. At least they made it with me.
"Everyone okay?" I asked them all. They began to get up slowly.
"I'm hanging on." Cloud said first. Everyone turned out to be fine. The ship wasn't. "The ship crashed from this. I couldn't control it. We can't leave for awhile." Cid told us. "Fine. I'm in no hurry to leave." I said to everyone.
"How are you sure this is your world? We could be in another one." Vincent brought up. "I know we're in the right place. I can feel it in my soul." I told them all. "Where do we begin to look?" Tifa asked. "I suppose we could try and find civilization. I warn you all that we may look weird to everyone." I told them all. We began to walk down the large hill we were all on.
"This place feels so different. It's kinda scary." Yuffie said walking next to me. "Don't worry. I should be able to guide you all." I assured her. "Now I know how you felt when you came to our world." Barret said. "Strange isn't it?" I chuckled.
Eventually we reached something that looked like a small city. It was burned to the ground though.
"Where is this?" Vincent asked. "This looks like Hester did this." Hazel commented. "I found a sign. Maybe it can tell us something." Yuffie said blowing dust off of it. "No way!" I said aloud.
It was my hometown. They must have destroyed it. I knew everything here was probably dead but I ran ahead to find out. Eventually I reached the place that looked like where my house was. It was completely gone. I searched through the rubble and found nothing left. Then removing one final piece the next thing I saw was heart breaking. It was my parents, dead. They were still holding hands but looked like they were burnt and cut. I placed the piece of rubble back over them. I couldn't bear to see it anymore.
"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked finally catching up to me. I remained silent beginning to cry. "What did you find?" she asked. I was still staring at the rubble. She made a connection and went to check it; she knew what was wrong after that. She began to cry a little too.
"I'm so sorry Perry." She said hugging me. Everyone else came up and they soon learned what happened. It got to everyone as much as it did to me. This only made me want to kill my clone even more. Him and that bitch, Hester.
Hazel's POV
Perry's parents are dead. Everyone seems so depressed. Why? They had no relation to anyone else and had never met before. Why were they so upset over something that didn't affect them? I had to ask them.
"Vincent, why is everyone sad?" "Our friend lost something dear to him. We all are affected by what happens to one of us. Relationships are symbiotic almost. What happens to one, happens to all." He told me. "But why don't I feel anything?" I asked him. "Don't you? Look closer Hazel. You're crying." He told me pointing to my cheeks. I felt them and there were streams of tears falling from my eyes. This was the first time I ever cried.
"This is new to me. I never thought I was capable of crying." I said the tears weren't stopping. "You may be a clone but you still have emotions. Some of us hide them but there are present in each one of us." He continued. I think I'm beginning to understand human beings a lot more. Maybe if I tried hard one day I could be considered human. "Vincent, will I ever be human?" I asked him. "I believe if you try you can be." He told me.
We all searched around the city for any survivors. I doubt this would be possible. We were just about to give up when we heard some banging noise. It looked like some kind of underground entrance. We went over to it. Somebody was down there. There was a lock over the door though. Perry quickly cut it off.
Yuffie's POV
"Somebody's in there." I said out loud. We removed the lock on the door. It looked like a basement entrance. When we opened it nobody was there. Then a monster leapt out of it. I drew my shuruken and threw it at it. It was hurt but was still alive. Perry was still in pissed mode so he quickly cut the thing in two.
"Let it all out." I said patting him on the shoulder. "I was. I just need to take my mind off of it." He said. I know what its like to lose a parent, losing both must really hurt. I'll help him any way I can.
"I'll go down and look for somebody." Cloud volunteered. "Be careful." Tifa said to him as he walked down the stairs. Moments later he came out with a teenage girl in his arms. She was around my height and build. She had fairly long black hair with a white headband on her head. She wore a dark blue shirt that said "Cupid's Arrow" on it. She had on blue jeans and black shoes.
"I found her. Looks like she was trying to get away from the monster and passed out." Cloud explained to us. "Poor girl. She must be the only survivor." Aeris said. "Wait a second. I know her!" Perry announced to us. "You do?" I asked. "Yes, you could call her one of my friends. We need to tend to her." He said. "There should be some stuff for her in the airship. We should head back." Cid told us.
We all walked back to the airship and there was some equipment left onboard that wasn't destroyed in the crash.
Perry's POV
I never thought I'd see her again. I was planning to ask her out the day after I was done testing the virtual reality equipment. Then well everything came into my life. She was on the grass sleeping. She hadn't woken up yet. It was getting dark so we made camp by the ship.
"So Perry. Tell us about this girl." Tifa requested to me. "Gladly. Her name is Michele. We've known each other for years, but never really talked until recently." I stated. "Recently? You mean before you came to us?" Yuffie asked. "Yes. I was planning to ask her out the next day." I said. "Really?" Yuffie pouted. "Calm down Yuffie. This was long before I even met you." I said to her.
"I think she's waking up." Hazel said sitting near her. "Ugh. What happened?" Michele said propping herself up. "Don't worry. You're safe with us." Tifa told her. "Who are you guys?" she said looking a bit scared of us. I mean I would be too. A bunch of people with swords and guns would scare most.
"We won't hurt you Michele." I said to her. "Who are you?" she said looking at me funny. "You don't remember me?" I asked her. "I can't see your whole face." She said in an angelic voice. "Oh, sorry." I said loosening my sis' scarf so my whole face was visible. "You look familiar. Perry?" she said. "That's me. Nice to see you again." I told her smiling and re-adjusting my scarf. "But you're dead!" she said sounding shocked. "Dead? I'm very much alive." I told her. "But about a year ago your death was announced. You were never seen after that days you left." She said. "I wasn't dead. I kinda left our world." I said knowing she wouldn't believe us. "Whatever the case I'm relieved to see you." She said.
"Could you tell us what happened?" Vincent asked her. She looked scared of him a bit. "Well I remember seeing this weird lady and somebody that looked like Perry enter town and then everything was being destroyed. I hid in my basement hoping they wouldn't find me. I was living down there for awhile. Luckily I had enough food." She told us. "I had a feeling this would happen." I said sternly. "Everyone else is dead I suppose?" she said starting to cry. "I'm afraid so. I'm sorry Michele." I apologized. She buried her face in me and cried for awhile.
Tifa's POV
This Michele seems like a nice girl. What do we do with her though? We can't leave her at the ship. "What do we do with her?" I asked everyone. "Don't leave me here! Take me with you." She pleaded. "Michele, this won't be a fun trip. We're gonna have to fight deadly battles. You could die!" Perry said showing her the reality of the situation. "I figured as much. I'll do whatever I can to help you guys." She offered.
"She could help us." Nanaki proposed. "If we gave her some weapons and materia she may be able to defend herself. We looked around for a weapon for her. Nothing she could use. "I have an idea." I said. "Michele come with me." I led her to the back of the ship and told her a few things and handed her one of my old fighting gloves. "But I'm not very strong." She told me. "Not with this." I said handing her some of my extra materia that raises strength. "Now punch that rock in half." I told her. "Are you nuts? I can't do that. It'll hurt." She whined. "Just try it." I told her again.
She looked nervous but struck the rock with her right fist. About a second later the rock was reduced to pebbles. She looked at her own fist in amazement. "How'd I do that?" she wondered. "Materia. It seems to work here. The materia I gave you increases your strength level. So as long as you have those two with you you'll be stronger than normal." I informed her. "Cool. What's this glove called?" she asked me. "If I remember correctly, God's Hand." I told her. "Thank you. I'm sorry I don't know your name." She said. "Let's introduce you to everyone." I offered.
We walked back to everyone around the ship. "Everyone Michele wants to know our names." I told them. "My name's Cloud. I guess it's nice to meet you." "Name's Barret. Don't piss me off." "C'mon guys. Be a little nicer to her." "You already know me." Perry said. "The name's Yuffie. Pleased to meetcha! By the way, I'm Perry's girlfriend so don't steal him!" Yuffie snapped. "You have a girlfriend?" Michele asked. "Yeah. A lot has happened." He said.
"I'm Cait Sith, but my real name is Reeve." "I am Nanaki. I am sorry if my appearance startled you." "Just a little. A talking wolf isn't ordinary." Michele said. "My name is Vincent. My occupation is...forget it." "I'm Aeris. Perry's sister." "Sister?" "Long story." Perry told Michele. "Name's Cid. Best pilot in the whole damn world. Any world for that matter." "Call me Hazel. Don't be fooled by my appearance." "And my name is Tifa." "You know my name's Michele. Nice to meet you all."
"We should head for bed. We'll look for Hester tomorrow." Perry suggested. "We'll explain everything to you tomorrow. Just rest for now." I told her. "Okay."
Perry seemed a bit happy to at least have one of his friends alive after his tragic loss. We all went to sleep inside the wrecked airship and it wasn't that bad of a night. Tomorrow though. That would be the hard thing.
