Yech. I'm not goin' outside fer a while—there's Bradford Pear blossoms all outside and they SMELL LIKE FISH. I'm not kidding. It's disgusting and even nauseating. Blergh. Anyway—here's chapter eight, just as promised.
*starts going apoplectic* If you really need that disclaimer after seven chapters of the VL harassing you about it, I'll give you a ten minute head start before I come running after you with a blunt object!
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"What do you mean, 'moat'?" Leon asked as he dashed behind Yuffie. "Yer not saying we're gonna swim outta here, are you?" Unknowns were coming out of everywhere, obviously knowing of the secret passages littered around the entire fortress.
"You betcha." She slid to a sharp stop, turned to the left, and ran again as an Unknown grabbed empty air where she had been standing. "C'mon, Leon, keep up! We gotta keep running!" She shrieked; an Unknown had gotten in front of her and grabbed her, lifting her off of her feet. She twisted, but it wrapped itself firmly around her, the shifting colors of its' body wrapping around her waist, legs, arms…
…and it dropped her, and fell to the ground, dead. Leon stood behind where the creature had been, holding the Gunblade with two hands. They were ahead of the other Unknowns by quite a bit—good thing, too, as Yuffie was shivering on the floor, skin gone colorless where the Unknowns' body had touched her. She forced herself to get up, stumbled, and steadied. Clumsily, she took a few steps forward before walking over to Leon. She kissed him and whispered, "If we get outta this, I'll owe you for a very long time."
"We'll survive, Yuffie." He kissed her forehead, holding her tightly.
"Yea, bits of us," she shivered as she spoke. She gathered herself again and stood straight. "We're close to the moat. I can tell. Follow me." She took his hand again and ran. This time they reached a barred door, which led out onto a bridge that only extended a few feet.
Yuffie, with her small size, slipped easily through the bars. Leon had a harder time. Unknowns had caught up to them and were grabbing at him. She heard him cry out: one had caught him by the leg and was dragging him back. She ran to the bars, hissed and kicked the thing aside. It tried to grab at her, but she was small and quick. She pulled Leon the rest of the way through just as the Unknown made a grab for him again.
"We gotta hurry. They're gonna figure the door out eventually," she panted. "Quick, jump in." She pointed to the moat beneath the half-finished bridge on which they stood. He hesitated and she prodded him a little by pushing him gently. "Go!"
"Are you sure it's safe?" He asked. "It's pink. Looks awfully dangerous." He took a step back, and Yuffie gave him another shove.
"Go! You gotta jump! It's perfectly safe," she hissed. The Unknowns were rattling the bars and trying to get through. It wouldn't be long before they succeeded.
"Okay, one more question." He was stalling, now. "How're we gonna get to the other side without bein' seen?"
"Easy. We go underwater the whole way."
Leon glanced across the moat. The distance was long—probably nearly four-hundred yards, give or take a few tens. How was he to hold his breath that long? And hadn't she nearly drowned herself trying to get across once before? "Can you hold your breath that long?"
"Nope."
"D'you think I can?"
"Nuh-uh."
"Are you suicidal?"
"Nah. This isn't even water. I 'ave no idea what the hell it is, but whatever it is, you can breathe in it. Sink like a stone, but at least ya don' hafta worry 'bout drowning." She dove off of the bridge and into the water, making no splash. She surfaced and treaded water with great difficulty, as she was no buoyant in this moat. "Jump in, quickly! 'Fore the Unknowns get here! They can't swim, so hurry it up!"
He hesitated, went to jump, and hesitated again. That proved to be a mistake. He plummeted gracelessly into the moat. He surfaced and coughed up the liquid. It had a nasty, acidic taste to it.
"Yea, I know it tastes gross. Juss breathe through yer nose so you don' have to get any in yer mouth." With that, she disappeared beneath the surface.
He followed her, not questioning her observations anymore. She was right—he sank in the liquid and it took a bit of energy to keep from sinking completely. He took a chance and opened his eyes, surprised to note that his vision was crystal clear, as though he was on land. Yuffie seemed to have adapted an effective way of swimming and keeping up off of the bottom: moving her entire body like a whale would. Every so often she would propel herself forward with her hands, but for the most part she kept them on the bottom, rifling along. She knew where she was going, it seemed.
The water got dark as they went under something that covered the surface. After a few minutes of swimming through this, Yuffie launched herself off of the bottom and swam on a diagonal to the surface as Leon followed. He surfaced a minute after she did. He wiped his face with his hands and looked around. It was a hidden cavern. How'd she find it?
"Can you find a shore anywhere in here?" She asked. This was the first time she had asked for his help since he found her and she'd asked him to unbind her hands. He glanced around until he found a stone shore.
"Yea, off this way." He began to swim for the rocks, but Yuffie whimpered behind him. He'd forgotten that she couldn't see where he was. He tugged her arm, indicating which direction to go. With effort, she followed him. He was the first to get up onto the shore. Yuffie struggled, slipping once and nearly sinking. Leon caught her by the arms and hoisted her up. Instead of supporting herself on the bank, she collapsed onto him.
"Sorry," she said, voice quiet. She rolled off of him and pushed herself into sitting position. She had obviously worn down considerably, but was fighting it. She tried to make herself stand, only to have her knees give out and she fell. Leon caught her and made her sit back down.
"You're tired," he told her. "Stay there for a while. At least get your breath back. It took a lot to swim in that stuff. Whatever it is." He glanced down into the thick pink liquid. He hoped passionately that Yuffie was right and that the Unknowns couldn't swim, but he wasn't sure of it. "So… why, exactly, are we here?"
Yuffie was quiet for a minute, panting, until she answered. "This is where the Unknowns go—the littler ones. I think this is how they get to other worlds."
He swallowed hard. Yuffie suddenly put her hands on the ground. She clenched her eyes shut tighter. A few seconds later, there was a low rumble heard, and the ground was quaking slightly, growing ever more steady.
"Not again," she whispered. She struggled to her feet and made her way clumsily to the shore, about to jump. Leon grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back towards him.
"What d'you think yer doing?" He demanded, frowning at her.
"Unknowns are coming. Our best bet for safety is the water—or whatever it is." She tried to go forward to get back in, but he hadn't let her go. She turned towards him and planted her fists on her hips.
"You're tired. I think maybe you should stay on the surface." He looked in the direction of a great deal of noise. It was a tunnel on the other side, one that led upward, and had probably come down from the fortress. A much shorter route, but one that would most likely have been dangerous to take.
Unknowns appeared, and with them, Disarray and Discord. Leon voice a quiet, "Uh-oh." Yuffie began to shiver. The harness was burning her again, and she scratched at it, only making it worse.
"Get them!" Disarray pointed at them, and one Unknown moved forward, immediately sinking in the liquid. The spot where it had fallen began to bubble, as though it was boiling. Then the liquid shifted colors, like the skin of the Unknowns themselves did, and then it stilled and stopped.
"They can't get them from here, Disarray, they can't swim!" Discord yelled. The huge Unknowns standing around them were making unnatural noises, like nothing that could, or should, exist in a natural world. Yuffie covered her ears and winced.
"I don't care. Get them! Any way you can!" Disarray screamed at them. The ones carrying spears and javelins threw their weapons, but Leon grabbed Yuffie and ducked them. The girl grabbed one, aimed it in their general direction, and hurled it as hard as she could. It hit the wall and missed the Unknowns completely, but it diverted their attention. Disarray fumed. "You idiot things!" She gave one of them a good shove; it fell, creating a domino effect with the others. But instead of falling into the pool, they merged to create one enormous Unknown, colors shifting rapidly, evidently agitated.
"That can't be good…" Yuffie whispered. "This doesn't sound right." She clung to Leon. "What'm I missing?"
"You don' wanna know," he said to her, though his eyes were wide as he watched the spectacle in front of him. The giant Unknown had already engulfed a shrieking Disarray. She swore violently and still tried to command the creature even as it consumed her. It went after Discord next, and he backed up, trying to get away. He backed to the edge of the shore, missed his footing, and fell into the pool, sinking. The Unknown thrust more than half of its' body out to catch him, only to throw its' own balance off and fall into the pool as well.
The liquid became a huge bubbling, shifting, hissing mess as the Unknown thrashed, drowned, and died. The colors shifted on the surface, getting deeper and deeper until they were gone. Yuffie lifted her head.
"They're dead, Yuffie," Leon told her. She nodded. She had figured something had happened to them when the pain in the slave harness had stopped completely. She sighed in relief.
"Now what?" She asked. Neither had time to say anything else. The ground quaked violently. The rocks split; stones fell from the ceiling and into the pool and almost hitting them. The entire cavern began collapsing on itself and a harsh wind began to blow. The effect was not unlike a wind tunnel. It knocked both of them over and started dragging Yuffie away, as she was the lighter of the two. This time, Leon grabbed her and held on as tightly as he could.
"Don't let go!" He yelled over the howling winds. Debris blew in their direction. Stones, metal, and bits of broken wood and glass flew by them. Something sharp raked across his face; something extremely heavy had chosen to glance off of his shoulderblade, making the arm tingle and weaken. Various small, sharp fragments tore at them. One ripped one leather strap holding the slave harness to Yuffie.
The wind got even stronger, dragging them both along. It took them to a dark hole, and Leon struggled against it, but it was no use—they were headed for it whether they liked it or not. Yuffie made a grab for anything that might have kept them from falling, but only cut her palm. She shrieked as they were dragged away, into darkness.
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Wow. Two chapters in one day. I'm on a roll! ^_~ Anyway—you know the drill. Read and review and I'll add more chapters as soon as I can. Okay? Okay. The next one will most likely be the last. But it'll be fluffy, and if I do, indeed, decide to make it the last chapter, it'll be long, kay? An' I'll probably write a one-shot pointless fluff fic, too. Just because. Hey, it's spring break! I reached an all-time low on the Boredom Meter yesterday. I went up to my bedroom and began teaching myself how to conjugate Latin verbs. Man, I have no life.