Chapter VII: Threats (Tifa's Story)*
NOTE: The story has now split into three separate quests. Chapters V, VI, and VII (and possibly groups of other future chapters) take place all at once. This chapter is from Tifa's point of view.
NOTE: All FF fans will recognize the name Cyan. That's right: Cyan from FF6 makes his debut in this chapter! (Yet his personality may not be the same!)
"Yee-haw! Here we go!" howled the eccentric Cid, a bit muffled from the lit cigarette protruding from his mouth. "Alright then, we'll be letting her down near Cosmo Canyon first, Red. I'll land about 300 yards from the entrance to the canyon. There's a nice, soft landing spot there if I remember correctly."
"Please, call me Nanaki now, I no longer wish to hide the name given to me by my father now that I know… the truth about him." He responded, staring down at the changing landscape from high in the clouds and stirring up memories of Bugenhagen and Cosmo Canyon in us all. Walking out on to the platform deck with Vincent, I began discussing the mission ahead of us, although I was still having a hard time taking my mind off of Cloud. Rocketing off at 140+ mph, we watched as the sky around us turned from a midnight blue to a dreary gray morning. We were heading towards where the sun came up and our mission began.
"I still don't understand how Yuffie is getting all the way to Wutai. What means of transportation could she possibly have? Nothing we had is missing, as far as transports go." I said, pondering on this mystery. "If she's going on foot, she'd surely starve before getting anywhere. The fastest way is through the Corel mountain range, although she may wind up stopping in the town of North Corel for supplies… Even so, how would she cross the ocean to get to Wutai? Whatever the case, we'll certainly get there before she does, even if she did get a head start."
"I agree," Vincent concurred, "the circumstances surrounding this treachery are indeed quite strange. She was our ally and friend and even though she asked if she could have the Materia after the war ended, I never expected this. But what worries me most…" Vincent paused.
"Go on…" I edged him on eagerly.
"Well, what does she plan to do with it? She's tried this once before, and she knows we'll come after her. We're very powerful as is, but without Materia… I don't know… something seems very wrong." He concluded, causing my heart to skip a beat. Vincent was making me very nervous, as I had been hoping that this would be a quick job so that I could get back to the troubled Cloud.
"We're about five minutes away from Cosmo Canyon." Cid reported roughly over the PA. "And we've got a problem, too."
"Uh-oh, Let's go see what's wrong." I offered to Vincent, who followed me quickly back into the Control Room.
Immediately as the heavy blast-door retracted and I stepped out onto the grated walk in the Control Room, I knew we were going to have a delayed arrival to Wutai. Red lights flashing and crew members scattering about everywhere, Cid gave us the report.
"Apparently, some dumbass crew member of mine forgot to perform a scheduled maintenance on the No. 2 rocket engine. It was damaged in the Holy explosion and now it's leaking fuel and losing power like crazy. We're gonna have to stay the rest of the day at Cosmo Canyon while we try and fix it. We depart at this time tomorrow, 6:45 AM on the spot." Cid commented, turning back to a spastic control panel that was consistently blaring at him. "Damn you piece of shit!" he yelled at it.
"Perhaps we should get out of their way." I said sarcastically, cocking my eyebrows and nodding as I was pushed out of the way by a crew member running to stabilize a leaky pipe and wheel.
"Perhaps…" agreed Vincent as the ship rocked crazily, stumbling along to the crew quarters and hopping into a bunk. Sitting down on a bed, I untied my shoes and, sliding them beneath it, hit something that in turn made an 'ow' and then a growl sound.
"Eek!" I cried in shock. I heard Vincent chuckle quietly, and looking down under the bed, I saw the glowing, fiery tale of Red XIII.
"N-nanaki!? What are you doing under the bed?" I asked, surprised.
"Unlike you humans, I have no hands to hold onto something. I feel safer in a firm, compact space so that I won't rock around and fall on this crazy ship." He said, feeling a little sick already. Giggling, I replied:
"Don't worry, Nanaki, Cid will be landing the Highwind sooner than you think. Any minute now, in fact…" she paused as she felt something beneath the metallic floor rumble, "it looks like we're here!"
Landing softly on the rich topsoil of the land just outside of Cosmo Canyon, the Highwind airship shut down peacefully and quietly as the crew began swarming all around the inside and outside of the damaged craft much like an ant colony on a new meal. As the crew began working, Cid, Vincent and I said a fond farewell to our intelligent cat-like canine friend. Thinking again about how fast our group was splitting apart, I wiped a tear running down my soft white cheek. With a smile, Nanaki dashed off into the dusty canyon, sprinting all the while for the tall observatory protruding above the rustic housings.
"Good luck, old friend." Cid said in a kind tone, fiddling with the dead, burnt cigarette in his hand. Turning around he began heading for the engine that was in desperate need of repair, beckoning for us to follow.
"Listen," he stated, "I have a better idea than what I was first planning on us doing. If we work quickly and efficiently, we'll be done by a few hours after sundown today. We'll drop you off under the cover of darkness a few miles outside of Wutai so you can sneak in and set up camp in the Da-Chao statues on the side of the mountain. It's a perfect spot, overlooking the entire city… Err, ugh…" Cid informed Vincent and I while trying to adjust a gigantic gauge.
"Sounds perfect!" I said excitedly, realizing that I hadn't even come up with a plan yet.
"I think we should get some sleep now, Tifa. We'll be hiking and climbing for a few hours after dusk, we probably won't be able to rest for quite a while after we set out."
7 hours later at around 2 o' clock in the afternoon, I woke up from our nap with a grumbling stomach. Rubbing my eyes open, I noticed a crooked piece of paper taped onto the door leading out of the crew quarters. In sloppy handwriting, obviously that of Cid, it read:
Tifa & Vincent:
The boys and I finished repairing the engine, which was really quite simple after all, and because we had so much time to spare, we all decided to head for the bar in Cosmo Canyon and to see what Red is up to. Don't worry about food if you're hungry. I think I left some fried chicken from the freezer out on the Control Deck, but if not, we'll bring something back later.
Cid
"How nice," I grumbled, and began shuffling for the Control Room and the leftover fried chicken. As I neared the door, I heard the sound of static, and then a voice. Curious, I leaned against the wall and listened intently.
"What you're proposing is preposterous! Wutai will not, nor ever will engage in such a matter. Your father is dying and you wish to send our struggling country to war!?"
"Dying!? He was fine when I last visited! Are you sure, Cyan?"
"Foolish girl! I'm his assistant, of course I can tell when my mentor and leader is dying! You may have proven yourself worthy of being his child, but your actions show that you are not yet capable of being a leader of an entire nation." Cyan shouted through the transmitter.
"Cyan, do you realize what is going on in this world? Our only former enemy, Shin-Ra, has fallen! The world's cities are weak and separated! The time is perfect and the opportunity ripe! Think of it. And once I return home with the stolen Materia, which is more powerful beyond your wildest dreams, our army shall be unstoppable and our nation unconquerable!" she cried excitedly, and silence ensued. Sneaking in quietly, I watched the traitorous Yuffie staring through the monitor at the image of Cyan.
"Very well, Yuffie." Sighed Cyan, yet with a devious look in his eyes. "I shall assemble our troops and report to your father. If all goes well, we will have our main troops assembling by tomorrow morning. I pray that you are right, for if we fail again at conquest, the name of Shinobi will be one of shame for all of your descendants, and the Wutainese will be looked down upon as weak cowards. However, your ideals sound quite promising. May Da-chao be with us!" he concluded as I crept in closer for a better look, readying for a fight. But then he added: "Wait, Yuffie, who's that behind you?" excitedly, as the tall and slender Yuffie Kisaragi, turning quickly after hitting the button to end the transmission, faced me with a menacing glare. Pulling out a razor-sharp ninja star, she readied for combat as I raised my fists.
"What're you doing here?" she asked, surprised that I had snuck up on her as she was usually the one to sneak about.
"I hate to sound cliché, but I was going to ask you the same thing." I told her unhurriedly, as she looked around frantically, focusing up above my head. Cautiously looking up as well, as not to lose sight of her, I noticed a vent with the hatch opened slightly. "Ah-ha! So you've been hiding out in the Highwind all along! So that's how you're getting to Wutai. You figured that's where we'd go first when looking for you; not shabby! But isn't that too bad, because you're never going to get the chance to go there, and I'll make sure we stop your little plan of world dominance. That is sick: Trying to invade peaceful lands just after a worldwide catastrophe that left the world in chaos. And to think you were once our ally." I concluded scornfully, fully confident in my ability to apprehend her. I was wrong, and as she grinned and showed her cute teenage smile, she drew out a handkerchief and glass orb. Covering her face with the cloth, she threw the orb at my feet, and soon I was falling fast asleep as the gas curled up about and into my nostrils.
When I was shaken awake in bed by Cid and Vincent, who told me we had arrived on the island of Wutai just south of our destination, I instantly remembered what had happened nearly 5 hours ago. No doubt Yuffie had already jumped off the ship and was sprinting for Wutai, eager to warn her people and prepare for the next world war. I quickly began preparing for our trip, explaining to Vincent and Cid what I had seen and what had happened.
"No wonder we found you on the floor of the Command Deck!" Cid shouted, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "This is a heavy piece of @#^& we're dealing with!"
"No doubt." agreed Vincent, nodding his head. "I suggest you contact everyone you can, Cid, especially Reeve since he's working with the other top officials in the world right now who are in control and are working to rebuild governments, peace, and order. We'll do what we can for now, but if what Tifa says is true, we are indeed in a heavy load of @#%^#!"
NOTE: The story has now split into three separate quests. Chapters V, VI, and VII (and possibly groups of other future chapters) take place all at once. This chapter is from Tifa's point of view.
NOTE: All FF fans will recognize the name Cyan. That's right: Cyan from FF6 makes his debut in this chapter! (Yet his personality may not be the same!)
"Yee-haw! Here we go!" howled the eccentric Cid, a bit muffled from the lit cigarette protruding from his mouth. "Alright then, we'll be letting her down near Cosmo Canyon first, Red. I'll land about 300 yards from the entrance to the canyon. There's a nice, soft landing spot there if I remember correctly."
"Please, call me Nanaki now, I no longer wish to hide the name given to me by my father now that I know… the truth about him." He responded, staring down at the changing landscape from high in the clouds and stirring up memories of Bugenhagen and Cosmo Canyon in us all. Walking out on to the platform deck with Vincent, I began discussing the mission ahead of us, although I was still having a hard time taking my mind off of Cloud. Rocketing off at 140+ mph, we watched as the sky around us turned from a midnight blue to a dreary gray morning. We were heading towards where the sun came up and our mission began.
"I still don't understand how Yuffie is getting all the way to Wutai. What means of transportation could she possibly have? Nothing we had is missing, as far as transports go." I said, pondering on this mystery. "If she's going on foot, she'd surely starve before getting anywhere. The fastest way is through the Corel mountain range, although she may wind up stopping in the town of North Corel for supplies… Even so, how would she cross the ocean to get to Wutai? Whatever the case, we'll certainly get there before she does, even if she did get a head start."
"I agree," Vincent concurred, "the circumstances surrounding this treachery are indeed quite strange. She was our ally and friend and even though she asked if she could have the Materia after the war ended, I never expected this. But what worries me most…" Vincent paused.
"Go on…" I edged him on eagerly.
"Well, what does she plan to do with it? She's tried this once before, and she knows we'll come after her. We're very powerful as is, but without Materia… I don't know… something seems very wrong." He concluded, causing my heart to skip a beat. Vincent was making me very nervous, as I had been hoping that this would be a quick job so that I could get back to the troubled Cloud.
"We're about five minutes away from Cosmo Canyon." Cid reported roughly over the PA. "And we've got a problem, too."
"Uh-oh, Let's go see what's wrong." I offered to Vincent, who followed me quickly back into the Control Room.
Immediately as the heavy blast-door retracted and I stepped out onto the grated walk in the Control Room, I knew we were going to have a delayed arrival to Wutai. Red lights flashing and crew members scattering about everywhere, Cid gave us the report.
"Apparently, some dumbass crew member of mine forgot to perform a scheduled maintenance on the No. 2 rocket engine. It was damaged in the Holy explosion and now it's leaking fuel and losing power like crazy. We're gonna have to stay the rest of the day at Cosmo Canyon while we try and fix it. We depart at this time tomorrow, 6:45 AM on the spot." Cid commented, turning back to a spastic control panel that was consistently blaring at him. "Damn you piece of shit!" he yelled at it.
"Perhaps we should get out of their way." I said sarcastically, cocking my eyebrows and nodding as I was pushed out of the way by a crew member running to stabilize a leaky pipe and wheel.
"Perhaps…" agreed Vincent as the ship rocked crazily, stumbling along to the crew quarters and hopping into a bunk. Sitting down on a bed, I untied my shoes and, sliding them beneath it, hit something that in turn made an 'ow' and then a growl sound.
"Eek!" I cried in shock. I heard Vincent chuckle quietly, and looking down under the bed, I saw the glowing, fiery tale of Red XIII.
"N-nanaki!? What are you doing under the bed?" I asked, surprised.
"Unlike you humans, I have no hands to hold onto something. I feel safer in a firm, compact space so that I won't rock around and fall on this crazy ship." He said, feeling a little sick already. Giggling, I replied:
"Don't worry, Nanaki, Cid will be landing the Highwind sooner than you think. Any minute now, in fact…" she paused as she felt something beneath the metallic floor rumble, "it looks like we're here!"
Landing softly on the rich topsoil of the land just outside of Cosmo Canyon, the Highwind airship shut down peacefully and quietly as the crew began swarming all around the inside and outside of the damaged craft much like an ant colony on a new meal. As the crew began working, Cid, Vincent and I said a fond farewell to our intelligent cat-like canine friend. Thinking again about how fast our group was splitting apart, I wiped a tear running down my soft white cheek. With a smile, Nanaki dashed off into the dusty canyon, sprinting all the while for the tall observatory protruding above the rustic housings.
"Good luck, old friend." Cid said in a kind tone, fiddling with the dead, burnt cigarette in his hand. Turning around he began heading for the engine that was in desperate need of repair, beckoning for us to follow.
"Listen," he stated, "I have a better idea than what I was first planning on us doing. If we work quickly and efficiently, we'll be done by a few hours after sundown today. We'll drop you off under the cover of darkness a few miles outside of Wutai so you can sneak in and set up camp in the Da-Chao statues on the side of the mountain. It's a perfect spot, overlooking the entire city… Err, ugh…" Cid informed Vincent and I while trying to adjust a gigantic gauge.
"Sounds perfect!" I said excitedly, realizing that I hadn't even come up with a plan yet.
"I think we should get some sleep now, Tifa. We'll be hiking and climbing for a few hours after dusk, we probably won't be able to rest for quite a while after we set out."
7 hours later at around 2 o' clock in the afternoon, I woke up from our nap with a grumbling stomach. Rubbing my eyes open, I noticed a crooked piece of paper taped onto the door leading out of the crew quarters. In sloppy handwriting, obviously that of Cid, it read:
Tifa & Vincent:
The boys and I finished repairing the engine, which was really quite simple after all, and because we had so much time to spare, we all decided to head for the bar in Cosmo Canyon and to see what Red is up to. Don't worry about food if you're hungry. I think I left some fried chicken from the freezer out on the Control Deck, but if not, we'll bring something back later.
Cid
"How nice," I grumbled, and began shuffling for the Control Room and the leftover fried chicken. As I neared the door, I heard the sound of static, and then a voice. Curious, I leaned against the wall and listened intently.
"What you're proposing is preposterous! Wutai will not, nor ever will engage in such a matter. Your father is dying and you wish to send our struggling country to war!?"
"Dying!? He was fine when I last visited! Are you sure, Cyan?"
"Foolish girl! I'm his assistant, of course I can tell when my mentor and leader is dying! You may have proven yourself worthy of being his child, but your actions show that you are not yet capable of being a leader of an entire nation." Cyan shouted through the transmitter.
"Cyan, do you realize what is going on in this world? Our only former enemy, Shin-Ra, has fallen! The world's cities are weak and separated! The time is perfect and the opportunity ripe! Think of it. And once I return home with the stolen Materia, which is more powerful beyond your wildest dreams, our army shall be unstoppable and our nation unconquerable!" she cried excitedly, and silence ensued. Sneaking in quietly, I watched the traitorous Yuffie staring through the monitor at the image of Cyan.
"Very well, Yuffie." Sighed Cyan, yet with a devious look in his eyes. "I shall assemble our troops and report to your father. If all goes well, we will have our main troops assembling by tomorrow morning. I pray that you are right, for if we fail again at conquest, the name of Shinobi will be one of shame for all of your descendants, and the Wutainese will be looked down upon as weak cowards. However, your ideals sound quite promising. May Da-chao be with us!" he concluded as I crept in closer for a better look, readying for a fight. But then he added: "Wait, Yuffie, who's that behind you?" excitedly, as the tall and slender Yuffie Kisaragi, turning quickly after hitting the button to end the transmission, faced me with a menacing glare. Pulling out a razor-sharp ninja star, she readied for combat as I raised my fists.
"What're you doing here?" she asked, surprised that I had snuck up on her as she was usually the one to sneak about.
"I hate to sound cliché, but I was going to ask you the same thing." I told her unhurriedly, as she looked around frantically, focusing up above my head. Cautiously looking up as well, as not to lose sight of her, I noticed a vent with the hatch opened slightly. "Ah-ha! So you've been hiding out in the Highwind all along! So that's how you're getting to Wutai. You figured that's where we'd go first when looking for you; not shabby! But isn't that too bad, because you're never going to get the chance to go there, and I'll make sure we stop your little plan of world dominance. That is sick: Trying to invade peaceful lands just after a worldwide catastrophe that left the world in chaos. And to think you were once our ally." I concluded scornfully, fully confident in my ability to apprehend her. I was wrong, and as she grinned and showed her cute teenage smile, she drew out a handkerchief and glass orb. Covering her face with the cloth, she threw the orb at my feet, and soon I was falling fast asleep as the gas curled up about and into my nostrils.
When I was shaken awake in bed by Cid and Vincent, who told me we had arrived on the island of Wutai just south of our destination, I instantly remembered what had happened nearly 5 hours ago. No doubt Yuffie had already jumped off the ship and was sprinting for Wutai, eager to warn her people and prepare for the next world war. I quickly began preparing for our trip, explaining to Vincent and Cid what I had seen and what had happened.
"No wonder we found you on the floor of the Command Deck!" Cid shouted, rubbing his head in embarrassment. "This is a heavy piece of @#^& we're dealing with!"
"No doubt." agreed Vincent, nodding his head. "I suggest you contact everyone you can, Cid, especially Reeve since he's working with the other top officials in the world right now who are in control and are working to rebuild governments, peace, and order. We'll do what we can for now, but if what Tifa says is true, we are indeed in a heavy load of @#%^#!"