By Word of Mouth,
By Ealinesse
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DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of the Final Fantasy series - characters, items, ideas, nothing. I do not claim to. The only characters I do own, are not even in the story yet, though I do claim right to them when they pop up.
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Chapter Three: So what if it's your materia...?!
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Something was whining, and it wouldn't shut up. Leviathon only knew she wished it would just leave her the hell alone. Why couldn't anything go as planned? Why couldn't she just rest? Was it actually possible for her to get some sleep without having something jabbing into her ribcage? Or her cheek? Yuffie stifled a half-hearted complaint as whatever chose to annoy her only grew more persistent. The throbbing in her cheek just wouldn't go away, and nor would the sharp object stopping her from breathing properly. Was one supposed to hurt when they woke up from a catnap, or was it just her? Hell, if it was possible, even her toenails hurt. She ached too much to move, but she ached too much to not.
Yuffie kept her eyes closed despite the pain in her body. Whatever it was that was trying to get her to wake wouldn't work. She was more stubborn than that. And anyway, she hadn't got any sleep the night before, now, had she?
For a while she lay there, unable to fully drift off, and unable to fully awaken. Flashes of past events ran their course behind her half-lidded eyes as she struggled to make sense of what was real and what wasn't. Who could possibly make sense of parties, dragons and skycab tickets? None of it made sense. Feeling a headache beginning to form in the back of her mind Yuffie ceased thinking, but that only made her ribs and her headache worse.
Shouldn't she move? Wasn't that all it required to make herself more comfortable? Just roll over and the cushy blankets would allow her to sleep again? She tried it, but this time the pressure rested on her back.
She groaned. Perhaps it was just not meant to be. If she opened her eyes, would whatever was annoying her give her a break?
Perhaps.
Yuffie snapped her eyes open while still on her back, shifting her neck only slightly. She groaned for the thousandth time as her sore muscles protested, telling her she'd gone to too much effort already, and to go back to a very welcome sleep. But she couldn't. She knew she couldn't. Something was nagging at her, and she had to figure out what it was.
Somehow she managed to get her hands underneath her and push herself to her knees. A wave of sudden dizziness threatened to tip her already skewed balance, and she ducked her head, taking deep breaths as she tried to progress further. Memory hit her and it suddenly hit her that she'd been more than just asleep. Impatient with her aching body, Yuffie began to stand, but fell back when her knee gave out under her, landing against what she figured was the same sharp object she'd been having trouble with earlier.
She decided to take stock from the ground instead, and soon wished that she hadn't. As she turned her head she couldn't help but groan, not only at the ache that resided throughout her body, but the mess of tangled bodies and tattered upholstery, topped off with shards of shattered glass.
"What a mess," she muttered dully, biting her lip as again her head pulsed with shooting tendrils of pain. She supposed she should really take a look at herself, first. People needed her, and since it seemed she was the only one awake, then she should really make sure she was fit to do so.
Gingerly she assessed her body, catching sight of the rather hefty bruise around her knee. It didn't look too bad, she supposed. It was only bruised, ll; nothing a small Cure spell couldn't deal with. Next she checked her ribs from where whatever it was that had been jabbing her. She found she could breathe a lot easier now that she was actually upright, and from where she was she could tell they were neither bruised, nor broken – it had just been the way she had been lying. Satisfied that there was nothing major stopping her from standing, she put her hand to her head, which wouldn't let her forget the hit it had most probably taken earlier. From what she could tell without a mirror was that there was only a small cut, surrounded by a growing bump. Again, nothing major – no concussion, she didn't think, for which she was grateful. But at least she could account for the headache.
So she was fine. All she needed was a Cure spell.
Getting to her knees again, Yuffie was this time ready for any complaints her injured knee might make. Only putting as much weight on it as was necessary, she searched around for her shuriken, which always had a Cure Materia on it. She spotted it under the body of a man who had seemingly rolled onto it upon the impact, and without too much effort she pried it free. She relaxed as seconds later the spell washed over her, and any injuries she might have had receded into a dull ache. Her headache was there, but since a Cure only healed physical hurts, she wasn't surprised.
At last ready to go out and inspect what was going on, Yuffie kneeled next to one of the bodies that littered the ground. She had been able to tell as soon as she'd woken up that they weren't dead, but still, she had to see if any of them were hurt. She pressed her fingers against the side of the man's neck, feeling a strong, regular pulse that belied his pale body. Relieved, she went to check on the other passengers, gently brushing away any dust or glass that rested on their faces or exposed skin. No one was the worse for wear. All that remained was for them to wake up.
"Thank Leviathon."
Finally able to sit down, Yuffie closed her eyes and leaned back against one of the few intact seats. She let a sigh escape her parted lips as she felt her muscles begin to relax. She was certain she was just about asleep when a high-pitched wail tore through the air.
Yuffie sat bolt upright, her eyes wide as the incessant scream ripped its way through her eardrums. Struggling to find the source of the sound, her bleary eyes scanned the surrounding area, seconds later fixing on the figure of a woman not five metres away from her. So someone was finally awake.
Yuffie peered closer. The face was familiar, she was sure – probably someone she'd bumped into in the ticket queue. But right now the once dainty face was distorted into a face of grief and apprehension as tears billowed down her cheeks. She held the figure of a boy in her arms, and her long blonde hair draped over, concealing everything but her grief.
A feeling of dread caught Yuffie headlong. She stood slowly, forsaking her sleep for worry, and headed over to the figure as silently as she could, trying not to stand on the various haphazard sea of limbs that got in her way.
"Is he all right?"
The woman jumped, so intent on the motionless boy in front of her that for a second she froze. Then she looked up, her bottom lip quivering as she gazed at Yuffie through bloodshot eyes.
"M-my brother. He won't wake up."
Thinking quickly, Yuffie crouched next to the blonde and checked the boy's pulse. She took a moment to check the boy for injuries, but found only a small bruise on his forearm. He hadn't bumped his head from what she could tell, and his features, identical to that of his sister's, were lax and calm. His pallor was normal, not waxen, and he was breathing normally. She let out a sigh of relief as she realised he was merely unconscious, just like the others.
"He's fine. Still sleeping."
"You're s-sure?"
Yuffie smiled and nodded. "I am. Trust me, I've had lots of experience with things like this. He'll wake up when he's ready."
The answer seemed to satisfy the blonde, and a moment later she ducked her head, her cheeks flushing a faint red. "I thought he was dead. I'm glad somebody knows what they're doing. Thank you."
"No problem."
About to stand, Yuffie was halted when a delicate hand was offered. She shook it, grinning.
"I'm Dania."
"Yuffie." She paused, looking around, spotting a duo seats to their left. "Say, why don't we get you and your brother seated some place more comfortable? I'm sure he'd appreciate that when he wakes up."
Dania nodded, and with little effort on her part she helped Yuffie maneuver the limp figure into one of the passenger seats. When they were finished, Dania sat down next to the still figure. She brushed a stray lock of blonde hair from her brother's forehead thoughtfully.
"Why are we the only ones awake?"
Yuffie frowned. "I'm not sure. I don't think… " Her voice trailed off as she remembered the spell she'd cast on the group of terrified passengers. How long had it been? An hour? Two?
She ducked to look out the shattered window beyond Dania, catching sight of the sun just above the mountains in the distance. She hadn't been outside yet, but she could tell that it had been at least three hours since they'd crashed. A decent sleep spell had the potential to last a lot longer than that, and the one she had cast was no doozy.
Yuffie turned back to Dania as the blonde tucked her wild hair behind her ears, puzzled. How could she be awake and the others not? As the woman brought her hand down to rest on her lap, Yuffie caught sight of a dainty ring on one of her fingers, a green stone in the centre. Yuffie frowned. It could have been an emerald, but the way it glowed in the distinct lack of light gave her cause to pause. Materia… Things were suddenly making a lot more sense.
"What kind of ring is that?"
Dania shrugged, eyeing the small piece of jewelry with the same reserve as one might withhold for an old shoe. "This? My mother gave it to me years ago. Said it would help me deal with trouble, or something like that. Who knows? It wasn't rare for my mum to talk nonsense."
"May I look at it?"
"Why not."
Yuffie took the ring, examining it in the palm of her hand. She nodded, quickly able to confirm her suspicions. No wonder this woman had woken up so quickly after being laced with such a strong spell, she owned a Protect Ring!
The ninja gave the ring back to her, biting her lip. "So you don't know what kind of stone that is?"
"No idea."
"Would you be surprised if I told you it was a Protect Ring?"
Yuffie watched as the woman blinked, then as a small smile crept across her face. Her hand went to her mouth and her eyes narrowed in brief puzzlement as she examined it a lot more closely, as if something long past had just begun to make sense.
"So that's what she meant."
Yuffie nodded. "And that's why you woke up so fast. You don't remember me casting the sleep spell, do you?"
"I… no."
"Well that's why everyone is still asleep, except you. Everyone was panicking and causing the cabin to rattle more than it could take, especially considering the fact that we were dangling off one support. It was the only thing I could think of short of throwing you all out the window, which you all would have done yourselves had I left it any longer."
Dania caught sight of Yuffie's grin, and offered a small smile. She turned back to her brother. "So what do we do now? Do we head back tonight, or… "
Yuffie frowned at this. She hadn't given the future much thought. Of course, she had no idea how long it would take the remaining passengers to wake up, and they couldn't just leave them there, now could they? There was no doubt they all had to get to their destination, but she doubted that even if she did head off now that any of the others knew the way. She couldn't guarantee their safety unless she stayed; she knew her home island inside out, but that didn't mean the rest of them did.
Perhaps they would even be forced to wait until morning. If it had taken nigh over three hours for Dania to wake up even with a Protect Ring, then they could be a long time in waiting. And even as knowledgable as she was about her own homeland, she knew that they couldn't traverse the plains – or the hills and bridges – in the dark. She couldn't be sure, but judging by where they'd been located when the dragon had come along, she reckoned they had a walk of at least four hours ahead of them, and then some.
Yuffie sighed, realising any hope she may have had of getting to Staniv and her father soon wold have to be put on hold.
"Well?"
Yuffie looked up into the concerned eyes of the blonde woman. She shrugged. "I don't know. It depends on when these guys wake up. I know the way back – I live here – but it's going to take us a while. I don't think we'll be back before midday tomorrow, providing everyone here wakes up in time for the sun to rise."
"That late, huh."
Yuffie winced. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Oh well, nothing to do now but wait, right?"
"Yup."
After a few minutes of silence, Yuffie stood, shoving her hands into her pockets as she turned toward the broken front window of the skycab. She picked her way through the bodies, her hand unconsciously closing in around a warm item in her pocket. Yuffie frowned and pulled out the mysterious item, cocking her head to the side as she stepped over yet another body before exiting the cabin completely. She didn't have a Fire Materia with her…
Yuffie thrust her hands back into her pocket, not able to make any sense of the fact that her jacket pockets were full of the small spheres. A small smile found its way onto her face. Even if they weren't hers, it was their loss and her gain…
Though she couldn't help but think she was forgetting something important.
Shrugging off the odd occurrence, Yuffie began surveying the land around her. She was right; she knew where they were, but she also knew that it meant a lot of travelling. They had yet to reach the first bridge. That added about another half hour to the time it would take them to get back. They would have to leave early if they wanted to arrive before the afternoon came. Once she had finished surveying the skies for the sun's position, she sat down and rested her chin on her knees. It had been a long, eventful day. And though she had been nagging at Cid and company not to be so boring, this was not the kind of excitement she had meant.
"Four and a half hours until freedom. Just great."
She looked up, rolling her eyes and about to turn her head from the spot when something metal glinted in the sunlight not far off into the distance. Yuffie squinted, narrowing her hazel eyes as she struggled to make out what the item was. When she failed to recognise it and her curiosity got the best of her, she got to her feet and began making her way toward the item. As she reached it, she shook her head, wondering just how the hell Reno's Mag-rod had managed to make it this far away from the cabin.
She examined it carefully, noting the scratches and dents that no doubt each had their own individual stories as to why they had occurred. No doubt an injury collaborated nearly everyone on of these offences. With a shrug she pocketed the item, making note to give it back to the Turk as soon as she got back inside.
Satisfied with her find, Yuffie turned, ready to go back when her face paled and a thought occurred to her. Something she should have thought of long before. Reno hadn't been in amongst the bodies in the cabin, and nor would he be – he had been on the roof when it had fallen.
"Oh shit!"Scavenging on the entire northern side of the cabin resulted in no luck, the same with the west, and again with the south. Ready to concede to the fact that Reno'd probably just gone off and left them alone here, Yuffie huffed and headed around to check the last side, wondering just why she was going to the effort of even trying to find someone who'd never even lifted a finger to help her. She rounded the last corner and looked out into the distance, threatening to even further harm the Turk's weapon of choice if she didn't find him.
There was nothing.
"Stupid bloody Turk," she muttered not for the first time that day. She was about to turn around and leave when an odd shape deep in the shadows of the cabin caught her eye. She peered in closer without moving, dubious as to whether her eyes were playing tricks on her. Warily she took a step closer, but all doubts were erased as she saw the open, gloved hand reaching out from the shadows.
Her heart jumped, and she darted forward into the shadows herself, kneeling quickly by the unconscious Turk's side. With a worry she couldn't place, she lay her fingers against her neck, feeling a sluggish, but definitely there pulse. Satisfied that he was alive, she sat back for a moment to assess his injuries.
A small cut ran above his eyebrow and into his hairline, and a growing bruise darkened around the spot. There was also a small gash on his left arm, but that was but a splinter compared to the three diagonal wounds on his shoulder. She recognised them quite clearly as claw marks, and though she knew that they weren't all that bad by themselves, she also knew that this was a Red Dragon they were talking about. They were potentially poisonous – at least the ones over five months old were, in any case, she remembered. She leaned forward, peering closer at the injury, though she couldn't see any traces of infection through the wound. Not past the blood at least. She thought he looked a little pale, but she couldn't be too sure; Reno wasn't the most tanned of men.
Yuffie winced, taking in the blood-soaked shirt and the large tear in it. Blood trickled down the side of his face from the cut, and unconsciously she wiped it off with her finger before it could further stain the white colour. As soon as she realised what she'd done, Yuffie drew her hand back as if she'd been burnt. She could tell that when Reno woke up he was going to be a bitch if he was in pain... Why should she do anything more than was necessary to help him? A Cure spell would do the trick mostly, but she supposed she should get him inside first, where she could deal with him more easily.
But just how she was going to do that was another mystery.
She tried for the optimistic approach. Her hand began to tap Reno's emotionless face, her shots soft at first, but harder when she realised that her tactic wasn't working. After a couple of minutes with very little results, Yuffie swore.
Shrugging off a feeling of apprehension, Yuffie whipped an unruly strand of streaked brown hair from out of her eyes. He had no reason to still be unconscious. Unless…
"No." She shook her head. Poison, out here where she didn't have anything to treat it, wasn't an option.
"Come on, Reno," she tried again. "There's no way I'm carrying your sorry carcass inside. Remember what I told you? I said I wasn't going to do that. Now. Wake. Up." The last three words were emphasized by three more, much harder taps. But again there were no results.
"Fuck, move your ass, Reno!"
"Yuffie?"
Yuffie jumped and spun around, turning to see Dania standing not far behind her, a worried expression on her pale face. She offered a nervous grin, and shrugged.
"Yep?"
"I heard you yelling. Thought you might have been hurt."
Yuffie smiled at the curt reply, running a shaky hand through her hair. "No, I'm fine. It's this thug here that's the problem."
She watched as Dania's grey eyes searched further into the shadows, scanning the ground for any sign of what Yuffie was talking about. Suddenly, her gaze stopped and her face paled. "Oh my god! Is he okay?"
"Who, Reno?" She grinned tersely, "He's never okay."
A small frown found its way onto Dania's petite features as she took in the suit. "He looks official."
Yuffie smirked. "Actually, Reno is about as unofficial as they get. When he wakes up you'll wish he really hadn't."
"Don't you think we should get him inside until then?"
Yuffie nodded, then winced, realising that they'd have to lug his limp form inside. "I hoped you weren't going to say that. Come on. Help me lift him."
Idly, Yuffie wondered just why she was even bothering.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Over here," Yuffie grunted, stepping carefully over the limp bodies that still littered the floor. Reno wasn't so damned light anymore, she decided, and it had been hell even trying to manoeuvre the lanky redhead into the crowded cabin. He kept getting stuck on the edges of chairs, his chunky boots catching on one thing after another.
After what seemed like forever Yuffie reached the still-intact backseat, dragging Reno and hurrying Dania along before she tripped over something. A little too carelessly,she dumped the unconscious Turk into the seat, recovering his jacket from his bag and balling it up under his head; it was always crinkled anyway, and she was sure he treated it no better. And besides, when he woke up he couldn't say she hadn't helped.
Digging inside her pocket, Yuffie scavenged out the Cure Materia she'd used earlier. It pulsed longingly in her grip as she held it and cast the spell, closing her eyes tightly in concentration. When she opened them, she found the emerald sparkles of the Materia had already begun healing his wounds. Seconds later, his wounds had mainly healed. Except for his shoulder.
Yuffie frowned, pursing her lips slightly. Peering closer she examined the edges of the wound, which were still an angry red. It had drawn closed some, but hadn't healed as much as it should have. She decided to ignore it. She was probably just getting paranoid. Perhaps she hadn't summoned such a strong spell after all.
"Will he wake up now?" called Dania from behind her.
"Good point." Turning, the Wutaiian girl leaned over the seat before him, holding the Materia loosely in her hand. "Reno?" She prodded the Turk with her oversized shuriken, not wanting to actually touch the guy should he decide to leap at her as soon as he awoke. "Hey, Turk, I've had enough of this! Wake up already, before I put another dint in your bloody oversized Mag-rod!"
At first there was no reply. Then, after about ten seconds of seething over wasted time, the ninja thought she saw him move. As she watched his eyes slowly opened to that of the smallest squint, and he smirked vaguely when he caught sight of his Materia in her hand, before oddly returning his expression to neutral. He made no move to get up. She caught his lips moving, and they emitted a small sound that she could barely hear.
"Reno?"
He mumbled something else, though from her distance she couldn't quite hear what it was. She leaned in further, her ear hanging out for his words.
"What?"
Reno grinned and reached up with an agility she hadn't known he had possessed, pulling the resisting girl down closer to his lips.
"I said," he repeated. "If you do anything to that bloody nightstick I'll use at least fifty percent of that combat Materia you stole off me on you."
Yuffie blanched and pulled back, shrugging off his grip. She blinked as she remembered the wad of materia she held in her pockets, but said nothing. She remembered now, how as he'd been on the roof she'd pocketed a fair bit of it, in fact.
"Now, brat."
She grabbed his broken nightstick and shoved it into his lap as well as a few orbs of materia, being quick but select about which ones she returned.
Reno raised an eyebrow, recognising only a few spheres out of his collection of unequipped materia. He had more than that; he knew this girl, knew she'd never give it all back that easily. "What do you take me for, a fool? The rest of it."
Yuffie groaned. Okay, so he wasn't that gullible. But would he ask her a second time? Yuffie pulled out a few more orbs, but left a couple still inside her pocket, hoping he wouldn't notice. With a scowl that wasn't entirely faked she dumped the materia on his lap and stood brashly.
"That's what you get for saving a Turk! A whole lot of nothing!"
"And don't you forget it, Yuff," he said with a grin, daring not to move against the nausea in his gut. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she stormed out of the cabin and disappeared off somewhere else. He shook his head and closed his eyes, ignoring the raised eyebrows of the blonde woman seated not far off. He took no notice of the bodies on the ground. By the looks of the spell Yuffie had cast on them, they wouldn't be waking for quite a while.
He lay there for a while, not quite able to sleep, but not quite able to stay awake, either. His shoulder throbbed dully and his body ached, but he put the latter down to his tired muscles. He knew his shoulder wasn't fully healed, for all the Cure spell he knew Yuffie had placed upon him. But he wasn't in the mood to deal with it right now, though, whatever the case, and although he would have given nothing more than to sleep for as long as he dared, he knew he couldn't without focussing too much on his aching muscles. And that just wouldn't do.
With a curse Reno sat up, frowning as he only then caught sight of his Mag-Rod in amongst the throng of glowing materia. Unconcerned about the number of orbs, he chucked them into his pack which he located not far away, and then picked up his weapon, scowling as he noticed the new scars on it. Unimpressed, he flicked the switch to low and turned it on, wincing when he received no result. He tried again, and again, all on different settings. He reached the last switch some ten seconds later.
"Come on, baby." As he flicked it, the item sparked once, and then died completely. "Well shit," he groaned. And although he knew something couldn't freefall that far without some damage, he was still pissed. Now he had to rely on his backup weapon. Just bloody brilliant.
He looked around, finding nothing of use to fix it. And damn it, they were expensive to get serviced!
"Shit!" he repeated, lying back down as a sudden wave of weariness washed over him. As he began to turn on his side and close his eyes, something starched crumpled under his head. Sitting up with what he considered to be too much effort, Reno felt around behind him, frowning as his hands closed around a small sheet of paper. Curious, he picked it up and took a quick look at it, recognising it quickly as the message he'd stolen off Yuffie earlier, before all of this had happened.
Reno frowned, not sure what to do with it. She had stolen his materia, and made him wake up long before he had liked. So did he read it, or hand it back? He hated to admit, that curiosity was fast getting the better of him.
'But she also saved your life and cured you when she didn't have to. The least you could do is give her back the damned note.'Reno cursed and stood somewhat shakily, pulling a cigarette out of his bag and frowning as he found himself following the voice's wishes. He pushed the nausea aside, frowning when it didn't go away immediately. He would deal with that later.
'There,' the voice continued. 'That wasn't so hard now, was it? Keep walking, Reno, keep walking.'
And even though he did, Reno couldn't help but wince. "Oh, shut up," he said, ignoring the strange look the blonde woman gave him. "Just shut the hell up."
And besides, if he handed it back honestly, perhaps she'd let him read it anyway, for all it was worth. 'And,' he thought, 'if I go outside and talk to her perhaps then I'll have some idea of just where the hell I am, and when I can to Wutai.'
This wasn't the kind of excitement he'd asked for.
~*~*~*~*~*~
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another boring chapter, I think, but what can I say? This one would have been much, muuuuuch longer, but in order to break the story up more and give it a tad more structure I had to split two different segments. I think Reno may be a little OOC, but am not too sure. Can someone tell me this?
I hope anyone who read this likes it, and hope my writing style isn't too waffly and confusing. Me, myself, am not absolutely positive on how it's working out, but that's me.
Please review everyone, I live off them! Lol...well, not entirely, but that's not the point now, is it? ~_^
Gotta go, am nearly finished the next chapter, so that should be up in a couple of days - maybe tomorrow.
Cya later,
Ealinesse!