There was thunder, cloud, but no rain.
Across the fields of Gongaga it came, the roll of storm cloud that veiled the sky with its looming black mass and deafened ears with its clashes of thunder. With it, a wild wind tugged at the stems of flowers and grasses; trees shuddered and bent from its path.
Crash! Miles away, a murderous sea battered the coasts of Costel Del Sol.
Crash! Over the ocean, the inhabitants of Junon held their children closer while something monstrous growled its anger over the New Continent.
And yet, the dark cloud seemed dry. Not a splatter of rain was released onto the world. The flashes of lightening, the steady drumbeats of thunder, just the shadow of what's to come.
Like a warning, perhaps?
SHADOWBODY ~ By Crimson Sun Chapter One
Bugenhagen's eyes shot open as another rumble of thunder startled him out of what once had been sleep. When nothing came to greet his vision, he sat idly up from his bed and rubbed his eyes, hard. Reopening them, he recognized the familiar surroundings of his home; his Cosmo Canyon home, coated in the sheet of gray only night could spin.
Of cause... it was nighttime. And of cause, the deep growling had not been a beast without arms, on the verge of kill, but dry thunder from the clouds outside. Ah, how dim-witted he was these days. Nightmares were certainly not a thing he normally feared.
But still, what was with the constant bad weather, the constant disastrous visions these days?
Bugenhagen sighed softly into his long beard and stood up rather shakily. Immediately, the head of his loving grandchild, who was asleep on a blanket next to his bed, rose from his own world of dreams. Bugenhagen made out two golden lamp-eyes against the darkness and the voice of his grandchild muttering, still half-asleep:
"Grandpa? What is it?"
The old man laid a gentle hand on the head of the child.
"Nothing Nanaki, it is nothing. A dream, that is all."
Soothed, Nanaki fell back into sleep almost immediately. Thunder was not enough to keep him from sleeping. Nor, Bugenhagen guessed, was it any trouble to the other members of Avalanche down in the inn of Cosmo Canyon. They were a tired group after all that fighting and 'saving the earth', and they had returned to Cosmo Canyon solely for its peace and quiet.
Oh, sorry. He almost forgot. Something happened to peace and quiet a few days ago. And while everyone else dismissed it for an odd cold front of weather, Bugenhagen felt it was something more...
Another crack of thunder turned the Wiseman's head towards his window. Following the not-too-distant roar came another sound. A whisper, almost, in the back of Bugenhagen's ancient mind. He could almost see for a moment the source of the voice; the monster of ugly blue from his nightmare, without arms, its tail thrashing behind it. The hideous thing opened its monstrous mouth, and sharp fangs exposed themselves to the beholder. It seemed to be saying something in a distant and forgotten language... promising unspeakable evil upon the earth...
Then the lightening flashed again, and the voice faded.
Creeping past his grandchild, Bugenhagen decided he needed to clear his head. Desperately.
Not knowing he was thinking what the Wiseman Bugenhagen had thought, Vincent Valentine of Avalanche found himself surrounded by an unbearable noise. Everyone else around him seemed to be able asleep... Or perhaps that was the real problem.
He had never thought snoring could drown out the sound of thunder, but with Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, and Cloud Strife in the same room, and all sound asleep... well, it was another story. The deep inhale of breath from all three men and the loud growl they issued was almost nerve-racking. How could they even stand each other? Was there some form of immunization that only the snoring ones had to keep from hearing themselves and other snore- ers alike?
But Vincent had not the patience, nor the interest, to ponder this question. Deciding that even the rumble of REAL thunder would be more comforting than the noise these three were making, the dark man slid from his blankets, dressed himself silently in his equally dark clothes, and slipped out the door of their room in the Cosmo Canyon Inn.
Coming down the stairs, he noticed that the mess from their reunion party last night still lay, un-cleared, on one large table of the tiny bar. He recalled all the drinking done here last night (Mostly by Barret, Cid, and Yuffie Kisaragi) and shook his head slightly. Perhaps they had a reason to do all that snoring after all. They had, in fact, a lot of reasons to celebrate after the defeat of Sephiroth. Reeve's promotion, Cloud and Tifa's planned marriage, Marlene's scholarship... All of which were good - great - news that Vincent should rejoice over. There was no more danger in the world anymore, right?
Wait, what was he thinking? The other men's snoring was a problem but it was hardly a threat to the planet...
His chain of thoughts was broken by a tiny sob from the back of the bar as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Someone was crying? Who could be up in the middle of the night, sitting in a closed bar, crying? Automatically quietening his steps, Vincent strode silently towards the source of the strangled cries. The certain somebody was seated on the table at the furthest part of the small bar; a girl. As Vincent drew nearer, he recognized the young woman even with her back turned to him.
"Yuffie?"
It was like a lightening bolt from the storm outside struck through a hole in the roof; Yuffie Kisaragi, previously seated with her head in her hands and her elbows on the table, jolted upright and swirled around with an almost comical expression of shock on her face. Having gotten over the fright and seeing just who it was behind her, Ms. Kisaragi attempted to wipe away the tears that had previously flowed down her face and regain her dignity. Having done THAT, she stood up furiously and turned around completely.
"Vincent Valentine, you..." What followed was a string of curses that Mrs. Kisaragi most certainly did NOT teach her lovely daughter. Vincent was just glad she was muttering them under her breath and not screaming and waking everyone.
"Yuffie." Better explain himself before the conformer found another victim to claim. "My intentions were not to frighten you, I..."
Seeing as her face was still flushed, Vincent abandoned the explanation and 'cut to the chase', as quoted by Cid Highwind. He lowered his voice in an attempt to sooth the agitated Wutainese.
"You were crying."
Recovered, and standing as tall as she could (yet still nowhere near the vampire's height, drats!), Yuffie felt like her old self again. So Mr. Goth- guy caught her off-guard, eh? No way she was going to tell the sneaky bastard anything. But just to make sure he didn't get any ideas, Yuffie wiped one hand across her still moist eyes before putting both hands on her hips.
"No I was NOT." She objected. "I was just down here 'cause I couldn't sleep through that racket outside."
And just to prove it was still there, the 'racket outside' gave another deafening rumble that shook the windows in their frames. The little girl inside Yuffie - the one that still winced when the thunder roared - gave another pathetic little cry of fright. She shivered.
Yuffie might not want to tell Vincent why she was crying, but she couldn't deny the fact from herself. An old memory - almost ancient - had swum to the top of her head a few days ago, roused by the weather. Dry thunder... When was the last time she heard dry thunder? Something bad had happened, no doubt, and the impact of the shock still gnawed away at her brain. The last time rain refused to fall in the storm, her life was changed forever. She could recall her mother... and something Mrs. Kisaragi used to say...
~When the sky cries without tears, darlin', another black soul escapes from the fires of hell through the bloody hole of its mouth. Without the river of tears to keep it back, darlin, it would roam free and cause chaos...~
But she couldn't remember anymore. Frustrated, and swept by a sudden sadness for her lost parent, Yuffie had come down to the bar so her crying wouldn't disturb Tifa in her sleep.
Well, Tifa Lockheart (Soon to be Tifa STRIFE) mightn't be disturbed now, but Yuffie was.
"What are YOU doing here anyway?" She questioned, managing to give Vincent a suspicious look despite her emotions. "Going out to prey on the necks of sleeping women?"
Vincent shrugged off the obvious meant of offense.
"I was being kept up by a different sort of thunder." He replied casually into the collar of his cape. At this, Yuffie almost laughed. She knew what he meant; she had heard the snoring inside the boys' room five steps away from their door. And the fact that Vincent - I'm-to-cool-for-everyone- Valentine - actually made a joke without the slightest hint of humor on his face lifted something heavy within Yuffie's heart.
She ALMOST laughed. She ALMOST reached out, patted Count Valentine on the back and told him he was 'alright'. She ALMOST could have told herself she would be all right too and could go back to sleep...
If not for the sudden piercing, frightened, blood-churning scream of an old man loud enough to wake the entire village breaking the midnight silence.
Then another crack of thunder boomed, and the rain finally began to fall.
Chapter One ~ Fin.
AN: A first shot at fanfiction... with much encouragement from my good friend Picc, aka Wandering Chocobo, aka Silent Rain. I thank you, Picc, and I thank everyone who has ever given me a review and told me to continue.
Please review. I know my poetry is not S- grade, but I am wishing to continue this fanfiction. Tell me what you think. It is obviously nowhere near as good as the legendary Snow Fields fanfiction and 'Sink to the Bottom with You', but I am trying.
Across the fields of Gongaga it came, the roll of storm cloud that veiled the sky with its looming black mass and deafened ears with its clashes of thunder. With it, a wild wind tugged at the stems of flowers and grasses; trees shuddered and bent from its path.
Crash! Miles away, a murderous sea battered the coasts of Costel Del Sol.
Crash! Over the ocean, the inhabitants of Junon held their children closer while something monstrous growled its anger over the New Continent.
And yet, the dark cloud seemed dry. Not a splatter of rain was released onto the world. The flashes of lightening, the steady drumbeats of thunder, just the shadow of what's to come.
Like a warning, perhaps?
SHADOWBODY ~ By Crimson Sun Chapter One
Bugenhagen's eyes shot open as another rumble of thunder startled him out of what once had been sleep. When nothing came to greet his vision, he sat idly up from his bed and rubbed his eyes, hard. Reopening them, he recognized the familiar surroundings of his home; his Cosmo Canyon home, coated in the sheet of gray only night could spin.
Of cause... it was nighttime. And of cause, the deep growling had not been a beast without arms, on the verge of kill, but dry thunder from the clouds outside. Ah, how dim-witted he was these days. Nightmares were certainly not a thing he normally feared.
But still, what was with the constant bad weather, the constant disastrous visions these days?
Bugenhagen sighed softly into his long beard and stood up rather shakily. Immediately, the head of his loving grandchild, who was asleep on a blanket next to his bed, rose from his own world of dreams. Bugenhagen made out two golden lamp-eyes against the darkness and the voice of his grandchild muttering, still half-asleep:
"Grandpa? What is it?"
The old man laid a gentle hand on the head of the child.
"Nothing Nanaki, it is nothing. A dream, that is all."
Soothed, Nanaki fell back into sleep almost immediately. Thunder was not enough to keep him from sleeping. Nor, Bugenhagen guessed, was it any trouble to the other members of Avalanche down in the inn of Cosmo Canyon. They were a tired group after all that fighting and 'saving the earth', and they had returned to Cosmo Canyon solely for its peace and quiet.
Oh, sorry. He almost forgot. Something happened to peace and quiet a few days ago. And while everyone else dismissed it for an odd cold front of weather, Bugenhagen felt it was something more...
Another crack of thunder turned the Wiseman's head towards his window. Following the not-too-distant roar came another sound. A whisper, almost, in the back of Bugenhagen's ancient mind. He could almost see for a moment the source of the voice; the monster of ugly blue from his nightmare, without arms, its tail thrashing behind it. The hideous thing opened its monstrous mouth, and sharp fangs exposed themselves to the beholder. It seemed to be saying something in a distant and forgotten language... promising unspeakable evil upon the earth...
Then the lightening flashed again, and the voice faded.
Creeping past his grandchild, Bugenhagen decided he needed to clear his head. Desperately.
Not knowing he was thinking what the Wiseman Bugenhagen had thought, Vincent Valentine of Avalanche found himself surrounded by an unbearable noise. Everyone else around him seemed to be able asleep... Or perhaps that was the real problem.
He had never thought snoring could drown out the sound of thunder, but with Barret Wallace, Cid Highwind, and Cloud Strife in the same room, and all sound asleep... well, it was another story. The deep inhale of breath from all three men and the loud growl they issued was almost nerve-racking. How could they even stand each other? Was there some form of immunization that only the snoring ones had to keep from hearing themselves and other snore- ers alike?
But Vincent had not the patience, nor the interest, to ponder this question. Deciding that even the rumble of REAL thunder would be more comforting than the noise these three were making, the dark man slid from his blankets, dressed himself silently in his equally dark clothes, and slipped out the door of their room in the Cosmo Canyon Inn.
Coming down the stairs, he noticed that the mess from their reunion party last night still lay, un-cleared, on one large table of the tiny bar. He recalled all the drinking done here last night (Mostly by Barret, Cid, and Yuffie Kisaragi) and shook his head slightly. Perhaps they had a reason to do all that snoring after all. They had, in fact, a lot of reasons to celebrate after the defeat of Sephiroth. Reeve's promotion, Cloud and Tifa's planned marriage, Marlene's scholarship... All of which were good - great - news that Vincent should rejoice over. There was no more danger in the world anymore, right?
Wait, what was he thinking? The other men's snoring was a problem but it was hardly a threat to the planet...
His chain of thoughts was broken by a tiny sob from the back of the bar as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Someone was crying? Who could be up in the middle of the night, sitting in a closed bar, crying? Automatically quietening his steps, Vincent strode silently towards the source of the strangled cries. The certain somebody was seated on the table at the furthest part of the small bar; a girl. As Vincent drew nearer, he recognized the young woman even with her back turned to him.
"Yuffie?"
It was like a lightening bolt from the storm outside struck through a hole in the roof; Yuffie Kisaragi, previously seated with her head in her hands and her elbows on the table, jolted upright and swirled around with an almost comical expression of shock on her face. Having gotten over the fright and seeing just who it was behind her, Ms. Kisaragi attempted to wipe away the tears that had previously flowed down her face and regain her dignity. Having done THAT, she stood up furiously and turned around completely.
"Vincent Valentine, you..." What followed was a string of curses that Mrs. Kisaragi most certainly did NOT teach her lovely daughter. Vincent was just glad she was muttering them under her breath and not screaming and waking everyone.
"Yuffie." Better explain himself before the conformer found another victim to claim. "My intentions were not to frighten you, I..."
Seeing as her face was still flushed, Vincent abandoned the explanation and 'cut to the chase', as quoted by Cid Highwind. He lowered his voice in an attempt to sooth the agitated Wutainese.
"You were crying."
Recovered, and standing as tall as she could (yet still nowhere near the vampire's height, drats!), Yuffie felt like her old self again. So Mr. Goth- guy caught her off-guard, eh? No way she was going to tell the sneaky bastard anything. But just to make sure he didn't get any ideas, Yuffie wiped one hand across her still moist eyes before putting both hands on her hips.
"No I was NOT." She objected. "I was just down here 'cause I couldn't sleep through that racket outside."
And just to prove it was still there, the 'racket outside' gave another deafening rumble that shook the windows in their frames. The little girl inside Yuffie - the one that still winced when the thunder roared - gave another pathetic little cry of fright. She shivered.
Yuffie might not want to tell Vincent why she was crying, but she couldn't deny the fact from herself. An old memory - almost ancient - had swum to the top of her head a few days ago, roused by the weather. Dry thunder... When was the last time she heard dry thunder? Something bad had happened, no doubt, and the impact of the shock still gnawed away at her brain. The last time rain refused to fall in the storm, her life was changed forever. She could recall her mother... and something Mrs. Kisaragi used to say...
~When the sky cries without tears, darlin', another black soul escapes from the fires of hell through the bloody hole of its mouth. Without the river of tears to keep it back, darlin, it would roam free and cause chaos...~
But she couldn't remember anymore. Frustrated, and swept by a sudden sadness for her lost parent, Yuffie had come down to the bar so her crying wouldn't disturb Tifa in her sleep.
Well, Tifa Lockheart (Soon to be Tifa STRIFE) mightn't be disturbed now, but Yuffie was.
"What are YOU doing here anyway?" She questioned, managing to give Vincent a suspicious look despite her emotions. "Going out to prey on the necks of sleeping women?"
Vincent shrugged off the obvious meant of offense.
"I was being kept up by a different sort of thunder." He replied casually into the collar of his cape. At this, Yuffie almost laughed. She knew what he meant; she had heard the snoring inside the boys' room five steps away from their door. And the fact that Vincent - I'm-to-cool-for-everyone- Valentine - actually made a joke without the slightest hint of humor on his face lifted something heavy within Yuffie's heart.
She ALMOST laughed. She ALMOST reached out, patted Count Valentine on the back and told him he was 'alright'. She ALMOST could have told herself she would be all right too and could go back to sleep...
If not for the sudden piercing, frightened, blood-churning scream of an old man loud enough to wake the entire village breaking the midnight silence.
Then another crack of thunder boomed, and the rain finally began to fall.
Chapter One ~ Fin.
AN: A first shot at fanfiction... with much encouragement from my good friend Picc, aka Wandering Chocobo, aka Silent Rain. I thank you, Picc, and I thank everyone who has ever given me a review and told me to continue.
Please review. I know my poetry is not S- grade, but I am wishing to continue this fanfiction. Tell me what you think. It is obviously nowhere near as good as the legendary Snow Fields fanfiction and 'Sink to the Bottom with You', but I am trying.