Chapter Three
My scream died in my throat as Chaos pulled back sharply- it kinda looked like someone was pulling him back...a little like a dog on a lead, if you get what I mean.
Suddenly, the horns receeded, the wings folded and melted into his back, the skin paled rapidly...and suddenly, there was Vincent, staring down at me. His eyes...didn't look quite right. They weren't focused, and he was breathing weird.
"Uhh...Vinnie?" I asked experimentally. Well, you never know, Chaos could've still been lurking there. After all, the thing HAD just tried to kill me.
Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into his head and he pitched forward. I put out my arms instinctively to catch him, even though I was barely half- sitting myself, and I ended up back on the ground. Ouch. I really have to stop falling over like this.
I struggled to prop myself up by a few inches on one elbow, shaking him slightly.
"Vincent? Are you okay?" I asked, beginning to get increasingly more anxious when I got no response. "Vincent!"
I heard people running, and looked up to see Barret and Cid heading over. I suppose I should have been wondering what was happening, but at that point all I was thinking was, 'I bet this looks so wrong...'
I mentally slapped myself as they skidded to a halt near me. Ah hell, I'm a teenager. Whadda ya expect?
"Hey, brat, what happened?" Cid questioned as he and Barret helped to shift Vincent so I could sit up. I glared at Cid. Bastard...hmm, how best to kick his ass?
"Brat!" Cid waved a hand in front of my eyes, and I blinked, snapping out of a daydream of killing him. He spoke slowly, "What. Happened?"
I scowled and got to my feet, dusting myself off. "Whadda ya think I am, a moron? I heard ya the first time!"
"Didn't seem that way." He lit up another cigarette and took a drag. "You want me to say it a third time?"
Decapitation, drowning, ripping him to pieces with my shurikens...ack, shuttup mind!
"Thought you saw." I replied sarcastically, and turned to Barret, who had managed to stand up with Vincent in his arms. "Hey, is he gonna be OK?"
I think I heard Cid snort with laughter just then, but I didn't pay it too much attention. Hey, he was already top of my 'asses to kick' list, so another reason to beat him to a bloody pulp wouldn't make much difference.
"Ya think I know?" Barret replied. "I ain't no doctor. Let's juss get 'im inside."
Tifa came over at this point, looking pale and shaken. Cloud was with her, his arm around her shoulders. She immediately grabbed my arms when she saw me, voice revealing her panic as she hurried, "Yuffie, are you OK? Did Chaos hurt you?"
"No, no, I'm fine." I prised her hands from me, starting to get a little annoyed when she didn't look convinced. "Really, Tifa, I'm OK!"
Why were they asking me if I was OK? I wasn't the one who was unconcious.
Right then, Caith Sith and RedXIII came up. Well, how better to have a reunion than standing around and ignoring the fact that one of your friends has just apparently lost control of the demon who shares his mind and has collapsed after a near killing spree?
"What happened?" Red asked, listening intently as Tifa quickly explained how the monster had approached and Vincent had transformed. Looking over at him, I began to feel my own worry rising, and it started to change into irritation. What did it matter that a monster had attacked us? Vincent was pretty much out of it, and he obviously needed help!
"Uh, hello?" I cut in, making everyone look at me. "I think somebody should take Vincent inside." There was a second's silence before I yelled, "He's hurt, goddammit!"
RedXIII looked over to Barret, still with Vincent in his arms. "Yuffie's right. Take him to his room in the inn, and I'll get the doctor to check on him. And as for that-" He added, nodding over to the remains of the monster. "Somebody had better help me clear it up."
"Ah, get the brat to do it." Cid suggested, lighting yet another cigarette as Barret left in the direction of the inn. "Bout time she made herself useful for once."
I forced a sarcastic smile. "Sorry, old man, I'm going over to the inn. The doctor'll need to know what happened, right?"
"Tifa can go." Cid argued, stopping dead when he realised that Tifa, Cloud and Cait Sith had all left at the mention of cleaning up monster guts.
I clapped him on the shoulder as I walked off. "Good of you to volunteer, Cid."
He responded with some insults I'm not gonna lower myself to repeat. I ran over to the inn and checked at reception which room Vincent was in. By the time I got there, I found Barret had left- probably in search of Marlene- and the doctor had already arrived. Wow, service sure is quick in this place. If this was Wutai, you'd be waiting days- stupid primitive health service. It's all Dad's fault. Why is he in charge anyways? About time he retired and passed charge onto me. Heheheh. We'll see who kicks who outta Wutai then.
The doctor looked up when I came in and gave me a smile. I walked over to where Vincent lay on the bed, starting off with, "Is he gonna...", which was cut off with my mind screaming, "Oh my gawd, he's shirtless!"
I mentally slapped myself, but I don't think the doctor noticed. He just turned back to Vincent, saying, "I'm not sure what happened, but he seems to be OK. He's unconcious, but breathing." He glanced at me. "Were you there?"
I made myself tear my eyes away from Vincent. "Huh? Oh, yeah." I didn't bother explaining due to my stupidly diverted attention and the whole battle I was having trying to NOT stupidly divert my attention. I think the doctor took my expression (which probably, on the stunned scale, looked like I'd been electrocuted) to be distress, and he patted my shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry. He'll wake up eventually. It's strange...there doesn't seem to be a scratch on him." Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about you? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Gawd, what is it with these people?! I got a few bruises from falling over so much, but not much else.
"Well, I'll be off then." The man made to leave, turning around in the doorway to add, "If you think his condition is becoming unstable, send for me."
...the hell? Oh right. If he gets worse, call the doctor.
"Right, gotcha. Thanks." The doctor closed the door after him, but it was a few moments before I snapped outta my trance by slapping my forehead for real.
"No, bad Yuffie!" I muttered. "Bad Yuffie! Stop thinking!"
In order to have something to do, I looked around the room for somewhere to sit, noticing that there were two chairs. Vincent's cloak and shirt were on one, so I dragged the spare one up beside his bed and collapsed into it, starting to feel tired despite the fact that two different parts of my mind were having a loud argument about what I should do.
On one hand, the sensible part of my mind was telling me that I should probably leave because I'd probably only disturb Vincent anyways, and he needed to rest.
On the other hand, the other part of my brain kept reciting how damn hot he looked.
Ack. Stupid mind. I hit myself again, this time on the cheek. This was Vincent I was staring at- the guy who locked himself in a coffin in the basement of some crumbling old mansion for thirty years, convinced he'd committed a whole bunch of sins he hadn't. Still...he was very hot.
And besides, someone needed to watch over him. The doctor had said that someone should call him if Vincent suddenly got worse. It COULD happen. Hopefully not, but just in case, I thought I should be there.
In order to give me something to do instead of just gawp at him, I started to sort my materia, even though I still glanced up every few seconds. What the hell happened anyways? Sure, I've seen Vincent transform heaps of times in the past, and into different monsters than Chaos as well, right at the beginning...but this time, something had changed. Even though Chaos had always been...well, to put it bluntly, hellbent on death and destruction, he'd NEVER tried to attack one of us. I paused in polishing one of the materia off on my top to look at Vincent's face as he frowned slightly in sleep. What was going on in his mind? Which, by the way, he shared with something that had just tried to kill two of us?
Was Chaos getting too strong for him? I mean...Vincent was strong and all, very strong, but what exactly was Chaos? How did they compare mentally- which was how they lived, two minds in one body?
My thoughts were cut off as Cait Sith burst in through the door, stopping dead as I looked up from slotting my last materia back into my bangle. Oh great, just what I needed. I just couldn't deal with that...thing, not as tired as I was.
"What are you doing here?" I asked irritatedly. The mog bounded over, with the overstuffed cat waving his megaphone around.
"I'd ask you the same, sweetcheeks, but it's pretty obvious." The glee in his voice made me wary, and rightly so as he launched into song. "Yuffie 'n Vincent, sittin' in a tree, F-U-C-"
I grabbed the cat in one hand, cutting off his song before he could get any further and disturb Vincent, carrying him across the room to the window, which I opened with my free hand. The mechanical mog jumped after me, leaping around insanely as I looked at the cat.
"Get a girlfriend, Reeve." I said, and hurled him as far as I could out of it, bundling the mog out afterwards and grinning as I heard his fading yell.
Shame he's only a stuffed toy, I mused as I slid the window shut and went over to close the door. Still, I'd better remember to punch Reeve next time I see him.
With a sigh, I stretched out and went back over to my chair, although only after locking the door to make sure I didn't get an angry toy coming back to kill me. Vincent was still out of it- luckily, he didn't hear anything.
I curled up on the chair and shut my eyes. After all, I was really tired, and sleep didn't take too long to come to me.
My scream died in my throat as Chaos pulled back sharply- it kinda looked like someone was pulling him back...a little like a dog on a lead, if you get what I mean.
Suddenly, the horns receeded, the wings folded and melted into his back, the skin paled rapidly...and suddenly, there was Vincent, staring down at me. His eyes...didn't look quite right. They weren't focused, and he was breathing weird.
"Uhh...Vinnie?" I asked experimentally. Well, you never know, Chaos could've still been lurking there. After all, the thing HAD just tried to kill me.
Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into his head and he pitched forward. I put out my arms instinctively to catch him, even though I was barely half- sitting myself, and I ended up back on the ground. Ouch. I really have to stop falling over like this.
I struggled to prop myself up by a few inches on one elbow, shaking him slightly.
"Vincent? Are you okay?" I asked, beginning to get increasingly more anxious when I got no response. "Vincent!"
I heard people running, and looked up to see Barret and Cid heading over. I suppose I should have been wondering what was happening, but at that point all I was thinking was, 'I bet this looks so wrong...'
I mentally slapped myself as they skidded to a halt near me. Ah hell, I'm a teenager. Whadda ya expect?
"Hey, brat, what happened?" Cid questioned as he and Barret helped to shift Vincent so I could sit up. I glared at Cid. Bastard...hmm, how best to kick his ass?
"Brat!" Cid waved a hand in front of my eyes, and I blinked, snapping out of a daydream of killing him. He spoke slowly, "What. Happened?"
I scowled and got to my feet, dusting myself off. "Whadda ya think I am, a moron? I heard ya the first time!"
"Didn't seem that way." He lit up another cigarette and took a drag. "You want me to say it a third time?"
Decapitation, drowning, ripping him to pieces with my shurikens...ack, shuttup mind!
"Thought you saw." I replied sarcastically, and turned to Barret, who had managed to stand up with Vincent in his arms. "Hey, is he gonna be OK?"
I think I heard Cid snort with laughter just then, but I didn't pay it too much attention. Hey, he was already top of my 'asses to kick' list, so another reason to beat him to a bloody pulp wouldn't make much difference.
"Ya think I know?" Barret replied. "I ain't no doctor. Let's juss get 'im inside."
Tifa came over at this point, looking pale and shaken. Cloud was with her, his arm around her shoulders. She immediately grabbed my arms when she saw me, voice revealing her panic as she hurried, "Yuffie, are you OK? Did Chaos hurt you?"
"No, no, I'm fine." I prised her hands from me, starting to get a little annoyed when she didn't look convinced. "Really, Tifa, I'm OK!"
Why were they asking me if I was OK? I wasn't the one who was unconcious.
Right then, Caith Sith and RedXIII came up. Well, how better to have a reunion than standing around and ignoring the fact that one of your friends has just apparently lost control of the demon who shares his mind and has collapsed after a near killing spree?
"What happened?" Red asked, listening intently as Tifa quickly explained how the monster had approached and Vincent had transformed. Looking over at him, I began to feel my own worry rising, and it started to change into irritation. What did it matter that a monster had attacked us? Vincent was pretty much out of it, and he obviously needed help!
"Uh, hello?" I cut in, making everyone look at me. "I think somebody should take Vincent inside." There was a second's silence before I yelled, "He's hurt, goddammit!"
RedXIII looked over to Barret, still with Vincent in his arms. "Yuffie's right. Take him to his room in the inn, and I'll get the doctor to check on him. And as for that-" He added, nodding over to the remains of the monster. "Somebody had better help me clear it up."
"Ah, get the brat to do it." Cid suggested, lighting yet another cigarette as Barret left in the direction of the inn. "Bout time she made herself useful for once."
I forced a sarcastic smile. "Sorry, old man, I'm going over to the inn. The doctor'll need to know what happened, right?"
"Tifa can go." Cid argued, stopping dead when he realised that Tifa, Cloud and Cait Sith had all left at the mention of cleaning up monster guts.
I clapped him on the shoulder as I walked off. "Good of you to volunteer, Cid."
He responded with some insults I'm not gonna lower myself to repeat. I ran over to the inn and checked at reception which room Vincent was in. By the time I got there, I found Barret had left- probably in search of Marlene- and the doctor had already arrived. Wow, service sure is quick in this place. If this was Wutai, you'd be waiting days- stupid primitive health service. It's all Dad's fault. Why is he in charge anyways? About time he retired and passed charge onto me. Heheheh. We'll see who kicks who outta Wutai then.
The doctor looked up when I came in and gave me a smile. I walked over to where Vincent lay on the bed, starting off with, "Is he gonna...", which was cut off with my mind screaming, "Oh my gawd, he's shirtless!"
I mentally slapped myself, but I don't think the doctor noticed. He just turned back to Vincent, saying, "I'm not sure what happened, but he seems to be OK. He's unconcious, but breathing." He glanced at me. "Were you there?"
I made myself tear my eyes away from Vincent. "Huh? Oh, yeah." I didn't bother explaining due to my stupidly diverted attention and the whole battle I was having trying to NOT stupidly divert my attention. I think the doctor took my expression (which probably, on the stunned scale, looked like I'd been electrocuted) to be distress, and he patted my shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry. He'll wake up eventually. It's strange...there doesn't seem to be a scratch on him." Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "What about you? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Gawd, what is it with these people?! I got a few bruises from falling over so much, but not much else.
"Well, I'll be off then." The man made to leave, turning around in the doorway to add, "If you think his condition is becoming unstable, send for me."
...the hell? Oh right. If he gets worse, call the doctor.
"Right, gotcha. Thanks." The doctor closed the door after him, but it was a few moments before I snapped outta my trance by slapping my forehead for real.
"No, bad Yuffie!" I muttered. "Bad Yuffie! Stop thinking!"
In order to have something to do, I looked around the room for somewhere to sit, noticing that there were two chairs. Vincent's cloak and shirt were on one, so I dragged the spare one up beside his bed and collapsed into it, starting to feel tired despite the fact that two different parts of my mind were having a loud argument about what I should do.
On one hand, the sensible part of my mind was telling me that I should probably leave because I'd probably only disturb Vincent anyways, and he needed to rest.
On the other hand, the other part of my brain kept reciting how damn hot he looked.
Ack. Stupid mind. I hit myself again, this time on the cheek. This was Vincent I was staring at- the guy who locked himself in a coffin in the basement of some crumbling old mansion for thirty years, convinced he'd committed a whole bunch of sins he hadn't. Still...he was very hot.
And besides, someone needed to watch over him. The doctor had said that someone should call him if Vincent suddenly got worse. It COULD happen. Hopefully not, but just in case, I thought I should be there.
In order to give me something to do instead of just gawp at him, I started to sort my materia, even though I still glanced up every few seconds. What the hell happened anyways? Sure, I've seen Vincent transform heaps of times in the past, and into different monsters than Chaos as well, right at the beginning...but this time, something had changed. Even though Chaos had always been...well, to put it bluntly, hellbent on death and destruction, he'd NEVER tried to attack one of us. I paused in polishing one of the materia off on my top to look at Vincent's face as he frowned slightly in sleep. What was going on in his mind? Which, by the way, he shared with something that had just tried to kill two of us?
Was Chaos getting too strong for him? I mean...Vincent was strong and all, very strong, but what exactly was Chaos? How did they compare mentally- which was how they lived, two minds in one body?
My thoughts were cut off as Cait Sith burst in through the door, stopping dead as I looked up from slotting my last materia back into my bangle. Oh great, just what I needed. I just couldn't deal with that...thing, not as tired as I was.
"What are you doing here?" I asked irritatedly. The mog bounded over, with the overstuffed cat waving his megaphone around.
"I'd ask you the same, sweetcheeks, but it's pretty obvious." The glee in his voice made me wary, and rightly so as he launched into song. "Yuffie 'n Vincent, sittin' in a tree, F-U-C-"
I grabbed the cat in one hand, cutting off his song before he could get any further and disturb Vincent, carrying him across the room to the window, which I opened with my free hand. The mechanical mog jumped after me, leaping around insanely as I looked at the cat.
"Get a girlfriend, Reeve." I said, and hurled him as far as I could out of it, bundling the mog out afterwards and grinning as I heard his fading yell.
Shame he's only a stuffed toy, I mused as I slid the window shut and went over to close the door. Still, I'd better remember to punch Reeve next time I see him.
With a sigh, I stretched out and went back over to my chair, although only after locking the door to make sure I didn't get an angry toy coming back to kill me. Vincent was still out of it- luckily, he didn't hear anything.
I curled up on the chair and shut my eyes. After all, I was really tired, and sleep didn't take too long to come to me.