Blood Feast
Chapter 5: The Olfactometer
He'd reflected on Yatsui's unusual remark— and stolen moments in private to sniff at his hair, his cape, at his sleeves and gloves for anything out of the ordinary— about a stench that he himself couldn't smell. Every whiff failed to bring anything to light. Still bothered, Vincent decided it was time for an opinion from another denomination of being.
He settled on a visit to Cosmo Canyon, questing for Nanaki's expert nose. He rode the entire stretch from Nibelheim to the canyon on a motorbike begrudgingly on loan from Yuffie, braving and besting the assaults of resident griffins and solitary golems, all of who weren't normally so aggressive unprovoked, without the aid of the cryptic man who'd somehow came to the conclusion that the gunman needed company. It couldn't have been further from the truth. When he parted, the other said nothing as Vincent made for his journey to seek out this old companion of his, being that he was conveniently close compared to everyone else, even Cid who'd left Rocket Town behind. But he knew that that wasn't the end of Yatsui, but as to why he thought that, he couldn't have said. It was just a strong feeling pitted in the depths of his gut.
Cosmo Canyon was still a calm land, basking under the semi-eternal dusk that the red earth produced from centuries of sun beating down upon that iron-rich corner of the Planet. The wind raced throughout the depths, skimmed its walls, carried always the scent of ancient soil and ever flowing life in its earthen cradle. Vincent could have seen himself living here to some degree, as a pilgrim, a mountain man, watching and living off the canyon as its dusky tide rose and fell, man and animal lived and died, forever entwined in that tragic, yet mystical cycle of existence. For the immeasurably long life that Jenova's cells cursed and coursed through his veins, but blessed him still in a few matters of life or death, he could witness nature mold every facet, evolve every detail to its whimsy.
To think, on his drive over, a peaceful hermitage here was looking pretty good as a viable future.
For now, Vincent had a stench to prove wrong.
He had to meet Nanaki.
And Vincent made his destination, the cliffside burrows of Cosmo Canyon, home to the guardians of the Valley of the Falling Star.
"Vincent? Vincent, bring yo' gloomy ass ova here! Whatcha doin' here?" shouted a great booming voice, one he knew all too well and occasionally lamented.
The hulking black man pounded toward him from the ever blazing hearth of Cosmo Candle, followed by the tiny fair-skinned figure of his daughter Marlene. Much to Vincent's surprise, even Tifa dared an appearance. "Last we saw you was in dat coffin of yours, sealed up like a goddamn clam."
"Vincent, it's good to see you up and about. I was afraid you were going to lock yourself up again for gods know how long," Tifa told him with something of a sigh of relief. Vincent shook his head, though that little action went unnoticed.
"Why are you all here?" he asked eventually. Barret smacked him on the back, urging him to come join them by the vibrant guardian bonfire.
"I'm showin' Marlene some of m' roots here in Cosmo," he said, sweeping his meaty paw across the canyon's vista.
"I'm watching after Marlene watching after her dad," Tifa smirked.
"Shii… Shucks."
"Oh. Cloud?"
"He…" The brunette drew her arms behind her back and rocked on the balls of her heels a couple of times, so plainly expressing her hesitance to answer that was a little less than embarrassing. Then, she went on with, "He's away right now so I have a lot of free time, excluding dedication to opening my new bar in Nibelheim."
Ever since the days following Meteorfall, Cloud had been a little quieter than usual. No, he was like that beforehand. Aerith's death left him sober, disillusioned, although he was happy to put on a show of content for the rest of the party when necessary. But the questions lingered always like low hanging clouds. Why did she have to die? Why did she… The gunman had to interrupt his own thoughts for his mind had strayed once and that was already one too many.
"So, Vincent, what about you? What're you doing here?" Tifa queried.
"I'm looking for Nanaki. Is he here?"
"That damn furball's all playin' hotshot chief up in the observatory," Barret inserted.
"Daddy, I'm hungry," Marlene blurted out, tugging on his arm.
"Alright. C'mon, baby. See ya later, Tif, Vincent." Barret nodded to them both, picked up the little girl and settled her on his shoulder as they started off towards the inn.
"Want me to take you to Red? It's not a bother," Tifa said with a smile. Vincent nodded and gestured for her to lead the way. Together, they strolled up the steps to the burrows carved into the canyon face. As they passed by the Tigerlily Arms shop, a voice beckoned out to them.
"Vincent Valentine, why, what a pleasant surprise it is to see you here."
Tifa and Vincent forced themselves to halt in their tracks. Tifa stood puzzled, to which the man faced in her direction and grinned. "Hello. My name is Yatsui. Your name, madam?"
"Um… Tifa, Tifa Lockhart. Nice to meet you." Yatsui bowed to her with all the decorum of one of those nobles of a forgotten age. Vincent glanced over at his companion; her smooth, round cheeks had flushed slightly in response. She bent back near Vincent and whispered out of the side of her mouth, "Is this a friend of yours?"
"Should he be?" he retorted half mindlessly. All he could really wonder was how did the man get here to Cosmo Canyon? Unless he knew how to fly, or whatever Vincent was capable of doing for short instances—or some sort of teleportation? — just how could this man get here before he did?
"So… Am I imposing on what might soon be a private moment?"
"Oh, we're just going to meet a friend of ours," Tifa replied, blushing now more than before. The woman cocked her head to the side, asked, a little to Vincent's wonder, "Erm, care to join us? Since you're a friend of Vincent's, I mean…"
It took Vincent all of his restraint not to slap his own face.
"Why thank you. You do not mind, do you, Vincent?" Yatsui beamed that beguiling grin that the other man had come to know and recall so easily in so small an amount of time. It tired Vincent in some way to have that radiant face, a man's face, burned into his memory the way it was. His genteel nature, that melancholy underlying his every movement, the unwanted empathy he threw around like everyone was in need, that miserable flowery scent. How would he ever be able to forget this man? Did he even want to? Stop wondering about him so much. You have other things to worry about. This is ridiculous, either way.
The trio ambled up to Bugenhagen's observatory at the pinnacle of the cliff face the burrows were carved into. Yatsui made a fleeting sound of admiration to the vision he saw expanding out and beyond.
"Tifa," a low voice rumbled from the observatory's threshold. The three turned toward the small, homey structure.
"Red," she returned, nearly skipping to the beast with the fiery red mane. Tifa bent down on her long legs and patted his head and Nanaki welcomed it with a pleasant grumble. His ochre eye practically wafted in Vincent's direction.
"Welcome back to the land of the living, Vincent. I am glad to see you. I was worried that you'd sleep it all away again."
The beast glimpsed Yatsui last as the man roamed about the room like a child in a candy store, who had then diverted his attention from his current fascination to the one spying his way. One strange creature to another. "Ah, and who are you?"
"Oh, pardon me. I am Yatsui. And you are… the color red?"
"Nanaki, but you can call me that, too."
"What a wonderful being you are. I sense youth and age in harmony within you, and you are definitely attuned to the rhythm of this earth, are you not?" he questioned. Nanaki rose up on his haunches and stared at the tall, thin man.
"You-"
Vincent jumped in. "I have a minor favor to ask."
"Hum?" Nanaki fell quiet. His nose twitched abruptly as if bothered by biting insects when there were, in fact, none. He looked up and down Vincent's black and red clothed frame. The creature's dark nose wrinkled. "Vincent, where have you been to smell like that?"
"What? You actually smell me?"
"Yes, it's faint, but pungent. Like something is dying, like you're dying and decomposing, and beginning to stink. But you're not dying, are you, Vincent?" Nanaki asked, alarm suddenly in his voice. Vincent's eyes fluttered over the floor. What was he saying? He would know if he were dying. That was impossible, unless… He fell into a terrible mode of brooding. Maybe it has something to do with the Jenova cells in my blood? Maybe they're the reason I smell like this? That is, if he's telling the truth. What else could it be? Maybe it could be that now that Jenova's truly dead and… No, no. That can't be right.
I don't know what to think.
"Vincent?" Tifa sounded. "What's Red talking about? You don't smell like you're dying. You don't even look like it. I don't see or smell a thing."
"Hmm… Hey, Vincent-"
"Wait," Yatsui said sharply. Everyone stopped and pinned all eyes on him. He slinked to the door like some otherworldly cat and poked his head outside. "Something is happening down below."
"There is? How so?" Nanaki padded next to the man and peered out in much the same fashion. His ears went flat and stiff. "You're right… But what?"
Yatsui bolted from the observatory and leapt over the edge of the cliff. Tifa yelped in surprise at the man's sudden course of action. Vincent bounded over Nanaki and spied the area below. Yatsui, himself, had plunged all the way down to where Cosmo Candle burned.
Towering, slinking spiderlike things stalked about, herding the defenseless natives in circles like headless birds, with few places to flee other than into the burrows, which the monsters inconveniently obstructed with their needle-sharp legs. Screams and clicks clashed like tides beating into one another. It was chaos.
Vincent took after Yatsui, speeding towards the ground where he was already helping people to safety.
"Hey!"
"Vincent, come to lend a helping hand?"
Once the gunman was on his feet, the spiders halted then switched about as if to converge on him and only him, in a slow but fluid sway. He loaded new materia into his gun and aimed at the closest four-legged thing within his sights. He pulled the trigger, firing a salvo charged with ice at its tiny main body. The overgrown spider shrieked bloody murder, weighed down by the cold solidifying over it, where its then frozen weight came crashing down and shattering to pieces, leaving the legs standing like stakes wobbling in the wind. Another of the creatures slipped up behind him, one razor edged limb lifted to strike. The spider thrust its leg out, which Vincent dodged easily, shooting into the air above and firing a shot propelled by the force of a tornado; it tore through the spider's body, flinging pieces up and down. Yet two other spiders ambushed him, driving their front limbs in rapid succession. Vincent somersaulted in midair as one of the needle legs ripped into his crimson cape.
"Watch out!" A chunk of earth flew past Vincent, sailed over his head, and smashed into a spider that soundlessly bore down on him from far in the rear. Yatsui hurled yet another chunk at the other monsters but they fast learned to evade them.
"The fuck? Stingers!" shouted Barret. He pointed his prosthetic gun arm at a Stinger and released volley after volley at the prancing beast. Punched through to the point of perforated cheese, it collapsed in on itself in a steaming pile of pulp, legs twitching into stillness. Another Stinger had sprung up high at Barret. He wheeled round and unleashed another ruthless barrage, which had somehow managed to graze its intended target. The spider monster landed just over him, hissing and snapping with steaming mandibles.
"Pardon!" Yatsui launched himself at the Stinger with electrified hands, tearing the monster off its stilts.
"Damn, man! The hell you do?" Barret exclaimed.
"I hope that to be the last of them," Yatsui huffed.
"But not for me," Vincent uttered lowly, looming over a fallen carcass. "They appeared here because of me. When they saw me, they all turned. I have to find out why. What makes them turn…? What makes me look like a feast?" He lifted his claw to meet his eyes, the leather-bound palm supine, making an effort to flex the fingers outward. Was it the culprit?