Hey! Rivett here! Sorry the second chapter took so long to write, if any of
you out there are reading this. I wrote most of this on a plane coming back
from Paris, so sorry if it's weird or anything- that long on a plane can do
strange things to people. Well, anyway, here it is! Flames and any other
kind of review are totally welcome! Whoo! ---Rivett. By the way, this is
done in the perspective of Leon, if you didn't get what his name meant down
there. Just to let ya' know. –R
Disclaimer: We don't own any part of KH or any other FF things. Too bad, 'cause Cloud is hot. And Leon. And Riku. And. . .
Ch. 2:
~~~
Leon
She always was a one to come at the wrong time, or so I hear. I found her lying in an alleyway, her hair matted and wrapped around her like a thick, dirty blanket. The ground trembled and shook under both of our feet,. but she didn't seem to notice. She didn't seem to notice much of anything, in truth.
I was trying to save as many people as possible. That's my job. So many years in SEED has left me trained and ready for an emergency. And boy, this one was.
The problem was that we didn't really know what was going on. The kingdom of Hallow Bastion is not one to suffer from natural disasters. Our city has always been nice and peaceful, and in my time living there, never a rumbling mass of chaos.
We had no idea it was coming. The morning before, it had been a beautifully bright day. Most of the townspeople were out, strolling the clean streets. I had a picnic with a few of my friends. It seemed like a normal, nice day. Then night came, and everything broke loose. I saw it before most people, and managed to get with one of my buddies, Cid.
It was a giant sphere of what seemed to be colors; a whirling mass, a black hole. I had never seen anything like it, and the sight fascinated me. It didn't occur to me that we could be in danger, but Cid had other ideas. I guess it's my fortune that Cid happened to have a bad case of paranoia, because the next thing I knew, we were boarding one of his many ships to go to some other world he knew about. At the time, I didn't really want to go, but Cid had carefully explained to me that if we didn't get the !@#$ out of there, we were going to be nothing but dust in a few hours. I don't really take Cid seriously, but the thought of being dust wasn't too pleasant.
That's when I found her, as I was running across the windblown cement ground, calling out to anyone I could find. I'd already rounded up one chick- some loud girl that called herself the 'Great Ninja Yuffie'. She was cute, I admit, but even then I had a bad feeling that she was going to be one giant headache later on. But that's a different story.
The woman was huddled against the wall, her dirty little frame looking at a glance like a sack of potatoes. I wouldn't have seen her, had it not been for the solitary flower that shone brightly in the mud of the area. It's funny that the area was so dirty-- most of Hallow Bastion is always clean.
I was surprised by the luminous flower. As I approached it seemed to glow, as if it was made of light, or something, I didn't know what it was doing there, or why the woman was holding it, but I wanted to find out. Besides, this woman wouldn't be around much longer if I didn't do something. By then I had realized that something terrible really was happening, and it wasn't just Cid's paranoia that had me running the streets. The whole area was completely deserted, and the wind was beginning to pick up fiercely. The orb above my head was becoming darker and more sinister by the moment, and I realized that I didn't have a lot of time left.
"Miss!" I called, looking at her dirty little frame. Her little sack body said nothing. I took a step closer, then a step back as I realized that all this woman was wearing was her hair alone. I turned to leave, but the ground began to shake under me, only reminding me of the fate that was to befall this woman if I left her. Wincing, I walked towards her and grabbed my shirt, puling it over my head, tryign to unbuckle everything to get it off. I went to her frame and pushed it over the giant mass of hair I knew to be her head. The woman said nothing as I picked her off the ground. The little flower fell from her hand, and to my surprise, she reached out and grabbed it out of the air, cradling it against her chest as if it was the most valuable thing in the world. Then she went limp, as if she had never moved at all.
There wasn't time to ponder her actions. As soon as she was in my arms, the giant swirl of color above my head in the sky began to crackle and sparkle. I cursed under my breath, beginning to run towards the air grounds, where I knew Cid would be waiting.
The area was deserted as I ran towards the ship. I wonder now whether they had been taken by the heartless, or if they had all escaped. I will never know.
It was fortunate that I was closer to the air grounds, for as I reached the ship and banged on the door, the wind picked up in a wild tornado of wind, and the swirling black hole became even bigger. Trees and whole houses began flying up into its inky depths. It is a miracle that our ship didn't get sucked up with it, but I guess that's what you call luck, isn't it?
Yuffie was the first to notice the new passenger: as soon as I got into the ship.
"What's this?" She asked, loudly. I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. What did she think it was?
"I found her," I explained. Yuffie smiled like it was Christmas.
"Ooh!" She said happily. "Can I fix her up? She looks horrible! What did you do to her, Squall?"
I sighed angrily and squinted at her.
"That's Leon." I told her for the fifth time. Yes, I am Leon Squall, and at one time just Squall, but we're not going back to old times. Once Squall, now Leon. Simple. Yuffie, who met me only hours before had trouble comprending that. It bugs me when people use my last name. That was my old life, like I said. A long time ago I decided I wasn't going to ever look back on the past. Things happened, things I don't want to remember. I'm living right now, and that's works for me.
Yuffie, of course, ignored me, despite my relentless nagging. She was too busy trying to get the girl from my arms. I let her have her-- the last thing I need is someone seeing me carrying a naked woman around: my reputation didn't need that, and if Cid saw, he'd never let me hear the end of it.
After Yuffie had disappeared with the mysterious woman, the ship's lights grew dim and the engine began to rumble. I went to the cockpit and found Cid sitting in the front, his brow furrowed with thought. When he saw me, however, he smiled wryly.
"What happened to your shirt?" He asked me. For a moment I stared at him. Then, I shrugged.
"I found a girl. Yuffie's taking care of her right now." For some reason, I didn't want to tell him about the mysterious way I'd found her. He was too busy, and there'd be another time to tell the strange story.
Cid smiled again and nodded and turned back to the controls. I could tell he didn't really care about anything at that moment—his mind was on the ship, and not me.
"Gotta get this baby in the air, or we won't be makin' it." He told me in a mumble. I nodded and sat down in a plush chair beside him as he began to push and pull various buttons. I don't know squat about flying, and I could only hope that he knew what he was doing.
The ship launched without a problem. Cid is an expert when it comes it. I don't really know his history, but I do know that he knows his stuff, right down to the very last detail. But, it doesn't surprise me. Someone like Cid just seems like he would know his stuff.
I wanted to see Hallow Bastion as we flew higher in the air, but before I could get a good look, Yuffie came running out of nowhere. Big surprise—that girl has a way to spoil the best of moments.
"Squall!" She cried, running up towards me. I winced, but decided to let it slide when I saw her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, lurching a little in the turbulence of the plane as I stood. Yuffie put her hand against the seat and gasped for air—apparently she'd run to get to me.
"The girl's making weird noises! Come help me figure 'em out, will you?" She said, looking at me with her big eyes. I sighed and stood, following her back into the infirmary quarters of the craft.
She was lying in one of the small cots in the corner of the room, and to my relief, wearing one of Yuffie's shirts. I don't know how the crazy girl did it in such little time, but the woman looked so much better—her reddish- brown hair had been washed and combed back, and her face was pink from being scrubbed clean. She stared up at the ceiling with bright, glazed green eyes. The flower I had seen her with still lay clutched against her chest.
As I drew closer, I realized she was mumbling softly under her breath, but the words were incomprehensible.
"See what I mean?" Yuffie said, walking over to me and clutching my arm as the ship lurched again as we ascended higher. I nodded and looked at her with exasperation, wishing I could be watching Hallow Bastion instead of this mumbling woman. Yuffie ignored my look and gripped my arm tighter. "We won't leave until we know what she's saying! Then maybe we can help her!" She demanded, pushing me closer to the girl. Wanting to get back to the window, I bent down closer to the woman's mouth, trying to hear her words. A moment later, the mumbles came clear to my ears, but it didn't make any sense.
"So, what's she saying?" Yuffie asked me anxiously. I looked up at her and shook my head.
"It doesn't make any sense." I told her plainly. "She just keeps saying this one word over and over."
"What is it?" Yuffie asked me. I shrugged as the craft lurched violently, then stood as I realized I might miss seeing my home if I continued with this chit-chat. I turned to leave, but Yuffie caught up with me. "WHAT WAS IT?" She squealed in my ear. I winced and looked down at her, half-dragging her to the cockpit, hoping she'd shut up so I could go see Hallow Bastion just one more time, or at least what was left of it, but Yuffie kept screaming. Finally I stopped and looked down at her.
"It doesn't make sense." I explained. "I don't even know if she's saying what I think."
"Well, just tell me!" Yuffie exclaimed, jumping up and down impatiently. I sighed.
"Cloud." I told her. "It sounded like she was saying the word 'cloud' over and over." Yuffie stared at me and the shrugged, letting go of my arm.
"I don't get it." She told me. "But, oh well!" With that, she scampered off, hollering back a word of thanks before disappearing around the corner.
"Will you !@#$ kids stop your yapping?" Cid yelled, navigating around a large tree that was coming our way. "I'm trying to get us out of this !@#$ situation!" I looked out the window and saw my home, Hallow Bastion, as it had become. Although we were high in the air, it was obvious that the ground had been covered by what looked like a giant mass of writing bugs.
"What are those?" I asked Cid with disgust. Cid grunted and glanced at me.
"Those, kid," he said darkly. "Are what are destroying the world. I dunno what they are, but they ain't good, I'll tell you that. Good thing we're leaving."
"Yes," I said softly as the ground became invisible under the black. The swirling orb above us crackled and fizzed, and the world seemed to begin to be swallowed into darkness. I almost closed my eyes, it was so bad.
"Say goodbye, kid." Cid said as we began to pull out of the atmosphere. "'Cause we ain't gonna be comin' back for a long time." I watched sadly as the world I had lived in for a long time evaporated from my sight.
"Bye." I mumbled under my breath, as the last rays of light were sucked from the land. The ship gave a boom, and we flew higher and higher, until Hallow Bastion became nothing but a dark hole in the window. I looked out as stars began to be visible, and wondered just what we had all gotten ourselves into.
Disclaimer: We don't own any part of KH or any other FF things. Too bad, 'cause Cloud is hot. And Leon. And Riku. And. . .
Ch. 2:
~~~
Leon
She always was a one to come at the wrong time, or so I hear. I found her lying in an alleyway, her hair matted and wrapped around her like a thick, dirty blanket. The ground trembled and shook under both of our feet,. but she didn't seem to notice. She didn't seem to notice much of anything, in truth.
I was trying to save as many people as possible. That's my job. So many years in SEED has left me trained and ready for an emergency. And boy, this one was.
The problem was that we didn't really know what was going on. The kingdom of Hallow Bastion is not one to suffer from natural disasters. Our city has always been nice and peaceful, and in my time living there, never a rumbling mass of chaos.
We had no idea it was coming. The morning before, it had been a beautifully bright day. Most of the townspeople were out, strolling the clean streets. I had a picnic with a few of my friends. It seemed like a normal, nice day. Then night came, and everything broke loose. I saw it before most people, and managed to get with one of my buddies, Cid.
It was a giant sphere of what seemed to be colors; a whirling mass, a black hole. I had never seen anything like it, and the sight fascinated me. It didn't occur to me that we could be in danger, but Cid had other ideas. I guess it's my fortune that Cid happened to have a bad case of paranoia, because the next thing I knew, we were boarding one of his many ships to go to some other world he knew about. At the time, I didn't really want to go, but Cid had carefully explained to me that if we didn't get the !@#$ out of there, we were going to be nothing but dust in a few hours. I don't really take Cid seriously, but the thought of being dust wasn't too pleasant.
That's when I found her, as I was running across the windblown cement ground, calling out to anyone I could find. I'd already rounded up one chick- some loud girl that called herself the 'Great Ninja Yuffie'. She was cute, I admit, but even then I had a bad feeling that she was going to be one giant headache later on. But that's a different story.
The woman was huddled against the wall, her dirty little frame looking at a glance like a sack of potatoes. I wouldn't have seen her, had it not been for the solitary flower that shone brightly in the mud of the area. It's funny that the area was so dirty-- most of Hallow Bastion is always clean.
I was surprised by the luminous flower. As I approached it seemed to glow, as if it was made of light, or something, I didn't know what it was doing there, or why the woman was holding it, but I wanted to find out. Besides, this woman wouldn't be around much longer if I didn't do something. By then I had realized that something terrible really was happening, and it wasn't just Cid's paranoia that had me running the streets. The whole area was completely deserted, and the wind was beginning to pick up fiercely. The orb above my head was becoming darker and more sinister by the moment, and I realized that I didn't have a lot of time left.
"Miss!" I called, looking at her dirty little frame. Her little sack body said nothing. I took a step closer, then a step back as I realized that all this woman was wearing was her hair alone. I turned to leave, but the ground began to shake under me, only reminding me of the fate that was to befall this woman if I left her. Wincing, I walked towards her and grabbed my shirt, puling it over my head, tryign to unbuckle everything to get it off. I went to her frame and pushed it over the giant mass of hair I knew to be her head. The woman said nothing as I picked her off the ground. The little flower fell from her hand, and to my surprise, she reached out and grabbed it out of the air, cradling it against her chest as if it was the most valuable thing in the world. Then she went limp, as if she had never moved at all.
There wasn't time to ponder her actions. As soon as she was in my arms, the giant swirl of color above my head in the sky began to crackle and sparkle. I cursed under my breath, beginning to run towards the air grounds, where I knew Cid would be waiting.
The area was deserted as I ran towards the ship. I wonder now whether they had been taken by the heartless, or if they had all escaped. I will never know.
It was fortunate that I was closer to the air grounds, for as I reached the ship and banged on the door, the wind picked up in a wild tornado of wind, and the swirling black hole became even bigger. Trees and whole houses began flying up into its inky depths. It is a miracle that our ship didn't get sucked up with it, but I guess that's what you call luck, isn't it?
Yuffie was the first to notice the new passenger: as soon as I got into the ship.
"What's this?" She asked, loudly. I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. What did she think it was?
"I found her," I explained. Yuffie smiled like it was Christmas.
"Ooh!" She said happily. "Can I fix her up? She looks horrible! What did you do to her, Squall?"
I sighed angrily and squinted at her.
"That's Leon." I told her for the fifth time. Yes, I am Leon Squall, and at one time just Squall, but we're not going back to old times. Once Squall, now Leon. Simple. Yuffie, who met me only hours before had trouble comprending that. It bugs me when people use my last name. That was my old life, like I said. A long time ago I decided I wasn't going to ever look back on the past. Things happened, things I don't want to remember. I'm living right now, and that's works for me.
Yuffie, of course, ignored me, despite my relentless nagging. She was too busy trying to get the girl from my arms. I let her have her-- the last thing I need is someone seeing me carrying a naked woman around: my reputation didn't need that, and if Cid saw, he'd never let me hear the end of it.
After Yuffie had disappeared with the mysterious woman, the ship's lights grew dim and the engine began to rumble. I went to the cockpit and found Cid sitting in the front, his brow furrowed with thought. When he saw me, however, he smiled wryly.
"What happened to your shirt?" He asked me. For a moment I stared at him. Then, I shrugged.
"I found a girl. Yuffie's taking care of her right now." For some reason, I didn't want to tell him about the mysterious way I'd found her. He was too busy, and there'd be another time to tell the strange story.
Cid smiled again and nodded and turned back to the controls. I could tell he didn't really care about anything at that moment—his mind was on the ship, and not me.
"Gotta get this baby in the air, or we won't be makin' it." He told me in a mumble. I nodded and sat down in a plush chair beside him as he began to push and pull various buttons. I don't know squat about flying, and I could only hope that he knew what he was doing.
The ship launched without a problem. Cid is an expert when it comes it. I don't really know his history, but I do know that he knows his stuff, right down to the very last detail. But, it doesn't surprise me. Someone like Cid just seems like he would know his stuff.
I wanted to see Hallow Bastion as we flew higher in the air, but before I could get a good look, Yuffie came running out of nowhere. Big surprise—that girl has a way to spoil the best of moments.
"Squall!" She cried, running up towards me. I winced, but decided to let it slide when I saw her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, lurching a little in the turbulence of the plane as I stood. Yuffie put her hand against the seat and gasped for air—apparently she'd run to get to me.
"The girl's making weird noises! Come help me figure 'em out, will you?" She said, looking at me with her big eyes. I sighed and stood, following her back into the infirmary quarters of the craft.
She was lying in one of the small cots in the corner of the room, and to my relief, wearing one of Yuffie's shirts. I don't know how the crazy girl did it in such little time, but the woman looked so much better—her reddish- brown hair had been washed and combed back, and her face was pink from being scrubbed clean. She stared up at the ceiling with bright, glazed green eyes. The flower I had seen her with still lay clutched against her chest.
As I drew closer, I realized she was mumbling softly under her breath, but the words were incomprehensible.
"See what I mean?" Yuffie said, walking over to me and clutching my arm as the ship lurched again as we ascended higher. I nodded and looked at her with exasperation, wishing I could be watching Hallow Bastion instead of this mumbling woman. Yuffie ignored my look and gripped my arm tighter. "We won't leave until we know what she's saying! Then maybe we can help her!" She demanded, pushing me closer to the girl. Wanting to get back to the window, I bent down closer to the woman's mouth, trying to hear her words. A moment later, the mumbles came clear to my ears, but it didn't make any sense.
"So, what's she saying?" Yuffie asked me anxiously. I looked up at her and shook my head.
"It doesn't make any sense." I told her plainly. "She just keeps saying this one word over and over."
"What is it?" Yuffie asked me. I shrugged as the craft lurched violently, then stood as I realized I might miss seeing my home if I continued with this chit-chat. I turned to leave, but Yuffie caught up with me. "WHAT WAS IT?" She squealed in my ear. I winced and looked down at her, half-dragging her to the cockpit, hoping she'd shut up so I could go see Hallow Bastion just one more time, or at least what was left of it, but Yuffie kept screaming. Finally I stopped and looked down at her.
"It doesn't make sense." I explained. "I don't even know if she's saying what I think."
"Well, just tell me!" Yuffie exclaimed, jumping up and down impatiently. I sighed.
"Cloud." I told her. "It sounded like she was saying the word 'cloud' over and over." Yuffie stared at me and the shrugged, letting go of my arm.
"I don't get it." She told me. "But, oh well!" With that, she scampered off, hollering back a word of thanks before disappearing around the corner.
"Will you !@#$ kids stop your yapping?" Cid yelled, navigating around a large tree that was coming our way. "I'm trying to get us out of this !@#$ situation!" I looked out the window and saw my home, Hallow Bastion, as it had become. Although we were high in the air, it was obvious that the ground had been covered by what looked like a giant mass of writing bugs.
"What are those?" I asked Cid with disgust. Cid grunted and glanced at me.
"Those, kid," he said darkly. "Are what are destroying the world. I dunno what they are, but they ain't good, I'll tell you that. Good thing we're leaving."
"Yes," I said softly as the ground became invisible under the black. The swirling orb above us crackled and fizzed, and the world seemed to begin to be swallowed into darkness. I almost closed my eyes, it was so bad.
"Say goodbye, kid." Cid said as we began to pull out of the atmosphere. "'Cause we ain't gonna be comin' back for a long time." I watched sadly as the world I had lived in for a long time evaporated from my sight.
"Bye." I mumbled under my breath, as the last rays of light were sucked from the land. The ship gave a boom, and we flew higher and higher, until Hallow Bastion became nothing but a dark hole in the window. I looked out as stars began to be visible, and wondered just what we had all gotten ourselves into.