Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 7 characters and stuff belong to Squaresoft. All original people and stuff belong to me.
A/N: Whoo! Chapter three version 2. whatever. Now we get to see who the shadow is and how freaky a certain character can be. Someone has a change of heart when he sees something happen. Rhiannon learns what nicknames are! Whoo! ^_^ lol. Please Enjoy and review!
* * * * * * * * * *
The person in the black cloak slipped into the house that Rhiannon was in and walked over to where she was sleeping. In one quick and silent motion, they grabbed Rhiannon by the shoulders and shook her awake. Immediately, Rhiannon sprang out of bed and got in a battle stance behind the person, wincing and stumbling a lot from her injuries. She blinked and stared around the darkness to seek out the person who woke her up, but could find no one. I must've imagined it... she thought, relaxing and turning to go back to bed.
Suddenly, Rhiannon felt one arm wrap around her, pinning her arms to her sides and another hand clamp over her mouth. She tried to scream and wrench out of the grip, but her voice caught in her throat and the pain from her wounds kept her in check. She felt herself get dragged from the house to a tree outside and soon found herself pinned up against it. Quickly, the person used a hand to pull the hood off and Rhiannon stopped struggling when she saw Daigus' face.
"Oh... It's just you, Daigus," said Rhiannon, sighing in relief, "What are you doing here?"
"I was following you," replied Daigus, smiling a bit and scolding the girl, "You should've been at the first town by now."
"I ran into some trouble," said Rhiannon, wincing as Daigus gripped her arm tightly, "What's wrong? You seem tense..."
"Why were you with those two people?" asked Daigus, an angry look in his eyes, "What were you doing with them?"
"They saved my life, Daigus," replied Rhiannon in a small voice, looking confused at his anger, "They don't mean any harm."
"Those two are enemies!" snapped Daigus, gripping her shoulders with both hands, causing the girl to cry out in pain.
Daigus ignored the girl's pleading to loosen his grip and didn't notice the attention her cry had caught. The mysterious Vincent Valentine was sitting in a tree above them, staring at the stars, but at the sound of the voices, he looked down at them. Daigus? he thought, narrowing his eyes, It can't be. That lunatic supposedly died when Hojo's lab was destroyed. What is that girl doing with him. He heard the girl whimper as Daigus tightened his grip on her arms and she spoke with a voice full of confusion.
"How can those two be enemies?" She whimpered again. "They helped me and I'm in their debt." She yelped when Daigus dug his fingers into her arms. "Daigus! Why are you acting this way?! I don't understand what's gotten you so angry with me."
"You shouldn't owe anything to those two," said Daigus, narrowing his eyes, "You shouldn't even go near them."
"W... Why not?" asked Rhiannon, her whimpering tone becoming defiant, "They're nice and they weren't shocked by my appearance at all. Tifa helped me bandage my wounds. They even let me use Cloud's old house, though I think Cloud and Vincent don't trust me at all. I wonder why."
"Stay away from them!" yelled Daigus, gripping Rhiannon's shirt, pulling her face a bit closer to his, "Those two are enemies and my enemies are your enemies!" His eyes were glowing in anger and his voice was slightly demonic and threatening.
"Let go of me," said Rhiannon, frowning at him as the feeling of defiance grew stronger, "My enemies are my enemies. Your enemies are yours, not mine! I have nothing against these people and I owe them."
"I like your attitude," said Diagus, giving the girl a smirk that frightened her, "Just don't forget your mission." He used one of his hands to raise Rhiannon's chin up when she looked away. "You have a mission to do, so don't stay around here too long. I'll be back in a week to see if you've left." His face got so close to Rhiannon's that their noses almost touched. "Are you frightened?"
"M... Maybe," replied Rhiannon, trying to move away from Daigus, "I don't like you getting this close to me." Her voice was shaking. "I don't know why you're acting like this."
"You're beautiful when your frightened," said Daigus, giving her a twisted smile that repulsed and scared the girl even more.
"This is becoming even more disturbing by the second," said Rhiannon, trying to edge away even more with her eyes full of fear.
One of Daigus' arms wrapped tightly around her waist, his hand against her back and he drew the girl closely to him. Rhiannon could see the mad lust in his eyes and closed her eyes, turning her head away to get rid of the image that was terrifying her. She felt his hand under her chin and was forced to look at him as his face drew nearer. His mouth met hers roughly in a deeply passionate kiss that made the girl's head spin, but the situation stirred a feeling of hatred deep inside her.
Kick him in the balls! screamed a voice in Rhiannon's head as Daigus continued to press her to him in the kiss.
Rhiannon was frozen in shock and her body wouldn't respond to the voice's prompting, but Daigus let go and stepped away, chuckling. A twisted smirk was on his face as he watched the girl step uneasily back into the tree behind her. She leaned against the tree and sank down to sit underneath it, shaking in fright and staring at the ground. She looked up at him, but her eyes weren't full of fear, a murderous look was painted on them and the man took a step back.
"I'll return in a few days as opposed to a week," said Daigus, quickly regaining his composure, "You'd better continue the mission or you'll be punished." He turned, vanishing into the shadows, leaving Rhiannon to wipe her mouth with her arm.
"Why... Why couldn't I stop him..." She said to her silent surroundings, "Why does he scare me so much and... What was that feeling of hatred? I've never felt it before..." She stood up, feeling her body still shake. "That was... Disgusting..." Rhiannon wrapped her arms around herself. "Damn... I feel so violated. Perhaps I should've listened to that voice and kicked him when I had the chance."
Rhiannon started to walk away when she heard something softly land behind her and in her state of edginess, the girl decided to attack. She swung her fist at the person behind her as she turned with her eyes closed and felt something cold and metal catch her wrist. The girl opened her eyes to see a metal hand wrapped around it and moved her gaze to the owner of said limb. She met the anger filled eyes of Vincent Valentine and opened her mouth to speak, but found nothing to say. Rhiannon couldn't tear her eyes from his strange eyes and fear seemed to course through her body, causing her to shake again. He backed her into the wall and gave her another piercing look before words were spoken.
"Are you working for Daigus?" asked Vincent coldly, glaring at her, but then he saw the fear in her eyes. I recognize that look... he thought sorrowfully, That's the look that 'he' would give me when Hojo wanted to take him away to the lab for experimentation. He let go of her wrist and Rhiannon leaned against the wall of the house, sliding down to sit against it.
"How... How do you know him?" she asked in reply, staring up at him with baleful eyes.
"I suppose we can talk about this tomorrow night," muttered Vincent, seeing how upset and shaken the girl was about the topic.
"O... Ok...." said Rhiannon quietly, as she closed her eyes to try and calm herself down, "Please... Don't think that I'd hurt you, Tifa or Cloud because Daigus hates you three..."
Hearing these sensible words instead of seeing tears struck a soft spot that Vincent had tried to bury for the past two years. Just like 'him', he thought, looking at the girl, No tears, just words. He knelt down in front of the girl and spoke quietly. "Go get some rest... Perhaps you should consider the question of why you're doing any favors for Daigus."
Rhiannon looked up to stare at the man, but he had disappeared to the old mansion. "Maybe he's right..." She stood up and walked inside the house to go back to sleep. Her slumber went undisturbed until daybreak.
* * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Tifa and Cloud found Rhiannon already up and working on the house with some supplies Cloud had brought over the night before. They noticed Vincent sitting quietly in the shadows, watching Rhiannon with a fairly nonchalant look in his eyes, but they noticed that there was a glint of curiosity. The girl heard their footsteps, looked up, and gave them a cheerful smile. Neither of the two in front of her saw the hidden unease in her eyes, but Vincent did.
"Morning," said Rhiannon, brightly, "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a rock," said Tifa, yawning a bit, "The battles we had yesterday were exhausting."
"How about you?" asked Rhiannon, smiling at Cloud, who scowled at her and turned away.
"Fine," muttered Cloud in a grumpy tone, "Just fine."
"Don't mind him," said Tifa, chuckling before adding in an undertone, "He's always like this in the morning."
"Well, I've managed to do a few minor repairs," said Rhiannon, looking at the house. I'm still curious as to HOW I knew how to do the repairs.
"Minor?" said Tifa, staring at the repairs, "You've already repaired the windows and door. When did you get up this morning?"
"I woke up around sunrise," replied Rhiannon, putting brushes on the cans of paint, "Had some trouble sleeping, but I didn't start working until a more decent hour. From the looks of it, there's still a lot of work to be done."
The three started to work on the little house's walls and siding before painting them. After that they started working on all the repairs that needed to be done inside the house and that task took them to lunch. After some rest and food, the trio returned to their job and started to work on the roof. Rhiannon had some trouble with the shingles because they kept slipping away from her, provoking the girl in to cussing up a storm before Tifa suggested using they switch places. It was dinner when the roof work was finished and they went inside to wash up. Within two hours of washing and then cooking, they all sat down to dinner and talked about the day.
"You seem to be adapting to this place already," said Tifa, cutting up some meat, "How do you manage?"
"I don't know why," answered Rhiannon after swallowing a bite of meat, "But this place seems so damn familiar." She looked around the house. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I've been here before."
"You sound like Cid," commented Cloud, drinking some water, "You cuss as much as him."
"Cid?" said Rhiannon, looking confused, "Who's he? Another dude who lives here?" Her gaze went to Tifa.
"Cid Highwind," replied Tifa, tearing a roll apart to butter it, "He's one of our friends, but he lives in Rocket Town."
"Oh," said Rhiannon, taking a drink from her cup with a thoughtful look on her face. "Thank you for the dinner, Tifa. I think I'll turn in for the night." She got up and smiled at them. "Good night, you two."
"Good night," said Tifa, putting down her knife, "I hope you sleep better than you did last night."
"Same here," agreed Rhiannon, stretching a bit, "See you, Cloud."
"Bye," said Cloud, absentmindedly tearing his napkin, "We'll be gone tomorrow because we have something to do."
"Ok," said Rhiannon, pushing her chair in, "I might be leaving soon, too. I hope you get what ever you're going to do done. Sayonara."
"Thanks," said Tifa, smiling at the girl, "Have a good sleep, Rhia."
Rhiannon stared at her in innocent puzzlement. "Rhia? Who's that?"
"You're Rhia," answered Tifa, laughing a bit, "It's a nickname."
"What's a... nickname?" asked Rhiannon, saying her last word slowly.
Both Cloud and Tifa gaped at her when she said these words, but it was Cloud who spoke what each one was thinking. "You mean you don't know what a nickname is?"
"Um... No," responded Rhiannon, looking thoroughly confounded, "What is it? The word sounds like some sort of object."
"A nickname is something you call a person for short," explained Tifa, "Your name for instance could have the nicknames Rhia, Rhian, or whatever else you can make of your name."
"Oh..." said Rhiannon, thinking a bit, "So you could be Tif and Cloud could be Clo?" She had the look of childlike innocent in her eyes.
Tifa laughed at the nickname for Cloud. "I guess so, but our names are fairly sort, so you can call us by the full name."
"Um... Alright," said Rhiannon, scratching her cheek a bit, "I'll ponder about it later after I get some sleep." She wandered out of the house, still thinking about it.
"Is it just me," stated Cloud, turning his gaze to Tifa, "Or is that girl really naive about simple things like that?"
"Maybe she just doesn't remember those things," remarked Tifa, shrugging a bit, "She's like a small child in an adult's body."
The couple cleaned up the table and talked while Rhiannon traveled back to the place she was staying, thinking about the nicknames thing. She paid no attention to anything in front of her and ran into a firm chest with a smack. Staggering back a bit, the girl looked up and saw Vincent standing there with his haunting eyes trained on her with a slight hint of curiosity. I wonder if he goes by any nicknames, thought Rhiannon, staring at him in wonder and she shivered a bit from his gaze, I could ask...
"Hello Vincent," she said with a smile, "How have you been today?"
"I have been fine," he answered, not returning the smile.
"I... Um... Have a question for you," said the girl, looking a bit awkward.
"Yes?" replied Vincent, giving her an odd look, "What do you want to ask me?" Why does she sound so nervous? he thought.What kind of question does she want to ask?
"Um... Do you go by any nicknames?" was the query that took the mysterious man by surprise. "Like Vin, Vince, Vivi or Vinny?
Vincent stared at her in complete bewilderment as he thought. Why is she asking this? It was a few minutes before he replied. "I prefer to be called Vincent." He paused a bit. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," answered Rhiannon, scratching her head, "Tifa told me about nicknames and I was pondering about them. I didn't know that names could be shortened like that."
Once again, Vincent gave her a stare of bewilderment, "Um... Interesting." He shook his head a bit. "Rhiannon, I'd like to talk to you about how you know Daigus."
"Might as well," sighed Rhiannon, shrugging, "I plan on leaving tomorrow, so this is the best time." She looked up at him. "Are we going to talk out here?"
"No," answered Vincent, turning a bit, "Follow me. We can talk at the old mansion. There's more privacy there." He walked up the path towards the house with the curious girl walking after him.
* * * * * * * *
There are a lot of stories about Vincent being around Sephiroth when he was a kid, but that Vincent tried to take him away later in the boy's life. I'm going with that story line a bit, so Vinny has a soft spot for those memories and even though Rhiannon looks different, she still somehow reminds him of Sephiroth. I also thought about the fact that Vincent might still feel guilty about Sephiroth being killed and 'failing' Lucrecia.
^_^ Heh... I thought Rhiannon not knowing what a nickname was would be kind of cute and funny, but it would also show how clueless she is. Though seeing her attempt the nickname thing with the other three was amusing. The girl's like a new born child, yet she has a ferocity buried deep inside her that came out when she gave Daigus the murderous glare. Daigus kinda has two sides of his personality.
SNEAK PEEK!:
** Vincent and Rhiannon exchange explanations about each knows Daigus.
** Vincent reveals a few things to Rhiannon about the past that makes her have some odd reactions.
** After the lovely discussion, the gal decides to leave Nibelheim, but what pushes her into it?
A/N: Whoo! Chapter three version 2. whatever. Now we get to see who the shadow is and how freaky a certain character can be. Someone has a change of heart when he sees something happen. Rhiannon learns what nicknames are! Whoo! ^_^ lol. Please Enjoy and review!
* * * * * * * * * *
The person in the black cloak slipped into the house that Rhiannon was in and walked over to where she was sleeping. In one quick and silent motion, they grabbed Rhiannon by the shoulders and shook her awake. Immediately, Rhiannon sprang out of bed and got in a battle stance behind the person, wincing and stumbling a lot from her injuries. She blinked and stared around the darkness to seek out the person who woke her up, but could find no one. I must've imagined it... she thought, relaxing and turning to go back to bed.
Suddenly, Rhiannon felt one arm wrap around her, pinning her arms to her sides and another hand clamp over her mouth. She tried to scream and wrench out of the grip, but her voice caught in her throat and the pain from her wounds kept her in check. She felt herself get dragged from the house to a tree outside and soon found herself pinned up against it. Quickly, the person used a hand to pull the hood off and Rhiannon stopped struggling when she saw Daigus' face.
"Oh... It's just you, Daigus," said Rhiannon, sighing in relief, "What are you doing here?"
"I was following you," replied Daigus, smiling a bit and scolding the girl, "You should've been at the first town by now."
"I ran into some trouble," said Rhiannon, wincing as Daigus gripped her arm tightly, "What's wrong? You seem tense..."
"Why were you with those two people?" asked Daigus, an angry look in his eyes, "What were you doing with them?"
"They saved my life, Daigus," replied Rhiannon in a small voice, looking confused at his anger, "They don't mean any harm."
"Those two are enemies!" snapped Daigus, gripping her shoulders with both hands, causing the girl to cry out in pain.
Daigus ignored the girl's pleading to loosen his grip and didn't notice the attention her cry had caught. The mysterious Vincent Valentine was sitting in a tree above them, staring at the stars, but at the sound of the voices, he looked down at them. Daigus? he thought, narrowing his eyes, It can't be. That lunatic supposedly died when Hojo's lab was destroyed. What is that girl doing with him. He heard the girl whimper as Daigus tightened his grip on her arms and she spoke with a voice full of confusion.
"How can those two be enemies?" She whimpered again. "They helped me and I'm in their debt." She yelped when Daigus dug his fingers into her arms. "Daigus! Why are you acting this way?! I don't understand what's gotten you so angry with me."
"You shouldn't owe anything to those two," said Daigus, narrowing his eyes, "You shouldn't even go near them."
"W... Why not?" asked Rhiannon, her whimpering tone becoming defiant, "They're nice and they weren't shocked by my appearance at all. Tifa helped me bandage my wounds. They even let me use Cloud's old house, though I think Cloud and Vincent don't trust me at all. I wonder why."
"Stay away from them!" yelled Daigus, gripping Rhiannon's shirt, pulling her face a bit closer to his, "Those two are enemies and my enemies are your enemies!" His eyes were glowing in anger and his voice was slightly demonic and threatening.
"Let go of me," said Rhiannon, frowning at him as the feeling of defiance grew stronger, "My enemies are my enemies. Your enemies are yours, not mine! I have nothing against these people and I owe them."
"I like your attitude," said Diagus, giving the girl a smirk that frightened her, "Just don't forget your mission." He used one of his hands to raise Rhiannon's chin up when she looked away. "You have a mission to do, so don't stay around here too long. I'll be back in a week to see if you've left." His face got so close to Rhiannon's that their noses almost touched. "Are you frightened?"
"M... Maybe," replied Rhiannon, trying to move away from Daigus, "I don't like you getting this close to me." Her voice was shaking. "I don't know why you're acting like this."
"You're beautiful when your frightened," said Daigus, giving her a twisted smile that repulsed and scared the girl even more.
"This is becoming even more disturbing by the second," said Rhiannon, trying to edge away even more with her eyes full of fear.
One of Daigus' arms wrapped tightly around her waist, his hand against her back and he drew the girl closely to him. Rhiannon could see the mad lust in his eyes and closed her eyes, turning her head away to get rid of the image that was terrifying her. She felt his hand under her chin and was forced to look at him as his face drew nearer. His mouth met hers roughly in a deeply passionate kiss that made the girl's head spin, but the situation stirred a feeling of hatred deep inside her.
Kick him in the balls! screamed a voice in Rhiannon's head as Daigus continued to press her to him in the kiss.
Rhiannon was frozen in shock and her body wouldn't respond to the voice's prompting, but Daigus let go and stepped away, chuckling. A twisted smirk was on his face as he watched the girl step uneasily back into the tree behind her. She leaned against the tree and sank down to sit underneath it, shaking in fright and staring at the ground. She looked up at him, but her eyes weren't full of fear, a murderous look was painted on them and the man took a step back.
"I'll return in a few days as opposed to a week," said Daigus, quickly regaining his composure, "You'd better continue the mission or you'll be punished." He turned, vanishing into the shadows, leaving Rhiannon to wipe her mouth with her arm.
"Why... Why couldn't I stop him..." She said to her silent surroundings, "Why does he scare me so much and... What was that feeling of hatred? I've never felt it before..." She stood up, feeling her body still shake. "That was... Disgusting..." Rhiannon wrapped her arms around herself. "Damn... I feel so violated. Perhaps I should've listened to that voice and kicked him when I had the chance."
Rhiannon started to walk away when she heard something softly land behind her and in her state of edginess, the girl decided to attack. She swung her fist at the person behind her as she turned with her eyes closed and felt something cold and metal catch her wrist. The girl opened her eyes to see a metal hand wrapped around it and moved her gaze to the owner of said limb. She met the anger filled eyes of Vincent Valentine and opened her mouth to speak, but found nothing to say. Rhiannon couldn't tear her eyes from his strange eyes and fear seemed to course through her body, causing her to shake again. He backed her into the wall and gave her another piercing look before words were spoken.
"Are you working for Daigus?" asked Vincent coldly, glaring at her, but then he saw the fear in her eyes. I recognize that look... he thought sorrowfully, That's the look that 'he' would give me when Hojo wanted to take him away to the lab for experimentation. He let go of her wrist and Rhiannon leaned against the wall of the house, sliding down to sit against it.
"How... How do you know him?" she asked in reply, staring up at him with baleful eyes.
"I suppose we can talk about this tomorrow night," muttered Vincent, seeing how upset and shaken the girl was about the topic.
"O... Ok...." said Rhiannon quietly, as she closed her eyes to try and calm herself down, "Please... Don't think that I'd hurt you, Tifa or Cloud because Daigus hates you three..."
Hearing these sensible words instead of seeing tears struck a soft spot that Vincent had tried to bury for the past two years. Just like 'him', he thought, looking at the girl, No tears, just words. He knelt down in front of the girl and spoke quietly. "Go get some rest... Perhaps you should consider the question of why you're doing any favors for Daigus."
Rhiannon looked up to stare at the man, but he had disappeared to the old mansion. "Maybe he's right..." She stood up and walked inside the house to go back to sleep. Her slumber went undisturbed until daybreak.
* * * * * * * * *
The next morning, Tifa and Cloud found Rhiannon already up and working on the house with some supplies Cloud had brought over the night before. They noticed Vincent sitting quietly in the shadows, watching Rhiannon with a fairly nonchalant look in his eyes, but they noticed that there was a glint of curiosity. The girl heard their footsteps, looked up, and gave them a cheerful smile. Neither of the two in front of her saw the hidden unease in her eyes, but Vincent did.
"Morning," said Rhiannon, brightly, "How'd you sleep?"
"Like a rock," said Tifa, yawning a bit, "The battles we had yesterday were exhausting."
"How about you?" asked Rhiannon, smiling at Cloud, who scowled at her and turned away.
"Fine," muttered Cloud in a grumpy tone, "Just fine."
"Don't mind him," said Tifa, chuckling before adding in an undertone, "He's always like this in the morning."
"Well, I've managed to do a few minor repairs," said Rhiannon, looking at the house. I'm still curious as to HOW I knew how to do the repairs.
"Minor?" said Tifa, staring at the repairs, "You've already repaired the windows and door. When did you get up this morning?"
"I woke up around sunrise," replied Rhiannon, putting brushes on the cans of paint, "Had some trouble sleeping, but I didn't start working until a more decent hour. From the looks of it, there's still a lot of work to be done."
The three started to work on the little house's walls and siding before painting them. After that they started working on all the repairs that needed to be done inside the house and that task took them to lunch. After some rest and food, the trio returned to their job and started to work on the roof. Rhiannon had some trouble with the shingles because they kept slipping away from her, provoking the girl in to cussing up a storm before Tifa suggested using they switch places. It was dinner when the roof work was finished and they went inside to wash up. Within two hours of washing and then cooking, they all sat down to dinner and talked about the day.
"You seem to be adapting to this place already," said Tifa, cutting up some meat, "How do you manage?"
"I don't know why," answered Rhiannon after swallowing a bite of meat, "But this place seems so damn familiar." She looked around the house. "If I didn't know better, I'd say I've been here before."
"You sound like Cid," commented Cloud, drinking some water, "You cuss as much as him."
"Cid?" said Rhiannon, looking confused, "Who's he? Another dude who lives here?" Her gaze went to Tifa.
"Cid Highwind," replied Tifa, tearing a roll apart to butter it, "He's one of our friends, but he lives in Rocket Town."
"Oh," said Rhiannon, taking a drink from her cup with a thoughtful look on her face. "Thank you for the dinner, Tifa. I think I'll turn in for the night." She got up and smiled at them. "Good night, you two."
"Good night," said Tifa, putting down her knife, "I hope you sleep better than you did last night."
"Same here," agreed Rhiannon, stretching a bit, "See you, Cloud."
"Bye," said Cloud, absentmindedly tearing his napkin, "We'll be gone tomorrow because we have something to do."
"Ok," said Rhiannon, pushing her chair in, "I might be leaving soon, too. I hope you get what ever you're going to do done. Sayonara."
"Thanks," said Tifa, smiling at the girl, "Have a good sleep, Rhia."
Rhiannon stared at her in innocent puzzlement. "Rhia? Who's that?"
"You're Rhia," answered Tifa, laughing a bit, "It's a nickname."
"What's a... nickname?" asked Rhiannon, saying her last word slowly.
Both Cloud and Tifa gaped at her when she said these words, but it was Cloud who spoke what each one was thinking. "You mean you don't know what a nickname is?"
"Um... No," responded Rhiannon, looking thoroughly confounded, "What is it? The word sounds like some sort of object."
"A nickname is something you call a person for short," explained Tifa, "Your name for instance could have the nicknames Rhia, Rhian, or whatever else you can make of your name."
"Oh..." said Rhiannon, thinking a bit, "So you could be Tif and Cloud could be Clo?" She had the look of childlike innocent in her eyes.
Tifa laughed at the nickname for Cloud. "I guess so, but our names are fairly sort, so you can call us by the full name."
"Um... Alright," said Rhiannon, scratching her cheek a bit, "I'll ponder about it later after I get some sleep." She wandered out of the house, still thinking about it.
"Is it just me," stated Cloud, turning his gaze to Tifa, "Or is that girl really naive about simple things like that?"
"Maybe she just doesn't remember those things," remarked Tifa, shrugging a bit, "She's like a small child in an adult's body."
The couple cleaned up the table and talked while Rhiannon traveled back to the place she was staying, thinking about the nicknames thing. She paid no attention to anything in front of her and ran into a firm chest with a smack. Staggering back a bit, the girl looked up and saw Vincent standing there with his haunting eyes trained on her with a slight hint of curiosity. I wonder if he goes by any nicknames, thought Rhiannon, staring at him in wonder and she shivered a bit from his gaze, I could ask...
"Hello Vincent," she said with a smile, "How have you been today?"
"I have been fine," he answered, not returning the smile.
"I... Um... Have a question for you," said the girl, looking a bit awkward.
"Yes?" replied Vincent, giving her an odd look, "What do you want to ask me?" Why does she sound so nervous? he thought.What kind of question does she want to ask?
"Um... Do you go by any nicknames?" was the query that took the mysterious man by surprise. "Like Vin, Vince, Vivi or Vinny?
Vincent stared at her in complete bewilderment as he thought. Why is she asking this? It was a few minutes before he replied. "I prefer to be called Vincent." He paused a bit. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," answered Rhiannon, scratching her head, "Tifa told me about nicknames and I was pondering about them. I didn't know that names could be shortened like that."
Once again, Vincent gave her a stare of bewilderment, "Um... Interesting." He shook his head a bit. "Rhiannon, I'd like to talk to you about how you know Daigus."
"Might as well," sighed Rhiannon, shrugging, "I plan on leaving tomorrow, so this is the best time." She looked up at him. "Are we going to talk out here?"
"No," answered Vincent, turning a bit, "Follow me. We can talk at the old mansion. There's more privacy there." He walked up the path towards the house with the curious girl walking after him.
* * * * * * * *
There are a lot of stories about Vincent being around Sephiroth when he was a kid, but that Vincent tried to take him away later in the boy's life. I'm going with that story line a bit, so Vinny has a soft spot for those memories and even though Rhiannon looks different, she still somehow reminds him of Sephiroth. I also thought about the fact that Vincent might still feel guilty about Sephiroth being killed and 'failing' Lucrecia.
^_^ Heh... I thought Rhiannon not knowing what a nickname was would be kind of cute and funny, but it would also show how clueless she is. Though seeing her attempt the nickname thing with the other three was amusing. The girl's like a new born child, yet she has a ferocity buried deep inside her that came out when she gave Daigus the murderous glare. Daigus kinda has two sides of his personality.
SNEAK PEEK!:
** Vincent and Rhiannon exchange explanations about each knows Daigus.
** Vincent reveals a few things to Rhiannon about the past that makes her have some odd reactions.
** After the lovely discussion, the gal decides to leave Nibelheim, but what pushes her into it?