What Is Left?
Vincent struggled endlessly through the think fog, snow like ground covering, and biting cold wind, with Yuffie frantically trying to keep up. The ash was now a like a thick black blanket, veiling their vision to total darkness. Vincent held his red cloth visor over his face, barely leaving enough space to see through, while Yuffie huddled beneath Vincent's red cloak. She held on, like a blind old women, just being dragged roughly through the deep ash. They had now passed the edge of the snow -covered crater and were now in the plains to the south, heading towards the city of the ancients.
"Vincent! Can we stop now?" yelled Yuffie from beneath Vincent's thick cloak. He could hardly make out the words she was screaming to him, even at such close distance the wind muffled all noise behind it.
"We will only be traveling one more day. Hold on a little longer." Replied Vincent, yelling in his fullest deep voice.
"Is it day or night Vincent? I can't see." She hollered.
"Doesn't matter." He replied. "What's that?" He asked to himself. Through the deep ash he could see a tall man figure. Vincent could see that he had a long dark cape strapped around his neck. He was slightly taller than Vincent, and began to seem taller as he got closer to them. "You there!" Vincent yelled.
The hair on Vincent's neck stood straight off of his skin, and he shivered down to the very bone. "It's him." He whispered.
Vincent approached the mysterious man with caution. As he got closer Vincent could see that it was indeed Sephiroth. The Sephiroth Figure was holding his arms tightly trying to stay warm. He could barely walk through the think blanket of ash.
"Ugh... ..." Sephiroth fell to the ground and nearly buried himself in the dust.
Vincent ran towards him leaving Yuffie alone in the darkness.
"Hey! Where are you! What's going on Vincent?"
"Stay there Yuffie!" yelled Vincent as he ran at full speed towards Sephiroth. Vincent reached the weak man and knelt down beside him. He turned him over and looked down in the man's face. It was Sephiroth but his face was not full of anger, instead fear.
"Help me...." he said and then fell back into a deep slumber. Vincent sat in confusion.
This is not the Sephiroth I knew. This is not the man we killed.
Vincent felt the man's face with the back of his fingers. It was chilling and cooled Vincent down the bones in his hand. Vincent quickly grabbed his cloak and wrapped it tightly around the man's face and chest.
"Yuffie this way!" Vincent yelled. Yuffie ran towards Vincent's voice and saw him sitting with the man wrapped in his cloak.
"Who is it Vincent? Is he okay?" she yelled in anxious concern. She approached his side and looked down on the man's face. Her face grew from concern to anger. She snapped and pulled her star from its strap on her back. Violently she drew her arm back and screamed as she threw the star towards the man's chest.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!! Die Sephiroth!" she yelled. Vincent reached up to her star and grabbed it in mid flight by the center handle.
"No Yuffie!" Yuffie looked at him in awe.
"What? Are you blind?" she yelled. "Its Sephiroth!!!! Kil1 him!"
"It isn't Sephiroth. I don't know how I know but, this is not he. Maybe it is one of the clones. But we can't kill him." Vincent dropped Yuffie's star and picked the man off the ground by his legs and back. He cradled the lethargic body like a helpless baby and walked forward. "Come on Yuffie! There should be a forest about a mile ahead. Yuffie stood still in confusion and then looked down to her star. She slowly bent to pick it up. Her hand grasped the handle and she looked angrily at it's blood stained tips.
"Hurry Yuffie!" Vincent yelled. She ran to catch up, trudging through the ash on the ground, which now reached to her knees.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * *
Yuffie and Vincent carried the cold body to the front of a large forest. The large pines that stood in it's depths were also covered in gray ash. Vincent looked up to the tops and then into the forest as far as he could see. "Lets go." He said quietly. Vincent marched forward, into the deep pine forest. He made his way into a clearing and set the body down there. He looked around at the trees and broken branches lying around the forest floor. The visibility was much better beneath the veil of the trees, and the floor was not nearly as deep with ash.
"Yuffie. Help me gather some of these branches. We need to start a fire." With that Vincent walked around looking at the floor and gathered small twigs and large branches for the fire. After a few minutes of gathering Vincent met Yuffie back at the body, both with full armloads of branches nearly covering their vision. They laid the branches into a large pile nearly three feet from Sephiroth. Vincent carefully selected ten smaller branches with leaves and pulled two small flint stones from his black sack, which was strapped tightly to his back. He began to strike the two stones and within moments sparks lit the small pile of leaves and twigs. The small fire crackled and soon grew to a strong healthy flame, emanating a misty red light through the forest. Vincent pulled the weary man over to the fire while Yuffie began to use healing spells on him.
"Tell me again why I'm helping you save Sephiroth?" she snapped. Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes and looked into Vincent and Yuffie's faces. He shivered and tried to break free of Vincent's grasp but he held him still.
"Hold still." Vincent said to the squirming man. "You look too much like a man I know, Sephiroth. Who are you?"
The man looked around in fear and stuttered in reply "BDG-377"
" A clone." Vincent said to Yuffie. She shook her head and stepped back.
"No. I don't believe it. He could be tricking us. Sephiroth died too easy in the gorge. I don't believe that he could have been beaten that easily. I don't believe that this is just a clone."
"He is a clone Yuffie. I know my son. And this is not him."
"BDG-377 huh? That's a crummy name." Said Yuffie. "How about Jim!" She yelled in a high pitched voice.
"Are you mad?" Vincent exclaimed. "I'll have no person named Jim traveling with me! His name is Gelrin."
"My name is BDG-377" said the confused Sephiroth clone. "! Please let me go!" he yelled, still trying to free himself from Vincent's arms.
Vincent released the man and instantly he jumped free and stood next to the fire. Vincent could now see the man was not dressed at all like Sephiroth. Beneath his black cloak, the man wore all white, which was nearly black due to the ash. He had a shined golden belt around his waist, which held a wooden scabbard for a long katana.
"Please sit." Said Vincent. The clone looked down at him still in fear. He slowly walked towards the fire and sat in the ash across from Yuffie.
"Where are you going?" asked Yuffie.
"I am escaping from Hojo. He called me and many others to the City of the Ancients. I saw that he was slaughtering my brothers so I fled." Replied the clone.
"Would it please you to know that Hojo is dead?" asked Vincent.
"What?" asked the clone. "How do you know this?"
"I will explain in time. For now get some rest Gelrin." Said Vincent.
"Gelrin? What is Gelrin?" asked the clone.
"That will be your name." Replied Vincent.
The name I gave to Sephiroth before I was banished.
Vincent lied down next to the fire and put his hands beneath his head. Yuffie soon did the same and they both watched the Gelrin stair deeply into the fire, the blaze reflecting in his brown eyes. Soon the clone stood and began to walk from the fire.
"Wait!" yelled Yuffie. "Hojo is gone. You don't have to run anymore. Stay with us. Please." She said.
"Someone growing soft for Sephiroth Yuffie?" Vincent snickered and then stood up. "Please stay. It is cold and dark. You will live better with us. I will take you to a town, or wherever you need to go. Just stay. It will do our consciences well."
The clone walked back toward the fire and lied next to it, still across from Yuffie. He cleared a spot in the ash to place his head and then lied down on his hands as Vincent had done.
This is the only sane part of my son left. He is all that remains. Cloud is gone. Sephiroth is gone.
Vincent thought as he slowly slipped into a deep sleep. The clone stayed awake and watched Vincent and Yuffie doze off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Slowly Vincent stretched his arms and legs, still lying on the ground by a smoldering pile of red coals. He looked over at the Gelrin sitting with his legs crossed and his arms in his lap. Yuffie still lay asleep next to the fire and was slowly regaining consciousness from her long sleep.
"Good morning. Said Gelrin slowly. The soft voice was still enough to wake Yuffie from her sleep. She fully stretched her arms and leaned forward looking at the clone and then Vincent.
"Hello Ms. Yuffie." Said Gelrin.
"ahahaha.... O no no. Just Yuffie. There no lady here! teehee."
"My apologies Yu..f..f.ie."
"No prob. You need to Lighten up Gelrin! You're not in a life of servitude anymore." Said Yuffie as she rubbed her eyes and looked around at the think fallout on the trees and forest floor.
"We need to get going. I do not have much time." Vincent got off the
ground and stomped on the fire harshly. Smoke rose from the coals and the fire sizzled and crackled as Vincent removed his large boot.
He turned and started to walk deeper into the forest.
"Hey! Wait for us!" yelled Yuffie. She looked over to Gelrin and shook her head. "Don't worry about him. He's a big meany! Lets go!"
Vincent struggled endlessly through the think fog, snow like ground covering, and biting cold wind, with Yuffie frantically trying to keep up. The ash was now a like a thick black blanket, veiling their vision to total darkness. Vincent held his red cloth visor over his face, barely leaving enough space to see through, while Yuffie huddled beneath Vincent's red cloak. She held on, like a blind old women, just being dragged roughly through the deep ash. They had now passed the edge of the snow -covered crater and were now in the plains to the south, heading towards the city of the ancients.
"Vincent! Can we stop now?" yelled Yuffie from beneath Vincent's thick cloak. He could hardly make out the words she was screaming to him, even at such close distance the wind muffled all noise behind it.
"We will only be traveling one more day. Hold on a little longer." Replied Vincent, yelling in his fullest deep voice.
"Is it day or night Vincent? I can't see." She hollered.
"Doesn't matter." He replied. "What's that?" He asked to himself. Through the deep ash he could see a tall man figure. Vincent could see that he had a long dark cape strapped around his neck. He was slightly taller than Vincent, and began to seem taller as he got closer to them. "You there!" Vincent yelled.
The hair on Vincent's neck stood straight off of his skin, and he shivered down to the very bone. "It's him." He whispered.
Vincent approached the mysterious man with caution. As he got closer Vincent could see that it was indeed Sephiroth. The Sephiroth Figure was holding his arms tightly trying to stay warm. He could barely walk through the think blanket of ash.
"Ugh... ..." Sephiroth fell to the ground and nearly buried himself in the dust.
Vincent ran towards him leaving Yuffie alone in the darkness.
"Hey! Where are you! What's going on Vincent?"
"Stay there Yuffie!" yelled Vincent as he ran at full speed towards Sephiroth. Vincent reached the weak man and knelt down beside him. He turned him over and looked down in the man's face. It was Sephiroth but his face was not full of anger, instead fear.
"Help me...." he said and then fell back into a deep slumber. Vincent sat in confusion.
This is not the Sephiroth I knew. This is not the man we killed.
Vincent felt the man's face with the back of his fingers. It was chilling and cooled Vincent down the bones in his hand. Vincent quickly grabbed his cloak and wrapped it tightly around the man's face and chest.
"Yuffie this way!" Vincent yelled. Yuffie ran towards Vincent's voice and saw him sitting with the man wrapped in his cloak.
"Who is it Vincent? Is he okay?" she yelled in anxious concern. She approached his side and looked down on the man's face. Her face grew from concern to anger. She snapped and pulled her star from its strap on her back. Violently she drew her arm back and screamed as she threw the star towards the man's chest.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!! Die Sephiroth!" she yelled. Vincent reached up to her star and grabbed it in mid flight by the center handle.
"No Yuffie!" Yuffie looked at him in awe.
"What? Are you blind?" she yelled. "Its Sephiroth!!!! Kil1 him!"
"It isn't Sephiroth. I don't know how I know but, this is not he. Maybe it is one of the clones. But we can't kill him." Vincent dropped Yuffie's star and picked the man off the ground by his legs and back. He cradled the lethargic body like a helpless baby and walked forward. "Come on Yuffie! There should be a forest about a mile ahead. Yuffie stood still in confusion and then looked down to her star. She slowly bent to pick it up. Her hand grasped the handle and she looked angrily at it's blood stained tips.
"Hurry Yuffie!" Vincent yelled. She ran to catch up, trudging through the ash on the ground, which now reached to her knees.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * *
Yuffie and Vincent carried the cold body to the front of a large forest. The large pines that stood in it's depths were also covered in gray ash. Vincent looked up to the tops and then into the forest as far as he could see. "Lets go." He said quietly. Vincent marched forward, into the deep pine forest. He made his way into a clearing and set the body down there. He looked around at the trees and broken branches lying around the forest floor. The visibility was much better beneath the veil of the trees, and the floor was not nearly as deep with ash.
"Yuffie. Help me gather some of these branches. We need to start a fire." With that Vincent walked around looking at the floor and gathered small twigs and large branches for the fire. After a few minutes of gathering Vincent met Yuffie back at the body, both with full armloads of branches nearly covering their vision. They laid the branches into a large pile nearly three feet from Sephiroth. Vincent carefully selected ten smaller branches with leaves and pulled two small flint stones from his black sack, which was strapped tightly to his back. He began to strike the two stones and within moments sparks lit the small pile of leaves and twigs. The small fire crackled and soon grew to a strong healthy flame, emanating a misty red light through the forest. Vincent pulled the weary man over to the fire while Yuffie began to use healing spells on him.
"Tell me again why I'm helping you save Sephiroth?" she snapped. Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes and looked into Vincent and Yuffie's faces. He shivered and tried to break free of Vincent's grasp but he held him still.
"Hold still." Vincent said to the squirming man. "You look too much like a man I know, Sephiroth. Who are you?"
The man looked around in fear and stuttered in reply "BDG-377"
" A clone." Vincent said to Yuffie. She shook her head and stepped back.
"No. I don't believe it. He could be tricking us. Sephiroth died too easy in the gorge. I don't believe that he could have been beaten that easily. I don't believe that this is just a clone."
"He is a clone Yuffie. I know my son. And this is not him."
"BDG-377 huh? That's a crummy name." Said Yuffie. "How about Jim!" She yelled in a high pitched voice.
"Are you mad?" Vincent exclaimed. "I'll have no person named Jim traveling with me! His name is Gelrin."
"My name is BDG-377" said the confused Sephiroth clone. "! Please let me go!" he yelled, still trying to free himself from Vincent's arms.
Vincent released the man and instantly he jumped free and stood next to the fire. Vincent could now see the man was not dressed at all like Sephiroth. Beneath his black cloak, the man wore all white, which was nearly black due to the ash. He had a shined golden belt around his waist, which held a wooden scabbard for a long katana.
"Please sit." Said Vincent. The clone looked down at him still in fear. He slowly walked towards the fire and sat in the ash across from Yuffie.
"Where are you going?" asked Yuffie.
"I am escaping from Hojo. He called me and many others to the City of the Ancients. I saw that he was slaughtering my brothers so I fled." Replied the clone.
"Would it please you to know that Hojo is dead?" asked Vincent.
"What?" asked the clone. "How do you know this?"
"I will explain in time. For now get some rest Gelrin." Said Vincent.
"Gelrin? What is Gelrin?" asked the clone.
"That will be your name." Replied Vincent.
The name I gave to Sephiroth before I was banished.
Vincent lied down next to the fire and put his hands beneath his head. Yuffie soon did the same and they both watched the Gelrin stair deeply into the fire, the blaze reflecting in his brown eyes. Soon the clone stood and began to walk from the fire.
"Wait!" yelled Yuffie. "Hojo is gone. You don't have to run anymore. Stay with us. Please." She said.
"Someone growing soft for Sephiroth Yuffie?" Vincent snickered and then stood up. "Please stay. It is cold and dark. You will live better with us. I will take you to a town, or wherever you need to go. Just stay. It will do our consciences well."
The clone walked back toward the fire and lied next to it, still across from Yuffie. He cleared a spot in the ash to place his head and then lied down on his hands as Vincent had done.
This is the only sane part of my son left. He is all that remains. Cloud is gone. Sephiroth is gone.
Vincent thought as he slowly slipped into a deep sleep. The clone stayed awake and watched Vincent and Yuffie doze off.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Slowly Vincent stretched his arms and legs, still lying on the ground by a smoldering pile of red coals. He looked over at the Gelrin sitting with his legs crossed and his arms in his lap. Yuffie still lay asleep next to the fire and was slowly regaining consciousness from her long sleep.
"Good morning. Said Gelrin slowly. The soft voice was still enough to wake Yuffie from her sleep. She fully stretched her arms and leaned forward looking at the clone and then Vincent.
"Hello Ms. Yuffie." Said Gelrin.
"ahahaha.... O no no. Just Yuffie. There no lady here! teehee."
"My apologies Yu..f..f.ie."
"No prob. You need to Lighten up Gelrin! You're not in a life of servitude anymore." Said Yuffie as she rubbed her eyes and looked around at the think fallout on the trees and forest floor.
"We need to get going. I do not have much time." Vincent got off the
ground and stomped on the fire harshly. Smoke rose from the coals and the fire sizzled and crackled as Vincent removed his large boot.
He turned and started to walk deeper into the forest.
"Hey! Wait for us!" yelled Yuffie. She looked over to Gelrin and shook her head. "Don't worry about him. He's a big meany! Lets go!"