Howdy everyone! Well let's see here, I got that Zack thing I wanted to do heh heh. Hmmm (Looks at calendar.) Oh what do ya know, today is August 4th making it Die's birthday. (Raises eyebrow) She's seventeen and still acts like THAT. (Shakes head) Whatever, well this chapter is dedicated to my good ol' buddy Die since it's her birthday.
Disclaimer (Clears throat) I'd like to inform everyone that I'm no longer going to try and take over Squaresoft, so FF7 shall forever be owned by them. (Sighs) I don't have enough money to come up with a plan.
(Grins) Anyways, I asked what Die wants to see in this chapter for her birthday so I have some goals that I should make. She wrote them down too (Unfolds paper)
1) GORE! (Saw that comming)
2) Have Sephiroth and Rima fight together (Easy enough)
3) Have Sephiroth and Rima let Cloud and Vincent help some. (Hey I was going to have everyone fighting anyway.
4)Have zombies and hadions (Well who else they going to fight? Malice?)
5) (Yea umm... can't read her crappy hand writing here. heh. heh.)
6)Romance scene between Sephiroth and Rima. (Hmm... that might be a little bit hard.)
Well those are what I'm aiming for. (Brows raise) You know I didn't think the list was that big at first but now that everything is listed. =0/ I don't know if I can get ALL of it but I can try right? This will be one of those long chapters I guess. (Sigh) Guess I'm pulling an all nighter.
Chapter 55- Drunken Celebration
"Cloud can we please just set up camp here for the night?" Tifa begs for the forth time already. Tifa isn't one who complains much, but this is ridiculous. They got off the ship at Rocket City, from there they traveled through Mt. Nibel and reached Nibelheim. Cloud didn't want to stop there, he just said 'We're going to Cosmos Canyon.' So instead of stopping at Nibelheim for the night, their fearless leader marched them forth out into the plains of Nibelheim. That was two hours ago, now they're walking through the plains in the dead of night.
"We're almost there Tifa." Cloud uses the same answer that he's used each time Tifa has asked. Cloud doesn't want to stop because he isn't tired. Perhaps he isn't tired from all the walking because he has so much on his mind that he doesn't notice the burning in his legs. His mind is elsewhere, specifically focused on the kiss two nights ago he shared with Yuffie. The day after the kiss the two just kept their distance away from each other. It felt awkward to be near each other. Both knew that the other cares about them, they're just having a hard time expressing it. Cloud sighs, 'Shouldn't of kissed her.' He knew when he kissed her that their relationship wouldn't be the same. He hasn't decided yet if it's a good or bad change yet.
Yuffie is walking behind the two in front, Red XIII at her side. She's oblivious to everything around her. Her gaze and thoughts remain focused on the spiky blonde swordsman that's leading the group. She has made sure for the last two days not to be alone with Cloud at anytime. She feels guilty about distancing herself from him. She admits that Cloud's affections is all that she's been wanting for some time now but when it finally happened, something in her is telling her to stay away. She doesn't know why she feels this way, perhaps it was the old saying she was taught years ago, 'Love formed during a journey, ends with the journey .' Perhaps she's starting to believe that saying.
Yuffie shakes her head, she knows what the truth is, it's Malice. What he said frightened her, he's going to keep trying to kill her, until he succeeds. When Cloud said he'd never leave her alone that night, she felt reassured. Then she woke up the day after and she accepted the fact that she won't always have someone there with her. Everyone ends up alone some time, and when that happens, she knows Malice will be there waiting.
She'll just have to find some way to defeat Malice on her own, or die trying. But if she lives then what Malice said could happen. 'It will awaken if she continues to live.' Yuffie isn't exactly sure what Malice is talking about. Well, she does know but just can't remember. It's there hidden in her memories, waiting for her to dig it up but she just can't. She knows the memory would make sense out of everything, it was something she was told when she was younger.
{}
'Another year wasted away.' Is Rima's only thought. What is she talking about you ask? Why today just so happens to be Rima's birthday. The date of her birth is one of the few memories she has. It isn't much but it could be worse, at least she knows her birthday and can celebrate it like she always does, alone. Going to a pub and drinking away the memories of the year away. This year however calls for some extra alcohol, this year has been worse then usual. She learned the truth about herself and now she's traveling with a man that she is supposed to hate. She had actually apologized for trying to kill him and what's worse is that those old annoying emotions from years ago are slowly resurfacing. Yes, a good drink is in order for the female vampire.
{}
'Why don't you speak with the woman?' Chaos asks cackling deep within Vincent's mind.
'.... I don't know what you're talking about.' Vincent replies.
Vincent can feel the demon's smirk inside his mind, 'You've only been staring at the woman for the entire day now.'
Vincent lowers his gaze to the ground, keeping it a few feet in front of him, 'That isn't true.'
Chaos gives a snort, 'You can't lie to me Valentine. I see everything that you do. And what I have seen the entire day is that vampire's back.'
'.......You are aggravating at times Chaos.' Vincent said obviously annoyed.
Chaos cackles again, 'If I bother you so then why did you go through all that trouble of getting me back.'
Vincent gives and inward sigh, 'Because I've come to realize that you and I are one in the same.' Vincent admits. He feels Chaos's confusion and decides to explain what he means, 'You're my pain when I can't feel. When you do your deeds, I'm the one who gets the blame. You're my truth telling lies. You're my eyes when I'm away. But most of all, you're my hate gathered up into a form of a demon.'
Chaos laughs, 'That's sad but true.'
A small smile graces Vincent's lips, 'So it is.'
Chaos remains silent a moment as he thinks, 'So, why not confront her?' Vincent glances over to his right, towards the stoic swordsman. 'Don't tell me the Ex- Turk is afraid of one man' Chaos says amusingly.
Vincent's brows lower in annoyance, 'There is nothing to confront her about. I am merely keeping an eye one her to make sure she remains in control of herself.'
If Chaos had a body at that instant, he would of rolled his eyes at the gunman, 'That's a pathetic excuse.' Vincent doesn't reply. 'I'd be on your guard, there's something out there.'
Vincent stops walking and pulls out his Death Penalty, his crimson eyes scan into the darkness of the plains. Ahead of him he hears Red XIII begin to growl, letting everyone else know that his nose has picked up something that he doesn't like. No bothers asking 'what's wrong', the group just quickly takes out their weapons ready to fight whatever is coming their way.
It doesn't take long for them to find out what their up against. Zombies are heading towards them, however these zombies are different then the ones they are used to going up against. Unlike the slow, sluggish zombies, these ones seems to move around quicker, and worse yet, they have weapons with them. All the zombies have swords in their hands.
"Alright everyone!" Cloud calls out, gaining everyone's attention, "Gather up into groups! Yuffie, Tifa, and Red. We'll take the east side. Sephiroth, Vincent and Rima, you guys take the west side. Be careful, they have weapons."
Everyone's breaks off into their assigned groups. However, instead of sticking into their group, Sephiroth, Vincent, and Rima split up even more, each more comfortable battling alone. The groups don't bother waiting for the zombies to reach them, they immediately charge forward.
Cloud and Red XIII pair up in battle. Red XIII dashes forward at one of the zombies. The zombie swings its weapon at Red XIII. The fiery beast gracefully dodges to the side, letting out a roar, he lunges at the zombie, sinking his claws into the zombie's chest as the zombie falls back. Red XIII jumps off right as the zombie hits the ground. With the zombie vulnerable, Cloud quickly runs over to it, raises the Ultimate Weapon up and chops the zombie's head off. The two continue this strategy on their next victim.
{}
Yuffie smirks as she send her Conformer sailing through the air towards a zombie. At the same time Tifa is running towards it. The zombie raises it's sword ready to slash at Tifa but the Conformer slices the zombie's arm. Tifa jumps up and sends a power kick at the zombie's jaw, the zombie's head turns one-hundred eighty degrees, giving a loud cracking noise as its neck breaks. Tifa grabs the zombie by its other arm, spinning on her heel, she throws the zombie off to the side, causing it to crash into group of zombies.
{}
Vincent ducks underneath the side sweep of the zombie's sword. The zombie gives out a moan as it raises its arm and swings down at Vincent. Vincent catches sight of the attack and quickly grabs the blade of the sword with his claw before he's hit. The zombie tries to pull the sword out of Vincent's claw making Vincent tighten his hold on the sword. Vincent stands straight up, raising the Death Penalty up to the zombie's face. Vincent gives a slight smirk, "You won't survive my shots any longer." Vincent says before he pulls the trigger. The shot gives out a loud bang as the bullet is released. The zombie doesn't even have a chance as the shot blows its head apart. The zombie's head explodes, its blood and brains flying everywhere. The zombie's body drops to the ground dead.
Vincent places the Death Penalty in its holster, 'It's your turn Chaos.' Vincent calls upon the demon. He can feel the demon's excitement.
{}
Rima stares down her opponent, a dagger in each of her hands. The zombie swings its sword downward at Rima. Rima quickly raises her daggers, crossing the blades to stop the zombie's sword. Once the attack is stopped, Rima pushes the zombie's arm to the side and quickly jams a dagger into the zombie's chest. She quickly gets around the zombie and jams her other dagger in the back of its head. Grabbing the zombie's arm that's holding the sword, she places her hand on the zombie's elbow and pulls its arm back, making the bone breaks.
The zombie gives out a moan of pain as it turns swinging its other fist at her. Rima ducks and kicks the zombie's feet out from under him. While the zombie is on the ground, Rima lifts its leg up, raising her foot up she slams it down on the zombie's knee, shattering the bone. Rima smirks, 'To hell with controlling myself.' She thinks as she sets her vampire side free. Her amber eyes change to a crimson red and her hair turns black, her fangs become longer as do her nails.
The vampire looks down at the broken zombie, "Just in time for a feeding." Rima tells the zombie as she picks the zombie up by the collar of the ragged shirt its wearing. She bares her fangs at the zombie before biting into the zombie's throat. Blood quickly rushes into her mouth and she swallows it, she continues to suck what little blood the zombie has out greedily. The zombie's body shudder and twitches as its life is literally sucked out of him. When there's no blood left in the zombie, Rima tosses it to the ground and smirks, blood dripping from her lips. She wipes her lips clean with her sleeve. Deciding that she still hungry she turns around to look for more. She draws back in surprise when she sees a zombie already swinging its weapon at her. She manages to jump back enough to prevent severe damage but still gets cut in the leg.
The zombie groans and raises its sword up to attack again, Rima braces herself waiting for the attack. Swoosh. The Masamune bursts out of the zombie's chest, splattering blood across Rima's face. Rima's crimson eyes widen a bit in surprise as she looks over the zombie's shoulder to see Sephiroth.
The zombie looks down at the bloody sword bulging out of its chest in confusion. Sephiroth twists the Masamune so the blade is facing up. Sephiroth smirks before he pushes the blade up, cutting through the zombie from the middle of its chest to its shoulder. The zombie's upper body hangs apart unevenly, its blood dripping onto the group. With one quick flick of his wrist, Sephiroth slices the zombie's life, ending its life permanently. Sephiroth glances over to Rima.
The female vampire narrows her eyes at Sephiroth menacingly and bares her fangs. Sephiroth seems unaffected by Rima as he lifts up his hand and points behind her. Rima quickly turns around and jumps to the side before the zombie can hit her. Rima smirks as she grabs the zombie by the neck with her left hand. She lifts the zombie off the ground a bit and draws her right hand back, she flexes her sharp deadly claws before driving her hand through the zombie's chest. Her hand goes through the zombie's chest and out to the other side, in her blood covered hand she clutches the zombie's heart. She pulls her hand back and through the dead zombie off to the side
Rima turns around to see that Sephiroth is still staring at her. Giving a smile, Rima brings the zombie's heart to her mouth and bites a chunk at of it, she chews slowly, savoring the taste of the zombie's rotting heart. Sephiroth turns his gaze to the side suddenly, seeing that the group has finished off the rest of the zombies. He looks back to Rima and nods once before sheathing the Masamune. He takes a few steps and stops when he suddenly sees dozens of crimson eyes appearing around everyone. His brows lower in thought.
{}
'Just great!' Yuffie thinks to her self as she sees hadions surrounding them. 'We just finished killing these zombies, why do we have to fight hadions now.' Yuffie sighs in annoyance.
"Does anyone happen to have any flash grenades with them?" Cloud asks knowing that they won't be able to fight the hadions with their weapons.
"No." Yuffie answers. "Oh YEA!" Yuffie exclaims suddenly remember her Conformer's modifications. She examines her Conformer for the little red button Jessie said to press. She grins when she finds it and presses it. Her eyes light up as her Conformer begins to glow.
"Kill....Kill.. Kill." The hadions continue to chant as they advance on the group.
Yuffie glances over to Cloud and grins, "Watch this!" She said getting his attention. She throws her Conformer towards a hadion, it soars through the air like a shooting star. The glowing crimson eyes of the hadion widen as it sees the glowing object flying towards it. The hadion lets out a shriek as the weapon cuts through its shadowed body. The crimson eyes disappear as it dies. The Conformer returns to Yuffie.
"Whao.. why is your Conformer glowing?" Cloud asks surprised.
Tifa steps to his side, "That's nothing. Check this out." Tifa says as she presses the small red button on top over her gloves. Her Platinum Heart glow, with her hands fisted it looks like she has two bright balls attached to her wrists. She charges towards another hadion and throws a bunch at the hadion. She gets the shock of her life when she makes contact with something solid when the hadion looks like nothing more then a shadow. The hadion lets out a earsplitting shriek of pain as its body seems to burn from the light. Tifa blinks in confusing before grabbing hold of the hadion's head with both of her hands. The crimson eyes fade away and her hands clutch nothing more but air.
Cloud scratches the back of his head, "Wait I don't understand. How come your gloves are glowing?" Cloud asks confused. Tifa jumps back away from a hadion as Yuffie's Conformer cuts through it.
Tifa back up to Cloud side. She glances over to the side to look at him, "We had our weapons modified by someone." Tifa explains.
Cloud's brows lower in thought, "Who?"
Tifa gives a small smile, "Jessie did it."
Cloud raises an eyebrow, "Who's Jessie?" He asks. Tifa gives him a look that clearly says, you-should-know. Cloud thinks about it for a minute, he doesn't know anyone by the name of Jessie, except for.. Cloud's eyes widen in surprise, "SHE'S ALIVE!?" He asks surprised.
Yuffie looks over to Cloud weirdly. Tifa nods her head. Slowly a smile plays across Cloud's face, "Well that's great! How about Biggs and Wedge?"
Yuffie tilts her head in confusion as she stares at Cloud, 'Why is he so happy that she's alive.'
The remaining hadions shriek in terror, Yuffie quickly snaps out of her thoughts to see what's happening. Chaos releases a Satan Slam, the ground underneath the hadions lifts up and shifts to take the shape of Chaos's head. The eyes flash a bright light killing the hadions. Yuffie quickly scans the area to see if there's anymore hadions. She doesn't see anymore glowing crimson eyes, she does however see something else. "We've got more zombies!" Yuffie calls out warning everyone.
Red XIII jumps out in front and roars, "COSMOS MEMORY!" He releases a large blast of fiery energy towards the group of zombies. The blast hits three zombies and burns them until they're nothing more then ashes.
"Alright guys, lets get rid of these guys!" Cloud announces. Everyone nods and they all charge towards the zombies. Everyone stops surprised as they see a few zombies drop before anyone even reaches them. Then a few more drop dead as their heads are cut cleanly off. The moonlight reflecting slightly off of blades is all they see behind the zombie's before the rest drop dead to the ground. "What was that?" Cloud asks.
"Well I say that took care of them!" They hear a woman say from the darkness.
Everyone gathers up in a group, "Who's there!" Tifa calls out.
The sound of the grass crunching is heard, telling everyone that someone is heading towards them. They see a figure walking towards them, they wait where they are, ready to defend them selves. Out of the darkness a woman steps up to them. She has strawberry blonde hair, amber eyes, she's about 5'10" In each of her hands she has a separate butterfly sword, the blades are currently dripping with zombie blood. She has light brown leather pants, brown boots, and a black tank top on. The woman raises an eyebrow at the group, "Well this is a strange group."
"Who are you?" Cloud demands.
The woman sheathes both of her swords behind her back, "The name's Daisuke. I'm a treasure hunter from the northern continent. Where there's a rare treasure I'll be sure to be close by to claim it as mine. I'm seeking any rare artifacts on this continent, do you know of any.?"
Cloud blinks dumbfounded by the question, "Uh..no."
"Dammit." Daisuke mutters, "Another dead end." She shakes her head in disappointment, "So who are you people?"
Cloud scratches his head, "Well I'm Cloud."
"Tifa" Tifa speaks up.
"Yuffie Kisaragi, The Greatest Female Ninja in the World!" Yuffie says waving her hand in the air.
"Red XIII otherwise none as Nanaki." Red XIII says giving a beastly grin.
"Vincent Valentine." Vincent says, having transformed back to normal.
"Rima." Rima says quietly, no longer a vampire.
Sephiroth crosses his arms not saying anything. Daisuke raises an eyebrow at the dark swordsman, "Well, are you going to tell me your name?"
"I don't see why I should." Sephiroth states coldly.
Daisuke narrows her eyes in annoyance, "Because if you don't I'll be forced to beat it out of you." She threatens.
Sephiroth smirks, "I highly doubt you have the skill to keep up with me in battle."
Daisuke quickly unsheathes her butterfly swords, "Is that a challenge?"
"SEPHIROTH! It's Sephiroth. His name is Sephiroth!" Tifa quickly answers not wanting a fight to break out.
Daisuke raises an eyebrow, "Sephiroth? I thought he was dead." Daisuke shakes her head in disbelief before sheathing her swords again, "Ok pretty boy I'll let you off this time." Sephiroth raises an eyebrow at the name. Daisuke looks back to Cloud who she guessed is the leader since he seems to be the only one that talks, "Is there a town near by that I could find an inn?" She asks.
Red XIII steps forward and looks up at Daisuke, "If you follow us, we'll be going to my tribe. There is an inn that you may use there."
Daisuke looks down at the fiery beast weirdly, wondering how Red XIII is talking to her. She looks back to Cloud, "Strange pet you got there." She says pointing at Red XIII
"I'm no one's pet." Red XIII says flatly.
Daisuke shrugs her shoulders, "Whatever, so where is this place anyway. I need to get my rest before I continue on tomorrow."
So the group continue on their way with a temporary new member added. With the days long travel and the battle they just fought, everyone is looking forward to getting some rest at Cosmos Canyon.
{}
{}
Sephiroth ignores all the stares he receives as he walks across the village. It seems like he's the only one that's still awake out of the group. Perhaps he should retire for the night after a drink. Sephiroth walks into Cosmos Canyon's pub and walks up to the counter. "Y-y-yes s-s-sir? The bartender asks, obviously frightened at seeing Sephiroth.
Sephiroth stares at the bartender coldly, "Scotch." Sephiroth orders.
The bartender quickly scrambles to get the stoic swordsman's drink. "H-here you go s-sir" The bartender places his drink on the counter.
Sephiroth places some gil on the counter and picks up his drink. He turns around to look for somewhere private to have his drink. He scans the pub and sees a familiar red head sitting in corner at the back of the bar. Shrugging his shoulders he walks over to the small bar table Rima is sitting at.
Rima lifts her gaze from her glass to glance at Sephiroth as he props his feet up on the bar table, scotch in hand. He leans back in his chair a bit as he gazes down into his drink. Rima smirks, "Hey pretty boy." Rima says remembering what Daisuke had called him, she laughs a bit as she down her drink. She lifts her hand up to call for another.
Sephiroth raises an eyebrow at the woman as the bartender runs over to fill her glass back up. "Whisky?" Sephiroth questions.
Rima smirks and lifts her glass up, "You truly know me too well Seph." Rima gives a short laugh before downing her drink again. She calls for the bartender again.
Sephiroth's brows raise in amusement at the old nickname. He watches as the bartender nervously fills Rima's glass again. He begins walking away, "Jus leave the bottle." Rima demands. The bartender quickly places the bottle on the table and walks away. Rima grins a bit drunkenly as she down her drink, "Ah. That's what I'm talking about."
Sephiroth takes a sip of his scotch, keeping his gaze focused on the obviously drunk woman. "How much have you had anyway?" Sephiroth asks curiously.
Rima's face goes blank as she tries to come up with the answer. She gives a small smile, "Good question. I dunno." She grabs the bottle and raises it up, "Here's to another year." Rima says a bit cheerfully before taking a bit gulp of whisky straight from the bottle.
Sephirith traces a finger around the rim on his glass, "What do you mean another year?" Sephiroths asks casually, staring down into his glass.
"Another year of my shitty life passing." She raises her bottle again, "Here's to one of the few memories I have." Rima drinks some more then rests the side of her head on the bar table, her arms resting at the side of her head.
Sephiroth's brows raise in amusement, "It's your birthday?" He asks, finally understanding what Rima is talking about. Rima nods her head a bit. A faint smile cross Sephiroth's lips.
Rima sits up and drinks more out of the bottle. Rima laughs a bit, "Since you know, I'll be expecting you to get me a gift now Seph." Rima says jokingly.
Sephiroth glances up to look straight to her face, "What makes you think I don't have one for you now?" He gives a half smile.
Rima leans her head back against the wall behind her and looks up to the ceiling. She stares at the uneven rocky surface of the ceiling, finding it fascinating. "How could you have a gift for me when you don't know when my birthday is?"
"It's today." Sephiroth answered.
"Oh yea." Rima says. The two are silent for a moment, "Wadda minute.. I told you it was a few minutes ago." Rima says glances back over to Sephiroth.
Sephiroth throws his head back and laughs. He shakes his head while he lifts his feet off the table. He places his drink down on the table and stands up. Rima follows him with her eyes, she turns her head to the side when he stands next to her. "Wha?" She asks confused.
Sephiroth grabs her bottle and places it on the table. He grabs Rima's hands and lifts her up off her seat. Rima looks at him confused, "What're you doin?" She asks as she blinks rapidly, trying to remain awake.
Sephiroth releases her hands and places them on each side of Rima's face and smiles a bit, "Giving you my gift." He says before leaning over and pressing his lips against hers. Rima closes her eyes and returns the kiss, wrapping her arms around Sephiroth's neck to pull him closer. Sephiroth's hands lower to wrap around her waist, pulling her body close to his. Rima gives a quiet moan in the kiss before her head falls to his shoulder.
Sephiroth blinks in surprise as Rima goes limp in his arms. He shakes his head in disbelief and laughs a bit, 'Fell asleep on me.' Sephiroth sighs and quickly picks Rima up bridal style. He slowly makes his way up the stairs in the pub and heads to Rima's room. He glances down to Rima's sleeping face and smile a little, "Happy Birthday."
Well that's it y'all! Hope you liked that chapter. Though I have to admit, I think my fight scene kind of sucked. (Shrugs) Oh well, I'll do better next time. Happy Birthday el freako lol. Well Die, how did you like it? I gave you your Rima/Sephiroth romance scene, heh heh. Great way to spend a birthday isn't it? Getting drunk. I found it quite funny.I think I got everything done on the wish list, I don't know, you tell me. Well anyways, I don't know when the next chapter will be out, my mother's week vacation starts tomorrow and we're planning on going camping sometime. So the next chapter could be up at anytime. So anyways, Review y'all, TTNC!