Thanks for your cheering reviews, it lightens me up. I think I have time to update the next rewritten chapters (up to ten) at the end of the upcoming weeks. Then you have to wait longer. :(
Chapter 5: A new threat
Sunrays broke inside the small room casting a golden glow. Grey eyes opened groggily and a soft yawn came out. Yuffie did not get so much sleep after the previous escapade she had in the alley, the nightmare included. Even if Vincent said it was just a dream, it felt like she was there. The people and their screams of pain, enveloped in a flaming inferno in that big citadel, it was too real to be a dream. That city looked antique, similar to the Ancient capital in the Northern Continent. But the architecture was slightly different. Yuffie had traveled a lot in her life, but she never saw a city of that kind.
The thought about the forgotten city made her think about her sweet friend, Aeris. The flower girl was the one that acted like an older sister to her and she never treated Yuffie any different. Though, she was rather upset about the 'materia episode'.
"Aeris.....gawd I miss you..." Yuffie whispered to herself, hugging her knees. After a moment in silence to respect her friend, she got of the bed and picked up her clothes from the armchair. She put them on and quickly combed her hair with her fingers, and began her way down to the others.
Yuffie came down to the reception and glanced around. There was a small room away from the welcome desk, for travelers to rest up before heading away. The room contained a small coffee table and two green sofas, facing each other. The walls were cream colored and a red carpet covered the wooden floor. Some her teammates, who sat around of the table appeared to be in a deep conversation. Yuffie could see Cloud and Reeve standing near the door, also talking. The Turks were no were to be seen.
The ninja was now confused by this 'conversation' that everyone seemed to have and walked towards Tifa, who stood beside the desk staring down at the floor. "Hey Tif, what's going on?"
Tifa glanced up at her and sighed. "Arvin caused so much pain and fear last night. The Turks reported about the murder in the alley, and the townspeople are terrified." She nodded to Cloud.
"Cloud is now discussing about what we should do." Then she gestured towards the others by the table.
"Vincent and Nanaki are set to hunt her down; they sense something about her."
Yuffie glanced over to the others and saw Vincent and Nanaki with their gear ready. Red waved his tail back and forward, making the fiery end dance like flames.
Fire
She could again see the city of her dreams in front of her, seeing the flames swallow everything it touches. Yuffie shook her head, eagerly wanting to forget the whole dream, but it was futile.
"Tifa, I...had a dream last night." Tifa nodded for her for continuing. "About a city, a city corrupted by fire. People who died and....." Yuffie stopped, biting her lower lip. She wondered if it was a good idea to tell her about Arvin's presence in the dream, or not.
"...and?"
"...nothing, it was only a dream anyway." Yuffie said staring down the floor. Tifa knew it was something else that bothered her, but decided to let that drop.....for now.
Vincent sat by the table in deep thought, he and Nanaki were planning to hunt for Arvin, but Cloud was concerned about it. They all witnessed her strength and it surpassed their own, combined. He sighed and gazed out through the opened window to his left. Clouds had grown darker in the horizon which proclaimed a raging storm.
A crow suddenly came and landed on the windowsill, glancing around. Vincent arched an eyebrow but continued to stare at the dark bird. He remember what an old man told him when he was young; that a raven symbolized life and good fortune, while the crow were a sign for the opposite, death and bad luck. The black bird locked its eyes with Vincent and cocked its head, as it was trying to tell him something.
A light cough came from Cloud, making Vincent and the others turn their heads. "Well, as you all probably know; Vincent and Red XIII will go after Arvin." He received nods and continued. "And I will be joining in their hunt."
The rest of AVALANCHE members were staring wide-eyed at their leader. Was he insane? Crazy enough to let Vincent and Red go, but a third person? "Oh for #/(&# God's sake Cloud! You'll all be riding the rollercoaster of death!" Cid yelled bringing his hand up, smacking his head in frustration.
"Yeah, I'm with Cid. We all saw what she is capable of, not to mention what Yuffie saw with her own eyes." Tifa replied with pain in her eyes. She was deeply concerned about Cloud's safety.
Cloud sighed and looked at her. "Tifa, I know it will be hard to even track her down. The Turks reported that she was gone without leaving any clues, but she is a threat to people.....maybe even the world. I'm not gonna sit here and wait for her next attack."
Tifa nodded in defeat. "Besides, Yuffie heard the conversation between Dukam and Arvin, and she failed to kill her. Arvin might be back to finish what she started." Red added. Yuffie went pale, she never thought about that.
"That's why we bring her with us." Cloud stated.
"What?!" Yuffie practically screamed, receiving everyone's attention. "In-hell-I-am! Like Cid said, it'll be a suicide mission!"
"...Yuffie, do you care about your people in Wutai?" Vincent asked in monotone.
She stared at him, what kind of question was that? "Of course I do!"
Vincent's eyes bored deep into Yuffie's. "If you care for their safety, then you'll come with us. Arvin will search for you, and she will in time know the fact that you are from Wutai. She would take that as an advantage to get to you. Arvin failed to kill you twice; it's rather inaccurately that she will let that happen a third time. This kind of pattern she shows makes it clear that she will do what it will take to end her task." He replied with no sign of emotion in his voice.
Yuffie heard her heart beating heavy in her eardrums. If she returned to her country, Arvin would kill her people to get her, she could not risk it. However if she tag along on the journey, Arvin would eventually kill her. Yuffie mentally smirked; she could see herself standing in a roads end, splitting in two, both that lead to early death, ironic.
Silence crept in the room. Each did not know what to say at this kind of situation. Seconds passed when a croaking sound was heard. Everyone turned their gazes towards the window. The black crow croaked at them and jumped a little. Vincent frowned, never had he seen a crow do that.
"Oh screw it! I'm comin' too!" Barret's voice barked, startling everyone, even the crow. Cloud looked at him slightly puzzled, waiting for the answer of the sudden choice. Barret cleared his throat. "Well I'm not gonna let a psychopath terrorizing the world and let my Marlene get worried. So I'm comin' too!"
"Oh for God's sake, count me in! My Highwind could do some of the help with transport." Cid cheered and trashed the cigarette in a tray.
"I and the Turks could be some kind of help as well." Reeve added.
Cloud smiled slightly and looked over at the martial artist. "Well, that leaves you Tifa."
Tifa glanced around, noticing that everyone was eyeing her, waiting for her answer.
"...all right."
The swordsman nodded. "Okay, then that's settled." He turned to the others.
"Cid, you get the Highwind ready." Cid saluted.
"Barret, you get the item supplies." Barret nodded at the order. Cloud turned to Yuffie and Tifa.
"You'll get some armor." They both gave a slight nod, disliking the whole idea.
"Reeve, call the Turks and inform them. Oh, and fix Cait Sith, we would need his assistance." Reeve also nodded and flipped up his phone. Cloud then turned to Red and Vincent. "We have to come up with a destination." They exchanged looks with each other before nodding as well. Receiving all his comrades' acknowledgments, he gave the last order;
"Move out!"
All of them left the inn, except for the three males. Nanaki discussed with Cloud, while Vincent glanced again at the bird by the window. He was still surprised to see that the crow had not flown away, after all this commotion. Vincent's eyes locked with the crows and frowned. In the right angle, the gunslinger could detect a red glow, like cat's eyes in darkness.
Suddenly Vincent's vision caught something dancing on the wall to his right. The small shadow of a candle on the table before him was moving to some extent. Then it slowly began to grow darker. Vincent narrowed his eyes and stared intensely at odd shade.
"Lusa pylg. Du Asgar fa femm dyga oui."
Vincent darted is eyes in search for the voice. There were no one else besides him and his two comrades and the desk clerk, who was reading the newspaper, so where did it come from? He glanced back at the shadow on the wall. It grew darker and increased in size, still moving. The former Turk glanced over at his comrades; they were still talking, not noticing what was happening.
"Tyngacd ghekrdc rayn rec lymm, dra desa crymm lusa yht dra yhkam femm vymm."
Vincent shot up and by reflex reached for his gun. Cloud and Nanaki whirled around by their friend's sudden action and saw his hand on the Death Penalty, staring at the cream colored wall before him. The blonde swordsman frowned at his behavior and glanced at the same wall. His frowned deepened when he saw nothing except a thin shadow of a candle.
"Vincent?" Cloud asked tearing away his gaze from the wall.
The gunslinger did not answer and continued to stare at the shadow. It continued to move but by now it had an odd shape of a creature in profile. It was hunched and a skeletal body, its back was bent and its head was slightly bigger. It looked like a zombie, or in that way. Neither Cloud nor Nanaki saw or heard what he just had, for some reason.
"Dra cuh uv dra pmylg cih ec kuha, frana ec rec tyikrdan uv vena?"
He could see its mouth move while it spoke, or rather moaned. The voice was dark, deep and was very hoarse. The language was alien to him, not being able to detect one word in any of those sentences he received.
"Vincent, what is it?"
The dark man turned to the voice and stared at Cloud blankly. He then looked back at the shadow but found it vanished, the creature had reverted back to the candle it present with. Vincent scanned the wall for any signs of the odd shade, but everything was as was jut minutes ago. He felt Cloud's eyes on him, waiting for a response. Vincent shook his head.
"Nothing."
He closed his crimson eyes before setting his gaze on the windowsill. The crow was gone.
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A woman stood by the alley, were the murder had taken place. Her long grey hair swayed in the breeze, while the black witch hat cast her upper face in shadows. She had a long dark grey dress, with a small black coat covering her shoulders. On her left shoulder sat a raven, both staring at the scene in silence. The bodies that once painted the dark scenery had been moved but the blood was still there.
"...monstrous." She spoke in a low voice. The raven croaked loudly in agreement. She could smell the foul stench of rotten flesh and death. However, it was not a foreign sight for her. She had witnessed plenty of massacres events in her younger years. The woman then turned her gaze up the sky.
"Soon he will show his true power over us." She took a deep sigh and saw a faint silhouette a bird flying towards her. A pale hand reached out and the bird landed with ease. The crow croaked and flapped its wings. The woman then nodded.
"So, the hunt has begun."
She woman then turned and began walking away from the alley, disappearing in the shadows with the two birds.
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Cloud, Vincent and Nanaki sat down by the table, discussing where they should go. Many suggestions came, but none was good enough. A time later in silence, Red spoke up. "We could go to Cosmo Canyon."
Vincent and Cloud looked at him with confused looks. Red saw their puzzlement and continued; "There are old some books and scrolls my grandfather collected due time, it might hold some facts about this 'Arvin' and maybe something other useful information. Beside I want to pay my respect to grandfather and father."
Cloud scratched his head and shrugged. "Well it's a long shot, but it's the best so far." Vincent nodded. Cloud brought out his PHS and dialed Cid, giving the orders that they would fly over to Cosmo Canyon. But before they head there, they had to stop by the Chocobo stable. It might be good idea to have some of their own Chocobos with them.
Vincent sat brooding in his chair, staring back at the wall. Nanaki looked up at him.
"What's bothering you?"
Vincent turned his gaze to the feline and sighed.
"I fear that there is more behind the shadow than meets the eye."
To be continued...
Can a weekend get any better, messing with the computer, drink green tea and eat a bar of Marabou chocolate (mmm....marabou). This is a nice way to spend the evening.glance around oh your done...hehe...nothing to read here.....eheheh...he....ah crew it.
I'm in a cheery mood today, why I don't know....maybe they spiced my tea or my candy. Please send me a review and have a very nice weekend!