A/N~ After being surgically attached to my couch for a week and a half sick, I'm gonna attempt to write the next chapter. So cut me a little slack if it sucks, my muse hasn't been very helpful lately, it seems to be more of a slacker than I have been as of late. So be nice and review me, or I might get angry and stop writing. ^^
Trip to Evil ForestGarnet woke up on a small beach, half in the cold waters of the lake. She was shivering from being soaked and from the chilly wind that blew down from the cliffs. She was covered in sand, which stuck to her sopping clothes.
Vivi and Zidane were unconscious a few feet away. She walked unsteadily over to Zidane to make sure he was breathing; he was. Then she checked Vivi. Satisfied that they were okay she sat down in the sand, pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them; ready to wait for them to wake up, shivering uncontrollably. She was just starting to get numb when Zidane started to stir. He opened first one eye, then the other. Groaning quietly he pushed his shaking body into a sitting position.
"We actually survived that?" he asked, looking slowly up the cliff until his eyes came to the top, thousands of feet above them.
"Amazingly, yes we did," she said.
"We can't stay here for long, they're going to find a way to get down here without killing themselves to look for you. Let's get out of here," Zidane said. He stood up and walked over to Vivi and shook him gently. After a moment the small black mage stirred and then sat up.
"What happened?" he asked softly, rubbing the back of his head through the hat. It had managed to stay secured to his head even though they had plunged downward about two thousand feet at an amazing speed, and then floated unconscious in cold lake water until they drifted to shore.
"We survived the fall," Zidane said, "And now we've got to get out of here before the soldiers come looking for the Princess."
Vivi shook his head, but stood anyway. As they started southward toward Evil Forest he wondered how he had gotten dragged into this mess. He had been running away from soldiers, who wrongfully claimed he had kidnapped the Princess, and now he was unwittingly helping her escape from Alexandria.
But he didn't have time to think. The mist that engulfed the continent spawned a lot of monsters that could attack at any given moment. They would have to be alert if they were going to make it to Evil Forest alive. His only relief was that they weren't going through Evil Forest. He had heard many a tale about people who had attempted to go through it, but they didn't survive to come back.
On the trails of that thought two Fangs sprang out of a nearby bush. They stood on their toes; fur on their backs raised, ready to pounce when they least expected it. Long strings of saliva ran from in between the beast's bared teeth, and a low growl emitted from one of the Fang's throat.
Princess Garnet whimpered and took a small step back. She shook her head slightly and took a deep breath. She had to be brave. There were a lot of monsters in the world and she couldn't run from them. She had to protect herself and the others. She was the reason they were even walking to Evil Forest anyway. She had asked Zidane to help her get to Lindblum.
Zidane pulled two daggers from twin scabbards attached to either side of his belt. He looked at first one, then the other, a thrilled grin coming over his face.
"Stay back Princess," he said, stepping protectively in front of her. Then he directed his attention to the two Fangs who hadn't made their move yet, "I just bought these daggers in Alexandria the other day. I've been waiting for a chance to try them out."
Adrenaline pumping through his veins he crouched into a fighting position. His knees were bent, ready to pounce; his daggers were extended in front of him, one in each hand. Then he used his dagger to signal the Fangs to attack; the same thrilled grin lighting up his face.
With a roar like a tiger both Fangs jumped at him. Garnet stifled a scream and the urge to jump in front of him. But he knew what he was doing. Zidane moved with the speed of lightning, slashing out at both Fangs before they could touch him. With a thud they fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Red blood stained his shining daggers. With practiced ease he bent down and wiped them on the grass, then slid the daggers back into the scabbards. Then he turned to face Garnet.
One look at her and he called himself seven kinds of a fool. She had never seen anything die before. He should have told her to turn away. Her face was deathly white; her hands, now pressed against her mouth, were shaking. Her eyes were wide and staring at the dead Fangs.
He crossed the grass so he was standing in front of her. Before he knew what he was doing he had wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. She relaxed in his embrace, "I'm sorry Garnet, I should have told you not to watch."
She pushed away from him and wrapped her arms around her self, shaking her head, "No, it's best that I get used to that. Zidane, I—," she started, but stopped herself. She couldn't tell him that she was more upset about the idea that he could have been hurt, then seeing the Fangs die, "I think we should keep going."
He looked somewhat disappointed, as if he had known what she was going to say but didn't. But he couldn't have possibly known, she convinced herself.
Without another word the trio continued toward the forest. It wasn't too long before the forest loomed about fifty yards ahead of them.
"Where's the airship?" Zidane wondered aloud. He should be able to see it.
"Maybe it's on the other side of the forest," Garnet wondered.
Vivi whimpered softly. If the airship was on the other side of the forest, they had no choice but to travel through it.
Zidane shook his head; "The boss said they'd wait for us in front of Evil Forest."
***
Baku, Cinna, Blank, and Marcus stood in the cramped engine room of the small airship. They had borrowed it from Lindblum castle after getting permission from the regent to go to Garnet's wedding to try and get permission from the Queen to perform at the Princess's eighteenth birthday.
At the present moment they were stuck at the airship dock. The soldiers had already checked the airship for the Princess, but they weren't allowed to leave even after it was decided that the Princess wasn't onboard.
"What are we going to do? Zidane has probably already made it to Evil Forest by now," Cinna said.
"If he managed to get down the cliff you mean," Blank replied dryly.
"Assuming he did, he must be waiting for us at Evil Forest. We have to figure out how to get out of here," Baku said.
"Why don't we just make a break for it?" Cinna suggested.
"And get shot down? No, we're not risking the airship," Baku scoffed.
"Ruby…" Blank said.
"What are you going on about?" Marcus asked.
"We could get Ruby to pretend to be Princess Garnet. She already decided to stay in Alexandria anyway. She can distract the guards and we can make a break for it." Blank said.
"That could work…if she agrees that is," Baku said with a nod, "We'll leave that up to you."
"Thanks…I think," Blank said, stomping out of the room. Everyone knew he had a thing for Ruby, and she liked him back. But she got annoyed with him because he was often late to meet with her. She was currently upset with him because he wouldn't quit Tantalus to stay in Alexandria with her. He just couldn't bring himself to leave the group he called family. It wasn't that he didn't love her…
***
"HELP!" the hooded woman screamed, running frantically down the dark street of Alexandria. Her voice echoed strangely around her, bouncing off the walls of the surrounding buildings. The man who chased her was unrelenting, finding her no matter how dark an alley she hid in.
She turned another corner and saw armored soldiers standing near the airship dock. Surely they would help her. It was hard, but she managed to make her tired legs run still faster. The heavy pipe she held in her hands beneath her cloak seemed to get even heavier.
"Please, you have to help me!" she screamed again.
The ruse seemed to work, for all the soldiers turned sharply to face her. One of them, a chunky man in rusted armor stared at her hard, as if deciding if she was who he thought she was even though the cloak hid her face. She knew him immediately.
"Steiner! Please, that man tried to kidnap me! Don't let him get me!" she screamed, running up to him and pointing a shaking finger at a figure hidden in shadow.
"Get that man! He tried to kidnap the Princess!" Steiner ordered, not skipping a beat.
Ruby smiled, hidden by the cloak. Blank was right, the soldiers weren't all that bright. They tore after the figure, who stood, waiting for them to catch him. When he didn't move, they slowed a bit warily, but kept going. None of them wanted to be responsible for something happening to the Princess.
"Don't worry Princess, we'll catch that man and you'll be back at the palace soon. The queen is terribly worried about you, not to mention that Kuja man. It's almost as if he has run of the castle, instead of her highness."
Ruby didn't answer; instead she gripped the pipe still harder. She brought it up and swung hard. Before Steiner knew what happened, he unconscious on the ground from a blow to the back of the head.
"Thanks for tryin' to help lil' ol' me, but I can take care of mahself," she said, using her normal voice. Then turned her attention back to the soldiers.
Blank stood in the shadows, waiting for the right moment, waiting for them to draw close enough…now! With an almighty leap he didn't think possible of himself he jumped over the soldiers. He landed catlike behind them, got to his feet, and raced toward Ruby.
The engine of the airship behind her kicked to life.
"MOVE IT!" Marcus called from the deck as the ship started to lift off. He leaned over the railing and tossed a long thick rope over the side.
He ran faster than he had ever run in his life. The soldiers were coming after him, knowing now that they had been tricked. He skidded to a halt in front of Ruby.
"Go on now!" she exclaimed. She knew that he had to leave her. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but he couldn't see them. In the blink of an eye she was in his arms, his lips pressed against hers. She blinked in surprise, it wasn't what she was expected. Then she smiled as he let her go.
"I'll come back, I promise," he said, then ran toward the airship. With a high jump he caught the rope and started to climb it.
"YOU BETTER!" she screamed after him.
He paused long enough to give her a wave.
"Shoot it down," came a cold voice from behind her.
She turned quickly to see a man standing there. He wasn't dressed like the soldiers. Instead he wore a rather skimpy, girlish outfit. He had silver hair, cut like Zidane's. He also had blue eyes, but while Zidane's blue eyes were the friendly color of the deep ocean, this man's eyes were the pale blue of ice. He gave her the creeps.
"You can't!" she cried.
"Shut up! Don't get involved with something that has nothing to do with you," he said, his voice sent shivers down her spine. This man was evil. There was no other explanation for it.
"It has everythin' to do with me! Those are mah friends!" she said angrily.
"Shut up!" he said again, backhanding her. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Before she could move the soldiers fired a large cannon that they had brought from the warehouse behind the airship dock. The cannonball flew toward the retreating airship with deadly accuracy.
"NOO!" she screamed as the cannonball ripped through the airship. A huge fireball engulfed the airship and smoke was everywhere.
The man behind her began to laugh. His laugh was worse than his voice.
"You jerk!" she screamed, and flung herself at him.
He didn't even flinch, just knocked her out of the way and kept his eyes on the burning fireball that was the airship.
"Sir, it's still moving," one of the soldiers said.
"Then fire at it again," he said, as though it were obvious.
Ruby watched in horror as they fired another cannonball at the airship. There was no way they survived that. No way.