Author's note: MUCH APOLOGIES TO THE RIDICULOUS DELAY!!! OO I actually already have this part written on paper but College life struck hard and when I computerized it, the file got corrupted! . Here it is, anyway! :D
Sweet Sacrifices - 6 By: Liv
She landed with a soft thud on the dry land, the sands exploding momentarily after her landing. Her outfit was something out of the ordinary in Wutai--precisely because it was a combination of many clothes donatd by Icicle Village--the neutral town. She released her gigantic shuriken from, her back and opened her feet a few inches apart from each other. "Hya!" She said, challenging a fallen Wutai warrior on the sand. "Come and fight me, Hiro!"
No response.
The ninja felt a slight pounding on her chest but she pouted, anyway. She brought down her weapon, stomping her feet a couple of times. "Hey Hiro! Stop being a coward and fight me!" She waited for an annoyed mutter or a movement but none were given. Her pouty lips dropped to a slight curve. "Hiro..." She felt like weeping. He was the last of her teachers she hoped to live...yet he followed the rest to heaven.
She sniffed loudly and slapped herself. Once was not enough, it was accopmpanied by more of it. "Don't cry, don't cry!!" She scolded herself. She returned the weapon to her back and took out a dirty paper and a capped brush from a small bag hanging around her belt. She unfolded the paper where a list of names could be seen. She uncapped the brush and wrote Hiro's name with much difficulty.
How many more dead people are still there, anyway? She wonderedas she waited for the ink to dry, her brush capped and kept it in her bag, again. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the direction of the sun where a mass of lying bodies could be seen. Wutai was scarce with manpower--these bodies will rot before the Wuati townfolks can even check them.
She felt anger over that truth.
"Isn't anyone of you alive out there?!?" She shouted at the top of her lungs, feeling her eyes turn wet, again. "Damn it, I said DON'T CRY!!!" She slapped herself once more. Her cheeks were and hot sore from all her hits.
A low moan sounded not so far away from her.
She gasped and looked around with wide eyes. Where did that moan come from?? "Who's there?!" She kept her lips from smiling, pushing away hope in fear that it might be false. She hurried to stand, turning around. "Yuki?! Masa?! Ken!!"
"...here..."
She heard herself laugh, felt her cheeks wet as she followed the voice, paper held in a crumple. "Where?! Keep talking to me!!"
It coughed...then howled.
The young ninja froze on her steps, surprised. A howl? She could remember anyone who tamed a wolf in their town. But while it continued to howl, she knew it was best not to lose it.
She hopped over bodies, stumbling sometimes just to make sure she catches the howler. Panting, she reached her guessed destination. Surprise struck her, making her gasp.
It was a Fire Scouter...a red wolf who knew how to talk and had fire burning at the tip of its tail. Her eyes swept through the red fur until they met weak eyes.
"P, please..."
The ninja panicked. He spoke to her with the language from the Shinra Cities! What was she to do? She only knew Wutai and very little of the said language. "Stop!" Her voice was high-pitched. "Help, me, you." She hoped he understood with the help of her hand gestures.
"...are you from Wutai?"
She caught her tongue. This Fire Scouter knew her language! "Yes!" She returned to her native tongue. "I'm from Wutai and I will help you! Can you stand?"
"I can try, but I need help..." The Fire Scouter said with the correct accent. He set to work on putting some strength into his legs. He felt the little arms of the Wutai girl around him and slow with her, he limped out of the dead men's field.
It was not long until they reached a small cave a little further to the north. It was hard having to bear the heat of the cloud-scarce sky.
The Fire Scouter dropped heavily to the ground and panted.
The young ninja, on the other hand, dropped the bags of materias hanging from one side of her belt, revealing three potion bottle hanging through a rope. She untied them all and pulled out a time-worn bandage from her pocket. She set to work quickly, opening bottles and wrapping wounds.
It took a couple of minutes doing the three biggest wounds. None spoke and the ninja feared the Fire Scouter had died. But in the end, he was just saving his strength and still breathed.
"...how did you get here?" She asked, slightly meekly.
"I was supposed to return to Junon with the Shinra Army, but we were attacked." The wolf-like creature was slowly being re-energized. "Many of my species successfully ran away, I believe they are in Cosmo Canyon now. Some of us were caught up, and sadly I am the only one who lived."
The ninja twitched her lip as she continued to tend to his wounds. She was not sorry her people attacked them, but it would be mean not to show a face of sympathy--even if it is false.
The Fire Scouter smirked. "Isn't it ironic...that a girl from Wutai is helping someone who fought for Shinra?"
The ninja hated how she found this animal amiable. He was from Shinra, wasn't he?? She vowed to hate anyone and anything Shinra after Wutai had lost.
...but Fire Scouters were originally from Cosmo Canyon, right?
"Are you going back to Shinra?" She swore she could bite herself after she asked that question.
The Fire Scouter shook his head. "Not anymore...I want to go back to Cosmo Canyon where my Grandpa awaits."
That sounds frank enough. The ninja smiled, finally. She finished patching up his last wound and straightened her back while she knelt, still. "My name is Kisaragi Yuffie."
"Nanaki, son of the Great Warrior Seto."
Yuffie's lips pursed in amazement. "Wow, he sounds so...great."
Nanaki laughed, rather weakly still. Then a cough.
Yuffie gasped, covering her mouth. "I completely forgot of your internal wounds!"
"Yes...I think I have them..."
"W, wait right there! I'll call some men to take you to Wutai!" Yuffied got back to her feet, stumbling backwards, then turned to a run.
Nanaki watched her disappear quickly into the infertile land. He prayed to his gods, grateful for her. But he'll have to think of what to tell the people from Wutai...
"39 degrees." The thermometer was raised above eye level and close to the light.
"That was 41 yesterday."
Zack sighed and proceeded to sanitizing the thermometer with alcohol. "Seriously, how did you get it?" Military secrecy blocked the news.
Clopud sighed exasperatedly. "My Mako supply was interrupted." He saw Zack turn to him and stare at him aghastly. "...I'm still alive."
"And what if think fked up?!" Zack settled the utensil backed to the tray and stomped towards Cl0ud. "God, Cloud! You could have died with that--"
"Zack, it's better that way rather than getting shot on the head." Cloud interrupted, much to Zack's surprise. "Don't let this spread, okay? Yesterday, Ms. Aeris visited me--"
"WHO visited you?!" Zack was flabbergasted.
"Aeris Shinra."
"Holy shit! No kidding?!" An amazed smile formed on Zack's face, much to Cloud's confusion and surprise.
"God, you change very quickly."
"Damn it, Cloud! Ms. Aeris has GOT to be the most beautiful woman to touch a man's life!!" Hurriedly, Zack pulled a chair and settled it beside Cloud, the back of it facing the commander. He sat himself, arms on top of the back of the chair while Cloud asked a question.
"Is she THAT beautiful?"
"Hell yes, Strife!" Zack hit his arm. "Oh, sorry." He kept his arms while Cloud winced. "...wha'didshesay??" He leaned against the back of the chair, again.
Cloud groaned, rubbing the hit part. "She thanked me on behalf of her family and asked me what I wanted."
"And?!"
"I didn't ask her to bed, Zack." Cloud pushed the head slightly away from him. "Watch the nose." He joked while the other man laughed, rubbing his forehead. "I asked her to send my men back to their families."
"Oh," Zack rolled his eyes. "Ever the self-less man, aren't ya?"
"She came back after dinner."
Zack howled.
"Shut up, Zack! You're being noisy!" Cloud scolded while the other cupped his mouth and looked around.
"Sorry." He whispered.
Cloud groaned, but it was half-pretend. "She told me Sir Sephiroth will think about it."
"Oh, seriously?" Zack's surprise didn't show.
"When she left, things fked up. I heard a car crash and saw that it was her limo. Then I saw someone about to snipe me so I jumped out of the bed, accidentally pulling off the mako supply from my wrist."
"Off-topic: how'd it feel?" Zack's eyes were wide.
"You know the feeling when it suddenly freezes and feels like it's being curshed or sucked from the inside?" Cloud lifted his right amr and had his left hand going over it while Zack hissed.
"Wouldn't wanna experience that." Zack shook his head. "Moving on, what happened next?"
"Other than breaking my leg, again, I threw stuff over to the intercom and eventually called the Security System."
"That's...lucky." Zack blinked, at a loss of comments.
"Isn't it?" Cloud agreed, nodding. "The turk informed me that our soldiers were attacked with tranquilizing darts and the cameras were hacked."
"Is this Avalanche?"
Cloud shrugged. "I'm not sure, but who's to say it can't be them?"
Zack groaned and muttered. "Wait 'til I get my hands on 'em, I'm gonna crush them like bugs!"
Cloud sighed, shaking his head. He heard the door open and turned to see the visitor. "You."
"Hello, Sir." Reno waved to Clopud and Zack, ever with his unkempt looks.
"Yo, Reno, how goes it?" Zack waved back, ignoring how Cloud turned to face him.
"Same old, same old, Dude." Reno shrugged.
"Reno?" Cloud turned to see the turk. "So YOU'RE Reno..."
"No on else." Reno opened his arms as if to present himself. "Anyway, I've got news for you." He approached Cloud lazily.
Zack whistled. "Should I go?"
"Aw nah, 'sno biggies." Reno's face looked negative. "Yesterday, Ms. Aeris talked to me." He winked at Zack whose jaw dropped. "Yeah, she did, Dude." He took a mental note that Cloud's eyes were big, facing him. "And she's asking you," He gave Cloud two shots of his finger guns. "To be her official bodyguard."
Now Cloud and Zack looked like twins. "Me...her bodyguard...?!" Cloud repeated.
"Ho...ly...shit, CLOUD!!!" Zack excitedly shook Cloud left and right, the latter seemingly not minding it.
"Bu, bu, but how?!" Cloud finally broke into a laugh, Zack stopping from shaking him to listen.
"Told her the whole damn truth that you called me." Reno shrugged, standing on one leg. "Pressy offered Tseng to her but she insisted on you.
A few seconds of silence.
When Zack howled, Cloud had laughed loudly and embraced his best friend.
Reno smirked. "She wants you to report to her as soon as you're fully recovered."
"Please tell her I'll come right over." Cloud nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Reno!" He watched the turk salute and turned to leave.
Reno whistled as he waved good-bye and closed the door after stepping out of the room.
After Zack had shouted his name again, Cloud laughed once more. "Damn I..." He shrugged, Zack smiling at him. "I just feel so happy."
"Who isn't, Cloud?! Who isn't?!" Zack took his turn to laugh.
"Yeah," Cloud nodded at him. "Who isn't?"
"This council has decided to decline your request."
"What?!" Yuffie spat. "But why?? He--"
"We understand that you insist that he has severed any connections from Shinra, Yuffie." A woman interrupted the child. "However, there is no evidence that can assure us of your claims."
"There IS no need!!"
"Yuffie, it is too risky." A monk came in the conversation. "What if there is a device attached on him to spy on us? It's still the fact that he was from Shinra."
"But--"
"You must also understand that we are in a great crisis." An older woman said in a kind voice. "We have lost many of our manpower and have no food. We cannot affored another one to feed and house."
Yuffie stared at the council incredulously. "Nanaki, is, a, FIRE SCOUTER!" She exclaimed. Not even her father cared! "Can't you understand?? Would I ever trust anyone who still had connections from Shinra?? And you don't have to take care of him! I found him! I'll take the job of tending to him!" She waited for a reaction but none came. "Fine! If he betrays us, you can take my head, hang it by the gates and feed my body to the dogs." She heard their surprise clearly and saw it at the same manner.
At all finality, Godo Kisaragi cleared his throat and hushed everyone in silence. He facwed the guards by the door. "Bring the Fire Scouter." He saw them bow and turn to leave.
A few moments later, Nanaki stepped forth. Yuffie stood besie him and he could feel her tension. He saw the mouth of a council member open but interrupted her. "Before I may be questioned, I wish to assure you that my race does not life nor do we break our word." He knew that by those simple words, he caught the council by surprise.
Yuffie felt relief.
"Before this war had come, my race lived peacefully in Cosmo Canyon. Even after we were taken to Junon, we deny any connections with the Shinra." Nanaki went on. "We are free and are peaceful."
Silence once more. This prompted the councile to talk to each other. After a few minutes, everyone was waiting for Godo's decision.
"This council has decided to allow the Fire Scouter to live with us."
Yuffie squealed and sped towards her father to embrace him while the other turned to groan at such act. "Thank you!! I know you'll understand me!"
Nanaki bowed in gratitude. "Thank you for your kind consideration. I will head back to Cosmo Canyon as soon as I am healed. Until then, I will help this town to the best that I can."
The next month had arrived.
Cloud locked his leather straps onto his belt secured. He turned to see the other door open.
"A new 4th Division has been formed." Zack told his friend who proceeded to zipping his bag. "It's an experimental division considering that it's composed of Hojo's babies."
"Clones?" Cloud clarified swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder. Hew recalled the week long news in the headlines and how its quick progress was monitored. "Let's hope they don't fall apart in the middle of training."
"Yeah!" Zack laughed, approaching his friend. "Well...gonna miss ya in the HQ."
"I'll be coming over for my final report to Sir Sephiroth." Cloud said. "And I'll be visiting whenever free."
"You oughta, Dude." Zack patted the man's arm. "Good luck in your new job."
"Thanks, Pal." Cloud nodded and left the room with Zack.
He was going straight to the Shinra Mansion.
- End of Part 6 -