Chapter 16: Secret revealed.
Yuffie awoke to an unfamiliar smell. It was a deep smell, one of strength. She couldn't name the smell, but it somehow soothed her very core. She sighed contently and pulled her blanket closer to her. She snapped awake, 'Blanket?'
She lifted her covering off and examined it, 'This is Vincent's cape.' She looked over to the cave entrance, her breath caught in her throat. Vincent stood motionless; Yuffie was surprised at how lean he looked. The morning sun outlined his figure, even though he wasn't as tall or as big as Barret, Vincent surely gave a more imposing stance. Even with his back turned Yuffie could feel this dark man's aura. She knew that crowds would part for him, fearing his sheer presence. Yuffie had one more realization; 'I'm going to get to see him without the cape!' Her trademark grin spread across her face.
"Mornin' Vinnie!" She called as she stood. She walked over to him, silently berating herself for not putting on her sneakers, 'Cold toes! Cold toes!' She came to a stop behind Vincent. "Thanks for the cape, it was really nice of you." Vincent turned, Yuffie nearly gasped at the man's visage. Without his cape hiding him, she could see his broad shoulders, solid neck, and cut features. 'Hottie alert!' She thought.
Vincent took his cape, "You are welcome. Please gather your things, we will leave shortly." He turned back around and fastened the cape into its normal position. He noticed that a new scent lingered on the cloth, her scent. The smell bothered him, he knew that he had encountered it before, but his memory failed him. He brushed the thoughts away, 'No need for a monster to be concerned about long forgotten memories.'
Yuffie appeared beside him, "Ready?" she chirped. Vincent answered by walking out of the cave. "Wait up!" She called, running after him. They continued up the pathway. Yuffie found Vincent's silence annoying so she decided to make it her mission either make him talk or at the very least get him to tell her to shut up.
"So where were you born?" Yuffie thought it best to find out his past, none of the others had any luck the previous day, but she was Yuffie! Vincent silently walked on. "Didn't you hear me?"
"Yes." Vincent answered coldly.
"It was rude of you not to answer!" Yuffie replied, "So where were you born?" Vincent was silent. Yuffie was slightly annoyed, "You're not gonna answer huh?"
"No." came Vincent's reply.
"Fine! Two can play at that game!" Yuffie crossed her arms and continued walking. 'He'll break soon, he won't be able to stand the silence!' Yuffie smirked to herself. They continued walking for almost an hour. Yuffie was bursting at the seams; she'd never been quiet for this long, ever. Finally she broke, "Arrgh! You're annoying!" Vincent gave her a quick glance and then returned his gaze to the path ahead.
'Okay new plan, he'll never crack under silence. He obviously doesn't want to talk about the past,' Yuffie thought deeply until an idea came to her. "You won't talk about your past, but will you at least answer me about what you like?"
'She is never going to be silent. She'll only get louder from here on out.' Vincent inwardly sighed, "Yes."
"Okay what do you think about materia?" Yuffie started on her favorite subject.
"It has its place." Vincent replied.
"Its place?" Yuffie was confused. To her materia was supposed to be everything, with it she was going to restore Wutai, how could he make it seem so small? "What do you mean?"
"Materia is ancient knowledge, it can be used for good or evil. The users decide." Vincent answered cryptically.
Yuffie remained confused, "Do you always have to talk so weird?"
Vincent gave her a cold look, and then his eyes caught a glimpse of movement. 'Something is out there.' He could hear sounds of breathing, ones that came before an animal pounced. "Yuffie stand ready, something is hunting us." He drew the Quicksilver and crouched slightly. Yuffie gave him a confused look, but drew her shuriken and scanned the area.
"I don't see anything." She whispered to Vincent. Vincent's eyes continued to search for any sign of the thing he could hear. He silently cursed the craggy mountains; the breathing echoed so much he couldn't pinpoint where the breathing was coming from.
Yuffie was becoming increasingly worried, she couldn't see or hear anything, but Vincent was so sure. She turned to look at his figure; he was staring intently up the slight hill. Suddenly, almost faster than her eye could register, he leveled his gun and fired. The shot was followed by a yelp of pain. Yuffie looked to where the yelp and come from. A nibel wolf was limping toward them; she was about to throw her shuriken when she noticed Vincent. He was ignoring the wolf entirely; he was even turned slightly away from it. 'Is he crazy!' Yuffie turned her attention back to the wolf. She was surprised to see it had slumped to the ground, dead. 'He knew he killed it.' Shock came over her body; 'he knew he killed it in one shot!'
As Yuffie stood there amazed, three more wolves burst from the undergrowth. Vincent immediately fired at one. It fell to the ground and skidded to a halt, blood flowing from the hole in its skull. Before Vincent could fire at another wolf, one jumped toward him. He nimbly dodged and shot the wolf in midair. The wolf hit the ground in a heap, blood flowing from the holes in the top and the bottom of its head. The third wolf was able to knock Vincent to the ground; his gun skidded away from him. The wolf stood atop him for a moment before lunging for his throat.
"Vincent!" Yuffie cried out, she began rushing toward Vincent. She was stopped be a wolf jumping into her path. "You want some? Come and get it!" She yelled fierily. The wolf seemed to smile before lunging at her. She stood her ground momentarily; at the last moment before the wolf's claws could sink into her she fell backwards to the ground. As she fell she threw her shuriken into the wolf's exposed chest. She shirked away from the spray of blood from the dead wolf, 'Have to thank Reno for that move.' When she thought about thanking the fire headed Turk, 'Maybe not.'
The wolf atop Vincent suddenly drew back in pain, several teeth missing. Vincent had raised his claw in time; the wolf's bite had no effect on the metal arm. Vincent took advantage of the wolf's momentary confusion; he slipped from beneath the beast and jumped to his feet. The wolf, now fangless, turned its attention back to its target. Its feral eyes burned with hate for the creature that had killed three of its pack mates. It walked slowly around the crimson thing; it suddenly bunched its muscles and lunged.
Vincent smoothly avoided the wolf's claws and fangs, as the wolf passed by him; Vincent drove his claw into the beast's neck. The wolf's howl of pain was cut off when Vincent calmly crushed the beast's spine. The wolf fell limply to the ground, Vincent stood over the beast silently before wiping the blood from his claw onto the beast's coat.
"You okay?" Yuffie's voice broke the silence. Vincent retrieved his gun and nodded slightly. He looked pointedly at the blood spattered on her clothes. Yuffie read his gaze, "Not mine. The stupid wolf bled all over me!" Yuffie kicked the wolf she had killed. "Dumb thing!" She yelled down to it, it of course didn't answer. Yuffie looked up to see Vincent walking away, "Hey! Don't you remember about not leaving me behind! I thought we cleared that up last night!" To her surprise, Vincent paused long enough for her to catch up. Yuffie rolled her eyes, 'What a gentlemen.' The duo continued into the mountain.
BACK TO THE OTHERS.
"Where could they be?" Tifa wrung her hands in worry. "Shouldn't we go back and look for them?"
Cloud's heart was pained at Tifa's distress, "We said if we got separated we would meet at the bottom of the mountains. If we don't go there, they might go back into the mountains and look for us." Cloud sighed, "We might never find each other in all those tunnels."
Aerith gently grasped Tifa's arm, "Cloud is right, they'll be okay. We just need to get to the bottom of the mountain." Aerith gave her a comforting smile. "They're probably waiting for us already."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Tifa gave a weak smiled, but it was obvious she was still worried.
"I jus' hope the brat will be alright wit that guy." Barret was worried about the thought of what that man might do to Yuffie. The group had known Vincent less that a day, they were all slightly scared of the dark gunslinger, especially knowing he had once been a Turk.
Cloud shook his head turned to the chutes in front of him. "Which one should we try now?" The group had already tried another chute, it lead them to the reactor and back to the top of the chutes, a complete waste of time. When no one answered, he motioned to the chute with the number one painted on it. "Lets try this one." He and the others jumped into the tube, it was longer than the first one they tried. Cloud prepared himself when he finally saw the end. "Almost there." He called back to the group, when he emerged he immediately drew his sword, before him stood a monster.
The monster was a deep violet, it had several legs, each ending in razor sharp claws. Its face was pointed into horns; spikes ran the length of its back, all the way to the tip of its tail. Lucky for the group it hadn't yet noticed them. As each member came from the chute, they were immediately silenced. Cloud motioned them to prepare. Upon his signal Barret began shooting, Aerith and Nanaki called forth bolts of lighting, while Cait Sith, Tifa, and Cloud charged the beast.
The beast roared in pain as the bullets and bolts struck its body, leaving dozens of small holes and smoking flesh. It turned, swinging one of its massive arms, Tifa was able to jump over the beast attack, but Cait Sith was sent flying into the wall. Tifa's flight ended with her foot solidly impacting the beast's head, it flung its head back in pain before turning its gaze back to the fearless fighter. It was about to lung when it felt a sharp pain in its leg; Cloud was swinging his massive sword leaving deep gashes in the beast's body. The beast swung at him, but Cloud was able to back away safely.
The injured beast backed away slightly, staring down the group before it. Its mouth moved into a sneer as it unleashed its magic. Small sparks formed in the air around the group, with a bright flash the sparks connected, a pyramid shape formed around the group. They attempted to move out of it, but they were too slow. Lightning filled the pyramid, electrocuting the hapless occupants. Each writhed in pain, their bodies jerked as the electricity jolted their muscles. Cloud was the first to rise to his feet.
He grimaced in pain; he looked up to see the monster slowly approaching them. His caught movement out of the corner of his eye, he glanced quickly at it, he grimaced again. At least a dozen of the grasshopper-like creatures were coming their way, attracted by the sound of battle. "Great."
OUTSIDE THE CAVE.
"Ya think those guys would at least leave us a sign or something." Yuffie whined. Her companion maintained his normal silence from where he was examining the ground. "What are you looked at anyways?" Yuffie asked as if noticing his position for the first time.
Vincent stood silently, "They passed this way recently." He walked into the cave. Yuffie stared after him, looked to the ground that he had examined, and then chased after him. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the sudden darkness. When she could finally see, she noticed Vincent standing in front of a big tube with the number one displayed. "They went in here."
"How can you be so sure?" Yuffie asked, unconvinced.
Vincent pointed to the ground, "Footprints." Yuffie looked to where he was pointing, there were a grouping of prints overlapping each other. Yuffie laughed when she saw the sheer size difference between Barret's massive foot and Nanaki's paw print. Yuffie looked up to see Vincent had moved away from the tube and was staring over the edge of the cliff intently.
"What's going on?" Yuffie raced up to Vincent. When she followed his gaze she gasped, the others were battling for their lives, but even Yuffie could see they weren't doing well. Yuffie turned to Vincent, but jumped back when she saw his state.
Vincent was hunched over in obvious pain, his hands clutched his head, and Yuffie could hear deep guttural sounds coming from him. She reached out to him, "Vincent?" Vincent's reply was a gasp of pain.
Vincent could feel the demon fighting to get out, breaking down his mental barriers. Pain wracked his tainted body. 'Curse you Hojo!' He could feel another mind forcing his away; it was a simple mind only desiring to kill. Horns pierced his skull, his human features faded away becoming a snout filled with deadly fangs. Purple fur grew from his skin. Claws stretched from his hands and feet. His muscles bulged and shifted, a tail snaked out from his body. His ebony locks burst into a red cascade. Vincent's mind finally gave into the demon, 'Galian beast, protect my comrades.' Was his last thought before darkness clouded his mind.
Yuffie was horrified watching his transformation, she watched in terror as a huge beast was replacing the dark gunslinger. She stared as Vincent's clothes shimmered away, to reveal a huge monster. It roared in anger before leaping down the cliff.
Cloud flinched at the roar, 'Not something else.' Cloud looked toward the source of the roar, his eyes widened when he saw a purple monster descending the cliff behind the group. "Look out!" He called to the others. The beast jumped down the last of the cliff and landed amongst AVALANCHE. To their surprise it didn't attack them it charged the scorpion-like monster.
The scorpion swung its clawed arm at this newest threat. The Galian beast jumped onto its arm and ran up onto the beast body, where it tore savagely at the creatures back. The creature roared in pain and tried to shake the Galian beast off. This attempt angered the Galian even more; it sunk its teeth into the beast neck and tore its claws into the monsters throat. The monster began gurgling as blood flowed into its windpipe. It slowly lost control of its body as the Galian crushed its spine; finally, it toppled to the ground dead.
The Galian released its death-grip and roared in triumph. It looked around for its next target, the insects. The Galian roared again as it sent its energy out. Small orbs flew from it body, landing among the insects. The orbs burst into infernos; the insects writhed in agony before crumbling into dust. Now the Galian searched for more to kill. Its glowing eyes fell upon the shocked group of humans. It clenched its claws and took a step towards them. Suddenly a little one jumped in front of it. Its eyes locked on its new target as it took another step.
"Vincent!" Yuffie cried out. The beast slowly approaching her froze. "Vincent! We're your allies!" The beast roared in frustration and stepped back. It clutched its head, as if something was tearing at its mind. It began to shrink in size, its fur shortening. The deadly claws and fangs retreated; its massive horns sank back into its head. Slowly the Galian beast morphed back into Vincent, again there was a shimmering as his clothing reappeared over his body, before he slumped to the ground.
AVALANCHE stared at the fallen form of Vincent. "What was that? He changes into monsters?" Cloud was the first to speak.
"$ freak!" Barret began, "He ain't even human."
Yuffie's eyes lit up in fury, "Yes he is! He changed when we saw how much trouble you guys were in!"
Barret responded in fury, "Why you defendin' him? He's a freak!"
Small tears formed in Yufie's eyes, "No he's not! Freaks don't lend people their capes when they're cold! Freaks don't feel guilt!"
Barret was about to respond when Aerith stepped between them, "What if he was a human experiment?" Barret fumed but he couldn't respond. "Just think of the pain Shinra caused him!" At the mention of Shinra, Barret gave in as he turned away with a snort.
A small groan came from Vincent, Yuffie and Aerith knelt beside him. "Are you okay Vincent?" Aerith asked gingerly placing a hand on his shoulder. Vincent slowly rose to a standing position, stumbling slightly, silently refusing Aerith's and Yuffie's help. "Are you still with us Vincent? What happened?" Aerith's emerald eyes shimmered with concern, mirroring Yuffie's.
Vincent looked between them and the rest of the group. "I am fine." He strenuously answered.
Cloud stepped up to the dark man, he looked up into the bloody gaze, "What was that?"
Vincent stared into the younger man's eyes; he noticed Cloud shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "More punishment for my crimes." Vincent's breathing was still strained, the transformation taking its toll.
"Punishment?" Yuffie couldn't believe her ears, "What kind of punishment is that!"
Vincent shifted his gaze to the small ninja, "I am a monster. That was simply one of the forms."
Yuffie didn't flinch from his gaze, "Monster? How can a human be a monster?"
"I am not human." Vincent closed his bloody eyes, "Hojo revealed my true form."
Yuffie was about to respond but Cloud spoke first, "Can you control it? And what do you mean, ONE of the forms?"
Vincent opened his eyes and gave the swordsman a cold stare, "Yes." He lied, 'I only maintain strings on the beasts mind.' After a tense moment between Cloud and him he answered the second question, "I am aware of two others."
Everyone's eyes widened in shock. "You mean your possessed by three demons?" Aerith asked quietly. Vincent turned his cold gaze to her and nodded. "How sad." Aerith replied in a whisper. Vincent inwardly scoffed at her pity, but remained silent.
"If you no longer wish for me to travel with you I will not." Vincent spoke suddenly.
Cloud motioned everyone to come together, "Let us talk it over, please step away." Vincent walked over and leaned against the cave wall, no emotion showing in his eyes or face. After a furtive glance at Vincent, Cloud began. "Well? What should we do?"
"What else? Let him come!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"I don want no #$ freak beside me!" Barret fumed.
"He's in so much pain." Tifa looked towards Vincent, "He did say he was going with us to atone, isn't that enough?"
"He is possessed by powerful demons," Nanaki began, "yet he was able to prevent the purple demon from attacking us. That has a certain merit."
"I don't want him to come." Cait Sith piped up, "He's just like a bad memory!"
"I don't know if I can trust him." Cloud sighed, "He admitted knowing about the demons, but didn't tell us sooner." Everyone looked at Aerith, each plead with their eyes for her to agree with them.
Yuffie had tears forming in her eyes, 'Come on Aerith! Everyone will go along with what you say!'
"I think.." Aerith paused, 'Help me planet.' She silently prayed. She looked about the group, reading their eyes; finally her gaze fell on Yuffie. Aerith tilted her head slightly a bemused expression on her face. "Why do you want him to join us so bad Yuffie?" Yuffie looked at Aerith in surprise.
"Yeah! Why da $& do ya want that freak ta come anyway?" Barret said. The rest of the group joined with questioning looks on their faces. Yuffie looked down at her feet and absently kicked pebbles.
"Are you going to answer?" Cloud pressed.
'What am I gonna say? I want this demon-possessed guy to come with us on just a feeling? Yeah, right.' Yuffie kicked more pebbles, 'What am I gonna do?' Yuffie's eyes widened and a grin spread across her face, 'THAT'S IT!'
"You okay Yuffie?" Tifa asked the normally hyperactive ninja.
"I think he should join because he'll hates Shinra just like the rest of us." Yuffie paused briefly, "And because even if we don't let him travel with us, he'll continue anyway. Wouldn't you rather have him working with you than just to have him appear whenever he feels like it?"
Cloud's expression showed his obvious shock, "YOU came up with that?"
Yuffie gave him an indignant glare, "What! Just because I'm young doesn't mean I can't have super intelligent ideas."
Cloud opened his mouth to say something, but Aerith spoke first. "She's right Cloud. I would rather have him working with us." Cloud looked between Aerith, Tifa, Nanaki, and Yuffie.
Cloud groaned, "Fine. Four votes to three, he comes."
Barret's protests were drowned out by Yuffie and Aerith's squeals of delight. Nanaki smiled slightly. Tifa let out a sigh of relief, and Cait Sith looked very disturbed.
'What have I gotten myself into?' Vincent inwardly sighed, easily hearing their conversation. Although he was confused by his slight feeling of relief, 'I'm relieved to remain in their company? Why?' Vincent brooded deeper.
"Let's mosey." Cloud called to the new AVALANCHE.
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN.
"At last no more rocks!" Yuffie took off her sneakers and beat pebbles out of them. "Stupid rocks!"
The group, except Vincent, laughed at the girl's antics. "I definitely agree with you." Aerith smiled.
"The fight took some time, we should make camp soon. Night will soon fall." Nanaki said with a small chuckle.
Cloud nodded in agreement. "Let's see if we can find a good site."
"Preferably one with a stream. We need water and" Nanaki wrinkled his nose, "You guys smell." The ladies answered him with death glares. Nanaki smirked, "Well, you do. Except for Yuffie," he gazed quizzically at the shinobi, ignoring the deadly gazes of Tifa and Aerith, "Why is that?"
"Vinnie found a hot spring in the mountains, so naa!" Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Nanaki.
"That's not fair." Tifa teased, "We get Barret's snoring, you get a bath with Vincent."
Yuffie blushed furiously, "Vinnie didn't get in the water at all." Yuffie looked pointedly at Cait Sith and Barret, "Some men still have manners! He didn't even try to peek!"
"Oh, so Vincent's a gentlemen." Aerith joined in the teasing, "What else do you know about your man." Yuffie blushed an even deeper red and was about to answer.
"Enough!" Cloud yelled, "Let's find a campsite. Everyone pair off; find a stream, and PHS the location. Aerith, your with me. Tifa and Barret, Nanaki and Cait Sith." Cloud gave Yuffie teasing smile, "Yuffie and Vincent."
"At least I'm not wit' da #$ cat!" Barret said with relief. Nanaki rolled his eye as he followed the bouncing Cat Sith away. "Let's go Tif!" Barret moved into the under-growth, followed closely by Tifa.
"Let's go Cloud!" Aerith happily followed Cloud away. "Have fun Yuffie!" she called back. When they were a distance away, Aerith spoke quietly, "Thanks Cloud." Cloud gave her a confused look.
"For what?" He asked.
Aerith gave him a sweet smile, "Nothing really." Cloud's face remained confused as they walked on.
Yuffie looked at her assigned 'buddy'. "So alone again." She laughed. Vincent raised an eyebrow slightly. "Come on! That was a joke! Let's get going!" Yuffie reached towards Vincent. Vincent pulled back from her hand, 'What's up? Am I gross or something?' Yuffie sighed, "Fine, you lead." Vincent walked into the forest, followed closely by a hyperactive ninja.
FIFTEEN MINUTES PASS.
"So do you like rock?" Yuffie asked.
"No." Vincent replied.
"Country? Pop? Rap? Techno? Classical? Hip-hop? Soft rock?" Yuffie made a small list as they walked on.
"No. No. No. No. Yes. No. No." Vincent answered quietly. 'The demons have nothing on her.'
"Oh so do you like any mus- Hey! You said yes!" Yuffie smiled, and then creased her brow in thought. "Which one did you say yes to?"
"Classical." Vincent answered.
"So you like moldy-oldies, huh? I don't like 'em very much. Too slow, now rock.." Yuffie rambled on.
Vincent noted to himself, 'At least she doesn't need anyone to have a conversation with.' Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. Yuffie walked on for a few moments before noticing.
"Hey." Yuffie frowned at him, "What did you stop for?" She stared at him intently. After a few moments Vincent walked into the woods. "Wait up!" Yuffie hurried after him. She lost him sight of him through the thick foliage. "Vinnie!" she called. When no one answered, she continued in the direction she thought he went.
'When I get my hands on him!' Yuffie imagined all the annoying things she could do to Vincent. After a few minutes of traveling, she caught sight of a flash of red. "Vinnie?" she moved towards the color until Vincent's form came into view. "There you are, I thought we had cleared up this whole Leave Yuffie behind stuff?" Yuffie ran up to push him, but stopped when she saw what he was staring at, her breath caught in her throat.
A small waterfall cascaded down dark rocks, splashing down into a clear pond. A fine mist hung about the falls, giving the scenery an ethereal feel. When Yuffie looked back to Vincent, she almost gasped. He stood, staring into the pond, the mist settled into his ebony locks, causing them to shimmer in the slight breeze. His cape swirled about his feet, making him look as if he were floating. "Hey guys!"
Yuffie snapped out of her trance. "What?"
Aerith was waving at them from beside the pond. "We were about to call you. The rest should be here shortly." As if on cue, Barret, Tifa, Nanaki, and Cait Sith appeared. "There they are now."
"Nice place." Tifa admired.
"Yep, Cloud heard water and we followed it here." Aerith motioned to Cloud, who was busily filling water bottles.
Tifa smiled, "Yeah, he comes in useful sometimes." Cloud gave her an annoyed look. "Well let's start with the bathes." Tifa looked pointedly at the men, "Since it's ladies first you guys need to go away." Tifa turned to the pond, and then looked back as a thought came to her. "Any peeking.." She cracked her knuckles threateningly. "Come on Yuffie."
Yuffie smiled and skipped toward the pond. Vincent watched as she parted the mist, 'Innocence.' He thought regretfully. He watched as the mist condensed on her skin, again she seemed to radiate light. 'The child has such a spirit. Even though she can be very talkative.' Vincent turned and joined the rest of the men as they went off under Tifa's watchful eye.
The male group stopped when the trees obscured the vision of the pond. Vincent leaned against a tree, Barret and Cait Sith engaged in a debate over one of Cait's fortunes, Cloud began polishing the numerous nicks out of his massive sword. To Vincent's surprise, Nanaki sat down next to him.
"Well Vincent, what do you think of AVALANCHE so far?" Nanaki's golden eye met Vincent's bloody ones.
Vincent shrugged, "A path to Hojo."
Nanaki's fur raised at the name, "Hojo.." a dangerous edge to his voice. Silence fell as neither wanted to continue down that subject.
Nanaki suddenly grinned, "How was spending time alone with Yuffie?"
Vincent gave an indifferent shrug, "Very talkative."
"You noticed that about our little ninja." Nanaki grin fell, "It is sad for one so young to be caught up in these event."
Vincent nodded, "Indeed." Nanaki asked no more questions, the only sounds were of Cloud's polishing and Barret's pointless argument with Cait Sith.
BACK AT THE POND.
"Much better." Aerith sighed as she smoothed her freshly washed dress. Tifa and Yuffie nodded their agreement. Aerith turned to Yuffie, "You remember that you were going to explain?"
Yuffie looked up, a slight blush coming to her cheeks, "About what?"
Aerith raised her eyebrow. "You know. About Vincent and the mansion."
Tifa looked up from where she was wringing out a shirt, "Yeah, you were really intent on getting in that crypt and all."
Yuffie bit her lip momentarily before she began with a sigh. "You won't tell anyone else?" Yuffie had come to trust Tifa and Aerith like sisters. They crossed their hearts in promise. "Okay." Yuffie took a deep breath, "I don't really know why I was so intent. It was just a nagging at first, barely noticeable, but then when we were standing in front of that door.." Yuffie held up her arms, "I couldn't bear not getting to the other side."
"You went on a feeling?" Tifa's eyes widened a little.
"Yeah." Yuffie looked down, "Pretty lame, huh?"
"Not at all." Aerith gave her a comforting smile, "You trusted your feelings. We never would have found Odin or Vincent if not for you."
Tifa nodded in agreement, "That's right. You should always trust your feelings. I have to trust my feelings in a fight or I'll make mistakes."
Yuffie's eyes misted over, "Thanks for not laughing."
"Are you girlie's done?" Cait Sith shouted through his megaphone.
Yuffie quickly dried her eyes. "Yeah, you guys can take a bath now." Aerith called back.
"And you sure need it!" Yuffie added with a grin.
"Hey!" Cloud appeared from the bushes with Nanaki.. "You all had an aroma too."
"But now we're clean." Yuffie grinned.
"Shudup brat." Barret crunched through the foliage, followed by Cait Sith.
"Where's Vincent?" Tifa looked about.
"I am here." Vincent's cold voice echoed from the shadows. After a moment he materialized from the shadows.
"Whoa." Tifa's eyes went wide, "How do you do that?" Vincent didn't respond.
"Whatever." Cloud interrupted. "Will you ladies leave, so we can get cleaned up before dark?" With giggles, the girls left them. After a quick check to make sure the girls were gone, the men, and assorted others, laundered their clothes.
Vincent had finished wringing out his dark clothing. When he reached for the cape, he paused. Yuffie's scent still lingered upon the thick cloth. With a moment's hesitation, he strapped the cape into place, unwashed. 'It will take far too long to dry.' He excused himself.
After their bathes, they called the women back and ate a very meager meal as the night closed in around them. Cloud noticed the quick glances Tifa and Aerith were giving him. "What?"
Tifa and Aerith blushed slightly, but remained silent. Yuffie looked between them and Cloud. Suddenly an evil grin of realization spread across her face. "So that's where you two went."
Cloud looked at the girls confused then his eyes widened. Red spread across his face, "You peeked!"
Aerith blushed deeply, while Tifa covered, "We didn't see anything. By the time we build up the courage to look you guys were slipping your shirts back on." Tifa grinned widely, "Really we didn't see anything, honest!"
The two received very anger glares from Barret and Cloud, Vincent seemed unperturbed as he leaned against a tree. After a long uncomfortable silence, Tifa spoke up. "So.. who's turn to take first watch?"
Before Nanaki could answer, Vincent spoke. "I will take the first watch."
"And Tifa will take the second." Nanaki said as he walked into his tent, ending the discussion. "Good night."
Everyone began heading for his or her tent. Soon only Tifa, Yuffie, and Vincent remained by the dying fire. "Well I better get some shut-eye before my watch." Tifa waved goodnight as she entered her tent. "Don't stay up late bothering Vincent, Yuffie."
Yuffie scowled at Tifa's tent, "Don't bother Vincent!" she mocked, "I don't bother you. Do I Vincent?" Vincent just stared into the fire. Yuffie marveled at how the flames danced in his eyes, giving life to their normally empty pools. "So what kind of classical music do you like?"
"Good night Yuffie." Vincent ended the conversation before it began.
Yuffie snorted, "Fine, see if I try to make pleasantries with YOU anymore! Hmph!" Yuffie turned and went to her tent.
'If only she meant it.' Vincent thought to himself. As the night passed, the moon shone its light upon the pond and waterfall. Vincent stared at the shimmering elegance of nature. His claw glinted in the moonlight. 'Where do I belong in nature? Does a monster such as myself even have the right to live?' Vincent thought about the gun at his side. He knew the instant relief from life it could bring. He drew the gun, it's smooth silver barrel shone in the moonlight. The quicksilver was given to him when he took second in command of the Turks. He had used it many times to end life. He pressed the barrel to his own temple, he clutched the gun tightly, and slowly he pressed his finger against the trigger. 'No.' he holstered the gun. 'That is a coward's way.'
Vincent stared into the darkness. 'Why did they allow me to stay?' the question surprised him. He searched his mind for an answer but none came. 'They are willing to have a monster in their midst?' He clenched his claw as his mind wandered the possibilities.