Oh, yuck. I think I got a grand total of maybe two hours of sleep last night because I felt so rotten that I couldn't get comfortable. And since I got up twice to puke, my mommy is letting me stay home—a mixed blessing since I've missed so damned much school already this year. (Hey, I'm a Junior in high school—I don't need this!) One good thing about this nasty flu is that I can write although my eyes hurt pretty badly.
And one more thing to say before I begin—once again, directed to Snowri: YOU ARE IN SEVENTH GRADE?? I FEEL SO IMMENSELY STUPID BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU WERE AT LEAST FOURTEEN! Sheez! Meh dear, do continue writing, as I can smell brilliance in you.
I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Anyone who thinks that I do, I shall shower with thanks and praise before slapping them around the room for their total and utter stupidity.
~*~
Squall grimaced as the rain picked up, and he wrapped his long coat around himself more tightly as he continued through the damp streets. Even the Heartless didn't care to venture from their burrows on a day like this, and yet here he was, outside and searching for that obnoxious little Yuffie.
Thunder rumbled overhead and the skies opened a little bit more, as if just to spite him. He'd been out here for nearly an hour looking for Yuffie and the only reason why he was bothering to do so was because Aerith demanded that he look for her. She didn't want to get her feet wet so she had sent him. Only now he was beginning to get sore vexed and a little worried. He was re-combing areas that he had searched before, hoping to find her. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't worried that something might have happened to her, but rather he was worried about what Aerith would do—or say—if he showed his face again without Yuffie in tow.
Finally, after an hour of searching, he gave up and headed into the Waterway where he knew that there would be no Heartless. Let Yuffie find her way back on her own. It would also be relatively dry in there. Getting his feet wet would be a change from getting poured on by rain.
But once he got into the Waterway, he heard something moving around inside. Ever-cautious and ever-suspicious, he silently drew his weapon and stalked towards the source of the noise. It was dark inside the Waterway, but there was enough light to be able to see a shape nearby tossing stoned across the waters' surface to make them skip. Squall sighed and lowered his weapon. Yuffie… he should've known better.
"Where have you been?" He demanded of her as he walked up to meet her. Yuffie glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Why do you care?" She asked, tossing another flat stone across the water. It skipped four times and then sank. Curious, he glanced over her shoulder.
"Hey, do that again," he sounded, amongst other things, intrigued. A confused frown crossed the ninja's face for a second before she shrugged and tossed another stone. This one skipped five times and landed on a rock sticking up out of the water. Yuffie noticed a smirk on Squall's face.
"Here, you try," she told him, handing him a flat stone the size of a tangerine. "You just whip it like this—" she made a motion with her hand as if she was going to throw a stone or one of her shurikens "—and it should skip." He nodded, and she thought it odd that they were doing this. Here they were, standing inside an underground waterway-cave with terrible creatures that could have been lurking anywhere and a raging storm outside—and she was trying to teach this stoic swordsman how to skip stones.
Squall had thrown his stone and it jumped up off of the water once, then sank. He screwed up his face as he watched her skip a stone three times.
"It takes a little getting used-to," she explained. "That, and mostly it's sheer dumb luck." She threw another stone, but this one didn't skip at all. "You see?" Squall nodded and picked up another stone. This one he managed to make take a very long leap and land on the shore on the opposite side of the dark cavern. And, to their horror, something over there stirred.
"Don't make a sound," he whispered, drawing his weapon again. He didn't take his eyes off of the patch of shadows across the way. There was more sound, this time sounding like several "somethings" moving around. Slowly, one by one, pairs of glowing yellow eyes became visible. Shadow Heartless had sought refuge from the storm in the Waterway as well, and now they had been rudely awakened and were very cranky.
Normally, Shadows wouldn't have been something to lose ones' head about, but recently the strength of these creatures had increased greatly, making them more difficult targets. They were coming out now, leaping on stepping-stones across the water to their side, where the ninja and swordsman stood rooted to their spots, either out of fear or out of determination.
Well, Yuffie thought. This is terribly inconvenient. And there certainly are a lot of them… She tried to count all of them, but all she could really confirm was that there were about eleven Shadows closing in on them. Don't fight first. Don't fight first. Don't fight first, she repeated to herself.
Heartless stood facing humans; none moved. Each was waiting for the other to make the first move until one bored Shadow decided that it was time to pick a fight, and it chose the smaller of the two, heading right for Yuffie. Acting on reflex, she was able to whip out a shuriken and hit it right through one of its' eyes. It shrieked and dissolved, like all Heartless did when they were killed. With that, the fight began in full swing. Heartless ran everywhere, attempting to sneak up on the two fighters and jump on their backs. Knowing better than to let them have the opportunity to do so, the pair stood back-to-back. Eventually, the Shadows decreased in number and the remaining ones fled, probably thinking to pick their fights more carefully next time.
Yuffie was scooping up fallen Munny gems from the fight and stuffing them in her pockets whilst Squall gathered himself again. He wasn't injured, just shaken and vexed. The girl looked over her shoulder at him and paused stuffing her pockets.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yea… I'm fine," his voice was steady but his expression was not. Even so, she couldn't really put her finger on what was troubling him so. Once he'd gotten his normal stoic attitude back, he said, "You'd better cut me in for half of that." He directed a nod at the Munny gems that were beginning to fall from her pockets.
"Of course I—" she paused, staring him in the face. Was that a genuine sparkle in his eye?
She could only hope.
~*~
Short chapter? Yes. Sucky chapter? Slightly. But—after this the Squffie fluff starts! Yayy! Anyway—please review and make me feel better since I am still not feeling well and I am really, really gooey. Okay? I'm working on the next chapter pronto, I have just been sick so this one has been delayed by a few days.
