Author's Note:
Reno: And we're back!
Reeve: Please don't yell. I have a hangover.
Reno: Really?!
Reeve: I wish to perforate you with the Sister Ray.
Reno: You wanna what with my bunghole now?
Reeve: ... Never mind. My head hurts. I am never drinking with you again. Ever.
Reno: You're just saying that because of that drunken dance you did last night.
Reeve: The drunken what?
Reno: Don't worry. The blackmail pictures are in the mail.
Reeve: You son of a bitch.
Reno: Don't worry, it's cool. I'll only charge you twice the price I'd normally charge someone since you're so nice to me.
Reeve: ... I hate your life.
Reno: Don't you mean 'my life'.
Reeve: Exactly.
Reno: Three times the price.
Reeve: I better say the disclaimer before you up that price any more. Tyramir doesn't own the rights to Final Fantasy or any of its characters.
Chapter Eight
Echoing Roar
"You can come out now, Nanaki." Red XIII wasn't particularly surprised that Aeris knew he was hiding in the shadows, nor that she had waited until Vincent was gone before revealing her knowledge. He wouldn't have been shocked either to discover if Vincent had also known all along that he had been there.
He snorted, letting his displeasure show despite his lack of surprise, then said, "An interesting exchange. Why did you let him go?"
She smiled at him wistfully. Red XIII had always thought humans to be silly looking creatures, but whenever Aeris smiled, he felt like giving a contented purr. "He needs to be alone. While I'm certain that he values us, I'm just as certain that he needs to face this alone. At least, from his perspective, he needs to face this by himself. I think he feels that we might resent him for feeling the loss of one of our enemies."
Nodding, he said, "An understandable sentiment, but not the one I was referring to."
"Pardon?"
He had to remind himself how limited humans could be sometimes. While they were almost as intelligent as he at times, they were woefully ignorant of their surroundings. "He smelled wounded. He doesn't go to tend to injuries of the heart. He leaves to tend to wounds of the body, inflicted by Lucrecia. There is much that is feline in that one, and like most felines, he goes to find a place where he either heals, or dies." A touch of respect was in his voice.
"What?" Aeris asked, sounding almost panicked. "We have to stop him, get him some real attention. We--"
"Can do nothing now. He's gone. His scent is already fading from the wind. There is as much unnaturalness to him as there is feline. I couldn't even hope to track him." That rankled him. He didn't like Vincent's ability to disappear and reappear with little to no warning. It made him feel inadequet.
"But, he's just..." she turned, a hand pointing out towards the grasslands surrounding Midgar. As soon as it went up, her hand dropped again, having nothing to point to.
"A remarkable human, Vincent is," Red XIII said.
Aeris nodded numbly, her voice filled with worry. "Yes. Remarkable."
"He is a survivor, though. He will return to us."
Aeris shook her head. "I'm not so sure. I'm not sure if he wants to survive. His love is dead. He feels that he doesn't have a place with us here, otherwise he wouldn't have left. I'm worried about him."
"I can attempt to track him if you'd like."
"Do you think you can find him?"
"No," he said simply. "But there is no harm in trying. If you really think he won't live, then I will do my best to bring him back."
"Please do."
He bowed his head to her, a respectful sign, then loped out to the plains, leaving Kalm quickly behind him. Vincent was quick, but he was still only human. And Red XIII couldn't imagine Vincent turning himself into Chaos just for the mere sake of travel speed.
Slowing down so he could sniff at the ground, Red XIII began to muse about his name change. To the people of Cosmo Canyon, he had always been Nanaki, their protector. But to Avalanche, he was Red XIII, a name he had allowed them to use since it fit the time, but soon after, it had become more of an identity. While Nanaki was the protector of Cosmo Canyon, Red XIII was a guardian of the Planet, a warrior who defended what was right and ensured that future generations would live. Nanaki was his mother's son, but Red XIII was the true legacy of Seto.
It was while he was dwelling on his newfound pride in his father that Red XIII heard the roar. The hair on his back bristled, arching up, and he growled softly in response. The roar was filled with the sounds of both human and animal, mixed in some sort of terrible amalgamation, all of it filled with pain, rage, despair, suffering and defiance.
Red XIII knew at once that it was Vincent.
Charging at what he determined to be the origin of the roar, Red XIII only hoped he wasn't too late to save his companion from whatever had befallen him. His muscles rippled, limbs stretching into a singular loping motion, rushing straight ahead toward the source of the sound.
There was a blinding flash of light, and the feline warrior skidded to a halt, closing his eyes. A brilliant cadence of white and gold erupted in a pillar of firey light. It disappeared quickly, and just as quickly, Red XIII began to run to the source of the mysterious beacon.
And then, in the distance, he saw the large purple form of a Behemoth. The beast was pawing at something on the ground, and the protector of Cosmo Canyon immediately feared the worst. As he neared, the scent of blood assailed his nostrils, and he howled his frustration into a battlecry.
The Behemoth began to turn to face him, but Red XIII had antipated this and angled his charge to move towards the beast's hind legs as it moved. Diving through the air, one clawed paw lashed out and tore at the monster's hamstring, sending a spray of blood and a cry of pain out. But Red XIII didn't stop there. He knew that such a small wound would only anger the Behemoth and not cause much in the way of damage. Running beneath the massive monster, he attacked the opposite leg on the front in a similar manner, tearing just above its knee joint. Wheeling about, he moved back again, attacking the hamstring of the original leg he had wounded, moving back and forth between the two appendages even as the Behemoth moved, whirling about, trying to get its attacked from beneath it.
Learning from its mistakes, the Behemoth abruptly stood up on its two hind legs, much like a bear wound, and growled with its full ferocity at Red XIII. Exposed now to attack, the cat-like creature dodged away, loping away from its enemy, and then let out a howl of challenge, knowing the battle was already over.
The Behemoth, having put all of its weight on its two hind legs, one already torn and blooded, the tendon exposed and wounded, collapsed. Falling forward, it crashed into the ground, and as it impacted, the giant sound of crushing revebrated in Red XIII's ears. Its front legs had broken with the impact of its own weight, and with them, its rib cage had split open.
Not waiting for the beast's final breath, Red XIII immediately began sniffing the ground, looking for any clues as to his fellow Avalanche member's whereabouts, or, if the worst had happened, his body. He found the scent of Vincent's blood immediately, but no sign of the man himself. Soon after, he found Vincent's cape, shirt, and laying nearby was his gun, Death Penalty.
Picking the gun up with his mouth, he placed it on top of the red cape, then, using his paws awkwardly, managed to bundle it up into one package, which he lifted once more with his mouth. With a feeling of unanswered sorrow, he took all he could find of Vincent and returned to Kalm, hoping that somewhere, the former Turk was still alive.
Author's Note:
Yes, I'm aware a huge chunk of this chapter was recap. Yes, I'm aware it was a very short chapter in all. But it was one of those things that I had to write, and I figured the recap from Red's POV would help get the reader on the right track.