Disclaimers: Final Fantasy VII © under Square-Enix, as well all other Final Fantasy references. Everything else under their respective owners.


Through Forest and Grove

Jason M. Lee

Chapter 11: That Which I Sense...


When plummeting from an extreme height, there was a sense of freedom.

Away from the chains of society's rules.

The wind whistling past one's ears.

Away from rules that dictated how one acted within a group.

Nothing holding back.

No more worries of what is to come in the future.

Just pure bliss.

Yet.

Then comes in one's sense of self-preservation, ending the dream.

As much as that little bit of freedom is worth almost anything...

...there are still always ties with the living.

x x x x x x x

'Am I dead?'

An image of someone.

'No.'

More clearly, fighting through the emotions.

'Yuffie.'

Her sad smile.

'Not yet.'

Blood burning within.

'I'm not ready to go.'

Rising determination.

'I still have something...'

A memory.

'...for her.'

Hint of movement.

"ALLOW?"

An echoing comment.

/"Is he worth it?"/

Voices screaming in his head.

Demanding.

He gave in, finally letting it loose.

Immediately, the darkness swallowed him.

x x x x x x x

Near indescribable pain.

Almost comparable to the last time.

Snapping of bone forming, creating.

Blood flying, instantly washed away.

Roaring ringing in the ears.

Muscles twisting, stretching.

Joints popped, shifting to changes.

The sensation of expanding.

Skin tore and hardened.

Two pairs of limbs bursting free, plus one more.

Large eyes slowly slid open, taking in everything in with old senses.

No.

Revamped senses.

Different in a whole new perception.

As if replaced.

Instincts screamed.

He immediately dove faster, aiming down to avoid being rammed and snapped wings open to catch himself mid-flight. Only sheer instinct prevented disaster from crashing against the large barrier separating Sector 7 and 8.

Flapping lightly, both landed on an abandoned scaffolding, talons almost three feet long shearing gouges against the reinforced steel. The rusted metal construction groaned loudly, protesting against the immense weight it wasn't designed to bear. Those on Sector 8's side recalled it sounded similar to one running the barrel rim of a gun on the side of a car, only much louder. Or more accurately, fingernails against the chalkboard, effortlessly setting one's teeth on edge. Should anyone been able to get a clear view through the heavy downpour, the sight would either terrify them or entrance them.

"Deadly beauty" couldn't justify the pair in one description.

Twice as large as a full-grown Dark Dragon from nose to tip,they were roughly the length of a shuukyuu field. Even a King Behemoth or a Dragon Zombie wouldn't attack either head on. Both bore a more feline physique, similar to a Cuahl compared with the other draconic variety that appeared unwieldy. Their snouts were a bit similar to that of a raptor's, an eagle's hooked beak rather than a round maw of a lizard. Upright legs like canines rather than the splayed legs of most reptilian creatures living on the Planet. Flexible lips were curled back, the two bearing immense fangs. A pair of horns faced backwards, angling and then pointing straight up. Unlike the various lizard-like species with fish type scales, the armor on these two were more along the overlapping arrangement of an adult Crysales or Jayjujayme. Instead of just a single pair of flying appendages, two adorned their backs, the trailing edges ending partway to their powerful hind legs. A slightly prehensile tail almost as long as their bodies whipped about like an agitated Midgar Zolom. Easily said, they resembled smaller versions of the King of Dragons.

Indian red colored the bigger of the duo, navy scales on its underbelly. Dark gold shaded a slightly bulkier form, indigo coloring the bottom. The small oddity was that the two had hair on their headsmatching the main hue of their armor, yet it was still captivating.

Regardless of the sheer magnificence, one could literally taste the tension in the air.

A guttural growl from the crimson one, as if demanding an explanation.

The smaller dragon returned a mutinous response, almost challenging.

The larger one immediately charged, snapping powerful jaws that would've crushed any lesser creature to a bloody and indescribable pulp. Air met fangs as dark-yellow dodged out of the way, spinning to lash its tail like a whip.

Barking more from surprise than pain, he tried another lunge but with talons outstretched this time.

Instead of dodging to the side, the younger leapt to the air on powerful hindquarters, wings beating strongly to gain altitude. Even in the air he wasn't safe from danger, trying to concentrate on keeping aloft against the buffeting winds.

A flash of carmine crashed into the airborne body, now both into full biting and clawing at each other while trying to gain height. One would sink teeth onto hard plating, the other would return with a large fist. Small bits of blood splattered the area below, washed away by the rain into the underground tunnels.

As soon as the two were separated with some distance, the bigger dragon took in a deep breath, chest expanding in size. Bits of bluish-white light began to gathered around its mouth in an all too familiar glow.

Unplanned reactions that governed the baser mind took control.

He dove down to the ground just before the ball of energy could connect. A dilapidated structure behind exploded in a large fireball, collapsing and bringing down several others scheduled for demolition.

Landing on rubble, pale amber scrambled to leap out of the way again, avoiding being crushed by several tons of sheer muscle and bone. The sudden weight created spider-web cracks and craters on the concrete, flattening whatever was underneath. Wreckage was then pushed away or crushed as crimson pursued after deep gold, jaws snapping at a fleeing tail.

By the time Tifa and Vincent had reached ground level in Sector 7 bordering 8, most of the surrounding buildings were either in pieces or completely obliterated. Thankfully, there weren't any residents living in that particular area at the time.

Burgundy orbs stared at the destruction, her hand covering her mouth in shock.

Black/scarlet wings folded under his red mantle, forcing Chaos back inside and also surveying the damage.

"Planet! Did we actually see Reno perform Mega Flare on Cloud!"

"...smaller scale, but yes."

"What happened to them?"

Burnished yellow brushed past a floating pyrefly.

"With the amount of disgruntled spirits here, and including their heightened sensitivity... I wouldn't be surprised if they became possessed. You wouldn't be able to reach them in their current... condition."

Calloused fingers glanced against the Materia slotted in Premium Heart, thoughts heavy.

She paused.

"Vincent."

"Yes?"

Teeth chewed bottom lip. "Do you have any of the Bahamut Summons?"

"ZERO, Mastered." A sable eyebrow raised.

Watching as the fight continued, Tifa soberly came to a decision.

Swiftly, she emptied all but two of her slots, leaving behind two Summon Materia.

"I'll need ZERO."

"What are you planning, Lockhart?"

An exasperated sigh, pushing wet hair out of her face. "Vincent, please..."

Reluctantly, the gunman placed the cool orb into her palm. "I would advise against pulling anything of what you are planning... but I doubt you'll listen."

The martial artist turned away, silent as she fitted the red sphere into her ultimate weapon.

"Tifa..."

A pause, the sounds of rampant havoc nearly overpowering the heavy downpour.

White-sapphire burst forth, flaming a path before encountering opposing cerulean-snow.

Looking back at Vincent, all she gave was a sad smile.

The only indication that the gunman showed was a sudden blink. He was startled, startled at how eerie the look on the younger woman's face.

How similar it was to the one member of their party who had given it before leaving.

Who knew what was at stake to save those she saw important.

Who had never gotten the chance of saying goodbye.

Before he could speak, Tifa had already moved toward some open space a distance from where Reno and Cloud were still battling.

Reaching the location, she spread her feet apart and then began concentrating.

Faintly, the pyreflies echoed soft cries as the feeling of magic began to form. Slowly, more ghostly spheres appeared, giving minimal light to the area. Looking into herself, Tifa reached toward the internal mana reservoir that almost every living being carried, and gently drew it out. Swirls of blue-green light clustered around her Premium Heart, arms held slightly away from her body and palms facing up.

As if responding, all three red Materia began to create an incandescent glow, a pinpoint of light growing larger inside the spheres. Directly underneath her, threads of light weaved about lazily comparable to a ribbon flying in the wind. A pattern that matched the Lifestream's movement against its assault on Meteor. A sigil gradually formed with intricacy that could outshine even the most talented logo designer, blooming outwards akin to a spider building its web. With the growing amount of magic, a breeze kicked up, sending hair floating and creating a dramatic look.

Even with the theatricals, there was a downside to all the outside beauty.

Summoning was quite difficult, especially the more powerful and Mastered ones. Vincent knew this from experience, even with a higher mana capacity. The lower type and level they were, the easier to call forth the powerful beings.

Yet, the stronger Summons always placed stress on the body, no matter whether you were Mako enhanced or not. The knowledge of the Ancients inside the Materia is used in conjunction with the caster's excess mana to create the sigils required to initiate the summoning. From within the user, more mana is pulled to finally call out the Summon into being. The more complicated the insignia, the more powerful the creature, the additional strain placed onto the person. Once cast, the magic will have to be replenished through Ethers and other means since it returns a lot slower than health does, short a full rest at inns or tents.

While the main idea was simple, Tifa was finding it quite insane in another way. It was taking all of her concentration just to focus her mana onto the trio of crimson orbs at the same time. Normally, all one had to do was basically fixate on one Materia in the weapon or armor. If it was connected with a Support, the linkage distributed the magic out evenly. In the martial artist's case, she had to direct her mana to one Summon Materia, hold it in place, and repeat process with the others. The main difficulty is that preventing the energy from being released was putting such a mental strain on Tifa where she couldn't even move from her position if she wanted to.

In such a position, Tifa was quite vulnerable to attacks from the creatures living in the surrounding areas. Vincent had thankfully foresaw that factor and kept busy sniping off whatever monsters that got too close for his taste.

'Just a little more... Please...'

Sweat mixed with the rain, clenched eyes marring her face. One Materia glowed brightly, the second gaining brilliance steadily and only halfway through. The third, not yet in usage, now carried the same amount of light akin to that of a bright firefly in the summer. Below, the first ring of the sigil was finally completed and a following ring was on its way toward continuing its layer before the next circle. All in all, it was an extremely daunting task and Tifa knew she didn't have much time until either Reno or Cloud killed each other. The increasing vibrations in the ground trembled whenever one crashed into the ground or the Mega Flares issued from both of them was foreboding.

/...smell of blood, machinery, salt/earth mix.../

'I'm not going to loose...'

/...light reflecting off of clear water.../

'...any more people...'

/...tears dropping onto a fallen form.../

'...that are important to me!'

/...sakura sinking under crystalline blue.../

'In the names of both Planet and Holy's...'

With a rush of adrenaline, the remaining two Summons immediately fully engaged, now glowing brightly alongside the first. The completion of the second sigil and third were near instantaneous, covering over ninety feet in diameter. All three rings began spinning in opposing directions, more glimmers of light dancing about. Vincent stepped out of the way from touching the large circles due to surprise and caution, the wind now whipping his mantle and hair violently. The various creatures intent on attacking all backed away, voicing their displeasure of loosing a meal and out of fear from something far larger. Crimson eyes widened as the cries from the pyreflies also grew to audible decibels, some sounding similar to screams of denial and raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

Claret-coffee eyes snapped open.

"COME FORTH!"

Twisting of the wrist in a flourish.

"SUMMON CREATURE!"

Gloved hands thrust up.

"OMEGA BAHAMUT!"

Tornado of rainbow shot skywards, sounding like a loud gunshot.

Catching an exhausted Tifa, both tracked the spiral of light leaving behind more sigils, smaller but no less complex. Upon disappearing into the clouds, something akin to a large explosion parted the dark haze and soon tendrils of luminosity began gathering.

Unlike previous summonings, Vincent sensed that this one was completely different. As the radiant strands interwove with each other, the size of the forming shape combined into something far bigger than ZERO's overall size.

What occurred next happened so fast it was nearly all a blur.

The two dragons stood opposite each other, breathing harshly from the accumulated injuries inflicted between them. Determination shone in their eyes, the pair wanting to end it immediately. With one more leap from both that would've meant death, gargantuan claws flew from above and pinned the two onto the debris filled ground with loud crashes. Protesting shrieks and defiant roars screamed out from the dust cloud that had risen due to the sudden updraft.

"THAT! IS! ENOUGH!"

While not exactly vocal in real time sound, it still rattled the few remaining windows not shattered by the battle. Vincent actually winced at how loud the words resonated through his sensitive ears. Tifa wasn't affected normally, near complete exhaustion easily dulling her hearing. At the bellow, both smaller dragons immediately snapped their jaws shut, although Reno continued growling lowly.

"YOU TWO WON'T BE GETTING OFF EASILY, SO HOLD STILL."

Cloud emitted a reluctant grumble, twisting his head to look up at the larger one. Making any aggressive moves was out of the questions, considering one's position where the entire body was held down by an enormous talon.

The dark haired gunman narrowed his eyes when something caught his attention from above, some difficulty due to the lack of light and dark scales, even with enhanced sight. Vincent almost swore that there was actually something FLOATING above the enormous creature's back, just behind the wings.

Satisfied that his wayward sons weren't going to cause any more problems, the immense dragon turned his attention toward Vincent and Tifa.

"LOCKHART."

Tired sienna eyes looked up and met a hard amber gaze straight on, not even flinching when he drew his head close. The ex-Turk's sharper ears could hear the scales rustling against each other as well the muscles shifting underneath the armor plating. An inquisitive sniff briefly shifted some of the wet hair for a long moment, then the large snout pulled back to a neutral position.

"WHY DID YOU ATTEMPT SUCH A THING?"

"What else...is there...to live for..." she panted, creating puffs in the chilly air, "...if I didn't...protect those...that are...important...to me?"

Something sounding similar to a plaintive grumble came from Cloud, concern and anger in his eyes.

A smile despite her fatigue. "Stupid...I know...but wouldn't...you have...done the...same thing...for me...and everybody...else?"

Light topaz shifting to sapphire blinked.

"'WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO LIVE FOR IF NOT TO PROTECT THOSE IMPORTANT TO ONESELF...' WISE WORDS TO PONDER AND FOLLOW."

A goldenrod head ducked if he could blush.

"Reno..."

Indian red didn't move but aquamarine still streaked with bright yellow focused on her, ears twitching.

"There was...a red geranium...in Yuffie's...pocket...back...at the...hospital."

A memory trickled in.

/"As much as revenge is tempting, I think it's just plain stupid."

"How so?" Mako turquoise idly watching the outside sudden shower switched sights.

"You go all gung-ho with your trip, hurting those along the way (directly or indirectly), kill the moron, and what's left? Nothing. Nada. Nix. Zip. Zero. Just a nasty taste left on your mouth that won't leave, like that piece of food stuck between your teeth that you just can't get out. Or worse, a freakin' void inside ya."

Lavender looked up from the arrangement of forsythia and kikyo before her, in the gradual process of ikebana. While young, there was a hint of tiredness in those expressive eyes. Spiderwort, plum, and several other blooms sat around on baskets.

"I prefer to think that it's better to live with what I have now and look toward the future. If I went for revenge because of what happened years ago, would I be any different than they were in the past?"

She tucked an iris behind his ear, smiling at his look of bewilderment.

"Flowers and plants each have meanings. These guys are much better in the rain."/

'Yuffie... YuffieYuffieYuffie...'

The cold grip holding his mind was slowly driven away, the screaming and screeching of those he had killed from dropping the Sector 7 plate disappearing. A sense of warmth and peace fluttered into his heart and faintly somewhere, he could hear his mother humming a song he now remembered.

'Mom...'

/"All dreams will end someday but never forget that some dreams melt into becoming a tomorrow."

Her smile shone, kneeling before a church altar filled with budding flowers in which he stared at with fascination. Softly, she began singing a different tune that seem to even brighten up where they were even more./

'Arigatou...'

Sensing that his eldest progeny's turbulent emotions now untroubled, the immense talon lifted away, concrete and whatnot debris drifting down. A soft rumble emitted from the exhausted Turk, Reno closing his eyes as his breathing gradually deepened. The younger offspring was also released, deepening navy hidden by dark gold as both went into a temporary healing sleep.

Setting a dozing Tifa against Cloud's still wedge-shaped head, Vincent listened to the rolling thunder fade into the distance as the rain fell to a light drizzle. Finally breathing a sigh of relief, the quiet gunman tilted his head back and let the water wash over his body. Pyreflies once again appeared, their presences not as ominous as before. It felt cleansing, almost soothing.

Boots crunched asphalt and then stopped.

Crimson turned to the taller man.

"What now?"

Golden-honey now bright, not bearing as much.

"Feel."

Drizzle turned to nothing, the sounds now only that of dripping moisture.

"...and?"

A faint smile.

"...believe."


A/N: If anyone wants to email regarding how Summoning (or using Materia) works here in FF7, go right ahead. So as long they're not childish complaints. Hey, we all have our versions on how they work. I will admit that FF10 has somewhat twisted my brain in regards to the sigils (or, as to quote 8-Bit Theatre: "Summoning circles?"). Yes, I know THAT Bahamut doesn't exist but, as I said, my brain got a bit twisted. Besides, I'm following FF tradition of naming. Speaking of FF, there's another FF10 reference here; see if you can find it.

Square's slightly better anime, Final Fantasy: Unlimited was also of some inspiration. The series? A little odd. The obligatory strange plot, chocobo, victory fanfare, long summoning sequences, memorable summons, and other FF references? All there.

Red geranium reference from Trigun of Madhouse Prod., iris reference from Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal) of Sony and SPE Visual Works.

Reno and Cloud's fight, inspiration from Spinosaurus vs. T-Rex scene of Jurassic Park III.