Chapter Six: Sifting through the wreckage.
"Gawd! Cloud, could ya give me a hand, I'm stuck!" Cloud heard Yuffie yell somewhere to his left as she noticed him. He turned to see her thrashing around, her foot stuck between a few heavy wooden boards. "Yuffie, hold still! You're going to break your ankle if you keep yanking at it like that." Cloud said soothingly, walking over to her. "How did you manage to keep from getting hit?" Yuffie shrugged, wincing slightly as Cloud moved one of the boards, freeing her foot. "Ninja's luck, I guess. Thanks. Need some help finding the others?" Yuffie asked, oddly helpful. Cloud nodded his agreement, and they started off together, looking for any sign of the rest of the party.
"Ow. Ow. Ow. #$! OW!" Reno exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head were something had hit it. He looked at his hand, startled to see blood. It took him a moment to register that there had been an explosion, and that he was probably badly injured. He got to his feet shakily, a sharp pain shooting through his side. Broken ribs. He thought grimly. He looked around, and saw Cloud and Yuffie wandering around, looking through the rubble. It suddenly dawned on him that others had been here too. Rude. Elena. He looked around frantically, but couldn't see any sign of them. "Rude! Elena!" He called. "Over here." He heard a familiar voice respond. Reno looked around, then saw to his relief that Rude was sitting nearby, dusting himself off. Apparently he had come out of it unscathed.
"Where's Elena?" Reno asked. Rude pointed over his shoulder to were Elena lay, still unconscious. It looked like Rude had managed to keep her from getting hurt more badly then she already was. "You look like crap." Rude commented, looking Reno up and down. "Are you alright?" "I'm just peachy, thanks." Reno spat back. "Where are the others? Vincent and Cid?" Rude shrugged. "I can't babysit everyone, you know." He replied. "That won't be nnecessary" Vincent said coldly, stepping into view. Reno jumped, then glared at him. "Do you have to do that? You're going to give me a freakin' heart attack." Vincent just shrugged dismissively, then said "I can't find Cid. Would anyone like to help look for him?" Rude stood up, and after making sure he was unharmed, nodded. "I'll help. I've got nothing better to do. Reno can stay here with Elena." And with that, they tromped off, leaving Reno standing there alone with an unconscious Elena.
"Fine, just leave me here! I don't mind!" He snapped after them, sitting down slowly. He glanced over at Elena, noticing that she looked pale. He felt the slightest twinge of...concern?
Concern? For her? I must be losing my mind. Reno thought, shaking his head. Still, he couldn't help wishing that Tifa would get here soon, so that she could use that restore materia she was so handy with.
"Hey Cloud, the Turks are over there. Vinny's with 'um." Yuffie said, pointing off to her left. Cloud glanced over, then nodded. "Good. Then that means the only people missing now are Tifa, Red, and Cid." "I'm not missing, thank you very much. I'm just resting." Growled Red from his shelter under an overhang of rubble, his flame tipped tail flicking, sizzling slightly as the snow hit it. "...Didn't you hear me calling you?" Cloud asked, bending down to Red's level. "I figured that you'd get out of whatever trouble you were in on your own. You have a knack for that. Besides, I have my own problems..." Red replied, shifting slightly, and Cloud noticed that the fur on his side was soaked with blood, making it an even deeper red.
"What happened? Are you alright?" Cloud asked. Red shrugged (at least as well as he could, since it was a motion better suited for humans and not...whatever his species was). "I'm not sure what happened. I guess I must've gotten hit by the stuff flying through the air. And yes, I'm fine for now. In fact, I may be able to help you find the others..." With a groan, he stood up and started to sniff around. "...Are you absolutely sure that you should be walking around?" Cloud asked. "Well, if I don't help, then it will take forever to find everyone, and I could bleed to death in that amount of time. I don't think I have much of a choice...ah! I've got Tifa's scent!" He suddenly started bounding off, despite his wounds.
"Here." He said, inclining his head at a pile of wreckage in front of them. "I can hear her breathing, so she isn't dead." Cloud and Yuffie immediately started to dig at the rubble, and soon they had cleared away enough off of the top so that there was a hole large enough for Tifa to come out through. Apparently the rubble had fallen around her, rather then on top of her, for which she was very fortunate. "Tifa! Are you okay?" Cloud called. There was a pause then "...Yeah, I think I am. Look out, I'm coming up..." and with that, she leaped out of the hole, landing gracefully on the ground.
"Thanks you guys." She said, looking at them each gratefully, her eyes lingering on Cloud. Cloud shuffled uncomfortably. "It was nothing..." He muttered. She smiled at him, then grabbed him and kissed him on the cheek before quickly turning away and muttering about tending to Nanaki's side. Cloud stood there, stunned and blinking. "Hehe...I was wondering how long it would take. A regular couple of love birds you two are." Yuffie giggled, nudging Cloud with an elbow. "I don't know what you're talking about. I...I don't like Tifa, not as more then a friend..." Cloud said, trailing off and looking over at Tifa as she healed Red's wound.
No, you don't like Tifa. She lied to you, and used you for her own purposes...
Cloud shook his head and looked back at Yuffie. "...What was I in the middle of doing?" He asked confusedly. "...You were just standing there. Maybe...we should see if anyone else neneedsifa's help, or if the others have found Cid yet." Yuffie said carefully, giving him a funny look. Cloud nodded, not really paying attention. "Yes. Good idea." He replied absently.
Elena opened her eyes groggily, shivering with the cold. It seemed like everything was fuzzy, then she realized it was because of the snow that was falling all around. She tried to sit up, then rolled over and lost her lunch. "Good morning, sunshine." Reno said sarcastically from where he was sitting nearby, his eyes closed. Elena wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand, then shuddered. "W-what happened?" She asked, still shaking. "You tried to do something extremely stupid. It's lucky you aren't a bloody smear on the floor right now." Reno replied. Elena shot him a glare and eased herself up into a sitting position, wincing and clutching her stomach.
"Yeah, well...at least I tried." Elena said finally. "If that's your definition of trying, then you should quit while your ahead." Reno replied cocoollyElena snorted and didn't reply. "...How are you feeling?" Reno asked, opening an eye and glancing at her. "What should you care?" She snapped back. She ignored him as he opened both eyes and continued to look at her. "You're shivering pretty bad." He pointed out. Elena frowned and didn't reply. Reno shrugged off his jacket and tossed it at her with a sigh. She caught it and looked at him curiously. "You're no good to me sick as well as injured. You can just wear that until Tifa gets her slow ass over here." Reno said, leaning back against some rubble and closing his eyes again.
"...But I'm already wearing a jacket." She said, pointing towards her blue Turk uniform. Reno shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to put it on. With the way you're shaking, you'd think that we were in the middle of the Arctic tundra." Elena slowly put on the jacket, which was much too large for her. "What about you? Aren't you cold?" She asked. Reno shrugged again. "Not enough to bother me." He replied shortly. Elena glanced at him, then leaned back, drawing the jacket close around her to stop the shaking. "...Thanks Reno." She said, genuine gratitude creeping into her voice. Reno opened his eyes and glanced at her, smiling wryly. "Hey, does this mean that you owe me a favor?" He started to inch a little closer, until she shot him a withering glare. "If you even so much as think about touching me, I'll rip your arms out of their sockets." She growled.
"Damn." Reno muttered, scooting back over to his previous spot.
"#$! My $!&# leg!" Cid exclaimed as Vincent and Rude pulled him out of the wreckage. He continued to curse and lit a cigcigaretteth shaking hands. "Are you hurt badly?" Vincent asked. "...I dunno." Cid replied with a shrug, taking a long drag off of his cigarette and flicking it aside. "Is everyone else okay?" He asked. "I'm not sure." Vincent said, his eyes sweeping around as he would suddenly find the answer somewhere near by. Rude stood there uncomfortably, not knowing whether he should leave them now that Cid had been found or not. He didn't really feel like he should be there, not being particularly close to Vincent or Cid.
"Where the hell is my spear?" Cid barked suddenly, looking around frantically. He relaxed when he saw the top half of it sticking out of a pile of rubble nearby. A few more minutes of uncomfortable silence followed, then Cid growled "I wish Tifa would hurry the #$ up. I wanna get out of here."
"Barret!" Tifa exclaimed, dashing over to him concernedly. "You're...stuck under a chunk of ceiling..." "Well, yer feelin' real perceptive right now, aren't ya?" Barret growled, not unkindly. "Red, do you think you could help me move this?" Cloud asked. Red's tail flicked, and he stared at the piece of wreckage a moment before nodding. "I should be able to." And with that he padded over to one end of it, waiting patiently for Cloud, who hurried over, grabbing onto it. "Ready?" Red asked. Cloud nodded, and they both pulled (or in the case of Red, pushed) the chunk of ceiling, and Barret was soon free. Tifa immediately set to work with her restore materia, and it wasn't long before Barret stood up and said "Well? Where are the others?" Yuffie shrugged. "Why don't we go see?" She suggested, already bounding off.
"Hey Reno, is that you?" Yuffie called, skidding to a halt and nearly falling off of the pile of rubble she was perched on as a rock slipped out from under her foot. The snow had started to come down more thickly, making it hard to see four feet in front of your face. Yuffie and Tifa were the worst off, since they were wearing the least. Cloud hoped it didn't take long to gather everyone up, heal them, and high-tail it out of there before someone got curious enough to come and see what all the commotion had been about.
"Is that that annoying girl? Yuffie?" Reno called, deliberately trying to provoke her. "Of course it's Reno, dumb ass. Took you all long enough to get here." Yuffie muttered something inaudibleand and Tifa brushed past her, going to see if anyone needed her restore materia. Cloud noticed she seemed to be getting tired. I'd be tired too, if I were running around healing everyone... He thought.
It didn't take long to find Cid, Vincent, and Rude once Elena and Reno were healed up. Tifa tended to Cid's leg, then they all retreated as fast as they could to the Highwind, just as some curious Icicle Inn residents were starting to work up the courage to investigate the explosion.
That was definitely not the reaction that the scientist had anticipated. He moaned in pain, having been tossed back agains the wall, beaten and broken by various pieces of debris that had flown through the air. Now his knee was the least of his problems.
He heard footsteps clicking on the hard wood floor. "...What happened here, Gordon?" A man asked sharply. Gordon slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the man, first in confusion, then in overwhelming relief. "Oh sir, you have no idea how good it is to see you!" He choked out, coughing up blood. "I was afraid I was going to die here..." "Gordon. Focus." The man snapped, and Gordon nodded. "Yes, of course. A group of people barged in here, asked some questions I couldn't--wouldn't--answer, then shot me and went downstairs. I knew they'd come across the library, so I let loose the security robots you designed, sir. But something went wrong, and everything..." He stopped, breaking into a coughing fit once more.
"...Everything was lost." The man finished. Gordon nodded through his coughing. "Please sir, could you help me...?" He implored. The man didn't seem to hear him. "All my research, gone? Just like that? An entire month of my life's work, the work of everyone on the staff, thrown away because of your stupid mistake?" "S-sorry, sir, I truly am..." Gordon started, but then the man leaned down and stared him in the eye, cutting him off. "It's too late for sorry, Gordon. You see, I'm not a patient man. It's going to take me hours to get all of the back-up information from the Shinra Mansion, which is now being watched closely by the residents. That makes me unhappy."
Before Gordon had the chance to apologize further, the man reached into his coat and pulled out a gun, shooting the unfortunate scientist between the eyes. He slumped forward, and the man caught him before he hit the ground. "Hmm. It will be interesting to test what happens when Jenova cells are exposed to dead tissue." The man whispered, slipping the gun back into his coat and tossing Gordon's body over his shoulder with surprising strength. He then shuffled out of the ruined shell of the house with a distinctive haunch.
"Oh man, I need to start dressing for cold weather when we come here!" Tifa exclaimed, shivering as the door of the Highwind slid shut with a metallic clang. "It's your own fault. You and Yuffie are the only women I know who would go off on an adventure through snow and ice in short shorts, skirts, tops, and tennis shoes." Reno said from his vantage point on the couch. He looked them up and down, then smiled wolfishly. "Not that I'm complaining..." Tifa shot him a glare that quickly shut him up.
"Well that didn't go as well as planned." Vincent stated. "No shit Sherlock." Cid spat, chewing on a cicigarette absently. "Where are we going to go now?" Red asked, laying down on the floor. "Maybe we should--" Cloud began, the suddenly stopped as he was hit with a bout of dizziness and nearly fell over into the wall. "Cloud! Are you alright?" Tifa called out predictably. Cloud didn't answer. It was as if his limbs were frozen in place by the excruciating pain coursing through his body. He hoped he would pass out, but of course he didn't. As suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, and Cloud doubled over, coughing.
Tifa was by his side in a flash, holding him up as he shook. When the coughs finally subsided he straightened up, a light mist of blood on the floor. "Are you okay?" Tifa repeated for what must have been the fifth time, and Cloud nodded slowly. "I think...I need to lie down..." He said, stumbling off to the lounge. Tifa hung back and immediately turned to Vincent, who seemed to have all the answers. Vincent returned her look coolly, then his crimson eyes scanned the room, quickly noting that everyone else was also looking at him. He let out the smallest of sighs, then said slowly: "It should be obvious what it is by now. The Jenova cells are becoming more active, which would of course be horrible for him because he originally rejected them. Now they are forcefully trying to join with his genetic structure, which should be horrifically painful."
The room was deathly silent. "That's what I like about you Vinny, ya don't beat around the bush." Yuffie chirped, anxious to break the silence. Tifa stood there, dumbstruck, then quickly dashed out of the room after Cloud. Barret said nothing, sitting down and looking at the floor, apparently in deep thought, tapping his foot slightly.
The Emerald Weapon was the first to reach the shores of the Northern Continent. It stayed in the water a moment, contemplating the land before it, then slowly lumbered out of the water with newly grown legs. It moved much slower on these four legs then it had swimming, but that didn't seem to bother it too much. It plodded on, careful not to stop on more trees and plant life then was possible.
The Ruby Weapon looked at the water distastefully. It dipped a claw into the water experimentally, quickly pulling it back. It stood there for a few more minutes, then, with an aura of great annoyance, lowered it's self into the water and began to paddle.