Disclaimer: same old story, trademarks are trademarked.

Yikes, looks like I'm doing a little of a cliff-hanger on these chaps:-P Please R&R-I really like to hear feedback to know if I'm doing this right!

Chap. 4

The Defender was back, this time with its dog-headed shield spewing a line of flame fifteen feet long. Cloud had just enough time to brace, pivoting a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and rotating the Buster sword to protect himself. The sheer width of its massive blade split the column of Fire into a y-shape, dividing the flame enough to save him from the blunt of its force.

A sound like a freight train tore Cloud's attention from the Defender to a presence behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he froze as a massive javelin of bright blue light shot towards him so swiftly that he had no time to dodge. Bracing still against the dog-shield's flames, he waited for the energy wave to consume him--

--and was surprised as the jet of blue power passed through him, some specter of another realm, there and yet not there, crashing and rending Heartless left and right whilst leaving everything else unscathed. Straining to see through the blindingly bright light, it took Cloud a moment to notice that the stream of fire had ceased. Facing front again, he couldn't suppress an open-mouthed air of shock. The Defender, in all its power, was stumbling backwards away from him, a hole large enough for a man to crawl through missing from the center of its chest. It lasted another moment before it exploded in a veil of purple mist. The rest of the battlefield echoed with the sound of shadows disintegrating in the radiating power of the shockwave.

Cloud turned as the last traces of the blue faded, its final tremors rolling over the barren, broken concrete, now completely devoid of Heartless. There were more clambering up the precipice from below, he could hear them, but for the moment the coast--and the route to the platform--was clear. Cloud broke into a sprint to the figure that, having only risen in the indulgence of his attack, was falling.

He caught Squall before he hit the pavement, wrapping an arm around his waist and getting a firm handhold on one of his belts. The loud clanging of metal on stone echoed as the Lionheart slid from the youth's blood-slick gloves, though the sound was overshadowed by a louder droning from the sky above.

"What do you call that one?" Cloud asked as he draped Squall's left arm over his own shoulder. He had to keep him talking, keep him awake until he could be healed.

"Blasting Zone," he replied, eyes clenched shut. Remembering the Defender, he added, "seems appropriate." The blonde nodded agreement as he half guided, half carried his counterpart towards the waiting platform nearby. Aerith hopped down to meet the two of them but Yuffie was again frozen in place, this time staring skyward.

"We can't let him fall asleep," Cloud told the girl as she freed him from Squall's near-dead weight. The platform was resting on the ground, though climbing onto its flat zenith required a four-foot step up. Shifting to his left side, Aerith nodded her understanding and began laboring to get Squall onto the floating dais, sitting on its edge and hauling him up after her.

"A little help would be greatly appreciated here, Yuffie," she muttered, panting.

"Like…what is that?" the ninja questioned, shielding her eyes from the glaring sunlight as she stared. The droning noise had again gotten louder and a dot of color that grew larger every second became visible against the grayish white of the sky.

"Up," Cloud said simply, and Aerith caught the small smile in his voice. "While I was checking out the back of the castle," he explained, "I climbed up the large stairs in the back to see if we could enter through the upper floors. They were sealed, just like the lower ones, but then I caught sight of that."

"And what is 'that?'" Yuffie demanded.

"An airship."

"What!" the two girls shared cries of surprise; Squall's eyes snapped open.

"I tried to flag it down, get the pilot's attention, but the plane was already headed this way. All that remained then was to get back to the rest of you."

"Which you did, just in time," Aerith said quietly. Cloud nodded.

"How do we know this airship is friendly? Its crew, I mean?" Yuffie wanted to know.

"They can't be much more hostile than what we're dealing with down here." Squall was hauling himself to his knees, still clutching his right side as the crimson stain from his shoulder and side expanded down onto his jeans. His face had paled considerably, his breathing shortened, and violently dark circles were fanning out underneath his storm gray eyes. Aerith hastened to help him up, unable to suppress a pang of worry. "Are you sure he sees us?"

"I'm sure," Cloud assured him. Sure enough, the dot above them had grown considerably in its descent, taking on a form that was visibly that of an aircraft. The droning noise was that of the craft's engines. "You'll have to use a Stop spell to steady it since there isn't room for it to land. When the platform rises I think we'll just have to jump to it."

"I hope he brings it down fast," Yuffie mumbled, clutching her four-bladed weapon to her chest and watching the side of the precipice. "The Heartless are on their way back." The grating and clawing noises were competing with the sounds of the rising wind and the motor of the lowering aircraft; the shadows were not far from making their return.

A side thought occurred to Cloud and he spun, running back across the battlefield. Aerith called after him, not understanding. Yuffie could read the writing--Highwind--on the side of the huge airship and knew that it was nearly time for them to go. Suddenly, though, a set of screeching cries tore through the air, louder even than the rising Heartless or the aircraft. From around the back of the castle a flock of maroon-colored birds banked hard, roaring and crying all the while.

They were far from birds, though. Their lower legs were stocky and powerful and their only upper limbs were their wide, leathery wings. Teeth sprouted from their jaws, four inch daggers of teeth, and a deformed heart was inscribed on their chests.

"Wyverns!" Yuffie cried out, though the warning was pointless. The creatures were heading on a direct crash course with the descending airship, diving at it as half of the group spiraled into a death-roll motion. The airship was not completely vulnerable, though: it opened fire on the things, two guns each on its aft and fore rotating back to fire off a barrage of bullets. Occasionally, a line of brilliant flame that could only be Firaga would shoot from an open side panel on the ship, incinerating a few of the wyverns in an explosion of crimson smoke. The craft had ceased to descend and was hovering about forty-five feet above the platform. The ingress on the side of the airship slid open and a tall, muscular blonde man appeared, staring down at the four.

"I can't come any lower--you gotta come up!" he called, and that was all. The sliding door remained open but he vanished back inside. Back on the platform Aerith, who'd been staring upward, realized that they had to move, and now.

"Cloud!"

"I'm coming!" he called back, and she saw why he'd raced off: his own sword was still in his right hand, though now the Lionheart rested in his left. He picked up a run back towards the dais pausing, only for a second, to hook Squall's jacket on the edge of his blade.

"Hurry!" Shadows had begun to make it over the edge of the cliff and were sauntering towards the three youths in their twisted, jerky manner. As though in answer to this the platform gave a small lurch and began to rise. Cloud picked up speed, but he was still halfway across the battlefield.

To be continued…shortly…if people review! Your opinions matter!