Hey ya'll! This is the second incarnation of my fic "All That You Can't
Leave Behind". I've gone back and totally revamped, rewired, and overall
improved both the fic technically (grammar, syntax, ect.) and in terms of
plot. So I hope you enjoy the first part of the Burns like Ice series.
Please review! Thoughts, comments, and ego-stroking are all appreciated.
^_^ Basic disclaimers: None of the boys and girls from FF 7 belong to me
(even though I'd totally like to own Sephy ;-)) The song Honnou was written
and performed by Shiina Ringo. (Shameless plug-Abso-fuckin'-lutely
brilliant song and songstress, I suggest downloading her or buy her CDs)
Instinct: Chapter One
Honnou (Instinct) Ringo Shiina
I don't need promises/
I hate things like that, which won't end./
I want to be linked always/
Longing for a window upon which morning never comes./
Why have words come about throughout history ? /
Sun, Oxygen, Sea, Wind... shouldn't these be enough already ? /
We each face loneliness /
No one can find any fault with wounds we licked properly clean /
unravel the strings, faking life. /
forgive my flightiness,/
don't think its too late, just rush me. /
go in deeper now, make me climax./
the light of the moon/
that seems like it wants to say none of it matters/
Inferiority Complex, Categorize.... Let's try and forget all that. /
In the end I'll be alone anyway,/
It's good to know this empty reality will be forced to a conclusion./
I love that sharp gaze. /
The sunset cast a blood red shadow upon the adamantaimai. It threw back its large beaked head and its battle cry resounded over the surf. It charged towards the fighters at a surprising speed for its prodigious body, raking long claw marks into the sand with each step.
Two fighters stood poised for attack: a young ninja girl holding a cruel looking 4 pointed steel shrunken; and a ferocious red beast with a pointed ornament in his mane and a flamed-tipped tail lashing dangerously behind him. They stood unflinching in their stances as the roar overpowered even the sound of the waves crashing on the sand. It finally closed in and the battle began.
The girl struck first, casting the shrunken at the adamantaimai's back and doing very little damage on its hard shell. "Dammit!" she shouted in her frustration, then jumped back to determine another method of attack. Her partner dashed forward and slashed the great turtle's soft underbelly with his ornament. The adamantaimai howled in agony as the tear in its flesh ripped under the weight of his own organs and began to gush blood into the sand.
The beast howled triumphantly as he darted from under the monster. His amber eyes shined from the high of adrenaline, and the plume on his tail blazed. He gave the ninja a feral grin that said 'Beat That'. And with that, the girl summoned Bahamut ZERO.
The great dragon hurtled down through the clouds from the cosmos, and shot a ray of superheated plasma onto the beast, devastating the overgrown turtle even further. The girl staggered back and collapsed on the sand, her head swimming with sudden vertigo. She desperately tried to recollect herself, finding that the sensation just grew worse every time she tried to scramble to her feet.
The adamantaimai summoned its last vestige of strength and charged the weaken girl, its exposed entrails creating a grisly trail in the sand. It raised its claw over the girl for a final critical blow and suddenly, a blur of red fur leaped in front of the fatal down stroke. The lithe form absorbed the hit and was flung into ground, rolling brokenly past the fallen girl. The monster screeched one more defiant bellow to its conquerers before falling to the ground dead, spilling dark Mako infused blood on the sand.
A feeling of scorching heat passed painfully under the girl's skin. She clawed at her skin and fought the urge to cry out as the agony became too intense to bear. The sensation pulled at her, dragging her in its fiery net to somewhere else. A desperate cry escaped her mouth when she realized she was surrounded.
The ten shrouded figures chanted over her. Their were no words, only a long rhythmic mumbling that made the girl's body hurt with every syllable. She rushed at one and struck out at it, "Lemme go!" she growled. Her captors stopped their chant, one stepped closer to her and she crouched ready to spring. "Return. It is done," its voice was familiar, but the pain drove all other thought from her mind. Her muscles coiled, she sprang with her claws outstretched, and landed on the sand.
She knelt on her hands and knees in the sand; her heart pounded in her chest so hard she could hear it in her ears. The pain was gone, and with a few ragged breaths her head began to clear. Then she remembered the last thing she saw before she disappeared: her companions body being smashed into the dirt .
"Nanaki! Nanaki!" she cried as she clamored to his side. Red XIII's side rose and fell shallowly, one of his feet was turned unnaturally under his body, a bone protruded painfully under his flesh looking suspiciously like a broken rib, and a thin line of blood trickled from his nose. "Oh great," she mumbled to herself. "If you die on me Nanaki I'll kill you, I swear." She rested her palms lightly on his fur and casted Cure 3.
Yuffie watched as his foot untwisted itself, and heard the bone from the broken rib make a rather sickening popping sound as it went back into its proper place. She sighed her relief and wondered what she would have done if his injuries had actually been fatal. She never brought her Life materia or Phoenix Down for these overnight trips, despite the amount of times he had warned her to. She had figured that she and Red XIII were too strong to really need them. She wouldn't make that same mistake in the future.
Yuffie sat in the sand next to Red XIII's body and waited for the Cure 3 to finish its work. They were going to have to rest here tonight: they had spent the entire day killing monsters and the combination of fatigue and injuries would slow their hike back to the town to a crawl. That, and she knew she had about 24 more hours until she was actually free and clear from the Henkan Ceremony. Even though a sneaking suspicion told her that she might not have missed it, anyway. "That friggin', sneaky, good-for-nothin' old man and his lackeys did it anyway. Goddamnit!" she cursed aloud. She sighed her frustration and brushed her hands off on her shorts out of habit before deciding how to move Red XIII's body to their overnight spot.
The cave they usually used was maybe 60 yards from the beach. It was far enough from the waves to stay dry during high tide, and was one of the few that only had a front entrance making it easy to defend. Yuffie dragged the bedroll she had moved Red XIII body on to the side of the cave he usually claimed as his. As she saw him lay there she was struck with a strange urge to touch his fur. Despite the scars that were raked across his body in some places it still looked like it would feel soft and warm. Even after living and working together for almost two years he still got mad whenever she asked. She remember of one particularly memorable occasion when he had demanded, "You would never ask to pet any of your other friends would you?"
"I might if they any of them could keep their coats as pretty and glossy as you do," she had answered.
She made up her mind that it probably wasn't worth it, and exhaustedly trudged back out to gather driftwood for their fire.
~~~~~~*~~~~~~~
Yuffie stirred her instant noodle cup thoughtfully with her chopsticks. She was thankful that she had had a couple of packs in her bag, the idea of hunting for dinner was just a bit too primitive for her. She shivered as another night breeze cooled her wet skin. Using the Water materia was a creative way to get fresh water, but by no means an exact science. Even the weakest Water spell produced enough of the stuff to drench the noodles and all of Yuffie's clothes as well. She made a mental note to bring an extra change of clothes on their next trip along with Phoenix Downs.
"Nice job with the guard duty."
"Yeah, yeah. How are you doing?" Yuffie said. Red XIII slowly laid down in the sand next to her, his usual feline grace was missing in his movements, and now seemed painfully stiff. "Nothing more than the usual healing soreness," he admitted.
She nodded, "That's good," then punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder.
"Ouch! Yuffie?!" he said rubbing his shoulder with his paw, "What the hell was that for?!"
"I don't know what you were thinking! Jumping in front of me like that you, you big stupid head!" she stormed. "Stupid...head?"
"Did you honestly think that I was that weak, that some TURTLE could take me out? I would have been okay without you playin' Mr. Big Hero."
"So...are there anymore noodles left, or did you eat them all again?" he asked. Yuffie could feel her face turning red, "Aren't you listening to me at all?"
"Sure," his shoulders raised in his leonine version of a shrug. "You could barely stand back there, I wasn't going to stand idly by while you got smeared all over the sand by a turtle. So there really isn't anything to discuss except where the rest of the noodles are."
She leaned over and handed him the second bowl of noodles she had made. " It always amazes me how quickly you mess up my tantrums," she mumbled.
He flashed his teeth in a quick grin, "If not me, who? If not now, when? If not-"
"Enough, I get it, I get it," she pleaded.
"Aww, and I had two more to go."
"Please eat before I cast Silence on you," she said, her tone making the threat a promise. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and started to eat his ramen.
Yuffie looked up to see a night sky that was bright with stars. She never paid much attention to little things like that, too many other things to do. There was always a monster to slay, a narrow escape to be made, materia to steal... Life was good. But to this day she still didn't understand how she ended up with Red XIII of all people after AVALANCHE finally broke up. He had asked to return with her, she said yes, and that was it. Though she did wish she had asked for an explanation, it would probably be awkward to do it now after almost two years.
She finished off the rest of her noodles, and then brushed the sand of her shorts as she stood. "Will you be okay alone? I'm gettin' kinda tired and wanna head back to the cave."
He nodded, "Yeah, the soreness is almost gone and I didn't unequip."
"Alright," she started to walk back, then hesitated. She knelt in the sand next to Red XIII, he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "What are you...?" He trailed off as she leaned over and kissed him below the scar where his right eye would have been. "Thank you for what you did, Nanaki."
He seemed to be at a loss for words, true she had never done anything like that before. But to see Red XIII's usual oh- so- cool exterior so quickly melted around his paws was priceless.
"What was that for?" he asked dumbly.
She pushed herself to her feet, "It's my plan to domesticate you; first a kiss, then I'll start scratching you behind the ears, and finally I will have you sleeping at the foot of my bed." She said with a sadistic smirk
. "Like hell you will!" he growled with mock-ferocity. Then they both started laughing. Yuffie had joked about "domesticating" him since he moved in with her. A few of the older villagers who hadn't known who he was had been concerned about Yuffie keeping a wild animal at her house. She had always answered, "Well I'm going to train him, duh". It had infuriated Red XIII to no end, but eventually it came to become one of their favorite inside jokes. Or at least Yuffie's.
"Alright no chew toys for you."
"Yuffie, you're pushing it."
"Sorry." She said and finally started for the cave.
~~~~*~~~~~
As Yuffie unrolled her cactaur knapsack she began to wonder if kissing Red XIII was a good idea. It had been chaste, a kiss between friends. To have someone who cared enough about her to die for her was something she had never had before, it meant a lot to her. Shouldn't she be able to show it?
She had been alone for as long as she could remember: her mother had left a long time ago, and her dad was always drunk after the war ended. She had had her, that's it. But that hadn't been true for almost three years now, she just kinda forgot that every now and again.
Red XIII wandered into the cave. She couldn't tell in the darkness if his limp had disappeared completely yet or not. "Yuffie?" he called to her.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever had... feelings for me?" he asked embarrassedly.
"Is this about that kiss, ''Naki? 'Cause if it is you're really gettin' the wrong idea. I'd kiss my brother like that (if I had one), my friends, my dad (if I did kiss that old dirt bag). It was totally platoonic," she explained quickly.
"Platonic," he corrected.
"That's what I said."
"No you said...Well, don't worry about it. You answered my question, thank you."
Yuffie wondered if he had actually thought that he would get another answer. She cared about him, and maybe if he was an actual person, maybe. But that was not happening, so why think about it? She bet he would be hot too.
Instinct: Chapter One
Honnou (Instinct) Ringo Shiina
I don't need promises/
I hate things like that, which won't end./
I want to be linked always/
Longing for a window upon which morning never comes./
Why have words come about throughout history ? /
Sun, Oxygen, Sea, Wind... shouldn't these be enough already ? /
We each face loneliness /
No one can find any fault with wounds we licked properly clean /
unravel the strings, faking life. /
forgive my flightiness,/
don't think its too late, just rush me. /
go in deeper now, make me climax./
the light of the moon/
that seems like it wants to say none of it matters/
Inferiority Complex, Categorize.... Let's try and forget all that. /
In the end I'll be alone anyway,/
It's good to know this empty reality will be forced to a conclusion./
I love that sharp gaze. /
The sunset cast a blood red shadow upon the adamantaimai. It threw back its large beaked head and its battle cry resounded over the surf. It charged towards the fighters at a surprising speed for its prodigious body, raking long claw marks into the sand with each step.
Two fighters stood poised for attack: a young ninja girl holding a cruel looking 4 pointed steel shrunken; and a ferocious red beast with a pointed ornament in his mane and a flamed-tipped tail lashing dangerously behind him. They stood unflinching in their stances as the roar overpowered even the sound of the waves crashing on the sand. It finally closed in and the battle began.
The girl struck first, casting the shrunken at the adamantaimai's back and doing very little damage on its hard shell. "Dammit!" she shouted in her frustration, then jumped back to determine another method of attack. Her partner dashed forward and slashed the great turtle's soft underbelly with his ornament. The adamantaimai howled in agony as the tear in its flesh ripped under the weight of his own organs and began to gush blood into the sand.
The beast howled triumphantly as he darted from under the monster. His amber eyes shined from the high of adrenaline, and the plume on his tail blazed. He gave the ninja a feral grin that said 'Beat That'. And with that, the girl summoned Bahamut ZERO.
The great dragon hurtled down through the clouds from the cosmos, and shot a ray of superheated plasma onto the beast, devastating the overgrown turtle even further. The girl staggered back and collapsed on the sand, her head swimming with sudden vertigo. She desperately tried to recollect herself, finding that the sensation just grew worse every time she tried to scramble to her feet.
The adamantaimai summoned its last vestige of strength and charged the weaken girl, its exposed entrails creating a grisly trail in the sand. It raised its claw over the girl for a final critical blow and suddenly, a blur of red fur leaped in front of the fatal down stroke. The lithe form absorbed the hit and was flung into ground, rolling brokenly past the fallen girl. The monster screeched one more defiant bellow to its conquerers before falling to the ground dead, spilling dark Mako infused blood on the sand.
A feeling of scorching heat passed painfully under the girl's skin. She clawed at her skin and fought the urge to cry out as the agony became too intense to bear. The sensation pulled at her, dragging her in its fiery net to somewhere else. A desperate cry escaped her mouth when she realized she was surrounded.
The ten shrouded figures chanted over her. Their were no words, only a long rhythmic mumbling that made the girl's body hurt with every syllable. She rushed at one and struck out at it, "Lemme go!" she growled. Her captors stopped their chant, one stepped closer to her and she crouched ready to spring. "Return. It is done," its voice was familiar, but the pain drove all other thought from her mind. Her muscles coiled, she sprang with her claws outstretched, and landed on the sand.
She knelt on her hands and knees in the sand; her heart pounded in her chest so hard she could hear it in her ears. The pain was gone, and with a few ragged breaths her head began to clear. Then she remembered the last thing she saw before she disappeared: her companions body being smashed into the dirt .
"Nanaki! Nanaki!" she cried as she clamored to his side. Red XIII's side rose and fell shallowly, one of his feet was turned unnaturally under his body, a bone protruded painfully under his flesh looking suspiciously like a broken rib, and a thin line of blood trickled from his nose. "Oh great," she mumbled to herself. "If you die on me Nanaki I'll kill you, I swear." She rested her palms lightly on his fur and casted Cure 3.
Yuffie watched as his foot untwisted itself, and heard the bone from the broken rib make a rather sickening popping sound as it went back into its proper place. She sighed her relief and wondered what she would have done if his injuries had actually been fatal. She never brought her Life materia or Phoenix Down for these overnight trips, despite the amount of times he had warned her to. She had figured that she and Red XIII were too strong to really need them. She wouldn't make that same mistake in the future.
Yuffie sat in the sand next to Red XIII's body and waited for the Cure 3 to finish its work. They were going to have to rest here tonight: they had spent the entire day killing monsters and the combination of fatigue and injuries would slow their hike back to the town to a crawl. That, and she knew she had about 24 more hours until she was actually free and clear from the Henkan Ceremony. Even though a sneaking suspicion told her that she might not have missed it, anyway. "That friggin', sneaky, good-for-nothin' old man and his lackeys did it anyway. Goddamnit!" she cursed aloud. She sighed her frustration and brushed her hands off on her shorts out of habit before deciding how to move Red XIII's body to their overnight spot.
The cave they usually used was maybe 60 yards from the beach. It was far enough from the waves to stay dry during high tide, and was one of the few that only had a front entrance making it easy to defend. Yuffie dragged the bedroll she had moved Red XIII body on to the side of the cave he usually claimed as his. As she saw him lay there she was struck with a strange urge to touch his fur. Despite the scars that were raked across his body in some places it still looked like it would feel soft and warm. Even after living and working together for almost two years he still got mad whenever she asked. She remember of one particularly memorable occasion when he had demanded, "You would never ask to pet any of your other friends would you?"
"I might if they any of them could keep their coats as pretty and glossy as you do," she had answered.
She made up her mind that it probably wasn't worth it, and exhaustedly trudged back out to gather driftwood for their fire.
~~~~~~*~~~~~~~
Yuffie stirred her instant noodle cup thoughtfully with her chopsticks. She was thankful that she had had a couple of packs in her bag, the idea of hunting for dinner was just a bit too primitive for her. She shivered as another night breeze cooled her wet skin. Using the Water materia was a creative way to get fresh water, but by no means an exact science. Even the weakest Water spell produced enough of the stuff to drench the noodles and all of Yuffie's clothes as well. She made a mental note to bring an extra change of clothes on their next trip along with Phoenix Downs.
"Nice job with the guard duty."
"Yeah, yeah. How are you doing?" Yuffie said. Red XIII slowly laid down in the sand next to her, his usual feline grace was missing in his movements, and now seemed painfully stiff. "Nothing more than the usual healing soreness," he admitted.
She nodded, "That's good," then punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder.
"Ouch! Yuffie?!" he said rubbing his shoulder with his paw, "What the hell was that for?!"
"I don't know what you were thinking! Jumping in front of me like that you, you big stupid head!" she stormed. "Stupid...head?"
"Did you honestly think that I was that weak, that some TURTLE could take me out? I would have been okay without you playin' Mr. Big Hero."
"So...are there anymore noodles left, or did you eat them all again?" he asked. Yuffie could feel her face turning red, "Aren't you listening to me at all?"
"Sure," his shoulders raised in his leonine version of a shrug. "You could barely stand back there, I wasn't going to stand idly by while you got smeared all over the sand by a turtle. So there really isn't anything to discuss except where the rest of the noodles are."
She leaned over and handed him the second bowl of noodles she had made. " It always amazes me how quickly you mess up my tantrums," she mumbled.
He flashed his teeth in a quick grin, "If not me, who? If not now, when? If not-"
"Enough, I get it, I get it," she pleaded.
"Aww, and I had two more to go."
"Please eat before I cast Silence on you," she said, her tone making the threat a promise. He opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it and started to eat his ramen.
Yuffie looked up to see a night sky that was bright with stars. She never paid much attention to little things like that, too many other things to do. There was always a monster to slay, a narrow escape to be made, materia to steal... Life was good. But to this day she still didn't understand how she ended up with Red XIII of all people after AVALANCHE finally broke up. He had asked to return with her, she said yes, and that was it. Though she did wish she had asked for an explanation, it would probably be awkward to do it now after almost two years.
She finished off the rest of her noodles, and then brushed the sand of her shorts as she stood. "Will you be okay alone? I'm gettin' kinda tired and wanna head back to the cave."
He nodded, "Yeah, the soreness is almost gone and I didn't unequip."
"Alright," she started to walk back, then hesitated. She knelt in the sand next to Red XIII, he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face. "What are you...?" He trailed off as she leaned over and kissed him below the scar where his right eye would have been. "Thank you for what you did, Nanaki."
He seemed to be at a loss for words, true she had never done anything like that before. But to see Red XIII's usual oh- so- cool exterior so quickly melted around his paws was priceless.
"What was that for?" he asked dumbly.
She pushed herself to her feet, "It's my plan to domesticate you; first a kiss, then I'll start scratching you behind the ears, and finally I will have you sleeping at the foot of my bed." She said with a sadistic smirk
. "Like hell you will!" he growled with mock-ferocity. Then they both started laughing. Yuffie had joked about "domesticating" him since he moved in with her. A few of the older villagers who hadn't known who he was had been concerned about Yuffie keeping a wild animal at her house. She had always answered, "Well I'm going to train him, duh". It had infuriated Red XIII to no end, but eventually it came to become one of their favorite inside jokes. Or at least Yuffie's.
"Alright no chew toys for you."
"Yuffie, you're pushing it."
"Sorry." She said and finally started for the cave.
~~~~*~~~~~
As Yuffie unrolled her cactaur knapsack she began to wonder if kissing Red XIII was a good idea. It had been chaste, a kiss between friends. To have someone who cared enough about her to die for her was something she had never had before, it meant a lot to her. Shouldn't she be able to show it?
She had been alone for as long as she could remember: her mother had left a long time ago, and her dad was always drunk after the war ended. She had had her, that's it. But that hadn't been true for almost three years now, she just kinda forgot that every now and again.
Red XIII wandered into the cave. She couldn't tell in the darkness if his limp had disappeared completely yet or not. "Yuffie?" he called to her.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever had... feelings for me?" he asked embarrassedly.
"Is this about that kiss, ''Naki? 'Cause if it is you're really gettin' the wrong idea. I'd kiss my brother like that (if I had one), my friends, my dad (if I did kiss that old dirt bag). It was totally platoonic," she explained quickly.
"Platonic," he corrected.
"That's what I said."
"No you said...Well, don't worry about it. You answered my question, thank you."
Yuffie wondered if he had actually thought that he would get another answer. She cared about him, and maybe if he was an actual person, maybe. But that was not happening, so why think about it? She bet he would be hot too.