Tainted Souls
Chapter XVI
Greetings!
I do not own Inuyasha, Final Fantasy VII or X2; however I wish I did cause if I did there would be more and better games. This chapters a little longer the usual but who's complainin'.
"Did you guys find her yet?" Yuna said to no one in particular as she walked onto the bridge of the airship.
"I think I got something, were getting strange power reading from an area not for from where we crashed. Were almost there now." Shinra pointed out as he pulled up a map of the Northern Continent and pointing out the powers source.
"That's probably where Rikku is, I can't explain it but…she's there, I just know."
"Maybe it's a family bond or something." Paine walked up to Yuna and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry she'll find her."
"All right let's head out and find her, Paine you come with me, can the rest of you hold down the fort while we're gone?" Yuna looked around, no one disagreed.
Vincent awoke early that morning as usual. Everyone was still asleep. Vincent grabbed his gun and headed for the springs. After a few minutes of running through the woods he reached the chilled over lake that Red XIII had turned into a hot spring. Vincent levitated over the lake, when he was high enough he raised one hand over his head and a fireball formed in his palm. He threw the ball towards the ice, which cracked and exploded from the sudden blast of fire, the waters were, once again, boiling hot.
Vincent hovered down to the ground and disrobed. He groaned as he slid own into the hot waters. The heat from the springs easing the aches and pains in his joints, he felt ages younger.
It's been forever since I've enjoyed myself like this. Not since I was with the…
Vincent was cut off as an airship flew raced over him and stop stopped around where the camp was. Wondering what was going on he jumped from the water and threw his clothes on, he ran towards the camp, hand on his Cerberus. Whatever was going on he didn't like it.
"Yunie!" Rikku jumped from her sleeping bag when she saw the Celsius flying over head. Sesshomaru and the other awoke to Rikku's screams of joy and the sounds of the Airship hovering above them. The Airship landed in a near by clearing. Rikku and Aeris ran towards the ship, Sesshomaru and Red XIII walking behind them.
"Aeris, I can't wait for you to meet my cousin Yuna! You two will get along great."
"Oh really, and why is that?" Aeris asked trying to keep up with the bubbly thief.
Rikku stopped running and put her index finger to her forehead. "Well, your just too much alike lets just keep it at that."
Vincent tore through the forest, Cerberus now drawn and in hand , ready to fire. The strange Airship had landed near the campsite. He felt a strange energy emitting from the ship, to him it seemed to be surrounded in a violet aura.
He halted several feet from the clearing and ducked behind a tree. The Airship in question was right in front of him. He looked down at the long tri-barreled firearm in hand and inspected it to make sure it was ready for combat. He snuck his head out from behind the tree and saw the occupants of the Airship getting out. One of them was wearing a black leather outfit and held a large sword. Her white hair and crimson eyes made her look as if she'd been to hell and back, literally. The other occupant of the ship was almost the exact opposite of the other passenger. Her black hair was shoulder length, she wore a short blue skirt and a white top, at her hips were two medium sized handguns. Vincent noticed that both of her eyes were different colors, besides that she looked like a normal girl.
Now, what are two attractive girls doing on that ship and what could the be looking for.
The girl with black hair seemed to be shivering in the cold, the one in leather seemed to be used to the cold temperature. The white haired girl stood straight up and listened for something, she looked like a dog tracking it's wounded pray. She looked at the tree where Vincent was hiding and began to walk over to where he was. She quickly turned to the other side of the tree and saw nothing, she shrugged her shoulders and walked off towards her companion.
Vincent waited for a moment before moving his cloak aside and revealing himself, his cloak changed colors to that of the strange glowing white trees of the forest. No sooner had he removed the cloak had he found the sword the girl was holding placed at his throat.
"Who are you?" she said in a tone that would have made anyone else pray for mercy.
Vincent stood firm. He looked into the crimson eyes of the warrior and instantly knew what to do.
"I'm not going to ask again. Who are you?" She asked more fiercely.
With god like speed Vincent raised the Cerberus and fired at the sword pointed at his neck. The blade flew out of the girls hand and flipped threw the air. Hearing the gunfire, her companion came running over. Vincent used his cape to shield himself from the oncoming bullets. He ran towards the white leather-clad warrior and grabbed her neck with his metal hand and positioned one of the claws so that he could pierce her neck if needed.
"I despise hurting women, so if you want to put that gun down we can talk."
Rikku heard gunshots coming from where the Airship had landed.
"Those are Yuna's guns. We have to hurry." Rikku picked up speed with every shot she heard.
Sesshomaru caught up to her and grabbed hold of her arm, lifting her off the ground he bolted towards the clearing. In half a second they reached the Airship.
Rikku screamed as she saw her friend being held hostage by Vincent.
"I'm glad you're here, Rikku try and talk some sense into these people." Vincent said still holding Rikku's friend by the throat.
"Rikku, do you know this guy?" The raven hair girl asked lowering her guns.
"Yeah, he rescued me after the crash, what's going on here, Paine?" she asked her friend now free from Vincent's grasp.
"We're sorry for reacting the way we did. I'm Rikku's cousin, Yuna." Yuna walked over to Vincent and held out her right hand. Vincent used his human hand to except the gesture.
"So I guess you were right about the power readings, huh?" Paine said walking up to Yuna, she shot Vincent a disapproving glance. Vincent returned the glare.
"So, Yuna, How'd you find me."
Yuna explained everything about the power reading and her hunch. The group returned to the Airship, Sesshomaru, Red XIII, Aeris and Vincent were invited to stay with them, Aeris made them accept, not wanting to lose her new friends. Yuna showed them to the bar and they share a few rounds. Every once in a while Paine shot a glare at Vincent, Vincent laughed and whispered something into Rikku's ear, causing her to laugh and stare at Paine.
"So what are you guys doing in the Northern Continent?" Yuna finally asked after a long while.
"We're looking for Agit." Aeris answered.
"Why are you looking for that?" Paine asked now interested in the subject.
"So that we can stop Meteor." Rikku answered
"And kill Sephiroth." Sesshomaru added.
"Hey, why don't we help them Yuna." Rikku asked jumping from her chair.
"Rikku…our specialty is Sphere Hunting. Not saving the world." Paine said looking over the rim of her glass.
"Yeah but there will be no more Sphere's if the planet is destroyed." Yuna said regrettably.
"I'm not helping HIM." She whispered into Yuna's ear pointing at Vincent.
"Then help THEM." Yuna pointed at Sesshomaru, Aeris and Red XIII.
"Fine." Paine said regretting it already. Rikku rejoiced and patted Vincent on the shoulder. Yuna smiled and scratched Red XIII behind the ears.
"Then it's settled, are you all prepared to go right now?" Vincent said over the rim of his glass.
"Umm…we need to go get a few things. Like ammo for one thing." Yuna said patting her guns. "You took the last of mine."
"I'm done to three bullets myself." Vincent said raising the Cerberus.
"Then we'll head to town and then get going."
The control room was quiet, neither Brother, Buddy or Shinra felt much like talking after witnessing the battle with the vampire-like opponent that had defeated Paine and then was befriended by Rikku and Yuna. They got the call from Yuna to head to the closest town and then set down. Buddy motioned to Brother and told him where to go in Al-Bhed.
"We'll be at the closest place in a few minutes, it's a place called Golden Saucer. Hmm? Wonder what that is?" Yuna said before ordering another drink from Bartender.
"I heard of that place, it's an amusement park. Are you sure we're going to find the things we need their?" Aeris asked perplexed.
"We need to go there for Paine, She needs to learn a technique their. Now that I think of it Sesshomaru might need this technique also. It's called Omni-Slash. It's supposed to be really powerful. Hey, Maybe Sesshomaru could learn it too." Yuna explained.
Sesshomaru looked over at Yuna and Paine with a disapproving glare in his eyes. "I'm powerful enough already. I don't need the techniques of a mortal to aid me."
Aeris looked at Sesshomaru, she looked angry. "You're going to learn that technique, okay! For me!" Fearing his lover, Sesshomaru nodded his head and agreed.
Everyone's mouths dropped in amazement at how Aeris had tamed Sesshomaru.
"That's a good Fluffy." Aeris said rubbing Sesshomaru's ears.
"Fluffy!" Rikku finally asked.
"That's the nickname she gave me before we met you." Sesshomaru said, his leg twitching as Aeris scratched behind his perked up ears.
"Wow, Aeris you really know how to tie a man around your fingers." Yuna said surprised at the young girls abilities. Rikku giggled elbowing Yuna.
"Trying' to pick up pointers Yunie." Rikku teased.
Aeris walked over to Yuna and whispered into her ear. "Well, after what I did to him the other night, he'd better be loyal." Yuna giggled and they talked about what happened the other night at the hot springs.
"So much for not kissing and telling, eh?" Red XIII said looking up at Sesshomaru.
Sesshomaru looked down at Red XIII and smiled. "It's alright, she can do as she pleases. As long as it makes her happy." Red XIII looked at Sesshomaru confused.
Shouldn't he be angry. Red XIII thought to himself.
"Well let's show you guys to you rooms then." Yuna lead them to a hallway in the ship. They stopped at the first door on the right. "You and Aeris can sleep here." She said showing the couple into the room. Vincent and Red XIII were assigned the room across from them. Each room was surprisingly comfortable and had two beds, a couch and a lot of free space.
Sesshomaru walked into his room and placed Aeris' stuff on the floor near the bed. He left the room and joined Vincent and Red XIII in their room.
"Where is Aeris?" he asked, he sounded a lot calmer then usual, almost as if the girls were finally starting to have an effect on him.
"They went up to the bar, they said they were having some girl time. I'm worried about what that could mean for us." Red XIII said chuckling several seconds later.
"Probably nothing to be worried about." Vincent added, once again involved in polishing and cleaning his guns.
"So, Paine, we saw how you were looking at Vincent. What's goin' on, are you finally going soft?" Rikku teased Paine, patting her on the shoulder.
"Your at 50 Rikku, and stop touching me." Rikku frowned at the loss of respect points, she never won.
"Is their anyway I can earn them back Paine…please!" Rikku said bouncing up and down.
"I got an idea. What if you can chug one of Paine's drinks without falling off your chair?" Yuna added sitting down with another round of rinks for everyone.
"I like that idea." Paine said eyeing Rikku evilly.
"Okay, bring it on." Rikku said nervous.
Paine handed her a double of 150 and sat down laughing. Rikku looked at the beverage and hesitated for a minute.
"What if I lose?" Rikku asked Looking at the glass in her hand.
"Then you don't get the points back, how about this, if you win I lose ten points." Paine added to the gamble.
"Deal!" Rikku slowly downed the drink, trying not t let it touch her tongue. She slammed her glass on the table and wobbled for a minute. Her arms moving, trying to keep her steady. After a few second she was fine.
"Holy shit!" Paine said amazed at how Rikku could hold her liquor.
"No big deal, Your at 90 Paine. I'm gonna go to bed now." Rikku jumped down from her stool and a few steps later fell flat on the floor.
Maybe I was wrong. Paine laughed internally at Rikku's misfortune.
They dragged the blond Al-Bhed to her bed and tucked her in.
"Well, we better get to sleep." Yuna said walking towards her bed.
"Okay, see you in the morning." Aeris started to walk away when Paine grabbed her shoulder. "What is it, Paine?" Paine looked nervous, her face was slightly redder then normal. She swallowed an started to open her mouth, then closed it and looked away.
"Could you tell Vincent something for me?" she finally said.
"Yeah, what?" Aeris whispered in Paine's ear, knowing that she was embarrassed to admit her feelings around Yuna and Rikku.
"Tell him…I said…umm…"
"Sweet dreams." Aeris said knowing what Paine wanted. She nodded thanking Aeris and turning away.
The door to Vincent's room opened and walked in.
"I'm going to bed, Sesshomaru. Do you want to join me?" She said winking at him. Sesshomaru nodded and the two headed for the door. "Sesshomaru, could you wait outside for a second?" He agreed and walked to his room. Aeris walked over to Vincent and got whispered in his ear. "Paine says 'sweet dreams' and she told me to give you this." She kissed Vincent on the cheek and blushed. "Looks like you got a secret admirer." She left the room giggling.
When the door was closed, Vincent reached up and touched his cheek where Aeris kissed him.
Red XIII laughed. "You lucky dog. You two make a cute couple…well a scary one…but cute none the less."
"And you'll be a very unlucky dog if you keep teasing me." Vincent feel asleep that night unable to stop thinking about his crimson eyed admirer.
Good paining, eh? Paine and Vincent? Am I good or what. Tell me what you guys think of my idea for my next Fic a Rikku and Yuffie romance. Hey when life gives you lemons…make lemon fanfic…or something like that I don't know what the hell I'm saying anymore. There is a fine line between genius and insanity, I like to believe that I walk that line everyday of my life! Kage Onizuka outtie!