okay, its incredibly short, i know. but i promised sorceress fujin that i'd have another chapter out in exchange for another chapter of her story and so i started typing at one in the morning. frankly, just now, i'm too tired to type more. so, i decided to post what i had typed upand get the rest up in the morning. i promise more is done, i just can't stay awake much longer.
more fun will be had after i get up at ten-ish.
eerian
Chapter 17
Yuffie wished that she could say that she had never been as emotionally drained as she suddenly was when Chaos led them into the cave where he'd left Vincent and the Galian Beast. But she had been, just barely.
"Where are they?" she asked after a long moment of staring into the cave.
Vincent's tattered cloak was present, frozen to the cold ground, but there were no other signs that the cave had been occupied for the last three days. She felt her half-healed heart breaking open again and she had to force back tears in the freezing air.
"I don't know," Chaos finally answered. "I didn't think they would leave."
"They're dead, aren't they?" Yuffie looked at the cave with sorrowful eyes.
"Yuffie, I don't think—""Just cause he ain't here," Cid broke in sternly, "Don't make him dead. This ain't the warmest place, and it ain't like there's a hell of a lot of food around here. Don't go jumping to conclusions that you got no information to back up."
Yuffie nodded, unable to find the energy to argue with the pilot. Besides, its better to believe that nothing' wrong. A frozen cloak doesn't mean anything. Right?
Except that Vincent's out in the freezing cold with no protection.
Chaos, his thoughts mirroring the girl's, placed a clawed hand on Yuffie's shoulder. "The Galian Beast is too smart to let him leave whatever shelter they had without good reason."
The words had a hollow sound even to his own ears. He didn't entirely believe that Vincent and the Galian Beast hadn't died while he was gone; it had been days, after all. The demon knew that he was just giving them both empty comfort.
"We should get goin', kid," Cid said. "Before we freeze our asses off."
"Yeah." The ninja agreed reluctantly, turning away from the cloak.
"We'll get back on the ship," the pilot continued as they left the cave. "We'll move her down the mountain a bit, and start lookin' again after we get some sleep."
Yuffie just nodded.
"There isn't a body," Chaos reminded them. "He's still out there."
He has to be, for your sake.
