Here's Chapter FIVE! Yahoo…
FF characters-not mine
Dena felt her captor's grip leave her as he fell to the ground in an unconscious heap, away the two girls were off again; one of the soldier's raised his gun toward the retreating backs of the girls, his finger began to pull the trigger. A hand suddenly appeared and stopped him, "No...Follow them. See where they lead..." Star said as she crossed her arms and watched as the girl's disappeared though the line of trees.
Dena fell panting against a nearby tree, she had never run that hard from anything before in her life. Her chest and legs screamed for rest, especially her right leg; she glanced down and saw where the bullet had grazed her. It oozed blood down her calf and on to the ground, "Damn it..." Dena said as she gingerly touched her leg, it hurt even more now since she had looked at it.
Kaori sat down on a rock, wincing slightly as she tried to catch her breath, rubbing a spot on her head just between each ear. Stamina was never really her thing... Not to mention that whenever she did try doing a lot of strenuous work for long periods of time (generally something like this), those spots on her head would start throbbing... "Owwie..." she muttered.
Dena sat on the ground and took her skirt in her hands; she took a corner in her teeth and pulled. The old fabric ripped easily, she tore a long enough piece to wrap around her calf several times. "We need to hide." Dena said as she winced as she began to bandage her leg, the worst part was tying the knot. Kaori looked in her direction and blinked, "How are we going to do that?" She asked, Dena stood up and tested her weight. "Follow me." She said as she walked back the way that they had just came from, Kaori grabbed her arm.
"What in the hell are you doing?" She snapped, Dena pointed to the ground where her blood stood out sharply against the green grass. "We're going to make it look like the trail just disappeared." She replied.
"Remember when we watched that fox documentary a couple years ago? Foxes would back track to throw off their pursuers." Dena explained, Kaori blinked. "You remember things to easily..." She said, Dena shrugged. "I told you that I'm a sponge for useless information." She said as she walked over to a tall tree, the lowest branch was just beyond her fingertips; it would have to do. "Come on." She said. Kaori sighed and climbed in to the tree with Dena's help.
Dena jumped slightly and grabbed the branch in her hands, she swung her feet and was able to grab another branch with her legs; she winced when the bark rubbed her wounds painfully, she used the branches to maneuver her way in to the tree. They both climbed a bit higher until they felt comfortable in the high branches and thick foliage.
"Why did I even watch that documentary? I'm a sci-fi channel otaku, not an animal planet otaku..." Kaori wondered randomly. Looking down at the ground below, she then asked, "So, what's the plan? We just sit up here and wait like some radioactive rabid ninja squirrels?"
Dena resisted the urge to push her friend out of the tree, "We'll hide up here...hopefully the soldiers will continue in the direction that we were going and completely by-pass us. If not...then at least we'll give the other some time..." She said.
Kaori nodded. "Ah..." She peered out, scanning the ground below. "You know, this totally reminds me of SOLAR..."
Dena sighed and rested her head against the tree trunk, "Sure...what ever you say." Dena replied, she had never been able to go to SOLAR; just never really went. She turned to look at her friend, "How's your head?" She asked, she had seen her take the blow from the soldier from before.
"Meh...it's been better..." Kaori muttered. "Can't say that I haven't had worse, though-I /did/ grow up in the same house as Elena, after all..."
Dena chuckled but shut up when she heard the sound of leaves crunching under foot, she peered down though the thick leaves; she caught sight of four soldiers. They all walked with their guns at the read, one would occasionally bend down and look at the ground; Dena frowned and hoped that they wouldn't discover their hiding place.
"...Totally tempted to throw a spell packet down at one of them yelling 'I envelop you in mists of sleep..." Kaori uttered under her breath as the soldiers headed off deeper into the woods. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice them. She looked back over at Dena when it seemed that all was clear. "We head back now?"
Dena nodded and the two jumped down from the tree, making their way back toward town with sneaky ninja of the nightness.
Meanwhile
Cloud watched as the girls left shortly after breakfast, he was slightly surprised at how little they ate; of course, it was his place to criticize them. "I wonder where they are headed." He said out loud, Vincent glanced in his direction. "Dena mentioned something about it earlier..." He replied.
The time seemed to pass quickly, Vincent occupied himself with cleaning his Cerberus; most of the others had left to gather supplies. Everyone had agreed that they couldn't leave Yukiro, Connor, and the girls to fend by themselves when the boys' father was after them. The entire valley was silent when the silence was interrupted by a barrage of gunfire echoed from ShinRa Manor. Vincent jumped up to his feet, Cloud ran over. "You did hear that...right?" The blonde asked, Vincent's eyes narrowed in the direction of the manor.
"Hn..." Vincent said as he holstered Cerberus. Within moments they were at the Manor's front foyer, they could see several large prints in the thick dust; Vincent bent down to examine them further. "Soldier boots." He concluded as he stood up, they saw where a body of a soldier lay.
Cloud hurried after Vincent, the worst-case scenarios spinning through his mind. Looking down at the footprints, he nodded, then frowned and looked around. "But you'd think somebody would've noticed soldiers running around the town a little earlier..."
"You would think..." Vincent said as he walked over to where the soldier's body lay; Cloud couldn't help but wince at how the man died. The ground showed that the girls had been able to get away after a brief struggle, "At least the girls know how to defend themselves to some point." Cloud said as Vincent and he raced outside.
Both of their eyes narrowed when they saw the bullet holes in the trees and blood spots on the ground. "Do you think that they're alright?" Cloud asked as Vincent bent down and touched one of the spots of blood; it came away on to his fingers, still fresh. "There's not enough blood on the ground to indicate a major wound." Vincent replied.
Cloud nodded in agreement. "Good point... And it's not as if we're coming up with corpses..." he noted, heading into the forest by following the trail. "Still though, they may need help..."
Dena limped every time she took a step, her leg was really hurting by this point; all the adrenaline in her system had now disappeared and she was feeling everything. The glaze on her arm stung but it was nothing, Dena sighed and placed a hand on a nearby tree trunk. "Hold on a moment..." She said as she bent down to re-do her makeshift bandage, it had come loose and her wound had partially re-opened.
Kaori nodded and took a seat at the bottom of a nearby tree, "Are you going to be alright?" She asked, Dena nodded. "Yea...as soon as I can get to a first aid-kit the better. I really need to wash my leg out." She said, she winced as she re-did the knot. She stood up but favored her right leg, "We need to keep on moving." She said.
"Dangit, woman. You really need to quit getting hurt. I am not a medic or a healer! ...I'm not even one at Solar. Because healers are all wusses and can only call about one or two points of damage in role-plays unless! They know how to use their spell column...and I can't remember spell verbals for the life of me," Kaori said as she stood. She then looked around. "Though you know...the guys are going to be coming to look for all of us anyway. I mean, with the gunshots and all? They'll definitely come running... And we've outwitted the soldiers anyway, so...yeah..."
Dena sweatdropped at her friend's sudden rant, "Sorry..."
"Sorry? Sorry!" Kaori said. She then grinned. "Nah, 'salright. Just quit gettin hurt and stuff..." She plopped back down on her rock. "But yeah. Sit back, relax, and watch the radioactive rabid squirrels."
Dena smiled, "Hey...can't I have a blonde moment just once?" Dena said as she tried to pout, but she couldn't do it; her smile made it too hard. "Well...if the guys are coming after us then let's try to meet them as quickly as possible. There's a chance that the soldier's might double back to see if they missed us." She said as she started walking again, the limp had gotten better from those few moments of rest.
Kaori stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothes, "Alright." She sighed, she started walking beside her friend; she looked up and blinked. "Hey...someone's coming this way." Kaori said as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "It might be some more soldiers..." She hissed, Dena frowned and nodded. "Quickly...behind a tree." She said as they ran off the path.
The girls hid behind a tree in wait. Seeing that it was Cloud and Vincent however, Kaori glanced around, then reached down and picked up a small pebble, tossing it gently at open of them. "I envelop you in mists of sleep!"
Dena suddenly had the gigantic urge to toss Kaori over the nearest cliff and see if she could fly, she settled for just hitting her over the head. "You're so stupid." She said as she walked from around the tree, Vincent and Cloud just blinked in confusion. "Hi guys." Dena greeted, she looked over at Kaori who glared at her and shot a bird in her direction; Dena sweatdropped.
"I'm not stupid, I'm a geek, and proud of it!" Kaori said. She then thought for a moment. "Then again, in one respect, I guess you do have a point: I'm a fighter, not a spell-caster, and for good reason. Did you see how that didn't work? I suck at spells..."
Dena sighed and shook her head, once Kaori was on the subject of SOLAR, it was hard to shut her up. "Kaori." Dena whined, "Enough already." Kaori stuck her tongue out at Dena. "No way."
Dena threw her hands up in exasperation, "I give up!" She said as she started walking back down the path toward the manor, Vincent evidently noticed her limp. She felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned around expecting to see Kaori but blinked when red eyes caught her gaze. "Huh?"
"You're hurt." He stated rather than ask, he wasn't blind and could plainly see the bloodstains on her clothes and hands. When she turned her head to look at him he was greeted by a developing bruise on the left side of her jaw.
Dena shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, "They just managed to graze me...It's no big deal once I get them cleaned." She whispered, she had never had him this close to her; not counting the time when she almost got fried by Yukiro. "I'm okay...seriously. I just need to get them cleaned and get some pain relievers. That's all." Dena said as she gently touched his hand, a sign for him to release her.
She took a step and was surprised when a sudden weight left her pocket and fell to the ground. The diary landed on the ground with a light thunk, Dena winced when she heard the sound it made as it hit; she went to pick it up but Vincent was quicker. Vincent raised an eyebrow, and then slipped the diary into his pocket, looking over at Dena and studying her for a moment. There was a long pause...then a sudden sigh as he picked her up and began carrying her back towards town.
Dena blinked as he pocketed HER mother's diary, she opened her mouth to ask for it back only to feel his arms wrap around her waist and throw her over his shoulder. "What in the hell do you think you're doing!" She yelped as he did so.
"The soldiers will be returning soon; we don't have time for you to be walking all the way back with a limp. ...And besides all of that, it isn't healthy." He replied.
Dena growled lightly in her throat, she shut up because she couldn't fight the logic and she knew she would get no where fighting with him. Kaori and Cloud walked behind them back to town, Kaori smiled when she saw a slight tinge of pink on Dena's cheeks; Dena glared and flicked Kaori off. Cloud blinked, "You have a strange friend." He said.
"You have no idea." Both girls replied. Kaori grinned slightly. "Heh... Well, I think we can all agree on that, at least..."
Dena was silent for a few minutes before she shifted slightly in Vincent's grasp and poked him in the shoulder, "As soon as you let me down...I want my diary back."
"...Maybe."
Dena's face twisted slightly in aggravation, "No...Not maybe." She said, she kept her voice soft which was a bad sign as Kaori knew. "It was my mothers...and I want it back." She said, Vincent turned his head slightly to look at her.
He paused for a moment, and then shrugged. "I suppose, then..."
Dena nodded and relaxed, she didn't realize that she had tensed up so much. She looked back at Kaori and Cloud who were walking silently, Kaori had a bit of a blush on her face. 'He's cute.' Dena mouthed, Kaori's eyes went wide slightly and the blush seemed to deepen. 'Shut up!' Kaori mouthed her reply.
Cloud just blinked, he couldn't read lips very well. "Something wrong?" He asked which caused Kaori to blush more, shaking her head. "No! Nothing!" she replied quickly.
Dena had to cover her mouth with her hands to stop from laughing, Vincent shook his head; these girls were weird. How could that Dena girl suddenly find a diary and claim it was her mother's? And in ShinRa Manor, no less...
Kaori looked around, spying a pebble, then picking it up off the ground and tossing it at Dena. "I command you to be mute..."
Dena stuck out her tongue, "Nya...If only." She said, she blinked when the tiny group was enveloped in shadows. She turned her head to see the ShinRa Manor, they walked though the manor; Vincent felt Dena stiffen in his grasp once they entered the front foyer. Cloud blinked when he saw Dena turn her head away from the area where the soldier lay, "So...it was you." He whispered, he felt guilty when he saw several emotions flash across her eyes. "Yea...not something I'm really proud of." She whispered.
Kaori frowned at the soldier, then looked around and finally turned to Cloud. "...Why are we here?"
Vincent set Dena down on the stairs for a moment, as it was probably a better place to check injuries at the current time. He glanced over at Cloud and Kaori, telling them to watch the entrance, then studied Dena's wound. Before he knew it, he blurted out, "So...how did your mother's diary get here?"
Dena shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know...I think we lived here...But that was obviously a long time ago considering all the dust that's here. I only remember little flash backs..." Dena said before she winced when Vincent's fingers started undoing the makeshift bandage.
Vincent frowned. "But the only people that have lived here for years were Lucrecia and Hojo..."
Dena blinked, "Lucrecia..." She whispered, something was there...she could feel it. "What was her last name?" She asked.
"Crescent." He replied.
"Let me see the diary." Dena said as she outstretched her hand, Vincent paused momentarily before placing the tiny book in her hands. She opened the diary to the first page; there...sure enough in clear letters the diary said Kori Crescent. "She was my aunt." Dena whispered.
Vincent blinked, surprised. He never even knew that Lucrecia /had/ a sister, much less a niece...and if this girl was Lucrecia's niece, then how did she look so young? It couldn't be entirely because of the test tubes...could it? "Hm...Doesn't make much sense, and yet at the same time..." he started.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"How long were you in the test tube again..?"
"A year maybe..."
"If you were born back then, you would probably be a lot older..."
Dena couldn't hold his gaze, "There is something you should know..." She said as she slipped the newspaper clipping from the diary's pages, " I didn't grow up here...For reasons and circumstances unknown...I grew up in another world and was 'transported' back a year ago with Kaori...roughly the time Sephiroth tried to destroy the planet...or so you say." She said as she handed the clipping to Vincent.
Vincent frowned, reading over it. Thinking about this for several moments, he muttered, "Hm...I wonder..." He paused. "The lifestream circulates... I'm starting to wonder if it circulates around more than one world..."
Dena held her head in her hands, "This all seems so confusing... I only learned of this yesterday and earlier today. My brain can't wrap around it all..." She said as she was handed the clipping back only for the photo to slip out and land next to Vincent's hand. He gently picked it up, he blinked; there was the photo with Kori and Lucrecia...and a very young Dena.
Vincent studied it for a moment, and then looked up at Dena. "Well I'm sure it's all tied into what's currently going on... The others and I will try to see what we can find out." He nodded.
Dena smiled slightly as he handed the photo back to her, "Thank you." She said as she slipped it in the diary once again.
Vincent nodded. "We should head out now," he said. "I think we've stayed here long enough, and if the brothers wait for us much longer, then they'll probably get caught..." he said. He looked down at Dena. "Can you walk..?"
Dena blinked and stood up, she tested her leg. "Yea...I'll be fine so long as I don't have to do any sprints." She said as she took a second to brush the layer of dust off of her skirt; she really needed to get some more clothes because these that she took from her aunt's room had almost had enough.
Vincent nodded-if she started limping again, he'd carry her. But until then... He looked over at the others. "Cloud, Kaori-you two ready to go?"
Kaori nodded. "Been ready..." Cloud nodded, "It's best that we hurry...The soldiers should be doubling back about now. We don't have long to get out of here...safely." He added.
The group headed out to the edge of town. Vincent looked around as they reached an alleyway, glancing over toward the shadows. "Yukiro, Connor?"
Yukiro and Connor emerged from the shadow's embrace, Connor's nose twitched a bit when the breeze shifted a bit. "Blood?" He asked as he turned his head toward the group, Dena coughed slightly.
"That would be me." She said, Connor's and Yukiro's eyes widened a bit. Yukiro finally noticed the dried blood on her left arm and right leg.
Yukiro hurried forward. "Are you alright..?" he asked, looking worried. Dena smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry...we escaped with minimal damage. They had an advantage only because they had guns..." Dena said, Yukiro nearly gagged. "They shot at you!"
Connor frowned. "I'm sorry that you're getting dragged into all of this..." he muttered.
Dena frowned, "Don't start." She said, "We dragged ourselves in to this. Don't beat yourself up about us...that won't help anything." She said.
"Yeah. No use crying over spilled juice," Kaori agreed with a nod. Yukiro raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean spilled milk..?" Kaori stuck her tongue out at him. "I wouldn't cry over spilled milk! Milk's nasty..."
Dena smiled and shook her head, "No use arguing with her...she's stubborn as a bull." Dena looked over at Yukiro, "Where are the others?" She asked. "Stubborn as my mom..." Kaori corrected, rolling her eyes.
"They should be here soon..." Yukiro replied. "If Yuffie overslept, that wouldn't surprise me. The others will probably be a bit late just from trying to find one another..." Vincent pointed out.
Dena frowned slightly, "We shouldn't waste time...the soldiers found us at the Manor. No doubt they notified their superiors and they are out looking for the guys." She said as she crossed her arms. "I'm surprised that we didn't run in to any on the way back here."
Connor shook his head. "Well, I don't think there's any around here-at least not yet. I've been listening all morning and I haven't heard anyone..." "Nor have I seen anyone..." Yukiro added.
Cloud frowned, "Something's not right. There should be more than the ones at the Manor." He said as he bowed his head in thought. "What about the girl from before? I doubt that she would give up after one failed attempt to retrieve Connor..."
"She's the one we're most concerned about, and I doubt we'll be noticing her as easily. We should head on out and let the others meet up with us later," Yukiro replied.
The silence of the moment was interrupted by a catchy jingle, Dena and Kaori blinked. "Who's cell phone?" Kaori asked, everyone looked at each other until they all landed on Cloud. The blonde blinked and realized the jingle was coming from him. He quickly opened it and answered, "Hello? ...Oh okay...that'll be no problem...alright...okay...Bye." He said, he flipped the phone shut. "That was Tifa. They decided to go ahead and meet up with Cid at the airship. They're going to pick us up on the edge of town." Cloud said.
Dena and Kaori blinked, "Airship?" Kaori asked, Cloud frowned. "You've never been on an airship?" He asked. "Um...I have!" Kaori said. She then sweatdropped. "That is, if you mean planes..." It was Cloud's turn to blink, "Plane?" Kaori sweatdropped further. "...Guess not..."
Dena sighed, "Let's just go..." She said as she made the shooing motion with her hands. She did not want this to turn in to the 'have to explain everything different from world to world' conversation that appeared in almost every single fanfic.
Kaori nodded. "Good point..." she agreed. She then smiled up at Cloud. "I'll tell you about it later." Dena sweatdropped, "Try not to confuse the poor boy...after all. He is blonde."
"...Good point...and I'm a redhead so I don't have much patience anyway..." Kaori agreed, nodding. She then blinked, glancing over at Yukiro. "Random thought..." she spoke up as they headed across the field separating town from the airship. "What would people with white hair be considered as? Albino..?"
"Albino is white hair, white skin, and red eyes." Yukiro said slowly, "I have blue eyes."
"Not exactly. In some rare cases, albinos can have light blue eyes about your color," Kaori corrected. "...Trust me. Waaay too many people chose albinism for their genetic disorder projects in biology. I was actually original and chose ADD and ADHD..."
"Now /that/ I definitely have..." Yukiro muttered sweatdropping. "Are you guy's coming?" Dena shouted, Yukiro and Kaori blinked and looked around. Dena, Vincent, and Connor were already half way down the street...when did they do that?
Yukiro sweatdropped, flailing a little. "O-oi...wait up!" he called as he and Kaori hurried and followed.
The group made it across the field, looking up at the airship. Kaori blinked sweatdropping. "...Holy crap..."
Dena had a similar reaction; she stared at the giant ship with wide eyes and mouth slightly agape. "Wow..." She whispered, she realized that she was staring and stopped. "Well...come lets go." Yukiro said as he grabbed Connor's hand and starting pulling him toward the airship. "Brother slow down!" Connor pleaded, Dena smiled and brushed a piece of stray hair behind her ear; a sudden glimmer in the bushes caught her eye...her heart almost seemed to stop beating. Something fast shot in her direction…
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