By the way, I should mention that I'm going to make some changes to the story, not now so much but later on.
Also, thanks for the reviews guys! Keep em!
Chapter Three: A Very Unique GunslingerIn the morning, the group glanced over the cave, curious of how to get down to the bottom platform. Vincent, who hadn't gotten any sleep that night, was correct, there were chutes, all leading down to a different areas of different levels. Eventually, they managed to find a way down, but not before finding a Sniper CR for Vincent, which he uses as a secondary weapon, he still kept his Quicksilver revolver as his main. Vincent attached the weapon on his back, with his cape covering it, however, if the cape weren't there, it would be attached much like Cloud's blade.
"'Ere's the right chute!" Barret exclaimed, pointing at one chute.
"How do you know that's the right one?" Aeris patiently asked.
"It's da only one we didn't try yet," Barret told them, seeming frustrated that he was questioned at all.
"All right, let's go," Cloud announced to the group, going up next to the chute.
"Be careful once you reach the bottom," Vincent told them in his usual manner. "There is a beast below."
"What?" Cloud asked, squinting down to the bottom to struggle to see what was below. "I… think I see something…"
"What is he talkin' 'bout?!" Barret angrily growled. "I don't see nothin'! It's too far down!"
"I don't see anything either…" Aeris murmured.
"I think I see something," Red XIII told them, squinting down to the bottom.
"I don't see anything!" Yuffie whined.
"Neither do I…" Tifa muttered, struggling to see what was below.
"Perhaps it is just our mako eyes, but there is a beast down there," Vincent told the group. "I suggest you stay careful, I am unsure of how powerful it is."
"Right," Cloud nodded as he jumped through the chute, and was followed by Aeris, Yuffie, Tifa, Red XIII, Vincent, and finally Barret.
They landed only a little ways away from the large beast, and were happily surprised that it didn't attack. Instead, the red beast stayed in its spot, unfortunately blocking the exit and watched the visitors carefully. The beast stood much taller than anyone in the group, standing on six long, thin legs, three on both sides of its body. Its body was thin and red, like the legs, connected up to its thin neck, and head. The head almost seemed to be the largest part of the beast, with a jaw full of sharp, jagged teeth, and fierce black eyes glaring at the team.
"This is the beast?" Barret cockily asked, which seemed, though Barret didn't notice it, to attract a more violent side of the beast. "He ain't nothin' we-"
Barret was forced to stop his sentence there, as the beast hit the large man's stomach with one of its legs. Barret stumbled backward until he hit the ground, then, after omitting a fury of curses, bombarded the beast with bullets. However, this seemed to affect the beast very slightly, and instead it summoned a strange, large, almost transparent triangle in front of Barret, which made the man cry in pain and anger.
"Someone cast a cure!" Barret bellowed.
Aeris quickly began her spell, amazing Vincent by making her staff float in front of her, and the man's wounds suddenly healed slightly. He then struggled to stand again, but the beast prepared for another strike with its legs. This time, however, it didn't make it. Cloud leapt in front of Barret with large sword drawn, and slashed the thin leg, forcing a small flow of blood to omit from a newly formed wound, which made the beast recoil its leg.
Tifa then took this opportunity to rush up to the beast, then leaped up, and slam her fists into the beast's face. The beast, however, quickly slapped her with another one of its legs, making her land on her back next to Cloud. Aeris quickly rushed over to help Tifa up and cast a quick cure on her, while Yuffie and Red XIII seized this opportunity to strike the beast.
The way it was done, it seemed that they had planned this earlier. Yuffie rushed up to the beast, just out of its range of attack, and hurled her boomerang at the beast, slashing it across its face, and then as the beast was about to rush up and strike Yuffie, Red XIII quickly summoned a lightning bolt to strike its body, making it reconsider its charge. Instead, the beast used another one of its triangle attacks on Yuffie, making her fall back in pain, who was healed by Aeris.
"Cloud," Vincent said as he took out his Sniper CR. "Go attack the beast, I'll cover you."
Cloud quickly nodded, and then rushed up to the beast, leaping up, and slashing the beast's skull, making more blood flow from the beast. While Cloud did this, Vincent very quickly aimed at the beast with his Sniper CR. Once Cloud had landed, Vincent opened fire, blasting away at the point where its legs meet its body. This caused the beast to stumble down to the ground, an opportunity that was quickly taken by Cloud and Red XIII; Cloud slashing the beast with his sword once again and Red XIII using an ice spell.
"His armor is too thick," Red XIII announced to the group once Cloud had retreated back to a safe distance and the beast had stood up once again. "Our attacks aren't strong enough!"
"DAMN!" Barret bellowed, raising his gun-arm at the beast. "I'm takin' this bastard down!"
Barret opened fire on the beast, an act thought as foolish among the rest of the group. Not surprisingly, the attack didn't seem to do much damage, and instead angered the beast into using another triangle attack. Aeris, once again, used a cure spell on Barret.
"Well we can't jes sit 'ere!" Barret shouted at the rest of the group. "We have ta keep fightin'!"
"We will defeat him," Red XIII told the group. "It will just take longer than most beasts."
Vincent shook his head with calm defiance. "Hold this," Vincent told Tifa, handing her his Quicksilver revolver and Sniper CR. "Now everyone back away as far as you can."
"What are you going to do?" Tifa asked with curiosity.
"If you aren't careful, you'll find out first hand," Vincent told them, taking a step closer to the gigantic monster. "Now hide."
"What are you gonna-" Cloud began, but was cut off.
"Hurry!" Vincent commanded, the voice was so demanding that the group couldn't help but instantly obey.
They all rushed behind a very large rock that was just a little ways away from the battleground, but they were all peaking their head over to see what the ex-Turk was going to do. Vincent took another step closer and then began to flex his muscles and strain his mind on his task. He despised doing this, but it seemed to be the only thing he could do now.
His muscles, surprising the entire group, seemed to form over his clothing, and had large veins pulsing so much beneath the skin that it looked like they were about to pop. Vincent bellowed in agony as his skin turned into a dark purple and began to be covered in fur, a scene that made Aeris and Yuffie cover their heads behind the rock in fear and nearly throw up. Vincent roared again as his jaw began to jut outwards into a snout, and his black hair turn into a thick red mane, with two large, black horns jutting out where his temples would be. Both his hands transformed into claws with fur that matched the rest of his body, and his feet into large beast feet that nearly seemed to match his claws.
Everyone stood in silent horror at the monster that Vincent had become.
This monster charged at the six-legged beast and tackled it to the ground. The Vincent-monster roared as he clawed and bit upon the beast that blocked the group's way. It was almost frightening how well and easy he had been able to strike the beast, his claws cutting right through the beast's defenses, which had halted the rest of the group. Soon enough, the beast laid slain where it once stood, and the Vincent-monster continued to claw and gnaw at it's now separated body parts.
"Wh-what do we do…?" Tifa very silently asked, though astonishing herself by being able to talk after such a horrific sight.
The Vincent-monster then seemed to hear this, and quickly spun around, glaring at the group. Just as it seemed like he was about to charge, it suddenly began to slowly shrink, it's muscles descending, it snout retreating, and it's horns shrinking. The fur then quickly vanished to reveal a purple tinted skin, which then changed to Vincent's usual pale color, and shortly after, Vincent stood there.
It seemed like he was struggling to stay conscious with only his right eye just barely open, but before the group had a chance to fully look over him, he stumbled to the ground. Tifa surprised herself as being the first to act, she rushed up to the scene and spun him on his back, looking for any signs of life. She didn't think he would be dead, but she had no idea as to what he had just done, and what the consequences may be.
"Is he… alright?" Cloud asked as Tifa checked his pulse.
"Yes…" Tifa sighed in relief. "But his heartbeat is very fast…" she then moved her hand to his forehead, "And he's burning up…"
"Shit…" Cloud murmured as the rest of the group ventured over to Vincent. Cloud then looked up at Aeris, who was looking down at Vincent in amazement, and told her, "Use a cure on him, it might help him."
Aeris nodded and instantly obeyed, trying to help their comrade. Tifa felt Vincent's forehead again, and sighed, nodding to the group, "It helped a little… I think we should quickly bring him to the next town, though."
"How we gonna carry 'im?" Barret rudely asked.
"I can carry him," Cloud sighed, as he wrapped his arms under Vincent's frail-seeming body.
However, Vincent's eyes suddenly flashed opened, that made the entire group jump back, except for Cloud, because Vincent's claws were tightly wrapped around his wrist, making Cloud utter a quick grunt before he realized it was the ex-Turk. Vincent, realizing it was Cloud, released his tight grasp and then slowly spoke, "I thought I told you all to get away…"
"Well, we did, we hid behind that huge rock," Cloud told the man, pointing to the large rock that they hid behind.
Vincent, however, didn't bother to look where the ex-SOLDIER pointed, and instead kept his heavy glance on Cloud, causing a very uncomfortable silence between the two, however, Barret then broke that silence, "What da hell was dat?! You turned into a damn monster!"
Vincent's gaze then angrily turned to Barret, but then down on the ground as he stood up. The gunslinger looked down at the ground, thinking of what to say. He knew that if he said too much, he would need to explain it all, and he had no intention of doing that, it's far too painful, despite the fact that he goes over it countless times a day in his head. Vincent then spoke, choosing his words very carefully, "It's… one of the things that happened to me… so long ago…"
"You better start explainin' all this crazy shit!" Barret shouted to the stoic gunslinger. "It's gettin' too damn freaky! You turned into a damn monster!"
"…" Vincent was silent, only continuing to look down at the ground.
"Barret! Calm down!" Tifa shouted, standing between Barret and the ex-Turk. "He'll tell us when he's ready," Tifa told him, then glanced at Vincent, then back at Barret, "Besides, I think he proved himself trustworthy…"
"What are ya talkin' 'bout, Tifa?!" Barret cried. "He turned into a damn monster?! He's a monster!"
"Listen," Vincent said as he stood. "If you want me to leave the group, that's fine, I don't care. Just say the word, and I shall leave."
"Aight, then go!" Barret bellowed at the man without a second's hesitation. "Unless you start explainin' what's up wit you, we're leavin' ya behind!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Tifa cried. "He should be able to stay! He just saved us!"
"Yeah, relax Barret!" Aeris shouted to the large, generally stubborn man. "He just saved your life! You should be thanking him!"
"You tellin' me that you're gonna trust someone who jus' turned into a damn monster?!" Barret bellowed at the two women who were defending the accused. They were both silent and looked down at the ground; as much as they both hated to admit it, Barret had a very good point, how could they trust someone who they know very little about and just turned into a beast? But this was Vincent, Vincent who helped Tifa the previous night (though she hadn't followed through with his advice), this was Vincent who helped both Aeris and Red XIII climb up the mountain occasionally, and, most of all, this was Vincent who just saved all their lives, despite the methods of doing so.
"I shall leave," Vincent suddenly announced the group, and began heading out of the mountain, when Tifa finally spoke.
"No… don't leave," Tifa looked up at Vincent, who also turned to look at her, their eyes locking for only a minute, and then Tifa turned to Barret. "Yes, I think we can trust him. You just saw the power that he had, if he wanted to stop us, he easily could have killed us by now if he wanted to. So, I say he stays here…"
"You gotta be kidin'!" Barret bellowed, not believing the words that the barmaid had spoken. "Ya jus gotta!"
"No, Barret, I agree with Tifa," Cloud said, stepping into the conversation. "He should stay with us, he did just save us, and we need all the help we can get."
"Yeah," Cait Sith said. "He should stay with us, the more the merrier."
"Aww fine!" Barret angrily bellowed, stomping his feet like a child. "Do whatever da hell ya want! Just don't blame me when da damn monster betrays us!"
"Whatever," Cloud said, then turning to the exit that was now covered in blood from Vincent's vicious attack. "Let's get outta here."
"Fine," Barret grumbled; he and the others following Cloud through the blood that was smeared across the ground.
Once they were out of the mountains, they found themselves in a very large plain, with some mountains still to their side, but with no town in sight. "Where's the next town, Cloud?" Red XIII asked as the team looked across the plains, trying to find anything besides the healthy green grass and tall spiked mountains.
"Let's see here…" Cloud muttered, turning his gaze to a map that he pulled out of his pocket. "There's a town just around these mountains… It's called Rocket Town…"
"Rocket Town, huh?" Cait Sith asked. "That must be where the Shinra rocket was built…"
"Shinra rocket?!" Barret exclaimed. "Les hope the president's there…" Barret smirked as he looked at his gun-arm, "I have a lil' present to give to 'im…"
"You mean the rocket that was supposed to go into space?" Tifa asked, ignoring Barret's comment.
"I think so," Cait Sith nodded on top of his mechanical, oversized moogle.
"We should probably be careful, then," Cloud announced to the group. "If that town still has any ties with Shinra, there might be some people who want to capture us."
"If they want us, I suggest that we rest before entering the town," Vincent told the group. "If we spend the night there, they may try to capture us in our sleep."
"Good idea," Cloud nodded to the mysterious man while Barret angrily crossed his arms. "We should still travel until we get pretty close… although I don't think it'll take the full day to get there."
Vincent slightly nodded, and then Yuffie whined, "I'm bored! Let's go all ready!"
"Yeah, all right," Cloud nodded, and then led the group through the plain.
They traveled for a few more hours, until roughly noon, when Yuffie finally cried, "Cloud! I'm hungry!"
Cloud looked back at the young ninja, then over the rest of the group. "All right," Cloud shrugged. "Do you guys want to stop now?"
"Yeah!" Yuffie exclaimed with most of the others nodding in agreement.
The team all took off the equipment that they were holding and began doing various things. Tifa and Aeris were digging through bags for food to cook, Yuffie, Cloud, Barret, and Cait Sith were searching for some wood to make a fire, while Red XIII walked a little ways away from the camp, seeming to be on guard. Vincent, unsure of what the group usually did during their breaks, walked over to the strange creature who was on guard.
"Nanaki," Vincent started, choosing to use the creature's true name versus the one Hojo had dubbed him. "Are we just stopping for lunch?"
"Yes," the creature replied as he turned towards him. "Well, we break for about an hour or so. Some of us go off to train against monsters, but usually we stay around here."
"I see…" Vincent murmured, then stood there and mused for a moment, thinking about which he would do, but knowing the obvious choice. He had no desire to eat, hunger seems to have left him during his thirty years of rest, so he would go out to train with whomever would join him.
Once everyone had returned to their temporary camp, Yuffie began to build a small fireplace, and the others seemed to begin to separate. "Anyone up for some training?" Tifa asked, stretching out her arms. She wasn't surprised by the lack of a response from the rest of the group, since the previous day they were climbing Mt. Nibel, and that can be a hassle for anyone. But she had done it nearly every day back when she was living in Nibelheim, so she still had some energy. "Anyone?"
"I believe I'm up for it," Vincent announced.
"Alright," Tifa smiled to him, then looked over the rest of the group. "That it?"
When no one replied, the two were beginning to leave the group, when Barret took Tifa aside and said, "Be sure to watch yo' back, Tif."
Tifa smiled at Barret, although she was slightly angry at the man for still not trusting Vincent, she understood. She knew that it would be tough for Barret, who had lost his whole town to misplacing trust, to trust anyone. Plus, she knew Barret was just looking out for her. Ever since they met, Barret had been like an older brother to Tifa, and their journey didn't change that.
"Thanks, Barret," Tifa told him. "But I'll be fine."
The two backtracked slightly towards the mountains. Vincent kept looking towards the mountains, oddly feeling almost as though something was calling to him. He couldn't help himself from thinking of Lucrecia then, although he didn't know why… of course, these days, Lucrecia almost always plagued his mind.
"Here come two!" Tifa shouted, quickly getting into a fighting position. Vincent quickly drew his quicksilver and aimed at the first of the two nibel wolves. They were weak creatures, so Vincent figured he would be able to take care of them without his gun, so he put it back, deciding to fight with his claw instead.
While a Turk, he was taught to be prepared to fight no matter what weapon was available to you. And one weapon that will almost always be available are your fists, so martial arts were taught heavily to the Turks, even to those who chose not to master in it. Vincent was a great martial artist and, for some time, considered mastering in it, but ultimately decided to choose his gun.
Tifa ran up and decided to take the first one. Since these were weak creatures and the party wasn't hurrying anywhere, she decided that she would test out all her skills. She quickly punched the wolf on its nose, causing it to leap at her to try for a counterstrike, but she gracefully stepped aside before the wolf could correct itself, dodging the attack.
The beast angrily spun around, growling at Tifa, leaping at her for another strike. This time, Tifa decided she would test out her defenses against the wolf. As it leapt, she quickly blocked the attack by covering herself with her left arm. The wolf grabbed ahold of her wrist with its sharp teeth, then Tifa smashed down on its skull with a powerful punch with her right hand.
The wolf released its grasp and whimpered, stepping away from the martial artist. Tifa then leapt after the beast, kicking it square in the neck, causing a quick snap and the wolf's body to fall to the ground, where it twitched once and didn't move again. Tifa looked over at Vincent and saw that he was done as well, so they started seeking more opponents.
As they walked, Vincent surprised Tifa by saying, "I would like to thank you, Tifa."
"Wh-what?" Tifa asked, completely surprised by the usual completely silent Vincent and looked over at him. "Why?"
"Back at Mt. Nibel, when you defended me," Vincent sincerely told her. It was hard for him to say his thanks, but he knew when it was due and the young barmaid did deserve it. It felt good to feel accepted to the group and that feeling was mostly due to Tifa's kind words. "For that, I thank you."
"Oh… it was no problem, Vincent," Tifa sweetly smiled at him. "It's just that Barret can be pretty stubborn sometimes…"
"I've noticed," Vincent commented, which made Tifa chuckle a little. "Of course… I can't blame him."
"Hmm?" Tifa asked. "What do you mean?"
"My… transformation," Vincent told her. To Tifa, it seemed like he was trying to find the right words, so that he wouldn't share anything with her that he didn't want to.
"Oh nonsense," Tifa told him, waving her hand dismissively. "We all know that Hojo did really bad things to you… We understand, especially Red XIII, he was experimented on too."
"I know," Vincent calmly told her with a slight nod.
"It's just that Barret can seem a lot meaner than he actually is," Tifa sighed, she had known Barret for almost four years, and he never seemed to change much, he always seemed to be the same, stubborn Barret. "And… he doesn't use the best words either… Like when he called you a monster."
"How is that not the right word?" Vincent patiently asked, eying her curiously.
Tifa looked up at him, shocked and confused, how could it be the right word? "You aren't a monster, Vincent," Tifa smiled at him, though she still seemed confused by his question. "You saved our lives back there, and you helped me last night with your advice… You aren't a monster, Vincent."
"…" Vincent was silent, looking into the beautiful woman's honey brown eyes, as if looking for any sincerity in her words. Tifa, of course, was telling the truth, as far as her knowledge of him extended to at least. She didn't understand what Vincent wanted and then it popped into her head.
"Do… do you think you're a monster, Vincent?" Tifa asked, looking deep into his crimson eyes.
"…" Vincent then turned his glance to the ground. "I… I was a Turk, I killed people recklessly, simply because I was ordered to… I lost the woman I loved because I didn't do anything… I… I am a monster…"
Tifa took a step back, frightened by what the man had said. He honestly believes he's a monster? Tifa thought.
"How can you say that?" Tifa slightly sternly asked, making Vincent's gaze return to her eyes. "You saved our lives, Vincent. You're no monster, you're a savior."
"One good deed does not make up for a lifetime of sins," Vincent told her, straightly and sincerely. The seriousness in his voice almost frightened Tifa, but at the same time it made her furious at Hojo or whoever it was that made Vincent believe that he was a monster.
"Vincent…" Tifa whispered, praying that he didn't honestly believe the words he had told her.
"We should head back," Vincent told her, turning his gaze away from her.
"… Right," Tifa nodded, defeated in her attempt to find out more about Vincent and to convince him he's not a monster.
They traveled for about another five hours before they could see a very small town with a large, tilted rocket behind it. "That must be Rocket Town," Cloud told the group. "I'll go in and get some supplies, how about you come with Aeris?"
"Alright," Aeris smiled happily as she walked to his side.
Cloud nodded. "You guys stay here, we'll be back pretty soon."
"Alright," Red XIII nodded as the two separated from the team and headed towards the town.
"Be careful," Barret warned, causing Cloud and Aeris to turn back at him. "Don't want the Shinra figurin' out we're here."
"We will be," Cloud said as the two continued their walk to the not too distant town.
"We might as well set up camp now," Cait Sith shrugged, taking off the backpack.
Tifa, Yuffie, and Red XIII decided to go look for some firewood once night came around, while Vincent, Barret, and Cait Sith stayed back to set up the camp. It didn't take long for the trio to come back with firewood, and just after they had built the fire, Cloud and Aeris returned with the supplies, which the put away in the backpacks.
"I'm hungry!" Yuffie whined.
"Same 'ere!" Barret exclaimed, then turned to Tifa. "Why don't you make us somethin' Tifa?"
"Yeah!" Yuffie exclaimed. "You're a really good cook!"
"Well, all right," Tifa sighed, then turning to Cloud, who sat next to Aeris. "Did you buy any food?"
"Yeah," Cloud nodded, putting down a bag near the fire. "It's in this one."
Tifa walked up and dug through the bag, eventually finding some canned beans and other canned foods, which was usually what they ate. Tifa heated up the cans for everyone and distributed one to every person.
Every quickly chowed down their food, Vincent, however, was an exception, he hadn't touched any of his food, and once Barret had reached for Vincent's can, which was sitting uselessly in front of the gunslinger, Tifa shouted, "Barret! Let Vincent eat his own food!"
"It's quite all right," Vincent told her, his calm crimson eyes turning up to her. "I am not hungry."
"Why?" Tifa asked.
"Who cares?" Barret exclaimed, snatching Vincent's food, digging his spoon into it and taking a large bite. "More food fo' us!"
Vincent looked boringly around at the group, then glanced over at Rocket Town, with the large, awkward rocket raised tilted a little distance behind the town. At first Tifa pondered what he might be thinking about, but then she realized instantly. The rocket was a Shinra rocket, which probably reminded him of what happened, and just then she wondered if whatever had happened was always on his mind. She imagined that it was, at least most of the time.
Yuffie, having finished her meal, jumped up and took out her boomerang. "I'm bored!" she cried. "I'm gonna go train, anyone wanna come with me?"
"I'm wit you," Barret told her, slowly standing and wiping off the small pieces of the meal on his cheeks away with the back of his hand.
"No, it's too late to go now," Cloud announced to the two. "The beasts are much more common at night, especially out here in the wide open field. It's too risky for you guys to go out on your own."
"Oh come on!" Yuffie begged. "I'm so bored!"
"Sorry," Cloud told them, his decision, like usual, unchanged. "But we're staying put for the night."
"Oh fine!" Yuffie exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "Well what can we do then? I'm so bored!"
Vincent glanced at Yuffie with mild interest, however, for Vincent, this seemed to be the most interested he ever looked yet. Tifa thought she understood why he looked interested at the young ninja. It was because, Tifa assumed, the ninja was almost the complete opposite of the ex-turk; while she is very hyperactive, Vincent merely stands there, and probably watches the group with what seems like some humorous amusement. Probably because we're all so weird, Tifa thought playfully.
"It's getting pretty late, and we may have a large battle tomorrow," Red XIII announced. "I'm going to bed, I believe the rest of us should as well."
"Yeah," Cloud replied, standing up. "I think I'll take the first shift, anyone else want to do any shifts?"
"I'll take them all, if that's all right with the rest of you," Vincent told them. "I'm not tired."
"No way!" Barret bellowed. "There's no way I'm trustin' ya jes yet!"
"All right," Yuffie sighed, "I'll take the second shift then."
"I can take the last shift," Cait Sith told them.
"Ok good," Cloud said as the group all rose and left to their tents. "Night, guys."
After saying their goodnights to each other, Cloud sat down in front of the fire and gazed into it. "Whenever I look at fire," Cloud said quietly, Vincent was unsure if he was talking to himself or to Vincent. "I'm reminded of Nibelheim… what happened… what Sephiroth did…" Cloud paused for a moment, allowing a moment for his memories to catch up with him. "Sephiroth killed my mother… He killed everyone in town, and burnt down the town itself… I can never forgive him…" Cloud said, then turned to Vincent. "That's why I'm looking for Sephiroth… I have to avenge the people who he killed."
Vincent was completely still for a moment, then spoke silently and coldly, "You say Sephiroth did all this, and yet Nibelheim was unharmed when we were there… Also, you can't remember the end of your story. How are you so certain all of this happened?"
Cloud looked back at the fire, slightly angry. He was hoping by opening up to Vincent like that, that maybe he would open up to him a little. It was Aeris's idea and Cloud, though usually not a very open person, decided to try it if it meant learning more about Sephiroth. "I don't know what happened," Cloud looked coldly into the fire. "But I know at least that much… I know that Sephiroth burnt down the town."
"Sephiroth is a Shinra creation," Vincent muttered. "I suppose it's likely that Shinra rebuilt the town identical to the way it was before, however, why wouldn't the mansion be on fire as well?"
"Sephiroth never struck the mansion," Cloud told Vincent, looking into the gunslinger's crimson eyes. "Sephiroth… is a man of knowledge… he always tries to find out what he can't understand, and he'd stop at nearly nothing to find out what he wanted to know."
"I see," Vincent said, sounding completely unsurprised, almost as if he all ready knew, or perhaps assumed, that.
"And for Sephiroth, everything he wants to know is in that mansion," Cloud continued, turning his gaze back to the fire. "I don't think he'd ever do anything to harm that mansion until he… completes his mission. I'll make sure that never happens."
Vincent slightly nodded, and then gazed into the fire as well.
Then Cloud tore his gaze away from the mesmerizing fire, and looked at Vincent. "Why… why are you hunting Sephiroth?" he asked hesitantly. Despite that fact that Vincent looks weak, Cloud was still, though he would never admit this to anyone, slightly frightened by him and his very unique hidden powers.
Vincent remained silent, and simply continued looking into the fire. Cloud gave up on asking, and the rest of the night was silent.
There's another chapter!
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