Twighlight Perfection
FN: Alex being a human and a Sephiroth worshipper is at times as stable of mind and ego as the original (or the lesser known "You are what you believe in" mostly seen among Fenris worshipers) thus if you pity him, please leave reviews, otherwise you might as well be hitting his fragile ego with a sledgehammer. Bare in mind I don't dislike reviews either but I'm a cat, I don't have to think I rule the universe because I already know it, for me a good reviews is like a good scratch behind the ears, nice but not essential to life. So as the recent dirth of reviews has made Alex go twitchy around the eyes, and say things like "must attend reunion" please help alleviate his mental strife, before he has to start sticking pointy things into people named Strife. Ohh and if you check Alex's bio we have a short story up in the Hellsing anime section called "I think that we're lost again" R&R it or Alex will have to burn Nibelhime to the ground again.
OWAN: He's right. Oh, and I'll no longer be editing the FN's for spelling, it seems legible enough. Besides, I was thinking more Junon than Nibelheim; you can only burn one town so many times before it stops being pretty.
Chapter 15: It's been a bad day, please don't take a picture, it's been a bad day.
Curiosity killed the cat, but then the cat also had nine lives. James planed to break even and start curbing his curiosity when he had four lives left, as he still had nine, why not try and figure everything out? You would fail anyways, but if you tried you might find some stuff out that personally interested you.
"What's it like to be a vampire?" James and Vincent were now both on top of the inn's roof at this point. Vincent had currently been busy looking up at the sky, so James decided he might as well indulge in his favorite hobby, mythology. Alex was slightly interested telling him some things, but not really in the particulars. Vincent was calling Sephiroth "Master" which meant that Vincent would probably do anything Sephiroth asked him to. With that fact in mind, asking Sephiroth to ask Vincent to tell him about vampirism was his backup plan.
Vincent looked over at James, and one pair of dark red eyes met James' bright red ones. "Give me your arm." Shake hands? Okay, whatever, James calmly thrust his left hand forward, for Vincent to take it. As soon as James did this he reconsidered his actions.
The right hand would shake the right hand, and the left hand would shake the left hand. If James was offering Vincent his left hand, he was asking Vincent to shake it with his left hand. A shake from Vincent's left "hand" would probably prove very painful for James. So instead he drew it back and offered Vincent his right hand.
Vincent had no apparent intentions to shake James' hand. Instead he stood up, walked over, and rolled up the sleeve of James' jacket. He took one look at James right arm, and let out an irritated sneer. To be fair James was slightly insulted, you didn't often get people looking at how good your arm was before they shook your hand. "Umm... what are you doing?"
Vincent was now running a gloved thumb up and down James arm, which not just slightly unsettling mentally, it just plain felt weird. Vincent took his eyes off James' arm for a moment to look at him. "Simple, I'm looking for a blood vessel. But whatever the f you are, I can't find one."
Once James understood what the cause of the unpleasant situation was, he suddenly realized how interesting it was. "Are you sure you're not just inexperienced? I mean, didn't you only come out of your coffin today, maybe you need to look closer?" Vincent barred his fangs at James in a very impressive snarl. He also began to press harder against James' arm moving from unpleasant to slightly painful.
His voice sort of reminded James of Alex's, he could make evisceration (whatever that was) a science. "This is not a matter of experience, it's a matter of instinct. People have blue veins in their arms that carry blood, by placing pressure on the limb the vein becomes more evident. With you all I'm getting is skin. What are you?" This might do something to explain James' interest in mythology: mythology was interested in him. "Umm, what would you say if I told you that I don't have any idea?"
Vincent removed his hand from James' arm and looked him up and down once more. "Okay, fine then, whatever you are, you don't have an arm vein. Let's see if I can find something in your neck, okay?" James turned around, removed his hat, forget fear, all James felt was interest.
Vincent took a moment to run a hand up and down James' ears, and uttered a quick "What the hell..." before he got back to the job. After a few moments of having the thumb of Vincent's right hand go up and down his it finally stopped. "Good, you've got a neck vein. If I couldn't find one of those then I'd be afraid you were already as dead as I am. You may feel a slight stinging sensation." It was more like a slight prickling sensation as Vincent drove his teeth into James' neck.
Once Vincent was done with that, he spun James back around, and James was privilege to an amazingly interesting experience. He got to watch someone age 10 years in about a minute, in reverse. First Vincent's hair shortened slightly, it became less tangled. His face seem to soften slightly, eyes grew slightly brighter. He became a few inches shorter, but his body structure still remained as lanky as before hand.
Once the entire process was complete Vincent took a moment to wipe the excess blood off his mouth, before he licked it off his sleeve. "You wanna know what it's like to be a vampire, sit down." Vincent sat down motioning for James to do the same, which he did. "Do you have any idea why I asked to drink your blood before I answered your question?"
James shook his head wordlessly, the possibility of whatever he was about to learn holding him in thrall. "Simple reason, the more blood a vampire drinks, the younger they get. You taste very good, not as good as my Master, but you are, without a doubt, a virgin." James accepted the compliment regardless of how little he understood it.
"My answer regarding my condition changes depending on how old I'm feeling. When I'm fully feeling my age I'd say that vampirism is a curse that dooms one to a horrible undeath, from which there is no escape. If you wanted to know when I was the age that I was before I died, I'd say that vampirism is just the afterlife, with a chance to make up for past mistakes."
James had some idea of what Vincent's next words were going to be. "What would you say if I asked you like you are now?" Vincent smiled at James and gave him a thumbs up. "Vampirism fing rocks. Beats the shit out of being alive, let alone being dead." "What makes the difference?"
Vincent reached into his pocket, pulled out a pair of red sunglasses and slipped them on over his eyes before he smiled at James. "The secret of happiness to life is something that I'm sure you've already figured out. It's all about spending so much time thinking about the good things in this world that you don't have time for the bad ones."
Wow, James had already figured out the secret to universal happiness. Granted, there were plenty of other mysteries left for him to solve. "When I'm like this do you know what I think about? All the things I thought about when I was this old as a human. Killing people, and fing women. Only different is that I'm just thinking about her instead of various women. That, and instead thinking about killing various people, I'm thinking about killing the man who killed her."
"So how much about vampirism is myth and how much of it is fact?" As James asked that question, the sun suddenly decided to peak its head up.. Vincent reached into a pocket of his Turk uniform and handed James a small roll of gauze. "You'll want to tie this around your neck, it's still bleeding. Vampire bite marks don't heal over very quickly. Most of the times vampires either kill their prey or lick the wound shut. Sadly I really don't want to run my tongue up and down your neck. I hope you don't mind, but a vampires tongue is its primary sexual organ, and I'd rather keep mine away from your neck."
James took the gauze and tied it around his neck. Once he had secured it correctly, he turned back to Vincent. "So don't you have to be going back to a coffin or something?"
Vincent leaned back on the rooftop, and shook his head as he lay back. "I'm a hybrid, a freak, a mutation, a real monster's monster. When I have this much blood in me, the worst sunlight can do is make me sweat the blood out slowly." "So who were you?" That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Forget just breaking a camel's back, that straw caused a solid stone bridge to suddenly collapse under James' feet when he was halfway across.
Vincent whipped around with blinding speed and looked James right in the eyes taking off his sunglasses with one smooth motion before he grabbed James around the neck with his right hand. "That is between me and my Master. You have absolutely nothing to do with who I was, understand?" James would have said he did, but sadly Vincent was completely cutting of his air circulation.
Eventually Vincent let go, and James coughed to clear his throat before he spoke "Clear as crystal." Vincent slipped his sunglasses back on, and smiled again. "Okay then, let's watch the sunrise, I haven't seen it happen for 30 years." James nodded, and coughed again, attempting to clear his throat again and again, and then he finally got it. "Okay then, Vincent."
Vincent looked away from James to turn his attention to where the sun would rise. "It's insane for a vampire to love the sun, it should burn us to ash, but I just end up getting singed. Here is to the pain that everyone tells us we should be in, but we never feel." James could echo that.
-------
"I can't believe I'm doing this." "Oh, come on Sephiroth, you have to remember to smile." "The last time I had my picture taken intentionally, I was standing right here, and now the man who took the picture, and everyone else in the picture besides me, is now dead, or worse. That sets a lovely precedent, doesn't it?"
Aeris didn't ask him what "worse" meant and Sephiroth was glad not to tell her. Ironically, five years later, once again Sephiroth was getting his picture taken before the mansion that he had been born in, and ironically this time it was with even lower technology. With more reliable low technology though, it was an old black and white camera, which would probably need a full second to take a picture, but it was the only camera in town that instantly took a picture rather than needing time to be developed.
The man taking the photograph was still slightly floundering in the gap between his beliefs in reality, and thus unable to take the picture. This was caused principally by two facts, the first one was that James had taken his hat off, the second was that Alex staunchly refused to have his picture taken as a human. Mirri of course found the whole process hilarious.
"Listen to you General, you sound like one of those indigenous Wutian tribesman who claims that having their picture taken sucks out your soul." Sephiroth looked at her and smirked back. "No Mirri, it has a tendency to take the souls of everyone else. Sure you're willing to risk it?" Mirri looked around and scratched her chin. "I think I'm going to need a leash before this photo is taken.
"For the dog?" The photographer had finally managed to recalibrate his mind within normal parameters, by adjusting his view of reality, the same way he had refrained from asking Sephiroth his name. "No, for James, holding still isn't in his vocabulary. "Right then..."
The photographer once again was in possession of that looked of glazed over deer in the headlights, lack of contact with reality, that military men came to so readily identify with "the civvies". Mirri dashed off and came back a moment later, red leash in hand. In the mean time the photographer distinctly heard someone say /Pathetic half blind human, can't tell the difference between a dog and a wolf!\ But he had been looking right at the group, and the "sound" was coming from right in front of them and none of them had moved their lips. So he ignored it, the more of this he ignored the better.
Mirri attached the leash with a "so stand still James" and then she turned to face the camera. The cameraman lined up the shot and Niro tilted up his glasses for effect, this time revealing milky white eyes. The photographer kept his eyes directly on the ground, the picture was well set up, it would develop itself just fine, no reason for him to see what was in. There was a flash of light and the photographer distinctly herd "F!"
A moment later, he looked up, he had heard that the camera could add 10 pounds, but he had never heard of it adding five years to a man's face, particularly five years that showed up not only in the picture but on the man's face in real life. But he didn't care, he took the picture, handed it over to the man who might look incredibly like, but was not, General Sephiroth, took the camera its stand and set the planet's record for the 100 meter dash.
-----
Sephiroth showed the picture to the group. It was incredibly stupid to chose now of all times to stop for a picture, might as well ask Tseng if he would very much mind what a nice photo-op the an exploding reactor was, before they started trying to kill each other. "The first rule of being a Turk applies very well right now, don't leave any evidence behind." Sephiroth was tempted to burn the picture but just put it in a pocket of his trench coat, no one would find it there. "So, none of us talk about this until much, much, later."
Mirri nodded though as Aeris looked at her a smile came to her lips as if treasuring a private joke that was too funny to keep private for long. "In black and white Mirri your hair makes you look like the Bride of Frankenstein." Mirri looked at Aeris, and then at James who was now rolling on the ground attempting to remove the leash which might have been simpler if he wasn't trying to do it the way Alex had taught him.
"Well look on the bright side Aeris, at least James doesn't have stitch marks all over him, we do our monsters right these days. No more stitching dead bodies together now we just make some DNA, put in an cocktail mixer, shake until ready and serve, results, one ready made patchwork being." Vincent had more important ideas on his mind, like how much his face stung due to the blinding flash of light.
"Master, do you wish me to deal with that photographer, the negative of the photo may need to be disposed of along with any, eyewitnesses." Sephiroth waved off the comment not out of mercy but practicality. "No, if I can read people half as well as I think I can, that man is currently torching the negative himself. We're bad news and everyone but Shinra is smart enough not to get in our way. Now, let's move, we've got miles to go before we sleep."
------
The Nibelhiem Mountains were an obstacle that seemed impossible to bypass. They rose up almost as tall as the skies with crisscrossing patterns inside like a labyrinth. But that was what Aeris felt, Sephiroth took one look at them and sneered at them like all his other foes. "We'll go over them."
He had said it, and so would it be. You didn't refuse a direct order from General Sephiroth, when he said run, you could run across water. Or at least SOLDIERS could, "humans" like Aeris just realized that they seem to be wearing an invisible ball and chain, while everyone else was growing wings.
That was the most obvious with Niro, he literally had grown wings. He was now in the shape of some kind of bird of prey and easily making his way up the mountain. It was just barely possible for Aeris to see Niro when he was in flight. Other times he would be sitting on some small perch catching his breath.
Vincent was the next worst, or best depending on how you looked at it. He was going up the mountain with truly inhuman speed. He was able to hang onto the mountain by what could only be called force of will. He didn't even need to be able to grip the mountain with his claw, he just had to shoot up the mountain, sticking to the rocks like a lizard.
Alex was busy making his way up the mountain, one huge jump at a time. Mirri was working her way up the mountain by the most direct rout possible. This route also happened to be severely lacking of hand holds, so Mirri was making her own.
She shot blades into the mountain every now and again to use as hand holds. James was now not far behind her, and he was using the same blades that Mirri had used. Which left Aeris and Sephiroth to work out how to get up the cliff. Sephiroth, Aeris knew, certainty must have had years of experience to rely on, which just left her.
"You'll be needing my help to get up this thing." Well at least Sephiroth got to the point quick and fast. "Yes, so how do you suggest we do this?" Sephiroth took a moment to look away from Aeris and towards one of the twisting caves. "Five years ago I had a guide show me the way through those caves to what's above." "If you know the way then why are you having them climb it?" "Because they can."
----
"Hey Mirri, where's Sephiroth?" James was busy taking the last step to transfer his body from the cliff face, to the plateau where the group was resting. As he did so he instantly made one quick realization, he was the last man up. This was followed by the realization that Sephiroth had been behind him when he started, but he had been sure that Sephiroth would have been able to pass him on the way up. Sephiroth hadn't been behind him, and now he wasn't in front of him. Neither was Aeris.
"Did any of you guys see where they got to?" Alex was lying on his side, scratching at his flanks with a claw. At James words however he cocked an ear forward in interest. /The Silverfang and Child of Gaia?\ Vincent suddenly began to look this way and that, unsettled in a way that being out in the sun had failed to achieve.
"Where is he?" He glared at each and every one of them as if any of them might be hiding Sephiroth behind them, (which was very odd considering that James could have hid behind Sephiroth) or if he might be under a rock. Amazingly, when his gaze was leveled at Mirri however she spoke to alleviate his fears. "Sephiroth is taking Aeris the long way through the mountain."
Vincent took one look at Mirri, snarled in anger directed at nothing and everything, and dissipated into shadow. This was a particularly amazing feat considering that they were in bright sunlight. Vincent closed his eyes and his entire body melted into the ground. Then there was a puddle of shadows cast by nothing visible that raced along the ground.
It quickly vanished from view and James felt like cocking his own ear at what he had just seen, except he wasn't quite sure how to do it. Niro and Mirri were as surprised as James, but Alex on the other hand seemed to practically have been expecting the event. /The dead travel fast don't they?
There is a great deal of knowledge about vampires among Garou. Chiefly how when a vampire is created it will drink the blood of the vampire who made it, and this blood will enslave the vampire to its sire. The vampire is a slave to its blood in many ways, slave to its undying lust for the blood of others, slave to the immortal undying nature of it's blood, and slave to the one who gave it blood to make it live.
I have never heard of a vampire enslaved by human blood, but that is what we see before us now./ Understanding showed in Niro's posture, and he spat in the ground before he spoke. "Bio weapon, fing bio weapon. He used to work for Shinra, they started with making humans into SOLDIERS, then moved onto making monster out of humans, before they started making monsters from scratch."
Niro's words did everything James needed to catch on. It was a clear series of events, causes outlined, leaving James to ask the questions he asked best. "So you mean Vincent is related to us Niro?" Niro took a moment to point to his black hair and to the holstered pistol he wore before answering.
"Vampires have been accused of turning into bats, wolves, and other things. I would also like to point out that Alex didn't take very kindly to either of us. I wouldn't say that were related by 'blood' but, as he's clearly been down there for a few years, he must have been one of Dr. Hojo's experiments. I'd say we're, meaning him and me, are probably something like second cousins once removed by marriage in the 'Family Tree' of the doctor's experiments."
Mirri and Alex took a moment to look at each other before Mirri spoke. "How the hell do you two do that?" James turned to look at Mirri and one eyebrow (and one ear) rose questioningly. "Do what?" Alex rolled over where he lay, continuing to attend to scratching his parts of his body in what James could only assume was a routine check for fleas.
/The Wyrm is not a single entity Black Fury, it is like a hive of bees, all answering to one queen. The Wyrm creates various servants to do her bidding. Horrible monsters to mindlessly rend flesh and kill. Those who seem to have great brilliance and beauty to entrap the weak of mind.
She also creates hunters, who come in all shapes and sizes but all share one single rule. All hunters have their ways, those small that get close to drive knives into backs, those big to inspire fear in their victims, but they are all brilliant. Of course like all things that come from the Wyrm, it's a twisted sort of brilliance, like an mosquito who gorges on blood 'till he kills himself.
The hunters are designed to work individually, but they are also capable of working together to take down larger targets, a twisted mockery of a wolf pack. Evil may be separated from evil, but nature can not be separated from nature. When two hunters are placed together, they, as you humans say, 'click'.
The Ragabash and the Shapeshifter as you can see are 'clicking'. It is a thing of nature, but not created by nature, one should not try to understand it, simply accept it. These two, can hear things in each other's words that we do not.\
Mirri looked accusingly at James for a moment, who felt his ears drooping, because whatever it was that happened, James had done it, and he didn't know how he had. "James, I need to ask you a question." Mirri's accusation quickly turned to interest and James felt hope kindle a fire in him again. "How many fingers am I holding up behind my back?"
It was a simple question, so James gave a simple answer. "None, your thumb is sticking out." Mirri smiled at his answer and revealed from behind her back her left hand with the thumb held up.
"Alex, here's a quick lesson for you. Nurture will always win out over nature." Alex barked something that James didn't care to repeat in front of Mirri, particularly when she was the subject.
------
The monster sprang from the shadows, literally. Where once a pool of bright light had been, shadow suddenly oozed down from the ceiling, Sephiroth had never seen a monster like that before.
Training took over his body though, he pushed Aeris backwards with one hand, and drew Masamune with the other. He held it in both hands and drove the blade into the mass of shadows up to its hilt. When training finally relaxed into his normal senses he realized what had just happened. Across the hilt from Masamune stood Vincent Valentine, his face once again that of a gaunt but not yet old man in his 30's.
Masamune was solidly driven through the right side of his chest, where his right lung should have been. Vincent looked down at the blade in surprise, several feet of it coming out the back of his body. Sephiroth looked down at in surprise, it was a fatal blow, blood should have been pouring out of Vincent's mouth.
Blood, oh. Sephiroth pulled Masamune out of Vincent's body and sheathed it. "What are you doing here?" Vincent looked down at the hole in his chest for a moment, and slowly the wound closed over. Apparently whatever magic Vincent's undead state imparted on him, it was greater then the magic on Masamune which normally prevented its wounds from being healed by normal things like cure materia. "Looking for you."
Aeris was slowly standing back up, and as Sephiroth and Vincent eyed each other wearily, she said what Sephiroth was thinking but unable to say. "Why?" Vincent, whose clothes seemed to shift with his age took a moment to wrap a red cloak he now wore around his body. "I have but one object, one service, one goal, one reason for 'living', to serve my master. A task that I can not accomplish if he is dead."
There was a very long pause as the two men looked at each other. Vincent, with the undying devotion, and the experience to know how he had failed once before, and would not do so again. Sephiroth starred back armed with his knowledge that he would refuse to be locked in to a life determined by others yet again. As the two glared at each other, both of them refusing to even blink, when Aeris suddenly came from behind Sephiroth, like a rapier thrust in the back.
"Umm, would you two take a step away from each other?" Sephiroth took one step backwards just like Aeris asked, before he turned on her. "Aeris, if you haven't noticed, I don't need any one to look after me." Vincent shot one look at Aeris, and one at Sephiroth that he could read all too well. It was the same look he shot Aeris whenever he was trying to tell her that she was overstepping her abilities.
Sephiroth spun back to Vincent and raised a finger threateningly. "Who the hell are you to tell me that I need your protection?" Vincent glared at the Masamune on Sephiroth's back. "Do you know how strong I thought our love was? Nothing in this world is as eternal, least of all those who think they are."
Sephiroth felt his right hand start to twitch involuntarily as if urging him to draw Masamune. "My name is General Sephiroth, none who try to bar my way will survive." Sephiroth couldn't help but note that Vincent's own right hand was now starting to twitch, as if longed to go for his holstered gun. As if that would help him, a 9MM silenced pistol against Masamune?
Granted whatever Vincent lacked in weaponry, he apparently planned to make up for in pure balls. "My name is Vincent Valentine. Where Dracula died pinned with a stake through his heart, I was born. I will not fail her, I will protect you from any threat, even yourself!"
Sephiroth had never fought a vampire before, but it he doubted it would make a true difference. All he had to do was to slice Vincent's head off, if that didn't work he could use magic. If only Aeris would move so he could get this obstacle out of his way! "Will you two stop this now!" Vincent seemed equally impeded by Aeris' presence between him and Sephiroth
Despite being caught between two people with death in their eyes, Aeris wasn't afraid, she stared them both down. As it turned out, Aeris apparently had a good glare when it came to training wolves to sit like dogs. "Listen, I'm not going to stand still while you two kill each other. Vincent, Sephiroth is more capable then you give him credit for. I've seen him face horrific monsters, and Shinra personnel alike. Sephiroth, take a step away from your ego, we're all traveling together because we get things done this way that we couldn't do alone. Do you think you can take Jenova alone?"
Aeris raised her staff in an attempt to be menacing that might have succeeded if either man was capable of understanding fear. What she did accomplish, however, was breaking the tension. Vincent snorted softly, and Sephiroth gave a mock bow to Aeris with laughter in his eyes and mock respect in his voice. "Very well Aeris, how about you lead?" Sadly, Aeris took that offer.
-----
"Gentlemen, Garou, Shapeshifters, James...I guess there aren't any gentlemen here, this is our target." Surprisingly Mirri was able to get away with that statement without any ill effects. Alex probably would have been offended as being referred to as anything that would have made him sound human. Niro wasn't exactly a gentlemen, considering it was possible (Mirri didn't want to find out one way or another) that if he could change shape, sex wasn't any more fixed. James of course, was James, and more likely to pay attention to other things.
"Sephiroth wants us to take down that thing? Not saying we can't do it, but it doesn't look easy." The target Mirri had pointed at was at least 20 feet long and ten feet tall. It walked back and forth on four giant legs, all of them ending in wicked looking claws. Niro looked on at the thing, and rubbed his hands together, once he killed that thing he would steal its shape. It looked like a wonderful form for causing havoc.
Alex looked on and licked is lips in anticipation of a honorable foe to slay. /A Materia Keeper. These things should be extinct, shall we enlighten it to the will of Gaia for those who are weak?\ Mirri nodded, she might not be Sephiroth but she understood the importance of having people who liked to fight. "Glad to hear you're ready Alex, because you have to hit it first, and hit it hard."
It would not be fair to say Alex's desire to kill wavered at this point, only his self-preservation kicked in. /Why am I leading the charge Black Fury? Since the Silverfang evidently left you in charge, why don't you attack it first?\
Mirri paused and took a moment to flex her arms, you had to warm up before this kind of thing. "Because Alex, Sephiroth left me in charge because he trusts me to lead you into battle, but he trusts you to lead us in battle. Surely you would agree that while I have more experience leading people, you on the other hand have countless more years of experience than I do when it comes to killing things."
A quick compliment thrown in with an explanation why you didn't have to do something. It was the same formula that women had been using since they first told men to carry heavy things because "they were stronger". Granted, Mirri used it very carefully, and only when it was for the good of everyone. It was a sliding slope from that kind of self indulgence to reclining on a golden throne while James stood over her with a fan.
That kind of thing would be fun in the short term, but it ultimately lead to spiritual corruption. The actual reason was that without Sephiroth the group had two main short range fighters, Alex and James. Alex was probably be best suited for hitting this thing hard, James was best for hit and run. Alex pawed at the ground, and Mirri continued explaining the situation.
"After Alex hits that thing, James you nail it fast and get out. Niro, you're going to need some kind of heavy power to take that thing. I'll use my blades and alternate between close and medium range. We keep hitting that thing and dodging its attacks till it dies. Good?" /A suitable plan Black Fury.\
Niro reached into his trenchcoat, and pulled out a pair of automatic shotguns, one in each hand.. "These things fire solid slugs. I'm ready to rock and roll." James, as always, was a coiled spring waiting for the slightest thing to set him of. "We'll take that thing down, if the Zolom couldn't stop us, this guy has no chance."
James tapped his scythe on the ground to emphasize his point, and Mirri nodded. She calmly touched Alex on the nape of the neck, her general place for touching James to spur him into action. "Okay Alex, your on." Alex put his paws to the ground and he was off with the other three not far behind.
The Materia Keeper turned to face him, and it's head darted down to try and snatch Alex up in its jaws. It failed, Alex darted to the side and then rose up on his hind legs. He managed to rake the claws on both of his front legs along one of the things back legs before he dashed past it.
James followed suit, dashing at the monster whose head once again snapped out at him. James wielded his scythe not as a weapon, but as a defensive tool to jam between the things hissing jaws.
As the things' huge gaping jaws came for him, James held up his scythe (blade out) between him and the Materia Keeper's mouth. The harder the monster tried to swallow James, the more it pressed itself down on the scythe cutting into it's mouth. This stalemate was broken by Mirri and Niro, who hit the Materia Keeper from opposite sides at the same time. Mirri launching claws, Niro firing all four barrels.
Both of them tore flesh on the sides of the Materia Keeper, who suddenly realized that it didn't want to swallow James all that much. Sadly, it had no gracious way to back down, as James adjusted his grip on the scythe so as to have it lodge even deeper into the things mouth. It was just as Alex was coming around for his second attack that the Materia Keeper suddenly struck.
Its entire body shimmered, and then an ever expanding wave of electricity shot out from the thing. James was hit first, as the electricity arced through his scythe into him. He went flying like a rag doll without his blade, skimming across the dirt till he came a stop against a wall of rock. Alex was hit next, with a startled yelp he was knocked to the ground his limbs splaying in every direction.
Mirri and Niro then sampled the things electric attack. Both of them were tossed against the walls of the canyon by the sheer power of the thing's blast. Try as hard as she could, everything seemed to be getting hazy, Mirri's vision was fogging over...
-----
The Materia Keeper let out a roar of triumph that was still slightly a hiss of rage because of the pain it was feeling from the metal claw lodged in it's mouth. Its "trine" spell had done its job, now it would just be a game of finishing off the wounded prey, the wolf that was not a wolf would be first, it was closest. The Materia Keeper slowly drew closer to its prey, its legs may have been wounded by they still worked.
"Hey you four legged cockroach! You've got something of mine, and I want it back!" Materia Keeper turned around in irritation, apparently one of its other prey would have to be dealt with first. It was the cat who was not a cat, standing on its hind legs, and glaring at the Materia Keeper. The cat who was not a cat had hurt the Materia Keeper, it's metallic claw was still stuck in the Materia Keeper's maw, but that meant the cat that was not a cat had no claws left.
The cat that was not a cat also had been badly wounded by the trine spell, it was limping, heavily favoring it's right leg as it advanced towards the Materia Keeper. It would simply be the matter of one quick claw swipe to dispose of this unnatural thing once and for all.
The Materia Keeper met its minuscule foe, it raised its claw, it struck downwards, and the claw buried itself in the ground. The cat that was not a cat had jumped away as the claw had come down, throwing itself under the Materia Keeper's body and rolled past it's back legs. The cat that was not a cat's voice came from behind the Materia Keeper now.
"I'm not back there any more, I'm behind you!" The Materia Keeper ripped it's claw free from the ground and turned around to face the annoyance. The cat that was not a cat was now standing on both legs, so its early show of weakness had been nothing but a ploy.
No matter, the cat that was not a cat stood no chance against the Materia Keeper. It hissed in anger still trying to free that metallic claw that had been lodged between its teeth, with no luck. So instead it took out it's pain on the being that had wedged that claw there.
It's claws flashed up and down, it swung them left and right, nothing worked. The cat that was not a cat was small and had the speed of an extremely small being compared to that of a much larger one. The cat that was not a cat was an unswattable fly, a unscratchable flea, if only it would stand still!
Finally the Materia Keeper succeeded against the smaller foolish cat who was not a cat. The thing slowed down just enough for the materia keeper's claw to slice the cat who was not a cat's leg, and blood spurted from the wound on it's left leg. There were no tricks now, the prey was wounded and the Materia keeper moved in for the kill. Suddenly the cat that was not a cat started to laugh, this was new.
The Materia Keeper knew that various animals reacted in different ways to the prospect of their own demises. Apparently the cat who was not a cat, instead of releasing some kind of pain numbing substances, was releasing something to make him completely happy before his own death. The Materia Keeper drew closer and the cat that was not a cat began to bang its front paws on the ground with laughter.
The Materia Keeper drew forward with more caution now, perhaps this was not natural, perhaps the cat that was not a cat possessed some kind of sickness that would make it unsafe to eat. He should see where its other prey lay. The Materia Keeper turned around, and it suddenly understood why the cat that was not a cat was laughing.
The wolf that was not a wolf was back on its legs, along with the human that was the Materia Keeper's usual prey, and the thing that was nothing. The Materia Keeper suddenly realized just how much of its strength it had expended chasing down the cat that was not a cat. That and how much blood it must have lost, that wound inflicted by one razor claw was suddenly starting to hurt much more vividly.
Its fate was sealed the moment the wolf that was not a wolf bit through one of its legs. Then there were other impacts, and the materia keeper tried to flee, but only succeeded in limping a few steps before collapsing at the feet of the laughing cat that was not a cat. That horrific monster that had caused this!
-----
Niro had plenty of time to reload both nine gauge shotguns, three solid slug rounds each, enough to make a very serious impression. He smirked slightly as Alex's 'voice' echoed in their heads/Our prey is crippled, take it down!\
The Materia Keeper turned around to face them, and Niro could quite clearly see the whites of the thing's eyes, except they were bloodshot now. /Strike!\ "BLAM!" "BLAM!" Niro's shotguns let lose in close to complete unison, the one on the left just after the one on the right. The slugs tore into the Materia Keeper, one in the left shoulder, one in the right. Niro kept his aim perfectly steady, he was born to do this.
"Chunk." "Chunk." "BLAM!" "BLAM!" A spent slug was ejected from each gun, and a new round was automatically loaded into place. Niro adjusted his aim slightly before he pulled the triggers a second time. The rounds went through the shoulders leading to the back legs instead of the front legs this time.
Mirri had already put 5 blades in each of the things legs having replaced her claws once. The thing tried to turn around, either to run or at least kill James before it expired Niro didn't know, nor did he care. "Chunk." "Chunk." "BLAM!" "BLAM!" This time the two rounds were closer together as he put them through the Materia Keeper's head. "Chunk." "Chunk." "CLANG!" "CLANG!" Niro dropped both of the smoking guns just before the monster he had been shooting at dropped to the ground.
Niro allowed himself a satisfied smirk, one more face to put in his collection, one more part for the expert actor to play. That magical electric attack would be fun to use, it felt like it could have taken down a battalion of SOLDIERS all on its own. James was currently busy untangling a roll of gauze that was tied around his neck and placing it around his wounded leg.
Once he did that he stood back up and smiled at the three of them across the huge carcass between them. "Thanks guys, you all okay?" It took a special mind like James' to bother to ask if his friends where okay when he had just finished wrapping his own wounds a moment ago. Mirri took special care to tread on the dead monster as she crossed over it to reach James by the shortest path.
"I've been better James, how is your leg?" James being James, took a moment to lick his finger, and rub it up and down the back of his neck. Seeing that there was no blood coming from his neck, he made his decision. "My leg's pretty good." You couldn't call it respect, you couldn't call it admiration, but whatever the heck it was, James had it from Niro.
James meanwhile after hobbling slightly managed to achieve a fairly decent walk and made his way over to the mouth of the dead Materia Keeper. Then it was just a quick yank to finally free his scythe from the dead monster. "Ha!" James returned the scythe to the strap across his back that kept it steady if not doing much to hide weapon in question.
Alex was currently taking a chance to feed on the meat of the Materia Keeper and apparently gorging himself like he hadn't eaten in days. "Been keeping busy Mirri?" Sephiroth, Aeris, and Vincent emerged from a small cave, and it was Sephiroth who made the announcement while looking at the dead Materia Keeper before him. Mirri bent down and started to remove blades from where she had planted them in the beast.
"You know how I try Sephiroth. By the way, you told me how we were going over the mountain, but would you mind telling me why?" Niro was noncommittal on the entire subject, but he chose a good spot on the dead monster to sit down on. He was used to the principle of being in the dark when it came to why he did something, he existed to kill those who he was told to kill.
James was another breed all together, you give him a clock, and he would rip it apart till he still didn't understand how it worked and it was broken. That was why it was chiefly a good idea to have someone on hand to guide James as he took it apart, then at least he might understand how it works as he broke it.
Sephiroth found a place to sit down, and so did Aeris, Vincent who was starting to look like (in age) he had when Niro had first seen him chose to remain standing. "This is complicated, so everyone try to pay attention. James found an important book in the Shinra Library. Doctor Hojo has been looking for the Black Materia, because it has the power to destroy the Planet." Alex scoffed bitterly at this announcement. /You humans already seem to be doing a fine job when it comes to the process, why do you need to accelerate it?\
Sephiroth ignored Alex's comment and continued. "The Black Materia is supposedly in the Temple of the Ancients, and the book has a map in it, which I took with me. The problem is that to get there we'll need to go either by boat or by air since its on an island that's so far from the mainland, even I'll have trouble swimming there. Which means we need to find someone who can 'lend' us a vehicle one way or another. Also, I want to use Rocket Town as a place to restock our weapon supply, and there's only one person I can think of who would help us with both."
Mirri buried her face in her hands, something Niro had never seen her do before. She was either about to break down, or was dealing with someone who she disliked and couldn't kill. "Melkore... Melkore, Morningstar." Now that name rang a bell with Niro, but it rang an even bigger one with James.
His ears instantly perked up lifting his hat off head slightly. "Morningstar! He's still alive! I thought you killed all of my creators Seph!" Never doubt the power of humanity's ingrained nature to shy away from confrontation. General Sephiroth, a man who made his life making war and being solemn, ignored James' unorthodox shortening of his name. "Morningstar wasn't part of your creation James, he just had the basic idea."
James clapped his hands together in glorious anticipation. "Oh boy, this is gonna rock! It'll be like a family reunion mixed with a surprise birthday party because we didn't know we were alive to each other." Vincent and Aeris did seem to mind being left out, but Vincent wasn't about to question Sephiroth, so Aeris did. "Who is Melkore Morningstar?"
Sephiroth buried his own face in a gloved hand for a moment just like Mirri had. "He's a former Shinra scientist, but he quit when he had to work for Doctor Hojo." Vincent suddenly found the strength of will to enter the conversation. "A Shinra scientist with morals, don't make me laugh."
Sephiroth smothered his face even deeper into his gloved hand. "He doesn't have morals. He just has an ego so big that he refused to work for Doctor Hojo. He used to have his own place in the Shinra hierarchy, and did whatever kind of research he wanted. Specialized in making weapons personalized for SOLDIERS. He didn't make Masamune, but it's the kind of job that he would have done. When the war ended, was given a choice, he could either work for Shinra under Hojo or not at all. He took the good sum of money he had made, gave himself some mako enhancements and Jenova cell injections, and left. He's spent the last decade making various devices, including his own private plane."
Sephiroth had summoned up his courage, and then it was Mirri's turn to continue the recital, with a monotone befitting of Virgil to Dante. "SOLDIERS still visit him to have him make weapons for them. He made my gloves and the system that loads blades into them. He was also practically feeling me up every single moment that he was taking my measurements. Best weapons designed ever, but his personality should go back to the forge."
Alex let out his own dismissive snort at the recital he had heard. /Glasswalkers, they may help sharpen your claws, but don't expect them to use their own.\ Vincent had other thoughts as he was busy feeling the balance of his small pistol. Niro knew why, that pistol would have been well balanced for a human, but SOLDIERS could use much larger weaponry with no trouble.
All double entendres aside, Vincent's gun was too small for him. His desire to acquire appropriate armaments came second to his primary desire however, looking after Sephiroth. "Do you think he can be trusted?" "How can I put this Vincent? You can trust Melkore because he's too egotistical to betray us."
Niro saw an odd smile play on Aeris' face. "That sounds sort of like you Sephiroth." Sephiroth ignored Aeris' comment, and continued on with his explanation. "We better get started again, we'll need to get there before tomorrow morning." "We're on the highway to hell..." "That wasn't funny, Mirri." "I thought it was."
OWAN: I drew a rough lineart of the cast photo, it's crap, but it's probably better than nothing. I'm getting better, honest! You can find the lineart at:
http/ www. deviantart .com /deviation /22642184/