A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS
Hello, people! Up to Chapter 14 already. I just realised that I've spent over a year working on this fic! And I have no intention of stopping until it is 100 complete! I've been considering starting to write a novelisation of Final Fantasy 8 or even Kingdom Hearts alongside this one, but I doubt I will. I still have Desperate Desire to finish, and my friend ShadowYami is bugging me to carry on with Chain of Hearts as well. Plus my own novel… I'm up to my ears in writing.
Anyway, I just wanted you all to know that there will be a fair bit of originality in this chapter, so no one asks 'how do you get that scene?' and such. I also have to do some script searching, because I realised I don't have the bit where Yuffie goes up and fights her father, and I am including that bit in this part. Partially to get a new summon, but mostly because it will lengthen the Wutai section a little and I really like Yuffie's character. Well, on with the fic!
Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Part Seven: Treachery
Chapter Fourteen
A whole hour passed by before they finally reached land again, touching the shores of the far western continent. The plane slowed and got stuck in the sand close to the shore, so Barret, Cloud and Cid had to jump out into the surf and drag the plane up onto the beach. They dragged the plane as high up as they could so that the tide would not drag it back out to see after it came in. After all, they didn't want to be stranded on this new continent.
While the plane was being pulled up onto the beach Aeris walked away from the group and strolled leisurely across the sand. The ocean's tide came up close to her boots as she walked and she could feel the spray of the waves against her face and arms, blown up by the breeze.
She stopped next to a gathering of large rocks piled up alongside a small cliff. They seemed fairly stable, so Aeris placed her staff down on the ground and began to climb. She climbed carefully, placing one boot in front of the other and grasping onto the jutting out rocks for balance. When she finally reached the topmost rock she sat down, and looked out into the distance.
It was an absolutely beautiful view. She could see the ocean for miles around, as well as the faint line of the other continent at the top of the horizon. That land seemed to stretch out to the left as far as she could see, and she wondered where it ended. She believed she could even see the tower of Cosmo Canyon – but that could easily have been another mountain.
Breathing in Aeris felt her lungs fill full of fresh sea air. The salty taste woke her senses and pushed away the fatigue and stress of their journey. She could hear nothing but the ocean crashing loudly against the rocks, sending clouds of spray up into the air. One particularly large wave hit the rock in front of her, and spray flew up and fell down over her. It was cool against her skin, and as she opened her eyes and watched the spray fall, she could think of no better moment than this. Moments like these were what she treasured the most, and she wanted to just get lost in the moment. She almost did, until she looked down at the rocks beside her.
"Oh! Yuffie!"
Yuffie was standing on the sand next to Aeris's staff. She seemed startled when Aeris called out to her and looked up in surprise, before a cheerful smile spread on the ninja's face. She gave Aeris a little wave before jumping expertly across the rocks to where Aeris was sitting. Aeris shifted over a little as Yuffie jumped up to her, and the youthful ninja sat herself down on the rock.
"It's a nice alcove, isn't it?" Yuffie said, sounding somewhat serious for the first time.
Aeris nodded. "Yes, it is," she replied. "When I was in Midgar, I remember reading about places like this, but I never thought I'd actually get to see them." She pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned her head back, eyes closed, as though she was listening quietly to something. "I wonder what they call this place…?"
"The Mountains of the Korei no Senshi."
Aeris opened her eyes and looked at Yuffie. "Hmm?" she said.
Yuffie sighed heavily and slowly climbed to her feet, looking out at the clear blue ocean. "The mountains, and the land surrounding them, are known as the Mountains of the Korei no Senshi, or 'Mountains of the Ancient Warriors'," she said. She put her arms behind her back and began to walk slowly across the rock. "All the powerful ninja's of Wutai fought here in the past. They fought here to protect Wutai-" She stopped suddenly and turned back to Aeris, blushing. "Or so I've heard."
Aeris was about to ask Yuffie a little more about what she meant, but as she was about to speak she heard Cloud's voice calling out to them above the waves. She looked past Yuffie's shoulder and saw Cloud with all the others. They were standing away from the beach now, at the entrance to a steep and rocky path leading up to the top of the first cliff. Cloud waved at them, signalling for them to hurry up.
"We're coming!" Yuffie called back. She looked back at Aeris and winked, before she turned away and jumped down off the rocks in one long leap. She landed perfectly on the ground and darted off to the others, back to her usual hyper nature.
When Aeris had finished carefully climbing down the rocks and caught up to the others, they headed on up the path. It was much steeper than they first thought, so they took their time and headed up steadily so they wouldn't tire. Even so it wasn't long until their muscles were burning from the effort of walking, and had to slow down even more.
They walked almost in single file, with Cloud and Red XIII leading the way while Yuffie and Cait were lagging behind at the back. Cait was the furthest back – his Mog body finding it difficult to manoeuvre across the rocks. He had to go really slow and walk around the bigger ridges, and spent a lot of time fiddling with his controls and muttering to himself.
Eventually Cloud and Red XIII reached the top of the path and stepped onto the cliff. Up here the air was cooler and much breezier, and ruffled Red XIII's fur. The hound opened his mouth wide and flared his nostrils. Like that he was able to catch almost every scent that the wind brought with it – mostly the scent of the ocean and the mountains around them. One by one the others caught up to them and stood on the top of the cliff, looking around.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wa---------it!"
Everyone turned around in surprise as Yuffie came running up the mountain path. At first they thought she was being chased by a monster, until they saw that there was nothing following her. Yuffie used the scattered rocks on the ground to jump her way around the group, before finally landing in front of them. She stood firm and spread her arms wide, preventing them from going any further.
"Wh, wh, what is it, all of a sudden?" Cait said, flailing his arms as he tried to keep his Mog body from falling over onto its back. "Don't scare me like that!"
"What the…?" said Tifa, catching her breath. "Did something happen?"
Yuffie shook her head. She then pointed to the path behind her, where the rocky cliff stopped and an old wooden bridge crossed the gap. "I know this area pretty well," she informed them. "It gets pretty tough past here. Better get ready…"
Silence greeted her words. The group slowly looked from one to the other, not entirely convinced by Yuffie's words. The disbelief showed on their faces, and when the eventually turned back to Yuffie, Tifa folded her arms.
"…Really?" she asked. She looked closely at Yuffie's face, trying to find any signs of deception in the mischievous ninja's eyes. Although there were no signs, she still wasn't convinced. "Something's telling me I still shouldn't trust you. Are you thinking of tricking us again…?"
She was of course referring to the day that they first encountered Yuffie, in the forests just outside of Junon. She had managed to trick them then and stole their materia, until they finally caught her and got it back. Even after all this time they still found themselves holding shreds of doubt about Yuffie's true intentions.
Yuffie stared at them in what looked like surprise and shock, and she shook her head fiercely. "No!" she protested. "It's REALLY tough…" She tried her best to look as earnest as she could, trying her hardest to convince them. It almost worked, until…
"There they are, catch 'em!"
Cloud looked up. His eyes widened as he saw two Shinra soldiers running across the bridge towards them, their rifles at the ready. Before anyone had a chance to move or realise what was happening the soldiers had run up and surrounded them. They raised their rifles and aimed at the group.
"Shinra?" Cloud exclaimed.
"It's Shinra!" shouted Red XIII at the same time, snarling loudly.
The two soldiers stood firm, the barrels of their guns held steady as they gazed slowly upon the nine people in front of them. None of the nine moved. They didn't even dare reach towards their weapons in case the soldiers chose to open fire on them. The soldiers gazed from one person to the other. "Hey, that's not them!" one of them said finally. "These are the other guys from before!"
While all this was going on, Yuffie was hopping frantically from one foot to the other. Her face was pale and she looked extremely anxious, as though she had been caught out. Tifa saw the nervous look in the young girl's eyes and gasped, realising the truth. "Yuffie, you're not……!"
"So what does this mean…" said Vincent calmly, his hand slowly twitching towards his gun. He turned his red eyes over to Yuffie, giving her a frightful glance. "You will explain this later…"
Yuffie stopped hopping and stared, confused. Then she realised what they were suggesting and she jumped fiercely. "I didn't know!" she protested, desperate to prove her innocence to them. "I have nothing to do with this one!" Suddenly she clamped her hands over her mouth, realising that she had made a fateful mistake. She was much too late, for everyone had heard her.
"Whaddaya mean 'this one'?" Barret demanded furiously. He ignored the soldiers and raised his gun-arm, pointing the barrel straight towards Yuffie. "'This one'! So you WERE plannin' somethin'!" He cocked the barrel of his gun.
"No, umm, uh……" Yuffie stammered fearfully. She bit hard on her tongue, deciding that maybe silence was better than trying to explain.
The two Shinra soldiers continued to stand and stare at the group in front of them, unsure of what they should do. Even though this wasn't the group they had been sent out to get, they did know that Shinra wanted them as well. One of the soldiers turned to his comrade. "What should we do?" he asked.
"Uh…" the second soldier said, unsure. He thought for a second, before he nodded and turned back to the first soldier. "Get them! Grab them and ask questions later!" He then darted forward, gun at the ready, set to capture them.
He knew from the very start that it was futile trying to capture them. They were a group of nine, and his group consisted of only two soldiers. They were heavily outnumbered. Even so, orders were orders and he didn't dare to disobey Heidegger or President Rufus.
Sure enough, as he approached Cloud and the others the tables turned in their favour, and the group took advantage of the situation. The soldiers fired too late – the group were right up close and their rifles were useless. Weapons were drawn and zipped past at amazing speeds, and the loud clash of metal striking more metal could be heard. Seconds later two rifles were flung into the air and fell to the ground, crashing and clattering on the rock.
Those rifles were quickly followed by the bodies of the two Shinra soldiers, both of them unconscious and their helmets covered in dents. They weren't dead, but they would surely wake up in a few hours with terrible headaches.
With the two soldiers safely dealt with and unconscious, Tifa put her hands on her hips and turned back to the others, her face angry. "What's going on?" she demanded. "I thought something was fishy…" She stretched her arms out in front of her, and something caught her eye. Normally the materia slots around her gloves were full, but as she stretched she saw that every one of the slots were empty. "My, my materia is missing!" she exclaimed in horror.
At that point everyone started checking their weapons and armour, and at the same time they all realised that every single piece of materia they owned was missing. Every summon, every magic, every support… every single ball of materia had been smoothly taken from their slots, and were nowhere to be seen. Pockets were checked and the ground was searched, but it was no use. The materia was gone.
"Hey…" Aeris said suddenly. "Where's Yuffie…?"
It was a very good question. Everyone looked around again, this time looking for Yuffie. When the battle had started they had been a group of nine. Now that the battle was over, they were left with just eight people. She must have run off at the start of the battle, using the soldiers as a diversion so she could escape.
It was then that the final pieces slipped into place, and they understood everything. The way Yuffie had been hanging around by Aeris's staff back at the alcove, and the way she had jumped around everyone before stopping them. She must have been stealing the last of the materia then. And now she had run off – taking the materia with her.
"She's done it to us again!" Tifa shouted angrily, stamping her foot hard on the ground. She was furious that Yuffie had managed to trick them out of their materia for a second time. "I'm never gonna forgive her! She was after our materia from the beginning. I won't let her get away with it! I'm pretty sure she ran off North. Let's go after her!"
She looked back at Cloud, who nodded. The materia was an important part of their equipment – they couldn't let Yuffie take them just like that. They had no choice but to go after her. Cloud turned and nodded at the others, and then together they all began to run off to the north, in the hopes that they were following the same path as Yuffie.
"Yuffie! YUFFIE!"
There was no answer to their calls, but then again they didn't really expect an answer. It wasn't as though Yuffie was going to come out of her own free will and hand herself over to them. When they first set off, they didn't think Yuffie could have gotten away so quickly. Yet the mountains were vast, winding, and there were many little crevices and hidden paths that Yuffie could probably use to evade them. And the longer they searched, the harder it would be to find her.
Unlike the other continents they had visited, which were covered in vast plains of grass and wild monsters, this continent was covered seemingly from head to foot with tall, rocky hills and small cliffs. There were wild monsters; they could see the oversized Bizarre Bugs nesting in the darker crevices, ready to lash out when anyone came near. At any rate, the Bizarre Bugs would probably only attack them if they split up, so as long as they stayed together the monsters would most likely leave them alone.
"This is hopeless!" said Tifa, kicking at the rocks. She ran her hands through her hair and tugged hard, her body pushed to the breaking point in her anger. When she was finished pulling her hair she spun around to face the others, who were all sitting on rocks behind her. "She could be absolutely anywhere by now!"
Red XIII stretched out on the rock he was lying on and put his head on his paws. "I caught her scent a little while ago when we crossed the bridges," he said. "But after that her scent vanished. I cannot smell her at all now." He snorted loudly and put a paw over his face.
"Well, we can't give up!" Tifa replied obstinately. She clenched her fists tightly. "That's OUR materia. She had no right to steal it."
Cid was leaning against a rocky wall right then, twirling his spear loosely in his hands. "Ain't no chance of finding her now," he said. "That kid's slippery as an eel. She's probably far away from here by now." He glanced down at the ground next to him, and suddenly thrust his spear down.
The sharp blade pierced the hard outer shell of the Bizarre Bug with a loud crack, going straight to the vulnerable inner parts of the oversized insect. The bug squealed and shuffled for a second, until its legs crumpled up and its antennae fell limp. Seconds later the insect shuddered again and its body turned black and charred as though it was burning from the inside. Then, before their eyes, the Bizarre Bug began to crumble apart and disintegrate, its body turning into dust. Cid lifted his spear and twirled it in his hands once again. "Or lost," he added gruffly.
Aeris lowered her head, thinking back to when she and Yuffie were sitting on the rock in the alcove. The way Yuffie had spoken and the fact that she knew the area… did that mean something? "I don't think she's lost," she said. "I think Yuffie lives around here." She looked up. "That's why she knows the area. She must do."
"We won't give up just yet," Cloud said firmly. "It's still a few hours before dark. We'll find her." He then stood up and walked a few paces away, before he stopped and looked to his left, towards the mountains.
Just beneath the mountain was a short rocky ledge (short compared to the mountains, anyway). It seemed to come away from the mountain and came forward in a sort of fold, overlapping part of the mountain. Where Cloud was he could see just behind that fold, and after taking a few more paces forward Cloud could see what it was.
It was another bridge, just like the two they had to cross over in order to get to where they were in the first place. Like the other bridges this one was aged and was missing a few planks here and there, and sloped upwards to another rocky ledge that disappeared over its horizon, meaning it swept back down again. Until then the fold of rock had hidden the bridge from view, but now it was visible.
"There are still a few places we haven't looked yet," he said, glancing at the others. He then pointed to the rocky fold and the bridge beyond, and the others came and stood behind him. They all stared at the bridge for a second, and then they all began to head towards it.
They passed the rocky fold and walked carefully across the rickety old bridge, until they eventually stood on the top of the rocky ledge beyond enough. As they had thought the ledge sloped steadily down towards the land that made up the rest of the new continent.
The last part of the continent varied compared to the rest of it. Up until then all they had seen was a dry rocky land and mountains on all sides, but as the ledge swept downwards that rocky ground became more scattered as grass grew. Eventually the rock disappeared altogether, leaving behind another vast, grassy plain for them to cross. Although it was a disappointment to see grassy plains again, it was a relief to be out of the mountains at last.
Cloud stepped forward away from the others and put his hands above his eyes, shielding them from the bright afternoon sun, and looked around. There was still no sign of Yuffie, nor any sign that she had been here. However there was one promising sign not too far from where they were. A number of small structures dotted the ground, as well as one very large structure he couldn't see well.
"…A village?" he said aloud. "And… A mountain? I wonder… Is that where Yuffie is?"
Emerald: And so ends that bit of originality. I tried to keep in character as best I could – I hope it works. I just wanted something to fill this bit out a bit. Hope you don't mind. Back to script work in the next chapter!