Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters belong to Square-Enix and Disney.
A/N: I love how easy this story is to write. Some characters in this chapter are fairly out of character, and I admit, this chapter requires a little bit of patience. The next chapter is much better. Sorry if there are any mistakes, I don't really have time to proofread the chapters before posting them, I just kind of skim over them and change some things.
Content warnings this chapter: Extreme violence/gore and some language. This chapter contains a lot of angst, and before you ask, no, I don't hate Yuffie.
Chapter Two
Yuffie stood looking out over the Great Maw from the window in the Bailey. She loved this place, not many people came here so it was quiet and peaceful, and it had a glorious view. Sighing sadly, she jumped down to the path just beyond the window, jogging slowly to the ruined castle gates. Taking care that no one saw her, she snuck along the cliff wall and scurried into the ravine path.
She walked for what seemed like hours before she got to the crystal fissures. She set her pack and Conformer down here to rest.
"Wheeew!" She wiped some sweat from her forehead and ran her fingers through her short black hair. Opening a bottle of water she took a few sips until she felt better, then packed up to continue on. The sooner she was finished here the sooner she could go home and cry herself to sleep again. This was where things would get difficult.
Jogging down the path to the huge opening of the Great Maw, she looked around for evidence of the gang. There were a few footprints in some dried mud, but other than that there was no sign that anyone had ever been here. She continued through the Maw, jogging faster due to the stinging winds. She came to the end of the Maw where the ground drops away to the Dark Depths. She edged forward on her hands and knees to peer over the cliff face to the ancient ruins nearly a mile below her. Squinting down at the ruins she saw something move, and a man wearing an orange shirt emerged from one of the dilapidated buildings. He moved over to another building and stood there for a few moments. Another figure appeared from the shadows of the structure and she barely caught the hand gesture that passed between them. It seemed like the man in the orange shirt had motioned toward Hollow Bastian. Both men disappeared into the ruins and Yuffie decided to chance a descent.
Moving over to her right she gazed down at the sheer rock walls. There were several ledges and she thought she might be able to jump from one to another and make it down to the bottom of the crater. Taking a deep breath, she slipped down off of the upper ledge and eased herself onto a shelf in the wall. So far so good, but she still had a long way to go.
There was another ledge about ten feet below her and to her left. She hopped straight down and landed on it easily. The next ledge proved trickier and she jumped down another ten feet only to lose her balance and pitch forward off of it. She tumbled down and closed her eyes as she narrowly missed ramming her face into another rock shelf. She slammed into the sloped cliff face and bounced into open air. Thinking quickly she took her Conformer from her back and slammed it into the rock wall. Holding onto it tightly she was roughly jarred out of her fall, and her wrist popped, making her hand slip. She quickly grabbed onto the huge shuriken with her other hand and wrung her wrist painfully. Looking down she saw a ledge just to her right. Swinging her feet over she caught it and pulled her favored weapon out of the wall as she landed safely on the rock shelf. She crouched there for several minutes, sipping water and calming herself down. Her stomach growled and she realized it was nearly lunchtime. Groaning quietly to herself she shouldered her bag again and carefully finished her climb down the cliff face.
The moment her feet hit the base of the crater she fell forward and hugged the earth, pressing her face against the cold stone. After a moment of rest she looked around her and tried to gather her thoughts. She was pretty out in the open at the moment, and her first objective was to get some better shelter. Moving quickly and bent down towards the ground, she rushed forward and to the right, circling around away from the front of the ruins.
It wasn't long before she reached the bottom of the mesa the city stood on, and she pressed her back against the rock and looked up. Climbing up would be easier than trying to go down, so she wasn't too worried about this part. She huffed quietly to herself.
"No wonder Leon wanted me to go. Probably hoped I wouldn't make it down the cliff!" She muttered.
She took out some jerky and popped it in her mouth as she moved silently a lot the wall, searching for an easy way up. Still chewing contentedly, she found a low ledge she could pull herself up onto. Looking over it to make sure the coast was clear she hopped up onto the mesa and darted under a stone outcropping. As she peered out of her hiding place she heard footsteps nearby and twisted around to look over a fallen pillar. A tall, well defined boy in an orange shirt and dark pants stood barely twenty feet from Yuffie's hiding spot. His arms were crossed in front of him and he groaned loudly.
"When's he even going to get here, these stupid pranks are killing me, ya know?" He kicked a rock and it flew past Yuffie's ear. She ducked back behind the pillar and listened.
"Shut up, there's a reason you're not in charge. These pranks have a purpose, ya know?" Another male voice echoed sarcastically from inside one of the ruined buildings nearby.
"How are pranks making progress? It's pathetic, ya know?"
"Deception." A female voice stated dryly.
"Right, Fuu. We're marked on their black list. They know who we are and they've labeled us as 'no threat'. By pulling dumb pranks and pushing people around they start to think that's all the balls we've got. That way, we can observe them and register just who we're dealing with. We weren't hired to off this city ourselves anyway, one thing we gathered from our reconnaissance is that we're outmatched!" Yuffie heard footsteps and the voice drew neared. The man must have been standing right behind her on the other side of the pillar.
"And be patient, the last I heard from her she said she had some business to finish up and she'd be on her way. Any day now."
Yuffie chanced a look over the pillar. She could just see the edge of someone's black hat and the shoulders of a white coat. A light clicking drew her attention back to her side of the pillar, and before she came face to face with Vivi.
"Yaaaaaaaah!" She shrieked, leaping to her feet and stumbling backwards against the pillar.
"Trouble!" The girl cried, motioning towards the other two men.
"You!" One of them growled, grabbing her roughly and hauling her to her feet.
"You want me to deal with her, Seifer?" The man in the orange shirt asked, stepping forward.
Yuffie reached for her Conformer, but glancing to her right she noticed the silver haired girl Fuu holding it in front of her on two fingers. 'These guys are fast!' she thought, panic rising up in her chest.
"Nah, I got it!" Seifer said seriously, dragging her into the ruins of the dark depths.
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There was fog as far as her eyes could see, gazing out at the horizon. The ocean extended only so far, then was enveloped in the thick fog. A chill wind blew through her hair and when she exhaled she could see her breath puff up in front of her like cigarette smoke. There were no sounds, no even the crashing of the waves on the shoreline below her. Just emptiness, silence echoing back to her in that bloodlike fog.
She knew what was coming, and there was nowhere to run. Closing her eyes she prayed like she'd never prayed before, and the breath hit the back of her neck like a ton of bricks. Terror raced up her spine, making her shiver in fear as adrenaline pumped through her veins. She held her breath as she felt a long claw tracing down her spine.
With no warning the claw jabbed sharply into the soft skin of her back, making her cry out in pain. Another claw wrapped around her arm, crushing it against her back as she was forced to the ground. She heard the bone snap and pain flooded her being. She screamed again and teeth ripped into the soft flesh on her shoulder. Warm blood dripped down her neck and hips and occasionally she felt some hit her cheek as she thrashed violently on the frozen ground, trying to escape her tormentor. The more she thrashed, however, the more violent the creature became, and she heard several ribs crack as it leaned its weight upon her small frame. All she could hear then was her screaming.
Pure agony was all she felt, blood was all she saw.
There was nothing else in the world and all she wished for was for it to stop.
Hot tears rolled down her face and she knew that she should be dead by now. The creature released its grip and she struggled to drag her broken body forward, away from it and to the water. Maybe if she could get into the water she could drown herself and finish the task.
She had painfully dragged herself nearly a foot when the creature leapt on her again, flesh tearing and bones breaking. Thrashing in a puddle of her own blood she lashed out at the creature the best she could. As she finally gave up and went limp she felt teeth on her throat and then nothing.
xxxxxxx
Her eyes flew open and she stared up at the clear night sky. Bolting upright and cradling her aching chest she screamed. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed. She closed her eyes and screamed and screamed and screamed until there was nothing left.
When she was too tired and hoarse to scream anymore she fell back down to the cold stone underneath her. She continued crying however. It offered her at least some comfort. She felt her face with her good arm, her cheek was slightly swollen and she knew she had a black eye. Her ribs hurt like hell, but she didn't think they were broken. She couldn't remember a lot of what had happened, but it was pretty apparent that even after she had passed out her assailants had continued to beat her until they felt the job was done.
Exhaustion finally got to her and she drifted in and out of sleep for what felt like hours. She felt weak and knew that if she didn't get help soon it might be too late. She had lost a lot of blood in the fight and it didn't help that she hadn't eaten all day. She closed her eyes and drifted off into a thankfully restful sleep.
The sound of rocks clacking and sliding together woke her, and she peered up into the deep pink sky. She closed her eyes again when she heard the heavy thud of someone jumping down to her side. If it was an enemy, she didn't care anymore. The thought made a tear roll down her cheek, but she was too tired to cry any more.
A rough hand caressed her cheek and a soft voice broke through her silence.
"Yuffie…God, I'm so sorry." She sighed in relief at the familiar voice.
"R-Riku." Her voice cracked and she couldn't help but smile. "Thought I was a goner.. What are you doing out here..?" Those aquamarine eyes were the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her life.
"You said to come after you if you weren't back by nightfall. So when Leon said you still weren't back yet I came out here looking for you."
She could have sworn she saw a tinge of pink in his pale face, but she knew better than to think that the big bad Riku would be capable of blushing. The thought that he cared enough to come out here in the middle of the night to make sure she was alright made her want to cry.
"Is anything broken?" He asked, looking her up and down.
"I don't think so." She said halfheartedly. "Just help me get the fuck out of here…" He nodded and helped her sit up.
Putting her arm over his shoulders he pulled her to her feet. She looked up at the steep cliff walls around them.
"Who did this to you anyway? The only way you could have gotten down here is if you'd fallen!" He said, looking up to the nearest ledge thirty feet above them.
"It was that shit Seifer and his ass buddies. Remind me to thank Leon when we get back to town. How do you suppose we get out of here anyway." She coughed violently when her throat started to sting from last night's screaming fit.
Riku gave her a sympathetic look and scooper her up into his arms. She closed her eyes as he bend down and propelled himself upward, soaring easily up onto the ledge. He repeated the action, leaping another twenty feet for a ledge, then skipping over the rest and landing safely on the top of the cliff. He could see Hollow Bastian in the distance, and the Great Maw stretching out to their left. He started walking with the broken Yuffie in his arms and admired the beautiful sunrise on the horizon.
"Riku..?" She whispered tiredly.
"Hmm?"
"How did you find me down there..?"
"I saw some light reflect off of something in the bottom of that canyon. Must have been your shirt zipper." He had nearly passed the canyon by in his rush to find her.
He looked down at her when she didn't respond, but she was already asleep again.
xxxxxxx
The next time Yuffie woke she was lying in a soft, warm bed. She realized that she was wearing someone's pajamas, and there was a steaming cup of tea sitting on the bedside table for her. She sat up slowly, and realized that someone had healed her wounds while she was sleeping. She was still slightly bruised, but she felt great.
"Good, you're awake. I was so worried!" Aerith rushed over to her side, sitting on the bed and feeling her forehead.
"How long was I asleep?" She asked, rubbing her head where her headband would usually be.
"Oh, only about an hour. Have some soup!" She motioned past here at the table where she had set a bowl of soup beside the tea. Yuffie grabbed it and ate hungrily.
"Where's Riku?" She asked eagerly, still wolfing down her soup like she'd never eaten before.
"After he dropped you off he ran back to your apartment to get some things I said you'd need. Leon got here not too long ago, he wants to talk to you soon if you don't mind the intrusion." Yuffie had to admit, she didn't want to see him right now.
She was about to protest when they heard the front door open. Even Aerith was quiet as they listened to heavy footfalls in the living room, a thud as something was dropped, and male voices.
"Great, sounds like Riku's back." Aerith sighed, "It's times like this when I really wish Sora was-"
She was interrupted by the sounds of raised voices. Alarmed, Aerith rushed to the doorway and Yuffie scrambled out of bed after her, ignoring how sore her limbs were. The two girls leaned in the doorway and watched the men argue. It was an amazing sight, neither of them had ever seen anyone question Leon's authority. He was leader and that was that, unless you happened to be Riku apparently.
"This matter is none of your business. You're not even a member of the Restoration Committee." Leon wasn't quite yelling yet.
"It doesn't matter, you almost got her killed!" Riku glared at the older man and motioned toward the room Yuffie was standing in.
Leon stepped forward and glowered darkly at the silver-haired boy. "I didn't do anything to her! Who are you to-"
Riku stood his ground, and Aerith held her breath and clasped her hands in front of her chin. "I'm not fucking afraid of you, Leonhart, and I don't care what grudge you have against her, she's your responsibility! She went out there even though she didn't want to because you decided she would! You didn't know what she was facing, and you didn't care, did you?" He sneered at the older man and turned to leave the room.
Yuffie moved like she wanted to follow him, but Aerith stopped her and guided her back into the room. She helped her back into bed and sat beside her for a while. For some reason, all the young ninja wanted to do was cry. She curled up under the covers as thoughts of the past day flooded her stressed mind. Aerith sat there stroking her hair until she finally fell asleep again. She watched her for several moments before deciding that enough was enough and heading back into the living room to have a talk with Leon.
End of Chapter Two