Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-Enix and Disney.
A/n: This chapter was a bitch to write, but I think it turned out okay. It's a bit longer, and I'm trying to speed the story up now, so it's a little rushed. Took me all week to write, things were a little psychotic here. Sorry if there are any errors in it, I'm too lazy to proofread my chapters! Still open to opinions/suggestions. Or any comments really.
Warnings this chapter: Blood, gore, violence, disturbing images, and fluff. But I bet you guessed that.
Chapter 4
"Eeew…" Yuffie groaned, lifting up a foot and staring down at the four inches of bloody water she stood in. There was a putrid smell lingering in the room and she wrinkled her nose is disgust. She really didn't like the look of this place.
She moved forward, sloshing through the disgusting water. There was a huge metal door not too far ahead of her, and she squinted in the dimly lit room to see where the handle was. The door was old and rusty, and she had to use both hands to open it. Pulling fiercely, she managed to get the door to open a foot and she slid through.
Yuffie entered a dark hallway, with two doors to her left and only one to her right. The hallway ended ahead in what appeared to be an elevator. She walked to the door on the right and shoved until it finally creaked open. Peering out into the new room she saw what looked like a warehouse.
She walked in carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible in the inches of bloody water flooding this place. There were crates stacked all around her, and she was sure she didn't want to know what was in them. The door she entered the room from slammed closed with a resounding crash. She spun around, splattering water everywhere in her panic. A hunched figure stood there, laughing quietly as she watched it lurch forward. It moved slowly, but Yuffie was still horror-stricken. She couldn't quite make out what it looked like, the room was too dark, she simply turned and ran from it.
Splashing through the water, she dodged around crates and under old scrap metal and debris. She saw a door up ahead and she dove on it. Yanking the door open, she scurried inside and slammed it behind her. The door had no lock, so she hurriedly check the room she was in for escape.
Water dripped from the sealing eerily, making her hair stand on end. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what she was looking at.
Bodies. Hundreds of them.
They were stacked all the way to the ceiling, making a sort of path between them to a door across the room. The bodies were mutilated, explaining where the blood in the water was coming from. The ones closest to the bottom were extremely rotted, some only skeletons, and they sat in bones left behind by the bodies before them. There were organs in jars lining the hallway, and Yuffie's stomach churned as she gazed around her. Leaning over quickly she vomited in the water and began coughing violently.
She looked up as pounding could be heard from the other side of the door. Gathering herself, she dashed forward and ran down the hallway to the other door. She through it open and ran inside, sighing in relief when nothing was on the other side but some desks, old rotted out cubicles, and two very broken looking doors.
Unfortunately, the creature chasing her barreled through the door at that very moment. Yuffie screamed and tumbled back, eyes huge as she stared at the monster.
It was a fairly normal looking teenage boy. Darker olive skin, beautiful eyes, no hair, wearing ripped and bloodstained Capri type pants without shoes. What terrified Yuffie was the creature he carried on his back. It looked just like him, except that it had no bones in its arms and legs, its hands and feet were stapled together very crudely to make it a sort of backpack for the boy to carry around. Its eyes had been ripped out at some point in time, and it screeched like some kind of hellish beast. Sharp, rotting teeth lined its gums and it gnashed them at her hungrily.
When the shock wore off Yuffie screamed again and ran across the room. The creature followed her closely, shrieking at her and throwing desks and barriers out of its way. Tripping over something in her path, Yuffie tumbled face-first into the blood-stained water. The boy bent down and hauled her roughly to her feet, holding her by the neck. The creature on his back shrieked in her face again and she closed her eyes tightly as she gave up struggling.
xxxxxxx
She jolted awake, shaking violently and covered in sweat. She felt sick from the nightmare and her head spun as she looked around. A pair of arms tightened around her protectively and she realized she was still curled up on Riku's chest.
She would have blushed if she hadn't been so exhausted. Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she buried her face in it and wanted to cry. Somehow she just couldn't believe that he had really stayed there with her and held her all night. His hand shifted and he ran his fingers through her hair.
"How long have you been awake?" She asked softly.
"About an hour. You had another nightmare?" She nodded, gripping his shirt tighter and trying to forget about it.
"Yuffie! Open the door!" They both jumped sharply as an urgent voice called from outside the door.
Yuffie leapt from the bed, tripping over the blankets and stumbling awkwardly. "Tifa! Oh my god, this is horrible!" She looked around the room in panic.
"What?" Riku sat up and watched her suspiciously.
"She's going to find you in here!" Yuffie was bright red and looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She clapped her hands to her head and bounced anxiously in the middle of the room, trying to think of what to do.
"Yuffie! What's wrong? Open up!" Tifa pounded on the door loudly.
"Why is her finding me here so horrible?" Riku couldn't help but pout, that comment kind of hurt. He climbed out of the bed and ran a hand through his silver hair, trying to make it look less hassled.
Yuffie covered her eyes and blushed even more. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that, it's just-!" He walked over to her and brushed a hand along her arm. When she didn't complain he pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair. She sighed sadly.
"Hey!"
Riku sighed, "Fine." He muttered and moved over to the door. He unlocked it and swung it open, leaning casually in the doorway.
Tifa's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Riku!" She cried, staring past him to see Yuffie standing there awkwardly.
"Good morning." He said plainly, putting on his trademark blank look.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She blurted out, watching Yuffie sulk into the bathroom and close the door.
"Are you guys dating or something?" She looked back at Riku suspiciously. Riku shrugged.
"Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you about something." He motioned inside and she stepped in.
"You know about Yuffie's 'mild psychosis', right? She has nightmares that I think she was taking pills for." Riku said quietly, listening to the shower turn on in the bathroom.
Tifa looked at him oddly. "Yea, I was the one that took her to the doctor. But how did you find out about it? Yuffie's terrified to let anyone know." Riku glanced at the bathroom door again before lowering his voice more.
"I was on my way to check out Seifer's gang in the Dark Depths and she was sitting against the wall in the Bailey, screaming and crying. She was acting like something was trying to kill her. As soon as she figured out I was there she jumped on me and wouldn't let go, she dragged me back here and asked me to stay with her. I've never seen anyone act like that, she honestly saw something there and it scared the shit out of her!" He said urgently.
Tifa looked horrified. "I was there with her in the Bailey, I must have left just before that happened... I even saw you on my way through town!" She put her head in her hands. "What else did she say about it? Are her nightmares getting worse?"
Riku nodded, "The other day Leon sent me to get her for that mission in the Great Maw, and she didn't answer the door. I just came in anyway and she was screaming in her sleep." Riku thought for a moment, "Doesn't something seem odd about this to you? Something just doesn't seem quite right, but I can't tell what. I mean, Yuffie is so happy all the time, she acts like nothing's wrong at all." Tifa was about to respond when the bathroom door opened and Yuffie stepped out.
"So what did you want, Tifa?" She chirped happily.
"Oh! Leon wanted you to come downtown with me, that stupid gang is at it again and he's getting really sick of them."
Yuffie nodded and headed for the door. Riku and Tifa looked at each other before following her outside.
Riku paused as they started to leave. "Hey, I gotta go, I'd like to help, but I have work today." He waved to them and gave Yuffie a smile as they left. She raised her hand to wave back, but he was already gone, jogging down the street towards the market.
xxxxxxx
With all the shouting on Leon's part, it wasn't long before they caught up to him in the city. Yuffie was really surprised, she'd never seen Leon so angry before, if he got a chance she thought he might actually try to kill Seifer. He stood in a battle-ready position, pointing his favorite Gunblade at the offending trio ahead of him. He was covered in scratches and bruises, and had obviously been fighting with the three troublemakers.
He stood there exchanging threats with Seifer as loudly as possible, and Aerith was standing not too far away with one hand on her hip and the other on her forehead. She shook her head at them as Leon lunged forward to attack Seifer again.
Yuffie gasped in horror as she realized that Seifer was wielding her Conformer, and he wasn't bad with it. Tifa put a hand on her shoulder as she balled her fists in anger.
"Hey! Get your filthy little hands off my shuriken!" She screamed at him, pushing Tifa to the side as she tried to keep her from charging out into the street.
Seifer stopped and looked at her, an amused grin on his face. He narrowly missed getting the Gunblade in his stomach as he tried to take a moment to taunt the ninja.
"You again, you're still alive?" he drawled. Leon growled dangerously at him and moved over in front of Yuffie in case he attacked her.
"Did you come to help out? No wonder you were so easy to beat, this shuriken is totally useless!"
She shook in anger, the memories flooding back painfully. Seifer took something out of his pocket and flashed it at her.
"How are you feeling? You forgot your happy pills when you left!" He took the cap off and threw them at Leon's feet.
Yuffie's eyes were wide in horror, staring down at the tiny white capsules. Leon turned slowly to look at her, a questioning look on his face. Seifer nearly doubled over laughing.
"You're so pathetic! And you call yourself a ninja, what a joke! A ninja that has to take meds to stay sane, does it run in your family?" He laughed and his cohorts joined in, yelling mockingly at her.
"Yuffie?" Leon asked quietly as her body shook. She stared past him at the three and something seemed to snap in her.
Seifer screamed in pain as a shuriken stuck deep into his arm, leaving a huge gash were it nearly cleaved its way to the bone. Blood poured down onto the cobblestone street and he fell to his knees, gripping the ruined arm tightly.
"Oh my god!" Aerith screamed, rushing forward. She didn't care who it was, he was hurt and she had to help. Fuu and Rai rushed forward. Fuu stared down at the crimson street, her usually blank eyes filled with horror.
"You!" She cried, glaring accusingly at Yuffie. She jolted forward, leaping at the young ninja. Unfazed and thoroughly pissed, Yuffie delivered a devastating kick to Fuu's jaw, catching her by surprise and sending the girl toppling backwards in a heap.
Aerith flashed Yuffie an angry look, but she turned and ran.
"Yuffie!" Tifa called, she moved to follow the girl but changed her mind. With any luck, maybe she would run to Riku, at least she would be safe with him.
xxxxxxx
It was there, right behind her. Blood dripping from its fangs and claws. She darted to the side as it snaked an arm out toward her, making her yelp in fear. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it was going to explode.
'Why are you so afraid little one..?' It whispered. She clamped her hands over her ears and kept running.
Darkness seeped into her vision and blurred the houses around her. She blinked violently but it didn't help. Turning a sharp corner, the shadow behind her leapt up to the rooftops, giving her some distance. She felt relieved for a moment, before it pounced down right in front of her and she nearly smashed into it.
She shrieked loudly, thrashing away from it as it gripped her arms. Its claws dug deep into her arms, slicing through her soft skin and leaving several six inch long cuts. She was too panicked to notice, and wriggled viciously to free herself. Blood seeped down her arms and left red streaks on the rest of her body and clothes. She lashed out at the monster, managing to free herself and stumbled forward.
She thought it had vanished, but didn't stop to find out. She dashed down the ally and threw herself around a corner. A woman screamed somewhere to her left, and something heavy flew into her. Staring down at the body, Yuffie whimpered in horror. The woman's eyes had been ripped out, blood running from the open wounds. One of her arms looked like it had been chewed off and the ninja shut her eyes from the grisly image. The woman moaned in agony and Yuffie realized she was still alive. Screaming again hoarsely, she threw the body off of her and ran. Darkness was closing in, and she couldn't see anything but the houses around her. Blood ran down from the gutters in random places along the alley, pooling in the street so she could splash it up her legs.
A shadow moved somewhere near her and she cried out again in panic, throwing a shuriken at it. In her rush she stumbled again and fell. She rolled in the blood soaked street before coming to a stop and scrambling to her feet again.
It was too late, however, the shadow had caught up to her. It grabbed her around the waist and chest in a tight hug. She fought back, trying to get at another shuriken, but she couldn't reach. Screaming for help, the grip tightened and lifted her off the ground as she attempted a flailing kick.
Darkness began to seep into her brain and she let out another terrified scream as she felt herself losing consciousness.
Tifa spotted the spiky-haired swordsman up ahead, and ran to meet him. She had heard Yuffie's screams and come running to help her friend.
"Cloud!" She waved her arm toward him to catch his attention.
"Cloud! Where's Yuffie!" She cried as he turned to face her, the ninja cradled limply in his arms. "Oh god…" She whispered as she slowed to a walk.
"Oh Yuffie…" She stroked the top of the young ninja's head.
"Please tell me you know what that was." Cloud said quietly.
xxxxxxx
"Well, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. All the tests I gave her suggest that she's perfectly sane, but the hallucinations and nightmares you describe worry me. I can honestly say I've never encountered a case like this. She seems perfectly normal, but suffers from some kind of dementia." The doctor rubbed his neck tiredly.
"What can we do? There has to be a way to help her!" Tifa said urgently, gripping Cloud's arm.
"You could send her to an institution, or I can give her some more pills. It's either going to get better or worse, I can't say which for sure."
Tifa buried her face in Cloud shoulder.
"We'll call you again if we need any help, thank you, doctor." Aerith ushered him out the door. After it latched behind him she leaned against it and put her hands to her face.
"I can't believe this is happening… not to our little Yuffie." She sighed.
"See! Doesn't this seem odd to you? She has cuts on her arm! She wouldn't do that herself, so how did it happen?" Riku said, closing the door after checking on Yuffie.
"She must have caught it on something, she did trip a few times while running from whatever she thought was chasing her." Cloud said, head low as he tried to comfort Tifa.
"Something doesn't feel right, and I'm going to find out what. She's really freaked out, I'm taking her outside for some air." Riku said confidently,. No one objected as he entered the bedroom to get her.
xxxxxxx
They walked along between the houses silently, neither one sure what to say. It was beautiful out, the sun beginning to lower in the sky, but still casting bright sunlight down on the city. The air was crisp and warm.
Riku wanted to put his arm around her, or hold her hand, or something, but felt it really wasn't the time. She was still shaking gently from the incident, and he was really sorry he hadn't been there to help her. He had taken the day off as soon as he heard what happened, a friend of his agreed to cover the shop. He could hardly stand the silence, it was painful.
"What have you always wanted to do?" He asked dully. It sounded stupid, even to him, but she smiled.
"You know what? I've always wanted to go on a vacation. I like traveling, but I never get the chance." She looked up at the sky and tossed her coal hair back and forth.
He stopped walking and stared at her. No way, the great ninja Yuffie likes traveling? But she gets airsick! He couldn't believe it, maybe the reason she never went anywhere was because she got sick. That would certainly discourage him from travel. She turned to look at him questioningly.
"That.. Sounds really great." he smiled at her, a girl after his own heart. Well, maybe they have pills to help with motion sickness. She turned away to hide her blush when she noticed the softness in his aqua colored eyes.
"I love visiting new places, I'll take you, if you want." He said honestly.
She spun around to look at him, her grey eyes showing her surprise. "Really? You'd take me?" he nodded. "Seriously? You're not just getting my hopes up?" She looked at him suspiciously and he laughed.
Moving forward slowly, he took her hand in his and pulled her forward to meet him. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and back, hugging her gently in case she fought him. She relaxed for a moment, resting her chin on his shoulder. He smelled good, like the ocean, but also like some kind of dust, probably from the store he worked at.
She pulled away from him and walked a few feet back down the alley, then stopped and turned to look at him. "You coming?" She asked softly as he continued to stand there and stare at her.
Sunlight glinted off her hair and her grey eyes sparkled as she watched him. A light blush colored her face when she realized what he was doing, but she didn't turn away. She tried to stare back, but his aquamarine eyes were too intimidating.
He moved toward her, reaching out and gently grabbing one of her hands. He pulled her forward to him and she thought if he got much closer he might be able to hear her heart pounding. He brought his face closer to her and brushed his cheek against hers. She noticed his face had a bit more color to it than usual and nearly laughed at the idea of him being able to blush. He brushed his lips against her cheek almost teasingly, but she knew he was testing her, giving her a chance to say no.
She turned her face and caught him in a gentle kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she nearly swooned in the feeling. She'd never kissed anyone before and he certainly knew how to make it a memorable experience. His lips were soft and warm and she missed them the moment he broke the kiss and leaned back to look down at her.
His face was blank, but she could see in his eyes how happy he was. It was then that they realized someone was standing right beside them. They both jumped in surprise as they stared up at the threatening silver-haired man that was gazing down at them in amusement.
"Cute." Sephiroth stated with a smirk as he walked away.
End of Chapter 4