Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Dirge of Cerberus, but the sick soul that wrote this story is indeed mine.
A/n: I'm sorry this chapter is so late, I totally lost track of time. The next one will be much sooner! This chapter is a little shorter than I hoped, but it's all I've got right now. I hope you like it!
To the reviewers:
I'm getting lazy due to lack of sleep, so I'm going to reply in a general paragraph. Thank you all so much! It makes me really happy to know that people enjoy what I painstakingly write. Yes, I'm pretty mean to Yuffie, but it's getting close to the end now. Well, I forget what I was really going to say, but thank you, everybody, even if you don't review!
Chapter Eight
"Fuck."
Leon slammed his palm down harshly on the cancel button in front of him. The static on the screen faded to black as the connection failed and he crossed his arms angrily.
"He didn't answer, they'd better be alright." He growled to Aerith. She stepped forward and clasped her hands to her lips.
"Of course they're alright, if anyone can take care of Yuffie it's Riku. Just try again later." She said softly as he walked past her. He paced the room anxiously as he thought.
"You haven't heard from Cloud yet?" he asked. Aerith shook her head.
"No, he would have called me right away if anything happened to Tifa." She replied, watching him nervously. He rubbed a hand against his jaw and turned to look at her.
"Any idea what we should do about this?" Leon asked. This time Aerith just looked at him sadly.
"I don't exactly know how to deal with the woman you saw, but I'm sure our best bet is going to be getting Sora's help." She jumped as Cid slammed the door open and charged into the room.
"What the fuck is goin' on now?" He called out, moving over to where Leon stood. "I leave for a couple hours and when I get back here Cloud jumps out of nowhere telling me all hell's broke loose?" Leon stared at the troubled pilot blankly.
"Well it's not my fault.. Anyway, we need Sora, this is way too dangerous. Something happened to Tifa, and we can't get a hold of Riku or Yuffie. We're just going to lay low for a bit and see what we can do, but I don't want to act without everyone here." Leon said, crossing his arms and pacing around the room.
"Well we don't have a working gummi ship right now, so we're going to have to wait for Yuffie to get back if we want to go anywhere." Cid said, taking a seat at the computer.
Leon held a hand to his head and walked back out of the room.
xxxxxxx
Riku watched helplessly as Yuffie tossed and turned in her sleep. She cried out several times, and she was sweating profusely, but what could he do? She needed to rest, though she hadn't fallen asleep without a fight. He rested a hand on her forehead as she mumbled to herself. Shaking his head, he got to his feet and left the room.
He walked past the seats and glanced over at the controls. A single red light was flashing at him on the console. He leaned forward curiously and pushed it.
"Riku, where the hell are you? We need to talk! Call me as soon as you get this!" His eyes widened in surprise as Leon's urgent voice broke through the silence. He stepped back and searched the controls, finally finding what he was looking for.
Cid looked up as the screen in front of him flickered to life. The message 'would you like to take this call?' appeared on the screen and he leaned back in his chair. Pressing a button on the keyboard, the screen lit up and Riku appeared.
"What's going on? Leon left me a message, he sounded really upset." his voice cracked through the speaker and Cid rubbed his chin.
"Hm, I dunno myself, kid, hold on." He looked behind him and motioned across the room for Leon to come over.
"Riku! Is everything alright there? How's Yuffie doing?" He stared up at the screen worriedly.
"She's fine, but we have a problem. You know how Yuffie has those nightmares?" Leon nodded and crossed his arms.
"Well she was sitting outside last night, and I saw it. That thing that she says follows her, I saw it. It's fucking real! It was right there, hovering over her like it was starving!" He slammed his hand down on the side of the controls and stared at the two men seriously.
"Shit…" Leon grabbed his hair and turned around, pacing in a wide circle before looking back at Riku and Cid.
"Something happened to Tifa yesterday. We were following Seifer into the dark depths and this woman was there. She did something to Tifa, I don't even know what happened and I was right next to her! I think whatever happened to make Yuffie see that monster happened to Tifa, only she got it worse. She spent a good three hours screaming her head off." Leon stated.
Riku sighed. "I'm going to get Sora, maybe he'll know what's going on, or what we can do, or something." A loud scream sounded from down the aisle and Riku jumped, spinning to stare back at the bedroom door.
"What happened? Is Yuffie okay?" Leon rushing closer to the screen, as if he could help.
"Yeah, she does that when she's waking up, I'd better go make sure she's alright, though. I'll talk later after I get Sora." The screen cut out and Leon cursed.
xxxxxxx
"Traverse Town?" Yuffie whispered into the cold air, her breath billowing up in front of her as she exhaled.
She stepped forward curiously and gazed around at the familiar buildings. A light blanket of snow covered the town, drifting down lightly from the night sky. The city's bright street lights clearly illuminated the area and she watched her feet sink into the snow as she walked.
"I haven't been here in forever." She paused slightly in the middle of the second district, gazing around at the high stone walls leading to the walkway that wrapped around the square.
It was so quiet and peaceful, she raised her arms and twirled around, letting the snow fall coldly on her bare shoulders and face. She knew it was all too good to be true when a sharp scream echoed around the stone walls. She heard the rushed sound of running footsteps and turned just in time to see a shadow dart out of her sight, her eyes widening in fear as a second, much larger shadow followed. The streetlights began to fade and flicker, casting an eerie glow on the buildings around her. Moving quickly, she scaled the high stone wall and dashed into the Inn, slamming the door behind her. It was dark inside, as she got the feeling she didn't want to see when the metallic scent of blood drifted up into her nose. She felt the urge to vomit, but stumbled out of the hallway and into a familiar room. Bursting out the back door, she fell on her knees on the balcony. There it was again, running. She threw herself forward to gaze over the ledge just in time to see a girl run by below her.
And then the demon. It tore after her, blood dripping on the ground behind it, seeping from its very being. It lunged forward at the girl and Yuffie gasped in horror when realization dawned on her.
"Tifa!! Over here, get up here!!" She leaned over the edge urgently, waving a panicked arm at her friend.
She listened, not seeming to care how or why Yuffie was there, but she leapt to the side at the monster crashed into the building behind her. Darting up onto the low roof and onto the balcony, Yuffie grabbed her arm and threw her inside the room, charging after her and slamming the door. She locked it and fell back, huffing nervously as she stared around the room for Tifa. The dark haired fighter leaned on the bed, huffing from exhaustion. She clutched a hand to her chest and blood dripped from her arm.
"Yuffie, what the hell is going on?" She gasped, cringing in pain as she tried to straighten up and walk over to the young ninja.
"You're in my nightmare and that monster is after us. It's always after us, and it's always going to be after us. All you can do is run, it's too powerful to fight." She said quietly, walking over to her injured friend.
Both girls jumped and screamed when the door was ripped off its hinges, revealing the creature itself. It lurched forward, giving them enough time to yank the other door open before darting forward and grabbing Yuffie around the neck. She let out a choked shriek and Tifa hesitated in the doorway, unwilling to leave the ninja to die.
"Yuffie!!" She sobbed, watching in horror as it held up Yuffie's right arm and bit down on the soft flesh.
Blood flowed onto the carpet and down her thin body, the sound of bone cracking under the creature's jaws piercing throughout her being. Yuffie's pained shriek filled the air and Tifa screamed with her, slamming backwards against the door. She wanted to run, go anywhere but here, but she couldn't just leave Yuffie. She couldn't help, completely paralyzed by fear, she was forced to crouch in the doorway and watch the ninja be devoured. Her eyes went wide with disbelief as the arm was dismantled and the remains thrown aside carelessly. Yuffie's screams continued to fill the air as she begged Tifa to go.
There was no end to the horrors this creature could commit, biting and slashing and ripping at the girl's defenseless body, sending blood everywhere and filling the room with the heavy scent of death. Yuffie's constricted screams faded to pained gurgles as blood began to trickled from her mouth. Tifa leapt to the side and screamed even louder when the monster flung the mangled and lifeless body at her. Stumbling out the door with tears running down her face, Tifa burst from the Inn and rushed out into the snow covered town.
xxxxxxx
Yuffie awoke with a start, finding herself unable to move. She began to panic and struggled against the strong arms, letting out gasps and yelps. Her body was soaked in sweat and she knew she must have been crying, too. Finally registering her surroundings, she calmed down and peered up into Riku's calm face.
"I saw Tifa this time, she was there. It was after her, but she got away…" She breathed. Riku stared at her in shock as she tried to snuggled into his chest in comfort.
"What's wrong..?" She asked, feeling sorry for herself when she realized the irony of that question.
"You saw Tifa?" She began to get uneasy when he kept staring at her like the world had ended. She nodded slowly but he decided to drop the subject.
"I'm so sorry, Yuffie. I really meant for this vacation to be longer, but something happened back home and Leon needs us." He climbed to his feet and pulled her up beside him.
She looked sad and confused, but Riku made his way back to the cockpit. He felt really guilty for cutting off her vacation like that, but maybe the answer to her nightmares was back in Hollow Bastian. He flicked some switches and the engine whirred to life, the hum reverberating through the cabin as the ship warmed up. Yuffie appeared beside him, a look of confusion on her face.
"What are you doing? Where are we going?" She asked worriedly. She really didn't want to go home yet, knowing Leon, he might have just made something up to get them to go back!
"We need to pick up Sora, Leon and the others could be in trouble." He said simply, looking up into her grey eyes sadly.
Her stomach flipped as the ship took off into the sky and she lost her balance. Riku leapt up and grabbed her before she fell, cradling her against his chest. She breathed in his scent and dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt.
"I'm really sorry, but we have to go. I'll make it up to you, I promise." he whispered in her ear. She nodded and flopped back into a chair as he released her.
xxxxxxx
The sun had reached its peak in the clear blue sky when the sound of a humming engine reached the island. Sora looked up curiously, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sunlight. He heard Kairi calling his name from the beach, pointing up at the descending gummi ship as she ran toward it. Moving sluggishly, he dragged himself from the waist-deep water and ran after her. No sooner had the ship landed than the door slid open and Riku jumped down onto the sand.
"Hey, Riku! What are you doing here, Cid wasn't going to pick us up until next week." Sora said, greeting his best friend.
"Trouble at Hollow Bastian, Leon needs you." He stated tiredly, motioning back into the ship. "You might want to give him a call before we go." Sora nodded and walked past him, barely shifting out of the way before Yuffie tripped in the doorway and tumbled out onto the beach.
"Geez…" Riku mumbled, leaning down and wrapping his arms around the clumsy ninja, he yanked her back up to her feet and she leaned on him as she regained her balance.
"Yuffie? You came along?" Kairi asked, stepping forward as she released her grip on Riku's arm and gazed around at her new surroundings.
"Of course I came along, someone had to protect Riku." She joked, messing up his hair. He scowled darkly at her but ignored it. He moved to climb back into the ship, but stopped when he noticed Sora standing in the doorway.
"Sora? Are you alright?" He asked cautiously. The brunette stood poised above him, staring directly at Yuffie. The two girls turned to look up at him and Yuffie began to feel a little self-conscious.
"What is that?" he asked blankly. Kairi gave him a confused look.
"That's Yuffie!" She almost laughed, but he was starting to creep her out. "What are you talking about?" Sora shook his head and stumbled back a step.
"Nothing, I could have sworn.." Yuffie blushed lightly as the keyblade master turned and walked back into the gummi ship, leaving the three confused friends behind.
End of Chapter Eight
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