Chapter 3: Even The Best Laid Plans...
Yuffie watched, maintaining an outward air of innocence while cackling madly on the inside, as Vincent gave the smallest of sighs.
"Yuffie, did you really need to steal the child's snowboard?"
She hugged the said snowboard closer to her chest. "Vinnie, I didn't steal it. I'm just borrowing it. Possibly for forever."
"...Return the snowboard, Yuffie. We have work to do," Vincent said, the slightest tinge of exasperation in his voice.
"No way, Vinnie. It's for the kid's own good anyhoo. He broke his leg again! Besides," she mumbled darkly, "If stupid Cloud had just lent me his snowboard I wouldn't have had to...borrow...this one."
"Be that as it may, we still have a mission to complete," Vincent pointed out.
Yuffie groaned. "Vinnie, we've been interrogating random people and snooping around for three days now. Can't we have a day off to do something, I dunno, fun?"
Vincent stared at her.
Yuffie sighed. "Right, you dunno what that is." As his look darkened, she turned on her whiny voice. "Please? Just a couple hours, Vinnie, it won't kill you. And from the looks of things the only suspected illicit activities going on here is that old man in the short-shorts."
"...No."
Yuffie frowned. "Fine," she snapped. "I'll go snowboarding by myself." She stomped her way towards the door of the inn. "If you change your mind, there's a second snowboard in our room. Apparently his father thought he'd try snowboarding too," she yelled over her shoulder as she left the inn.
Whistling to herself, she headed north towards the ski run. All according to plan. She grinned.
"Yuffie," a voice called after her, making her turn. Vincent was standing in the doorway.
"Make sure you stop before you hit the bottom of the run."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "I remember, big ass jump into nowhere. I'll stop before it."
Vincent just looked at her, then turned back inside.
Yuffie continued to the slope, her grin growing wider. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a battered map. Studying it for a moment, she tucked it back into her pocket, and looked up. She was just about at the run. As she reached the top her gaze followed the curve of the hill as it sloped down out of sight. She laughed.
"Big ass jump, here I come!"
She strapped on her board and gave herself a push.
\/\/\/
Yuffie flew down the end of the slope, the wind whipping her hair as she approached the final jump. She laughed, the wind stealing away the noise, as she catapulted off the jump into air.
"GERRRRRRONIMOOOOOOOOOOO!" she yelled, as she arced towards the snow-covered ground far below.
She landed with a whump, the snow shooting up around her, obscuring her vision as the unsettled powder was whipped around by the wind. She dug down to her buried feet, brushing away snow as she undid the clasps strapping her to her board. Wrenching both feet loose, she straightened, picking up the board, and looked around. There was one lone tree just to her left, and other than that she saw only white walls of snow dancing madly in the harsh winds. Squinting, she grinned wolfishly into the wind.
Her plan had so far unfolded without a hitch. The hardest part had been in convincing Vincent of the mission in Icicle Village, and even that hadn't been terribly difficult. She had stolen Vincent's phone while on board the Shera, just in case he thought to contact Reeve later on. She had gone along with the 'mission', biding her time with a patience that surprised even herself.
And now, within the next couple of hours, or a day at the most, she would be spooned and hopefully soon to be the recipient of 200 gil. "Oh, Vinnie," she said to the wind, putting a mocking pout into her voice, "It's so cold out here, thank Leviathan you came after me! But I'm so cold, I don't think there's any way to make a fire, I'll never make it back to Icicle Village alive! Whatever will we do, Vinnie?" She snickered. She had every confidence Vincent would come after her, and now all she had to do was make her way to the series of caves marked on Cloud's old map, where she would wait for Vincent to come and rescue her.
She started off in what she remembered to be the general direction, digging into her pocket. Feeling paper, she pulled out a neatly folded square. Glancing down at it, she gave a small frown. Transferring her planning sheet to her other hand, she dug into her pocket once more.
And felt nothing but cloth.
She stopped, peering disbelievingly into her pocket, eyes confirming what her fingers had already told her. Frantically, she checked her other pocket, but the map was nowhere to be found.
She looked around, suddenly noticing just how cold the wind was. And she, in all her genius had worn her usual outfit, plus a light sweater.
Not the sort of thing you wear in the middle of a snowstorm, 'genius' She scowled. She racked her brains for an eleventh-hour epiphany, but none came.
She was stuck, in the coldest place on the whole world, with only the vaguest idea of which direction held shelter, and with no rescue coming for hours.
"...Oh, fuck."
Tifa clung to Cloud as Costa del Sol faded into the distance behind them. They had spent an additional day there – a shop keep paid Cloud extra to wait a day so he could deliver a parcel to North Corel that wouldn't come in till evening. Tifa hadn't minded the delay, as it gave her a chance to soak up some sun and shake off the chill of the eastern continent's winter, and call Barret, who was watching the kids and minding the bar while she and Cloud were gone. Judging by their current reckless speed, however, Cloud felt the need to make up for the lost time.
Half way to North Corel, the tone of Fenrir's engine changed from steady roar to a spluttering cough. Cloud, looking alarmed, pulled over to the side of the road. Tifa stepped back as Cloud inspected his precious bike.
He knelt down, staring at the gas gauge.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
"What is it?"
Cloud straightened up, then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, blushing.
"It's, um, out of gas."
"Oh," Tifa said, then giggled at the expression of shame on his face. "Cloud, don't worry about it."
He gave an annoyed snort, which Tifa knew was directed at himself. "It's just a stupid mistake to make. I was sure I had at least three quarters of a tank when we left Junon..." He frowned.
Tifa shrugged. "Really, Cloud, it's fine. There are some small towns in this area, aren't there?"
Cloud nodded, still frowning. "There's a real small one about an hour's walk from here."
"So let's head over there. They might have gas, and if not we'll just call the RAA."
Sighing, Cloud nodded once more. "Alright." He met her eyes, giving a small grin. "Enough of all this dilly-dally, let's mosey."
She smiled back at him, and they set off, pushing Fenrir.
\/\/\/
After about fifteen minutes, Cloud directed them onto a badly rutted dirt road. They trudged along, not talking, but comfortable in the silence. The temperature was mild with the winter season, the air moist, a welcome change to the usual arid heat of the area. Enjoying Cloud's silent company, time flew for Tifa, and when she glanced up she saw they were almost upon the town - if it could be called that.
It was a collection of about a dozen buildings, all rather old but relatively well maintained. A faded sign next to what Tifa supposed was the main street read Town of Frelt. Tifa and Cloud continued into the town. Three old men, sitting on a bench in front of what appeared to be a general store, stared unabashedly at them as they passed.
"I think they're rather unused to visitors," Cloud whispered quietly to her. Tifa smiled, biting her lip to stop a giggle escaping, and nodded her agreement.
They approached an inn, which seemed the size of a regular house.
"I'll get us a room, you look after Fenrir, okay?"
Cloud agreed, and he wheeled Fenrir around the back. Tifa approached the inn, opening the door cautiously and peering in.
The front lobby was dimly lit, but had an elderly charm about it. A woman, who Tifa put at about fifty years of age, was sitting calmly behind a desk. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and gave a warm smile.
"Do come in, dearie," she called, and Tifa entered, closing the door quietly behind her before approaching the desk.
"Needing a room, are you, dearie?" the lady asked, smiling.
"Yes, thank you," Tifa replied, giving a smile of her own.
"We only have one room, with only one bed. Not many customers in these parts," the innkeeper told her. "Is that alright?"
Tifa averted her eyes to the floor, her smile growing wider before she got it under control. Looking back at the woman, she nodded.
Yuffie, you're a genius.
"That'll be just fine."
A/N: Well, would ya look at that, Cloud's bike mysteriously ran out of gas. Also, RAA is Roadside Automobile Assistance.