Yuffie-centric chapter, ho! I like this one. It's cute.
As the group slowly picked their way up the mountain, Tifa in the lead, most of the group kept sneaking glances back at their newest member, trailing at the back of the group. All except for Yuffie.
She had run to the head of the group, right behind Tifa, as far from Vincent as possible. She was refusing to look anywhere but straight ahead, and was hissing half-frightened, half-angry streams of Wutaian obviously about the man. If Vincent understood, or even noticed, he didn't seem to be bothered by it, merely keeping to himself.
The rest of the group tried to ignore it, but about halfway through the cliffs, Cloud had had enough.
"Yuffie, will you shut the hell up?"
Yuffie stopped to turn and glare at him. "You're not the boss of me, Spikey. You shut up!"
Tifa frowned in concern, and joined in the conversation. "Yuffie, what's gotten into you? You're acting…"
"…more immature than usual?" Cloud finished, with a look of annoyance.
Yuffie crossed her arms and glared harder at the two of them. "I'm not being immature, you're all being stupid!"
Tifa blinked. "What? Why?"
The young ninja growled and jabbed a finger at Vincent. "I still can't believe you let him come with us! We don't know a thing about him, really, and you just say 'okay, come on and hang with us'? That's stupid! For all we know, he really is a vampire! If he sucks our blood or something in the middle of the night, then I'm blaming you!" She spat several words in Wutaian, that were most likely quite rude.
Cloud clenched his fists. "Well, if you don't like the way I do things, Yuffie, then you can just leave the group!"
Yuffie slapped Cloud across the face before he could react. "Fine, then. I will! You stupid, spikey-headed jerk! You'll be begging for me to come back, I just know it! And you know what? I won't!"
With that said, she turned and ran deeper into the mountains, leaving behind a stunned Tifa and a furious Cloud nursing a stinging cheek.
Aeris glanced over at Vincent, who had slipped closer during the commotion. "Sorry about that, Vincent. She's actually not that bad, once you get to know her…"
Vincent shook his head slightly. "It doesn't bother me, Miss Aeris. I understand her sentiments. I can only imagine how intimidating I may seem to someone so young…"
Aeris sighed softly, not pointing out that yes, he actually did sound quite bothered by the fact that he was frightening to someone. She gave his a quick pat on the arm, and they moved on.
Several long, arduous hours of climbing and maneuvering through caves and cliffsides later, they finally made it to the spacious cavern that marked the exit. They could see green fields out the opposite side. But the cavern wasn't empty.
"What is that?" Tifa whispered anxiously.
"A Materia Keeper, it's called." Cait chirped after a moment. "Only found near reactors, 'cause they eat Mako and its byproducts. Cannae say why it's here, though; this reactor's been dead for ages."
"Well…it- it looks busy, Cloud." Aeris said nervously. "Can we just, you know…sneak by?"
Cloud shrugged an affirmative, and they slowly made their way around the massive, blue, spiderlike creature, all of them noticing that its cliffside nest was filled with shining materia. They were almost outside, when Tifa, taking one final look back, let out a scream.
"Yuffie!"
The rest of them spun. Tifa was right. There was Yuffie, unconscious between the Keeper's claws. The Keeper had been busy, all right. It was spinning a thick, viscous web around her, and was obviously getting ready to make her lunch.
Cloud unsheathed his sword, swinging it forward in a battle stance, but Vincent was faster. Using reflexes he'd thought long past gone, he darted under the Materia Keeper, pulling Yuffie from its grasp just as the creature struck. The shriek of anger as its fangs hit rock woke Yuffie, and upon seeing who held her, she began to struggle against his strong grip.
Gently, he placed his hand over her mouth. "Save your protests until after the danger has pa-" He stopped speaking abruptly, his eyes widening imperceptibly. Both he and Yuffie looked down in unison to see a dark stain blooming on his shirt where the Keeper's claw had pierced his chest.
"V…Vampire guy…?" Yuffie asked shakily.
Vincent didn't seem to hear her. His eyes drifted somewhere far away for a moment, then he refocused, a genuine emotion filling his eyes for the first time since he'd woken- fear.
"C…Cloud!" Yuffie screamed.
The blond started over worriedly, sheathing his sword. "Are you okay? What happened?"
When he was only a few feet away, Vincent surprised him by throwing a scared, shaking Yuffie at him.
"Vincent?"
The man looked up and Cloud took an involuntary step backwards. His eyes…what the hell's wrong with his eyes?
"G…get her away! Stay back, all of you…!" Vincent shouted at them, the abject terror in his voice almost overpowered by its transformation into a deep, low growl.
Cloud dragged Yuffie to where the others were standing at the exit, and spun back around in time to join the others in watching the most indescribably terrifying thing they'd ever seen. Before their eyes, Vincent's body warped and changed, mutating into a massive, lithe-bodied creature resembling a behemoth.
It let out a mournful, agonized howl, and leapt upon the Keeper.
The party could only look on in wordless shock as the beast that had once been Vincent tore the Materia Keeper limb from limb, spattering its purple blood across the cavern. Once finished, it leapt back off the creature's body, and began to advance on them. They took a collective step backwards, but the beast's intentions were not to harm. He stopped several paces from them, and with another agonized howl, he slumped to the ground, shrinking back to Vincent before collapsing unconscious, his clothing bloody and torn despite the fact the Materia Keeper hadn't touched him after that first wound.
Cloud walked over silently and picked the other man up, carrying him back to the group. Aeris lightly placed a hand on his chest, and then smiled softly. "He's breathing normally…he'll be okay."
Cloud nodded. "We make camp right here tonight."
As they set up camp, it was blatantly obvious that most of the group placed the blame on Yuffie for Vincent's injuries and…the rest of it. Yuffie didn't seem to notice, because she blamed herself, too. She had plopped herself down on a rock next to the sleeping Vincent after Aeris had tended to her, and curled herself up as small as possible, ignoring everyone but Vincent.
Late that night, Vincent woke up. For a moment, he didn't know where he was and he sat up sharply, panicking slightly. But then he saw the stars, and the form of Cait, shut off for the night, and he remembered. He remembered what had happened in the cave, too, as he gingerly felt the bandages around his chest. He wondered bitterly how the others had even stood to be near him after seeing what he had become.
"You're awake?"
He blinked in surprise, and then turned towards the voice. Yuffie was sitting on a rock looking at him with an unreadable expression, her face streaked with tears.
"Miss Yuffie…?"
She frowned. "Don't call me that…you shouldn't be being nice to me. It's my fault you got hurt, 'cause I ran away. And I was being a brat to you, anyways. If I were you, I'd be pretty angry with me. I mean, everyone else is."
Vincent shook his head. "You're a child, Miss Yuffie. It's quite all right to be honest with your feelings. I don't hold it against you. As for my injuries…I don't suppose you knew the Keeper was there-"
"Oh, I saw it. It attacked me 'cause I was going for the materia in its nest." She laughed softly. "That's me, stupid ol' Yuffie, getting in trouble 'cause she acts before she thinks and has a mouth too big for her brain."
Vincent chuckled softly, making Yuffie jump. "That isn't necessarily a stupid thing to do. I consider it rather brave." He paused. "Well, maybe a tad reckless, but brave nonetheless."
Yuffie giggled and slid off the rock to sit next to him. "Yeah, I know. I thought it was sleeping. And I'm usually pretty good at sneaking around. I am a Wutai ninja, ya know."
"I can tell." He was quiet a moment, and Yuffie could almost swear she saw him grin. "I speak Wutaian, actually."
Yuffie paled. "So you understood what I was- oh, man…"
"It's all right, I've heard much worse."
The two fell silent for a long moment. Then, Yuffie hesitantly asked, "Did…did it hurt? When you…you know?"
"Yes…it did."
"Sorry again."
"You don't need to apologize."
Yuffie smiled at him. "Okay, then I won't."
She got up and took a few steps away. "I'm gonna go get Aeris, tell her you're up. Okay? You sit tight." At Vincent's nod, she turned away, but hesitated and turned back. She took something out of her pocket, and dropped it in Vincent's lap.
"As an apology gift. Keep it. It's what my 'reckless bravery' got me." She waved at him quickly as she walked away.
He looked down at his lap, and saw a red materia glowing innocently at him. He smiled softly, and slipped it in his own pocket.
Maybe his curse wouldn't be as unbearable if he was traveling with these people…