Burnt Offerings
chapter eight: take this sinking boat and point it home
I went deep
Into my graveyards
Found my ghosts there
They're with me still
—Bishop Allen, "Ghosts Are Good Company"
Take this sinking boat and point it home—
We've still got time
—The Frames, "Falling Slowly"
Beast's Castle: The Gates
Vincent could see it in Auron's posture: the Gummi ship was satisfactory. He said nothing on the matter. This was only the second ship he had ever seen. He did not pretend to have an opinion of it.
He watched as stolen Munny was exchanged for a portfolio containing the correct calibrations and passwords to launch the ship. He watched as the salesman beamed back to his tug ship.
Auron looked over at him and commented, flatly, "Hn."
Vincent stared at the thing. As far as Gummi ships went, he had no idea if it was worth whatever they'd paid. As far as transportation went, he knew he personally would never have considered boarding it unless he had no other choice.
"Too bright a yellow," he said, trying not to look directly at it for too long. The yellow, which was admittedly blinding, wasn't the only thing embarrassing about it.
For one, it had a moogle decal.
For another, the name emblazoned on the ship's sides was The Wyrdhare.
'Wyrd' was certainly apt.
"Hn..." The other man allowed an almost smug sort of scowl as he grunted agreement.
Vincent looked at the amazingly ridiculous little ship. He looked over at Auron. Auron looked back at him.
Through the silent communication lent them by similar personalities and months spent in each other's company, they agreed that the sheer obnoxiousness of the ship's appearance was never to be mentioned again. Any allusions to what an eyesore it was would be ignored.
The Land of Dragons: Imperial Palace
"So he's gone?" Rikku was giving her a concerned look. There was a faint shimmer in the air around her, a shimmer Yuffie had noticed from childhood and had never cared about.
Yuffie stretched, lifting one leg by gripping the ankle and bending so her head nearly touched the other ankle. "He's out of my head, anyway."
Summon me, she remembered and immediately unbent in order to shake her head. "Cissuh sa," she tried to intone, but she didn't have nearly the right vocal cords to imitate that deep voice.
Rikku stared at her as if she'd grown horns and batwings.
"That's what he kept asking. Cissuh sa. Summon me." She looked at the map of the Land of Dragons and then shook her head again. "I think it's time to go back to Radiant Garden."
Rikku looked around and then pumped her fist in the air several times. "This place has been getting kind of boring," she said.
Yuffie nodded. "I know. Just need to arrange a ride home early, and then we'll be able to go torment Squall again."
She stuck her hand in her pocket, fingering the stone, and fought to keep her expression calm. The cool, smooth stone felt less like a stone and more like a snake's scale. She dug it out immediately and stared.
Sure, it had turned blue when Leviathan had gone to live in it, but now it was an iridescent blue-green. It was more hexagonal than round, with sharp-looking, serrated edges.
"That's a Charm," Rikku said, the shimmer intensifying in her surprise. "Yuffie, you made a Summon Charm!"
Yuffie stared at it in wonder. She could feel water, could feel ice and scales and a sinuous presence.
"Think I should give this to Sora?" She closed her fingers around the scale at the very thought.
Beast's Castle: The Wyrdhare
The radio emitted a crackling sound, startling Vincent more than he cared to admit. Consulting the manual with eyesight that, thankfully, was no longer grey around the edges, he pressed the button that would access the channel somebody was trying to open.
"This is Yuffie Kisaragi of Radiant Garden, currently in the Land of Dragons, to any Gummi Ships in the area," said a voice he knew all too well, though it sounded slightly older than he remembered from the Underworld.
Vincent bit his lip to keep from replying.
"Yuffie Kisaragi at Land of Dragons to any Gummi Ships in the area," she said again, and then muttered, "Come on, people, answer me. I know somebody's out there, I can see an open channel on the display!"
Caught out. As usual. Vincent closed his eyes and took a deep breath, formulating a response.
"Miss Kisaragi, this is Vincent Valentine, currently located at Beast's Castle." And then, because he couldn't stop himself, because he had to know, he asked, "Is something the matter?"
Her voice, when she asked, was sly. "Vincent! I thought you were stuck in the Underworld!"
"I escaped," he told her dryly, suddenly remembering You are an ex-ninja and aching at the memory.
"And you found a Gummi Ship along the way, huh," her voice was dry. "Somebody's resourceful. So, tell me, you think this makes you a Space Pirate?"
Everybody knows ninjas don't get along too well with pirates, Vincent remembered from a lecture she'd given him far too many years ago. He almost wanted to add that, just to see how she would react. But she would think he was 'creepy' if he knew too much too soon. Instead, he replied, "Unlikely."
"Good," she said, voice bright and cheerful. "Hey, you seen Sora around recently?"
"Sixteen days ago, he helped Auron and me escape from the Underworld. Then he left. Why do you ask?"
"Call it curiosity," she replied. After a pause, she added, "I got something he may want to see. Oh well, he'll probably show back up at Radiant Garden, anyway. You, uh, got any room for a passenger on your Gummi Ship?"
Ah, Yuffie. She never changed, did she? He wanted to tell her yes, because he'd watched her die twice, but he thought of what Auron would say on the matter. "For the right price, it can be arranged."
An explosive, teenaged sigh. "All right, all right. How much Munny are we talking, here?"
He wasn't exactly informed on just what the right price would be. The Yuffie he remembered wasn't exactly a generous soul, but AVALANCHE had broken her of her tendency to cheat others. Mostly. Did this Yuffie steal? There was no way of telling. Yet.
"What would you consider a fair price?"
"How 'bout a flat rate? Two hundred Munny?"
It seemed reasonable. Commercial airship rides, before his world had ended, had run between a hundred to a hundred and fifty gil. Why wouldn't a ride on a Gummi Ship be slightly more expensive?
"You have a deal." They needed to leave Beast's Castle, anyway. Even after his recent discussion with Auron, Belle and the Beast had seemed... very hesitant and over-curious. The religious fast and meditation idea weren't going to keep the peace much longer.
"Great," she said. "So you'll take me back to Radiant Garden?"
"We will."
Was he ready to come face-to-face with Yuffie? Vincent wasn't sure. But he would have to face AVALANCHE sooner or later. He was still constantly hungry--Geez, Vince, maybe you should drink somebody's blood, offered the mental construct of Yuffie he'd created to stay sane--but the thirst had gone away and he was beginning to look more like an actual three-dimensional person and less like a collection of skin and bones.
"When can I expect you guys?"
Vincent consulted the owner's manual again and then checked the ship's navigation systems. The maps informed him that the Land of Dragons was perhaps a day's travel away, by the Disney Castle's reckoning.
"Sundown tomorrow, Disney reckoning," he told her.
"I'll watch for you." The words were naive, hopeful, but her tone was anything but. Her tone was certain.
He knew exactly what she would say if she had a chance to see the Wyrdhare. No, that wasn't true. Nobody could actually predict what Yuffie would say. The only accurate forecast he could make was an eighty percent chance of mockery, partly joking, with intermittent showers of laughter.
He really, really did not need Yuffie Kisaragi laughing at his Gummi Ship. "No need. I'll beam down."
"I'm in the Palace."
Fitting, he thought. It hurt. "I'll find you."
"Then I'll be waiting," she told him and he fought the urge to scoff.
Yuffie Kisaragi didn't wait for anything.
The Land of Dragons: Imperial Palace
Yuffie sat cross-legged with her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands, watching the Gummi landing point. Vincent Valentine hadn't showed up yet and she and Rikku were getting bored. Well, she was getting bored. Rikku was flying loop-de-loops and upside down, shedding glitter, a faint haze surrounding her.
The fairy was almost impossible to bore.
Sundown, Disney reckoning. Above the palace, the sky was just beginning to show streaks of red and pink. That meant the sky had turned to that thick, inky blue night above King Mickey's castle, and Radiant Garden was in that hazy glow right after sunset but before night rose to replace it. Ansem's Castle and Castle Obsidian would both be outlined against the sky; twin ruins standing strong against the dusty, empty valley.
Yuffie hated it when other people were late. Waiting around was boring. It drove her crazy; she was already itching at her eyelids and about ready to sharpen the Four-Point.
It happened gradually. The landing point began to glow just a little brighter, then just a little brighter than that, on and on until it was like somebody'd thrown a star at the ground and it had gone splat. A barrier of light rose up around it and Rikku, who had been winging toward the landing point, squeaked, faltered, dropped in midair, and then flew back toward Yuffie.
The little fairy clung to Yuffie's hair, resting one knee against the top of her ear. Yuffie could feel puffs of air from Rikku's beating wings.
One minute, he wasn't there; the next, he was. She got a glimpse of black pants and a red cloak, but the colors looked washed out because of the barrier. His head was bowed. Even through the yellow and green light, Yuffie could see the dark outlines of his eyelashes against his pale, fragile-looking cheeks. His nose looked sharp enough to cut someone.
The light dimmed and then died.
Rikku's hand tightened on her hair as his eyelids fluttered open. He looked up.
Yuffie's heart stopped.
They stood there, staring at each other, for a long, silent while.
"So," she laced her fingers together and touched her palms to the back of her head, elbows spread wide, "you're Vincent Valentine."
He inclined his head. "You must be Yuffie Kisaragi."
She grinned. "You're late, you know. Not nice to keep a lady waiting."
He raised an eyebrow. It formed a delicate arch, deliberate and perfectly sculpted—and wasn't that just nine extra helpings of I'm a pretty princess? Without a single word, he managed to cast multiple aspersions on her status as a lady.
She refused to feel in any way lessened by his princess-a-licious doubt. She folded her arms and gave him the steady stare she'd learned from Squall. It had never failed to make Sora quail, the two or three times she'd tried it on him.
Vincent's lower lip twitched. Rather than smile and end the silent conversation, or raise his other eyebrow to continue it, he said, "We should get back to the ship."
"I'm good with that," she said and felt Rikku nod enthusiastically.
Rikku flitted away from her head. The shimmer in the air intensified as Rikku grew until she was just a little shorter than Yuffie. Their fingers threaded together, gripping hands tightly.
"You're magic's not gonna last the trip," Yuffie told her; Rikku's only response was an upturned nose and an emphatic hmph.
The landing point blinded them as it beamed them up.
Sure enough, Rikku was tiny again when the stars and spots exploding on her eyeballs faded away. Yuffie took two dizzy steps forward, even as the tiny hand clenched in hers became large again. She caught herself on the edge of something, dragged herself along until her knees felt more solid than jelly and her stomach didn't seem to be wandering around in her mouth.
Behind her, Vincent made a faint noise. Yuffie whirled to look at him and was heavily disappointed to find that he only looked paler than he had before. He wasn't green around the gills, he wasn't obviously dizzy. Just pale.
Life was soooooo unfair!
Somebody grunted. Yuffie whirled to face him, hand on the Four-Points grip. She caught sight of what looked like a mountain in a red teng-yi, like the people in the Land of Dragons had worn. A fierce-looking scar ran through one eye.
"So, this is the girl?" The mountain rumbled.
Vincent gave the mountain a Look. The mountain Looked right back. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Vincent did that queenly head inclining thing again and answered, "Auron, this is Yuffie Kisaragi. Miss Kisaragi, this is Auron."
Yuffie waved, pointed to Rikku, and added, "And that's Rikku, the amazing size-changing fairy. So, where are you guys going after Radiant Garden?"
Auron looked long and hard at both Yuffie and Rikku before finally grunting and turning back to the navigation console. Vincent took a seat in the pilot's chair, his hands easily wandering over the controls, pressing buttons, flicking switches. Auron set their course.
"We'll stay in Radiant Garden a while," Vincent said, voice absent.
She swallowed hard. She didn't know these men, didn't really trust them as anything more than non-psychos. But somewhere in the pit of her stomach, she was glad she might get to see more of them.
TBC 23 June 2008
