Chapter 6
The next day, the group left and went to the southwestern island of the largest continent. It didn't take long to find the Temple of the Ancients, so they camped outside it for the day and headed in the next fully rested.
"Alright, me, Aeris, and Tifa are heading in, everyone else, guard the entrance. We may need to leave in a hurry."
"Sure, just keep those two alive in there," Barret said.
They went up the stairs and then Aeris came out again and called Vincent. When he got up the stairs, he saw Tseng lying on the ground and heavily wounded. "And I thought I could leave you in charge without getting yourself killed," Vincent said as he cast a regen spell on him. The wound knitted itself back together only a little before it lost power. But it was enough to keep him alive.
"Don't worry Aeris, he'll live. I'll see to it that he does."
"Thank you, Vincent."
As he started to move him, Tseng came back to consciousness. "Why did you save me?"
"Aeris has known you since she was a child and I guess was comported by you in some way. She wanted you alive and I didn't have the heart to tell her no. I doubt anyone besides Sephiroth could."
"Yeah, she has that effect on people… Listen, the temple isn't a map to the Promises Land. It's a weapon meant to bring about the end of the world."
"Shit!" Picking him up, he ran back to the others. Setting him down carefully, he said, "We have a problem. We need to get them out of there as soon as possible!"
"Lead the way," Yuffie said as she grabbed her Shuriken.
"What's wrong?" asked Cait Sith. Vincent told them exactly what Tseng said. Barret and Cid cursed at the same time.
"There is a door in the back of the room at the top of the stairs. That's how I got out," Tseng said by the fire.
"Barret, you and Cid watch him, we don't need monsters eating him after having saved him."
"Yeah, that would be bad," Tseng said with a small laugh, which turned into a cough.
When they got to the door, they opened it but it was forced close by something with claws, fangs, and a foul temper. "We're not getting in that way. And they have the Stone."
"Vincent, take Tseng somewhere where he can recover safely. I'll stay here and wait for them with healing if they need it."
"…Alright, take care." Vincent and Yuffie turned around and ran back down the steps. "Hey, I'm going to take him to a healing lodge I know. I'll be back in a few hours."
"You mean we'll be back in a few hours," Yuffie put in.
Wanting to hurry up and get him there, Vincent didn't argue. Picking Tseng up, he took him to the Tiny Bronco and set sail. The Lodge was on an island and hour and a half away. As Vincent piloted, Yuffie cleaned the wound with salt-water. "This is bad, in the short time that he has been wounded, insects have already laid eggs in it." Yuffie said to Vincent.
"Clean the wound the best you can. If it gets infected, then he'll have more than eggs to worry about."
"What do you mean?"
"He means that if it was to get infected really bad, then maggots will be put in the wound to eat the infection away. And the very thought of that is the most disconcerting thing I have ever known." Tseng told her. When she looked at Vincent for confirmation of this, he nodded. And her face paled.
"I know what you're thinking Yuffie but that really works. By doing that, a limb that would have to be amputated could be saved with barely a scar."
"It's still sickening." At that moment, seasickness got her. She went to the other side of the plane, so as to not get it on Tseng, and threw up.
"So, Vincent, how long do you think I'll be out?"
"Five months at least. Wounds from the Masemune seem to resist magical healing. You'll have to do it the old fashion, through time."
Dropping him off at the lodge, and assured by the doctors that he would make a full recovery, they headed back. A minute or so after landing, they felt an earthquake shake the island. When the got the clearing that the temple was at, there was no temple. Cloud was unconscious and Cait Sith was saying something about being Cait Sith 2.
Authors Notes: This or something like this is what happened to Tseng in the game. Because he was alive and well in the movie Final Fantasy 7: Advent Child. And if all goes well, this will go through the game and movie on to Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus. As always, I don't own this Final Fantasy or any other and never will. Or at least with all likeliness, you never can tell what the future holds.