A/N: Hm. Listening to One-Winged Angel again. I dunno if that means something bad will happen or if Sephiroth will just show up more than usual.
The teenagers scrambled as far from the arch villain as they could. Tifa remained rooted to the spot, staring at her old enemy with something like grim horror on her face. Inwë slid to a halt and stared back at her.
"Tifa! Come on!" she yelled. Tifa blinked, hesitated, and then ran after the others. Sephiroth stayed where he was and watched them flee. Inwë couldn't be sure, but she thought he looked amused.
Inwë and Tifa raced after Inwë's friends, both of them breathing heavily. The authoress stumbled once, fell, and picked herself up before Tifa could stop to go back for her. Finally they spotted Aki and Shaedan up ahead.
"Guys! Keep running!" Inwë shouted. Her friends glanced over their shoulders and plunged further into the jungle. Tifa was soon caught up to them, but Inwë was trailing behind. She had always been a slow runner, and now her weaknesses were catching up with her. She tried to surge ahead but only managed to trip over a tree root. She landed hard on her side and lay there for a moment, panting. Nothing felt broken, but she was exhausted. Wimp, she thought to herself, Just get up and keep going. You're not that weak! She gritted her teeth and climbed to her feet, still mentally beating the snot out of herself for being so stupid. Just then, she heard crashing behind her and darted off the path. Two figures ran past her hiding place and stopped a few feet along the trail. One was an East India Trading Co. soldier, and the other had to be Beckett. His wig was slightly askew and he was letting out wheezing breaths.
"You there," he ordered the soldier between wheezes, "You…search on ahead. I'll wait here…for…the others…to catch up." The redcoat gave Beckett a slightly disgusted look and kept going. Beckett let out something that sounded like a cross between a cough and a high-pitched whistle and sat down with his back against a tree. Inwë eyed him silently from the bushes. She had a pocketknife with her, and even though it wasn't quite as effective as a katana or a gold hoop earring, she was pretty sure she could carve his heart out with it. She was just thinking about how to do that when she heard someone else coming, this time at a walk rather than a sprint. The authoress moved a little deeper into the bushes and ran into someone.
Before she could let out a terrified shriek, the someone clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Shhh, Elf. It's me, Norrington," he hissed in her ear. Inwë nodded slightly to show she understood and he let go of her. She turned slightly and stared at him.
"Where are the others?" she mouthed silently. Norrington pointed back towards the camp.
"They sent me after you," he mouthed back. Inwë nodded and looked back towards were Beckett had been sitting. She almost jumped. Sephiroth and the Mouth of Sauron were standing on either side of Beckett, who was very pale. The three villains were talking.
"Don't tell me you lost them," Sephiroth said mildly.
"It would not be good for you if they got away and got the powers before we did, would it?" the Mouth added in his odd accent. He gave Beckett a wide, unpleasant smile. Beckett gulped.
"I sent a soldier after them. I thought it was a good idea for me to wait for you."
"You are only making excuses. You are lazy and stupid. A single, ordinary soldier cannot hope to defeat five people," the Mouth replied coldly.
"They're just women –," Beckett argued. Sephiroth gave him a look and he shut up.
"It does not matter. They could still get the powers. We must capture them before they reach their goal," the Mouth said smoothly.
"If you're looking for them," the Voice of Reason interjected from overhead with obvious glee in its tone, "They've stopped and are heading back this way. I expect they've realized that the authoress is missing from their group. Odd, isn't it, that she's hiding right behind the bushes on the other side of the path to your right!" Before Inwë could think of a curse worthy of the Voice's villainy, Norrington had grabbed her arm and was pulling her through the trees in an attempt to make their escape.
Fifteen minutes later, it looked like they had finally lost their pursuers. Inwë and Norrington collapsed by a riverbank and sucked down some cold water. When they were both breathing normally again, Inwë glanced at the Commodore.
"We have to go back. The others could have been caught or captured by now."
"No need," said a new voice from the trees, "It's too late." The authoress whipped her head around and saw Cloud, Hatori, Vincent, the Turks, and Amaya. Cloud had his sword in one hand and a thin cut on his right arm.
"What happened?" Norrington asked calmly. Amaya gave Inwë a significant look.
"They got caught," the authoress choked out.
"It's ok, Val," Reno reassured her, "They're all alive."
"But for how long?" Vincent growled.
"The Mouth and Sephiroth are clever, they wouldn't kill off such good bargaining chips," Amaya muttered bitterly. Inwë nodded grimly.
"We have to rescue them! It's our job, if nothing else," she said.
"So what do you suggest?" Norrington inquired sarcastically, "Full frontal assault or a stealth attack?" Inwë pondered and sighed.
"The last time I had to pick between those two options I wound up running up twenty flights of stairs and then having to take the elevator back down to the ground floor."
"Which one did you choose?" Amaya wondered.
"I went with stealth because it seemed like something a Turk would do. That, and Tifa was the one who suggested – I'll shut up now."
"So how 'bout this time we try a full frontal assault?" Reno offered. Cloud rolled his eyes.
"Sephiroth is with them. It would be suicide."
"Hey!" Inwë exclaimed, "I've got an idea! This worked last time I tried it, but it's risky. Some of us do the full frontal assault thing while the rest sneak around the back and rescue the captives, savvy?"
"It's still suicide," Cloud pointed out. Inwë gave him a look.
"Do you want to rescue your girlfriend or not?" she challenged airily. Amaya stared at her with wide eyes while Cloud bristled.
"For the last time, Tifa is not my girlfriend. But I'll do whatever I can to rescue her."
"Then it's settled. Now everyone listen up!" the authoress ordered sharply. Hatori and Vincent gave her blank looks that clearly said they were only listening to her to help the others. Before Inwë could start explaining her daring plan, the Voice of Reason coughed from overhead. Inwë reached for a katana that didn't exist and let out a soft growl, Cloud grabbed his sword, and Vincent and the Turks drew their various weapons.
"Oh, do calm down. Without the authoress' powers you can't even reach me," the Voice drawled in a bored tone, "Besides, 'I am herald and ambassador and will not be assailed!' The Mouth and his group have given me a job as a messenger, but I think eventually they'll promote me – after you're all dead, of course -."
"Would you just get to the point?" Amaya snarled. She had not taken kindly to her sister and two of her best friends being kidnapped. The Voice sniffed indignantly.
"Fine. The Mouth of Sauron, Lord Cutler Beckett, and Sephiroth are willing to release your friends if the authoress, Cloud Strife, and former-Commodore James Norrington turn themselves in. Furthermore, the rest of you are to leave this dimension permanently and swear never to return or oppose Lord Beckett -."
Bang. Everyone jumped and turned around. Vincent had his pistol out and had just fired a shot in the general direction of the Voice.
"Vincent!" Inwë cried in exasperation. The undead Turk shrugged.
"I'd heard enough."
"You had to say that twice before you managed to kill Hojo!" the unharmed Voice of Reason pointed out. Vincent aimed his gun towards the Voice and gave it a look.
"If you want me to shoot again, by all means keep talking." The Voice made a sound like a cross between and cough and a whimper.
"You can tell Sephiroth and those guys to go to -!" Reno yelled before Inwë clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Quiet. I've got an idea," she hissed at him before rounding on the invisible Voice.
"All right, we agree. Cloud and Norrington and I will meet them tomorrow morning at the small quarry about half a mile from here. They bring our captive friends or there's no deal, savvy?" she replied with a fierce fire in her eyes. The Voice was silent for a second before it muttered an "agreed" and vanished. Reno gave Inwë a blank look.
"Are you out of your mind, Val?" he demanded furiously. Inwë waved him off.
"Don't yell, Reno. Amaya and I are delicate."
"Inwë, now is not the time to be quoting Fruits Basket," Amaya reminded her sternly. The authoress shrugged.
"So we're just gonna give up? Is this your brilliant plan?" Cloud asked quietly.
"Don't be so optimistic all the time, Cloud! Of course we're not giving up. I'd only agree to something so suicidal if we didn't have any other options."
"Hey, wait a sec," Reno protested, "How did you know about this quarry anyways? Does it even exist?"
"I spotted it on our way down the hill. It's a good place for an ambush, which is what Sephiroth and the Mouth will be expecting. And it's also not what we're doing," the authoress replied curtly.
"What are we doing?" Hatori inquired.
"Well, it's like this: the Commodore, Cloud, and I will arrive as promised in the quarry, but we'll have our weapons. I bet Sephiroth is expecting a fight anyways, so I don't think they'll do anything to our friends because of that. While the boys and I distract the bad guys, the Turks, Amaya, and Hatori will sneak around the back and rescue our pals. Meanwhile, Vincent will be giving you covering fire from the cliffs around the edges of the quarry. If all goes well, you'll get away without difficulty."
"And what about us?" Norrington asked sharply.
"Well," Inwë said slowly, "We'll be fighting the bad guys. Cloud obviously gets to tackle Sephiroth -."
"Joy."
"- Norrington, I want you to take Beckett. I think I can handle the Mouth."
"No way," Cloud replied with a shake of his head, "There's no way I'm letting you fight that guy alone. You'd be dead in three seconds."
"O ye of so very little faith! I've been fighting the Mouth for ages and ages; I know his style and his weaknesses. Besides, you'll have your hands full with Sephiroth." Cloud muttered some kind of complaint under his breath but couldn't argue with that logic. Inwë turned and gave Amaya an encouraging smile.
"You, mate, are in charge of getting your sister and our adopted siblings out of harm's way. Do I make myself clear?"
"They're my adopted siblings," Amaya said with a pained smile, "You're the long-lost cousin, remember?" Inwë chuckled and gave her best friend a quick hug.
"Yep, I'm the long-lost cousin, and I'm happy to be found!"
"Awww that's sweet!" Reno cooed with a smile. Amaya and Inwë gave him equally blank looks. Reno blushed.
"So are we ready to do this?" Inwë asked in a loud voice.
"Yeah!" chorused the group, minus Vincent and Rude.
"Val, you and Amaya need some kind o' weapons," Reno pointed out lazily as he twirled his EMR in one hand. Inwë grinned hopefully.
"Katana, my precious?" she questioned in a hyper voice. Reno gave Cloud a sidelong look and nodded.
"If we can find some, sure."
"Well, to be honest I'm not very good at wielding one," Inwë sighed.
"Sheesh, Val! What the heck do ya think we're here for?" the Turk replied with a laugh.
A/N: I apologize for the long wait between updates – I've been museless and busy. Reviews would be a nice way to show your thanks (but flames will be donated to Authoressinhiding for use in her flame-thrower). And as for ye, Cap'n, I know ya changed yer name but I'm gonna call ya Cap'n anyways, savvy? The future demented three-way swordfight is for you.