A.N. Hey, it's Chris/Potstickers. My life is collapsing, and yet I still find time to write. I love you all. And I'm sorry that the chapters are getting more and more boring, but I can't just keep skipping whole months like last time. Don't worry, you'll see some more of the fighting crap that I write…I'm just not sure when. Maybe next chapter? Chapter after that? I dunno.
Oh, and I need to know if Riku should die or not. I haven't been able to decide. Help?
Chris
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Cloud's snarl of frustration echoed around the ship, followed by a loud thud. He glared at the two silverhaired men in front of him, and they looked back coolly, completely unruffled by the outburst and the sword buried in the floor in front of them.
"For the last time," Cloud snapped through gritted teeth. "Where the hell is Sephiroth?"
"For the last time," Yazoo replied with infuriating patience, "We don't know."
"Bullshit!"
Loz snorted, and Yazoo smiled evenly. "Is it? Well, I guess there's no way to tell. Shame," he sighed with mock pity. Another loud thud ensued, and Loz growled, pulling against his restraints.
"It's all right, brother," Yazoo said, calming the larger man. The look in his blue-green eyes hid any resentment that lay inside, but wasn't enough to hide the quickly darkening bruise on his cheek, delivered by a heavy black boot. He met the blonde's gaze squarely, smirking. "He'll never know. Just as we'll never know."
"Will you cut the shit?" Cloud snarled. "Of course you—"
"Have no idea where he is," Yazoo interrupted smoothly. "You really think that he tells us where he is? You think we'll follow him, or just automatically know where he is?"
"You know where he is," Cloud said dangerously. "He'd tell you."
Yazoo tilted his head, allowing his long silver hair to cover half of his face, his one visible eye sparkling with unchecked amusement. "Then you're not as smart as he gave you credit for."
Cloud resisted the urge to pound the insolent smirk off of Yazoo's face, turning on his heel and storming out. Yazoo's grin widened, and Loz smiled.
"He can't even tell that we're telling the truth," the larger man said, and Yazoo nodded, cerulean eyes bright. "Ah, well," he laughed softly. "If he chooses to believe that we know where Sephiroth is, then that's his choice. He wouldn't get anything out of us even if we knew."
Cloud, listening at the door just in case, clenched his teeth in fury and walked stiffly away.
"Idiot," Yazoo murmured, and Loz chucked.
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Sora heard a clunk, and looked over to see Roxas in the doorway of his house, slouching against the frame nonchalantly, looking at him with the identical blue eyes.
"Roxas!" Sora exclaimed, hurrying to the Nobody's side, pulling him into the house. "How are you? Doing all right?"
The blonde smiled at him, still sad, but still undoubtedly a smile. "Not great…but definitely doing better," he admitted. "Thanks. You all right?"
Sora sighed, plopping down on the couch. "Could be a hell of a lot better, but I'm doing my best not to think about it."
Roxas smiled at his Other. "That's all I think of now."
The brunette looked at him. "Really? I thought…well, thinking about it makes me all moody and mopey, and I hate being like that. Guess you're different."
Roxas shrugged. "Well, I talked to Cloud, and it really…well, helped to put things into perspective."
Sora stared. "You mean…" he said slowly, trying to comprehend the impossible. "You mean to tell me that…Cloud actually cheered you up?"
Roxas stuck his hands into his pockets, shrugging. "Well, yeah."
The brunette suddenly burst out laughing, making Roxas jump a bit. "W-wow!" Sora chuckled, wiping tears away from his eyes. "Cloud actually…made someone feel better? Geez, this should go under one of the great accomplishments of the 21st century! Or Ripley's Believe it Or Not kind of thing!"
Roxas smiled. "Yeah. It was really weird, but he really made me think about it, y'know?"
"That's really weird," Sora grinned. "I don't think I'll ever let him live this down. Anyway, Roxas, what're you doing here?"
The blonde shrugged. "I dunno. I just followed my feet and they took me here. Sorry if I'm intruding or something."
"No, it's no problem at all!" Sora reassured. In all truth, he was glad for the company. When he was alone, he could hear the echoes of the silverhair, resonating from the walls where they had been stored for years—the laughter, the tears, the confessions, and their whole life played out in Sora's head, but he wanted nothing more than to get rid of the incessant noises that plagued him. "I'm actually really glad you're here."
Roxas smiled softly. "I'm really glad you feel that way."
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Dark shapes pursued him through the darkness, endless and relentless. He ran, but, like all dreams where you are being chased, he couldn't lose them. Their gleaming eyes, almost the same color as his own, never changed in size, whether they grew closer or further away. They were just there.
He ran, his silver hair streaming behind him, blowing in his eyes. Impatiently, he brushed it away, trying to dodge through the forest where all the trees glowed with an unearthly light that seemed to blind him still further. He ran into several of them as they suddenly materialized in front of him, one moment not there, the next moment it bashed into his shoulder as he tried to dodge around it.
Something snapped at his ankle, jaws closing on his leg, but he lashed out, slamming it in the face. With a whimper, it released him, joining the others in their relentless pursuit.
The breath came ragged in his throat, burning its way down into his lungs mercilessly as he kept running. Now, the eyes were inevitably drawing closer, and now he could see the sharp ivory teeth, gnashing and determined to see him torn to shreds.
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Tifa watched in concern as Riku tossed and turned. She wanted to hold him down somehow so that he wouldn't aggravate his wounds, but she was afraid that anything that she did would just make it worse.
She lay a cool cloth on his sweaty forehead, biting her lip in concern. His condition was getting no better. It wasn't getting any worse simply because it couldn't get any worse without killing him. His jaw cracked loudly as he clenched his teeth hard, hands gripping and releasing the sheets over and over again, his already pale skin turned deathly white.
Tears sprang into the brown-haired woman's eyes as she watched the silverhair writhing in agony.
"Come on, Riku…" she said, trying to keep the tears from escaping from her eyes. She failed, however, and they traced their way down her face. "Come on!" she cried, slamming her fist into the wall. "You can't die! You have to get better!"
Scrubbing at her eyes, she hurried from the room, right into something worse.
"Aww…" Yazoo cooed. "Has little Riku finally given up on his pathetic excuse for a life? Finally kicked the bucket?"
"Shut up!" Tifa yelled, giving him a vicious slap. Yazoo just laughed, while Loz shifted uncomfortably, wanting to defend his brother.
"For your information," she hissed, "Riku is doing fine."
"Meaning he's not dead yet."
The breath was knocked out of him as a black boot slammed into his stomach, and he coughed, choking, blood spurting from his wounds. Loz whined, trying to squirm around between the two.
"No," Tifa snarled. "I mean his condition is improving and he's going to make a full recovery."
He smirked, even though his breath was slightly wheezy and his eyes were half-closed in pain. "Cloud told me earlier to quit the bullshit. Why don't you take his advice and actually tell the truth for once. Riku's not getting better. He may not be dead, but that's not going to last long."
Tifa snapped, launching herself at him, and she only stopped after Cloud, hearing the racket and coming back (waiting a few minutes until deciding that the silverhair would die if she kept it up), dragged her off. Yazoo was out, blood flowing from his old wounds that had been reopened by the abuse, cerulean eyes, not even fully closed, clouded over until they were a silvery-grey.
Loz growled at them furiously, snapping, "You're real brave, beating someone up when they're tied up like this."
Cloud took the opportunity to snap, "If you guys were untied, then you'd probably be cocky enough to brag that you could beat us when you were tied up, so shut it, crybaby."
The door slammed, leaving the two alone. Tears sprang up in Loz's eyes, even as he tried to fight them back.
"Don't…listen to them, Loz," Yazoo rasped, raising his head, eyes still dulled with pain and blood loss. "They're all going to die anyways."
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A.N. Hey, it's Chris. I'm glad that I was able to post this chapter sooner than all of the other ones. There's been a lot of crazy shit going on in my life, so its basically crumbled around my ears. Ah, well.
Review…uh, please. Thanks yous a lots.
! OMGsquee it's POTSTICKERS!!!