A.N. Awright, chapter…um…Damn…I have no idea what chapter this is…crappity…ah, well, it'll tell me when I update. I thank absolutely everyone who was kind enough to remember to review, and I swear that I'm going to get all of your names in here one day. Right now, as I'm writing this, I have no access to the Internet, so I'll have to do it another chapter. Actually, I might just stick it all at the end of this section of the trilogy. Yep, that's right, folks, I'm going to end this one whenever I feel like it and continue on to the end with all of you in tow! Yay!
I do have a couple poll questions for you. Just write the number and the name, pleez. I have my own opinion about this, but I want reader opinions as well. Do this in the review or PM (PM is preferred, if you could), or don't do it at all, whatev. I am adamant about one thing, though—NO RIKUSORA. Please. I know you like it, and I'm putting in plenty of fluff, but that's not how this series started and that's not how it's going to end. So here we go:
1)Roxas X
2)Riku X
3)SoraX
4) additional pairings
Thanks! This'll help out a lot!
(Jesus, that's a lot of words)
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"We should've brought a frickin' wolf with us," Yuffie bitched as they traveled though the forest quickly, just shy of a jog. "It would've made this a shitload easier, I mean, just maybe. I don't like—"
"Yuffie," Tifa said, as calmly as she could manage.
"What?"
"Shut up."
"But—"
"Look," Sora interrupted through gritted teeth; even he was getting annoyed. "You've been complaining for the last hour, ever since we got into this whole thing. And if it's not one thing, it's another. Can't you just…y'know…tone it down a little? Give it a rest, Yuffie. Please."
There was a too-short silence, and then an indignant bark from the ninja. "What? Hey, I have been busting my ass hauling it all over this damned forest, looking for, really, nothing in particular, and now I've got the two of you complaining about me voicing my opinion about these absolutely atrocious conditions that I'm forced to endure. You're just trying to keep me all bottled up inside until I explode—"
Both Sora and Tifa muttered something under their breath at this.
"—because then you two could just complain about each other, instead of this…slightly awkward threesome."
"Yuffie, what are you talking about?"
"Now we're just going to wander around forever, hopelessly lost in a neverending abyss of—"
"How is this an abyss?"
"—trees and darkness, and we'll just have to starve until we eat each other as we die of starvation. We'll start on the one who kicks it first (it'll probably be Sora)—"
"Yuffie, will you shut up?"
"No, I don't think—"
"Yuffie!"
"I—"
"SHUT UP!"
It was then that she noticed that they had stopped walking, and right after that, she heard it, too—the rustle of a single leaf as it fluttered down from the trees overhead. There was barely enough time for them to look up before dark shapes whirled upon them from above.
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"Wonderful," Cloud growled quietly, through tightly gritted teeth, obvious annoyance on his features. "Now what the hell are we supposed to do?"
"If you think I can tell you, you're dreaming," Leon snapped back, both of their eyes following the fight closely as it raged on below. By now, both of the silver wolves were in the thick of things, trying to kill each other, by the looks of it. But of course, at least that was understandable, unlike everything else that was currently happening. Xigbar and Yazoo disappeared into the forest, leaving the two alone to deal with it, but Leon and Cloud barely noticed, still trying to follow the other fight. The two silver wolves paid them no attention, whirling upon each other with murderous intent, snapping and snarling.
Leon growled. "Feel like remembering which one's which?"
"Fuck you."
By now, it was way too late to do anything at all, and they could only watch as the dogfight continued. The brunette fidgeted, wanting to help in some way but having no idea how. Of course he wanted to help Riku (unlike Cloud, who thought the silverhair was working for the other side, or something like that), but which one was it? Cloud just watched stoically, not moving a muscle. At least, he didn't move until there was a slight sound on either side of them, and they turned back-to-back instantaneously. Yazoo and Xigbar exploded from the foliage toward the two men, teeth bared, snapping viciously. They were prepared for the hastily fired shots from Leon, having similar weapons themselves when they actually had the right number of digits to use it.
What they weren't prepared for was an angry blonde wielding a sword as long as they were to come charging at them, and Xigbar received a long streak of red along his side. He snarled, whirling to attack, but was forced to leap away as the Gunblade whistled by his side. Black hair fluttered away into the dark, neatly clipped.
Yazoo lunged at Cloud, who parried and feinted, avoiding the silver wolf's teeth. Unfortunately, they still happened to be up in the trees, and the movements carried the blonde too far. Yazoo followed with a growl, and they were both swallowed up by the impenetrable black air.
Completing two full turns in midair, Cloud landed on his feet, swinging up automatically with the Tsuragi. The early strike, unexpected, caught the silver wolf off guard, still on his way down. Striking him square in the chest, the silver blade carved its way up to his neck, releasing a waterfall of crimson blood that hit the ground and instantly turning it black. Instead of landing gracefully on his feet, like he normally would have, Yazoo crashed into the ground, silver body crumpling pathetically, blood still pouring from the gaping wound.
Cloud knew that an injury like that wasn't going to kill the goddamn thing, but at least it would keep it out of the way for a while, long enough for him to come back and kill it whenever he wanted. It would be dead soon, anyways. It didn't matter how fast they healed; he seriously doubted anything could take a hit like that and live. If Yazoo had been even his original Jenova form, he still would be dead right now. Ignoring the limp form, he turned his gaze skyward to see who was winning the fight up above him.
So far, there was no clear winner. In fact, neither side was gaining any ground at all, being too evenly matched. Xigbar flitted about, constantly disappearing and reappearing (something that was obviously highly annoying the brunette), but Leon managed to stay with him the entire time, blocking every attempt at a strike or charge. The two seemed to be reading each other's minds.
"I fucking hate you," Leon snapped, irritated by his enemy's constant disappearances.
Seeing absolutely no reason to help, Cloud turned his attention back to the one other fight that was currently happening. The two other silver wolves, identical in almost every way, were still obsessed with trying to tear each other apart, ignoring everything else. The blonde sat back a bit, watching and patiently waiting for his opportunity.
Riku (the real one) snarled as fangs scored his side deeply, and he retaliated instantly, giving as good as he got.
It came as a sort of relief to him that they were fighting in lupine form, as he still hadn't gotten quite used to seeing himself…well, with fur. And even though he had had to fight a replica of himself multiple times, it was still difficult to strike at something with a face that was the mirror image of your own. This was definitely an improvement upon that.
Still, this fight wasn't easy at all. He wasn't even winning. He was already hurt from Yazoo, and even though his wound was already beginning to heal (that was an improvement, too), Zexion was definitely an able fighter. Though he wasn't the strongest foe, he was by far one of the quickest and the smartest, drawing Riku in before countering swiftly, dodging in and out, the whole time feinting and attacking unexpectedly. Still, strength was on Riku's side, and he was ready and willing to use it, attacking savagely, using the lack of power on the part of his opponent to his full advantage.
As it turned out, strength may have saved his life, as his enemy rushed. Riku, quick on his feet, sidestepped and slammed his body into Zexion's as he passed. The wolf tried to avoid the blow, but couldn't, sent off-balance and slamming hard into a tree. For a split second, the disguise that he had donned flickered, fading slightly into its original dark slate color.
The tactician, recovering swiftly, landed on his feet. Unfortunately, this time he wasn't wuite fast enough, and in a quick blur of cruel steel, the Tsuragi left him pinned to the tree, the blade going through the lithe body and deep into the tree behind him. He struggled, blood pouring from between his jaws, before his head dropped and he was still.
"Fucking thing has to be dead," Cloud growled furiously.
Riku gaped, an expression never meant for the face of a wolf, turning to Cloud with utter confusion written on his features. In return, the blonde just shrugged.
"Figured he'd drop it eventually," he said shortly, turning his attention back on the fight above them as Riku just stared.
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Tifa's foot hit the side of Loz's head as he leaped at her, so instead of the wolf's jaws closing on her he plowed headfirst into the ground. Sora dodged the furious blue wolf, who whirled and pursued him relentlessly. As Sora fended off the seemingly never-ending attacks, the keyblades he was wielding wheeling and sparking against the bleached fangs. Yuffie and Tifa continued to worry Loz, trying their hardest to keep the bulky form between them.
Yuffie's shuriken zipped around his head, scoring deeply along his side. But as she whooped with excitement, grabbing it and sending it whizzing off again, she didn't notice the bright blue eyes that watched them, gleaming with sadistic anticipation.
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It became slowly apparent to the blonde wolf that they were being tailed (pardon the really bad pun). He chuffed quietly at Axel, who grinned back, his astonishingly bright green eyes gleaming.
They split suddenly, and Roxas immediately took off, streaking off through the darkened forest like chain lightning. Well, like furry chain lightning, but same thing, right?
Axel, however, merely watched him go, slowed his pace. Stopping completely, he turned, lying down as he waited for their pursuer to catch up.
He didn't have long to wait. With less noise than a panther could have pulled off, Sephiroth emerged from the engulfing darkness, glaring down at Axel imperiously. The pyro yawned, but his eyes grew no less bright as he stood, shaking himself slightly. Slowly, he walked forward until they were barely a foot apart. Emerald and sapphire gazes bored into each other, the force of the stares holding no more emotion than the actual stones, only holding an intensity that would make any normal person buckle at the knees.
They stayed, motionless for a few seconds, before Axel snorted, backing away slightly, obviously bored with the encounter. A slight growl rose in the great silver wolf's throat, and the pyro ducked his head, disappearing, swallowed up by the heart of darkness.
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A.N. WOO! What's that supposed to mean, huh? Nyaah, I'm not telling you! Well, you're gonna find out eventually, but I can tell you right now that this was nothing like what I had in mind for this chapter. Oh, well. I've let the beast out, I might as well just get dragged along at the end of the leash and see where it wants to go. Wow, that's almost as bad as the 'tail' pun. Ugh, I'm getting too old for this…
Love y'all!
BlackFalcon002, aka Chris
(And all that jazz)