Ripples in a Pond
Chapter 4
Rating: PG
Warnings: None. Yaoi in future chapters.
Summary: All bearings are lost when SeeDs experience an unfortunate crash that sends them on a planet where technology is at its beginning and monarchs stillrule. Theonly thingthey can do is try and keep their heads over the water and go with the flow, less they drown.ff8-ff9
Notes: And the crossover interaction has finally really started! Let's rejoice...
Saying that he wasn't happy was an understatement.
Indeed, Vivi was very unhappy.
Not that he was angry or annoyed, but rather he did not like the situation unfolding before him. Not when he had six people that had just fallen from the sky, injured but alive and all armed in some strange way. They didn't look exactly hostile, but neither did they appear innocent and friendly.
"I'm Vivi," he repeated, and considered the strangers with unabashed curiosity. Most of them were tall, maybe as tall as Amarant, and that blond one with the bleeding arm, he was probably even taller, reaching even Burmecian height records. They seemed young, dressed funny, talked with a funny accent, and had all pretty much descended from the sky in that alien wrecked ship behind them.
Useless to say, that made for a lot of 'strange' in too little components.
The brown haired one at the front, the one who acted like a leader and held that blue sword warily at his side, marked a pause before answering, as if he was considering giving information to an enemy.
"Squall Leonhart."
The situation stalled then, and Vivi found himself wondering what he should say or do next. He thought about mentioning all of their injuries, as some really worried him, but that also lead him to a more important factor that could easily determine if that was his top priority or not: their intentions. First he needed to know if the way they all held their weapons was for attack or defense.
"Please, there's no need for weapons, we won't harm you," he said, and watched Squall carefully for his reaction.
"Are you serious? For all we know you could be lying." Vivi turned surprised eyes on the tallest one, the blond man that had spoken up with so much aggression in his voice.
"We want to help, but we don't know if you're going to attack us either," he countered, and heard the derisive snort from the blond man. That one was holding his strange blade in no subtle way.
"You want to help?" This time it was Squall who spoke, and although his voice was level, he sounded surprised at such a notion.
"If you don't mean us harm in return," Mister 72 said evenly, weighing down every word. Vivi was glad Mister 110 and he had come with him. Not only did he ignore the strangers' true battle abilities, but he was also glad for the simple support the black mages offered against these people.
Squall watched him for a moment, and Vivi returned the stare with a touch of uneasiness. That one had something in his eyes, a shadow that shouldn't be in one so young.
"Everyone, do as he says," he finally ordered, and though the blond man made a smart remark about the value of that order, he obeyed just like everyone else and buckled his sword, though his good hand stayed near the hilt. Although Squall was obviously the leader, Vivi found himself more wary of that blond one. He looked wild.
"It would be better for your injuries to be treated in the village. You should come with us." This time it was Mister 110 who spoke. Squall looked at him with those same guarded eyes.
"How far?"
"Two hours, if we stop once to rest," Mister 110 answered.
Vivi looked at the state of Squall's party and thought that they'd never make it in two hours. Not with the monsters and their injuries and the lack of any real path in the forest. That would kill them rather than save them.
Squall must have been thinking something along the same line, as he turned back towards his party, silently asking for their opinion. The other blond boy, the one with the tattoo, straightened in defiance at that gaze.
"Don't think I'm going to slow you down. I can walk those two hours!" he boldly stated, though it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to do such a thing.
"Zell…It's ok. My leg won't support me two hours, and we're all too tired to be walking so long," Squall said, carefully avoiding putting any blame on anyone in particular, save for himself.
"What do we do, then?" This time it was one of the two women who spoke, the longhaired one supporting that injured boy, Zell.
"Hum, excuse me," Vivi interrupted gently, drawing all eyes towards him. It was all well and good that they made plans, but he wanted to remind them of their current position. "We could set camp for the night just at the edge of the forest, near the wreck. Monsters won't dare come near the crash site so soon, and we'll be able to help with your wounds," he suggested.
Squall nodded, obviously thinking over that possibility. Once again he turned to the others to see if they agreed.
Zell simply shrugged. "It's as good a plan as any."
"I agree. We need rest and help more than anything," the longhaired woman added.
"Take the little guy's offer Squall, I'm sleepy!" This time from the other woman, younger looking and sounding.
"You heard her." The last man, the only one that hadn't spoken yet, with blood all over him and with the funny hat.
Squall turned to the tall blond man, waiting for his answer. Vivi was surprised that he hadn't spoken up yet; he seemed the loud, imposing type.
"What about you, Seifer?" Squall urged.
"Why do you care what I think, you'll do whatever you want anyways," he snapped, but he sounded amused more than annoyed. "But hey, if we can get free food, I'm in." Vivi wasn't surprised to hear him talk with such bitter sarcasm and humor all mixed up at the same time.
"I believe that means you agree," Mister 72 said with a nod, receiving similar agreeing gestures and comments from the other party.
"Mister 110, would you please go back to the village and bring some extra help?" Vivi asked, and the black mage nodded.
"Of course." Mister 110 glanced over the strangers, mentally listing everything that would be needed, and the little extras, before turning and disappearing into the forest.
Vivi noticed then the look on every stranger's face. They really hadn't changed all that much, but he'd been part of a group of fighters long enough to immediately sense the tension that had settled in the air. Just a tightening of the eyes, or a certain set of shoulders, and he understood that he'd stepped wrong somewhere.
It took him a few moments before he managed to pinpoint the possible reason for them to be more defensive. When he spoke next, he tried to sound careless. "We don't have enough items for everyone, and no Tents for camp. Mister 110 alone won't be able to bring enough food and bandages and clothing for all of you, so he's probably going to bring one or two more with him," Vivi explained.
Really, they'd have to accept the fact that more black mages and probably some genomes would arrive. Besides, what difference would it make? Going to the village wouldn't have been any better.
"…So that guy really is named '110'?" the blond man asked, as if he didn't care about what Vivi had just said. The tension seeped out of the air slowly as they understood and accepted the logic behind of words.
"Is something wrong with Mister 110's name? I am Mister 72," the other black mage introduced himself politely, puzzled by the reaction.
"Maybe because they're numbers?" the blond man sneered, raising an eyebrow and looking annoyingly condescending.
"Seifer, please," Squall interrupted, and he didn't give Seifer a chance to say anything more. "We'd better head to that camp now," he suggested. Vivi nodded, understanding that it might not be a good idea to leave them all standing there longer than necessary.
The site he chose wasn't very far, as he preferred staying close to the wreck. It would scare monsters away for a little while, hopefully long enough for Mister 110 to return with those Tents. Not that Mister 72 and he couldn't take care of the local monster life, but he preferred avoiding any commotion.
He stopped soon enough, standing at the edge of the forest with the ship only a short distance away, close enough that he could still smell the burning in the air. Vivi quickly gathered a few dead branches and placed them in a triangular pile before casting a simple Fire to get it started.
He hadn't been expecting the strangers' reactions to that, either.
"Hey! He can use magic!" the childish-looking girl cried out, pointing at him openly. All eyes were on him.
"Hum…yes?" Vivi said, at a complete loss. Magic was nothing special, especially not considering his nature, but then again, these people came from the sky, so he had better get used to the strangest things from them. He supposed it also worked the other way around.
"How?" The bloodied man asked incredulously.
Vive shook his head. "I'm a black mage," he supplied, and remembered that while that answer would normally be enough, the strangers might need more. "Black mages can all use magic," he added.
They'd gradually come to sit around the fire, cautious as always but too tired to refuse the warmth and relative security it offered.
"I see…" Squall said, glancing around at his comrades, and Vivi noticed how all who'd opened their mouth to add something thought better of it and kept silent.
"Mister Vivi, I've noticed some monsters coming closer to the edge of the forest," Mister 72 suddenly came and announced, another load of wood in his arms. "I am going to go dispose of them." True to his word, Mister 72 carefully pilled the wood a safe distance away from stray sparks and disappeared into the shadows of the forest.
"Is he going to be alright?" the long-haired woman asked with only a polite touch of concern in her voice.
"Oh yes. The monsters around here aren't a challenge to the black mages," Vivi assured just as politely. She seemed nice enough, if a little cold. "If you don't mind me asking for your names?" He thought that now was as good a time as any to ask who they were. He'd gleaned names here and there, but he'd missed a few.
"Zell Dincht," the tattooed boy answered. "You have big monsters problems around here?" he asked in turn.
"Not really. At least it's better than it used to be," Vivi answered, purposefully avoiding to mention the Mist and Kuja and everything that it encompassed. He doubted that it would do any harm to tell them, but he preferred to wait and know them better before volunteering anything.
Scuffles were heard from Mister 72's direction, along with a blue flash of magic that suggested an ice spell. Its unusual brightness made Vivi realize that it was growing dark quickly. He hoped Mister 110 would be coming back soon; the monsters would start getting insistent.
"I have a few healing items," he started hesitantly. He didn't know if the strangers would trust him enough so soon. "I could hand them out..?"
"I won't be saying no to that," the tall man, Seifer, Vivi recalled, said. He was holding his arm stiffly against his chest. Vivi hurried to his side, uneasy around that giant of a man, and handed him a vial.
"I'm Seifer Almasy, by the way." Seifer took the vial and raised it to eye level, peering at it as if to determine if it might be poison instead. He sniffed it once, then shrugged and downed it in one swallow. "That's the real stuff alright," he commented as it worked on his arm, closing the wound to a very tender scar.
Vivi hurried to Zell's side next, not taking the time to think of the implications brought by Seifer knowing what a potion was; that could wait, Zell needed care. To him he gave one of his few High Potions, and watched with relief as it brought some color back to his cheeks, even though it didn't appear to do much about his current scars.
"Thanks a lot," Zell said gratefully with a toothy smile. "I needed that."
"How did you even heal these before we found you?" Vivi asked curiously. It had just occurred to him that such serious injuries didn't heal in a matter of minutes by themselves. They must have similar healing items, and it would explain how they all appeared familiar with his own.
"We had some items that survived the crash," Squall answered, confirming his thoughts. Vivi saw him take out a vial –probably their version of a potion, though it was different from his- and drink it.
"You were lucky." And that they were, if it worked the same way for them. You couldn't just drink potion after potion like water, because then you'd either overdose and die of poisoning, or the fast healing would be too fast even for the extra energy the liquid provided, and that meant pushing the body into a coma, at best. So if your item wasn't strong enough to keep you living until it was safe to have another one, you died.
Vivi had moved to the long-haired woman, who introduced herself as Quistis Trepe, but she refused to take the potion he offered.
"I only need some rest. Besides, I have one or two left myself," she said, and Vivi didn't push. He was limited in his supplies as well, so it was better that way.
Selphie Tilmitt accepted hers with energetic thanks, and the bloodied man, Irvine Kinneas, refused his like Quistis and Squall had, on account that he didn't need it and had some left.
"But I could do with a change of clothes," he only half-joked, wrinkling his nose at his very bloody garments.
"Mister 110 will probably bring some as well," Mister 72 answered, coming out of the forest, with no trace on him of the battle that had just taken place. "It should not be long now," he added.
The night had almost completely fallen, and Vivi was alert to any suspicious sound. He noted that the strangers were as well and was glad for it. They looked like they could use their weapons, along with possessing the relaxed, defensive stance of seasoned warriors. That was both a relief and worrisome, considering the current situation.
Understandably enough, they all looked like fishes stuck caught out of water when Mister 110 came back with Mister 277 and two genomes.
"Why can't anyone be normal on this planet?" Seifer asked without releasing his weapon's hilt, looking at the genomes –especially their tail- with complete surprise and disbelief.
The four newcomers stepped into the ring of light and put down the packs they'd brought. Mister 110 immediately started setting up the Tents with Mister 277's help.
"How can you define normal?" The genome boy asked in a mysterious voice. Vivi tried remembering his name but only drew a blank. He didn't know them all as much as he'd like.
Seifer looked surprised as much by the question as by the tone used. "I didn't mean to get philosophical over that," he said. He accepted the food the genome handed out gladly. "What are you anyways? So far we've had black mages and moogles, it can't be worse."
"They are genomes," Mister 72 answered. "This one is Ichiro, and that girl is Midori," he continued, gesturing to the silver-haired genome and his female counterpart.
"A pleasure to meet you," Midori greeted politely, with less of a mysterious air about her than Ichiro, fishing out large robes from her pack. Irvine zeroed in on those immediately.
Eventually the food was distributed, along with some spare clothing for those who needed it, and the four large Tents worked their magic and repelled any curious monster. They didn't talk about much as bandages were made and tender scars cleaned, and Vivi didn't mind. There were a few questions about where they came from, some details about black mages and genomes, but nothing really important. Nobody had enough energy left for that; it could wait until they got back to the village.
At one point, the subject of white magic was brought up and Vivi revealed, somewhat reluctantly, that black mages couldn't use any. Ichiro, who possessed basic abilities with magic, volunteered to cast Cure on the injured for the night.
"Excuse me, Vivi?" Squall looked up at Vivi, who'd come to see Ichiro work on his leg wound, and the black mage could see the exhaustion in his eyes.
"Yes?" It sounded like an awkward question.
"Could you leave us alone for the rest of the night? There's some things we have to talk about," Squall finally demanded. He did sound awkward asking it.
"Of course! I mean, we'll stay out of hearing range," Vivi quickly answered.
But not out of sight. It was obvious enough that he didn't need to say it.
"Thank you."
Ichiro finished his spell, taking longer than a more experienced mage would. Vivi wished Dagger or Eiko were here; they'd have whiped them all up in shape quickly and known exactly how to deal with it all. He wished Zidane were here; he felt like he was walking on thin glass that one wrong step would shatter.
With a sigh he joined the black mages and genomes, knowing that the days ahead would be long and tiring.
---
"What do you think of all this?" Squall asked once he was back with his party. They had gathered together between two Tents, keeping their voices low despite the distance between them and Vivi.
"I can't even think," Irvine said wearily. The clothes looked strange on him, as if some warrior of old had skipped a few generations. "This is just too weird, on every level."
"They can use magic," Quistis stated rather obviously. "Only black mages and a few genomes, from what I understood. And they separate destructive and healing magic," she continued, sounding more like she was audibly organizing her thoughts rather than talking for their benefit.
"What freaks me out the most is the stuff we have in common," Zell muttered, scratching at the back of his head. "I mean, we even speak the same language! What are the odds of that when we don't even come from the same planet?"
Squall agreed with him. It was one of the things that had surprised him as well. Their items and magic had the same names, they spoke the same language…most of the technical language was all the same.
"That Vivi, he's hiding stuff," Seifer spoke up. "He acts nice enough, but from the way the others step around him, I bet he's the strongest of the bunch."
"Probably. But right now, we don't have much of a choice. If they'd wanted to kill us, they'd have done so earlier. I think we can trust them enough to accept their help until we're perfectly healed," Squall countered.
"And it might be better that they don't know we could use magic but can't anymore," Quistis added, still thinking about that particular aspect of this planet.
Squall nodded. He was glad that they'd all caught on when he'd silently asked them to keep quiet earlier, when Vivi had briefly explained about black mages being the only ones who could use magic. It was too early for Vivi and his group to know, if ever.
"I feel kinda bad. I mean, he's giving us all these items without thinking twice," Zell muttered, glancing up at the clear sky with a deep, tired sigh. He had deep shadows under his eyes.
"It's better than using what little we have left. We don't know when we'll be able to restock, or if we'll have to run before it happens," Seifer said, shaking his head.
"Quistis, Irvine, don't use any more of your items either. Keep them for emergencies, right now we'll continue accepting Vivi's help if he offers it." Squall quickly checked his supplies, mentally wincing at their meagerness.
Zell shrugged, having not enough energy to object more powerfully. "I still think it kinda sucks lying to him like that. They've all been pretty damn nice."
"Life isn't easy, chicken-wuss," Seifer retorted, but even he lacked the energy to sound as sarcastic as usual.
"Do you think we'll ever get back?" Selphie asked then, stopping any argument the two blond men might have decided to have. Heavy silence fell over their somber features.
"No. The ship is destroyed, and they didn't even know how it could possibly go into space. Face it, this is our new planet," Squall declared bitterly.
There was no going back. They were stuck here, so they had better learn to like it. They had better forget those they'd left behind.
Squall tried not to think of Rinoa. It made him want to go out there and beat the hell out of whatever monster they said lurked around these parts until he dropped of exhaustion.
"Shit…!" Zell cursed, punching the ground angrily. He must have put real force behind the blow, because he'd left a sizeable enough hole in the ground.
"For once I agree with you," Seifer muttered angrily.
"Come on, everyone! Cheer up, this can't be so bad," Selphie said, but her voice betrayed her true feelings on the matter. She gladly huddled against Irvine's side when he nudged her closer.
"Let's just rest. We're too tired to make sense of anything tonight, much less Vivi and his monkey-tailed friends and their rhetorical questions and magic. It's way out of our league for now," Irvine declared, right on the whole line.
"Yeah. Don't mind if I do," Zell declared, standing up slowly before heading for a Tent. Irvine followed him, and Selphie headed for the Tent reserved for the women. It was a
show of Seifer's exhaustion that he didn't say a word as he followed Zell, simply glad to go sleep.
Quistis stood up with a yawn, though she didn't head straight for the Tent, instead peering over at Squall.
"Say, about that moogle… Could you please show me your cards?" she asked, her eyes darting from him to the moogle currently chatting with Vivi and back again.
Squall handed it to her, puzzled for a moment before he caught on. His mind felt as if it was made of syrup, making thinking difficult.
"I was wondering why it felt familiar," Squall said even as Quistis took out a card from the deck and held it out. He looked at the picture and knew he was supposed to be surprised, confused, anything, but right now exhaustion was all his brain could process.
"The familiarities are overwhelming. I'm worried, Squall."
Squall shrugged. What could he say? Quistis seemed to understand, as she handed the deck back without a word before disappearing in a Tent.
The Mini Mog card smirked at him from the top of the deck, taunting him with its annoying moogle-like face.
TBC