Wow, I got so many reviews on the first chapter! Thank you so much, guys! And especially you, my anonymous reviewers! Valkera, I totally agree with you on Lucrecia ;)
Okay, here's the deal - I'm so close to being valedictorian that I could cry! I'm focusing really hard on studies so that I can do better :) Please bear with me as I could take prolonged vacations, but I will not drop this story! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I don't profit or own or want to take any of the FFVII plots as my own works. All I'm doing here is using my creative license to build on the plot and recreate my own versions - still owned by SquareEnix - for others' reading pleasure.
*Thirty Years Later*
"Well this sucks."
The lithe ninja dropped from a tree branch and landed on her feet, earning a sharp tingling sensation in her knees as the force sent shockwaves up her legs. When she recovered from the jump, she brushed twigs and leaves out of her short brown hair and furiously wiped a smudge of dirt from her cheek, which only spread the dark mark further across her soft face.
The frigid night air chilled her exposed skin as she took off across the forest, her feet thumping angrily against the dewy ground, but making no sound as she was a kunoichi. Her lungs inflated painfully with each deep, even breath she took, and her eyes remained locked ahead as she gritted her teeth in mild annoyance – scratch that, major annoyance. Callously, she chanted in her head, I will not marry that arrogant bastard! If I have to run the rest of my life, I will not marry that arrogant bastard!
In all her haste to put as much distance between herself and Wutai as she could, she'd carelessly not been watching her step and would have been scolded on the spot if her ninjitsu master had seen her. A vine caught her foot, carrying her down a steep ravine before she could properly register the occurring events. With a small curse, she rolled down the dirt, her back hitting jagged rocks and sticks on the way down. When she made it to the bottom, the air rushed out of her lungs and she sat there, staring up at the night sky and gasping for breath while she resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her lack of concentration.
"Way to freak-ing go, Yuffie. Some super-ninja you are." Using her elbows to lift her upper body off the ground, Yuffie tilted her head around and examined her surroundings with interest. The forest of Nibelheim dispersed around her slightly, leaving a rather large plot of drab barren land, and in the center, an old run down looking mansion with a low stone wall that ran the perimeter, its fortress like build giving the appearance of protecting some dark secret that lie within the ruins. From the looks of the place, with its deteriorating stone fence, overgrown yard eclipsed by shadows, and caving roof, no human inhabited the manor in at least thirty years – rough estimate, of course.
"Perfect. Per-fect," Yuffie chimed and grinned, squaring her hands like a camera and tilting them as she fit the manor between the open space. She needed a place to lie low and remain hidden until Wutai stopped following her like freaking bloodhounds, sniffing her heals and practically salivating when they caught whiff of her trail.
Stupid ass Wutai royal guard. Stupid ass Wutai royal father. Stupid ass Wutai royal betrothal.
Just see if I come back! Yuffie thought smugly, a little huff escaping her at the audacious thought of marrying some stuck up airhead by force. Standing up and dusting the dirt off her illegally tiny shorts with contempt, the ninja took off at a sprint, ignoring the aching in her ankle that screamed, 'Help me, I'm sprained! Damn it, Yuffie, quit running!'
The wind whipped at her hair as she neared the manor with determination in her eyes, but when she reached the front entrance, everything stood ominously still, the atmosphere suddenly stagnant. There was no wind, no chill, and no sound. Only deathly nothingness.
She almost chocoboed out, let her fear carry her back over the field, but then she threw her head back and snorted, rolling her eyes at the notion of "ghosts" and "vampires". As if. And anyways, she was a ninja, and ninja down get scared.
With a petite hand, she pushed the door open, wincing at the loud scraping of the wood against the hard floor. Dust flew up all around her, nearly choking her to death in its assault of grimy particles. After a moment of coughing, Yuffie settled into a calm state and continued on, not deterred by the cobwebs that littered every corner of the room and the decaying furniture that scarcely made the spacious manor look any more inviting. Admittedly, the furniture that decorated the vast hall appeared to have been beautiful in its prime and very expensive, however in its current state, it looked more like some setting from a horror movie. Frowning, Yuffie wondered why no one bothered to make up the place and use it as their own.
Oh well, squatter's rights now!
With tiptoes – so as not to alert the monsters, she was totally not hiding from the evil spirits of the undead – she crept through the mansion, taking her time to examine the faultier areas where the stairs appeared to be seconds from collapsing or the ceiling wasn't reliable enough to stand beneath lest she wanted to become a bug beneath a shoe. When she examined the better part of the mansion, she came to the sight of a locked door and it quickly caught her eye. Yuffie marched toward it, fingering the padlock that restricted any further entry. Curious, the ninja placed her ear against the door and listened for sounds, but heard nothing behind its thick build. With a grin, she pulled a pin out of her hair and slid it into the lock, playing around with it until it clicked open. She let the lock drop to the floor with a clank, and then yanked the door open, the momentum almost sending her sprawling to the floor in a heap of ninja limbs. Yuffie cocked her head, eyeing the stairwell that led downward.
"A locked basement? Freaky." Thoughts of Frankenstein's monster filled Yuffie's head, and she giggled, scoffing, "Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna walk down there and find some half-dead thing strapped to an operating table, its body meant to be dead some twenty odd years ago…"
Yuffie pranced down the stairs, her giddiness getting the better of her when she slammed into the next door. Rubbing her forehead and frowning, the ninja opened the door, and stuck her head in, the other hand reflexively inching toward Conformer on her back. With tentative steps, she slipped into the basement, her eyes observing every detail. A shudder ran through her when she caught sight of an examination table, complete with rack of instruments of torture. A bit of brownish-red crust caked some of the tools, and Yuffie gulped, hoping with everything she had that it was only rust.
"Okay, so no scientific creation. That's good," Yuffie whispered, gulping. The ever curious kunoichi ran her hand along the edge of the bench. Seconds after her fingers grazed a body restraint, a paralytic shockwave shot up her spine, making the kunoichi yelp and press her finger to her lips. Hesitantly, she pressed her hand against the bench again; there was no painful sensation like before. But she was so sure she had felt agony, hurt, pain, betrayal, all things horrible when she first pressed her hand there. Almost like she'd seen some long forgotten memory.
"This place gives me the heeby jeebys," Yuffie declared, wrapping an arm around herself. She spun around and headed toward the door again, her eyes skipping right over the coffin in the corner.
Whining echoed in Vincent's ears. For a moment, he let his eyes blink open. The constant chatter in his mind seemed to grow louder like it usually did when some poor unfortunate soul came banging on his door. He felt no internal threat to his existence, so Vincent continued to lay there, his heart rate slow as he listened to the very quiet, next to inaudible footfalls of someone scampering around his mansion like a field mouse.
A growl reverberated in the back of his mind, the telltale sign that Galian Beast wanted out. The sound the demon made hadn't necessarily been aimed at the intruder, but Vincent himself. The beast wanted to go investigate. Vincent supposed that all mutts wanted to investigate new smells.
'Now, now, Vincent, don't be like that.' Vincent rolled his eyes at the hiss, nearly groaning. The Chaos demon wouldn't let him sleep for five years without waking him up for some pointless conversation.
'Like what?' he snapped back, trying to fall asleep once more.
'Act superior because you are more human than the rest of us.'
With a sigh, Vincent frowned. 'I do not feel superior. I feel like a monster.'
The mental image of a demon throwing his hands into the air with exasperation entered the ex-Turks thoughts. 'That is just it, though! You feel you are a monster because of us. Without our presence, you would feel human again.'
The dark-haired man shook his head, his now incredibly long locks swaying with the movement. 'I could never feel human again. There are… too many modifications to my previous genetic makeup. I am filled with chemicals and scarred, and I will never be human again.'
'You might be if you met her,' Chaos protested, and Vincent got the distinct feeling that he was sticking his forked tongue out at him. The mere thought of ever seeing another soul turned the ex-Turk's stomach.
Vincent remained still, not willing to continue the conversation. He did his best to block out the demons, something he'd practiced for a long while. When he finally muted the noise, he slid a hand through his hair, breathing harshly. He couldn't allow himself to go chasing after some girl that he never really wanted to find in the first place. He loved Lucrecia, and she betrayed him. She did, however, give him one last chance to continue on, but without her, he decided it was pointless. He did not want to fall in love again, and he did not want to subject anyone else to the hideousness of his being. With that, he fell back into a deep slumber.
Until he heard a scuffling noise above him. Oh well, he knew he'd have the element of surprise.
Just as Yuffie leaned over the coffin, her interest piquing at the sight before her, the lid flew off and a creature sat upright, glaring at her harshly with blood-like eyes. With a shriek, the girl flew to the opposite side of the room, pressing herself into the cold wall as she flung Conformer at the thing. He caught it midair like it was a piece of flypaper and held the rather large shuriken before him.
"Damn," Yuffie breathed, admiring the lightning fast reflexes. The creature turned to her, his eyes morphing into yellow, the feat terrifying. Even under the twisted scrutiny, she kept her chin up. She wasn't so afraid of him, really, he had just caught her off guard.
The thing slithered out of the coffin, its claws flexing as it roared mightily and threw its wolf-like head back. The silvery-purple creature loomed above her, at least six feet tall and impressive in girth, its long curving horns adding even more height to the intimidating stature. With a gulp, Yuffie placed one foot behind her, bending her front leg in an attack-ready position. She really didn't want to fight this thing if she didn't have to.
"What are you doing in my home?" the hissing creature demanded, its lips pulling back to bare its sharp teeth.
Oh my Leviathan. Does this thing not know the meaning of hospitality and all that crap!? Yuffie raised an eyebrow at the monster.
"Well, excuse the hell out of me!I was just trying to find a place to crash, but obviously, some other freakazoid beat me to it. So you know, you could just like, crawl back into the coffin there and go back to sleep." Yuffie inwardly fist pumped at her brashness, but from the angered look in the thing's eyes, she suddenly felt like slapping her forehead.
"You dare to interrupt my slumber and barge into my home? You dare to insult me?!" The creature crossed the room in a flash, scowling down at her with a murderous gleam in its eyes.
"You wanna fight me, big guy? Bring it on!" Yuffie reared back and threw a punch towards its disturbing face, but the thing caught her hand in a flash, its vice-like grip squeezing her wrist painfully. She cried out and recoiled, but he held tighter. After yanking away from the monster futilely, Yuffie slumped forward, defeated. Even the best ninja knew when to surrender.
The creature's grip softened slightly when she relaxed, and he pulled her toward him, examining her wrist as if checking to make sure he had not injured her. She gazed up into its eyes, watching as the color faded from a bright yellow to a dull orange, seemingly transitioning to red. It tore its eyes from her.
"Go." The command came off quiet and remorseful, and Yuffie got the feeling that he felt a little guilty. For what, she couldn't tell. But, she was insatiably curious, and so what if that killed the cat. She did love cats, and they had nine lives to lose anyways. In any case, she was determined to find out what had gotten this thing's goat.
Surprising both of them, she cocked her hip and stated firmly, "Nuh-uh."
"Excuse me?" the creature growled, slightly incredulous. Yuffie almost laughed at the widening of its yellow eyes.
"You heard me ! Nuh-uh. I'm staying right here. I need a place to hide – no, I will not tell you why – and this manor is as good a place to hole up as any. Besides, you'll never even notice I'm here!" Yuffie tilted her head and grinned, her short brown locks falling in front of one of her silver and chocolate eyes.
Please work! she pleaded in her head. She couldn't even fathom the idea of being turned out of the mansion and forced to continue running from Wutai.
The creature tilted its head too, his eyes glazing over as if he was having a mental conversation with himself. Yuffie watched him, wondering what he was thinking. At length, he asked quietly, "You are not afraid of me?"
Was she? He did look like some bloodthirsty animal that no doubt would rip her throat out if she ever crossed a line. What was it that had kept her here? Under any normal circumstance, she might've taken off like a sane person and forgotten she'd ever happened upon the hellhole. But there was something that kept her here, some inkling…
Yuffie looked him up and down, pursing her lips, and then replied, "Well, let's just say I'm afraid of a lot of things." Like my slip of a father's betrothing me to some Leviathan-awful man. "I just know how to deal with it."
The thing did not reply, but turned and headed back to its coffin until Yuffie called out, "Wait!.. I just… What are you?"
The creature turned back, only the profile of his face visible as he replied loathingly, "A monster and a demon." With a shudder, Yuffie realized that his voice held all those horrible emotions she'd felt when she'd touched that operating table.
Okay, so they've met! I hope y'all liked it so far :) Next up, Yuffie and Vince start getting to know each other - and realize how much they despise the other's existence.
Tell me the good, the bad, the ugly - just be nice ;) Thank you for reading, and thank you in advance for reviewing, cuz I know you're gonna, riiighhht?