Disclaimer: Yup, it's the same old drill... this story's characters belong to Square-Enix...
A/N: I'd just like to say 'hi' to all the new readers, and thanks for the support...If I can make y'all happy then I deem my mission accomplished. :) As far as characterisation goes - in this chapter I start to build up the antagonistic relationship between Cid and Yuffie. It was never really there in the game, but I always figured those two wouldn't quite see eye-to-eye, so here it is. Oh, and I slightly exaggerated the 'big brother' thing between Cloud and Yuffie, but I thought it was fitting. I hope you guys approve. :)
-Ludi
Notes to the story: As far as the war in Wutai goes, I believe that's something that's being explained in more detail in the Before Crisis game, which I haven't got my mitts on yet, so I'm not sure what really happened. The original game was kinda vague on the details of the war, so I've done the best here with the information I got.
-oOo-
: Chapter Fifteen : Stolen Materia
"So you jack-asses are after this Sephiroth too?"
Cid was lying on the wing of the crashed Tiny Bronco as it bucked up and down lightly in the ocean, watching his hand as he dipped it lazily in the water. Cloud, who was getting Aerith's full attention to his wounds along with Barret, nodded his head.
"Yep. Word is he's headed for the Temple of the Ancients, so that's where our next destination is."
"I wonder why he's gone there," Aerith said quietly as she carried on patiently tending Cloud's wound. "I didn't even know a temple for the Cetra existed."
Cloud remained silent. Was this temple the site for Sephiroth's Reunion, or for other sinister plans? Cid interrupted his thoughts by suddenly speaking.
"Well, I guess this means I gotta come with you guys," he sighed, picking a cigarette from the pack beneath his goggles and lighting it morosely. Cloud turned to him in surprise.
"You're coming with us?"
Cid shrugged and swirled the briny water about thoughtfully with his hand.
"Got nothin' better to do. I'll be damned if I know what the hell this Sephiroth business is all about, but those Shinra bastards turned against me, and my dreams of going into space have been shattered for sure. So I might as well."
"What about your wife?" Cait Sith asked.
Cid sat up with indignant surprise on his face, the action causing the plane to rock precariously.
"Shera? My wife? Christ, even the thought of marryin' her gives me the heebie-jeebies!"
Cloud shrugged at the others, who glanced at each other in silent incredulity at Cid's words.
"Well, I suppose that's settled then," he finally said. "But how are we going to get to this temple?"
Cid got up and walked back into the cockpit. He began to fiddle brusquely with controls.
"Well, looks like everything's workin'. Seems like it's just the propeller that got damaged. And this plane is still salvageable as a boat, as long as we stay in shallow water. We can still travel in it."
"Where is this temple?" Barret asked impatiently, wincing only faintly as Aerith touched a sore spot.
"Well, don't look at me." Cid shrugged, scratching under his goggles. "I'm just the newbie here!"
Cait Sith spoke up unexpectedly.
"It's somewhere on the East Continent."
Cloud stared at him in surprise.
"How do you know?"
Cait Sith shrugged and said nothing. Cid broke in cheerfully.
"Well, to the East Continent we go! I dunno 'bout you guys, but I'm gettin' itchy feet already!"
Going to the East Continent was not so simple. For the next day and night torrential storms lashed over the ocean, causing the Tiny Bronco to be swept off course and toward the West Continent instead. To occupy themselves during the wet weather, the group took to emptying out the abundant amounts of water that had begun to leak through the plane. Cid was inconsolable at this, and complained that his beloved aircraft would rust beyond repair if this went on. By the time the rain had stopped, all of them had become sick and tired of hearing his moaning voice. Nevertheless, curmudgeon though Cid was, there was too much of the loveable rogue about him to be angry with him for long. He had a sharp wit and a wry sense of humour that left most of his comrades laughing despite themselves. Only Yuffie regarded him with a less than cordial air, and for the most part the two spent their time avoiding one another.
It was as the storms abated that they realised they were no longer floating. Opening the door hopefully that morning, Cloud was greeted with sunlight, a cornflower-blue sky - and land. They had finally reached the rocky West Continent.
"Hey guys!" Cloud cried rapturously. "Land! There's land out here!"
Everyone scrambled for the door. Barret, who'd suffered the most in the enclosed environment, was ecstatic.
"At last! No more leaks and freezin' cold!"
He ran out, followed by Cid, Yuffie and Cait Sith, who began crying out in joy at the top of their lungs.
"Much as I hate to admit this," Tifa smiled as she stood beside Cloud, "I feel like doing exactly as those fools over there are."
"Yes," Vincent admitted wryly. "And look over there." He pointed over the horizon, where there stood the faint outline of a town. "I have a feeling that food and a warm bed is beckoning us."
Cloud looked out to the town in the distance and nodded.
"Yes; let's go."
The now enormous group of nine began to trek over the rocky landscape and toward the village. They hadn't got too far when Yuffie, who'd been unusually quiet, suddenly ran ahead of the others.
"Hey, Yuffie!" Cloud called after her. "Where are you going?"
She turned to them, a mischievous smile lighting her boyish face.
"So long, suckers! I'm outta here!"
"Hey!" Cloud watched her race over the hill and toward the town. "What are you talking about!"
Yuffie, however, had disappeared over the hill without a second glance back. Red stared after her suspiciously.
"What is she up to?"
Cloud shrugged, even though he had misgivings himself.
"Well, we couldn't expect her to stay forever. She's unreliable - a professional thief and bandit."
"I'll say," Cid cut in suddenly, an angry tone to his voice. "My materia's disappeared. I'll bet all yours has as well."
"What!"
Cloud began to search wildly in his pockets for his materia, but there was none to be found. Everyone else seemed to be having the same trouble too.
"Why, that little..." Barret swore, infuriated. "We need our materia for battles. It's essential and she knows it!"
Cloud stopped and put a hand to his forehead, thinking. It seemed that Yuffie had vanished into the town on the horizon. He turned to the others.
"I'll bet that village over there is her Wutai, her hometown."
"That girl comes from Wutai?" Cid asked, crossing his arms in disbelief. "Where they had the war that made Sephiroth a hero?"
"So she says," Red nodded. "And since your compass tells us we've been travelling due west the past day or so, and since Wutai's on the Western Continent, it would seem, my friend, that that town over there is indeed Wutai."
"You're right!" Tifa exclaimed. "Let's go after her!"
Wutai was a beautiful tourist village made up of elegant red-roofed pagodas and surrounded by pine forests. Built on the delta of the West Continental coast, pleasant, gushing streams flooded through the village, filling the space with the tranquil, calming sound of running water. However, the most beautiful site of all was a mountain known as the Da-chao Statues. On the side of the rock-face had been carved the images of ancient gods and Buddhas, idols that the Wutainese had worshipped for centuries, and who in return looked over the people with benevolent eyes from their stony faces. On arrival, the group at first were stunned by the wonderful scene that Wutai spread before them. It seemed to be no wonder that it was a thriving tourist town. In fact, the village was so beautiful that they forgot all about Yuffie for a moment.
"Well, you won't see many places like this one," Cid exclaimed, lighting a fresh cigarette and staring round in fascination. "If Shera could see this!"
"Feelin' homesick?" Barret joked sardonically, earning himself a scowl from Cid.
"Imagine the view from those mountains!" Aerith breathed, pointing to the Da-chao statues. "I'd love to go up there!"
"I hate to spoil your fun, everyone," Cloud interrupted, "but we've got to find Yuffie."
Renewed with their former vigour, the group wandered the village, looking for the girl, but she seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
"Where the hell is she?" Barret cried in annoyance.
"Well, there's only one place we haven't looked," Cloud finally said. He pointed to a tall pagoda that was nestled in between the firs at the far end of the village.
"Guess we gotta look there then," said Cid, and they journeyed past a bubbling river and down into the forest of pines.
A small clearing marked the spot of the pagoda's whereabouts. Clustered around were several other grand and stately buildings. Yuffie could have been in any one of these. The first two Cloud searched with no success. They appeared to be parts of one large home, and were richly decorated. Silk tapestries hung from the walls, screens painted with lotus and cherry-blossom adorned the rooms. Golden statues of the gods stood in prominent places, and bed quilts lay neatly folded on the floor. The aromatic perfume of spices and orange blossom floated round the buildings.
Cloud took this all in in wonderment. He was beginning to half-believe the dubious claim that Yuffie was a princess. She had to be, if she was living in such luxury. But Wutai was a tourist town, everyone knew that. Why should it have royal family?
Sighing, Cloud exited the house and spoke to the others.
"No luck, I'm afraid. She's gone."
"No, she hasn't," Red unexpectedly said. "I can smell her scent. She's round here, somewhere."
"Where?" Cait Sith asked, and Red proceeded to sniff his way past the two houses and to a little stand at the end of the clearing. In the middle of the stand was a large golden gong. Wandering round the construction, Red suddenly gave a howl of delight.
"She's round here!" he growled.
Cloud followed him round to the back of the stand. There, hidden behind a covering of loose cones and pine needles was a small trapdoor.
"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "I'll bet this is Yuffie's hideout."
"Then let's go inside," prompted Vincent softly. He and Cloud pulled at the trapdoor, straining at the heavy slat of oak. It was not locked. After a few heaves, they managed to open it up. Looking down, they saw an untidy room with bits of paper and brown sacks lying about. No one appeared to be in the room.
Cloud jumped down into the chamber, the others following. On looking round more closely, Cloud realised that this room, for all its sloppiness, was still exquisitely decorated. However, even after turning over everything, Yuffie was still not to be found. Cloud turned round to the others and shook his head.
"She's not here."
Red, nevertheless, managed to sniff out another secret door hidden behind a fringed tapestry. It seemed evident that Yuffie had disappeared behind here. Pulling back the door revealed yet another secret passage. As they entered the dark corridor lit by blazing torches, Cid gave a low whistle.
"Whoa. This is some place. I bet there are tons of these passages underneath the whole of Wutai!"
Amazingly, golden statues still lined even these secret corridors. It appeared that Wutai was a richer tourist town than it was letting on. Cloud began to get suspicious. Was it Yuffie who'd thieved all this gold?
Just as Cloud was passing another precious statue, he suddenly heard a small, slight shuffling sound from behind it. Stopping still abruptly, he warned the others silently that there was something behind the sculpture. They all nodded to him silently. Turning quietly to it, he made as if to shift it aside - but before he could, Yuffie herself bounded out with a thunderous cry and began to sprint down the corridor. Cloud shouted after her.
"Yuffie, stop!"
She turned her head and stuck out her tongue at him.
"You think I'm gonna let you get your materia back, loser!" she cried. "Get real, Cloud!"
"That little minx!" Barret exclaimed and he ran after her heavily. Yuffie almost made it, but Barret's strength and anger were factors she had underestimated greatly. Grabbing hold of her and lifting her off the ground, he brought her triumphantly back to the group, kicking and screaming.
"Let go of me, you big ignoramus!" she cried breathlessly. "I said let go!"
Elbowing him in the stomach, Barret dropped the girl and reeled backward, winded. Yuffie turned to run back down the passageway, but was blocked out totally by Cait Sith's hefty mog. Looking back belligerently in Cloud's direction, she finally accepted that she had been beaten.
"You got me again, electro-head," she spat at him. "I can't believe you got me again!"
"Yuffie, you've been with us long enough to know that this isn't behaviour we can let you get away with!" Tifa rebuked heatedly "You promised us loyalty and instead you broke our trust! Give us back our materia and we'll let bygones be bygones - but only if you give it back!"
"Nothin' doin'!" Yuffie retorted rudely. "I don't care what you do or say to me - I want the stuff, and I'm keepin' it!"
Cloud shook his head. This was getting nowhere.
"Why did you take it, Yuffie?" he asked hotly.
"Mind your own business!" she cried. "Why should you care anyway? All you care 'bout is Sephiroth!"
As Cloud stared back at the angry girl, something clicked in his mind. He began to speak to her slowly.
"You did it for the village, didn't you," he stated. Yuffie lost her angered look and blinked at him.
"What did you say?" she replied in a low voice, soft and vehement.
"You did it because you can't stand Wutai being a tourist town that isn't rich enough!" Cloud levelled at her accusingly. "So you stole all these things to make it wealthier! Am I right?"
"No!" Yuffie cried, tears, surprisingly, lining her eyes.
"You stole all these things!" he persisted. "You stole all these carpets, these statues, these tapestries!"
To Cloud's immense astonishment, Yuffie suddenly spread her arm out and slapped him round the face so hard he didn't know where it had come form. Staring back at her speechlessly, he was stupefied to see Yuffie actually crying.
"How dare you!" she gasped. "I'd never do such a thing! I'd never dishonour Wutai or the Da-Chao! How dare you imply that I would! I hate you, I hate you!"
"Yuffie!"
The cry was spoken in an unfamiliar voice, and everyone gazed up in the direction it had come from. Standing at the end of the corridor was a regal yet portly man with neat beard and moustache, dressed in a purple kimono. From his face, and the way with which he carried himself, it was not hard to see that here stood an important gentleman. He stared down at the group in silent anger.
Yuffie, struck almost dumb with sudden fear, spoke stutteringly.
"Fa-father..."
Everyone gaped in surprise at the man, Yuffie's father, who was now gazing at the young girl sternly.
"Yuffie, what are you doing here? You have been missing for months."
"I'm sorry, Father," Yuffie whimpered, but the sturdy man cut her off.
"Sorry? You are a disgrace to our village, running away like that! You should not have come back!"
"I only wanted to help you, Father!" Yuffie cried, still half in tears.
"Yeah, an' steal our materia!" Barret put in angrily. The man stared at him in astonishment, then at Yuffie.
"Is this true?" he demanded.
Yuffie said nothing and hung her head in shame. Her father, realising that here was not the place for a row, tried to quell his wrath somewhat.
"Here," he said shortly, "come with me, all of you."
Bewildered, the group followed him through the corridor and to another trap-door. Climbing up the ladder, Yuffie's father pushed it open and went through. On the other side, Cloud soon found, was a sumptuous throne-room. Cloud gaped at what met his eyes as the man sat down on a plush kang. So Yuffie really was a princess.
The man looked about the hall at the group gathered, his eyes stormy.
"Forgive me, for not having introduced myself. I am Lord Godo, ruler and chieftain of the once-great land of Wutai! But it has been many years since our country knew any greatness." He paused and seemed to sigh, then continued: "Now would someone," he began severely, "mind telling me what's going on here?"
Cloud began to speak hesitantly, feeling increasingly out of his depth. This was not what he had expected.
"I'm sorry, your -um- Majesty," Cloud began falteringly, "but we met your daughter in the Gongaga woods one day whilst on the New Continent. She attacked us, and tried to steal our materia." He paused a little, seeing the sour look Yuffie passed him. "She didn't get away with it, so she decided to join us. Everything was okay until today. When we were walking up to your town, she suddenly made off with our materia."
Godo, who'd been listening intently, turned to Yuffie gravely.
"Yuffie, is this true?"
"Yes," Yuffie replied sulkily.
The man looked down at her with narrowed eyes.
"Then I am ashamed of you! You have disgraced the name of our village! I do not want you here anymore. You are henceforth to be banished from this realm! Tomorrow, you will leave Wutai and never come back!"
She looked up at him; rage on her face for all her tearfulness.
"What I did, I did for Wutai, Father - for you! I did not mean to shame you!"
"Do you really call stealing materia good for our village!" he cried back sternly. "No: it is the worse thing you could ever have done! You have displeased our gods! You are a disgrace!"
Yuffie suddenly stood up straight, her eyes flashing with moisture.
"It is you who is the disgrace, Father!" she replied in an oddly dignified voice.
"What did you say?" Godo was outraged.
"I said, it is you who is the disgrace! Who was it that turned Wutai into a low-down tourist town? Who was it that stained the great name of Wutai? It was you, Father! You are the one who have shamed Leviathan and the gods!"
After a stunned silence, Godo suddenly rose from his seat, fury on his face.
"You think you are justified, don't you! Throwing all these grand words around...you are a miserable daughter! Get out of my sight at once!"
For moment, Yuffie stared at him defiantly. Then, with a short sob, she turned and left the room, slamming the gilt doors shut with a bang. Everyone glanced at one another with eyebrows raised, not daring to say a thing. Letting out a calming breath, Yuffie's father sat back down on his seat.
"Please accept my sincere apologies for my daughter's behaviour," he sighed. "She is such a terrible handful. It's all I can do to keep her in check. I thought she'd run away and was never going to come back. But now that I see what mischief she's been getting up to, I realise that I cannot keep her here. I ensure you that we will return you your materia. But while you are here, please make yourselves at home as reimbursement. We have excellent inns here in Wutai."
Lord Godo's judgement having been made, there was nothing for it but for the eight walked out of the pagoda silently. Once outside, they all turned to each other in surprise.
"Wasn't Yuffie's dad a bit tough back there?" Aerith commented.
"Yeah," Barret exclaimed. "Now that's what I call washin' yer dirty linen in public!"
Cloud did not answer. Something still troubled him. Why had Yuffie thought that stealing their materia would help Wutai at all? He'd have to find her to get an answer.
"I'm going to look for her," Cloud finally decided. Cid stared at him in surprise.
"Why bother? She's bad news and now that she's gone, all I can say is good riddance!"
"But don't you think it's strange?" Cloud asked. "Wutai's a tourist town, yet it has a royal family. What use is tradition to a tourist town? Maybe Yuffie's actions had some method to them."
"Pfft, yeah, like lining her own pockets!" Barret muttered skeptically.
"Or trying to get some respect back for her town," Tifa added, giving Barret a pointed look.
"Hmm. Wutai was the front for the Great War several years back," Cait Sith mused.
"And Wutai lost the war, didn't they," Red put in.
"And who knows what happened to this place after they lost that war," Vincent added. "Or what desperate measures they had to resort to."
There was a silence.
"I'm going to find her," Cloud insisted again, and this time no one stopped him.
Sauntering off, he went to look for her in the buildings he'd searched before. None of this came to anything. Then, remembering the secret hideout, he decided to look there. Sure enough, when he'd pushed back the trapdoor, there was Yuffie, sitting on a ragged cloth sack and weeping softly.
Gently, Cloud jumped down into the room and approached her. Yuffie lifted her head and noticed him, then hung it again, wiping viciously at her eyes.
"Go away!" she shouted furiously. "Just leave me alone!"
"Don't you want to talk?" Cloud asked, sitting down next to her on the dusty floor. She shook her head vehemently.
"There's nothing to talk about. I'm a disgrace, right? That's all you need to know."
He let her cry a little bit more, then he spoke again softly to her.
"Tell me, why did you do it, Yuffie? Why would stealing help Wutai?"
She looked up at him acidly, and he could tell she was contemplating on whether to tell him or not. Finally, she hung her head and spoke.
"I am a princess, you know. Well, sort of. I wasn't lying. My father rules Wutai. He's a sort of...chief, or village elder. But, Wutai doesn't run like that anymore. It's a tourist town, and as you say, towns like that don't have rulers."
She paused and wiped a tear from her cheek bitterly, biting her lip.
"You see, it all happened back during the Great War. You may not know this, but back then Wutai was the front for the war. Before then, the Shinra wasn't the big political organization it is now. It was just a weapons company, pure and simple. Then it discovered Mako, and started to make money out of it, soon becoming a world power. This started the Great War. The Shinra tried to suppress all the villages, towns and cities on the Planet. Almost all fell to them. But Wutai remained as the last rebel town. Alone and without allies, we didn't stand a chance. After the war, Wutai was ruined. Where once we were a renowned warrior-clan, we were now a shattered settlement, and we had no money left to restart ourselves. The Shinra took away our materia, so we'd never dare to fight them again. We were crushed, Cloud, really crushed.
"Then, my father decided to turn Wutai into a tourist town. With our natural beauty spots and the Da-chao statues, we were bound to make a lot of money. My father, he shamed our gods, he shamed our great water god, Leviathan. I had to rectify that. I thought that if we became the great battle clan we had been before, Leviathan would be pleased with us again. So I...so I..."
She burst into fresh tears and Cloud awkwardly put an arm round her shoulders.
"I know. You thought that if you got all the materia you could find, and took it back to your father, you would appease the gods and regain Wutai's integrity."
Yuffie nodded miserably.
"Yes. And now I've been sent away in disgrace and my father hates me. It's all too much."
"You know, Yuffie," Cloud said to her kindly, "I think your motivations wereright."
She stared up at him in sudden surprise.
"Do you?"
He nodded with certainty.
"Yes. I believe that it was brave of you to do what you did, and it was great of you to do it for the honour of your village. But it was the way you went about regaining Wutai's integrity that was wrong."
She hung her head again in shame.
"Yeah. I shouldn't have stolen people's things. But at the time, there didn't seem to be any other way. I'm sorry, Cloud."
"It's not me you should be saying sorry to, Yuffie. It's your father."
She looked frightened.
"But he hates me! He doesn't even want to see me again!"
Cloud patted her on the shoulder.
"You've got to tell him what you told me and make him understand why you did what you did, that it was only for the benefit and honour of your hometown. Then he'll forgive you and let you stay back here."
She gazed up at him in enlightenment and admiration.
"Cloud, you're right!" She stood up and suddenly looked at him with a deep affection he had not thought possible from her. "Cloud, we haven't been friends, but..." she lowered her eyes sheepishly, "...you're a good guy really."
"S'okay, Yuffie," he assured her, slightly embarrassed. He was amazed to see her suddenly put her arms around him.
"Be my big brother, will you, Cloud?" she whispered shyly. "I've always wanted a big brother to protect me. Will you be mine for me?"
He smiled to himself.
"Sure I will, Yuffie."
She released him and grinned up at him.
"Guess I gotta face my father now. Oh! I almost forgot!" She pointed out a door hidden behind another tapestry. "Take a look in there! That's where I hid your materia!"
Cloud smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Yuffie."
"No problem." She turned to go, then stopped and swivelled round slowly. "Cloud?" she ventured uncertainly.
"Yes?"
She looked down at the floor and he could tell that she was thinking hard about what to say next.
"You know, Cloud, since I've been tagging round with you guys, since I've seen what you guys do...I've often wondered: 'what's it all for?'"
"What?"
"Just everything." She shrugged. "This world and everything in it...it just seems so unfair. The Planet is dying because no one cares enough to stop the bad guys. I just wish..."
"What Yuffie?"
She looked up, and her eyes grew wistful.
"I just wish...that sometime, somewhere, I could finally just go to bed at night knowing that tomorrow no one would be in pain anymore."
Cloud was silent a long time. Then he nodded.
He understood that everyone on the Planet felt the same way. But there was no hope left to do anything about it.
They were the only ones left who had enough to soldier on.
-oOo-
Next: A debate with Aerith...