Lost in the Shadows
Chapter 5 - Unexpected Encounters Prt. 2
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and its characters, settings or the like. These words, however, are mine.
Yuffie lay there, a huge grin plastered on her face. "Gawsh Vinnie, seriously I told you like... A thousand times, I'm only 17."
Vincent blinked once,twice... Ohhhh... Three times before he looked away from her to the Epiolnis' and back to her. "Yuffie... Do you have any idea what's going on?"
"Hmmm... You've been lonely too long and you're trying to seduce me. Gawd, I know I'm sexy and all but come on --" She stopped talking when Vincent grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to sit up and turned her to face the Epiolnis'. Her eyes widened.
"HOLY GUACAMOLE!" She screeched. "What the HELL is that, Vinnie? I never saw one of those last time we were here. But... I guess I wouldn't have... I was plotting how I was going to steal your materia. Say, what materia to you have on you now, Vinnie-poo?" She asked him.
One of the monsters started to move closer and Vincent stood up, grasping Yuffie's arm and pulling her up as well. To his greatest dislike, she turned to face him.
"You know Vinnie. I dunno why you're so uptight," she poked him in the chest. "We could kick some Epiolnis ass and you're here acting like we're facing Sephiroth and freaky woman again. Gawsh Vinnie, can't you…"
-Wow.. Does she ever shut up? She is also really kidding herself bout being able to take on those birds... Heh. What a conceited, annoying little...-
'Would you shut up?'
-Fine... But there's two more behind you...-
Vincent felt Chaos leave his mind and he turned around to find Chaos to be right.
Two more identical Epiolnis' were standing behind them. They looked at him with the bright eerie green eyes for a moment before they started to run towards him. The other one in front happened to be doing the same thing.
He glanced at Yuffie who was still rambling on about who knows what, completely oblivious to the fact that three abnormal and dangerous Epiolnis' were running towards them.
-Heheh... Finally, we'll be rid of her...-
'Chaos.. What are these things?'
When the Epiolnis' were close enough to inflict damage, he stopped the one in front with his prosthetic arm and shot at the other two behind them.
He found himself to be overridden by all three of them. His shots seemed to go right through the two nearest to Yuffie (behind them) and the Epiolnis' in front was surprisingly strong, almost knocking him off his feet before he managed to regain his control.
-Why are you asking me?-
'Nevermind…'
He held his own for a moment with the one in front before kicking Yuffie, causing her to fall over. Seeing that she was about to get up, he placed his foot as lightly as possible without hurting her on her stomach to keep her on her back.
"Vinnie what the hell are you.." She saw the two running towards them and then the one Vincent was holding back.
"OH CRAP! Vinnie, why are you holding me down, god dammit!" She yelled at him, only earning a glance. She shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable to happen until she heard a crack.
She slowly opened one eye to find that Vincent was kneeling beside her and the three Epiolnis' had run into each other.
She sighed in relief before she rolled over to the right, slowly standing.
"So Vinnie, which ones you gonna take?" She stuck her tongue out at him. Pulling out her overly large Shuriken, the Conformer, she stood in a battle stance. She looked over at Vincent and saw he was taking the Death Penalty out.
She smiled. This would be fun.
"Cetra! Duck NOW!" He yelled to her.
Pushing every thought of not trusting Sephiroth out of her head, she listened to him. She ducked. The two Vlakorados' flew right over her head but didn't stop to try to attack her again. Instead, they ran straight for Sephiroth.
Sephiroth let out a breath of relief that he hadn't known he'd been holding. He had been sure that she wouldn't have listened to him. Thank Gaia she had.
He jumped into the air and the Vlakorados' ran right under him, crashing into the Vlakorados that was behind him. They all ended up falling into the brush surrounding them.
He looked over at Aerith once he was back on the ground, to find her still crouched, in a complete daze. He started to walk over to her when he heard a rustling from behind him.
He rolled his eyes and saw Aerith's head shoot up in fear before turning around to face the Vlakorados' again. They were all out of the brush now, standing as though nothing had happened previously. Sephiroth scowled and was about to move forward, when a sound caught his ear.
He turned to see Aerith clutching her head and mumbling something that sounded like, 'stop screaming...' or 'I heard you, give me a moment...' He gave her a confused look before turning around to find all three dragons running at him and Aerith.
He whipped out his katana and held it in front of him. The impact was a lot stronger then he thought it would be, and he slid back slightly before he regained his proper footing. Damn, they were strong. He was still a bit stronger then them though.
He was barely holding them off and had just started to wonder why these things were so strong when he suddenly felt something jolt through him. He turned at the sound of Aerith gasping, almost expecting to find a Vlakorados hovering over her or worse, but felt somewhat relieved when he saw she was standing up. One of her hands was held to her head in obvious pain while the other was trying to help in balancing her.
"Sephiroth..." She looked up at him. "We need to get out of here." She started walking towards him, when another wave of pain entered her head. She almost fell over again, but fought it a little. By the way she was mumbling, Sephiroth was sure that the Planet was speaking to her or something.
She let out a small scream and fell to her knees, shaking her head. Sephiroth's brow furrowed in confusion. It almost seemed like the Planet was hurting her but... That couldn't be true...
She looked up at him again and he focused his attention on her, while holding the Vlakorados' at bay. He was surprised by the fact that they just stood there and didn't make any moves aside from trying to push him over. Another thought added to the already long list.
"There's nothing you can do to them," Aerith said in a raspy voice. "The Planet said... That this is part of the... Crisis... But, it isn't sure... Of how to stop it..." She was literally gasping for breath. Sephiroth was sure that the Planet's constant screaming or whatever it had been doing was taking a toll on her mental barriers.
"What is it?" He gestured to the Vlakorados' he was holding off.
"The Planet said... To get out of here... Before... I tell you... Anything else... It's too... Dangerous Sephiroth..." She lowered her head for a moment and looked up at him one last time before falling unconscious.
Sephiroth swore under his breath and pushed back at the Vlakorados' with all his strength, effectively pushing them back away from him. Turning abruptly, he ran over to Aerith and scooped her up into his arms before running the rest of the way out of the forest.
Yuffie fell to the ground unceremoniously, several wounds marring her arms and legs. She laid down on her back.
"Vinnie, you finish 'em. I can't do it anymore..." She said, looking over at him.
"Yuffie, get up!" He yelled back at her.
"WHY? Everything we do seems to go right THROUGH THEM, STUPID! We can't inflict enough damage, if any, to slow them down even in the SLIGHTEST!" She yelled back, making a face at him.
"What do you propose we do then, Kisaragi?" He asked her, shooting once again at the Epiolnis', though no damage was inflicted.
"Hmm... That's a hard one, Vinnie. I guess we should, you know, RUN!" She said, pulling herself up off the ground. "Race ya!" She said to him before turning tail and running off.
He looked at her retreating form in surprise for a minute before realizing that they really couldn't do anything more. He dodged the next two Epiolnis' attacks, jumping over the last one and following Yuffie.
He caught up to her easily.
"Where are we going?" He asked her, sparing a glance at her.
"Well Cosmo Canyon, duh! Geez, Vinnie, did those freaky birds knock some 'o those brain cells out of your head?" She said, flashing him a grin.
He looked at her for a moment before running further ahead of her.
"HEY! No fair! You can't leave me here, what if something EATS ME?" She yelled frantically. "VINNIE!"
It took only a matter of minutes to race out of the forest and into Cosmo Canyon.
"Holy crap, Vinnie. That's the fastest I've run, in my life.." She said, falling over at the entrance to Cosmo Canyon.
"Yuffie... I believe a few calls should be made?" He queried.
"Pft, call 'em youself, Vinnie-poo. Can't you see I'm BUSY." She said.
"Yes. You're eating the dirt." He said in that oh-so-lovely tone of voice he had.
She lifted her face up and glared at his retreating form. A thought slid into her head and she smiled slyly. She pulled herself up and started to slowly walk over to Vincent, her ninja training coming in handy once again. Once she was close enough, she jumped onto his back, causing him to stagger.
"Because you are so rude Vince, you have to carry me! PIGGY BACK!" She yelled in his ear.
"Yuffie, get off me..." He said.
"NO! Now... Let's get going Vinnie. Jeez, you cause so many problems…" She retorted, grinning profusely.
Finding Nanaki proved to be easy, but telling him what they'd seen was another; what were they supposed to say? Yuffie's thoughts went along the 'green and gross and ugly'. Sitting around the Cosmo flame, they told their story as best they could -- rather, Vincent did. Thankfully, Yuffie had stayed quiet and let Vincent tell the interesting story.
"So.. You say they were green in color. Life stream green? And mutated? Strange indeed..." Nanaki said, his wise voice cutting through the silence.
"Yes. I believe we should call the others. They will likely wish to here about this." Vincent said.
"Yes, good idea, Vincent. Yuffie? Would you call them?" Nanaki asked Yuffie, looking at her pointedly. She had done nothing to help them at all during the last discussion. She had likely been plotting some sort of plan to steal their materia.
"PFT! Fine." She said, turning her back on them. She took the PHS out and called Cloud and Tifa first.
A few rings passed before anyone picked up.
"Hello? Tifa Lockheart!" Came a cheery voice.
"Hey Tif. Um... I think we've got a problem on our hands." She said.
Sephiroth stopped running once he broke through the forest trees, only to find himself in yet another predicament. Getting off this continent altogether. He looked around for anything they could use, the result being that there was nothing.
He swore under his breath for what he was sure was the millionth time today and walked toward the water. He looked down at Aerith, who was still unconscious in his arms.
His forehead creased when a certain thought ran through his head.
'She looks like an angel when she sleeps..'
He was sure he was truly going insane now. He had no idea what they were going to do and yet here he was gawking at an unconscious girl who he had more or less hated before. He shook his head, hoping that the thoughts would be permanently erased from his mind.
His shaking ended up waking Aerith and he sighed internally.
'Great.. The last thing I need now is her up and walking, calling me that... That name...'
Her eyes opened, though slowly. She was immediately barraged by a huge amount of light and quickly shut them. She felt herself being lowered to the ground. She hoped.
After a few moments she opened her eyes slightly, trying to get used to the light. Sephiroth had obviously gotten them out of the forest because she was sitting on what she assumed to be the beach outside of the forest on the Northern Continent.
She looked up at Sephiroth once the light was finally bearable. He was looking down at her expectantly and she raised her eyebrows at him in question.
He ended up rolling his eyes and sat down in front of her.
"What did the Planet tell you, Cetra?"
She sighed and lowered her head for a moment before abruptly raising it.
"Would you stop calling me that? My name is AERITH." She yelled.
He was clearly taken aback by her sudden outburst. He saw her look to the side, mumbling an apology.
"Fine. AERITH. What did the Planet tell you?" He retaliated.
"Well… It kept on screaming Crisis in my head.. And it said that they couldn't be damaged physically.. I don't know, between the Planet yelling at me and you fighting and all the confusion…" She looked up at him. "Sorry."
He waved away her apology.
"What shall we do now then?" He asked, though he was sure he knew what she was about to say.
She looked at him slightly before looking away.
"Well... Maybe it's time we went looking for Avalanche, don't you think? We knew what the Crisis is now so... I think it would be the only sensible thing to do..." She looked at him with an expression of, 'oh-my-god don't hurt me'.
He looked at her for a moment before sighing and rolling his eyes. He spoke in a cold voice.
"Fine. But I am having nothing to do with Strife." He said.
"That's fine..." She said, wishing that she didn't have to do this.
"Oh, and... Sephiroth?" She said.
He looked at her.
"You're not alone anymore." She said, giving him a genuine smile. "Sephy." She added.
Sephiroth's eye twitched.
All the members ofAvalanche were currently sitting around the Cosmo Canyon Flame, everyone listening intently to Vincent's story. Yuffie added pointless thoughts sometimes or helped Vincent out when he 'forgot stuff', though, she usually exaggerated.
"And that stupid monster was like, 'RAWR!' and tried to eat Vinnie but the Great Ninja Yuffie saved him! Mwahwahwa..." She looked at Vincent. "Speaking of which, don't you think you should repay me? Some materia maybe…?"
Vincent gave her a glance before continuing on. Yuffie turned her back to him, sulking.
"So, you brought us out here for this?" Cloud asked them.
"Cloud, these are no ordinary fiends. Physical attacks don't inflict any damage and magic doesn't work in the slightest. They're unbelievably strong as well." Vincent relayed.
"Ewwww… They were all creepy looking too..." Yuffie added.
"Do either of you have any idea why they look and act like this?" Cloud asked.
"From what Vincent has said," Nanaki started. "Theywould seemto be mako-infused."
Vincent nodded. "There's no other explanation for it. When a person is exposed to large amount's of mako, they become mutated. You should know that by now." Vincent said. "And your eyes, Cloud, they glow, as do those fiends'."
"Well… I suppose we had may as well check it out. But... Do you think it's going to end up being a big deal?" Cloud asked.
"Yea! What if there ain't nothing' to worry 'bout you foo'!" Barret fired.
"Oh shut up you bunch a'ladies!" Cid said. "It isn't gonna $&#& kill us to go and take a &#& look."
Cloud sighed. "Alright."
"We should probably split up in pairs and look in every area." Tifa said. "We can't afford to have any of these... Things... Attack the towns and people. It's only going to cause havoc amongst everyone."
Cloud nodded. "Alright. Yuffie, Vincent, you two can go together. Red, go with Cait. Barret and Cid, just... Try to work together without seriously damaging one another..." He glanced at the two before continuing. "Tif and I will go to the Northern Continent. Yuff, Vince, you two go to the Eastern Continent. Nanaki, you and Cait can stay here. And Barret, Cid, the Southern continent."
"Maybe we should ask the Turks for help...?" Tifa added quickly.
Cloud thought for a moment.
"We'll worry about that later, if we don't turn anything up." Everyone nodded, agreeing.
"Alright... Let's mos--"
"Cloud, if you say that ($# word, I'm goin to $&$ hit you over your $&$# head with my spear." Cid said, waving his spear around for emphasis.
Cloud backed away slightly. "Okay... Everyone..." He cleared his throat. "Move out!"
Everyone walked out of Cosmo Canyon to their specified destination, having no idea what they were getting themselves into.