Lost in the Shadows
Chapter 11 - Deadly Consequences
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and its characters, settings or the like. These words, however, are mine.
Four long days had passed for Avalanche. The two weeks of searching just wouldn't go by fast enough and almost everyone was frustrated. Nobody had turned anything up or heard from Aerith and Sephiroth. Worry was constantly coursing through all of them.
Barret couldn't take much more and he threw up his hands. He started shooting at every available thing around him, save for Cid and Nanaki, attempting to vent his frustration.
"Damn that Spiky headed foo'!" Barret yelled over the sound of his machine arm's relentless assault.
Cid sent him a look clearly saying that he'd better shut the hell up and keep moving, but Barret either chose to ignore it or simply was too far gone to notice. Nanaki just kept moving forward, uttering not a word to either of them.
"You son of a $&, what the &$& do you think you're doing?" Cid retorted.
Barret sent him a glare and positioned his gun arm at Cid's head. Cid sweat dropped for a second before moving out of the way.
"We gotta keep &$& moving!" Cid said.
"Shuddup you foo'. I know you ain likin this anymore n I am." Barret said, sitting down ever so gracefully on a log behind him. Cid followed suit soon after, pulling out his packets of cigarettes.
They had been walking through the Ancient Forest for a few days now. They'd found absolutely nothing to indicate that the fiend's had been or were here. Cid puffed on his cigarette and thought about Aerith. She hadn't contacted any of Avalanche at all since they'd last seen her.
Cid's forehead creased as he contemplated the chance on Sephiroth having done something to her…
A loud shot was heard and Cid stood fast; his cigarette fell out of his mouth.
"SHIT." Cid shouted, bending over to pick his cigarette up. All he was met with was a glowing green patch of grass… Wait. That couldn't be true, grass didn't glow.
'Great observation you $& moron...' He thought.
He slowly lifted his head and found himself face to face with one of the fiends Yuffie, Vincent and the others had talked about.
"Dammit you foo'! Move!" He heard from behind him and only just missed being hit by a shower of bullets. He fell to the ground with a thud and came up with a few new curses.
"Damn you $&&! Don't $$ shoot when I'm standing in front of the $&!" Cid cursed, waving his spear around. He stood up quickly and faced Barret.
"Maybe ya shoulda been payin' attention!" Barret retaliated, glaring.
Cid mumbled a few curses under his breath before his PHS went off. He looked to see the fiend walking ever so slowly towards him and he backed up, picking up the PHS.
"Cid &$ Highwind." He answered, still backing up.
"Cid! The fiends, they're here!" Yuffie's frantic voice sounded over the phone.
Cid cursed when he heard Yuffie scream and rustling.
"They're here too brat." Cid said, throwing his spear out in front of him. It went right through the monster. That's when he noticed something was wrong.
"Hey, Barret. Where the $& is Nanaki?" Cid asked, looking around.
Barret started looking around too and stomped his feet over and over when he didn't see him.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit…" He answered back.
"CID! Call the others and tell them--" Yuffie said, but was cut off. The PHS line went dead and Cid cursed. What had happened? He didn't have much time to wonder about it as the fiend suddenly charged toward him.
"What the #&!" Cid said, turning and dashing away.
A second fiend appeared in front of him and he was forced to stop in his tracks. Cid looked behind him and in front of him. The one in front was just standing there, giving him an eerie stare while the other was still running towards him.
"Damn you foo's tah hell!" Barret could be heard, and he fired shots everywhere. The fiend took notice and the one running stopped and turned toward Barret.
"Aw shit…" Barret said.
Yuffie had lost the connection with Cid when the monster took a bite at her hand. She had managed to evade but only because Vincent pointed it out to her. Unfortunately, the PHS' life ended right there.
She'd fallen to the ground and the fiend was hovering over her.
"Uh… Vinnie, a little help…?" Yuffie trailed off when the fiend went for her.
Vincent turned just in time to see Yuffie roll out of the way, but it wasn't enough. It's teeth had caught a bit of her shirt and kept her there. Thinking quickly, he looked to see what Materia he had…
Fire. Perfect. She may kill him for it later, but it was either her life or her shirt.
Concentrating hard, all the while keeping his eyes on the fiend who was now dragging her back into the brush, he thought up the weakest fire spell he could but not weak enough that it wouldn't gain him the expected result.
He cast the spell and it burnt the part of her shirt that the fiend had in it's grasp.
"OW!" He could hear, but he didn't waste any time thinking about it.
"Yuffie, move now!" Vincent yelled out to her. The fiend was raising it's head in preparation for an attack of some sort. Yuffie chose to listen to him only seconds before the fiend brought it's head down. She rolled over until she thought she was a safe enough distance from the fiend and stood up.
"Man Vinnie, I've never hated anything more than these things." Yuffie said, looking over to him with gratitude. She saw him sigh and shake his head in return.
"What?" She asked.
Vincent simply pointed in front of her. How stupid could she be?
"OH MY GAWD!" Yuffie screamed, jumping into the air, narrowly missing the teeth the fiend was baring.
'Why is it only going for me...?' Yuffie thought. Pity-party!
"We need to find out how to stop this." Vincent said.
"Thanks a lot Captain Obvious. Gawd. What're we gonna do now?" Yuffie asked him.
Her PHS was broken and she knew she had to let Cloud know about this somehow. Vincent didn't have his because Reno and his group had needed one. Damn those Turks!
From what she'd heard from Cid, the fiends had shown up in the Ancient Forest again and now they were here, in Gongaga Forest, fighting Vincent and herself? Not to mention the fact that Aerith and Sephiroth had found them in the forest near Bone Village. They were spreading too quickly too fast and nobody could tell why.
"We wouldn't be in such a predicament had you not broken the PHS." Vincent stated.
Yuffie turned to him when she saw the fiends standing still a fair distance away from her. The rage in her eyes made Vincent regret what he'd said and shaking his head was obviously a bad move as well.
"That WASN'T my fault!" Yuffie yelled.
"Yes, it was actually." Vincent retorted.
"Oh my GAWD! At least I phoned them and let them know, now they can tell the others! BESIDES! You were SUPPOSED to be watching these stupid things!" Yuffie said, pointing to the fiends in front of them. "But no, you had to wait until it almost amputated my hand!" Yuffie rambled.
"We can't just leave now, Yuffie. We need to know where these things are coming from." Vincent stated matter-of-factly.
"FINE!" Yuffie said, running off.
Reno and Rude could be found in the outskirts of Junon trying to stave off the confrontation of the Mako-infused fiends with Junon.
The Turks had just been minding their own business, watching over Junon and it's inhabitants, when some old lady ran in yelling about glowing monstrosities heading toward the quiet town. They'd gone to check it out and came face to face with the crisis they weren't all too interested in meeting up with today.
Reno was becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that the fiends weren't able to be battled with. Both physical and magic attacks did nothing to help them in the slightest.
"What the hell? How are you supposed to get rid of these things?" Reno yelled over to one of his best friends, Rude.
Rude wasn't holding up too well either, he observed. He was a martial arts and magic kinda guy. How was he supposed to fight these things? Reno watched as he managed to hold off one of them when they charged for him.
Rude gave him the silence, which undoubtedly, Reno understood.
"Yea, she'll be back ANYDAY NOW!" Reno yelled. He turned his head to find Elena still on the PHS with Tifa, fingering him.
Reno scowled.
"Bitch…"
Rude gave him a warning look which Reno waved off when Elena started running over. She waited for a moment to catch her breath. Running simply wasn't her thing.
"Cloud said… That he and Tifa are busy trying… to find out how to get rid of the fiends. They're starting to appear… everywhere." Elena gasped.
"What do you mean, everywhere?" Reno said, finally beginning to tire.
"Cloud said that Cait said that Yuffie and Vincent encountered the fiends along with Cid, Barret and Nanaki. They only just showed up where Cloud and Tifa are now and he said that Kalm was being attacked. Yuffie's PHS must have broken or something too because nobody can contact her anymore." Elena said.
Reno cursed and Rude managed to push the fiends away.
Rude looked to Elena.
"Has anyone heard from Aerith yet?"
Elena shook her head, no. Nobody could come up with a reasonable explanation other then the fact that something may have happened to them. Although, even then it was doubted. Sephiroth couldn't be defeated so easily. But then, it wasn't like Aeirth not to call and tell everyone that she was alright.
"So 'Laney, gonna help us or what?" Reno asked, gritting his teeth as he attempted to hold them off like Rude had earlier.
Elena looked from Reno to the fiends, an uneasy look coming across her face.
"Aw, come on 'Laney, it's not that bad." Reno drawled, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Elena shook her head and backed up. There was no way. Besides, she had to phone Cid and the others. Someone needed to get to Kalm seeing as how Aerith and Sephiroth weren't going to be getting there anytime soon.
Cloud's sword went right through the monster and it was frustrating him to no end. There had to be some way to get rid of them. He glanced over at Tifa. She was having just as much trouble with them, if not more. She was tired, he could see that. She hadn't been getting much sleep these days for some reason so the unexpected battle was taking it's toll on her.
They had come to check up on Nibelheim. The town and it's people had already gone through enough over the years, what more could possibly be done to Nibelheim before someone or something backed off?
They'd begun to fight them off in Neibelheim, managing to drive them out of there and into the Nibel mountains. They'd been battling for a good twenty minutes and exhaustion was creeping into both their faces, moreso Tifa's.
"Cloud." Tifa gasped, falling to the ground.
"What is it?" Cloud asked in alarm.
"I need… to phone the others. Make sure… They're okay." She managed to get out.
Cloud nodded to her and moved in front of her. She stood up and walked a safe distance away, first dialing Cid's PHS number.
Cid picked up his PHS the moment he heard it ring.
"Yuff?" Cid answered, hoping to no end that she was alright. The way they'd been cut off was enough to drive him crazy.
"No, Cid. It's Tifa. Why are you waiting for a call from Yuffie?" She asked, not hiding her concern in any way.
Cid told her about how they were cut off before. He told her about the fiends having shown up everywhere, which she already knew, and he told her about Kalm and Junon.
"Cid, where's Nanaki?" Tifa asked, hearing nothing of Nanaki in the conversation.
Cid paused for a second before answering her question.
"I dunno. He disappeared when the fiends showed up."
"What?" Tifa gasped.
"Calm down! He could be searching for something else or he could be hiding somewhere waiting for something. We dunno how the damn cat's brain works." Cid finished, trying to keep his swearing down to a minimun if not anything at all.
"What about Reno and the others? Have you heard anything from Aerith?" Tifa asked.
"Nothin' yet..!" Cid said, jumping out of the way of the fiend running at him.
He and Barret had each taken one fiend which surprisingly, was harder then two. It made manoeuvring a little easier but when alone, the fiends had more room to move, making them able to move faster.
'Where the &$& is that damn $ cat?' Cid thought.
"Cid, I need to go." Tifa said.
"Alright. I'll keep in touch and I'll let ya know if I hear anything bout' the others." Cid said.
"Alright… I'll see you soon. Come back in one piece. And… Find Nanaki." Tifa said.
"You got it." Cid said, hanging up.
Everything had turned into such a mess. Four of their comrades were missing or they couldn't be contacted. Possibly five if they didn't find Nanaki. It seemed unlikely that Nanaki would just leave he and Barret alone here to fight off these things, though. There had to be a good reason.
He swung his spear out in frustration at the fiend coming near him and it backed away from him slightly.
'Huh?' Cid thought. He moved closer and swung at it again, this time enough to make some sort of contact with it.
"What the $$?" Cid shouted.
"Shit. You foo'!" He heard Barret shout out.
Cid turned to look and saw Barret pointing his gun arm out of the fiend in front of him who had it's jaws clamped around something that looked oddly familiar…
"&(!" Cid yelled, realizing what it was.
Or rather who. Red had jumped in front of Barret when he failed to realize that the fiend was running toward him.
"Barret… Shoot at it…" Red managed to gasp not giving any explanation as to where he'd been.
Barrets shots rounds and was surprised to see that they made contact with skin and began to slowly wear the fiend down. After a few more rounds, the fiend threw it's head back in agony and started to back up, letting go of Red's leg.
Red collapsed to the ground in a heap and Cid ran forward. Barret started firing at the other fiend and it started backing away with the other. They turned and ran through the brush before they could be struck any further.
"Red! $&! What the $& were you thinking you $&!" Cid yelled, looking at his leg.
He got no response from Red as he was unconscious.
"Shit." Cid said, looking up at Barret. There was a slight green color under Red's fur. It was only in one place at the moment but Cid had a bad feeling about it.
"Call the others you & don't just stand there!" Cid shouted, causing Barret to look up with guilt clearly plastered across his face.
Barret dialled Cloud's PHS number as Cid sat in silence.
Meanwhile, in the Ancient City only two people could be found. One awake and one asleep.
Sephiroth had carried Aerith back to one of the houses after seeing the white Materia enter Aerith's stomach, where the Masamune had once left a clean cut. The cut was nowhere to be found on her stomach now, though.
Sephiroth scowled at Aerith. Had he known that she would be unresponsive for days he wouldn't have handed her the Materia.
He couldn't help but notice the small knot in his stomach making him feel dread, fear… Why was he feeling these things?
Sephiroth turned his attention to the now ringing PHS. It had rung so many times every hour he was finding it hard to hold back from smashing it. He refrained from doing so though and also stopped himself from picking up. Aerith had awakened a few times in a drowsy stupor, asking him not to answer any calls.
Sephiroth assumed that was the Planet talking and simply abided by what had come out of her mouth. Although, he knew he'd be getting the brunt end of the deal sooner or later.
He looked over at Aerith, sleeping peacefully. Or so he found himself hoping.
He felt a pang of guilt every time he looked at her. This could have been avoided. He should have simply followed his instincts but gave in because of the pain it was causing her.
His forehead creased when he thought of his last statement.
The pain it was causing her? Why was it causing her pain anyways? Surely the Planet wouldn't have harmed her in any way had she waited a little longer.
Sephiroth sat contemplating everything in silence, waiting patiently for Aerith to open her eyes. He knew something was happening outside of the City and he wanted to know what. Although he was pretty sure his thoughts were accurate anyway.