Lost in the Shadows
Chapter 17 - Decisions
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and its characters, settings or the like. These words, however, are mine.
It took a lot of convincing for Sephiroth to finally agree to let Aerith go, but how it all boiled down to his word was beyond Cloud. Petty matters like this, he decided, were not on his list of things to think about though. Nobody had time for it. Everyone was also beginning to see that Aerith was becoming increasingly worried about their new comrades --their new friends -- and that sent a steadywave of uneasiness to course through the rest of them. Aerith had always acted on instinct and her strong beliefs; she'd never done them wrong before. Why would she stop now?
They had descended the ramp, Aerith and Sephiroth leading the way, and they were headed for the three figuresthat were still unaware of Avalanche's presence.
Aerith abruptly shot forward causing a few of her friends to start after her before they saw her throw herself at Elena.
Dark, damp, filled with disgusting bugs...
Elena couldn't take much more. It was unnerving enough that it was so dark out. Even though the large forest was shrouded in semi darkness with the amount of trees, it had been getting lighter and lighter due to the weather change. Besides, she always felt like something was just crawling on her leg...
'No,' Elena shivered. 'Bad thoughts, bad thoughts... Reno and Rude are here... Nothing will happen...'
But her mantras weren't helping very much. She still had this feeling like something was going to happen. Why were they in this forest anyways? What had happened to Reno? Barret's sudden attack on her friend couldn't have been that bad. He was, after all, inclined to go to a bar almost everyday, so why choose to walk through a forest to get there? Were they even going to a bar anyway?
'Ugh... Disgusting...'
A small rabbit was lying on the side of the trail, flies and other things she didn't wish to name were surrounding it, picking at it, eating away at it's flesh...
'This is horrible...' Elena thought, only she didn't just think it, she said it aloud.
"What? Can't take a little gore, babe?" Reno asked, tilting his head ahead of her. Elena knew he was smirking even though he hadn't turned around to look at her. Sometimes she just wanted to...
"EEP!"
Reno knew they had walked quite a ways without taking any sort of break, but Elena's constant whimpering was getting on his nerves. But then she usually did that anyway, whining or not. Of course, hewasusually the one who inspired such a thing.
'Why are we here anyway? Man, that guy seriously needs some help... Why did we leave? They needed our help.' Reno scowled. 'And get myself killed in the process? I don't think so...' Reno glanced over at Elena. 'She wanted to stay though...'
Rude had been unusually quiet he noticed. Usually the two goofed off, sharing insults, talking about the 'babes', although, that was more of a Reno topic.
"This is horrible..." Elena drawled somewhat lazily and very quietly. He knew she was serious. She hated anything to do with insects.
Reno simply couldn't resist. He'd seen the rabbit on the side of the trail as Elena must have, and he knew she had a thing for the little animals.
"What? Can't take a little gore, babe?" Reno said, smirking. Elena immediately shut up, but he knew she was either glaring daggers at his back or was trying to come up with a plan to make him feel any sort of pain.
They had only walked a little further when he heard Elena shriek from behind him. He unhooked his weapon and whirled around, a comical look on his face.
"AARGH! Where's the spider! Or is it a butterfly?" Reno yelled. Then he saw arms encircling Elena's waist. Rather small arms...
He walked up to Elena and looked over her shoulder; whoever it was was short.
"Why, Sweet, you gotta be a little less discreet about these things. Heh, definitely a butterfly."
Aerith seemed to ignore his nickname for her and his overly lame line, disappointing him to no end. He turned away and walked over to Rude, sulking. He realized he'd been doing that a lot lately.
'Oh no.'
Yuffie looked visibly relieved when they'd caught up to Aerith and the Turks. Was it a fluke that they happened to stumble upon a Mako Pool? Now was the perfect time to tell Avalanche about her and Vincent's encounter with one, but nobody else seemed to notice or care. Aerith and Elena were talking animatedly about things she was sure she didn't want to know about. Sometimes, Yuffie thought Aerith was just a schoolgirl, giggling and gossiping about completely random things.
Of course, Yuffie couldn't keep her mind on that. She had her own problems.
Vincent.
They had fought before they'd gotten to there current spot, even if only a little, and it was buggingher. Sheknew he was just worried. They'd become rather close and Yuffie wanted to keep it that way and keep it moving. She was simply used to being so independent andwith all of the days events fresh in her mind; she'd just needed to vent.
They had, of course, talked on the way to this forest and somehow, she thoughtVincent understood why she'd blown up on him and he'd letit go.
Yuffie glanced over at him. He was standing not too far away, arms crossed, gazing warily; stoic as ever.
'That's what I love about him though.' Yuffie thought.
That conclusion, she'd come to the other night. She loved Vincent Valentine. He'd broken through all those defenses of hers that she'd managed to build around herself and like there was nothing to it, he'd managed to get through.
Vincent looked over at her and she blushed; erasing the thoughts quickly and smiling over to him. She saw a hint of a smile from beneath his cloak before he looked awayand shecouldn't help but feel all giddy inside. Her heart was thumping; he'd always seemed to have that effect onher.
"Oooh, I saw that little ogling match going on there." A voice said from behind her, surprising Yuffie. She turned to see Tifa smirking at her almost devilishly. Yuffie had the decency to blush and ushered Tifa away. How embarrassing, getting caught with her eyes glued to the gunman.
She looked over at Reno and Rude, who stood secluded on the side, doing nothing. Reno winked at her and motioned for her to come over to him. Yuffie scowled and answered with a rather rude gesture before turning and walking away, snickering at the look on his face.
The group managed to come together to discuss the events of the past few days and, on Avalanche's part, tried to persuade the Turks to come back with them. They weren't safe anymore.
"'Lena, I want you to come back; you and the Turks." Aerith stated.
"Why?" Reno immediately spoke up. "So I can get my face kicked in because of that man's god damn temper?" Reno motioned towards Barret, whose face was facing the ground, unreadable to all.
Aerith sighed. "Come on, Reno... He was... tired. He misses his daughter. Having a daughter and being away from her so much like he is can take its toll. He just wants this to be over with."
"Reno, please. I know Barret better than anyone. That is not how he usually acts." Tifa turned her attention to Barret. "Right, Barret?"
Barret nodded slowly before looking up. "Look, I acted a damn foo', I know. I'm sorry, I had no right ta do that, tired or not." That was the first time for many, to hear Barret speak without the use of a curse word.
Reno looked like he was going to say something nasty, but he surprised everyone by stopping in his tracks. His aqua eyes widened, gaze locked on something behind the group. His mouth opened and closed, opened again and simply hung there for a few moments.
"I uh, think this should be uh... Well, just look behind you." Reno said, for once in his life at a loss for words.
Cait, who had behaved and stayed quiet for quite a while now was the first to react.
"Oh my goodness! What are we gonna do!" He hopped from foot to foot, waving his arms in the air.
"Well, what the $&$ do ya know." Cid said, readying his spear.
Aerith stood in shock. She knew who stood in front of her.
So weak...
You'll never get there in time... It will be too late... He'll die... It'll be your fault...
Aerith grimaced at the memory and backed up subconsciously. The man standing in front of her was no ordinary man. Not at all. He himself, was glowing a bright green like the monsters flanking him. His skin was pallid and looked to be pulled right up against his face, making him look almosttransparent. He didn't seem to have fingers, but rather stubs. Aerith felt like vomiting at that very moment but managed to hold her own. He had machinery on many parts of his body replacing various areas of skin. But none of that was very noticeable when you saw his eyes. They seemed to captivate you, draw you in. A sudden cold feeling ran right over Aerith and she found herself breathing rapidly. She tore her gaze away and forced herself to look at the others.
Tifa looked to be in the same state as her, staring wide eyed and breathing hard. Yuffie, Cloud, Barret and Vincent were in their battle stances, ready to attack if the enemy made any sudden movements. Elena looked about ready to cry and was standing between Reno and Rude, clutching their arms. Cait was sitting on top of Cid's shoulder looking rather calm. The same went for Sephiroth.
"You... What are you?" Tifa whispered.
The man gave an insane smile and his eyes filled with amusement.
"My name is Toyori." He laughed immediately after he'd supplied them with the bitof info, almost in hysterics. "Not that you really need to know. You'll all be dead soon. But I suppose that could be your dying wish. To know who killed the 'mighty' Avalanche."
Eyes narrowed and everyone readied themselves for a battle.
"Please, do you really think you can take me on? Especially with these ones helping me out?" He pat one of the fiends' heads and it closed its eyes in what looked to be enjoyment. What power did he have over these things?
"But... I'm only here for two of you. The rest of you can relax, your time has yet to come."Toyori sneered. "You and you." He pointed to Aerith and Rude. "I only hope you and your friends are not foolish enough to fight with me."
Aerith felt something inside her shift.
Sephiroth easily made it to her side faster then the man could see, the rest of Avalanche following suit and shielding both Aerith and Rude slightly. Whoever this man was, he was dangerous.
"Hehe..." Toyori smirked and snickered malevolently. "Have it your way then." He pulled out a double edged blade and watched them all, relatively calm.
"Iku!"
The fiends ran straight at the said party, an attempt to stall them and distract them evident. Cloud started to look around at his group. They were scared, some of them. Tifa was tense. Tifa was never tense. Something was wrong.
"Go for Toyori! He must be controlling them." Tifa yelled. Cloud smiled at her in admiration before focusing on the task at hand.
And the battle begun.
It wasn't easy to follow Tifa's advice, the fiend's may have proven they were untouchable,but they could most definitely attack Avalanche.
"Stay close." Vincent told Yuffie. They stood back to back in battle stance. "I know. Let's kick some mako fiend butt, Vinnie!" Yuffie realized what she'd said and tried to correct it. "I mean, they can't be hit but, you uh, know what I mean, right?"
Vincent sighed. "Yes Yuffie, but now isn't the time."
Cloud was trying to hit Toyori but got in few hits; the man was fast. Only a huge amount of Mako could have made him so fast. What had happened to the man? He almost matched Sephiroth's speed! He couldn't parry Sephiroth's attacks but he was sure as hell skilled with the weapon of his.
An idea struck him. They needed more then two people on Toyori.
"Tifa, Barret, Reno! Come help us!" Cloud yelled. Sephiroth nodded to him when Cloud glanced his way. Sephiroth wasthe better tactician when it came to battling and as much as Clouddidn't want toadmit it, he needed Sephiroth's help."Rude, Elena, Aerith, Cid, Cait; handle the fiends but..." Cloud glanced wistfully at Aerith. "Don't get caught..."
Toyori smirked at this. Cloud's eyes widened and Sephiroth moved forward quickly.
"As you wish."
Toyori moved faster then they could comprehend and he managed to just dodge Sephiroth. He flew right past Cloud, whipping his blade around and giving Cloud a major cut down the side of his leg, causing Tifa tocure him and losefocus of the battle.He was bleeding heavily and it only seemed to get worse when the curative magic hit it. Vincent grabbed Yuffie around the waist and pulled her back in time to miss getting cut in half. The others concentrating on the fiends were unaware of this turn of events.
Aerith was in deep concentration when Toyori went for her. Her eyes snapped open when he was just about to run into her. She gasped and stepped back.
Toyori flew past her and no visible sign of harm could be seen. At first. A wound in her side opened and blood started pouring.
"Oh my... god!" Aerith breathed, clutching her side. The girls screamed and both Cloud and Cid swore.
Sephiroth was at her side in an instant, inspecting the wound carefully. Toyori turned and ran for her again, oblivious to the fact that Sephiroth, the most feared warrior in the world was there, murder in his eyes. Sephiroth saw this and scooped her up and jumped into a tree. Toyori frowned and stopped.
"Alright. An easier catch first I suppose..." His eyes locked on Rude. He was alone in a clearing, nobody was anywhere near him save for a fiend.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. He ran for Rude and everyone seemed to hold their breath. Nobody but Sephiroth could make it on time and he was currently busy with Aerith. Just when they thought he would just collide with Rude, he flipped a small blade out. Someone screamed andmost of Avalanche shut their eyes.
"No! 'Laney!" Renoshouted.
Avalanche looked quickly, relieved for only a second to see Rude was alright. Sprawled out on the floor, yes, but without a scratch nonetheless. A splash of Mako could be heard from the pool and some caught a glimpse of a blonde head going under.
Tifa gasped and tears started to roll down her eyes. "No... Elena..." She hung her head.
"STOP IT!" They saw Aerith struggling in Sephiroth's grasp. She looked to be delirious but Sephiroth managed to keep her in one spot.
Cid and Reno ran straight for Toyori, spear and mag rod raised to strike. Toyori moved out of the way.
"Well. I suppose she will have to do..." He glanced up at the now slightly calmerAerith. "And don't think I'm done with you, sweetheart. You'd make quite the nice... prize." He never finished the sentence but Avalanche got the meaning and he started to laugh like a sadist at the looks he recieved.
"But I won't leave you without. I know you're all just... itching to see him."
Confused looks crossed everyone's faces until they saw what he meant. Eyes widened and some stepped backwards.
"Have fun! I'll be back for the White Materia, honey."
He vanished without warning and the tired group was left with fiends and someone they hadn't been expecting to see at all.
"No... We can't do this..." Tifa said. She couldn't. They couldn't fight their friend!
Nanaki stood in front of them.