Title: Rebirth III Author: Enide Dear Rating: work safe Pairing: CloudxTifa, Valenwind (implied) A/N: This 'series' just keeps growing….
It came in the dead of night.
Not a moonless night, or its corpse-white, sinuous body would have been too easy to spot, but one where the clouds chasing over the night sky made ghostly shadows writher on the empty streets. The tortured shadows looked much like the blotchy black pattern on its back scales, making the camouflage perfect. It had waited long and patiently for this chance, and as its muscular long body pressed inside a window hanging open, the snake's cold heart beat faster with poisonous glee. It would have its revenge now, against the ones that hurt it. It would hit him were it hurt the most.
The long body slithered almost soundlessly over the bar's floor, carefully avoiding the snoring pile of fur and muscles by the fire. The huge dog grumbled in its sleep but didn't wake even though an ear twitched. The leaner wolf's legs moved as it restlessly panted while dreaming of running but it too stayed put. Overhead on the rafters the firebird slept with its red head hidden under a golden wing, neck feathers ruffling a bit as the snaked passed by underneath but soon settling again.
A bit further in the room came the greatest challenge; a basked full of silvery felines. The snake kept as far away from the cats as possible, but one of them – the one with the shortest fur - cried out in its sleep, emerald green eyes scanning the room for a second before the smallest one smacked a paw to its face and it was drawn down into the purring pile once more.
The stairs to the upstairs room. Steep, but not impossible for a determined, muscular creature. Something small and squeaky moved in the shadows and the snake struck; uncurling and flaring up its neck shield where the spectacle marks were clearly visible. Mako-green poison dripped from fangs as long as a child's hand. The rat couldn't even scream as the deadly mutation took hold; grotesquely misshaped limbs sprouted all over its helpless body, crawling shivers of even more hideous mutations on the internal organs shook it, its mouth foamed and its own tentacles whipped it to bloody pieces. The snake looked on in patient, delighted glee as the rodent took a long, long time to die in fathomless pain. Then it devoured the bloody lump and kept going up.
Several bedrooms; it tasted the air with a forked tongue. There was a strangely familiar taste, one it had not expected. A taste of that drew it, despite its previous determination. It pushed the door open to a guest room. Two intermingled bodies. The taste in the air of graveyard dust and machine oil. A red cape and a blue shirt on a chair and soft snoring in the bed. For a second the snake hesitated, torn between two delicious choices. Poison dripped in anticipation from its fangs. But it withdrew. It would hurt this old enemy as well if he stuck to his original plan, hurt it much more than anything the snake could do to his body. Besides, were there any physical torture left that he could do to Vincent Valentine?
It slithered on.
The next room, the master bedroom. The scent/taste was strong here, a taste of mako and youth, of frailty and strength. A curious mix. One he'd once thought flawed, but which had ultimately brought him down. Down to….this. A creature forced down on its belly in the dirty. But it would get its revenge tonight. It tasted the air again. The woman was in there to, a taste of strength and beer and happiness to her, but she was of no consequence. His mortal enemy, his failed experiment, his previous lab rat, he would be the one to suffer tonight.
The snake moved on. To the children's' bedroom.
There were two scents in here, a girl and a boy, both loved, both raised by his enemy. Both would look so delicious with the venomous mako mutation pumping through their soft veins, transforming them into monsters while they screamed out the last of their humanity in horror of what they've become. Would Cloud kill them out of pity or would be keep them on, caring for the freaks even as it broke the last of his fragile sanity? No matter which, the snake would have won.
The body moved like one single, smooth muscle. Inside the children's room, over the colorful carpet, past various toys that had been forgotten out after a day's play, and small sized clothes left on chairs for next day's school. Up the side of lovingly built beds. Over carefully tucked- in covers. Up to the pillows and sleeping, angelic little faces….
Oh fucking Hell.
There were no children. A huge silver cat sat on the pillow, unmoving but for the twitch of its tail. Emerald eyes shone in the moonlight and slowly, almost unnoticeably its hair started rising all over its body until it was almost twice its normal size. Sharp claws emerged from soft paws. The serene face contorted into something that was all teeth.
The snake rose up, flaring its spectacled neck shield, opening its mouth to show the syringe-like, needle sharp teeth. It knew this 'cat', but it was only a cat and grazing bite would be all it took.
The door to the children's bedroom closed with a gentle click and the snake dared a glance behind it. The shadows in the room seemed to flow together, forming a huge dog and a sleek wolf. And as if someone had suddenly lit a flare, there was a golden light from above.
A snake can't scream, and the others were silent. The mutilation and carnage of the reptile could have lasted for hours.
"We don't know," Denzel shook his head the next morning. "The kittens came meowing in the middle of the night. We just got up to let them out and when we came back…."
"When we came back the door was locked to our room and it was kind of spooky so we snuck down in your bed instead." Marlene explained to Cloud and Tifa.
"I can't believe this." Rubbing his face, Cloud turned to Vincent who was still holding the sorry remains of the snake's carcass up in his brass claw. The creatures body was almost as long as he was tall. "What do you say, Vincent?"
Vincent stared at the lab-coat white snake with its syringe like teeth and dead eyes, the spectacles and dark lines on the head and neck. He exchanged a look with Cid, who could read the ex- Turk better than anyone. The pilot swallowed nervously.
"I would like to say I have never seen anything like it before, but that would be a lie." The gunman said slowly. They'd all thought Cloud had lost a few marbles again when he started taking in animals off the street, but they surely had shown their worth last night. He looked at the snake. He looked at the 'pets'; the aloof cat and the rebellious kittens, the playful wolf and the guarding dog, the parrot that just wouldn't shut up about Loveless. "And I also think we all owe you an apology."
Cloud's shoulders slumped with relief.
"I'm not crazy?" He almost whispered, glancing at his animals.
"Nah." Cid threw an arm over his shoulders and grinned. "No more than usual, Cloudy-head."
It is because of all the nice reviews that I keep writing this series. Want more of this or anything else? leave a review!