Baby, I'm preyin' on you tonight, hunt you down eat you alive
Oh well, so much for personal deadlines. I'm short of Halloween by about four hours. We'll pretend I posted four hours earlier. I have at least one or two more chapters before I can call this finished….I think. Don't trust me.
I.
"What are you doing here?!" Even Nanaki was stunned by the unexpected appearance. Not having too much time to react, he snagged Shera by her clothes again before Cid could lunge. In his beast-like state, he was trying to dodge and snap his way around the smoking mouths of Vincent's gun. The arrival of another obstacle infuriated him. Cid's muzzle crinkled over his gums in a sneer. A heavy paw was swung back, and in a blur of russet fur, sent in a razor sharp collision with the new found source of his anger.
"I can explain later. Now would be a good time to run." The faint slice of his stray hair filled his ears along with the thump of Nanaki's paw pads. He looked away from his opponent for just a second to confirm that he had been able to drag Shera off. Vincent narrowly avoided being torn over his chest. Very swiftly, he gained his focus and parried around another attack; finding it curious that Cid could keep up with him.
Vincent narrowed his eyes and extended his arm to fire a round between the heights of Cid's ears. With every advance his transformed friend made; he tried to discourage him from moving any further. "I hope you know there are easier things to eat." The gunman raised his arms to brace the hard whip and thrash of an ignited tail. Cid's scorching pilot light burned the shoulder of Vincent's cloak and overheated the metal of his gauntlet. He hissed in pain, and in that split second of wavering, Cid rushed around him and darted off in the direction Nanaki ran.
Vincent cursed and broke into a full sprint after him. He didn't want to have to hurt Cid.
II.
"Quickly, can you stand?!" Nanaki licked his jaws and panted. He had tugged Shera as far back as he could. Just for the moment, it was safe enough to stop.
"I-I think?" Shera held her side and cringed while trying to push herself to her feet. The pain in her ribs began to burn and a fresh wave of liquid heat oozed into her sweater. When she pulled her hand away, it was coated in blood. "He bit me…?" Shera tried to focus her eyes in the dark, but she was too dizzy.
"He did. Are you feeling alright? We can't sit still for long. We have to round back to the trap. I don't know how long Vincent will be able to distract him." He didn't want to imply that Shera was bait, but…Nanaki didn't have the heart to tell her that they had originally found her clamped and hung like a doll in Cid's teeth. Cloud was able to wedge his sword in his jaws just in time to keep him from crushing her.
"There's a lot of blood. I…I don't know." She was sick to her stomach, but Shera wobbled close. Nose and tail twitching; she could see Nanaki straining his senses to detect any on coming threats. The fur on his back grew ridged at the sound of Vincent's gun. It wasn't met with Cid's roar and it bothered him.
"We need to move!" He was already trotting out ahead. Shera gritted her teeth.
III.
Cid was too adrenaline driven and hungry to register the pain he should have felt in the thick muscle of his back. He'd been shot in non-lethal areas in an attempt to deter him. He snorted an uninteresting scent from nostrils and lapped the blood that leaked from a fresh cut on the roof of his mouth. Evenly spread and well-padded paws didn't make sound over dry pine needles. His hunting tactic had switched drastically and he became a shadow as he followed a continuing trail of Shera's blood.
He could catch Vincent combing the trees behind for any sight of him, and the voices that joined his search soon after. Halfway past the other bend of the creek, his body lowered into a predatory position and the tip of his unnaturally long tail dimmed. There she was; staggering behind.
Quiet. Nothing but cricket lull.
All he needed to do was get a little closer.
IV.
Red's high pitched yelp was what startled Shera first. The mass that towered over her registered second. She leapt out of her skin and screamed. Her quadrupled vision teetered from the paw that forced Nanaki into submission against the ground, to the iridescent eyes that bore into her own.
"RUN!" Red wheezed. Cid's weight had compressed the air out of his lungs and he was clawing the dirt for a way out.
Shera would have run without a second thought if she could properly form one. Ice had settled in the pit of her gut and froze the soles of her feet to the earth below her muddied socks. Her stomach wrenched with being snatched and hung from Cid's canines. She dug her fingers into where his teeth punctured the fabric of her sweater and kicked her feet; hoping the threads would rip from her weight. Though most of her sweater was pulled up from her stomach and bunched beneath her chin, her arms were hopelessly stuck in the sleeves. Shera could feel in the way that his body swung that Cid was getting ready to take off again. Considering things didn't look well at all, at least it was an unorthodox way to die.
Her eyes snapped shut. Without warning Cid was rammed into the trunk of a tree. A crisp crack at the second he made contact sent the evergreen timbering over. He howled out in pain and surprise. With his mouth open, Shera plummeted to the ground.
Some other beast sank its jagged teeth into Cid's shoulders. His claws wrapped around long winding horns that curled from its forehead, and Cid used them as handles for flinging the galian brute off. The area erupted in blood curdling snarls and roars. Branches trembled and the ground shook; showering pine needles over her head. She whimpered, swiped them from her cheeks, and crawled on her hands and feet to get as far out of the way as possible. The last thing she wanted was to be stepped on in the heat of a dogfight.
She groped the earth and unintentionally clamped onto a handful of Nanaki's fur. Shera was deeply relieved to find him alive. "What is that?!" She was struggling to find her way back onto her feet; tugging on the scruff of Red's neck. He had just as hard a time getting up.
"That's…Vincent. I'm very sure." Nanaki paused to steady his breathing. His ears swiveled behind him and picked up the travel of what sounded like the rest of AVALANCHE's arrival.
"I know, I know." Shera groaned and pressed her hands to her ribs again. She hooked a blood caked finger through a gaping hole in her sweater and tugged it down to her hips. "We have to move."
V.
With light provided by the slow rise of the sun, everyone could finally see Cid in entirety. Battered and swaying belly up under the tautness of the rope wrapped around his wrists and heels, he looked as if he'd completely given up. He brawled with Vincent until he didn't have the energy anymore. The clash went on for what felt like forever, and it was the most cringe worthy occurrence Shera had ever had the displeasure to witness. Eventually, Cid had been bashed back and pitched into the snare everyone had hoped would work the first time.
There came another point where no one was exactly sure of what to do. Cloud, firmly planted at Vincent's side on the grass, suggested that it was probably best that they cut Cid down. It wasn't as if he had the ability to be ruthless in his current state. Everyone could tell he was injured and drained.
"I was somewhat summoned." Vincent held the tense shoulder of his right arm and tossed off his shredded, red cloak. By summoned, he meant contacted, and this contact had, oh well, absolutely nothing to do with the surveillance of a silly toy cat. "I didn't intend to make it here this late. You'll have to forgive me."
"I think you came at just the right time." Despite aching all over, Shera gathered herself up from the circle of exhaustion and took a few cautious paces in Cid's direction. His head was hung limp, mouth parted with a lolling tongue, and eyes were partially closed. When she realized Cid was watching her, she stopped. They were an eerie blue, and distinctively canine, but without a doubt, they were Cid's eyes. The more Shera looked, the more she could discern his face. Even the taping he usually kept in place along the side of his forehead was still plastered to his fur, and the whiskers of his nose and chin were short, and stubby like his facial hair. Blond topped. Broad chested. Thoroughly pissed.
Absolutely Cid.
"He's not built for what's been done to him." Vincent stated. "It's safe to cut him down. I have much to tell all of you, but first, we need to find him something substantial to eat."
"Are you sure?" Tifa had the very same apprehension.
"That's Cid?! That old ass almost ate me!" Yuffie (apparently feeling a little better this morning) scowled. Her legs loosely clung to Barret's back, and her arms were draped over his shoulders. Their youngest member was probably the most confused about the sight before them.
"Sustaining transformations consumes more energy than any normal human is able to take in. I doubt the Captain has been hunting without good reason. Perhaps, it's grim of me to say, but I'm surprised he's survived this long." Vincent eyed the large puddle of dried blood in the side of Shera's ripped sweater. She had the worst injury of the night and considered adding tending to it to the growing list of objectives.
"I'm alright." Shera had caught were his attention was and waved it off. She didn't consider herself important for the time being. "You know what's happened to Cid, Vincent?"
"I have the gist of what might have happened. I was contacted a week or so ago, and asked to do some digging." It was probably hearing that it had much to do with his friend that stirred Vincent to take up the request. "Only Cid could tell us when, but at some point he was injected with an experimental alteration. We can discuss the details after we clean up here."
"He's not…hurt too badly? Is he?" Shera had thrown a spear and it required stitches when Cid woke. She could only imagine what would have trouble healing now.
"I didn't aim anywhere that I knew would seriously harm him. I can't really tell you what I might have done when I wasn't fully aware of myself."
"Nough' chit-chat for now, we don't want the Cap to K.O.! Let's untie em' and get to work. Ya boss lady is going to storm down here any second, right ?" Barret hitched Yuffie up higher on his back. There were groans etched into Cloud and Tifa's faces. Riiiiight, her.
"Come on, up up up lazy bones!" Caith waved from where he was clutched under Tifa's forearm.
"Lazy bones? You didn't even do anything!" Yuffie puffed out her cheeks.
"Little ninja, I recall you didn't do anything either!"
VI.
It probably wasn't the best idea for her to be around him alone. The way that Cid watched her made her a little uneasy. Actually, there were a lot of reasons why he made her uneasy (that were somewhat obvious). It went against Cid's character for him to be so quiet. She hoped it was the sort of silence that stemmed from being exhausted and not from being calculatory.
Trying not to pull at her fresh bandages, she brushed water from her hands and onto the surface of one of Cid's old t-shirts. It was all she had to put on after tossing her ruined yellow sweater in the wash. Maybe it was also bad that she was moving, but half of the group was off to the butcher, and the other half was in an informative, cellphone conference call with Reeve not too far off on the back porch. She just couldn't sit around and leave the Captain there alone. At some point in the early morning, she had noticed him having difficulty swallowing, and the first thought she had was to bring Cid some water. If he couldn't eat just yet, at least he could drink. She added full bag of sugar for good measure.
Shera was thankful that the group had chosen to move him closer to the house. Dragging a barrel (the only thing big enough to hold all the water she assumed he needed) across the yard to the field before the launch pad was a literal and figurative pain.
"Cid?" Shera stopped to catch her breath and ease the throbbing in her ribs a yard or so in front of him. He didn't fully lift his head, but she was surprised to see some sort of acknowledgement to hearing his name. Talking to him felt odd, too. She wasn't sure if he could understand. "Do you want water?" Shera cupped some in her hand and flicked it in his direction. He winced; making a grumble equal to cursing under his breath.
Cid stood on weary legs and approached. Shera nervously stepped aside while he stuck his head in the barrel and heavily drank. The way he was, Cid was hefty and intimidating. She pushed her glasses back up the bruised bridge of her nose and minded her distance. A deep sigh escaped her. Dried blood had clumped the strawberry rippling in his fur and matted the stream line of his mane.
A curious hand hovered the top his head without her knowing. Shera's fingers cautiously pulled a clump of sticky pine needles from between Cid's ears. Though filthy, his fur was incredibly soft and warm to the touch. She got bolder with her light pat and smoothed her palm back and forth across his head. Displaced sugar water, that didn't quite make it onto his lapping tongue, splashed from out of the barrel and onto her arms. Cid hadn't stopped drinking since he started. The water was gone immediately.
"I'm so sorry. You didn't mean to do any of—" Shera stiffened when Cid abruptly raised his head and absentmindedly snorted remnants of water all over her face. Her expression scrunched in brief disgust. At least the water perked him up in time for the other half of AVALANCHE to make it back to the house. The conference call on the porch must have ended, too. The group was watching from a safe distance And oh god…they brought back more than a couple pounds of raw meat. Ross was with them.
VII.
If only the butcher hadn't asked so many curious questions. Barret and Cloud would have made it back before having nothing to do with all of the food they'd just purchased.
Sun stung behind Cid's eye lids. The pounding in his head made it hard to resurface his consciousness. It was simply amazing. He had entered a whole new level, no dimension, of bull shit; transcended to an elevated platform of pain and exhaustion. He ached so badly, that he shook. And he was so exhausted, that he barely had the energy to lift his eyelids and focus his buffering senses.
The world was turned sideways. A blurry outline of Tifa with her hands slapped over her own and Yuffie's eyes. Cloud, Barret, and Ross? of all people standing with heads turned away and eyes adverted. What the fuck was going on? Why did he feel like a ripped, soggy sand bag?
"W-wait! Wait!" Shera's voice had to be the softest among all the people present, but it made his head sting. Cid was struggling to sit up and she placed her hands on his chest to stop him because he was stark naked.
"Vince?" Wow, he even sounded like a sand bag. Cid could smell Vincent better than he could see him. It was the scent that came from the cloak the older man was offering.
"Vincent, he's pale." His partner's voice was scared and stressed.
"Shera…" Speaking was a struggle. Suddenly, it was growing harder to breathe. Cid couldn't keep his eyes open.
"Cid?!" Brown hair was splayed over his chest. Shera pressed her ear to a shallow heartbeat, and Vincent knelt down to press his finger into the dip of Cid's neck.
VIII.
Cid lurched from sleep. His heart was pounding because he felt like he had fallen ten thousand feet from some crazy dream. His brows were knitted tensely, and his vision cracked open to a white room. If this was Hell, he was immensely underwhelmed.
"Do you always wake up looking that angry?" Vincent unpropped himself from the side of an open curtained window. Quite a bit of racket was seeping into the room from outside a door. The Captain's eyes strained. His head was stale and stuffy like it had been filled with industrial wire and cotton. When he moved his arm, Cid could sense the sharp tug of an IV.
"Wher's," Cid's tongue was heavy and he slurred "whers'shera…?"
Vincent pointed. She was curled up in a corner beside him on the bed; shirt twisted and riding high. She slept on the side that didn't hold her stitches, and the Captain was just conscious enough to mentally question her bandages. She was there with him, though. He didn't know which god he hand to thank. Hell, he'd thank all of them for good measure.
"Nice to see you're back to some properly functioning senses." Vincent was slightly amused by the total disregard of his original question.
"Nice… t'know I ain't dead."
"Well, you can probably thank your partner." Vincent untucked a thick manila packet from under the leather cover of his right arm. RED XIII- REM HOUND PROJECT was plastered to the front in printed labeling.