09. Yuffie
It wasn't hard to find Sephiroth's trail.
After asking around for a little bit the next morning, they found someone who claimed to have seen a man with a long sword and long silver hair pass through the outskirts of the village. They followed the trail to the marshes outside of Kalm, and found something else.
"Did Sephiroth…" Aerith didn't finish her sentence; her eyes were fixed ahead, slightly disgusted. Cloud looked back at the giant snake impaled on a dead tree by a thick branch. The snake was three times wider than him, its beady eyes still open, as if in shock. No sign of blood anywhere, or anything else, really, but Cloud knew; "Yes," he said. "This was Sephiroth."
"This Sephiroth guy's pretty strong, I'd say," Barret said.
"What is this – a warning?" Tifa frowned, gauging the size of the snake with her eyes.
"Yeah, or maybe it was tryin' to eat the guy," Barret shrugged. "Anyway, that means we're on the right track, right?"
"Yeah," Cloud said. They kept walking.
Thirty minutes into walking, they came across an abandoned mine. A silvery white light was emanating from the raw materials in the cave, tinted at the edges by blue. Blue, not green, and for that alone, Cloud stared at the light in fascination.
"It's a Mythril Mine," Barret said. "Used to be a lotta these, before Mako came in."
Cloud thought there was something in Barret's eyes that was close to – regret – but when he looked again, it was gone. Barret kicked an old, broken hammer to the side. The darkness of the mine swallowed the noise as it fell over the edge and tumbled down.
But apparently there was someone in the cave, after all, and the noise had them calling, "Just a second!"
Cloud squinted his eyes at the dark mouth of the cave to see who it was. But then there was someone at their backs, and he wheeled around quickly to find a Turk they had seen before at the Shinra Building, the one with the sunglasses.
"You're…" Tifa took a step forward, so that she was standing between the Turk and Aerith.
"You know who I am?" The Turk asked, adjusting his sunglasses.
"Not interested," Cloud said. The man seemed to be frowning, although it was difficult to tell with only the dim bluish lights from the abandoned Mythril.
"I'm –" The man was interrupted by someone else to came scampering out of the cave; another Turk, judging by the uniform, a woman with a short, platinum blond hair.
"It's alright, Rude! I'll tell them who we are!" She declared, skidding to a halt in front of Rude.
"Elena," Rude greeted, sounding relieved.
The girl, Elena, wheeled around to face them now. It was dizzying how fast she moved, blond flashes in the dim light of the cave.
"I'm Elena, the newest member of the Turks."
"We heard," Barret said, narrowing his eyes. "Whaddya want?"
"Wait, listen first! Reno sends his regards, and he told me tell you that you lot can all go to hell and drown in chocobo muck. His exact words."
"Okay…?" Barret looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or be insulted.
"Although… because of that, I got promoted to the Turks," Elena mused. Rude cleared his throat. "But anyway! Our job is to locate Sephiroth. And to try and stop you every step of the way. Wait, no, it's the other way around. You're the ones that are – will be – getting in our way."
Cloud blinked. She talked fast, and his head was spinning. Not that it mattered much, whatever the Turks decided to do; he was about to ignore her and move on, when a third Turk apparently appeared out of nowhere and stood beside Rude. It was that ponytail-man who Cloud had thought must be the head of the Turks. And now it seemed that he'd been right.
"Elena, you talk too much," the man said.
"Tseng – I mean, sir! I'm so sorry." Elena said sheepishly.
Tseng turned his eyes to Cloud, analyzing him, assessing him. Cloud stared back. It was hard to read his face though, flat and smooth like a mask. The strange thing was, Cloud felt like he'd known this man – Tseng – much longer than he actually had. Something about his black eyes. But he is probably remembering someone else from some other time.
"No need to tell them about our orders," Tseng said, finally turning away. "Now go on. Don't forget to file the reports."
"Oh, right! I forg – I mean, Rude and I will go on ahead to Junon Harbor!" Elena said, and Tseng sighed.
Junon Harbor. So that was where Sephiroth was heading. Cloud kept his face blank. Tseng eyed him distrustfully but didn't say anything.
"Oh!" Elena clapped her hands over her mouth, when she realized what she'd done. "Sir, I'm so sorry!"
"Just – go. Don't let Sephiroth get away," Tseng said.
Rude and Elena soon disappeared through the path behind the cave, but Tseng remained. Cloud wasn't sure what to do; should they just go? But Tseng looked like he wanted something else, waiting for the other two to leave.
When the forest finally consumed their footsteps, Tseng turned back to them, but he was looking at Aerith.
"Aerith, long time no see," he said. Cloud thought he might be smiling, a tiny upturn of mouth. Aerith's smile, on the other hand, was wide and warm.
"You too, Tseng."
"Wait, you two know each other?" Tifa asked, confused.
"A little," Aerith said. Before she could explain, though, Tseng was speaking again; he spoke only to Aerith, like the rest of them weren't standing there at all.
"Looks like you got away from Shinra for a while, now that Sephiroth's reappeared. Rufus will be concentrating on him for the time being."
"So what are you saying?" Aerith's voice was light, breezy. "That I should be grateful to Sephiroth?"
Tseng flinched. Cloud wanted to see her face; it was hard to tell from her voice alone whether she is being serious or not.
"No," Tseng finally said. "Well, I won't be seeing too much of you, so take care."
"Strange, hearing that from you."
"Times change."
With that, he turned and left the way Elena and Rude had. Cloud wondered what their mission was here in the middle of the woods, when they already knew that Sephiroth was heading to Junon. Maybe there never was a mission.
Dark green forest, thick and muddy from yesterday's rain, continued on. They hadn't been walking for long when they were interrupted again; a voice first, shrill and high.
"Hey!"
Cloud turned around, only to duck immediately. A foot flew just over his head. Before he had time to realize what was happening, there was another swift kick from behind, and Cloud just barely managed to jump out of the way.
"What – who –"
He ducked another high kick, and finally faced the attacker. Her face was covered with a scanty leather mask.
"What's goin' on?" Barret said, confused, not knowing whether this was an enemy he could blast away or not. The girl looked young, although Cloud couldn't see her face, maybe sixteen, and very slight. Except she had a fierce, fast kick. Cloud pulled out his sword, meaning to hit her with the flat side of it to knock her down. But she was quick, light, and she jumped, stepping on his sword and doing a somersault in the air. Then a leg, going straight for Cloud's head. Cloud could've ducked, but he decided to end it now. He waited until the last moment, grabbed her ankle, and the girl yelped and fell down, struggling so wildly that she took him down with her.
"Ow! You tricked me!"
Cloud let go of her ankle and backed away, watching her cautiously.
"Who are you?" Aerith finally asked. Everything had happened so fast. They were still stunned.
"Cloud, do you know her?" Tifa asked. Cloud shook his head.
The girl stood up and made a show of brushing dirt off herself, adjusting the leather mask that'd been knocked askew by the fall. Now that she was standing still she looked even smaller than before, and younger.
"Man – I can't believe I lost! To you, of all people – you spiky-headed… person… One more time! Let's go one more time!"
She bounced on her heels, and she generally reminded him of Elena, the Turk, except this girl was younger and – more hyper.
"Not interested," he said, feeling a little tired. Her energy was draining.
"Thinkin' about running away? Stay and fight! Fight, I said! C'mon… what's the matter? You scared of me?"
"Hey, little girl…" Barret started to say, hesitant, and that sent her into such a tirade that even Barret couldn't do much more than stare.
"I am not a little girl! I'm a super ninja…"
"Fine, but what do you want?" Cloud asked, feeling himself get a little impatient. Even now the Turks would be getting closer to Junon, and to Sephiroth.
"It depends," she said, hands on her hips. "Whatcha guys doin'?"
"We're looking for someone," Aerith said. She looked like she was rather amused by the whole thing.
"Really? Someone rich?"
"Someone dangerous. Now –" Cloud started to say, but the girl's voice cut over his.
"Can I come too? You'll totally need my help, you'll see!"
"I don't think so, ninja," Barret narrowed his eyes.
"It's gonna be really dangerous," Tifa said. The girl was adamant.
"I don't care about the dangerous! I'm used to it, anyway. And – it's not like anywhere else to go."
"Where are your parents?" Red XIII asked, and if she was surprised by the talking beast, she didn't show.
"Not here. So can I come?"
A short silence passed, and Cloud realized that they were all looking at him. No one told him he'd have to make these kinds of decisions, dammit.
"…Alright? I guess…" He said, and he was almost immediately drowned out by an excited shriek.
"Great! I'm Yuffie, by the way. Good to meetcha! Here, I'll give you back the money."
"What money?" Cloud asked.
"The money I stole from you?" Yuffie grinned, ruefully.
Cloud regretted it already, but it was too late. So he turned away (feeling a headache starting, and a lot more to come in the future), muttered, "Whatever."
"Nice to meet you, Yuffie," he head Aerith laugh.
I'm sorry it's so late and so short :( But I'll update regularly from now on! Thank you for reading, and enjoy!