The Warrior
Chapter 22
Just when you thought it was all over...
The bridge in the mountains swayed like a monument of death in a cold wind. Mom was on the other side of that bridge – she'd been sure of it. Part of her was still sure now as with wary eyes she followed the creaking sway of the frayed ropes wrapped around their splintered boards. Why? There was just a pool of darkness below. If she looked hard enough it almost seemed to move...
How was this for irony? That so many years later a man whose fate hers now seemed intimately tied to would cross this same bridge in search of mother? Her hair stood on end. Was the power of Jenova so absolute that all life was inexorably drawn to her?
"Tifa!" Hurried footsteps approached from behind her.
Tifa turned, caught a flash of blond hair. Cloud? What was he doing here?
"Cloud?" She looked frantically about her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't focus on him.
There was no response. She glanced about hurriedly, hoping for another glimpse of her friend, but he was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was hiding? The wind had picked up, stirring her hair and tickling the back of her neck. Her pulse started to race.
"Cloud, where are you?"
She remembered now. He had been there when the bridge had broken before, hadn't he? He had tried to save her. Where had he gone? If he left her here...
The wind became a gale and Tifa was suddenly airborne and falling. Her back hit the rotted wood slats of the bridge and they squealed a protest, yielding to her weight, but not quite breaking. Terror seized her and she froze, one hand gripping the rope, as if it would save her.
"Tifa?"
Tifa jerked around at the sound of his voice and there he stood, now on the far side of the canyon. He looked at her and then up the path and back down at her again. "I have to go." He said. "I have to go find mother."
"No!" She didn't think as she lunged towards the blonde headed boy. She only knew she had to reach him somehow. He walked away, even as the bridge buckled and broke beneath her. The sudden sensation of weightlessness was nothing to the emptiness in her stomach as he disappeared beyond the rapidly rising cliff edge.
A scream trailed her into the darkness below.
Tifa flew awake, lurching upright as the tail end of that scream echoed within the small compartment that served as her quarters. Her eyes darted around the room with an urgency that alarmed her. She scrambled from the bed, tripping in the tangle of blankets around her legs, and landed in an undignified heap on the floor, but she was no sooner scrambling free and crawling away.
Her back hit the opposite wall of the room, knees drawn to her chest where she hugged them, a bright sheen of sweat layering her skin as she breathed fast and hard, staring at the bed and not seeing it.
The room was a quiet comfort in its detachment, but the feeling of intense unease did not waiver. She wasn't sure how much time passed before she was able to get to her feet on shaken legs, but it felt like an eternity. Her hands were unsteady as she picked up the blankets and spread them haphazardly across the thin mattress of her bunk.
Something was taunting her, she could feel it.
Tifa straightened slowly and took a step back, fingers curling at her side. She whirled, striking the metal wall behind her with a resonating clap that swallowed the sound of rage that tore out of her throat. The wall rippled like water and a spider web of cracks spread from the impact. It was almost pretty.
Something warm leaked down Tifa's cheek and she blinked. Her hand lowered slowly, marveling that nothing was broken as she examined her knuckles. A shiver traveled down her spine. There was no pain at all. Her skin felt electrically charged, as if every hair on her body stood on end.
A knock on the door made her jump and she dragged the back of her hand across her damp face, "Yeah?"
"It's me, ay?" Chaka. There was a pause. "Everything alright?" A nervous chuckle, then "I think my life just flashed before my eyes."
Tifa took a measured breath and slowly opened the door. "Everything is fine." She mustered a smile.
His tepid stare suggested that perhaps he wasn't buying that. "Fine." He deadpanned. "Said no woman ever that was evenly remotely fine."
She shrugged.
"Now you're scaring me." To give him credit he looked visible shaken. She almost felt bad. Almost.
Tifa cast a dubious glance behind her, "I was practicing."
Chaka took that moment to poke his head inside her room before she could stop him. "Holy shit, what happened to your wall?!"
"Nothing!" She waved her arms in a vain attempt at blocking him from any more embarrassing discoveries.
"You don't practice on the walls of flying pieces of machinery!" His braids bounced with his exclamation. He looked from the wall to her hand to her face, brow raised "And the fact that your hand isn't in a million pieces right now is kind of terrifying. Awesome, but terrifying."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Tifa made to slip past into the hall, but an arm came down to block the doorway.
"Oh no you don't." Chaka looked grim. "What's going on? You're never that focused when we practice."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded.
His hands lifted in conciliatory fashion and before he could say cheese the woman had bolted past him into the hallway.
"Hey!"
She laughed, despite herself, but she was cut short by the appearance of a solid body in her path, well and truly blocking her escape. Black leather and silver hair filled her vision. Not the person she wanted to see. She glanced up hesitantly.
But he was not looking at her. He was looking at Chaka with a distinctly unpleasant expression. The other man squirmed under that regard and quickly threw up his hands.
"Don't look at me like that!" He grumbled. "I was just making sure she was okay."
The dark haired woman glanced back and forth between the two men, dismayed. She was trapped and there was no getting past them.
"What happened?" The question was not addressed at her.
"I'm right here." Tifa huffed.
"Have a gander." Chaka said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb as he approached. He clapped Tifa on the shoulders as he shuffled past her in the narrow hallway. "Really though, that's some impressive shit." And to Sephiroth: "Don't let her escape."
Then he was gone.
Sephiroth looked at her pointedly, "What was that about?"
"It's nothing, really." Tifa deftly avoided his eyes and made an attempt to slip by, which was swiftly thwarted by the sudden placement of his body between hers and her way out. How he moved so fast she couldn't understand. She looked up at him, mildly affronted.
"You screamed. Why?"
Her face flushed. Had they all heard her? She looked away, "It was just a nightmare."
"A nightmare that made you punch the wall, nearly dropping us out of the air?"
"It wasn't that bad!" She protested.
"The engines palpitated."
"You're kidding?" She gasped, hands covering her mouth.
"Have I ever?"
There was a long stretch of silence wherein Tifa attempted to gauge whether he was being serious or trying to pull one on her. The absurdity of the allegation won over – she would have heard the engines palpitating, wouldn't she have? Or was she so preoccupied with her nightmare that she didn't notice? And Sephiroth had definitely joked before. Hadn't he?
A sigh broke her from her reverie and she met his eyes warily. He shook his head, "You're thinking too hard about this one." He said and smiled, faintly. "We have arrived at Cosmo Canyon. I have a list of provision to collect."
"Are you not going down?" She asked, grateful for the change of subject.
"I have to speak to the village chief. If you would take care of this, I would be more in your debt than I already am."
"You don't like paperwork."
Sephiroth rubbed idly at a patch of dirt on his glove, studiously avoiding her gaze. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Tifa smiled and reached out, drawing her fingers through a lock of his hair. "You aren't in my debt by the way." She didn't meet his gaze as she moved past him, and this time he did not stop her.
"You will tell me what has bothered you, once we are under way?" The question carried over to her casually, but with an edge of a promise.
"Yes," she called.
Chaka bumped back into her on the way to the deck. He was hauling a belligerent Yuffie in his wake, a string of curses following them. The Wutain princess was noticeably recovered from her ordeal at the Golden Saucer.
"Oh hey! Tifa!" Yuffie piped up. She looked uneasy at Chaka's close proximity but forged ahead gamely with a smile for the other woman, "Thanks for the gift."
"What gift?" Chaka asked.
"Don't be so nosy, Chaka." Tifa chided smoothly and shooed him forward. "We have work to do." '
"But—"
"You're not winning this one pal." Yuffie interrupted. "Get a move on."
"Tag teaming! You guys are tag teaming!"
The girls shared a rare, knowing look before pushing their companion through the entryway onto the deck.
Somehow Vincent was already there waiting. How he'd gotten there first was a mystery, but clearly he did not use the traditional means of transport. He approached Tifa with a slight incline of the head. "Sephiroth has bade that I assist you with our provision gathering. Shall we?"
Yuffie snorted, "How many rebel fighters does it take to buy groceries?"
"Everybody but Sephiroth, apparently." Chaka remarked.
"Figures."
"He shouldn't get away with that kind of ruthless delegation."
"Totally agree. Let's dye his hair pink."
"Uh, let's not—"
"Guys," Tifa interjected quickly, "I have the perfect job for you. First Aid supplies, because we don't have any!"
Yuffia and Chaka turned mid-debate to stare at her blankly. The silence was deafening.
"What?" The martial artist fidgeted.
Before she could say anything Chaka had snatched the list from her hand so fast she thought she saw a vapor trail. Tifa blinked, regarding him in a new light.
"Who made this thing anyway?" He griped. "And why aren't there pop tarts on it?!"
"Oh yuck," Yuffie gagged, "You can't be serious."
Vincent, having somehow maneuvered himself in complete silence to stand directly behind Chaka, plucked the list out of his grasp and quickly hid it somewhere within his gigantic flowing cape. The other man whirled on him, mouth parted to raise hell, and promptly shut it with an audible click upon receiving that scathing stare.
"First Aid supplies, on it." Chaka blurted out and whirled back around at Yuffie, "Come on you."
"Ugh, fiiiine." She followed him out, oddly without any physical encouragement.
"I had no idea there existed two of them." Vincent remarked once they were beyond earshot. "Were I the enemy, I would be most uncomfortable."
Tifa laughed, "They're not so bad."
"The world does beg for some comic relief in these dark times."
"Yes," She trailed off and started down the ladder.
Tifa had never been to Cosmo Canyon, but she'd always assumed it was an empty desert like place from what she'd heard - all sand and heat, but there were far more rock formations surrounding the village than there were dunes of sand. Evening sun cast a reddish glow on the towering arcs of stone and the ground radiated warmth underfoot like a living thing. The people were exceptionally kind and very curious about their expedition too. They knew of Cloud and his companions for Nanaki, she learned, was the rising chief to their village and had elected to remain with Cloud.
They were going to save the planet, the people told her. They seemed worried for their warrior despite that. Tifa understood that better than anyone, she thought. She wished that her motivations were so altruistic.
She had come to Midgar for one reason and that was to find the man that had risked everything for her, twice. Her father had not thanked the boy for the first time and neither had the other children of the village. The second time he'd almost lost everything and for what? A girl who had hardly noticed him?
If she couldn't save him now she would never forgive herself.
Tifa sighed inwardly. The last villager she'd spoken to could give her no more details, but assured her that the village chief probably knew more and would share that knowledge with Sephiroth, so not to worry.
Which left Tifa and Vincent to groping cabbages and tomatoes. For such a dry place their produce was surprisingly abundant and lush. It was hard to really get excited about buying vegetables though, however necessary they might be. The bulk of their order had already been processed and was being loaded onto the Highwind, but the more delicate items they were picking out by hand to take aboard themselves.
One large basket full of provisions looped over her right arm and her left hand reaching for a particularly fine looking apple, Vincent decided to break the ongoing companionable silence.
"You have nightmares?"
Tifa dropped her apple with a mournful groan and watched it tumble to the floor, rolling out of sight beneath the table.
"What do you dream of?"
"It's nothing." Tifa said and swallowed hard around that lump of guilt. Mostly for the demise of a perfectly good apple, but also because her nightmare most certainly was not a simple 'nothing'.
"Sephiroth?"
"No." She answered, but stopped, smiling in thought. "Well yes, but those aren't nightmares." And she blushed hard, realizing her mistake. "I mean…that is…oh shoot. I'm not salvaging that, am I?"
Vincent approached quietly to stand beside her, his great height almost dwarfing her. There was something almost pleasant in his expression though a smile was hardly discernible behind his enormous collar. But he was pleased about something, perhaps her fumbling confession. If the situation weren't so serious she might have laughed.
"Then it is Cloud you dream of." He concluded.
Tifa gaped at him. "How can you know that?"
"I know why you came to the city, Tifa. I have done my research." He confided with a hint of amusement. "If not Sephiroth, only one other person could unsettle you so, to appear in your nightmares with her."
"Jenova wasn't in it." She bristled. Not visibly...
"But Cloud was looking for her, wasn't he?"
Her brow furrowed and she turned away, picking through the lettuce anxiously. "Yes." She admitted. "He was. It was the mountains behind my house, only they were different, more dark. Almost...cursed."
"Jenova curses everything she touches. Although that place holds a special darkness unique unto itself."
"Research or not, Vincent, how can you know my dreams?" Tifa asked.
"Because they are also my dreams." He replied softly. "I know her scent and she is haunting you as she haunts me."
Tifa felt a chill travel down her spine and she turned away abruptly, staring out across the landscape as people from the village dotted the road, curiously watching for their latest visitors. They didn't have the luxury of that often. "What about the others?" She mused carefully. "Are they dreaming of her too?"
"Not him." Vincent supplied.
She glanced up sharply, "How is that possible? I thought..."
"That I couldn't tell you."
Tifa shook her head, "I don't understand. Why would she haunt me at all?"
"Because you stole something valuable from her." He suggested. "But though she may haunt your dreams, she cannot control you. Her cells are not in your body. So you are safe at least, from that. It is a sort of blessing to know what she intends. That there is something preventing her from touching him is also a good thing."
The dark haired woman shivered, "Yes. Yes, it is. I just wonder for how long it will stay that way."
Vincent studied her for a moment, thoughtful. "There are other powers in this world, quiet though they have been. Perhaps you wakened one of them that night in the reactor, enough to mark him from Jenova's grasp."
A shock went through her system, setting her hairs on end. She felt the charge of sudden power pouring out of her core and she shook herself, breaking out of the memory with a gasp of surprise. It had been like that that very night at the reactor, as if some powerful presence had laid witness to the event and marked it forever under Tifa's skin. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.
The red clad man watched her closely and seemed to nod to himself after a moment before speaking again, "I think it is safe to assume that it will last till his dying breath, this time."
"I hope you're right."
"Believe it." Vincent said. "And tell him about your dreams."
Tifa chuckled ruefully, turning her head to look at him, but before she could speak the door opened and a trio of familiar faces emerged. At the head of the procession was the silver haired warrior, a grim set to his face that made her flinch inside. She looked away quickly.
"Are we finished?"
A chorus of varying degrees of affirmative answered him, as well as a loud, "Hey, that's mine, give it back you bastard".
The rest of the group elected to ignore that.
"Then let us make haste. I will brief you all once we are back on the ship."
Relieved to have avoided any more personal questioning Tifa finished purchasing the rest of their supplies and followed after the silver haired man with the others in tow. There was some animated talk about rebellion if potato chips had not made it into the grocery list. Tifa failed to inform them that Cosmo Canyon wasn't exactly the hub of junk food. She wasn't entirely sure they'd ever seen a potato chip here.
It would be a short lived rebellion regardless.
Once at the ship Sephiroth and Vincent promptly vaulted up and over the deck out of sight. The martial artist stared after them with a look of pure exasperation and found herself wondering at the heightened testosterone that seemed to inundate their little party of super-human males that were too awesome to use something as mundane as the ladder, like the rest of us lesser creatures.
"Uh," A voice off to her right brought her back to attention with a start. Chaka was staring at her a little nonplussed. "I'll be using the ladder, thank you very much."
"Oh.," Tifa's eyes widened. She'd been speaking out loud.
"I get ya." Yuffie patted her on the back as she passed. "It's just a dude thing."
They all gathered back on the bridge where Cid was pacing furiously about and ranting about how much he hated fucking sand and also potential hurricane winds and sand storms. Especially how much he hated the fucking sand though
"Let me tell you, sand is good for nothin—"
"We got that part, yo." Chaka intervened cautiously. "Anything else we should know?"
"You're not going to make the temple in 3 days." Said the pilot around a mouthful of half-masticated cigarette. "There's one mother of a storm brewing that way."
"If we cannot fly than we will walk." Sephiroth replied.
"Through a sand storm?!" Cid looked at him like he'd gone insane.
"The planet is at stake if the wrong person gets their hands on that materia." Sephiroth reminded them. "And the temple's surrounding landscape is thick with trees and vegetation. It will afford us shelter from the surrounding wind as we make our approach on foot. Better they not know of our coming anyway."
"Do we know for certain that Cloud is going there?" Tifa asked, desperately hoping to be refuted.
"Yes." Sephiroth answered briskly. "They left this morning from Cosmo Canyon so they are half a day ahead of us as it is."
"I'll get us in as close as I can." Cid grumbled and took the wheel with a grim smile. "But it ain't gonna be fun I can promise you."
The group disbanded for the meantime. It would be another day before they were within the range of the storm – time to prepare for the voyage ahead. Tifa made her way down into the guts of the ship where the bulk of supplies was waiting to be organized. Now was as good a time as any she figured.
She was amazed to find a box of pop tarts among the items that Yuffie and Chaka had gathered. Apparently First Aid gathering found a detour along the way. Also something called 'dango'. Her brows rose fractionally – and yet no potato chips?
So engrossed was she that she failed to notice the shadow that had entered the cargo hold behind her. The casual creak of leather grabbed her attention and she straightened, glancing up at the interloper with no small amount of dread.
Sephiroth took a seat on a nearby crate and grabbed a provision's pack. "This 'heightened testosterone super human' is not against obliging the 'lesser creature' with some assistance, should she desire it."
Tifa gasped, mortified, "You weren't supposed to hear that!"
He laughed, a deep pleasant sound and answered, "I find your honest commentary quite endearing."
The martial artist let out a groan,
"I believe you were about to tell me about these nightmares?" He prompted then and gestured for her to sit. "I have had a few of my own, you may be shocked to learn."
Tifa offered a lopsided smile and she sat down next to him, head falling into her hands. "I'm afraid." She said.
"Of what?" He looked down at her and his proximity seemed immeasurably close, as if he would envelop her with himself to ward off the world if need be.
"My dreams are of Cloud." She admitted and watched him from the corners of her eyes.
"The boy from Midgar?" He was very careful not to move.
"He's a year older than me."
The general pressed on as if he hadn't heard, "What are you afraid of?"
"He's in trouble." Tifa said, hands clasped in her lap. "Jenova – she was there, in my dream. I have never seen her, but I could feel her."
Sephiroth stiffened, "You are sure?"
Tifa shot him a withering look.
"My apologies, of course you are sure. That is something no one can miss-diagnose." He sighed. "I don't want it to be true."
"But don't you see? He…risked everything for me all those years ago, and I didn't deserve it. It eats at me every day. This is the only way I know how to repay him and I'm afraid...I'm afraid she will take him before I can save him." She trailed off feeling so foolish and tired.
"I cannot imagine you being undeserving, but I will nevertheless assist you in whatever way I can." He said. One had flexed at his side, as if itching to reach for her, but thought better of it. He stood up swiftly to busy himself in one of the provision crates instead.
Tifa felt an emptiness growing in the pit of her stomach at his sudden distance. But she knew it was coming – she had brought that upon herself. "Where are our recalcitrant children?"
"Chaka is older than you by a few years." Sephiroth pointed out with thinly veiled cheek, before returning to perusing the dry goods. His nose twitched as he inspected more closely what turned out to be a bag of raisins.
"Alright, you win." The martial artist sighed and she moved to one of the other crates.
"I imagine they are in a heated debate over the merits of star viewing telescopes versus large scale radio wave sensors."
Tifa did a double take. "What?"
"Cosmo Canyon is a hub for astronomers." He supplied in explanation.
"Yeah, but..."
"Who knew they could bicker about something so...worldly?"
"You're serious!" She gasped. "How is that possible."
He seemed to really consider her question before answering, "I've wondered that myself. For the longest time I was certain the young Wutain heiress's vocabulary didn't extend beyond four letter expletives peppered liberally with grammatical errors. It seems I was mistaken."
Tifa laughed. "Maybe I should go look for them?"
"No need. I will seek out the aspiring astronomers myself." Sephiroth said, placing the raisins back in the crate more aggressively than what was strictly necessary. Tifa made a mental note not to buy raisins again. Either that or her news had upset him greatly.
"Go easy on them?" She implored softly.
"Of course, maybe they'll get a scholarship grant and I'll be blessed with a life free of their inanity. But perhaps that is asking too much of the world."
Tifa touched his arm, beaming up at him. "I think you secretly like them."
Sephiroth actually huffed at that. A sure sign that she was entirely correct. Nor did he attempt to refute her, she noted. His eyes strayed from her face to her hand where it still rested on his arm. Silence passed, neither one willing to break the contact first.
"I should go." He finally said and did not meet her eyes as he moved away from her touch.
"Wait!"
Her hand caught him up short again. He placed his over hers with a brittle smile, "I will not interfere between you and him." He told her. "I am no stranger to the spirit's demand for redemption. I can hardly begrudge you yours."
"But there's nothing between—"
"A man does not risk everything for a woman if there is nothing." Sephiroth interrupted gently and his eyes softened on her, "The same would be true of that woman."
Tifa wanted to scream for all the moral dilemma that plagued her heart, but there was no doubt at all that she wanted him to stay there right then. No words were forthcoming however and she stood there, knowing that she'd already lost him. "I'm sorry."
Sephiroth gently removed her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. "Your wish is my command. I will not let her take him from you."
Something snapped inside of her as she watched him go and it was all she could do not to break.
The next 24 hours passed in blur of mostly subdued silence, at least where Tifa and Sephiroth were concerned. Packs were organized, supplies distributed, and weapons cleaned twice over, although little good it would do once the sand had its way with them, but there was nothing else to keep them occupied. The closer they came to the temple the more treacherous the air became. The time had come for them to make their break for it.
"Alright," Cid cleared his throat, addressing the party. Everyone had gathered on the bridge for a briefing. "This is how this is gonna work. I can only get in as close as 5 miles out, and by that I mean, I can make a run if I find a clearing and the lot of you are going to jump for it."
"Jump?" Yuffie echoed.
"Maybe you hadn't noticed, but the Highwind doesn't exactly possess landing gear." Cid retorted a little sharply. "The winds are too high for me to maintain above the ground for any length of time without the ship being rolled up into a tin ball with us a pile of blood and guts inside of it."
"O-kay." The princess looked noticeably disturbed by that revelation.
"The risk is great. But we all knew that coming into this. Are we ready now?" Sephiroth looked pointedly between each of them.
"Ready as I'll ever be." Chaka muttered.
"I'm so ill I can't feel anything anyway." Yuffie shrugged.
"I will take Yuffie to the ground." Vincent said.
"Awww, Vinny!" The Wutain princess sidled over and clapped him on the back with a silly grin.
The red caped man closed his eyes as if in pain, but said nothing.
"And I will take Tifa. Chaka, you are capable enough on your own." Sephiorth nodded to the other man.
"What? No piggy back?" He tried to look offended, but it was clear he wanted nothing to do with being brandied about like a sack of potatoes. "Ya, I'll be okay."
"I suggest you all head down onto the deck." Cid said. "It's gonna be rougher than a cat turd dipped in sprinkles so hold on. Once you see tree tops, you know I'm comin' in for the drop."
"Let's go." Sephiroth whirled away, his coat billowing behind him. Tifa lamented her lack of similarly epic accouterments and followed, wondering what people noticed about her when she left a scene. But on second thought, she probably didn't want to know that.
On the way down the Highwind was already struggling to stay the course and her passengers could scarcely keep their footing. They piled out onto the deck with gear in tow and made for the railings together, each taking up a position that was more or less out of the wind, relative to the worst spots where being ripped clean off the deck was a real danger.
"Are we going to survive this?" Chaka wondered aloud somewhat hysterically, glaring down at the wind ravaged landscape below.
Vincent and Yuffie were close by, the former probably positioning himself for when they would have to make their escape and the latter clenching her eyes shut and rocking back and forth in obvious agony. Tifa worried that the princess might not be prepared for the vigorous hike ahead following such an ordeal, but the girl was tenacious – she would go wherever they did come hell or high water.
Sephiroth was standing off to Tifa's left for all the world as if this were a day in the park. He'd probably seen worse in his days as a soldier and he could basically fly so what had he to worry about?
"We'll make it." Tifa cried out above the din and gave Chaka an encouraging smile.
It sounded like there was a loose truck careening off the walls of the cargo hold so powerful was the force of the wind against the ship. On closer inspection Tifa was fairly certain she saw the walls flex. Bouts of weightlessness and violent lurches interrupted the decent at sudden intervals. Tifa held to the railing hard and dearly hoped that the others were doing the same.
The next thing Tifa knew she was hitting the deck, the railing ripped from her hands. For a brief second she couldn't breathe. She was staring up at the ceiling and it was swaying to and fro. Somewhere to her right she heard a swearing – it sounded like Chaka. Her head was spinning or the ship was, she wasn't sure.
Another lurch and she rolled up against the railing, one hand scrambling for a hold.
Tifa started to pull herself up when she felt someone beside her, hoisting her up with one arm around her waist. When she looked up Sephiroth was poised ahead, a dark look shadowing his face. He stood like a rock, unyielding to the relentless storm outside as it threw them around as ping pong balls in an air tunnel.
"Hold onto me." It was an order.
The martial artist buried her hands in his coat and widened her stance, bracing. He did not let go. Up close Tifa noticed the muscles in his neck were straining hard, his jaw clenched tight. For the first time she could feel him shake and it was not out of fear. The incredible strain was weakening him.
"We're going to make it." Tifa breathed, more to comfort herself than anyone else.
Sephiroth said nothing and as if on cue the Highwind dropped into a dive. They were almost weightless, but it was a controlled maneuver and not a second later they were leveling back out in more stable air. It was only just. Tifa gasped at the sudden appearance of trees and a long meadow mere feet below the trailing edge of the ships underbelly, the tall grasses almost flattened.
"Get ready!" Sephiroth shouted over the wind. To her he said, "Wrap your legs around my waist and hold on."
If the situation hadn't been so dire she would have felt completely absurd getting into such a position, but there wasn't time. She locked her ankles around his waist as he instructed, one arm firmly around the back of his neck, the other under his arm and grabbed her opposite wrist. She stole a glance over at the others as they prepared themselves. Everyone was still present, much to her immediate relief. Now all they had to do was survive the drop.
Chaka bailed first. Vincent was behind him with Yuffie attached to his back like a tick. They disappeared out of sight and then Tifa felt herself go weightless. She closed her eyes and held on for dear life as gravity brought them crashing back down. Sephiroth's feet hit the ground at a violent skid that sent up wads of grass and dirt which went on for roughly 30 feet before they came to a stop, wherein he collapsed to a knee just barely holding her up off the ground.
Tifa scrambled down to gain her footing and as she did Sephiroth planted his second hand on the ground to brace himself, head bent to the ground and hair dancing wildly around him.
"Sephiroth, are you okay?" Tifa knelt down in front of him, pushing his hair back from his face with her hands.
His eyes met hers sharply. "I am." He said with some effort.
"You amaze me." She murmured, shaking her head.
He staggered to his feet and hoisted their gear bag over his shoulder, nodding to the woods. "Head for the trees, Tifa."
"But—"
"I am right behind you." He assured her with a gentle push.
Tifa turned and ran for it. The wind was still roaring in her ears even on the ground and it was all she could do to stay on her feet. Once within the shelter of the trees the difference was dramatic. The trees themselves were swaying violently at the top, but the further in the forest she went the more relief there was from the wind. She measured wind by the level of annoyance her hair caused her and for once she could actually see without obstruction.
With a trembling sigh she sat down at the base of a large tree and waited. Sephiroth was not immediately behind her,she noted, but she assumed he had gone to round up the others. They couldn't be very far and sure enough, a few minutes later they all emerged from the trees.
"Let's never do that again." Chaka suggested and plopped himself down on the ground. There was dirt caked in his helmet, which he'd elected to wear for the drop - a wise decision. His uniform was also thoroughly grass stained.
"I feel amazing." Yuffie gushed and sank down to kiss the ground reverently. "Oh blessed earth, I'll never leave you again."
Sephiroth was busily pulling out packs from the gear bags that had made the drop with them and distributed them among the group with haste. "We have 5 hours till dark." He said. "Let us make the most of it."
"No rest for the weary." Tifa chimed in, shouldering her pack with more enthusiasm than she really felt, but she was alive and that was something.
Before long the dense thicket of underbrush and low trees had swallowed the last of them and all that remained of their passing were the faint tracks in the soil, soon to be blown away.
Author's Notes: I'll be amazed if anyone is still reading this, but for my own sanity I have got to stop quitting stories before they're finished, even if it takes me till I'm 90.