A/N Finally i got this out!. Yo guys i know everyone has been waiting for this chapter for almost two weeks now. I had the biggest case of writers block yet and i just couldn't push myself to finish this part until today. But now i am passed this, you guys get a new chapter, and everybody is happy.
okay quick announcement time, my beta reader Saria19 has started her on SI called Between Worlds. Its got its own style and you all should check it out.
Also another auther that i have an alert two that has commented on my story is Matalvis who makes one of my favorite crossovers The wildcard. Why do i like it? because it is a fallout 3/mass effect crossover, which i have said this site is lacking. So now i have like two authors I'm subscribed to like this, so I'm pumped.
also poll results. When i closed it down it was an actual split decision. So to be fair I flipped a coin like seven times to see who Nate would be paired with.
last announcement, Stranger from the sky has now surpassed the 200 review threshold, hurray!
Well enjoy the chapter, because i am so happy to have ended it! plus i added a new attack to Nathans arsenal. Read on to see!
Ch 32
"Fuck...my head..." I lifted myself out of the snow. Shivering a bit, I looked around only to find myself in a forest while a blizzard was passing over... just great, I couldn't just be separated, I had to be trapped in a blizzard too.
"HEY!" I yelled out. Looking around I saw my deflated inner tube. Can't use that anymore. I looked up towards the slope to see it was about fifteen feet above me.
"So that's where the headache came from." I rubbed my head. It was still throbbing. But there's no time for that. Everyone's probably scattered, so we need to group together before we all pass out from being stuck out here. The group is three people when the game scatters you, it is going to be hell when it's all ten of us.
"HELLOOOOOOOO!" I called out again, only for the echo to respond back. I don't know how far everyone is from each other. How many areas were there? There were four... but then again someone could have been caught in the trees of the slope.
"Well standing here thinking isn't going to get me anywhere." Thank god I at least bought a decent jacket... Should have bought some wind breaker pants, these ones from Wutai don't stand up to wind all that well. I think my best bet would be to circle the slope, I might run into most of the group before anyone tries to get through the blizzard on their own. At least I have my travel pack and my Genji Gloves didn't fall off. I have decent materia on me, if I can remember enough of the map we just need to head north I believe till we find the cabin.
"I could use a little help here!" I heard, it sounded far away but not by much. Booking it I ran in the direction of the call. I heard a few growls and started to run faster until behind a few trees I saw what looked like a giant scorpion centipede attacking a very irate ninja.
"Why won't you go down!" She threw her shuriken but the insect twisted enough to avoid the weapon and try to strike her with its large pincers. She jumped back and flashed an ice spell but the insect ran through the sharp shards and attacked again. It was able to slice part of her arm as she ducked to avoid being cut up more when I jumped in. I attacked with my fire which caused the giant bug to screech and curl up on the ground, burnt to a crisp from my higher level spell.
"About time you got here!" She yelled at me.
"Yuffie I just woke up from crashing my inner tube and saved you from a giant snow ant thing, cut me some slack." I replied heatedly. She huffed but before I spoke I realized what she said.
"Yuffie, how long have you been walking around?"
"I've ran around here for thirty minutes and I haven't found anyone but you." I groaned and fell to my knees when she said that. She came up and gave me a hand before she started asking questions.
"Hey I found you, what's so bad about that?"
"Yuffie, I just woke up. That means for half an hour, everyone else has been walking around too. I wanted to circle the base of the slope to find everyone but now that's out of the question." By now everyone else has been walking around too. Shit, nothing works for anyone in video games. I am a little pissed that they follow the karma logic that the designers made, even though I'm in a real place now where shit shouldn't go down so much.
"So we can't find anyone? ...NOOOOOOOOO" I covered my ears when she fell to her knees yelling.
"I don't wanna die in the cold; I'm too young to die anyways! I wanted to do so much! I never even got to take all the materia!" I damn near face palmed when she said that last part.
"Yuffie, stop being dramatic, we can make this, I just need to think... what materia do you have?" She showed me her bangle and shuriken. A level two ice, the elemental she got from me which is still on its first level, level two barrier, steal, magic plus, sense, manipulate, and throw. Damn it, no restore. Well maybe we can work with this.
"What are you doing?" I took her hand and reached into her pack. I remember she got this from the Chekhov fight in Wutai.
"Just hold still, this will help you in the cold." I don't get how no one thought of the ideas that I do.
"Nathan I like the-oh." She stopped complaining when she felt what I was working towards. "How did you do that?"
"It's an ice ring, add it to your armor and you'll be immune to ice damage. Hence, it makes it so in your case you're more resistant to cold weather." She almost gaped at my explanation.
"Then again, I still question why you got leg warmers instead of pants." I added in afterthought. She shook her head.
"Whatever. What are we going to do?"
"I need to take a look at the map; maybe we'll find some kind of landmark."
"I gave it to Cloud."
"You what?"
"Cloud's the leader so I gave it to him." I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing.
"The one time I hope you're selfish and... it's okay, I can remember enough of the map... hopefully... maybe... probably." Okay it's fuzzy after a month but I can remember the general landmarks. Damn I'm going to have to write down what I can remember when this is all over. I can't have my memory causing problems in the future.
"Come on." I grabbed her wrist and started heading north east. We are in the forest so... area one? I never got the names. We would hit the hot springs if I am right. Then circle around and head due north.
I can only hope everybody's okay.
"Damn, Darkness, how the hell can you take all this?" Cid had been walking around for five minutes before he got lucky enough to run into Vincent. He had been hit by Barret at some point and ended up at the bottom to find a sign with a map of the Great Glacier. He had been trying to memorize the thing before he was surprised by the crimson cloaked man told him he had already done it himself.
"I would prefer you didn't call me that." Vincent responded.
"Still, you act like nothin's happening and the winds pickin up." Cid said, grumpy from having already relinquished cigarettes till after getting through.
"It is insulated."
"God damn it I could use one of those right now." Vincent sighed. Cid was possibly the loudest out of anyone on the team next to Barret and on occasion Nathan when they would argue.
"Be my guest." Cid was surprised when Vincent started unbuckling his cloak and held his hand out with it.
"If you're offering." Cid quickly took the cloak and put it on only to suddenly feel a lot of extra weight added on to him and make him stumble into the snow. He cursed when he looked up to see Vincent with a passive face. At least he was smart enough not to laugh.
"What the fuck is this thing made of?" Vincent took the cloak back with one hand and clasped it back on before walking.
"It has weight considering it is completely bullet proof, as well as resistant to some magic, and as I stated insulated. Hojo thought it would be humorous to give me this when I was turned into what I am."
"The fuck you carry that around for I will never guess, and where the hell are you leading me?" Vincent shook his head.
"We are heading up this hill. The map states there is a cabin north west of it. And there is a possibility we will find everyone else with the higher vantage point."
"Can't we go around? I don't want to waste energy going up a damn hill, Darkness."
"Why do you insist on calling me that?"
"I can't call muscle head that or he'll try to kick my ass, plus you're the darkest bastard on the team. You're always just huffing around like the worlds dead and crap. It's disturbing, so the name fits." Cid said with a smile. Showing Vincent he would be stubborn enough to continue.
"I suppose you have nicknames for the whole team." Vincent asked.
"Nah, just you and whatever I can call the two brats on the team. It's funny as hell seeing the girl yell and try to prove I'm wrong. Nathan doesn't give a crap so I let loose."
"That is an odd way of showing endearment to your teammates." Vincent noted.
"No one's bitched me out about it yet." Well Tifa yelled at him for being too brash but that wasn't important. Cid decided to go back to the original topic. "There better be a cave on top of this hill though, this cold is a bitch."
"We will get to the top when we get there, and there will possibly be a cave. We need to be patient."
"Life's too short to be patient, I ain't that old but I'm sure I'm not supposed to be going up hills in a blizzard." He was already getting tired because of the change of altitude, so getting this done as fast as possible was Cid's first thought above anything else.
"Well then, I guess my old bones will have trouble as well." Cid nodded his head before stopping for a good minute to process what he heard before smiling and catching back up.
"Darkness, did you just tell a joke?" Cid couldn't see it under his cloak collar, but Vincent had a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he ignored the smoker's question.
"I think we go that way." Barret pointed in a random direction.
"You think or you know?" Red asked, clearly annoyed.
"No we go that way." He pointed in the opposite direction now.
"You are lost, aren't you?"
"No I know exactly where we are going. Just give me a minute." Barret and Red had crashed after being left by everyone else. The problem for both of them was that without the map they had to rely on Red most of the time to pick up on any of the team's scents.
"Do you have anything?" Barret asked. Red shook his head.
"No one has been around here. But there are monsters ahead." As if on cue, two giant insects had come out of the trees that they had just exited.
"I hate these bugs. They keep coming out of nowhere!" Barret fired a few burst at one bug before casting a quake spell to crush part of its body. Red had attacked head on and took out the bugs pincers before finally crushing its head with his teeth. A quick battle, but annoying for Barret.
"I'm gunna run out of bullets if this keeps up," Barret said holding his arm.
"We'll find everyone; we just need to know what they would do." Red started walking away.
"You sure you know where you're goin?" Barret said catching up.
"I can smell minerals in this direction. Possibly a hot spring. We'll go there and try to find another landmark or a scent I can follow."
"You think they went this way?" Aeris asked.
"I remember the map; we have to go this way to reach a cabin. We'll get help there." Cait said leading the way, he'd already gotten both of them out of the forest they had landed in.
"You remember the whole thing?"
"I have a photographic memory. I know exactly where we are going." The cat jumped happily on the mog as they started going north around a hot spring.
"Do you think everyone else is okay?" Aeris continued talking. Without the usual conversation the group had, it was disturbingly quiet to her. Having gotten used to the banter, she missed it now.
"Everyone's fine, I'm sure they all hooked up and are ahead of us." Aeris smiled hearing how positive Cait was. She would never have thought of him as a Shinra executive considering how the cat acted.
"Cait, who exactly are you if you don't mind me asking?" The cat stopped hopping around before turning to her while the mog still went forward.
"That is a secret! Well, no not really, but still it's a secret." She was confused a little by him but shrugged it off to how he acted.
"I just think it's odd how you act; it's not something anyone in Shinra would do."
"I'm special! You'll find out someday, it's a riveting tale. Now we have to keep going, we can't be away too long from our friends." She giggled hearing how the cat called everyone his friends. The doubt anyone had back at the Gold Saucer had dissolved with time and him using his body to get the Black Materia. However her thoughts were cut off when the wind picked up. The snow coated part of the winter suit she bought after seeing Tifa and Yuffie nearly freeze to death.
"This is getting worse the longer we travel."
"Right you are. Stay out here too long and you might turn into a Popsicle."
"Are you sure everyone else is okay?" She asked again. Cait just smiled.
"It will take more than a snow storm to take down those guys." Cait smiled. Assured everyone else was going to be fine.
"You need to be more careful, what if those wolves caught us by surprise?"
"Tifa I'm fine, it's only a scratch," Cloud complained. Yet she insisted on healing him in a cave both had found after going through a snow field after an encounter with a pack of wolves.
"I hardly call a claw slash a scratch Cloud," Tifa said while wrapping bandages on the wound. "Okay I'm done."
"Then let's get going." However when he got up, Tifa blocked the entrance.
"Cloud, you need to rest. You did most of the fighting and we have been traveling nonstop."
"Tifa I know, but we need to keep moving if we are going to be able to get help. Everyone else is still stuck out there and I have the map. I was lucky even to find you." She sighed. Cloud was right but she didn't like the reasoning.
"Will they be able to follow our markers?" Before running through the field Cloud thought of using items to mark their progress in case they got lost. Without the mountains or trees the wind picked up and both Cloud and Tifa could barely see five feet in front of them.
"I hope, according to the map there are around three different areas that lead to the snowfield."
"Do you think they're almost as far as we are?" Cloud shook his head.
"I doubt it. With the map we made decent time, everyone else is on their own." Cloud looked over and saw Tifa's uncertain look.
"Hey." She looked over. "You know everyone is strong. They'll make it through; we're only ahead to get help if they're a little behind." She seemed to perk up at the thought, if only a little.
"Sorry, I worry too much." She waved it off.
"Nathan has said you dote over everyone like a mother Chocobo." Although he wasn't told personally, Barret had told him about how Nate viewed everyone on the team. It was funny when he thought about it and it seemed true.
"He just wants me to bash him over the head, I know it. Barret and Cid know better and yet he instigates everything." Cloud had a small smile when her thoughts were now focused on other things.
"Okay, I think we've rested long enough. I doubt the snow storm is going to let up." Looking outside the cave now it could have been worse for all he knew. Tifa sighed and braced herself for the cold.
"We head north, that's where we'll find help." Cloud said as both entered the blizzard.
"Yuffie we can't relax in the water, that is the last thing we should do."
"Nate come on, it's warm and nice. Feel it." She promptly splashed me, causing me to sputter from the hot water on my face.
"Yuffie, if we get in we have to get out. I don't want to go from boiling to ice cube in two seconds, now come on. We have a path to follow." We had already passed the hot springs and passed the single tree in a small patch of ice ending up on the north side. Currently we were cutting through a few hills to get to the cabin as fast as we could. However the wind had picked up and snow was bearing down on us.
"It's still cold, I hate this place." I heard Yuffie mumble behind me.
"Don't they have winter in Wutai?" I asked.
"Not like this!" She complained.
"Yuffie complaining doesn't make you warmer, just so you know." Looking over I saw a now large field of snow. But since the weather seemed to get worse and worse, I couldn't see very far.
"Yuffie, we have a few problems ahead of us."
"Like?"
"We have to cross a snowfield." I heard her groan. "I know, but this is where we have to go."
"But we could get lost, we don't have a compass and everyone else is still out there."
"Which is why we need to get help Yuffie. Going back up the slope is damn near impossible so all we can do is go forward." Even though I hated this part of the game. It was tedious and annoying when I wanted to collect items. Now? I just want to move ahead and stop caring about this place.
"Yuffie just stay close to me and you'll be alright. We'll take it slow and when strong winds start to blow, get down so you're not knocked over." She only nodded when I took her hand again. Moving forward and away from the hills, both of us felt the full blast of wind that had originally been hindered. Catching our footing after being knocked over, we started walking again.
By now I realized why Yuffie was complaining. Even being used to snow didn't mean that I was going to get through a storm and act as if nothing was going to throw me off. Also, I couldn't remember the last time that a blizzard like this hit Colorado.
The more we walked though, the more unsure I was about going completely north though. The wind would blow enough to make both of us tip over and have to dig ourselves out of the snow to keep walking. Considering we weren't being blasted across the field, I was sure we were going the right way.
But as time went by, it never seemed to get easier. I could only see maybe five feet in front of myself. The snow piled until it was well above my ankles. Every step took more and more effort as the minutes went by. Yuffie had the same problems and would get slower, which didn't sit well with me. The entire time I led the way, she didn't say a single word, not even a complaint.
"Yuffie, are you good?" I asked. I had to raise my voice to be heard over the wind. She didn't say anything but nodded.
"Yuffie I need to hear you." She didn't do anything so I looked under her hood.
Her entire face was red. She looked like she had a pained look on her face as well. I finally noticed she had been shivering more than usual. Putting my hand to her forehead to see she wasn't burning up but was colder than normal.
"Yuffie, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, we need to keep going." She tried to go ahead of me but I held tighter on her hand.
"Yuffie you've been out in the cold too long. We need to get you somewhere safe so you can warm up." If she had decent winter clothes she wouldn't be like this. Now we have to make a detour. Even I can't survive this forever either. But the problem now was how we were going to get out of the storm.
"You can still walk right?" She nodded again. Why the hell didn't she tell me she was this bad?
"Then don't let go of my hand. I think a cave is around here somewhere, we just have to head towards the center of the field." We'll go to the cave and rest for a while, and then we'll go to the cabin.
"Come on." Pulling harder we went off in a different direction. I doubt we're even close to the end or even past the middle of the field. The problem was that the storm kept finding ways to hinder us. We got more snow so we were slower than normal. The storm bared down more so now I couldn't see more than five feet in front of myself. Even the wind picked up and actually made me feel as if I was being turned around. The more this went on, the more I felt like we were actually going to be stuck in the middle of the storm. My nerves were feeling the cold, more so than before. I guess I have to thank myself for fucking my nerves up.
With everything escalating I know that Yuffie and I are going to be screwed if I can't find shelter. I need some way to clear out the snow and see better. I looked down at my arm and decided to point straight up.
"Yuffie, cover your head." I casted one the highest level fire spells I could into the air. The snow around us immediately melted from the sudden burst of intense heat. And luckily the spell did what I wanted it to do and disperse in the air making it so that for just a few seconds the snow in the air thinned out. I still couldn't see anything significant but now I could see farther than usual.
We both started walking while I kept shooting fireballs into the air. It wasn't nearly as cold as before, but I could still feel the numbness in my limbs. I had two ethers and one elixir so I could continue casting for a while since I have good magic reserves. Hopefully someone would see the fireballs and come in our direction so we would have a better chance of getting the group together.
I drank my first ether, my head feeling clearer since I started casting. I continued shooting into the air and making sure Yuffie was alright. She was breathing heavily but without the snow barraging her, she didn't look so bad. I'm surprised she didn't get hypothermia sooner.
"Nate, I need to rest." She mumbled.
"Can't do that Yuffie, you need to keep your blood pumping."
"I don't want to, just a few minutes. Please Nate?"
"No." I pulled harder to keep her going. Harsh I know, but the faster we found the cave the better she would be rather than resting in the middle of the snow. She compiled, albeit sluggishly.
In the distance I started to notice the snow wasn't piling as much as it should have been. Shooting a few more fireballs I noticed it was actually a giant rock. Happily I took my last ether and started to pull Yuffie with me. It didn't take long to find the cave and we were safe from the wind inside. I laid Yuffie down away from the opening.
"We're good now. You can rest for a while." She didn't say much and just snored lightly. I shook my head but looked outside.
"Damn I hope everyone else is okay." I had tried to reach everyone through my PHS but the signal was complete shit. I don't get how we didn't run into a single person. Looking back into the cave, I decided to explore. We may be safe, but we don't have the luxury of monsters not going into non-designated areas. Progressing. I started noticing that ice stalagmites were forming more and more. The air was colder in the back, giving me an overall bad feeling about the place.
On cue, one of the larger icicles fell right above me so I rolled back to avoid it. Before I could get my bearings two more fell making me dive to the side.
"Okay, cut the crap." Annoyed, I cast a fire spell towards the cave ceiling and watched as all of the icicles melted into water. I slumped against the wall and breathed a sigh of relief until I felt a puncture in the shoulder. Yelling, I looked to see an icicle stabbed into me. I saw a flash out the corner of my eye before ducking and finding several more bits of ice stabbing into where my body had been. Looking into the deeper part of the cave, I knew something was there but I couldn't see it. Using my good arm I threw a fire spell into it. I got up when I heard a high pitched scream of pain and looked at the dimming fire on the ground.
It was a chick. She looked like Shiva but she didn't have the same areas of blue or even the same face. She looked like she had a blue one piece on, but closer inspection showed it was just ice covering her.
"Just fucking great." I mumbled. She looked up and glared at me.
"You have the nerve of coming in here. After touch those dirty hot springs! You will-"
"Blah-blah fucking blah-bity-blah!" I yelled back, shutting her up. "Let me guess, you're the ice bitch people talk about. Now listen, I am not in the mood for this shit since I have a friend going though hypothermia, I am out of patience. So here you go: you leave and I forget you exist. Or you can try to kill me and I will make you the prettiest puddle in this place."
"You dirty little hooligan. I will end you like I did those other dirty vermin!" She growled. I ripped out the icicle in my shoulder with a groan and looked back at her.
"I have black magic, a hair trigger reaction, and a short fuse. Bring it."
She took in a deep breath and blew out ice shards at me. I inhaled and blew on my fire materia to melt the shards to see her much angrier than before. She lifted her hand and larger shards of ice appeared and were flung at me. I ran and dove back to avoid the ice two spell and looked back to see the ice witch coming down the cavern.
"Push!" I cast a gravity spell and the ball formed in my hand. But instead of throwing it, I let it explode from my palm. The result was all of the demi damage throwing the womanly monster back further into the cavern. Looking back in, she got up and looked at me angrily before she smirked. She started to moved oddly and flipped her hair. I couldn't keep my eyes off her and I felt disoriented. Realizing what her attack was, I held out my arm.
"Nope," I said simply when I shot a bolt of lightning from my hand that impacted and threw her further into her own cave.
"If you think I'm going to let you confuse me, you have another thing coming." I threw a fire ball at her but she dodged and tossed an ice shard that cut my leg. I knelt down and she tossed more ice daggers that cut me across my arms. I threw another fireball to make her fall back when I felt my head go light for a second. I was running low on magic.
Before I could think about getting my elixir, the ice woman threw more icicles my way making me dodge to the side behind a larger chunk that almost fell on me. I can't use my summons in here, we could cave in, comet is the same. Fire is my best bet, but she keeps coming back.
Another icicle flew past the side of my head, making me clutch it. I tossed another fireball which scorched her and made her scream again. She had to have a magic threshold too, I've been casting fire three spells for I don't know how long, but she's been unloading ice and ice two. She has to be tired.
"I will never forgive you!"
"Your character has no purpose!" I yelled back. Another ice shard was thrown at my hiding spot, making it crack. I was getting weaker and I need a way to kill that bitch. She is only hampering me and one thing I hate is tedious tasks. Looking at my materia I thought up a plan.
"You know the ice doesn't change how bad your breath stinks. I think the hot springs would help you if you brushed your teeth." I got the intended response with said ice breath attack coming at me. I blew on my fire materia again and created a steam cloud to run through. Using what energy I had left, I sprinted through the cloud and collided with the surprised ice witch. Tackling her, I held both of her arms down while she struggled.
"I know this is messed up, but you started this." I let her go only to have both of my hands dig into her head. My HP and MP absorbs glowing brightly.
"Leech." I started to feel myself get stronger and less winded as well as my mind got clearer. The ice witch however was screaming at the top of her lungs and trying to knock me off. I guess even these spells hurt. Holding on tighter, I absorbed more of her health and magic. She made an ice dagger in her hand and stabbed my right arm. The sensation of pain and healing made me clench my teeth, but I kept my hands in place.
Soon enough her hands fell to the side and she stopped screaming. I let my hands go to reveal a pale and somewhat aged face of the now dead snow woman.
"God... that's brutal." I got up and felt my right arm's muscles protest. I wasn't much better than what I was from the start. Looking down, the witch started to vanish in dust only to reveal a red orb. I picked up the Alexander materia and walked back to the cave opening. Yuffie looked a little better than before but was still red and exhausted.
I heard a howl outside the cave entrance and cursed. The commotion would cause more monsters to come. We would have to leave.
"Yuffie get up, it's time to go." She frowned and groaned. Her eyes half open and glossy.
"...to...tired..." I sighed. She was too weak to walk on her own before. Now it's going to be impossible to get her to move on her own.
"Yuffie you don't have to walk." I said. She looked up at me as I turned and knelt down. "Get on my back and hold tight. I'll carry you the rest of the way." I said. I expected protests but instead felt her weight on my back as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Getting up, I braced myself knowing I was going to piggy back Yuffie across the snow.
I drank my elixir and started walking out into the snow again. I don't know how we got turned around, but heading northwest was now our best bet. The cold felt worse than before, but I kept taking step after step. Eventually I couldn't see the cave anymore and my vision was filled with flurries of snow.
"You know you owe me for this." I said to Yuffie. She was asleep again, but talking to her would make me feel better about my situation.
"I don't want any materia. In fact I want another date." I said. The snow making my wounds hurt more considering they weren't fully healed.
"And it has to be a proper one too. Like I take you out for food and then a movie or something, then we watch the stars or something cheesy, then I get a kiss. I don't want some friendship hug like last time, I want a kiss. You hear me?" She only shuddered a little at the sudden increase of wind.
"Of course you don't..." one of the cuts on my leg acted up and suddenly my leg fell asleep on me. Not caring about the aftereffects, I grabbed my wound and activated a bolt spell. The sudden feeling of more pain caused me to scream as I felt my leg start to move again. I stumbled forward but kept walking. Yuffie felt heavier on my back as time passed by. What felt like hours were just minutes as I continued walking. I could feel my body getting more sluggish as my core temperature dropped, my breathing was getting more labored. I could barely feel Yuffie's breathing anymore so I tried to speed up.
Every one of my joints started to shut down as I fell to my knees, finally tired from everything. Lifting up my shaking, frozen hand, I concentrated and casted the largest fireball I could muster, hoping someone would see it. As I fell forward I saw through the dissipated snow some lights. I had a smile on my face as I lost consciousness, confident I got whoever's attention I wanted.