A/N: Chugging right along.
Heavy Edits Completed: April 27, 2017
Final Fantasy VII – Remembrance
Chapter 7 – Snowbound
Whoops of joy rang through the air as AVALANCHE raced down the icy slopes outside of Icicle Inn. Yuffie in particular seemed to be enjoying herself as she appeared to be something of a natural. Her skills as a ninja of Wutai let her land several impressive jumps and flips without once slowing down.
"This is awesome!" She shouted as she flew through the air once again, zooming forward after an impressive jump.
Her route took her weaving through the freshly fallen snow and even though she made a slight effort to pace herself, she gradually pulled far ahead. The others were much less comfortable with hurtling down a steep icy slope and simply went at a much slower speed. Worst seemed to be Nanaki, who was attempting to ski with his back two paws attached to the skis and his front two paws manually tied down. Before long the young girl had disappeared from sight. Naturally, this worried the others and they tried to call out for her while continuing down towards where they thought she might be.
"Yuffie!" Cloud bellowed as he skidded slowly on his snowboard. "Where are you?!"
"Dammit," Cid grumbled skiing past. "Knowing her, she'll probably pop out somewhere just to surprise us…"
"CID!" Cloud shouted suddenly.
"WHAT!" Cid shouted back before he realized his view of the group was now blocked by trees.
Then his slope went into a sharp decline.
"SHIT!" The pilot swore as he vanished from view.
"Cid!" Tifa shouted, unable to do anything but watch as they lost another member to the increasingly hilly slope.
"Stay together!" Cloud commanded urgently as he tried to brake further.
"SPIKE! That's a cliff!" Barret yelled in panic as he fell hard to his side in an attempt to slow himself down.
Unfortunately, they were all going too fast at that point and Barret's momentum sent him rolling off the ledge nevertheless. Tifa let out a cry of fear as the remaining members were sent over the edge as well, landing hard a short drop below. Cloud looked back to see Barret still tumbling slowly behind them.
"CLOUD, LOOK OUT!" Tifa shouted.
The swordsman turned his head forward to see himself heading straight for a tree. With a yelp, he swerved left, inadvertently sending him off the path and into a nearby forest.
"I don't like this. I wanna go home!" Cait Sith wailed as he held onto his mog-sled for dead life.
"What do we do?!" Tifa shouted as they continued zooming down the slope.
It was a miracle any of the remaining novices were still upright, most of all Nanaki. Vincent looked around, trying to remember the route through an indistinguishable mountain of snow.
"Go right!" He shouted as he steered his own board towards a clearing that appeared to be leveling out.
"HELP!" Cait Sith yelled in panic as his mog lacked any ability to turn.
Nanaki let out a strangled yip as he tried to turn and ended up hitting a rock, sending him careening into the robot-android pair. The three figures tumbled down the slope and out of sight as Tifa and Vincent continued to the right.
"Vincent! Do you know where we're going?!" Tifa called out.
"NO!" Vincent shouted back.
Then his eyes widened.
"BRACE YOURSELF!" He called back to Tifa.
The girl was about to respond when she saw what was very clearly a cliff up ahead. With a scream, the final two members of AVALANCHE plunged off slopes of Icicle Inn and into the wilderness.
…
Vincent woke to the distinct feeling of inhaling ice. He sat up with a strangled gasp and immediately regretted the action as his entire body flared up in pain.
'I'm alive…' he groaned internally.
'Yes, as much fun as cliff-diving must be, you didn't actually fall too far,' Chaos said dryly. 'A branch must've knocked you out.'
"TIFA!" Vincent shouted as the memories of the fall began to come back.
'Calm down, hero,' Chaos drawled. 'She's nearby.'
Vincent chose to ignore the demon's mocking tone as he looked around. He found the girl in question lying a few paces away, the snow near her arm stained red. With a small gasp, he quickly unclipped himself from his snowboard and made his way over to the girl.
"Tifa!" He called out, shaking her gently as he looked at her arm.
The blood came from a deep gash in her arm. He channeled his Restore materia and the wound slowly closed, leaving a faint white line. Tifa groaned as she felt the aftereffects of the healing spell.
"Vincent?" She mumbled confusedly. "How… how far did we fall?"
Vincent looked up, squinting against the midday sun.
"Not too far, it seems," he pointed up.
Just above the treetops was the ledge they had fallen from. They could see where the freshly fallen snow had been disturbed, followed by the broken branches they had fallen through. Tifa sat up gingerly, her muscles still sore despite the healing spell. She suddenly sprang to her feet with a wince.
"Where are the others?" She asked urgently.
Vincent shook his head.
"I think Cait Sith and Nanaki might be in that direction," he said while pointing. "They missed the turn that led us here but they fell as well, so they might've slowed down enough for us to find them."
"Let's go then," Tifa said setting out.
The two grabbed their travel packs and snowboards and began making their way through the wintery forest.
…
Yuffie slowed her board expertly to a stop and looked around, balancing so that she wouldn't continue further down the slopes. It was only then that she noticed her surroundings were distinctly more overgrown.
"Uh oh…" she muttered. "Must've gotten separated."
She looked around, but couldn't see where she had come from. While the trees were fairly well spaced, there were enough that her view of the slopes was blocked off. Frowning, she pushed off slowly, trying to make her way back towards where she thought the actual course was. After slowly drifting for almost fifteen minutes, the trees thinned out somewhat and she could see the manmade course in the distance.
"How did I get so far away?" She wondered to herself as she steered her board towards the slope.
Upon exiting the trees, she found noticeable tracks through the mostly pristine and untouched snow. Wondering how the others managed to pass her, even if she went off on a large detour, she took off down the slope at a much more moderate pace than earlier. Almost immediately, she slowed to a halt. She frowned as she stood there on the slope. There was a distinct impression on one side of the course, as if someone had fallen and continued rolling down the mountain. Then, further ahead, one of the snowboard trails careened wildly off into the trees. The young girl sighed in exasperation, imagining just what had happened.
"Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing slightly in the cold air.
There was no response. Overcome by a sense of unease, Yuffie continued down the slope at a slow pace. As she glided from side to side, she continued to call out for the others. Time after time, she received no response. The young girl hopped down a small ledge and picked up speed. She was just about to give up when she noticed she was about to hit a large rock jutting out of the snow. With a yelp, she swerved and lost balance, crashing hard to the snow. She immediately reached out and grabbed onto the slope, slowing her wild tumble. With a sigh, she looked up at the offending object. Her eyes widened as she realized it wasn't a rock, but a person.
"Barret!" Yuffie shrieked. "What the hell!"
Unclipping her snowboard, she climbed the short distance back up the slope to the partially buried form of Barret Wallace. She shook him lightly before punching him when she got no response.
"Barret!" The girl shouted again. "Wake up! You can't sleep here!"
The man groaned and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He looked around in confusion, his body shaking from the cold. While the winter coat he had brought for the trip was waterproof and did its job keeping his body heat in, he had also been exposed to the elements for quite some time if the snow covering him was anything to go by.
"Whu… What 'appened?" He slurred.
"That's what I wanna ask you!" The girl snapped impatiently. "Where did everyone else go?!"
The man blinked sleepily as his eyes drooped. Yuffie slapped him hard.
"Ah! Dammit!" The man cursed. "What was that for!"
"You're gonna die if you fall asleep here! There's no way I'm lugging your giant butt to safety!" She tugged on his arm hard as she stood. "Now GET UP!"
Grudgingly, the man complied.
"Good," Yuffie said. "Now brake like this and follow me."
The pair began slowly making their way down the slope.
"So what's going on?" She called out. "Where did everyone else run off to?"
The large man took a while to respond, being preoccupied with not falling again.
"Cid got split up. We didn't know how to turn and go find him so we kept goin'. We hit that jump back there and I fell, I think the others must've kept goin' cuz I don't remember much after that."
Yuffie frowned.
"How long ago was this?" She asked.
"How should I know?" Barret shrugged. "I passed out after I hit my head on somethin'"
The young girl huffed in annoyance.
"There's a lodge near the cliff. We'll head to that and then I'll go out and look for them," she decided. "You need to get warmed up or you'll get hypothermia or something."
The man didn't argue with her for once. They continued on down the manmade slopes for some time before a decent sized cabin appeared in the distance.
"There it is!" Yuffie called out to Barret as she pointed. "I'll go let him know we're here."
She ditched Barret as he continued inching his way down the steep slope. Reaching the building, she unclipped herself from her board and knocked on the door.
"Coming!" A voice came from inside.
An elderly-looking man opened the door. He squinted at the girl for a moment.
"Was expecting more of you," he commented. "Joseph Holzoff. I run this little lodge for people looking to challenge Gaea's Cliff."
"Yuffie Kisaragi. The reservation was made under Cloud Strife, but I think they got lost on the slopes," Yuffie explained. "I found that one partially buried on the slopes. I think they went off course."
The man frowned.
"The weather's been acting up today. It started out nice, but the wind has really picked up since the morning," he cautioned. "Snow must be moody today."
Yuffie didn't have time to ask what he meant by that last statement.
"I'm gonna go out to find the others," she said. "Take care of Barret for me, would ya?"
"Be careful out there," Mr. Holzoff warned. "The weather could turn at any moment."
The girl nodded before running out into the snow covered woods.
…
Tifa's voice echoed slightly as she called out for the missing members of AVALANCHE. She and Vincent had been trekking down the mountain for about half an hour now while slowly edging their way back towards where they assumed the main slope was.
"And this never came up?" Tifa asked.
Vincent shrugged as she continued their conversation.
"From what I recall, we always went straight down into the valley without much issue," he said. "Everyone else seemed to just accept the basic instructions on how to use a snowboard from the rental place. I was surprised how different snowboarding was compared to my memories. My oversight may have lost us some members…"
Tifa scoffed.
"Like I said, it's not your fault the others were too thickheaded to admit they weren't comfortable. Hell, even I jumped at the idea of getting down the mountain quickly," she sighed. "The others are hardy, they'll be fine."
She looked around.
"Hey! There's the main slope," she pointed. "We can use that to – oof!"
The fighter was cut off mid sentence as she stumbled and fell to the snow. Vincent shuffled to her side to help her up and found a gloved paw waving out from the snow.
"Ow…" the girl groaned before seeing the appendage as well. "Cait!"
The two worked quickly and managed to uncover the tiny android cat within a few minutes.
"Whew!" The cat sighed in relief. "I thought I was gonna be stuck down there forever! My mog froze over! I think Red got caught under it!"
Quickly, the three dug further and uncovered the mog sitting silently on top of a frantically writhing Nanaki. Soon enough the two were pulled out of the hole. Nanaki shook himself off with a snarl.
"I hate these things!" He declared as he attempted to shake off the skis.
"Couldn't you have just run down the mountain with us?" Cait Sith asked.
This got him an irritated jaw full of sharp teeth snapping inches from his face. The cat fell backwards with a yelp and ran to hide on Tifa's shoulder.
"There was too much snow to run properly," the feline corrected with a dignified cough.
"Speaking of which, how are you still moving?" Tifa asked the small cat on her shoulder.
Cait Sith fidgeted with embarrassment.
"Well… see…" he stammered at first. "Teeeechnically, I wasn't supposed to use my mog as a sled… It's really for combat and mobility…"
"So you froze your mog sledding and then couldn't get out of the hole you fell into," Vincent said blandly.
The android played with its crown and didn't say anything. Tifa huffed in exasperation.
"Well, can it be fixed at least?" She asked.
The cat perked up at this.
"Oh, yeah!" He nodded. "It just needs to thaw out a bit."
"Let's keep going," Vincent suggested. "We still haven't seen the others."
They made their way over to the slope and began carefully making their way back down while dragging the frozen mog robot behind them.
"I thought I heard Yuffie," Cait Sith said. "But I was buried and couldn't call out to her."
"Really?" Tifa asked with relief in her voice. "Where did she go?"
The cat pointed down the mountain.
"I think Barret was with her as well since she kept yelling at him for getting buried in the snow. They just kept going down that way," he paused for a moment. "We'd better hurry though, my sensors say the weather is getting worse real fast."
Tifa looked confused.
"What? Didn't the main storm already pass?" She asked.
The cat looked a bit dejected.
"It looks like this might be an artificial storm. Shinra reports say there's some creature in the area messing with the weather, but they've never had enough interest in it to deal with it. A few unexpected deaths every year aren't enough for them to get involved in monster activities."
The group pushed on faster as the winds began to blow harder, sending the loose snow flying up into their faces. After about thirty more minutes of walking, they reached the cabin set at the base of Gaea's Cliff. By this time the skies had turned a slate gray and visibility was becoming poor. Tifa knocked on the door as Vincent hauled the still frozen mog robot to the doorstep. An old man opened the door and gestured for them to go inside.
"Quickly! The storm's about to hit!"
They did as they were told. Tifa helped the man close the door against the increasingly violent winds. After the man introduced himself as Joseph Holzoff, he lead them to the sitting room where they found Cid and Barret huddled up by the fire.
"Hey! You guys made it!" Cid greeted cheerily. "Being stuck in snow sucks!"
Tifa pursed her lips.
"Where's Yuffie? Cait Sith said he heard her leading Barret here."
The expression on Cid's face fell.
"She went back out there," Barret grunted. "Since you lot were still missing. Hell, Spike's still missing too."
"WHAT?!" Tifa screamed. "Come on, Vincent. We have to go find them!"
At this point Mr. Holzoff cleared his throat.
"I wouldn't recommend it," he said solemnly. "Once Snow's Blizzard starts, her fury can last several hours."
Tifa whirled on the old man.
"And what about Yuffie?" She demanded.
The old man looked apologetic as he shook his head.
"I warned her again after she brought back that old pilot. She was very determined to find the rest of you."
With a growl, Tifa pulled out her PHS. A quick glance told her the reception was poor, but it would have to do. She punched in a number to speed dial Yuffie. After a few rings, it was picked up.
"Tifa?" Yuffie sounded cold. "Where are you guys? I've been searching for you for almost an hour!"
"We managed to reach the cabin. You need to get back immediately, a storm's coming!" Tifa urged.
"Who's with you? Who's still missing?" Yuffie asked quickly.
"Everyone except Cloud, but in this weather, we're only going to get more lost. Please, you need to come back!" Tifa tried again.
Yuffie's voice sounded again, though this time it was starting to fill with static.
"Did any of you see which way he went?" She asked urgently.
"Left off the main slope," Tifa replied instantly. "But Yuffie, it's too dangerous out there. Please…"
"I shouldn't have gone off on my own," Yuffie apologized. "Don't worry about me, I'll find Cloud."
"Yuffie…" Tifa began.
"Please," the ninja begged. "Let me do this."
With that, Yuffie hung up. When Tifa tried to call again, the dial tone indicated that there was no signal in the area anymore. Heaving a sigh, Tifa pocketed the phone.
"Well?" Vincent asked.
Tifa turned to the awaiting group.
"She thinks it was her fault for leaving us alone during the trip down. She's still out searching for Cloud."
Barret let out a breath in frustration.
"Damn stubborn brat…" he muttered under his breath without heat.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Cait Sith asked piteously as he sat on the armrest of a chair.
Vincent turned to the old man that ran the lodge.
"You mentioned a Snow's Blizzard?" He asked. "What is that? I wasn't aware of any supernatural occurrences happening in the area."
The old man pulled up a chair, as he ran a hand across his face wearily. After a moment's though, he began slowly.
"The stories go that many years ago a woman named Snow lived in Icicle Inn. No one knew where she had come from, but she was kind to the villagers and got along well with the children so they left her well alone. She was beautiful, yet quiet, making her somewhat of a prize for the wooing of men. The innkeeper at the time hired her to work the front desk as her beauty brought in a lot of business by itself. During her time in Icicle Inn, she fell in love with one of the young men in the village. He was the determined sort, always steadfastly holding onto his own convictions. He treated everyone in Icicle Inn equally but ended up stepping in several times when visitors would bother Snow because of her looks or when drunks from the bar would get a little too insistent in their advances. Through various interactions, they gradually came to know each other and, after a brief courtship, he asked for her hand in marriage."
The old man leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
"However, the world was an uncertain place at the time and he ended up being drafted into a war. So instead he gave her a beautiful ring with a ruby sphere set into it, promising to marry her when he returned. Snow agreed and waited for her lover to return. Every day, she would watch for news about the war, worrying that he might fall on the battlefield, but believing that he would return. And when it was finally over, she waited for him day after day, never once leaving her post at the inn. But he never came back. Even so, Snow continued to wait. It is said that as time wore on, she grew cold and distant from the people in Icicle Inn as she continued to wait for her lover to return. She gave up her work at the inn and began to spend her days waiting for that young man. The stories get a bit muddled at this point."
"Some say she waited so long that her mind broke, others say she died when she simply stopped eating and then a vengeful spirit took over the shell of her former self. Whatever the reasoning was, the stories all agree that one day a local drunk decided he could take that young man's place. Whatever he said must've triggered something in Snow, because she ended up freezing the man with a touch, killing him instantly. When others tried to bring her to justice, she killed them too. She then fled into the mountains and no one ever saw her again."
Silence filled the room as the old man finished his tale. It was quickly broken when the windows rattled violently as a fresh burst of wind battered the sturdy log cabin. Cid sighed as he wrapped his blankets tighter around his body.
"That's great and all, but how does that explain the storm?" He grumbled.
"The stories imply that in her anguish, she unleashed a terrible storm that buried Icicle Inn in a blanket of snow, stopping all commerce for weeks. They say that even now, the unusual storms that happen twice a month or so are caused by her," the old man sighed. "Though for all I know it was a story created to explain the strange weather."
"It makes sense," Cait Sith piped up. "Shinra found evidence that the odd weather patterns were caused by a creature but they never bothered with more than a vague information gathering mission."
"So, if she's real, we just need to find her and neutralize her," Vincent said quietly.
All eyes turned to the man who had just calmly suggested murder.
"Vince… if it really is a person doing this, I don't think that killing her is the solution…" the tiny cat said with a waver in his voice.
Vincent turned to leave.
"If I find her, I'll try talking," he continued. "But if killing a crazed monster will prevent Cloud and Yuffie from freezing to death out there, I'll gladly do it."
"I'm coming with you then," Tifa declared as she grabbed her coat and gloves. "You might need backup and we're the only people still in top condition around here."
Barret looked up in alarm.
"You two can't be serious," he sputtered. "It's already dark out! How the hell are you gonna find yer way?"
"I can get us out of trouble if absolutely necessary," Vincent replied.
The silent implication of his transformation ability was lost on the old climbing expert.
"You'll need some kind of weapon though," he tried again in vain. "All the rumors say she's extremely powerful."
"It might be better if we appear unarmed," the caped man responded before he and Tifa left the cabin.
Mr. Holzoff looked desperately at the other members of AVALANCHE.
"You're just going to let your friends go out there?!" He asked wildly.
Cid sighed.
"Vince knows what he's doing," the old pilot said. "Besides, they're both really strong. Tifa especially when it comes to unarmed combat."
"I believe they'll handle things just fine," Nanaki said as he laid his head back down on the carpet.
"I sure hope so," Mr. Holzoff said uncertainly. "Too many people have died in this storm already."
…
"Please," Yuffie begged. "Let me do this."
With that, the girl hung up and pocketed the PHS. She exhaled tiredly as she glanced around the darkening forest. Cid had been easy to find earlier in the day because he had merely fallen off the path and crashed into a tree. After hiking back up the slope, she quickly found the pilot unconscious in the snow. After dragging him back to the cabin, she had set out again, ignoring the warning from the old climber. Unfortunately, she had no idea where the others had gone since Barret could only tell her about where Cid fell off the path. It was with some relief that Tifa had called, stating that they were safe and had made it to the cabin.
"Must've been Vincent," she mumbled to herself as she forced her tired limbs to keep moving. "Immortal vampire can do anything…"
That left only Cloud remaining to be found. Tifa had given her a round estimate of where Cloud might be, but it was the same area she had been scouting all afternoon to no avail.
"Dammit, Cloud… where are you?" The girl whispered.
She strained her eyes through the fading light, but as snow continued to fall, the ground and vegetation were beginning to blur into formless shapes. Yuffie continued to walk, more out of desperation at this point than with any real destination in mind. Minute after minute passed as the forests grew gradually darker. Soon, only a dim light shone through the trees, creating a muted windy landscape. Frustrated, Yuffie pulled out her PHS wondering if maybe Tifa could give her more information on where Cloud might be. Then she paused staring at her phone.
'The ring tone!' She thought excitedly as a weak wave of adrenaline surged through her exhausted body.
She quickly hammered the button to speed-dial Cloud. Then she closed her eyes and listened with all her might. Through the roaring winds of the north, she made out a faint jingle far in the distance on her right. Her eyes snapped open and she took off running through the dark forest, relying on her honed balance to keep her body upright and adapting to potentially hindering roots. After a few minutes, she slowed and called Cloud again. The PHS beeped, indicating there was no service. Her heart dropped.
"CLOUD!" Yuffie shouted into the darkened forest, hoping that he could somehow hear her.
When there was no response, she tried her PHS again. She jumped as the device began ringing. Again she listened for Cloud's PHS. It was definitely closer now, but a bit more towards the left. Yuffie continued further, calling out the swordsman's name over and over. She was so caught up in her search that she almost didn't register the cliff she was about to wander off of. With a curse, she grabbed a nearby tree to steady herself. Nervously, she called again. The sound now came from below.
"Oh no…" she whispered as she crouched down and squinted into the darkness below.
There a few paces out from the foot of the cliff, lay a motionless figure, half buried in the snow.
"Cloud!" Yuffie gasped as she began to carefully scale the ledge.
She managed to get about halfway down before her boot slipped on a rock and she fell with a sharp cry. Yuffie landed hard in the snow with a hard 'oof'. She dazedly realized how lucky she was that she had not hit anything else or she might have been severely injured. Ignoring those thoughts, the girl scrambled to her feet and over to the buried figure. His face was deathly pale and there was ice beginning to coat his face. Spurred on by desperation and adrenaline, Yuffie managed to dig Cloud's body out of the snow. Struggling slightly under the weight of the larger man and his ridiculously heavy blade, the petite girl staggered to her feet and looked around helplessly. With the cliff she had traversed behind her, there was only frozen plains before her. She turned and dragged Cloud back to the base of the cliff, which provided a tiny reprieve from the wind and snow. The man felt cold even through his many layers of weatherproof clothing. She needed to check on him but didn't want to keep him in the elements any longer. So Yuffie continued north, knowing that despite the cliff to her right, the cabin and Gaea's Cliff were both in that direction. She hoped that there would eventually be a place she could climb, but looking at the unconscious man in her arms, she doubted it would be possible without him awake.
"Just a bit further, Cloud," the girl grunted as she continued to follow the cliff.
Fortunately, there was a small alcove ahead and Yuffie ducked inside to avoid the worsening snowstorm. The small space was not set very far in the cliff, meaning that no animal would consider using it as a home. But at the same time, it was deep enough that a good portion of it was sheltered from the snow. Yuffie dumped the swordsman unceremoniously on the group as she began looking him over. She tore off one glove and felt for a pulse. She found one, but it was weak. He needed to be warmed up and fast.
"Dammit," the girl swore as she looked around the cave looking for tinder.
There were a few dry twigs near the back, but nothing else that remotely resembled firewood. Instead she stripped him of his wet outer clothes and tossed them to a corner. Then she shucked her own jacket and wrapped it around his torso.
"I'll be back, Cloud," she muttered as she stood, fighting the urge to shiver. "Don't you dare die on me."
Stepping back out into the blizzard, Yuffie gritted her teeth in sheer stubbornness and moved out towards a where she could see trees growing at the edge of the field of snow. There, she managed to break off some drier pieces of bark and branches as well as finding some underbrush that could be used to kindle a fire. She rushed back to the cave and dropped off her bundle of wood before heaving Cloud's Buster Sword and running back outside. Back at the trees, she awkwardly hacked away at a fallen log, trying to salvage some of the dry wood beneath the bark. Panting with exertion, she carried her larger haul back to the cave. Throwing the larger wood in a corner, she grabbed all the small bits of wood she could find in the cave and arranged them in a small pile. They quickly caught fire with a simple spell and Yuffie began tending the tiny flames. Grabbing the larger chunks of wood, she arranged them around the small fire and hit the pile with a second Fire spell, drying out the wood and spreading the fire simultaneously. By this time, the girl was trembling from overexertion. It took a few more minutes, but she reached a point where the fire was starting to warm up the tiny alcove.
"Look at that, Cloud," she laughed deliriously. "My survival skills aren't so bad after all."
She moved Cloud closer to the fire and spooned him from behind. His body was still cold but her jacket seemed to be helping. At this point, she could only hope that the fire and her body heat were enough to keep the man from dying of hypothermia. With a tiny prayer to Leviathan, her tired eyes gradually drifted shut as she passed out from exhaustion.
…
"What's going on, Vincent?" Tifa asked as she kept up with the taller man's fast pace. "You seemed unusually tense back there."
Vincent sighed as he glanced around in the darkness.
"I don't know," he muttered. "This is all too unexpected I guess. I never thought we'd run the risk of losing Cloud here. But I guess my memories of this trip were rather vague. I think I saw us all falling off a cliff at one point but somehow came out unscathed."
"Yeah," Tifa mused. "That does seem pretty crazy. At least you know where you're going, right?"
Vincent nodded.
"I recall a small detour where we fought a Snow monster. I suspect that's the source of these rumors."
They traveled in silence for a while, the wind howling all around them. While it was cold, both were dressed appropriately and were little more than slightly uncomfortable as they trudged through the storm.
"You think those stories are true?" Tifa asked as she hopped over a log.
"I have no idea. That was completely new to me," came the honest reply.
"So… she's definitely not human then?" Tifa wondered aloud.
"Unlikely," the gunman replied. "Not if she's actually causing these storms. It might just be complete coincidence and a local tale created to explain the weather, though."
Tifa frowned.
"But what about Cait Sith's notes from Shinra?"
"Correlation doesn't necessarily imply causation," Vincent recited. "Lucrecia taught me that much when she was working."
"I guess that makes sense…" the girl said.
After about twenty minutes of walking, they reached the side of a mountain and began to circumnavigate around its base while looking for an entrance. At this point, the storm didn't appear to be getting any worse, but it was definitely not letting up any time soon. Eventually they found an opening and wandered inside. While it was still chilly inside, the cold was less biting due to the lack of wind. They wandered through several passages until they finally reached a large cavern. Near the middle of the room lay a figure dressed in thin clothes. Her hair was a pale blue and her skin was unnaturally white. However, this encounter seemed unfamiliar to Vincent so he carefully approached the fallen figure.
"Hello?" He called out cautiously.
"Go away," came a mournful voice colder than the air itself. "Leave me alone…"
Vincent gave Tifa a sidelong glance, a small frown on his face.
"Snow?" Tifa tried.
The woman lifted her head, an angry look on her face.
"I said leave me…" her voice trailed off.
For a moment, no one spoke as the woman's eyes locked onto Vincent. He tensed, wondering if this person or creature was about to attack. The woman pushed herself onto her feet and took several shaky steps forward. Then she opened her mouth and spoke one word.
"A-Alex…?"
…
A/N: I decided to tweak the upcoming, completely made up back story. I liked how my younger self envisioned the encounter and decided to run with it again in this rewrite. There were some major changes in this chapter, much like the previous two chapters. Previously, the scenarios were simply too convenient or were too brief and awkwardly written. I hope the plot has been going a lot more smoothly for readers this time around.
…
Omake 7:
Terrified screaming rang out throughout the woods as Cloud hurtled down uncharted slopes with reckless abandon. By some dumb stroke of luck, he managed to flail his way past the tree-filled hellscape and out onto another stretch of snow, this time dotted with large boulders and…
"ARE THOSE SNOWMEN?!" Cloud shouted as he drunkenly weaved through solid boulders and not-so-solid, yet still potentially fatal, snowmen.
After twenty minutes of pants-soiling, trauma-inducing speeds past all sorts of stomach-churning drops and hazardous obstacles, the screaming swordsman skidded to a halt outside a large log cabin. He stood there, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. There came a clapping.
"Congratulations!" An old man said as he exited the building. "I've never seen someone tackle Gaea's Drop like that before! I think you might have a new record!"
Cloud stared incredulously at the man.
"What?" He squeaked.
"I was watching you as you came down that path," the old man said admiringly. "Superb control. You completely owned the hardest route we've got to offer around here."
Cloud's mouth opened and closed several times.
"What do you mean… hardest route…?"
The old man looked confused.
"Well, I was told a bunch of newbies were tackling Gaea's Drop and was watching you through my binoculars. All your friends ate snow, but you my boy, you killed it!"
"What… what was the easiest route down here then?" The swordsman managed to squeak out.
"Oh, the Bunny Slope over there," the old man gestured.
To the left of the treacherous slope he had just gone through, including what he thought was a completely unintentional portion, there sat a gentle, winding slope coming down the opposite side of Icicle Inn.
"Oh…"
Cloud promptly passed out.