Filling In The Blanks
A/N: So I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I've just wanted this chapter to be real good (When I say update - I mean update chapter like... 17 maybe? something like that) And when I stop writing, even if I'm ahead, I stop updating. Anyways :) Thanks for reading everyone! I appreciate it so much! I've been waiting for this chapter for a very very long time :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9, or any characters affiliated with it, and am in no way making profit on this story - unfortunately :D
Chapter 23: Fight or Flight
Chatter of confusion flittered through the halls, as everyone gathered in the small area. It was a good thing they had all decided upon the largest corridor, or else everyone might not have fit. Murmurs and whispers laid close to the ground, as the volume of questions was high like smoke from a fire - the sound echoed off of the walls, bouncing off of the dirt, wood, and metal that held the whole hide-out together.
That very hall held a whole resistance, and seeing all of them together seemed almost as though it were a bit depressing. There weren't many of them - compared to the army Vivi had seen outside... But most didn't know about that yet. Finally, a loud scraping noise was heard as a chair was dragged across a metal sheet that had fallen to the ground, as Cid stood in front of everyone, arms raised in leadership.
"Today a grave feet has happened!" His voice boomed above all, drowning out any other sound daring enough to make itself known at that moment. "Our enemy is upon our doorstep! Up on the grass, under the sky Kuja's soldiers slowly move closer! They will discover how to get into our hide out. It will be a game of cat and mouse - but eventually, no matter how hard the mouse tries - it gets caught by the cat. We have been dodging these fiends for years, but I fear it is now time to make a stand! Make a stand, while trying to flee!"
A great roar arose among the people. Enemies were coming? Since when? Why weren't they told earlier? They didn't have enough time - they weren't prepared - and the resistance was always prepared.
"Everyone!" Cid yelled out once more, causing everyone to go silent, or at least reduce the noise, "There is one way into this resistance strong-hold that you all know of! The hole in the mayor's living room. It's obvious - it will be found out! You have all used it to go out and see the sun, to preform great missions for this group of people... That is the way they will get in..."
"How do we get out?" One called out, fear apparent in his voice.
"There is one more way in..."
Though a loud blast of noise was heard, it was because of all the whispers blowing together - a new piece of information about a place they had lived in for years... It was near impossible.
"Past the pumpkin patch just a ways, is a wooden latch... It is not locked, and there is only sod over it - no mounds of dirt, nothing hard to push up... This hatch-like door is through my quarters... We must make haste though! Grab everything that is important to you - and as much as I hate to say it... We must leave the rest. New supplies will be found elsewhere - we simply are out of time -"
A loud pounding echoed through the halls. In a roaring rumble, it hit the hall with all the members, and that's when they knew they were in trouble.
"Go! This way! Get everything you must! They're coming!" Cid screamed, as things quickly exploded into disarray.
People were screaming - a few female members sobbing to snatch up the youngest members of the resistance. There were people being trampled, gaining bruises and causing blood to spat onto the dirt, together creating a crumbly liquid mess on the floor of the once organized place. Shoving and pushing couldn't be gentle, as Zidane was shoved side to side, people only caring for themselves at that moment - and getting the things they needed out from the resistance.
He wasn't the tallest member in the resistance by far, but he was quite a bit taller than a lot of people, and he jumped, smacking the palm of his hand onto people's foreheads in an attempt to raise himself up.
"Dagger!" He yelled over the panicked screams; he shoved a little, and pushed a little, but to no avail in finding the girl, "Dagger!" He screamed now, his breath beginning to pick up speed.
Noise filled his ears, and hair and heads blocked his sight - he was completely oblivious to where anyone was that he knew personally. People yanked him back, his tail being forcefully wrapped around people too much in a hurry to realize they were hurting other. Another person next to him tripped, falling face first into the ground with a sickening snap to some bone in their body as someone's large foot stampeded over it.
Curdled screams, cut off by spit and air were heard, as people were killed by their own kind, running them over in the hallway. As people began to clear out, more screams of fright were heard down the halls - the soldiers must have made it in.
Zidane drew his dagger, careful not to hit anyone with the sharp blade, and turned to go with the tide of population, running backwards towards most of the rooms.
Magic was being spewed off everywhere, sparks flying from firega spells, ice chunks sparkling, though deadly in the air, as they were shot not even a centimeter away from Zidane's face. Wind blew up the dust and the smoke, blinding everyone almost instantly, and water began to seep into the dirt with a waterga spell. Sharp, straight flashes of thundergas, along with the booming noise to go along with it, shot at random people, higher and louder screams filling the narrow hallways.
Zidane dodged as much as he could, and dove to the ground, throwing dirt up at a mage in the front, he slit the ankles of the creature, before it tumbled like dominos backwards towards the other mindless mages. Soldiers were shooting arrows, hoping to hit someone in the smog, but hopefully everyone in the resistance was stronger than that, not to get hit anywhere fatal with an arrow. He heard the clashing of swords somewhere further back, and the adrenaline began to leak into his blood stream.
Throwing himself off the ground, he smashed someone in the face with his dagger, the sharp blade splintering the man's skull through an opening to see in the helmet, as the blonde twisted the blade, and yanked it back out, blood gushing like a waterfall out the hole. If it had been anyone else besides a soldier, Zidane might have felt pity - for the man was not dead.
He was backed against a wall, his tail being hit with an arrow as he flinched and ducked, just in time for an axe to smash the wooden pillar behind him. He glanced to his left to see Beatrix kick down a man, only to be hit in the back with a club from a burly, stupid looking man above her. Zidane gave up his last defense, and flicked his weapon at the man's stomach, inpaling him far enough for him to drop the club and stagger back.
Another gust of dust blew up, and he could no longer see his brunette superior.
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Dagger was violently shoved into her room, barely making it into the space without being washed away with the sea of ongoing people. Quickly, she ripped through the small space, grabbing a bag, and shoving as much in as she could. Unfortunately, she had grabbed the smaller of her two bags, and she only had limited space. She smashed a small statuette on the floor in her haste, and out fell the Falcon's Talon - what proved her birth right... Beatrix had told her about it some time ago, and told her never to take it out, incase of someone knowing it was she who was a princess.
Shaking her head, she figured it didn't matter now, and shoved it into the bag, and began tearing books from their shelves in her speed to get to the back of the shelf. Glancing hastily at the door, she knew soldiers would be there any moment, and she yanked out a few pictures that she had, along with an unopened letter, and smashed them into the bag, and tripped to the bed, so she could pull open a drawer.
A spell flew into her room, setting her bed on fire, and Dagger lay close to the ground, in hopes that no one saw her, as only a foot away, she watched her mother's quilt burn with the fire, licking towards the ceiling. A gruff, and unclear command was yelled into the room - one she did not hear, and a triumphant yell was heard, before the door was yanked shut.
She would surely die in there if she didn't leave, and glancing down at her nearly-full bag, she figured she had what was most important to her. Quite quickly, she rolled to the other side of the room to stay away from the smoke, and began bashing at the door with her staff. It was completely jammed shut...
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Vivi pulled with all his might, a bleeding and struggling Cinna. He knew that he couldn't leave the poor guy behind, but the Tantalus member only wished to get up and fight again. It was truly slowing Vivi down, and it was a miracle the two hadn't been stepped on - or that soldiers hadn't caught up with them quite yet.
He could hear the guards from a short distance off, only hurriedly trying to drag Cinna all the quicker. The small mage almost tripped to his death, but upon doing so, saw guards plaguing Ruby to the right. It was a crevice in the hall, and even a bigger crack in the fight. It seemed dim and quiet back there, contrasting with the bright sparks of war just feet away.
Vivi dragged Cinna to the right, and shot off a blizzard spell at the two guards, freezing them in place. Ruby pulled a dagger out of it's sheath from her leg, and smashed the hilt into the ice sculptures, shattering them into thin pieces that seemed to almost rest in the air momentarily.
She bent down by Vivi and kissed the brim of his hat, helping him to yank Cinna onward toward escape. But neither the blue haired actress, or the young black mage knew for certain if they would make it...
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Beatrix made sure to grab Zidane's dagger, wherever he might be, and shoved it into a hidden sheath in her long combat boots. Yanking up her sword, she slashed into more people, blood splattering onto the metal, and floor. The crimson liquid seemed to be everywhere she looked, and though she had been around it so much in her life, the sight and thought of human slaughter haunted her - though she knew it was her duty.
The people all running along side of her, and against the flow to try and fight made her almost dizzy. How could something like this happen? She, as quickly as she could maneuver, slid on her feet, throwing dust into the air, around the corner, and lead a group of people towards Cid's room. She knew the chamber doors were that way, because she could see the light of day.
She wondered if this was the hard part - getting out of the rabbit hole alive - or if it was running across the open field... Without being shot down...
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Steiner made sure he watched his footing as he ran up the hillside. Though he knew he should have stayed behind, he had to protect those who wanted to leave faster, as he seemed to be one of the only head people of the resistance who had made it out so far. His worst fear was for Dagger at the moment - what if she hadn't made it out.
Shaking his head free of these thoughts, he focused on watching the sharp edges of his combat boots slice into the thin bladed grass, watching it fall to the earth, never to grow taller again. Spells were missing him only by inches, although the aim was getting worst as he moved further away.
It had been bugging him for a while - he just had to stop and look back - he needed to know just what kind of army was sent after them. As cautiously, though quickly, as he could he whipped around, eyes widening at the sight. The first wave had gone under ground, but behind them there were still never ending rows of people, ready to wipe out the resistance.
Either Kuja had thought there were an emense amount more members, or he wanted a five-hundred percent sure that every member was going to be killed. Knights on chocobos rode up the back, it seemed like miles away the trail finally ended. Clumps of people were keeping tabs on the outside of the small town of Dali, trying to make sure there was only one way out of the resistance besides the hole. The mayor's house had been started on fire, and he prayed there was no one inside...
All of the citizens of the town, who had trusted the resistance members, jepordizing their safety, and the safety of their family and friends to keep the secret of the only people who fought completely against Kuja, those who were the only ones brave and skillful enough to stand up to him... And now all they were doing was betraying the trust of those people. The population of the town was left behind, as the resistance selfishly fleed, leaving the city to deal with the high treason of their crime.
He thought about the women and children, and even the kind men who had inhabited that town, and he had to turn away. Though there was nothing Steiner could do alone, he knew that he must keep going... No one else would stay behind to help him - they wouldn't understand in the panic of the situation.
Steiner was a knight, so he was used to this sort of thing... For over half of his life, he had been trained to protect, and to stay calm in these sorts of situations... Which ultimately meant... He was one of the few that would actually think of others, in a time to think selfishly...
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Sunset was dawning on the horizon, shattering the straight rays that had been appointed to the village during the day. Still soldiers were flooding into the hide out, and still people - stragglers now - got out. When Steiner had managed to escape, there weren't many people with him, and even fewer made it towards the observatory where they were assigned to go...
There was a smokey haze over the town, the villagers crying as their hope was being scattered like cockroaches under a flashlight. Citizens, soldiers, and resistance members alike all fell in the line of fight or flight that day, and now there seemed to be an endless heap of people trying to make it through the tall grass, whether by slowing down and crawling, so as not to get hit by spells, hoping not to be pierced by an arrow, or trampled over - or worse - having the soldiers catch up to them, or by running, hoping not to get hit by spells and arrows, but easily moving quicker than the soldiers... In some cases - it was a lose-lose situation...
the lazy colors slowly began to change across the sky, as lavender prickled the opposing side of the sun. After that, night would soon fall upon them, though the town of Dali would be lit up - the fire still spreading higher and higher as time went on.
But worse than the smoke, worse than the cries, and worse than the invasion that many were witnessing was the feel of death in the atmosphere. The taste of copper soaked the air, no longer breezy, but more smothering than anything else.
Finally, dizzily, Dagger managed to flee with a bit of the last remaining resistance. Through the halls they ran, soldiers now almost everywhere. She had to shove and push, cast spells, and strike down most of the soldiers.
Slipping along the wall, she narrowly dodged arrows, and actually had to yank one out of her thigh, throwing it like a spear back at whoever shot it, hoping to hit him, only to watch the clumsy weapon fall and break in two on the floor. As she stumbled along the path of her comrades, she watched large clumps of dirt, and even some wood fall from the ceiling.
Worriedly, she glanced behind her, only to see in horror, the soldiers behind her, and last staggering members of the resistance get crushed. The whole place was beginning to collapse.
With a newfound voice, she screamed and picked up the pace, pulling people who fell behind her forward, even if she basically had to drag them across the ground. The dirt that arose when things started to collapse was hitting her neck rapidly, and she could feel the heat around her from the nervousness that came off as persperation on her body. Almost sobbing, she threw whoever she was holding onto into Cids room, and began to scramble out of the opening.
Whipping around, she held out a dirty gloved hand to the last, shorter member. She was young, only about eight years old, unable to hoist herself up. Enemies were as close as the pumpkin patch, deciding to move forward a bit, to see if they could hit the running people. Dagger stretched her arm out, the rest of the hide out about to collapse on the poor girl.
Sobbing, the girl jumped at her hand, and gripped it tightly, though not at a very good angle, as Dagger was shot in the side with a thunderga spell. She yelled in pain as a fire ripped through her bones and bloodstream, and she felt like she could scratch straight down to the bone to rip out of her body, whatever was on fire.
The girl's last hope was gone, but Dagger threw her hand down there anyways, though she was now weak in her side. This time, the raven haired teenager inspired the girl to be quick, as she basically jumped onto Dagger's arm, as she half pulled her, and the girl half climbed out, just as the last supports snapped, and both girls' home was destroyed for good...
At once she forgot about Dagger completely and stumbled to run.
"Dagger!" It was Zidane's voice that brought her too, and she gasped seeing him standing not too far away.
Along with him, was Blank, Marcus, and an extremely pissed off Baku. They were all holding back as many soldiers as they could kill, though Zidane didn't have a dagger... She stumbled to get up to join them, but as she began to run, she was ripped back down into a sitting position, the thing holding her back being her hair.
"I don't think so..." It was a woman, much like Beatrix - stronger than most idiotic male knights, who didn't know what the hell they were doing. (I mean nothing against men, that wasn't meant to be sexist... I'm referring to the Knights of Pluto :)
She was young - about their same age, and she smirked with an evil grin, a few strands of wavy blonde hair falling in front of her face.
Dagger struggled as much as she could, in an attempt to join her friends who were distracted with a new, and extremely powerful group of enemies. They took a special interest in Zidane, though the group of four wasn't sure why. Easily, Baku was taken down with a simple few people tackling and tripping him, smashing their boots into his head until he was unconscious.
Zidane was taken down in a similar way, his last glance, wide eyed and shocked at the blonde grabbed onto Dagger's hair, though it went completely unnoticed by the two girls. Dagger screamed, as she watched him fall to the ground, attempting again to stand, only to be yanked backwards once more.
Blank and Marcus were shoved together, ramming into each other, as they fell to the ground, and a boot was placed on each of their chests. If they tried to move - they'd surely be dead.
"Finish them off!" The girl commanded in a rough voice.
As one boot lifted over Blank's chest, he held his breath - ready for the worst... He figured this would happen - figured they wouldn't be able to get out of there, without someone dying... It was just too sudden - there wasn't enough time...
"Stop!" Dagger screamed.
"Why?" The blonde chuckled and yanked her back, then forward, and around in a circular motion, "You can't do anything to stop us..." She peered at the young girl and spat in her face, "Princess!"
Dagger wiped away the spit on her cheek as she jerked her head around, "You stay away from them!"
The blonde woman smiled, her pearly white teeth glinting, "Why don't you finish them off, huh? Right in front of her eyes! Then we can take her back to Lord Kuja!"
Dagger knew she had to do something. She had always been a leader - she had always known that she would have to do something one day to save people - everyone had always told her that... This wasn't some drastic sacrifice though - oh no... It was just something that had to be done. It's not like it would hurt her at all. She elbowed the blonde in the knee, causing her to cry out - that's when her team members about to kill Blank and Marcus stopped and looked up.
A dagger was dropped out of the girl's hand and Dagger picked it up, only to have the blonde scoff at it.
"You versus me, you wouldn't win and you know it!"
"This isn't for you!" In a spout of courage, Dagger gripped the woman's hand, holding it tight to make sure she couldn't move, and sliced the dagger through her own hair. She heard the snipping sound it made, sharp and brisk, before it seemed as though a certain weight was lifted from her shoulders.
For as long as Dagger could remember, she always had beautiful, long locks of raven hair that everyone complimented - that hung around her porcelain face, and what people knew was a sign of confidence simply by looking at the girl. Now she didn't know how it looked, not even touching her shoulders anymore.
As everyone stood stunned, Dagger mustered up the power she could and began a summon. Though it wasn't a very strong one, as she summoned the eidolon Ifrit. Heat seemed to inject itself into the atmosphere, until it almost wasn't bearable anymore. People who had never seen a summon - which happened to be most soldiers and civilians alike - watched in amazement as the creature spawned out of a hellfire magically brought upon them. Fire sprouted out of all of its limbs, as though everyone was meant to feel his wrath. Soon this fire hit everything - and put the heated spells to shame, hardly even steaming at the blizzard spells that had been casted everywhere.
Dagger watched in amazement that she could summon something upon them so powerful. This was the decoy she wanted as fire erupted over everything quicker than a volcano. As soon as it was over, and the powerful, gigantic creature vanished, she stumbled through the aftermath of the smoke, and hit the two down over Blank and Marcus. Carefully, Blank and herself pulled Baku along as fast as they possibly could, Marcus carrying Zidane.
They didn't know who they had killed, or who they had left behind... The only thing that they knew at that time was that they escaped...
Though, the question was, as they raced through the grass, tinted a fiery orange from the blaze they were leaving behind, where would they go, once everyone who could reached the observatory?
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A/N: Well there's the fantastic fight chapter :D Finally something happened right? :D I couldn't resist having Dagger cut her hair... Annnyways :D I hope you enjoyed! Please review!
-zesty-
