Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Birth of the Bahamut ❯ He leaves to Meet Another. ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2: He leaves to Meet Another.

At the same time, the Highwind was making it's landing on the landing pads at Midgar. Technicians hurried around, operating special cranes and other objects, unloading the precious cargo that the Highwind had imported from one of the outlying research posts.

"This is some amazing stuff," said Cid as he overlooked the cargo unloading. "They must have got some top-notch avionics scientists on these engines. They might even be as powerful as the engines on the Highwind". Then he amended his comment as his crew turned and stared at him oddly. "Well, almost."

As Cloud and the rest of the crew on the Highwind were disembarking Red XIII came up beside Cloud, his expression somber. "Cloud, I must leave you for awhile, I must ... think." Red XIII told Cloud. "After all this talk of more of my kind, I feel kinda strung out."

Cloud looked down at Red XIII, knowing this was quite an admission for him because he had withdrawn into a shell of maturity after BugenHagen's death. He smiled worriedly as he said, "Of course, we will be here for several days. Just return when you feel you're ready... and be careful."

Red XIII looked up with gratitude shining in his eyes as he began to move away, his broad shoulders clearing the path. Shinra technicians stumbled out of his path startled. "I'll call you on the PHS if anything happens." He called over his shoulder as he disappeared from sight.

The rest of the group were staying in one of the more prestigious Midgar hotels and they were making the best of the time relaxing beside the pool, Barret was swimming with his daughter Marlene and Cloud could almost feel Barret's joy at being with his daughter again. Looking to the side, Cloud saw a soldier coming towards them, looking rather conspicuous in this crowd of well-dressed people.

"Cloud Strife?" The soldier asked as she threw a hand up in an awkward salute.

"Yes, that's me, what do you want?" He replied.

"I have orders for you and the rest of your crew to come with me to Shinra HQ, and also to give you this." With that, she handed him the envelope that had the symbol of Classified Shinra files. Then she spun on her heels and beckoned for one of the grunts to come over in the transports. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret got on the transport with the messenger and it sped off through the crowd of Shinra scientists, heading toward the center of the city.

Cloud Strife breathed in a quick breath of surprise as he scanned over the documents, his eyes widened as he realized the magnitude of these pieces of paper. Then he leaned over and told the driver to speed up.

"Cloud, what is it?" Tifa asked as the driver sped the lumbering transport to its limit. "You look pale." Barret leaned over with a curious look on his face, wondering what could have shaken up this strong swordsman and steady leader.

"Oh my God, you know how our Bahamut materia was stolen? Well," Cloud stopped speaking as the transport screeched to a halt in front of Shinra headquarters. The group leapt off and headed into the lobby where the rest of the party was waiting, as they were brought in by helicopter. "I think it will be better explained inside." He finished.

"Hey Cloud, you know what this is all about?!" said Cid Highwind as he motioned for Cloud, Tifa and Barret to get on the elevator.

"Yes.. Uh... maybe I had better let Reeves explain it though." he said as the doors closed and the elevator sped upwards. Soon, the elevator slowed to a halt at the top floor of Shinra headquarters, where Reeves' penthouse office was located. A wall unit of clear glass presented a stunning picture of the rebuilt Midgar below them. Machines now meshed with nature in an effort to grow closer with the Earth and the city was wreathed in a surprisingly pretty shade of green.

Then, a voice came out from behind the desk, "Stunning isn't it?" The party turned to see Reeves as he swiveled his highback chair to face them, his face somber, "Such an amazing city, built from nothing save the determination of the residents of the Midgar, and now it may be lost once again." His head dropped downwards to face the desk as he let out a tired sigh. "I assume that Cloud has been the only one to read the documents?" he asked as Cloud nodded. "All right then, a few hours ago, your materia was stolen and you do not know where it is. Well...I do..."

Before Cloud could ask how he knew, Reeves got up and picked up a remote where he turned on a TV screen that was displaying the image of a dragon over a city. "Bahamut! What's he doing over that city?!" Tifa cried as she recognized the dragon that looked so much like Bahamut albeit more sinister.

"Yes, what you are seeing is an outpost called Kihn, and now it is no more, destroyed by a rampaging dragon." Reeves told them as he flicked through images of Bahamut releasing great blasts of energy against the town. His tone descended until it was ominous as he turned to look at them through serious eyes, he spoke again to the tense party in front of him, "What I need you to do is to capture him, and someone bring him back to normal before he destroys New Midgar."

"How do you know that he will be attacking Midgar?" Barret asked, looking tense.

"He only attacks those cities which have the large energy generators needed for large populations. The dragon seems to be attracted to the energy output. And now, Midgar is the closest and largest energy center. If Bahamut were to somehow destroy our reactors, the resultant explosion would annihilate the terrain for miles around." Reeves said heavily.

Outside of the city, Red XIII was making another momentous discovery, feeling the stare of another pair of eyes on him. He quickly descended into a cleft where he hid in a small fissure waiting until the being passed, but then he froze, as the haunting image of a feline animal much like himself passed by, muttering to herself. Red XIII was just about to attack when he shrank back in on himself, realizing that her muttering had not been heard but had sounded in his head!

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Shea, once first female of the Dragon Tail Clan, smoothly moved from rock to rock as she followed this strange male, stockier than the males in her clan and colored red. It was with some surprise that she had noticed the flaming tip of his tail, almost giving away her position. She wondered curiously why she had never seen him before, the glimmerings of something heard long ago whispering through her mind, but then realized that he must be Chuevah, the felines that were either abandoned in times of famine, or shunned as a punishment for crimes. Seeing the muscles that rippled beneath the smooth coat for fur, she knew that he had not been abandoned. But he seemed so young, she had been first female for so long and she had never heard anything such as a red-haired feline. Suddenly she stopped as Red XIII entered the cleft, her eyes narrowing.

"Think you're clever Chuevah? You can't outsmart the Shea, first-female!" Shea paused as she spat on the ground in contempt, "…First-female, now I'm nothing more than Chuevah! Well, it'll take more than hiding in a hole to catch me!" She leapt to the boulders above and circled around coming in from above, she sniffed tentatively for his scent but she could not find it, it had disappeared. She did not know of Red XIII's peculiar ability to be able to near-dissolve into a shade, unscented and translucent, invisible in the shadows when he wanted to, but even he did not know it. As it was, Red XIII was still hiding in his diffused state when she walked by, muttering to herself that she had lost him.

She continued walking along the ground when suddenly his scent flooded through her nose, she began to turn to face this threat when his voice rang out, stopping her in her tracks.

"What manner of beast are you that you talk in my mind?" Red XIII asked, his head low and his muscles tensed to leap and attack as this strange creature turned slowly to face him.

"What business is it of yours Chuevah?!" Confusion flicking through her mind as she spat in his face. She leapt without warning, her deadly claws reaching out to strike his face, but he was no longer there, she landed with a curse as she whirled around, trying to locate him.

Red XIII leapt to safety high on a rock and he looked at her, questioning. "Chuevah? What do you mean? What is that?" From the depths of his mind, he somehow realized that it meant abandoned or something but he discarded that thought as Shea's voice ripped into his head, but it was with astonishment, not loathing.

"You do not even know what that means? What kind of a feline are you to not even know what you are?!" She asked, her voice sounding eerie inside his head, as she relaxed, just the tiniest bit, and her haunches loosening as she sat on the ground.

"I don't know what I am." Red XIII said sadly, sorrow flickering through his face, "I thought I was the last of my kind." He sat down as well, his head resting on his front feet.

"What?! There are still many of us! Of what tribe are you?" Shea said as an old legend, passed on through the ages, flickered in her mind. She quickly dismissed it, scorning it as a tale to amuse children, nothing more.

Red XIII wondered at her mind technique as he answered her questions, "My tribe? I come from Cosmo Canyon, and there is only me because my father, Seto and." he could get no farther because of his emotion. Shea was suddenly on her feet and she leapt onto the stone. Red XIII crouched into a defensive stance but then relaxed as her face showed bewilderment.

"A descendant of Seto??! Cosmo Canyon!? But that's impossible! Cosmo Canyon was destroyed in a raid. Only two cats made it and they died within weeks!" Shea said as the legends of Seto, a hero even amongst her people, played out in her mind.

Red XIII was taken aback at this statement, "No! Seto my father died defending us so we could survive and to this day, he stands guard over Cosmo Canyon, his body turned to stone by poison-tipped arrows." Pride filled Red XIII's voice as he told her of his father, guarding the pass into Cosmo Canyon. "But what are you doing here? From what I've gathered, your home must be in the mountains by the Mithril Mines." Red asked curiously.

Shea bowed her head as she explained with an undertone of sadness in her voice, "My son disappeared some time ago, and I had to leave the tribe to find him I be...became Chuevah to find him." She sat down on her haunches, putting her head on her front feet. "I had heard stories that he was convinced to leave by promises of power, from an old man of whom we know little about, only that he is the carrier of an evil spirit and some horrendous power. We avoid him at all costs so I don't know if he was the one but I just feel that he is the reason. How he convinced my son to follow him, I will never know." I tried to get into the cave where the man lives but it is protected.

Suddenly, the harsh ring of the PHS disturbed the stillness of the small enclosure. "Red XIII here, what is it?" Red said as he got up stiffly to his feet, stretching his lean muscles.

Yuffie's voice rang out, slightly trembling as she reported in to him, "Hey Red! How close are you to Fort Condor? Bahamut's here!! I've already radioed Cloud and he's on his way with reinforcements from Shinra!"

"On my way." Red XIII hung up and sprang up to another rock, as Shea looked up at him in question. "I have to go to Fort Condor, Bahamut is there and I believe that your son may be linked to this. Come if you want but hurry!!" Shea's eyes lit up at the prospect of seeing her son and she leaped up to the rock, smoothly running after Red XIII.

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Meanwhile, above the peaks of Fort Condor, the soldiers were fighting for their lives against the terrible force that was Bahamut. The lancers filed into line, lances held out before them as they prepared to sacrifice their lives so that Fort Condor could live. But luck was not with them. Bahamut opened his mouth and a powerful blast of pure energy ripped through the ranks of Lancers smashing them against the rock walls.

Deep underground, a young boy trembled as he ran down the tunnels, his father pushing him faster as he tried to escape from this nightmare. "Hurry up Kayin!! That dragon's got his eyes on you and you don't have that much time!!" his father yelled as they finally reached the end of the tunnel, bursting into the daylight. "Now quick, get onto the Chocobo! Gods curse it, hurry up!"

Shoji, Kayin's father turned bravely, raising his sword to the sky, as the horrifying image of Bahamut appeared low in the sky. His small regiment of soldiers faced the dragon, knowing that they would most likely die. "Dragon! Why do you seek my son?!" He yelled. His troops sprinted towards the dragon, lances and swords raised as archers launched a volley of arrows.

Bahamut landed hard on the ground, his claws ripping through the soldiers, their death screams echoing in the late afternoon air. Blood flowed onto the rock surface freely, the stain sinking into the rock so deep that it would never be rinsed away. The dragon leapt forward, his eyes sighting on his objective. His wings spread as he prepared to launch forward and take the boy up in his arms when suddenly searing pain made him blink and recoil.

Shoji pulled his sword out of the dragon's tough hide as he prepared to deal another blow; he roared his battle cry as his sword arced downwards, a brilliant flash of light. "My life for my people! My life for my Earth!" As his sword sliced into the tough scales of Bahamut, a peculiar change came over Shoji. His chest shimmered with an ethereal blue light and he was enveloped in light. Yuffie covered her eyes to shield them for the searing light so only Red could see what was happening. Not that he understood what he was seeing. Finally the light faded and all could see the majestic form of Shoji, enwrapped by a glittering cape of dark blue, clad in traditional armor that shone white, but his eyes stood out most, they were glowing with purest light that threatened to blind all. His sword too had transformed. It still held the same shape but with every swing, it seemed to cleave through the very air itself. The tables were turned on Bahamut; he was now fighting someone on his own level in mystic energy. Shoji dodged Bahamut's energy blasts with a roll to the side and leaped in close to the dragon. With magically impelled force, Shoji's sword ripped through the toughened scales of Bahamut's side. He began to leap away but was clipped by a claw, moving faster than light. Shoji hit the ground hard nearly twenty feet away; he got up slowly, gritting himself against the pain. Slowly, Shoji gathered the shimmering light around into his sword, it began to glow brightly and seemed as though it would burst until he suddenly cried out, his voice carrying through the ranks of still onlookers like a clarion trumpet.

"SHOCK LANCE!" With a tremendous swing, Shoji clove his sword through the air once again and from leapt a shockwave that tore the ground into the air. Not even waiting to see if it hit Bahamut. Shoji sprinted towards the dark dragon. He leapt into the cloud of smoke, caused by his magical attack. Kayin squinted; trying to see what had happened but he only heard the cry of pain, suddenly silenced. When the smoke cleared, Kayin saw his father collapse to the ground, blood flowing from a chest that was no longer there, replaced by the deadly claw of Bahamut.

"NO!!" he cried as tears poured down his face. He tried to turn his mount around so that he could avenge his father, but the hysterical chocobo would not listen and continued to sprint away from the dragon, bleating in a scared voice.

Kayin fell to the ground, his mount gone in a wash of blood as the claws of Bahamut streaked by, reaching for him. Amazed that the dragon could have traveled so far in a single second, Kayin looked up to see the terrifying visage of Bahamut as a blood-soaked claw descended toward him; and then he was deafened by a roar of pain. A rush of air pressed him into the ground and he opened his eyes to see a young girl with some sort of boomerang clasped in her hand and Bahamut circling around to face her, fresh blood seeping from a wound on it's nose.

"Hey Kid!! You all right?!" Yuffie said as her deadly conformer flashed in the light. She settled into a battle stance as she prepared to do battle with the dragon. Bahamut leapt at her, his claws a blur as they encircled her. But then she was on his slender nose, ripping through flesh with her conformer. A nose is often the most sensitive part of an animal and Bahamut was no different. Enraged, he opened his mouth and threw her off. Before she even hit the ground, she was struck by a blast of energy.

Yuffie landed hard on the ground, her clothes tearing. She struggled to get up but couldn't. She weakly turned to the side, and then blinked as a bright light flashed in her vision. She squinted at the light, trying to identify it but tears of pain flooded her eyes. But she soon discovered what it was when she heard a voice from Fort Condor. "The Condor has returned! It has returned to save us!!"

Bahamut looked up from his prey to see shining claws appear out of the sunlight, ripping into his hide, damaging one wing. He leapt to the side, his mouth opening for a deadly blast, but the Condor was no longer there. Instinct took over as he rose into the air his claws sweeping around to cover his escape. He heard a satisfying scream of pain as his claws met smooth feathers.

Kayin, looked up and seeing the majestic Condor battle the dragon, he was filled with a sense of power. He stood up to fight with the Condor but something in his mind told him that he must tend to the girl that had saved him. He ran over to her limp body, a healing spell already on his lips. A wash of soft blue light shimmered and Yuffie felt wounds heal, cuts and gouges sealing themselves and scars disappearing. She opened her eyes to see the young boy she had saved, standing above her with a worried look on his face. "Magic?" She asked.

"Yes," He said defensively, "I dabble."