Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ In My Mind's Eye ❯ Chapter 2

Chapter Two

…

Seawater…that was what she tasted as her senses came flooding back to her. Sand…it was wet sand that she felt in her hands. Waves…it was the sea waves she could hear calling out to her.

Yuffie groaned like a napping baby who didn't want to be woken from her peaceful slumber. Her vision was unclear as she slowly regained consciousness, her eyes stinging from the salt of the seawater. The first thing she saw was the sky, shrouded with the greyest clouds she had ever encountered, blocking the sun's rays in the wake of a gloomy morning.

She rose, finding herself washed up on a desolate beach with no sight of any living being. This was no land that Yuffie was familiar with. Even through Chekov's geography lessons, she couldn't tell where she was.

It was far too incredible to believe that she had somehow escaped drowning in a watery grave from the previous night. The ocean was always known to be callous amongst unfortunate sailors. No one had ever survived such an ordeal, as far as Yuffie could tell. Just what kind of a miracle was this?

She was cold. Her teeth chattered as the wind blew against her soaked costume, her fingers were numb and pale. Yet how her dry mouth begged for water.

The sound of trickling liquid caught Yuffie's ear and drew her along the beach, nearing its source as she passed by patches of snow. As she looked upwards, she could see, through the tiny petals of snow that fell down on her face, a waterfall, tumbling over the edge of the cliff. The water cast little prisms of light as it fell towards the sandy beach. Yuffie didn't hesitate and ran forward, cupping her hands to partake of the cool fresh liquid and drank and drank and drank…

A steep stairway carved into the limestone led up to the top of the cliff. Refreshed by the water, Yuffie slowly began the steep climb upwards, her mind filled with curiosity. After struggling over the final edge, she suddenly realised how aching and exhausted she was. She looked at the scene presented before her; acres of forest covered in snow that stretched as far as the horizon. In the faint distance, she could see mountain peaks pushing through the forest canopy.

The scenic beauty was overwhelming for Yuffie's eyes, and she had to sit down on a rock covered in snow, to rest from her perilous climb. Chekov never explained any place like this before. It made her wonder what could live in such a remote and unspoiled island. However, her mind was put off when she felt her stomach grumble.

She was starving! She had to find something here to eat before anything else.

…

Yuffie picked off as many berries, apples and other fruits she could find amongst the trees. They were so delicious that she took a bite of everything her hands caught. This left a sticky mess on her fingers and she went to the nearest stream to wash herself. She drank the water at the same time, recognizing its taste from below the cliff earlier on. Yuffie had never tasted water this pure in her lifetime. She had to find the source!

A faint and distant roar echoed through the trees. Yuffie paused to listen further, but all remained calm around her. She sensed no danger…for the time being at least.

The stream was the only one that flowed out from the forest, stretching miles towards the mountains. Perhaps if she followed it, she wouldn't get lost. She walked and walked under the orange glow of sunset, passing by the woodland creatures that stared at her ambiguously. Moogles hid behind logs, squirrels climbed up their trees, while birds chirruped to signal the presence of the young foreigner in their land. Yuffie didn't feel she was being threatened, nor could she say that she was being welcomed either.

The trees began to thin and Yuffie could see a white crescent moon floating in the flamingo pink sky. The sun's reflection burned like liquid fire in a lake that had formed beneath an ancient glacier, stretching down from the mountains before her. The ice glittered golden under the setting sun and she couldn't resist gasping in awe at this fantastic vision.

Yuffie heard another roar, nearer this time, that echoed through the mountains. As it did so, some snow from a tree branch dropped onto her back. She shivered and looked down, seeing a paw print as big as a wheel on her father's carriage. She listened further again…but there was nothing. The scene returned to an eerie quietness and even the birds fell silent.

After what seemed an eternity, the sound of the animals returned. Yuffie looked back at the forest from whence she came, but it was too late to turn back now, she thought to herself. She looked ahead in the distance, and something glittered on the edge of the glacier, catching the last rays of the dying sun. What was it? She wondered. Perhaps it was a sign of life. Perhaps there was someone there who could help. She picked up her weary little legs and ran along the shore of the lake towards the ancient ice.

The sun had almost gone by the time she arrived panting, at the edge of the glacier. She put her hands on her knees to steady herself and saw her warm breath crystallize into misty vapor in the cool shadow of the glacier's face. The sky was turning deeper blue as the little crescent moon burned icy white high up in the sky. She looked up, and there in front of her sticking out of the glacier, she saw a transparent face as if sculptured from ice. Below it, five fingers jutted from the frozen water.

Something…somebody was trapped in the glacier. Yuffie was curious and took its hand carefully, and tried to pull it out…which proved harder than she expected. She pulled its hand a second time…just barely shifting its body slightly upwards as the ice cracked. Yuffie took a deep breath, rubbing her cold hands together and digging them into the snow. She grabbed the wrists and tugged with all her might a third time…when suddenly, she felt the hands grab her own wrists.

A gasp escaped under Yuffie's breath as she let go and fell backwards. The figure she was trying to help rose from the glacier, its towering shadow covering the frightened princess. It let out a big sigh, slumping against the shore. His shoulder caught the last rays of the sun, releasing a small amount of vapor. It flinched in pain and that scared Yuffie even more. It rose again and raised its head.

Its body was made purely out of ice crystals. Its eyes were prisms, reflecting sparkles of the rainbow's colors more than its clear and shiny body. It appeared transparent with a cold and slippery form. It stared at her with an impassive face, which made Yuffie scream at the top of her lungs.

The figure watched as the girl fled into the forest in panic. She didn't care which direction she was heading. The encounter haunted her so greatly that all she could think about was to get away. Whatever she had awoken did not look terribly pleased. Yuffie increased her speed and she couldn't see where she was stepping. This made her carelessly trip, as her foot got accidentally wedged between two rocks.

Yuffie fell on her chin, ignoring the pain. Gasping as she found herself stuck, she tried ever so hard to pull her foot out of the rocks, but it wouldn't budge an inch. What was worse, the figure was not far behind.

Once its silhouette appeared amongst the barks of the trees, Yuffie screamed again. She pulled harder on her leg, struggling to break free by every means. The figure approached her cautiously with its silent footsteps, noticing that she was in trouble. It stared at her foot in the rocks, realizing that she was stuck.

Yuffie screamed even louder when she saw the figure raised its menacing hand. She shut her eyes, dreading the worst as she helplessly defended herself with her feathery wings attached to her fragile arms. The figure grabbed her sneaker, gently lifting it free from the rocks.

Without hesitation, Yuffie returned to her feet and ran away frantically like before, leaving the figure to watch her go…that was until she stopped, when she felt something wasn't right. She turned back at the figure curiously, who was staring back at her with an emotionless face. It didn't look like it meant to do much harm to her.

She took a step forward towards the figure, and then another. Drawing closer, she observed his physique and gazed into its marble eyes that bore colorful reflections. The figure remained silent, as the princess calmly approached him.

Yuffie broke the tranquility of the forest when she spoke: “Who are you…? What are you…? Where am I…?”

The figure looked still for a moment. It listened to the calls of animals inhabiting the forest, it inhaled the fresh wind that blew against its bare body, and it looked at its own ice-solid hands in confusion.

“I thought I was dead…” it replied in a deep but timid voice. “…in my mind, I can hear the rushing sound of a gunfire…the laughs of a madman mocking me…and the voice of a beautiful lady whose name I cannot remember. I am…well, I used to be a man who had a heart…but how it all came to this I have no idea. I don't even know where we are.”

“Well, how long have you been here?” Yuffie asked curiously.

“I don't know.”

“Where did you come from?”

“I don't know.”

“Okay, this isn't helping…can you at least tell me your name?”

“I…don't know.”

“Wow, I think I'm starting to understand why you were left here in the first place; you're completely useless. Everyone on this island must have died here of boredom because of you.” The child's cheekiness didn't upset the figure. It simply stared at her, as if it was analyzing a sculpture. Yuffie sighed, pacing back and forth in deep thought. “Hey, I know! How about I give you a name? Lemme think now…Ben…Jerry…nah, too common. Wait, I've got it, how about Cold Stone or…Stone Cold?”

The figure only frowned distastefully.

“Okay…how's…Yuki?”

It didn't appear to have a problem with that. Yuffie was elated. She let open a cheeky grin, dancing around victoriously and flapping her Chocobo wings. The figure remained calm but still, watching the girl offer her hand to him.

“Pleased to meet you, Yuki! I am the conqueror of evil. The White Rose of Wutai. I am the great Princess Yuffie!”

Yuki tilted his head sideways at her doubtfully.

“Hard to believe that a princess would run around, dressed silly as a yellow cowardly bird. This is a first.”

“Hey, I am NOT a coward, for your information!” Yuffie exclaimed. “And this costume isn't silly! My mama made it herself and she had the spunk to wear this too. Show some respect, won't you? First you scared the pants off of me and made me run half a-”

“So you are cowardly…”

“NO, I'M NOT!”

A monstrous roar echoed amongst the trees surrounding them. It was the same one that Yuffie had been hearing previously. What it was exactly, she couldn't tell. She felt her lungs drop as her heart began to beat faster. Yuki heard it too, and noticed the birds flying away in one direction as if fleeing from something. It was something unnatural and beastly that was near and afoot.

“C'mon! Something's coming! We have to find somewhere to hide!”

Yuffie grabbed Yuki's hand, pulling him along as they both made a run through the forest, while the shadow of a giant feline creature sniffed their trail. Neither of them bothered to look back and Yuffie headed for the mountains, desperately hoping to find a place for cover nearby.

It didn't take long for her to stumble upon an empty cave partially hidden behind a pair of trees. Yuffie took the opening chance and dashed into the cave with Yuki, covering up the entrance with as many leafy branches she could get hold of. They both waited soundlessly in the dark, as their mysterious stalker drew closer and closer to them.

“I was right. You ARE a coward.” Yuki murmured.

“Will you just shut up already?” Yuffie hissed, sealing his mouth with her hand. “It's here, can't you see?”

Yuki could see it all right. Between the gaps of the branches, he saw the drool that escaped its saber teeth, the black stripes on its snowy white fur and the sharpened claws on its bloodstained paws and feet. Yuffie began to cower in dreadful fear, when she realized that there was a white tiger standing at the entrance of the cave.

Kazar, the great white tiger, had smelled a foreign presence on his island realm. His whiskers twitched and his tail curled up, as he detected the scent of a child, concealed behind the fragrance of fresh timber and winter leaves. It annoyed him to see that someone was hiding from him. He growled in hunger, smashing his paw against the branches, tearing away the cave's blockage as Yuffie tried her best not to give herself away to the savage beast.

Yuffie's legs began to shake, blocking her ears and looking away as the fearsome tiger drew closer to his reach. Yuki immediately stepped forward, scrunching up into a solid ball of ice. By the time Kazar had exposed the entrance of the cave, all he could smell was…nothing. The scent of the child had suddenly disappeared.

He roared in frustration, swiping a branch as he turned back and left in a foul mood. Yuffie poked her head out beside Yuki, seeing that the giant cat was nowhere in sight. She let open a tremendous sigh of relief as Yuki uncurled to check on her condition. He could tell that she was exhausted.

“Th-that was too close.” Yuffie sighed under her breath.

“How are you feeling, Yuffie?”

He looked at her, hugging herself in great shock. She rocked herself, hoping to keep warm from the shivering cold while frozen tears escaped from her traumatized eyes. Yuki couldn't imagine how a young child could cope with all that had befallen her on a single day.

“Scared…tired…I don't know if I could take any more of this. I just wanna go home. Wait, no…I just wanna fall back asleep and pretend this whole thing never happened. That's right…nothing ever happened.”

Yuki watched the little princess let out a humongous yawn as she leaned against the wall of the cave. She rubbed her weary eyes that gradually dropped before she went limp. He could see that she had had too much excitement for one day. The sky was growing dark and perhaps it wasn't best to roam around the island at this time of the night.

Yuki saw that there were scattered leaves throughout the cave. He took this time to gather them together to make a warm and cozy nest, into which he carried the sleeping Yuffie. To keep her warm, he covered her shivering body with more leaves to substitute as a blanket.

With everything settled, Yuki placed himself at the entrance of the cave and curled up into a ball…and he too, went to sleep.

…

Author's Note: Huh…`Yuffie and Yuki'. Sounds like a name of a TV sitcom if you ask me. I wonder if Comedy Central would be interested to pick up a show like that.

What will become of Yuffie and her frosty friend? And what's this I hear about Yuffie's mother in the next chapter? If you wish to find out, please be kind and review! Constructive criticism's welcome as always.