Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Learning Curve Continuum ❯ Frozen ( Chapter 13 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Fenikkusuken 
Cloud flirts, Tifa fumes and the Great Glacier nearly puts them on ice... permanently.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.24.2011 | Pages: 7 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 249 | Status: Work In Progress
Cloud flirts, Tifa fumes and the Great Glacier nearly puts them on ice... permanently.
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 06.24.2011 | Pages: 7 | Words: 10.4K | Visits: 249 | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: Definitely not mine; always returned to Square Enix after they’re frozen (and not always from shock).
A/N: I know the Buster Sword technically can’t be used as an over-sized throwing knife, a la the Fusion Sword in ACC, but I believe I’ve already broken that rule at least once in this fic. Also, there’s a bit of non-canon materia tampering.
References to events in Crisis Core and to the Last Order OVA.
Warnings: Coarse language, violence.
Bouquets to my wonderful betas, Kitsune13/TamLin and Ranuel.
Learning Curve Continuum
Chapter Thirteen: Frozen
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
“Too damn cold for an old man,” Cid groused, pulling the collar of his jacket up around his ears and rolling his sleeves down over the cuffs of his gauntlets. “Don’t know how Vinnie can stand it.”
“Cloud was fully prepared to buy you a parka,” Yuffie said, clearly enjoying the warmth afforded by her new garment.
“I ain’t a sissy,” he sniffed, lighting a fresh cigarette.
“Don’t let Barret – or ‘Laurence’ - hear you say that.”
“Or me, either.” I shot Cid a sardonic look as I stepped out of the depot, making a point to zip up my new parka. Maybe he was miffed because Tifa and I snagged the only two military-style ones? Tough nuts. They were cut in such a way that we could wear our armour and harnesses over top, meaning I could carry my sword. Beckoning to the other three – Vincent had disappeared again – I grinned at how Barret had pulled up the hood on his dark-green coat, probably to protect the shaven sides of his head from the chill, but the overall effect was of a giant bush ambling across the snow.
Tifa, on the other hand, looked utterly fantastic in the slim-cut, dark-blue coat, which unfortunately meant she was attracting all sorts of attention. Fortunately, she was oblivious to the admiring glances from the women, and if she knew how many of the men were jealously glaring as a result, she’d be mortified. Tall, dark, handsome, with those intensely-hued eyes – ‘Laurence’ was a total lady-killer and I amused myself by imagining her audience’s various reactions if they knew ‘he’ was a she… and she was mine.
That knowledge secretly buoyed me, when the events of the previous day had nearly destroyed me. If Vincent only knew how much his comments about Sephiroth’s personal hatred had rattled my equilibrium... anyways, it meant I was even more determined to protect our team, which in turn meant I’d better speak to Tifa about the way she went after Sephiroth. It was true to form for her nature, but she was incredibly lucky both times that he didn’t cut her in half, and I doubted her luck would hold. Actually, it was lucky for him that he didn’t, because after Aerith – well, it woulda been a death match, right there and then.
When I was finally able to doze off last night, my nightmare of the Masamune stabbing through Tifa’s body woke up the entire camp. Didn’t sleep much after that, despite Tifa quietly shifting her bedroll closer to mine. Although I completely understood her reasons for remaining male – extra strength and speed are definite assets when going into a fight for the very Planet’s survival – I also couldn’t help being a little cranky about it at the same time. I wanted feminine curves pressed against me and a short skirt to distract me, and it didn’t appear that I was going to get either any time soon.
I needed distraction, because otherwise thinking about Aerith left this cold, numb feeling in the pit of my stomach. No matter what Nanaki said about the responsibility for her death being shared, it laid more heavily on my shoulders as her bodyguard. I figured Sephiroth would try to use my despair as another way to get at me, to take over my mind and body, so I tried to deliberately lock down any negative emotions.
Fat chance. There were too many things to think about, such as the not-so-minor detail that we were now short one Healer and on our way to face Sephiroth in a place of his own choosing. Letting the enemy pick the battlefield is a sure-fire way to get your ass kicked, but we didn’t have any choice. As Barret and Tifa joined us, I announced, “They’re tuning up three of these for us, so let’s get something to eat.”
Cid pointed his cigarette at the row of snow machines lined up outside the depot. “You expect me to ride on one of those fucking things?”
“Or in the sledge,” I answered. “Suit yourself.”
“Fuck.”
“C̵ 7;mon, Cid. We’ll find you a cup of tea, and it’ll all be fine,” Yuffie wheedled, and he grouchily allowed himself to be cajoled into following us.
Tifa fell into step beside me, but this time I noticed that she switched her leading foot in order to match my stride, as if she’d been trained to march in cadence. Barret had lectured her on it one night a few days ago, before we rejoined the others, as part of his attempts to make us appear a more authentic military unit, and here she was practising in this very public place. After what had happened yesterday, I was amazed that she even remembered... but then she didn’t have a resident madman snickering inside her head as a distraction, either.
“This one smells appetizing, Cloud-san,” Nanaki said, pulling me out of my internal contemplation; we were standing in front of a pub.
“On the pricey side,” Barret dourly observed, squinting at the posted menu.
“Might as well spend our gil while it’s still worth something,” I commented. “If Meteor comes, we’ll be using our coins for shogi pieces.”
The pub was definitely lively, full of rosy-cheeked, damp-wool-wearing winter sports enthusiasts quaffing small mugs of mulled wine fortified with shots of liqueur. It also supplied hearty bowls of thick dumpling and sausage soup, which was more than enough reason to brave the noise despite the way it added to the racket inside my skull. Cid and Barret weren’t helping after a couple of mugs apiece; they were loud and profane and attracting shirty looks from the nearby patrons.
Tifa only took a small mouthful of her mulled wine before pushing the mug across the table for our underage ninja to try. Yuffie was decidedly sparkly-eyed after knocking back half the mug in one gulp, and Tifa snatched it back, sloshing a little on the table top in the process. Nanaki’s nose appeared above the edge of the table next to my elbow, his nostrils flaring as he deeply sniffed. “Would you like to try some?” Tifa offered, mopping up the drips with a napkin.
“The scent of alcohol is very strong,” he hedged. “I suspect it is rather potent.”
“You’re not kiddin’,” I agreed, making a face and pushing my mug aside. Hooking my thumb in Barret and Cid’s direction, I muttered, “We’d better cut those two off or they won’t be safe to drive.” The pub was overly warm, but even so I was surprised by how fast the alcohol had gone to their heads. If I didn’t need to stay alert, I might have been tempted to join them in an effort to drown the images and sounds in my head. In an attempt to distract myself from my morbid thoughts, I leaned over and inspected Nanaki’s cramped quarters beneath the table. “You okay under there?”
“The soup was worth a small amount of discomfort,” he replied.
“I’m sorry that you had to put up with that shit.”
The leonine creature shrugged. “I have been called worse things than a ‘strange pet’ in my time. They meant no harm.”
“We’ll be out of here soon... for Shiva’s sake, brat!” I glared across the table at Yuffie, who had filched both Tifa’s half-emptied mug and my full one. While Barret and Cid shared out my portion and burst into ribald song, Yuffie grinned woozily.
“Thas’ goo’ stuff,” she slurred.
“And we have our first volunteer sledge-rider,” I snorted.
At that moment, one of the waitresses approached our table. Bending over on just the right angle to give both Tifa and myself a complimentary view down her lace-framed cleavage, she placed two more spicy-scented mugs in front of us. “Compliments of the ladies at table twelve.”
“And which ladies would they be?” I asked; when she pointed, I raised one of the mugs to a group of attractive young women, who all tittered and waved. Tossing a bag of gil onto the waitress’ tray, I said, “Serve them a round of whatever they’re drinking and keep the change.”
Her eyes grew very round and wide as she calculated the generous tip. “Yes, sir!” she purred before sashaying away in an obvious invitation.
Smirking, I saluted the table again and caused more giggling, hair-twirling and general feminine fluttering... at least until Tifa dug her elbow into my ribs. “What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“Fulfilling the first duty of all men in uniform – making the girls swoon.” When I glanced at Tifa, I was amused to see her vivid eyes practically shooting sparks. “Careful, Laurence, or I might have to report you for dereliction of duty.” To say Tifa was taken aback was an understatement, and when one of our admirers, a petite blonde wearing a nicely snug sweater boldly blew her a kiss, her jaw dropped, she turned an astonishing shade of red and quickly found the tabletop extremely interesting – which earned her a round of appreciative cooing.
“We should leave as soon as possible,” Vincent announced, appearing apparently out of thin air and perching next to Yuffie – and incidentally blocking the view of table twelve.
“I can’t agree more,” Tifa growled, her lip curling.
“Ooooh, Vin’chen! Wan’ try some?” Yuffie hiccupped, proffering her mug. “S’goooood!”
“No, thank you,” he replied with solemn dignity, smoothly extracting the drink from Yuffie’s fist and sliding it in Cid’s direction.
“What’s up?” I asked, amused at how Yuffie hadn’t even noticed, because she was staring at the gunslinger with dreamy, slightly-glassy eyes.
“A blizzard is forecast to arrive by this evening.”
“Damn.” The pressure inside my head ramped up, and I couldn’t stop myself from grimacing in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Tifa asked quietly.
There was no sense in lying at that point. “I’m being ‘pulled’ again... and it’s really strong.”
“I expect that it will become worse the closer we get to Sephiroth’s location.” Vincent leaned in, scanning my face. “Can you resist it?”
“Trying.” Tifa’s hand arrived on my back, just above my belt, and her fingertips began kneading. Thank Shiva that I had the sense to sit next to her, with our backs against the wall; I leaned into her touch until the pain eased. Flashing her a smile, I muttered, “I ain’t gonna be his puppet again, not if I can help it.”
As she withdrew her hand, Vincent huffed when Yuffie abruptly cuddled into his side. Drawing her legs up on the bench, she oozed downwards until her head was pillowed on his thigh. Sighing happily, she fell asleep; the look on the gunslinger’s face – what we could see of it – was priceless.
Nanaki chuckled deep in his throat and affectionately nuzzled Yuffie’s cheek. “Perhaps you should check on the progress of our transport, Cloud-san.”
“Yeah. Laurence, Nanaki - you’re with me.” As I stood up and shouldered into my parka, I cast a gimlet eye at Barret and Cid, who were very, very red-faced and verging on cross-eyed. “Try to keep these idiots from starting any brawls before we come back.” On the way out, I gave my most charming grin to the ladies of table twelve and received in return a highly gratifying response of pouts and mouthed regrets.
“I’ll wait outside, sir,” Tifa gritted through her teeth as she stormed past with Nanaki at her heels.
Backing up a few steps, I stage-whispered, “You’ll have to forgive my subordinate... he’s painfully shy around beautiful women.” To a chorus of delighted squeals and multiple offers to cure Tifa of her unfortunate condition, I exited the pub in triumph.
“Attracting undue attention is not wise, Cloud-san,” Nanaki said quietly. “ShinRa would prefer to have us in custody.”
I had to admit that he was right. Our uniforms made us extremely conspicuous, and while there hadn’t been any obviously off-duty ShinRa personnel in the pub, I wouldn’t be surprised if their tentacles reached this far north. “Point taken.” Tifa turned on her heel and strode off in the direction of the depot, still fairly bristling, and I let her go. No sense in trying to talk to her until she’d cooled off... but there was a small part of me that was smugly pleased with her reaction. Although, she really ought to know better than to think I might be interested in bits of fluff like that.
Interrupting my juvenile preening, Nanaki asked, “Cloud-san, when did you say you’d previously visited Modeoheim?”
“It was a mission during the Genesis Rebellion... our chopper was shot down, and we had to hoof it through a blizzard to storm the reactor.” Shaking the snow out of my hair as we reached the depot, I commanded, “Wait out here. Nanaki, be ready to collect the others.”
However, I’d no sooner walked into the grimy building, redolent of oil and grease, when the lead hand waved a wrench at me. “Had a small issue with the carburetor on this one, guv; we’re checking the others, too.” Ignoring my sceptical snort, he continued, “Have a couple more drinks.”
“We need to get out before the blizzard hits.”
“Ah, no prob, guv. See, the weather only gets nasty just before dark, so every mornin’ we have fresh powder on the runs!”
“Hustle it up, alright?” When I came back outside, Tifa was packing a snowball with Nanaki intently watching; I wondered if he’d chase it if she threw it. “We might have to stay overnight.”
“Would that be so bad?” Tifa asked, winging her snowball at a nearby house wall, and Nanaki actually looked disappointed. “A decent night’s sleep in a warm bed sounds good to me – especially if there’s a blizzard on the way.”
Pulling up my hood, because her tone was even more wintry than the landscape, I sighed, “Fine. Let’s check out some accommodations.”
“Is that so?” I queried, my eyebrow twitching.
Oblivious, she continued, “Absolutely! We find them to be better-behaved than most humans.”
While Nanaki muffled a snicker in his paw, Tifa inquired, “Do you have any rooms available?”
“How many in your party?”
“Eight - uh, seven,” she amended, and I felt the same pang.
“Hm. I have two rooms, three beds apiece.” Squinting at Nanaki, the woman said, “Were you counting him?”
“Er, yes?”
“Floors are pretty cold, so I don’t blame you for wanting him up off them. I believe I can manage a cot.”
“Are there any guesthouses on the Great Glacier itself?” I asked, itching to get moving, and not entirely because of the insistent tug on my brain.
“Oh, my stars, no! There’s nothing between here and Gaea’s Cliff except miles of wilderness!” Dabbing at her eyes with the corner of her apron, she continued, “No one with any sense would want to go there, anyways.”
Moved by the woman’s obvious distress, Tifa stepped forward. “May I ask why, ma’am?”
“Twenty years ago, I lost my husband to Gaea’s Cliff.” Inspecting the military-issue boots and trousers we were both wearing as well as the hilt of the large sword protruding above my shoulder, the woman tilted her head. “You ShinRa boys?”
“Erm, yes, ma’am,” Tifa answered nervously.
“I suppose you want to see Professor Faremis’ lab,” the woman sighed, fishing around in her pocket. “ShinRa types always do.”
We exchanged puzzled looks. “Professor Faremis?” Tifa asked, as the woman rummaged in another pocket.
“That was before our time with SOLDIER,” I said. “Tell us more.”
“Professor Gast Faremis left a comfy job with ShinRa – always said it was over differences of opinion – and set up his lab here. He used to go on expeditions to the Forgotten City and bring back things to study. Well, one day he brought back a beautiful woman.”
“Not something you’d expect to find in a place like that,” I murmured, thinking of our own loss in that strangely beautiful place.
“She was a real looker, too, named Ifalna. Tall, regal – had that ‘air’ about her, you know? We all had bets on how long before the Professor realized what a treasure he had right under his nose, because you know those science types – too busy looking in their microscopes – ah-ha!” Triumphantly producing a key, she continued, “We hosted their wedding reception right here, in my breakfast room. Wasn’t long after that she had the most precious baby girl with big green eyes and soft chestnut fuzz all over her dear little head.”
I beat Tifa to the question. “What was the child’s name?”
“It was quite unusual – Aerith.”
“Get the others,” I urgently ordered, but Nanaki was already gone, the doors swinging closed in his wake.
“Where is Professor Faremis’ lab?” Tifa hoarsely asked, reaching for the key.
“Two doors down on the left... my stars, son! You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” the woman clucked, boldly taking hold of Tifa’s trembling hand.
“Aerith was very dear to us,” she rasped, her face drawn. “She was our friend.”
“So... Professor Faremis went back to ShinRa?” the woman asked, plainly surprised. “The way he talked about them, they were back-fence neighbours with the devil himself. Is that how you boys know her?”
“In a manner of speaking,” I calmly replied. “Aerith was very special.”
“You don’t say,” the woman murmured, and then she crumpled a handful of her starched apron. “You keep referring to her in the past tense....”
“She was murdered yesterday at the Forgotten City. We’re hunting for her killer.” As the woman’s hand flew up to her mouth, I grabbed Tifa’s arm and dragged her outside.
I could tell that Tifa was hiding her own tears in Yuffie’s hair while she rubbed the teen’s back; we were standing outside the dilapidated building that had housed Professor Faremis’ lab and the home he’d shared with Ifalna... and briefly, Aerith.
Vincent had remained with Cid at the pub, because the pilot had passed out and could not be roused. Barret, however, had sobered up with amazing speed and brought Yuffie with him; a thorough face-wash in a snowdrift had done wonders for her alertness. Now her face was blotchy again, but from emotion, not friction.
“C’mon,” Barret said gruffly, firmly gripping Tifa’s shoulder. “Let’s get goin’.”
“I’ll return the key and get the others; the rest of you, head for the depot. We’re outta here, blizzard or no blizzard.” I stalked off in the direction of the guesthouse, my head pounding; Nanaki paced along at my side. Both of us looked so forbidding that other patrons of the resort cleared out of our way. After thanking the woman, we kept going until we spotted Cid stamping his feet and complaining about the chill outside the depot. The door to the bay was open and the mechanics had rolled out our machines under Vincent’s watchful eye. They were hooking up the sledges when Nanaki and I arrived; I checked over their workmanship and settled the bill while wondering why the others hadn’t caught up.
A few minutes later, Tifa arrived carrying Yuffie on her back, with Barret stomping along beside to make sure she kept her balance on the uneven surface. The teen looked positively pathetic, her face stained with tears, which meant the upset had continued after Nanaki and I left. However, as she slid off Tifa’s back, she furiously scrubbed her cheeks with her sleeve. Vincent immediately went to her and handed over her shuriken; she meekly accepted it, remaining by his side. He stooped to say something, and I caught Yuffie’s weak answering smile as I sent a pair of goggles winging in Tifa’s direction. “Catch.”
Snagging the goggles out of mid-air, Tifa put them on while I repeated the delivery method with Barret. The big man had some trouble managing the adjustment process with one hand; Cid set him to rights.
“Who’s stayin’?” I asked, looking at Cid as I said it, but it was Yuffie who surprised me. Straightening up and striding purposely forward, she came to a stop in front of me and defiantly tilted her chin.
“You’ll need an awesome ninja like me to make sure Sephiroth doesn’t kick your ass,” she said in a brave attempt at her usual cockiness.
Arching my eyebrow, I couldn’t help appreciating her spirit. “I was hoping you’d say that,” I said, making a split-second decision. Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew a handful of materia. “You’re now our official Healer.”
“M-me?” she stammered, eyeing the glowing orbs with considerably less enthusiasm than might have been expected.
“You’re fast on your feet and that’s an advantage if you have to reach someone on the battlefield.”
“Were these Aerith’s?”
“Yes. They’re yours now... if you’ll take the job. Except for this one.” Extracting a troublesome Transform materia out of the glimmering pile, I shoved it back into my pocket.
Yuffie nodded once, with considerable determination. “I will.”
“Good.” Raising my voice, I announced, “Yuffie and Laurence are with me. Vincent? Can you take Barret and Nanaki?”
“That ain’t fucking fair, boss!” Cid threw his cigarette on the ground and glared ferociously. “You implyin’ that I ain’t competent to pilot one o’ these fucking things?”
“I’m not sayin’ anything,” I blandly replied. “Who’s riding with you?”
“C’mon, Barret,” the pilot said. “Us two old men’ll show the fucking whippersnappers how it’s done.”
“My ass is too big for that skinny lil seat,” Barret muttered. “Guess I gotta ride inna sledge.”
“Myself as well,” Nanaki commented, gingerly nosing the high-sided conveyance. “Barret-san, Yuffie-kun – you may use these furs for your own comfort. I have my own.”
“Thank you,” Yuffie replied, sitting somewhat stiffly in her sledge while Tifa collected the extra fur blankets and gave half to Barret.
I watched out of the corner of my eye when she returned to Yuffie and suggested, “Fold one and put it under your butt - the more padding the better.” As she tucked the rest of the furs into place, Tifa smiled gently at the teen. “It’s like Barret said... safety in numbers. We’ll stick together, and we’ll be all right.” Giving Yuffie’s hair a quick scruff, she moved to help Barret arrange his furry wrapping to advantage. Nanaki asked her to shorten the rope he was expected to hold in his teeth to keep himself anchored in the sledge, and then I beckoned her to join me as I fired the snow machine’s engine. She almost slid her arms around my waist, but stopped herself and instead felt around the underside of the seat. “Problem?” I asked over my shoulder.
“No. There’s a welded hand-hold... sir.”
“You can drop that attitude any time now,” I growled, but she merely shrugged and scooted further back on the seat. Mentally cutting loose with a few choice epithets, I eased open the throttle and began scribing a wide arc to account for the sledge. However, the unmistakeable sound of a large helicopter drowned out the rumble of our engines. “Shit,” I muttered, pushing up my goggles and glaring at the large red-and-gold crest on the chopper’s fuselage as loose snow billowed around us in a gauzy veil. “Make a run for it!” I yelled at the others.
Instead, Vincent stood upright on the footrests, pulled out his gun and coolly aimed at the tail fin. Firing off several rounds which appeared to perforate the steel skin, it was enough to spook the crew – or affect the helicopter’s steering function. The chopper veered away over the treetops; he holstered his weapon as he dropped back into his seat. “Lead the way,” he called, and I yanked my goggles back down and took off down the groomed track leading to the ski area.
Behind us in the sledge, Yuffie was making very loud retching noises; I hoped she had aimed it over the side, but I was too busy looking for trouble to check – and sure enough, I found it. There was a squad of ShinRa troopers strung out in a thin line across the track, and in front was a slim, blonde-haired woman wearing a familiar blue suit.
Cutting the throttle, I held up my hand to warn the others while our machine glided to a noisy halt a short distance from the Turk, who was tapping her booted foot on the packed snow. “What do you want?” I demanded.
“It’s the end of the line.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“ShinRa’s orders – but I’m gonna enjoy this,” the woman sneered. “You took out my boss, and you’re gonna pay!”
“Your boss… you mean Tseng? At the Temple of the Ancients? That wasn’t us - that was Sephiroth.”
“Liar.”
Shrugging, I took a firm grip on the throttle with one hand and reached back with the other to poke Tifa’s leg; hopefully she realized what I had in mind, or things were gonna get messy. “When Tseng wakes up, he’ll tell you the same thing.”
“Don’t try to act innocent!” the woman shrieked, balling her fists. “You’re gonna feel some pain for what you did!”
“Miss Elena! Don’t…!” one of the troopers shouted, but she ran forward anyways, pulling back her arm to throw a punch.
“Dammit!” I muttered, preparing to open the throttle.
As Elena planted her feet and swung, Tifa rose in the footrests. Blocking Elena’s strike, she threw her own punch, sending the other woman staggering. “Go!” she yelled, smacking my shoulder, then scrabbling a handful of my parka as we roared through the disintegrating line of troopers. Behind us, the crackle of Nanaki’s flames was almost drowned out by a hail of gunfire from Barret that completely routed any opposition.
“We’re going to make it!” Tifa yelled in my ear as I took us under the nose of the helicopter, within inches of its machine guns, and tore around a corner… then she nearly crushed me against the instrument display when I jammed on the brake. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?” she asked while we skidded to a stop and I tried to get back my breath.
“That’s the matter,” I grunted, pointing ahead to where the flat track suddenly fell away. We had a stunning view over the valley and the tangled, crevassed wilderness of the Great Glacier beyond. In the hazy distance, a massive, forbidding wall of ice and rock heaved upwards. “That must be Gaea’s Cliff,” I murmured.
“This must be the top of the downhill obstacle course,” Tifa said, again standing up behind me to examine the more imminent challenge.
“How do you know that?” I demanded.
“There was a map of all the downhill runs printed on the back of the menu at the pub.”
“Hmph. Did you happen to notice any details?”
“Tons of obstacles all the way down.”
“Change of plan.” Sliding off the seat, I nudged her forward. “This is the throttle, and this is the brake. Don’t apply both at once - that wouldn’t be good.”
“What? You expect me to…!”
“Don’t screw up. I’m counting on you.” One foot on the rest, one on the seat behind her, bracing my knee against her back, I drew my sword. Taking a firm grip on Tifa’s shoulder, I ordered, “Don’t think – just do it.”
“Easy for you to say. Yuffie, close your eyes and hang on tight.”
“And try not to puke into the wind,” I added.
Our green-gilled ninja managed an extremely rude gesture before the machine jerked forward as Tifa opened the throttle... and then we were into it so fast that there wasn’t any time to think.
Trees. A forest of effin’ trees planted in the middle of the track.
“Take as straight a line as possible through ‘em!” I directed. “If you have to, pass on the left so I can cut ‘em down.”
A rapid nod of her head indicated she’d heard, and I sat down in a hurry as the first branches whistled over our heads. Stretching up to peer over Tifa’s shoulder, I muttered a few choice words regarding the life-threatening hazards on a supposedly ‘fun’ downhill course as I locked my knees against the frame of the machine and took a firm grip on the hilt of my sword. Since it sliced through concrete without much problem back when we were chopping our way through the debris of Sector Seven, I hoped it could handle wood.
Tifa did a terrific job of threading us through the tightly-arranged trunks, but it appeared that we were picking up speed, which is not a good thing when you’re playing chicken with immoveable objects. “Start braking – you’re gonna lose control!”
“Do you want to drive?” Tifa shouted back, clearly irritated.
Grinning, I squeezed her shoulder before again gripping my sword with both hands. Good thing, too, because it met its first tree a second after that and it was almost ripped out of my hands by the impact. Luckily I’d angled the blade and sent the falling tree crashing to the side, or it would’ve wiped out Yuffie – not to mention the rest of our team. A second later, we were in the clear and heading for the final curve towards what appeared to be a finish line.
I had a brief glimpse of another ShinRa chopper waiting just beyond it before we smashed through the guard rails on the side of the track.
I heard Tifa scream as the snow machine dropped from beneath us, but I gambled that she could fend for herself, because Yuffie couldn’t. Twisting in mid-air, I managed to sever the hitch connecting the sledge to the machine, with intentions of riding down with her. Desperately reaching, I grabbed onto the curled edge of the sledge and pulled myself in. “It’s okay, brat! I’ve got you!”
Yuffie let out a little squeak; her knuckles were white where she still held onto the rope that kept her in the sledge. For a split-second, I considered cutting it and pulling her out, but then decided that the sledge might absorb some of the impact when we finally hit the ground… which was coming up extremely fast. Trying to pick out a marker as we tumbled through the air, I threw my sword away because I didn’t fancy being spiked on it; I had a quick glimpse of it disappearing into the upper branches of a tree before the shit hit the fan.
Or rather, we hit a tree.
The snow-covered branches absorbed some of the impact, but they also hurt like hell as we crashed through them. We were buffeted and knocked, scratched and bruised, and sent into a tailspin until we bounced off one tree and were pitched into another that creaked alarmingly. Sliding down the branches, we dropped almost twenty feet to the ground… and then the snow swallowed us.
The sensation of being buried alive is going to stay with me for a very long time.
When we finally stopped moving, I couldn’t tell which direction was up, and not simply because my neck was bent on an uncomfortable angle due to my head being jammed into a corner of the sledge. The snow made the eeriest crinkling sounds as it moved and settled, trapping us more firmly with each passing second. My elbows were pinned close to my sides, but at least Yuffie and I were somewhat protected from being crushed by the battered but still-intact sledge. However, I quickly found out that my arm was broken when I tried to claw away the loose snow that had filtered between us.
The pain blanked nearly everything for a few seconds, until I realized that somewhere nearby, Tifa was probably buried and possibly broken - and alone.
Shit.
I wondered if Ifrit could melt the snow, then remembered that I’d given all my Summon materia to Tifa.
Damn.
A frightened sound brought me back to the situation at hand. “You okay?” I asked Yuffie, my voice strangely muffled by the white walls pressing in on us. Wriggling my other hand free, I brushed away the snow and fur until I could see her face. She only looked at me with wide, frightened eyes, her lower lip quivering. “Hey… it’ll be all right. Bet the others are already looking for us.” In the enclosed space, I easily heard her racing heart beat; not willing to let her experience a full-blown panic attack, I pressed my fingers to her lips. “C’mon, brat – breathe. Nice and slow… in through your nose, out through your mouth… that’s it. They’ll find us any minute now.”
Focussing on keeping Yuffie calm kept me from freaking out as the snow’s grip became vise-like and made my own breathing painful. Cracked ribs were also a possibility, but I needed my arm healed if I was going to have half a chance of at least creating a bigger airspace while we waited for the others; I refused to admit to the possibility that they were also in trouble and hoping we’d be rescuing them. “Yuffie, can you reach your materia?”
“Y-yes,” she whispered.
“I need a shot of Cure for my arm. Can you do that for me?”
Nodding, she worked her hand free, the materia in her glove already glowing. “Which one?”
“The left.” When she reached for my right arm, I grinned. “No, the other left.”
“S-sorry.”
“No problem. Give my ribs a once-over, too.” When she was done, I said, “Bet you’re bruised like a rainbow – let me fix you up.” When I’d returned the favour, I experimentally flexed my shoulders and discovered that mako – or Jenova – enhancements are powerless against a couple of tons of compacted snow. Growling quietly, I tried pushing back again, with the same result – or lack of it. “Do you happen to have a Fire materia?”
“N-no. T-tifa h-has it.”
“That’s good; she can melt her way out if she’s stuck.” Mentally cursing our lack of the same materia, I tried to think of another plan while the relentless cold seeped through my clothing… until a tiny anguished noise, similar to those little sounds very small kittens make when they want their mama, caught my attention. “C’mon – don’t cry. It makes me feel even worse.”
Yuffie whimpered and pressed her forehead against my chest, her entire body shivering, and I realized it was from a combination of fear and cold. Awkwardly petting her hair, I let her be scared for both of us, because otherwise I might lose it, too. I didn’t know if we were upright or horizontal; the blood wasn’t rushing to my ears, so I guessed we weren’t upside-down, which would have really sucked. However, was the surface above us, below us or to the side? Not that I could dig us free, anyways; the icy snow continued pressing in on us and my body was starting to go numb.
Dammit.
Is this how it was going to end?
No effing way.
A droplet of water caught my eye; it hung on the sledge’s rim, growing fatter and more turgid with each passing second. Either snowmelt or condensation, it might prove the key to our salvation and I waited anxiously for gravity to show us the way.
It was an agonizing few seconds, but when the drop finally kicked loose, I nearly cheered because it trickled almost straight down, which meant we were vertical, with the surface above our heads. We still might be twenty feet down, but it was a source of hope. With renewed determination, I shoved my fist upwards and started grinding away at our icy tomb with the studs embedded in my glove. The friction melted the snow, and my clothing grew even more saturated and cold, but I kept at it until I noticed that Yuffie had gone quiet… and my breathing was more laboured than it should be.
“Hey, brat – say something.” Instead, she slipped down inside the sledge and when I tried to pull her back up, black spots cavorted through my vision.
Shit.
We were running out of air.
Panic makes people lose their head and do stupid, futile things, such as screaming.
I wasn’t panicking; I was frustrated. There’s a difference. Anyways, that’s why I didn’t notice the snow softening over our heads, nor hear the sounds of digging until a metal rod nearly broke my neck when it drove into my shoulder. Despite the pain, when the rod withdrew and the unmistakeable waft of cigarette smoke filtered down along with fresh air, I could’ve kissed Cid.
Sucking in lungfuls of sweet, sweet air, I twisted until I could squint up the hole. All I saw at first was black, and then discerned a flaring nostril. The nose was quickly replaced by a golden eye; Nanaki yelped in delight before calling through the tube, “I am going to melt the snow, so cover your head, Cloud-san.”
“Hurry,” I shouted. Tucking back under the rim of the sledge, I vigorously shook Yuffie’s shoulder. “Wake up, brat. We’re almost out.” She remained unresponsive, so I grabbed hold of her parka and dragged her upright just as I was drenched by a veritable torrent of meltwater and suddenly there was grey sky overhead.
“Cloud-san! Are you all right?”
“Mostly. Yuffie’s in bad shape, though.”
“I dare not use Fire in such close quarters; bear with me.” Nanaki pulled massive pawfuls of snow away from my shoulders and as the icy grip loosened, I leaned back, away from the sledge, until I could hook my hands under Yuffie’s arms and raise her high enough for someone else to grab. A shadow fell over me, and Vincent pulled her free.
“Where’s Tifa?” I demanded urgently.
“We are attempting to extract her,” he replied, which only told me that she’d been found, but not if she was alive.
“T-san was not buried as deeply as you and Yuffie-kun, but it was harder to locate her,” said Nanaki from behind me as Vincent shifted our ninja in his arms and disappeared over the edge of a fairly impressive excavation that I estimated was at least eighteen feet deep.
“Why was that?” My guts knotted viciously.
“She was only a single person instead of two, and her heat and scent markers vanished more quickly as a result.”
“Is she alive?”
He didn’t immediately answer, just kept diligently clearing snow. “Yuffie-kun has the Phoenix Down, correct?”
I ground my teeth, because it isn’t polite to snarl at the kind person digging your freezing ass out of a snowy sink-hole. “Nanaki….”
“I am sorry, Cloud-san. I mistakenly followed the scent of the buried snow machine, which cost us valuable time in locating her.”
Reaching behind me, I grabbed him around his furry neck in a one-armed hug. “Knock off the apologies. You found her, we have Phoenix Down – no worries.”
He stoically endured the embrace before continuing to free my legs; the pins and needles were already starting. “There are complications. We must quickly find shelter and procure dry fuel for a fire. T-san may be saved from suffocation, but could still succumb to the effects of hypothermia.” With a last effort, Nanaki cleared the final bit of concrete-like snow locking my boots in place. “Bring the furs, please. All sources of warmth will be required.” Making a bag out of one fuzzy blanket, I shoved the other skins inside it, and with Nanaki’s assistance, I awkwardly crawled out of the steep-sided, ice-slick hole. “This way.”
“How the hell did you sniff us out?” I asked incredulously, peering back down into the depths.
“The rest of us were able to stop in time to avoid following you over the edge. Vincent-san and I watched from above so we were able to considerably narrow our search area. Do not stray from our footprints, or you will again slip into the much softer snow around the trees.”
“Did you see a ShinRa chopper?”
“Barret-san and Vincent-san drove it off.”
As I followed him, I realized that we were a considerable distance out on the Glacier itself and that the ‘forest’ we’d landed in wasn’t exactly a forest in the strictest sense of the word. At some point, there had been an avalanche that carried part of a forest down onto the Glacier’s surface, and it was now a tangled maze of frozen wood. However, it was lucky we crashed where we did, because only fifty feet away from Yuffie’s and my hole was a plunging crevasse, lined in blue-green ice. When Nanaki began moving across an ice bridge, I waited until he crossed before following because I didn’t want to risk both of us falling should it give way.
It was stupidly deep. Shiva.
I sped up as soon as I reached the other side and spotted Barret leaning over one of the sledges. Vincent, minus his cloak, was seated on one of the two remaining snow machines hidden under the skimpy shelter provided by a massive deadfall. I did a double-take on the way past when I realized the garment was wrapped around Yuffie, and he was holding her like a fragile piece of china. “She okay?”
“Much improved,” he replied. “Her lips are no longer blue.”
“Here.” I handed him one of the fur blankets. “Every bit helps.”
Barret acknowledged my presence and stepped back, tucking the case of Phoenix Down inside his coat. “She’s breathin’,” he grunted. “Gotta get her outta those wet clothes, tho’. You, too,” he added.
I spread the remaining blankets over her and tucked them in. Brushing Tifa’s bangs away from her face, I fought down a wave of panic because she was completely unresponsive, her skin pale and cold to the touch. “The Glacier is no place to camp, and there’s a blizzard coming in.”
“We still got a couple hours o’ daylight.”
“ShinRa’s on the prowl, so a fire isn’t a good idea.” Racking my brain for ideas, I said, “Tifa has a Fire materia on her somewhere; see if you can’t do something for her and Yuffie with it.”
“Yo, boss!” On the other side of the clearing, Cid waved his lance. “Betcha want yer pig-sticker back.”
“You found it?”
“Bring the cording in my knapsack – don’t you fuck with my fucking tea canister!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I muttered, reluctantly leaving Tifa’s side. Holding my breath against the reek of stale smoke, I carefully searched through the pilot’s neatly-packed bag. The thin coil of braided cord was hung from an inner loop with a couple of fancy rope-knots.
Huh. Didn’t know Cid had any hobbies other than cursing, smoking and making battery acid, er, tea.
“Too bad the kid is outta commission,” Cid grumped, sizing me up and down as I handed over the cord. “Gonna be tough hauling yer ass plus that goddamn sword outta that fucking crevasse.”
“Yuffie couldn’t lift it anyways. Lower me down and I’ll bring it up in stages.”
“That’ll work.”
We trekked through the dead forest, the frozen timber snapping and popping as the mile of ice beneath us ponderously shifted. “How did you locate it?” I asked, when the ominous sounds became too oppressive.
“Wasn’t fucking easy. Under here.” Ducking beneath a massive fallen trunk, we squeezed through a narrow passage between two other toppled giants and discovered a large, jagged hole in the glacier’s crust.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I said in disbelief.
“Nope. ‘Bout a hundred feet down, I reckon,” Cid replied, loosening the coil with a practiced snap. Rapidly knotting a loop, he tossed it my way. “Step inta this an’ over ya go.”
“Shit.” Obeying, I slid the loop over my boot, wrapped a length around my hand and edged towards the hole. Sitting down, I peered between my dangling feet and located the familiar profile of my weapon far enough below that it looked like a toy.
That wasn’t the worst of it; the crack was even deeper. The only reason the sword wasn’t at the bottom was because it had jammed crosswise – which also meant that we couldn’t stay topside and fish for it with a loop.
“Okay, boss – ready when you are.” Cid had wrapped the other end of the rope once around a tree and taken up most of the slack.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed off and dropped about ten feet before the rope tightened. Cid started swearing, but it sounded like his usual level of complaint instead of an emergency one, and since I remained in place, swinging gently against the eerily beautiful ice walls, I assumed he had things under control.
“Goin’ down!”
My descent was more or less controlled and fairly rapid; there was one spot where the ice walls curved away on both sides and I ended up spinning in mid-air for about twenty feet. That wasn’t so great, and I wondered how I was going to make the ascent easier for Cid. I might be on the short and slender side for a guy, but I’m not a complete lightweight and my sword weighs at least half as much as I do.
When I reached my blade a minute or two later, I discovered that it was very thoroughly jammed into the rock-hard ice. Ever try to wriggle free an immoveable object with one hand while holding onto what amounts to a string with the other? Yeah – a little tough to get any leverage. It took several minutes of creative cursing to free it, all the while being highly conscious of the several hundred feet of crevasse yawning beneath my boots. Once it was safely in my hand, I considered how best to do this. It was one helluva long way up, ShinRa was lurking, there was a storm coming and my best friend’s life was in danger, so no pressure.
Right.
Reaching up above my head, I rammed the tip of the blade into the blue-green wall. “Pull!” The resulting yank brought me just above the hilt; I reached down, tugged it free and again drove it into the ice above my head. The entire manoeuvre was easier said than done, considering I was suspended on the end of a quivering, flexible rope, but I managed – at least until I reached the spot where the crevasse widened. “Cid! You’re gonna have to pull the combined weight ‘cause I can’t reach the sides!”
“No problem, boss.”
I wondered how he managed to sound almost cheery, but figured I’d find out soon enough as the distance between me and the surface continued to lessen with reassuring speed. I was about ten feet below the edge when there was a warning shout; driving the sword into the crevasse wall, I managed to swing myself onto the flat of the blade just before the rope slackened.
Straining my ears, I listened to Cid’s yells punctuated by loud howls and wondered what the hell was going on. Snow and ice shards shook loose and rained down on me; I was glad for the protection offered by my hooded parka. There was a crackling blast that certainly sounded like one of Nanaki’s fire attacks and then a high-pitched yelp was brutally cut off, before the rope tightened so fast that I nearly ended up hanging upside down by my boot. Grabbing my sword, I held on for dear life as I was yanked up over the edge of the hole and unhappily discovered that we had more than just hypothermia and ShinRa to worry about. “What the hell is that?”
Nanaki ceased circling the smoking carcass. “I believe it is known as a Bandersnatch, and I suspect they travel in packs. We must hurry back to the others.”
“Goddammit - is there any good news?” Cid snarled, carefully coiling his rope.
“Yeah. We can’t get lost,” I said, settling my sword on my back.
“How’s that?”
“Because my Sephi-radar keeps pulling north.”
“At least the fucking asshole’s good for somethin’.”
I’ll admit to another moment of screaming frustration – inside my head – when Barret confided that there was only one Phoenix Down left. The spike of despair I felt was immediately followed by a brittle cackle as Sephiroth apparently enjoyed the situation; I mentally told him what he could do with the Masamune. Shoving the possibility of having to choose between Tifa’s or Yuffie’s lives into the back of my mind, I concentrated on staying out of crevasses while searching for cover.
We only lost the shadowing chopper for good when the wind picked up in the late afternoon and blowing snow became a problem for both the aircrew and us. Cid’s rope came in handy again; we tied the snow machines together so we wouldn’t become separated in the near-whiteout conditions. We were trying to reach what Vincent thought was a snow cave in a humped-up section of the surface ice when the blizzard hit.
And then the Bandersnatches began harrying us.
I pulled my Ifrit materia out of Tifa’s knapsack, because the creatures’ reactions to Nanaki’s fire attacks made it clear they were vulnerable to the element, but after the first couple of charges were repulsed by him alone, they never showed themselves in a big enough pack to make Summoning worthwhile. Instead, they would lurk in twos and threes, their glowing eyes the only thing visible in the murk just before they lunged out of the storm. The sledge carrying Tifa was their main target, probably because they thought they could sense an easy meal. The first ones who tried got bellyfuls of lead courtesy of Barret, and then Nanaki finished them off from his position in the second sledge.
They almost took out Cid when we had to go single-file over an ice bridge, but Vincent appeared out of the howling storm and blew away the attackers. “We’re almost there!” he shouted over the wind, but I got lost in the whirling snowflakes and we ended up in a box canyon, hemmed in on three sides by ice-covered monoliths. When we turned around, the pack was waiting, their slavering jaws visible in the fitful light of the snow machines’ lamps.
Fumbling for the Ifrit materia, I pulled down my cowl to tell the others to stay back when abruptly, the Bandersnatches vanished in a massive wall of flame that lit up the snowscape with fantastical shadows… and utterly destroyed our night vision. Vincent was the only one apparently unaffected; while the rest of us cursed and fell back, he strode forward with his gun in his hand.
Three close-set points of light appeared out of the blowing snow, moving inexorably towards us. Vincent allowed it to approach until it arrived in our headlights, revealing a squat, heavy-set figure wearing a large-barrel flamethrower and a tank on its back, which showed how the Bandersnatches had been vanquished. Gloved hands pulled back a battered leather hood, revealing a shock of white hair, a powerful triple-lens headlamp and thick goggles above an even thicker moustache.
“You the Strife Party?”
Hearing my name out of a complete stranger’s mouth in the middle of a blizzard was too much. While I gaped, Barret growled, “Who wants ta know?”
“You have injured, right?”
“Maybe,” Cid snapped. “Who the hell are ya?”
“Gerhard Holzoff, at your service.” He bowed awkwardly in his heavy gear. “You’d better come with me if you wish to save your companions’ lives.”
A/N: I know the Buster Sword technically can’t be used as an over-sized throwing knife, a la the Fusion Sword in ACC, but I believe I’ve already broken that rule at least once in this fic. Also, there’s a bit of non-canon materia tampering.
References to events in Crisis Core and to the Last Order OVA.
Warnings: Coarse language, violence.
Bouquets to my wonderful betas, Kitsune13/TamLin and Ranuel.
Learning Curve Continuum
Chapter Thirteen: Frozen
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“Too damn cold for an old man,” Cid groused, pulling the collar of his jacket up around his ears and rolling his sleeves down over the cuffs of his gauntlets. “Don’t know how Vinnie can stand it.”
“Cloud was fully prepared to buy you a parka,” Yuffie said, clearly enjoying the warmth afforded by her new garment.
“I ain’t a sissy,” he sniffed, lighting a fresh cigarette.
“Don’t let Barret – or ‘Laurence’ - hear you say that.”
“Or me, either.” I shot Cid a sardonic look as I stepped out of the depot, making a point to zip up my new parka. Maybe he was miffed because Tifa and I snagged the only two military-style ones? Tough nuts. They were cut in such a way that we could wear our armour and harnesses over top, meaning I could carry my sword. Beckoning to the other three – Vincent had disappeared again – I grinned at how Barret had pulled up the hood on his dark-green coat, probably to protect the shaven sides of his head from the chill, but the overall effect was of a giant bush ambling across the snow.
Tifa, on the other hand, looked utterly fantastic in the slim-cut, dark-blue coat, which unfortunately meant she was attracting all sorts of attention. Fortunately, she was oblivious to the admiring glances from the women, and if she knew how many of the men were jealously glaring as a result, she’d be mortified. Tall, dark, handsome, with those intensely-hued eyes – ‘Laurence’ was a total lady-killer and I amused myself by imagining her audience’s various reactions if they knew ‘he’ was a she… and she was mine.
That knowledge secretly buoyed me, when the events of the previous day had nearly destroyed me. If Vincent only knew how much his comments about Sephiroth’s personal hatred had rattled my equilibrium... anyways, it meant I was even more determined to protect our team, which in turn meant I’d better speak to Tifa about the way she went after Sephiroth. It was true to form for her nature, but she was incredibly lucky both times that he didn’t cut her in half, and I doubted her luck would hold. Actually, it was lucky for him that he didn’t, because after Aerith – well, it woulda been a death match, right there and then.
When I was finally able to doze off last night, my nightmare of the Masamune stabbing through Tifa’s body woke up the entire camp. Didn’t sleep much after that, despite Tifa quietly shifting her bedroll closer to mine. Although I completely understood her reasons for remaining male – extra strength and speed are definite assets when going into a fight for the very Planet’s survival – I also couldn’t help being a little cranky about it at the same time. I wanted feminine curves pressed against me and a short skirt to distract me, and it didn’t appear that I was going to get either any time soon.
I needed distraction, because otherwise thinking about Aerith left this cold, numb feeling in the pit of my stomach. No matter what Nanaki said about the responsibility for her death being shared, it laid more heavily on my shoulders as her bodyguard. I figured Sephiroth would try to use my despair as another way to get at me, to take over my mind and body, so I tried to deliberately lock down any negative emotions.
Fat chance. There were too many things to think about, such as the not-so-minor detail that we were now short one Healer and on our way to face Sephiroth in a place of his own choosing. Letting the enemy pick the battlefield is a sure-fire way to get your ass kicked, but we didn’t have any choice. As Barret and Tifa joined us, I announced, “They’re tuning up three of these for us, so let’s get something to eat.”
Cid pointed his cigarette at the row of snow machines lined up outside the depot. “You expect me to ride on one of those fucking things?”
“Or in the sledge,” I answered. “Suit yourself.”
“Fuck.”
“C̵ 7;mon, Cid. We’ll find you a cup of tea, and it’ll all be fine,” Yuffie wheedled, and he grouchily allowed himself to be cajoled into following us.
Tifa fell into step beside me, but this time I noticed that she switched her leading foot in order to match my stride, as if she’d been trained to march in cadence. Barret had lectured her on it one night a few days ago, before we rejoined the others, as part of his attempts to make us appear a more authentic military unit, and here she was practising in this very public place. After what had happened yesterday, I was amazed that she even remembered... but then she didn’t have a resident madman snickering inside her head as a distraction, either.
“This one smells appetizing, Cloud-san,” Nanaki said, pulling me out of my internal contemplation; we were standing in front of a pub.
“On the pricey side,” Barret dourly observed, squinting at the posted menu.
“Might as well spend our gil while it’s still worth something,” I commented. “If Meteor comes, we’ll be using our coins for shogi pieces.”
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“Tain’t tea, but it works for me!” Cid practically sang, then clinked mugs with Barret before sucking back his drink.The pub was definitely lively, full of rosy-cheeked, damp-wool-wearing winter sports enthusiasts quaffing small mugs of mulled wine fortified with shots of liqueur. It also supplied hearty bowls of thick dumpling and sausage soup, which was more than enough reason to brave the noise despite the way it added to the racket inside my skull. Cid and Barret weren’t helping after a couple of mugs apiece; they were loud and profane and attracting shirty looks from the nearby patrons.
Tifa only took a small mouthful of her mulled wine before pushing the mug across the table for our underage ninja to try. Yuffie was decidedly sparkly-eyed after knocking back half the mug in one gulp, and Tifa snatched it back, sloshing a little on the table top in the process. Nanaki’s nose appeared above the edge of the table next to my elbow, his nostrils flaring as he deeply sniffed. “Would you like to try some?” Tifa offered, mopping up the drips with a napkin.
“The scent of alcohol is very strong,” he hedged. “I suspect it is rather potent.”
“You’re not kiddin’,” I agreed, making a face and pushing my mug aside. Hooking my thumb in Barret and Cid’s direction, I muttered, “We’d better cut those two off or they won’t be safe to drive.” The pub was overly warm, but even so I was surprised by how fast the alcohol had gone to their heads. If I didn’t need to stay alert, I might have been tempted to join them in an effort to drown the images and sounds in my head. In an attempt to distract myself from my morbid thoughts, I leaned over and inspected Nanaki’s cramped quarters beneath the table. “You okay under there?”
“The soup was worth a small amount of discomfort,” he replied.
“I’m sorry that you had to put up with that shit.”
The leonine creature shrugged. “I have been called worse things than a ‘strange pet’ in my time. They meant no harm.”
“We’ll be out of here soon... for Shiva’s sake, brat!” I glared across the table at Yuffie, who had filched both Tifa’s half-emptied mug and my full one. While Barret and Cid shared out my portion and burst into ribald song, Yuffie grinned woozily.
“Thas’ goo’ stuff,” she slurred.
“And we have our first volunteer sledge-rider,” I snorted.
At that moment, one of the waitresses approached our table. Bending over on just the right angle to give both Tifa and myself a complimentary view down her lace-framed cleavage, she placed two more spicy-scented mugs in front of us. “Compliments of the ladies at table twelve.”
“And which ladies would they be?” I asked; when she pointed, I raised one of the mugs to a group of attractive young women, who all tittered and waved. Tossing a bag of gil onto the waitress’ tray, I said, “Serve them a round of whatever they’re drinking and keep the change.”
Her eyes grew very round and wide as she calculated the generous tip. “Yes, sir!” she purred before sashaying away in an obvious invitation.
Smirking, I saluted the table again and caused more giggling, hair-twirling and general feminine fluttering... at least until Tifa dug her elbow into my ribs. “What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
“Fulfilling the first duty of all men in uniform – making the girls swoon.” When I glanced at Tifa, I was amused to see her vivid eyes practically shooting sparks. “Careful, Laurence, or I might have to report you for dereliction of duty.” To say Tifa was taken aback was an understatement, and when one of our admirers, a petite blonde wearing a nicely snug sweater boldly blew her a kiss, her jaw dropped, she turned an astonishing shade of red and quickly found the tabletop extremely interesting – which earned her a round of appreciative cooing.
“We should leave as soon as possible,” Vincent announced, appearing apparently out of thin air and perching next to Yuffie – and incidentally blocking the view of table twelve.
“I can’t agree more,” Tifa growled, her lip curling.
“Ooooh, Vin’chen! Wan’ try some?” Yuffie hiccupped, proffering her mug. “S’goooood!”
“No, thank you,” he replied with solemn dignity, smoothly extracting the drink from Yuffie’s fist and sliding it in Cid’s direction.
“What’s up?” I asked, amused at how Yuffie hadn’t even noticed, because she was staring at the gunslinger with dreamy, slightly-glassy eyes.
“A blizzard is forecast to arrive by this evening.”
“Damn.” The pressure inside my head ramped up, and I couldn’t stop myself from grimacing in pain.
“What’s wrong?” Tifa asked quietly.
There was no sense in lying at that point. “I’m being ‘pulled’ again... and it’s really strong.”
“I expect that it will become worse the closer we get to Sephiroth’s location.” Vincent leaned in, scanning my face. “Can you resist it?”
“Trying.” Tifa’s hand arrived on my back, just above my belt, and her fingertips began kneading. Thank Shiva that I had the sense to sit next to her, with our backs against the wall; I leaned into her touch until the pain eased. Flashing her a smile, I muttered, “I ain’t gonna be his puppet again, not if I can help it.”
As she withdrew her hand, Vincent huffed when Yuffie abruptly cuddled into his side. Drawing her legs up on the bench, she oozed downwards until her head was pillowed on his thigh. Sighing happily, she fell asleep; the look on the gunslinger’s face – what we could see of it – was priceless.
Nanaki chuckled deep in his throat and affectionately nuzzled Yuffie’s cheek. “Perhaps you should check on the progress of our transport, Cloud-san.”
“Yeah. Laurence, Nanaki - you’re with me.” As I stood up and shouldered into my parka, I cast a gimlet eye at Barret and Cid, who were very, very red-faced and verging on cross-eyed. “Try to keep these idiots from starting any brawls before we come back.” On the way out, I gave my most charming grin to the ladies of table twelve and received in return a highly gratifying response of pouts and mouthed regrets.
“I’ll wait outside, sir,” Tifa gritted through her teeth as she stormed past with Nanaki at her heels.
Backing up a few steps, I stage-whispered, “You’ll have to forgive my subordinate... he’s painfully shy around beautiful women.” To a chorus of delighted squeals and multiple offers to cure Tifa of her unfortunate condition, I exited the pub in triumph.
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
Outside, Tifa’s shoulders were set at a particularly rigid angle while she watched Nanaki rolling furiously in a snow bank. Shaking himself vigorously, he seated himself on his haunches beside her, his tail curling neatly around him... and regarded me with a mildly disapproving expression. “What’s wrong with having a bit of fun?” I asked, looking steadily at Tifa, who was glaring at the innocent snow bank with enough heat to melt it. “Since I can’t flirt with you, I have to practice on somebody.” “Attracting undue attention is not wise, Cloud-san,” Nanaki said quietly. “ShinRa would prefer to have us in custody.”
I had to admit that he was right. Our uniforms made us extremely conspicuous, and while there hadn’t been any obviously off-duty ShinRa personnel in the pub, I wouldn’t be surprised if their tentacles reached this far north. “Point taken.” Tifa turned on her heel and strode off in the direction of the depot, still fairly bristling, and I let her go. No sense in trying to talk to her until she’d cooled off... but there was a small part of me that was smugly pleased with her reaction. Although, she really ought to know better than to think I might be interested in bits of fluff like that.
Interrupting my juvenile preening, Nanaki asked, “Cloud-san, when did you say you’d previously visited Modeoheim?”
“It was a mission during the Genesis Rebellion... our chopper was shot down, and we had to hoof it through a blizzard to storm the reactor.” Shaking the snow out of my hair as we reached the depot, I commanded, “Wait out here. Nanaki, be ready to collect the others.”
However, I’d no sooner walked into the grimy building, redolent of oil and grease, when the lead hand waved a wrench at me. “Had a small issue with the carburetor on this one, guv; we’re checking the others, too.” Ignoring my sceptical snort, he continued, “Have a couple more drinks.”
“We need to get out before the blizzard hits.”
“Ah, no prob, guv. See, the weather only gets nasty just before dark, so every mornin’ we have fresh powder on the runs!”
“Hustle it up, alright?” When I came back outside, Tifa was packing a snowball with Nanaki intently watching; I wondered if he’d chase it if she threw it. “We might have to stay overnight.”
“Would that be so bad?” Tifa asked, winging her snowball at a nearby house wall, and Nanaki actually looked disappointed. “A decent night’s sleep in a warm bed sounds good to me – especially if there’s a blizzard on the way.”
Pulling up my hood, because her tone was even more wintry than the landscape, I sighed, “Fine. Let’s check out some accommodations.”
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
“Hello! Welcome to the Gasthaus Holzoff!” The matronly woman beamed cheerfully as she bustled into the foyer, wearing a crisply-ironed white apron over her dress. Spotting Nanaki, who was keeping his tail-flare out of sight, she chirped, “Pets are always welcome!”“Is that so?” I queried, my eyebrow twitching.
Oblivious, she continued, “Absolutely! We find them to be better-behaved than most humans.”
While Nanaki muffled a snicker in his paw, Tifa inquired, “Do you have any rooms available?”
“How many in your party?”
“Eight - uh, seven,” she amended, and I felt the same pang.
“Hm. I have two rooms, three beds apiece.” Squinting at Nanaki, the woman said, “Were you counting him?”
“Er, yes?”
“Floors are pretty cold, so I don’t blame you for wanting him up off them. I believe I can manage a cot.”
“Are there any guesthouses on the Great Glacier itself?” I asked, itching to get moving, and not entirely because of the insistent tug on my brain.
“Oh, my stars, no! There’s nothing between here and Gaea’s Cliff except miles of wilderness!” Dabbing at her eyes with the corner of her apron, she continued, “No one with any sense would want to go there, anyways.”
Moved by the woman’s obvious distress, Tifa stepped forward. “May I ask why, ma’am?”
“Twenty years ago, I lost my husband to Gaea’s Cliff.” Inspecting the military-issue boots and trousers we were both wearing as well as the hilt of the large sword protruding above my shoulder, the woman tilted her head. “You ShinRa boys?”
“Erm, yes, ma’am,” Tifa answered nervously.
“I suppose you want to see Professor Faremis’ lab,” the woman sighed, fishing around in her pocket. “ShinRa types always do.”
We exchanged puzzled looks. “Professor Faremis?” Tifa asked, as the woman rummaged in another pocket.
“That was before our time with SOLDIER,” I said. “Tell us more.”
“Professor Gast Faremis left a comfy job with ShinRa – always said it was over differences of opinion – and set up his lab here. He used to go on expeditions to the Forgotten City and bring back things to study. Well, one day he brought back a beautiful woman.”
“Not something you’d expect to find in a place like that,” I murmured, thinking of our own loss in that strangely beautiful place.
“She was a real looker, too, named Ifalna. Tall, regal – had that ‘air’ about her, you know? We all had bets on how long before the Professor realized what a treasure he had right under his nose, because you know those science types – too busy looking in their microscopes – ah-ha!” Triumphantly producing a key, she continued, “We hosted their wedding reception right here, in my breakfast room. Wasn’t long after that she had the most precious baby girl with big green eyes and soft chestnut fuzz all over her dear little head.”
I beat Tifa to the question. “What was the child’s name?”
“It was quite unusual – Aerith.”
“Get the others,” I urgently ordered, but Nanaki was already gone, the doors swinging closed in his wake.
“Where is Professor Faremis’ lab?” Tifa hoarsely asked, reaching for the key.
“Two doors down on the left... my stars, son! You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” the woman clucked, boldly taking hold of Tifa’s trembling hand.
“Aerith was very dear to us,” she rasped, her face drawn. “She was our friend.”
“So... Professor Faremis went back to ShinRa?” the woman asked, plainly surprised. “The way he talked about them, they were back-fence neighbours with the devil himself. Is that how you boys know her?”
“In a manner of speaking,” I calmly replied. “Aerith was very special.”
“You don’t say,” the woman murmured, and then she crumpled a handful of her starched apron. “You keep referring to her in the past tense....”
“She was murdered yesterday at the Forgotten City. We’re hunting for her killer.” As the woman’s hand flew up to her mouth, I grabbed Tifa’s arm and dragged her outside.
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
“I-it’s so unfair!” Yuffie wailed into Tifa’s chest. “Why? Why was everything taken away from her?”I could tell that Tifa was hiding her own tears in Yuffie’s hair while she rubbed the teen’s back; we were standing outside the dilapidated building that had housed Professor Faremis’ lab and the home he’d shared with Ifalna... and briefly, Aerith.
Vincent had remained with Cid at the pub, because the pilot had passed out and could not be roused. Barret, however, had sobered up with amazing speed and brought Yuffie with him; a thorough face-wash in a snowdrift had done wonders for her alertness. Now her face was blotchy again, but from emotion, not friction.
“C’mon,” Barret said gruffly, firmly gripping Tifa’s shoulder. “Let’s get goin’.”
“I’ll return the key and get the others; the rest of you, head for the depot. We’re outta here, blizzard or no blizzard.” I stalked off in the direction of the guesthouse, my head pounding; Nanaki paced along at my side. Both of us looked so forbidding that other patrons of the resort cleared out of our way. After thanking the woman, we kept going until we spotted Cid stamping his feet and complaining about the chill outside the depot. The door to the bay was open and the mechanics had rolled out our machines under Vincent’s watchful eye. They were hooking up the sledges when Nanaki and I arrived; I checked over their workmanship and settled the bill while wondering why the others hadn’t caught up.
A few minutes later, Tifa arrived carrying Yuffie on her back, with Barret stomping along beside to make sure she kept her balance on the uneven surface. The teen looked positively pathetic, her face stained with tears, which meant the upset had continued after Nanaki and I left. However, as she slid off Tifa’s back, she furiously scrubbed her cheeks with her sleeve. Vincent immediately went to her and handed over her shuriken; she meekly accepted it, remaining by his side. He stooped to say something, and I caught Yuffie’s weak answering smile as I sent a pair of goggles winging in Tifa’s direction. “Catch.”
Snagging the goggles out of mid-air, Tifa put them on while I repeated the delivery method with Barret. The big man had some trouble managing the adjustment process with one hand; Cid set him to rights.
“Who’s stayin’?” I asked, looking at Cid as I said it, but it was Yuffie who surprised me. Straightening up and striding purposely forward, she came to a stop in front of me and defiantly tilted her chin.
“You’ll need an awesome ninja like me to make sure Sephiroth doesn’t kick your ass,” she said in a brave attempt at her usual cockiness.
Arching my eyebrow, I couldn’t help appreciating her spirit. “I was hoping you’d say that,” I said, making a split-second decision. Reaching into my pocket, I withdrew a handful of materia. “You’re now our official Healer.”
“M-me?” she stammered, eyeing the glowing orbs with considerably less enthusiasm than might have been expected.
“You’re fast on your feet and that’s an advantage if you have to reach someone on the battlefield.”
“Were these Aerith’s?”
“Yes. They’re yours now... if you’ll take the job. Except for this one.” Extracting a troublesome Transform materia out of the glimmering pile, I shoved it back into my pocket.
Yuffie nodded once, with considerable determination. “I will.”
“Good.” Raising my voice, I announced, “Yuffie and Laurence are with me. Vincent? Can you take Barret and Nanaki?”
“That ain’t fucking fair, boss!” Cid threw his cigarette on the ground and glared ferociously. “You implyin’ that I ain’t competent to pilot one o’ these fucking things?”
“I’m not sayin’ anything,” I blandly replied. “Who’s riding with you?”
“C’mon, Barret,” the pilot said. “Us two old men’ll show the fucking whippersnappers how it’s done.”
“My ass is too big for that skinny lil seat,” Barret muttered. “Guess I gotta ride inna sledge.”
“Myself as well,” Nanaki commented, gingerly nosing the high-sided conveyance. “Barret-san, Yuffie-kun – you may use these furs for your own comfort. I have my own.”
“Thank you,” Yuffie replied, sitting somewhat stiffly in her sledge while Tifa collected the extra fur blankets and gave half to Barret.
I watched out of the corner of my eye when she returned to Yuffie and suggested, “Fold one and put it under your butt - the more padding the better.” As she tucked the rest of the furs into place, Tifa smiled gently at the teen. “It’s like Barret said... safety in numbers. We’ll stick together, and we’ll be all right.” Giving Yuffie’s hair a quick scruff, she moved to help Barret arrange his furry wrapping to advantage. Nanaki asked her to shorten the rope he was expected to hold in his teeth to keep himself anchored in the sledge, and then I beckoned her to join me as I fired the snow machine’s engine. She almost slid her arms around my waist, but stopped herself and instead felt around the underside of the seat. “Problem?” I asked over my shoulder.
“No. There’s a welded hand-hold... sir.”
“You can drop that attitude any time now,” I growled, but she merely shrugged and scooted further back on the seat. Mentally cutting loose with a few choice epithets, I eased open the throttle and began scribing a wide arc to account for the sledge. However, the unmistakeable sound of a large helicopter drowned out the rumble of our engines. “Shit,” I muttered, pushing up my goggles and glaring at the large red-and-gold crest on the chopper’s fuselage as loose snow billowed around us in a gauzy veil. “Make a run for it!” I yelled at the others.
Instead, Vincent stood upright on the footrests, pulled out his gun and coolly aimed at the tail fin. Firing off several rounds which appeared to perforate the steel skin, it was enough to spook the crew – or affect the helicopter’s steering function. The chopper veered away over the treetops; he holstered his weapon as he dropped back into his seat. “Lead the way,” he called, and I yanked my goggles back down and took off down the groomed track leading to the ski area.
Behind us in the sledge, Yuffie was making very loud retching noises; I hoped she had aimed it over the side, but I was too busy looking for trouble to check – and sure enough, I found it. There was a squad of ShinRa troopers strung out in a thin line across the track, and in front was a slim, blonde-haired woman wearing a familiar blue suit.
Cutting the throttle, I held up my hand to warn the others while our machine glided to a noisy halt a short distance from the Turk, who was tapping her booted foot on the packed snow. “What do you want?” I demanded.
“It’s the end of the line.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“ShinRa’s orders – but I’m gonna enjoy this,” the woman sneered. “You took out my boss, and you’re gonna pay!”
“Your boss… you mean Tseng? At the Temple of the Ancients? That wasn’t us - that was Sephiroth.”
“Liar.”
Shrugging, I took a firm grip on the throttle with one hand and reached back with the other to poke Tifa’s leg; hopefully she realized what I had in mind, or things were gonna get messy. “When Tseng wakes up, he’ll tell you the same thing.”
“Don’t try to act innocent!” the woman shrieked, balling her fists. “You’re gonna feel some pain for what you did!”
“Miss Elena! Don’t…!” one of the troopers shouted, but she ran forward anyways, pulling back her arm to throw a punch.
“Dammit!” I muttered, preparing to open the throttle.
As Elena planted her feet and swung, Tifa rose in the footrests. Blocking Elena’s strike, she threw her own punch, sending the other woman staggering. “Go!” she yelled, smacking my shoulder, then scrabbling a handful of my parka as we roared through the disintegrating line of troopers. Behind us, the crackle of Nanaki’s flames was almost drowned out by a hail of gunfire from Barret that completely routed any opposition.
“We’re going to make it!” Tifa yelled in my ear as I took us under the nose of the helicopter, within inches of its machine guns, and tore around a corner… then she nearly crushed me against the instrument display when I jammed on the brake. “What’s the matter? Are you hurt?” she asked while we skidded to a stop and I tried to get back my breath.
“That’s the matter,” I grunted, pointing ahead to where the flat track suddenly fell away. We had a stunning view over the valley and the tangled, crevassed wilderness of the Great Glacier beyond. In the hazy distance, a massive, forbidding wall of ice and rock heaved upwards. “That must be Gaea’s Cliff,” I murmured.
“This must be the top of the downhill obstacle course,” Tifa said, again standing up behind me to examine the more imminent challenge.
“How do you know that?” I demanded.
“There was a map of all the downhill runs printed on the back of the menu at the pub.”
“Hmph. Did you happen to notice any details?”
“Tons of obstacles all the way down.”
“Change of plan.” Sliding off the seat, I nudged her forward. “This is the throttle, and this is the brake. Don’t apply both at once - that wouldn’t be good.”
“What? You expect me to…!”
“Don’t screw up. I’m counting on you.” One foot on the rest, one on the seat behind her, bracing my knee against her back, I drew my sword. Taking a firm grip on Tifa’s shoulder, I ordered, “Don’t think – just do it.”
“Easy for you to say. Yuffie, close your eyes and hang on tight.”
“And try not to puke into the wind,” I added.
Our green-gilled ninja managed an extremely rude gesture before the machine jerked forward as Tifa opened the throttle... and then we were into it so fast that there wasn’t any time to think.
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
“Throttle back!” I yelled into the headwind while taking out another one of those damn floating ducks. Tifa didn’t answer, just hunched lower over the handlebars, fighting to maintain control of our machine as it hurtled down the steep slope towards yet another sharp corner. Throwing a quick glance behind to make sure Yuffie’s sledge was still attached after that last jump – and that the brat was still in it - I swiped my hand over my goggles to see what else the damn course designers had decided to throw at us.Trees. A forest of effin’ trees planted in the middle of the track.
“Take as straight a line as possible through ‘em!” I directed. “If you have to, pass on the left so I can cut ‘em down.”
A rapid nod of her head indicated she’d heard, and I sat down in a hurry as the first branches whistled over our heads. Stretching up to peer over Tifa’s shoulder, I muttered a few choice words regarding the life-threatening hazards on a supposedly ‘fun’ downhill course as I locked my knees against the frame of the machine and took a firm grip on the hilt of my sword. Since it sliced through concrete without much problem back when we were chopping our way through the debris of Sector Seven, I hoped it could handle wood.
Tifa did a terrific job of threading us through the tightly-arranged trunks, but it appeared that we were picking up speed, which is not a good thing when you’re playing chicken with immoveable objects. “Start braking – you’re gonna lose control!”
“Do you want to drive?” Tifa shouted back, clearly irritated.
Grinning, I squeezed her shoulder before again gripping my sword with both hands. Good thing, too, because it met its first tree a second after that and it was almost ripped out of my hands by the impact. Luckily I’d angled the blade and sent the falling tree crashing to the side, or it would’ve wiped out Yuffie – not to mention the rest of our team. A second later, we were in the clear and heading for the final curve towards what appeared to be a finish line.
I had a brief glimpse of another ShinRa chopper waiting just beyond it before we smashed through the guard rails on the side of the track.
I heard Tifa scream as the snow machine dropped from beneath us, but I gambled that she could fend for herself, because Yuffie couldn’t. Twisting in mid-air, I managed to sever the hitch connecting the sledge to the machine, with intentions of riding down with her. Desperately reaching, I grabbed onto the curled edge of the sledge and pulled myself in. “It’s okay, brat! I’ve got you!”
Yuffie let out a little squeak; her knuckles were white where she still held onto the rope that kept her in the sledge. For a split-second, I considered cutting it and pulling her out, but then decided that the sledge might absorb some of the impact when we finally hit the ground… which was coming up extremely fast. Trying to pick out a marker as we tumbled through the air, I threw my sword away because I didn’t fancy being spiked on it; I had a quick glimpse of it disappearing into the upper branches of a tree before the shit hit the fan.
Or rather, we hit a tree.
The snow-covered branches absorbed some of the impact, but they also hurt like hell as we crashed through them. We were buffeted and knocked, scratched and bruised, and sent into a tailspin until we bounced off one tree and were pitched into another that creaked alarmingly. Sliding down the branches, we dropped almost twenty feet to the ground… and then the snow swallowed us.
The sensation of being buried alive is going to stay with me for a very long time.
When we finally stopped moving, I couldn’t tell which direction was up, and not simply because my neck was bent on an uncomfortable angle due to my head being jammed into a corner of the sledge. The snow made the eeriest crinkling sounds as it moved and settled, trapping us more firmly with each passing second. My elbows were pinned close to my sides, but at least Yuffie and I were somewhat protected from being crushed by the battered but still-intact sledge. However, I quickly found out that my arm was broken when I tried to claw away the loose snow that had filtered between us.
The pain blanked nearly everything for a few seconds, until I realized that somewhere nearby, Tifa was probably buried and possibly broken - and alone.
Shit.
I wondered if Ifrit could melt the snow, then remembered that I’d given all my Summon materia to Tifa.
Damn.
A frightened sound brought me back to the situation at hand. “You okay?” I asked Yuffie, my voice strangely muffled by the white walls pressing in on us. Wriggling my other hand free, I brushed away the snow and fur until I could see her face. She only looked at me with wide, frightened eyes, her lower lip quivering. “Hey… it’ll be all right. Bet the others are already looking for us.” In the enclosed space, I easily heard her racing heart beat; not willing to let her experience a full-blown panic attack, I pressed my fingers to her lips. “C’mon, brat – breathe. Nice and slow… in through your nose, out through your mouth… that’s it. They’ll find us any minute now.”
Focussing on keeping Yuffie calm kept me from freaking out as the snow’s grip became vise-like and made my own breathing painful. Cracked ribs were also a possibility, but I needed my arm healed if I was going to have half a chance of at least creating a bigger airspace while we waited for the others; I refused to admit to the possibility that they were also in trouble and hoping we’d be rescuing them. “Yuffie, can you reach your materia?”
“Y-yes,” she whispered.
“I need a shot of Cure for my arm. Can you do that for me?”
Nodding, she worked her hand free, the materia in her glove already glowing. “Which one?”
“The left.” When she reached for my right arm, I grinned. “No, the other left.”
“S-sorry.”
“No problem. Give my ribs a once-over, too.” When she was done, I said, “Bet you’re bruised like a rainbow – let me fix you up.” When I’d returned the favour, I experimentally flexed my shoulders and discovered that mako – or Jenova – enhancements are powerless against a couple of tons of compacted snow. Growling quietly, I tried pushing back again, with the same result – or lack of it. “Do you happen to have a Fire materia?”
“N-no. T-tifa h-has it.”
“That’s good; she can melt her way out if she’s stuck.” Mentally cursing our lack of the same materia, I tried to think of another plan while the relentless cold seeped through my clothing… until a tiny anguished noise, similar to those little sounds very small kittens make when they want their mama, caught my attention. “C’mon – don’t cry. It makes me feel even worse.”
Yuffie whimpered and pressed her forehead against my chest, her entire body shivering, and I realized it was from a combination of fear and cold. Awkwardly petting her hair, I let her be scared for both of us, because otherwise I might lose it, too. I didn’t know if we were upright or horizontal; the blood wasn’t rushing to my ears, so I guessed we weren’t upside-down, which would have really sucked. However, was the surface above us, below us or to the side? Not that I could dig us free, anyways; the icy snow continued pressing in on us and my body was starting to go numb.
Dammit.
Is this how it was going to end?
No effing way.
A droplet of water caught my eye; it hung on the sledge’s rim, growing fatter and more turgid with each passing second. Either snowmelt or condensation, it might prove the key to our salvation and I waited anxiously for gravity to show us the way.
It was an agonizing few seconds, but when the drop finally kicked loose, I nearly cheered because it trickled almost straight down, which meant we were vertical, with the surface above our heads. We still might be twenty feet down, but it was a source of hope. With renewed determination, I shoved my fist upwards and started grinding away at our icy tomb with the studs embedded in my glove. The friction melted the snow, and my clothing grew even more saturated and cold, but I kept at it until I noticed that Yuffie had gone quiet… and my breathing was more laboured than it should be.
“Hey, brat – say something.” Instead, she slipped down inside the sledge and when I tried to pull her back up, black spots cavorted through my vision.
Shit.
We were running out of air.
Panic makes people lose their head and do stupid, futile things, such as screaming.
I wasn’t panicking; I was frustrated. There’s a difference. Anyways, that’s why I didn’t notice the snow softening over our heads, nor hear the sounds of digging until a metal rod nearly broke my neck when it drove into my shoulder. Despite the pain, when the rod withdrew and the unmistakeable waft of cigarette smoke filtered down along with fresh air, I could’ve kissed Cid.
Sucking in lungfuls of sweet, sweet air, I twisted until I could squint up the hole. All I saw at first was black, and then discerned a flaring nostril. The nose was quickly replaced by a golden eye; Nanaki yelped in delight before calling through the tube, “I am going to melt the snow, so cover your head, Cloud-san.”
“Hurry,” I shouted. Tucking back under the rim of the sledge, I vigorously shook Yuffie’s shoulder. “Wake up, brat. We’re almost out.” She remained unresponsive, so I grabbed hold of her parka and dragged her upright just as I was drenched by a veritable torrent of meltwater and suddenly there was grey sky overhead.
“Cloud-san! Are you all right?”
“Mostly. Yuffie’s in bad shape, though.”
“I dare not use Fire in such close quarters; bear with me.” Nanaki pulled massive pawfuls of snow away from my shoulders and as the icy grip loosened, I leaned back, away from the sledge, until I could hook my hands under Yuffie’s arms and raise her high enough for someone else to grab. A shadow fell over me, and Vincent pulled her free.
“Where’s Tifa?” I demanded urgently.
“We are attempting to extract her,” he replied, which only told me that she’d been found, but not if she was alive.
“T-san was not buried as deeply as you and Yuffie-kun, but it was harder to locate her,” said Nanaki from behind me as Vincent shifted our ninja in his arms and disappeared over the edge of a fairly impressive excavation that I estimated was at least eighteen feet deep.
“Why was that?” My guts knotted viciously.
“She was only a single person instead of two, and her heat and scent markers vanished more quickly as a result.”
“Is she alive?”
He didn’t immediately answer, just kept diligently clearing snow. “Yuffie-kun has the Phoenix Down, correct?”
I ground my teeth, because it isn’t polite to snarl at the kind person digging your freezing ass out of a snowy sink-hole. “Nanaki….”
“I am sorry, Cloud-san. I mistakenly followed the scent of the buried snow machine, which cost us valuable time in locating her.”
Reaching behind me, I grabbed him around his furry neck in a one-armed hug. “Knock off the apologies. You found her, we have Phoenix Down – no worries.”
He stoically endured the embrace before continuing to free my legs; the pins and needles were already starting. “There are complications. We must quickly find shelter and procure dry fuel for a fire. T-san may be saved from suffocation, but could still succumb to the effects of hypothermia.” With a last effort, Nanaki cleared the final bit of concrete-like snow locking my boots in place. “Bring the furs, please. All sources of warmth will be required.” Making a bag out of one fuzzy blanket, I shoved the other skins inside it, and with Nanaki’s assistance, I awkwardly crawled out of the steep-sided, ice-slick hole. “This way.”
“How the hell did you sniff us out?” I asked incredulously, peering back down into the depths.
“The rest of us were able to stop in time to avoid following you over the edge. Vincent-san and I watched from above so we were able to considerably narrow our search area. Do not stray from our footprints, or you will again slip into the much softer snow around the trees.”
“Did you see a ShinRa chopper?”
“Barret-san and Vincent-san drove it off.”
As I followed him, I realized that we were a considerable distance out on the Glacier itself and that the ‘forest’ we’d landed in wasn’t exactly a forest in the strictest sense of the word. At some point, there had been an avalanche that carried part of a forest down onto the Glacier’s surface, and it was now a tangled maze of frozen wood. However, it was lucky we crashed where we did, because only fifty feet away from Yuffie’s and my hole was a plunging crevasse, lined in blue-green ice. When Nanaki began moving across an ice bridge, I waited until he crossed before following because I didn’t want to risk both of us falling should it give way.
It was stupidly deep. Shiva.
I sped up as soon as I reached the other side and spotted Barret leaning over one of the sledges. Vincent, minus his cloak, was seated on one of the two remaining snow machines hidden under the skimpy shelter provided by a massive deadfall. I did a double-take on the way past when I realized the garment was wrapped around Yuffie, and he was holding her like a fragile piece of china. “She okay?”
“Much improved,” he replied. “Her lips are no longer blue.”
“Here.” I handed him one of the fur blankets. “Every bit helps.”
Barret acknowledged my presence and stepped back, tucking the case of Phoenix Down inside his coat. “She’s breathin’,” he grunted. “Gotta get her outta those wet clothes, tho’. You, too,” he added.
I spread the remaining blankets over her and tucked them in. Brushing Tifa’s bangs away from her face, I fought down a wave of panic because she was completely unresponsive, her skin pale and cold to the touch. “The Glacier is no place to camp, and there’s a blizzard coming in.”
“We still got a couple hours o’ daylight.”
“ShinRa’s on the prowl, so a fire isn’t a good idea.” Racking my brain for ideas, I said, “Tifa has a Fire materia on her somewhere; see if you can’t do something for her and Yuffie with it.”
“Yo, boss!” On the other side of the clearing, Cid waved his lance. “Betcha want yer pig-sticker back.”
“You found it?”
“Bring the cording in my knapsack – don’t you fuck with my fucking tea canister!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I muttered, reluctantly leaving Tifa’s side. Holding my breath against the reek of stale smoke, I carefully searched through the pilot’s neatly-packed bag. The thin coil of braided cord was hung from an inner loop with a couple of fancy rope-knots.
Huh. Didn’t know Cid had any hobbies other than cursing, smoking and making battery acid, er, tea.
“Too bad the kid is outta commission,” Cid grumped, sizing me up and down as I handed over the cord. “Gonna be tough hauling yer ass plus that goddamn sword outta that fucking crevasse.”
“Yuffie couldn’t lift it anyways. Lower me down and I’ll bring it up in stages.”
“That’ll work.”
We trekked through the dead forest, the frozen timber snapping and popping as the mile of ice beneath us ponderously shifted. “How did you locate it?” I asked, when the ominous sounds became too oppressive.
“Wasn’t fucking easy. Under here.” Ducking beneath a massive fallen trunk, we squeezed through a narrow passage between two other toppled giants and discovered a large, jagged hole in the glacier’s crust.
“You’re kidding me, right?” I said in disbelief.
“Nope. ‘Bout a hundred feet down, I reckon,” Cid replied, loosening the coil with a practiced snap. Rapidly knotting a loop, he tossed it my way. “Step inta this an’ over ya go.”
“Shit.” Obeying, I slid the loop over my boot, wrapped a length around my hand and edged towards the hole. Sitting down, I peered between my dangling feet and located the familiar profile of my weapon far enough below that it looked like a toy.
That wasn’t the worst of it; the crack was even deeper. The only reason the sword wasn’t at the bottom was because it had jammed crosswise – which also meant that we couldn’t stay topside and fish for it with a loop.
“Okay, boss – ready when you are.” Cid had wrapped the other end of the rope once around a tree and taken up most of the slack.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed off and dropped about ten feet before the rope tightened. Cid started swearing, but it sounded like his usual level of complaint instead of an emergency one, and since I remained in place, swinging gently against the eerily beautiful ice walls, I assumed he had things under control.
“Goin’ down!”
My descent was more or less controlled and fairly rapid; there was one spot where the ice walls curved away on both sides and I ended up spinning in mid-air for about twenty feet. That wasn’t so great, and I wondered how I was going to make the ascent easier for Cid. I might be on the short and slender side for a guy, but I’m not a complete lightweight and my sword weighs at least half as much as I do.
When I reached my blade a minute or two later, I discovered that it was very thoroughly jammed into the rock-hard ice. Ever try to wriggle free an immoveable object with one hand while holding onto what amounts to a string with the other? Yeah – a little tough to get any leverage. It took several minutes of creative cursing to free it, all the while being highly conscious of the several hundred feet of crevasse yawning beneath my boots. Once it was safely in my hand, I considered how best to do this. It was one helluva long way up, ShinRa was lurking, there was a storm coming and my best friend’s life was in danger, so no pressure.
Right.
Reaching up above my head, I rammed the tip of the blade into the blue-green wall. “Pull!” The resulting yank brought me just above the hilt; I reached down, tugged it free and again drove it into the ice above my head. The entire manoeuvre was easier said than done, considering I was suspended on the end of a quivering, flexible rope, but I managed – at least until I reached the spot where the crevasse widened. “Cid! You’re gonna have to pull the combined weight ‘cause I can’t reach the sides!”
“No problem, boss.”
I wondered how he managed to sound almost cheery, but figured I’d find out soon enough as the distance between me and the surface continued to lessen with reassuring speed. I was about ten feet below the edge when there was a warning shout; driving the sword into the crevasse wall, I managed to swing myself onto the flat of the blade just before the rope slackened.
Straining my ears, I listened to Cid’s yells punctuated by loud howls and wondered what the hell was going on. Snow and ice shards shook loose and rained down on me; I was glad for the protection offered by my hooded parka. There was a crackling blast that certainly sounded like one of Nanaki’s fire attacks and then a high-pitched yelp was brutally cut off, before the rope tightened so fast that I nearly ended up hanging upside down by my boot. Grabbing my sword, I held on for dear life as I was yanked up over the edge of the hole and unhappily discovered that we had more than just hypothermia and ShinRa to worry about. “What the hell is that?”
Nanaki ceased circling the smoking carcass. “I believe it is known as a Bandersnatch, and I suspect they travel in packs. We must hurry back to the others.”
“Goddammit - is there any good news?” Cid snarled, carefully coiling his rope.
“Yeah. We can’t get lost,” I said, settling my sword on my back.
“How’s that?”
“Because my Sephi-radar keeps pulling north.”
“At least the fucking asshole’s good for somethin’.”
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
A few hours later, the situation was definitely much worse. We’d found our way out of the tangled maze of the ruined forest only to be spotted by a ShinRa chopper. Making a run for it with only two operating snow machines and two team members down for the count wasn’t a great decision, but it was the only reasonable one open to us at the time. Tifa and Yuffie had been packed into the two remaining sledges; Nanaki had somehow managed to activate and control the Fire materia using his own magic and the heated orb was tucked into the fur blankets over Tifa’s chest while he cuddled with Yuffie in the other sledge. Cid drove one machine, while Barret and I led on the other; Vincent scouted ahead. I’ll admit to another moment of screaming frustration – inside my head – when Barret confided that there was only one Phoenix Down left. The spike of despair I felt was immediately followed by a brittle cackle as Sephiroth apparently enjoyed the situation; I mentally told him what he could do with the Masamune. Shoving the possibility of having to choose between Tifa’s or Yuffie’s lives into the back of my mind, I concentrated on staying out of crevasses while searching for cover.
We only lost the shadowing chopper for good when the wind picked up in the late afternoon and blowing snow became a problem for both the aircrew and us. Cid’s rope came in handy again; we tied the snow machines together so we wouldn’t become separated in the near-whiteout conditions. We were trying to reach what Vincent thought was a snow cave in a humped-up section of the surface ice when the blizzard hit.
And then the Bandersnatches began harrying us.
I pulled my Ifrit materia out of Tifa’s knapsack, because the creatures’ reactions to Nanaki’s fire attacks made it clear they were vulnerable to the element, but after the first couple of charges were repulsed by him alone, they never showed themselves in a big enough pack to make Summoning worthwhile. Instead, they would lurk in twos and threes, their glowing eyes the only thing visible in the murk just before they lunged out of the storm. The sledge carrying Tifa was their main target, probably because they thought they could sense an easy meal. The first ones who tried got bellyfuls of lead courtesy of Barret, and then Nanaki finished them off from his position in the second sledge.
They almost took out Cid when we had to go single-file over an ice bridge, but Vincent appeared out of the howling storm and blew away the attackers. “We’re almost there!” he shouted over the wind, but I got lost in the whirling snowflakes and we ended up in a box canyon, hemmed in on three sides by ice-covered monoliths. When we turned around, the pack was waiting, their slavering jaws visible in the fitful light of the snow machines’ lamps.
Fumbling for the Ifrit materia, I pulled down my cowl to tell the others to stay back when abruptly, the Bandersnatches vanished in a massive wall of flame that lit up the snowscape with fantastical shadows… and utterly destroyed our night vision. Vincent was the only one apparently unaffected; while the rest of us cursed and fell back, he strode forward with his gun in his hand.
Three close-set points of light appeared out of the blowing snow, moving inexorably towards us. Vincent allowed it to approach until it arrived in our headlights, revealing a squat, heavy-set figure wearing a large-barrel flamethrower and a tank on its back, which showed how the Bandersnatches had been vanquished. Gloved hands pulled back a battered leather hood, revealing a shock of white hair, a powerful triple-lens headlamp and thick goggles above an even thicker moustache.
“You the Strife Party?”
Hearing my name out of a complete stranger’s mouth in the middle of a blizzard was too much. While I gaped, Barret growled, “Who wants ta know?”
“You have injured, right?”
“Maybe,” Cid snapped. “Who the hell are ya?”
“Gerhard Holzoff, at your service.” He bowed awkwardly in his heavy gear. “You’d better come with me if you wish to save your companions’ lives.”
Ô Ô Ô Ô Ô
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