Chocobo's Final Fantasy Haven
Ray Pang
Story
Story
Story |
CHAPTER IVONE BIG HAPPY FAMILYThey
reached Icicle Inn early that evening. After they had settled
in they all gathered around the fireplace in the lobby to
dicuss their strategy for the next morning's search. "Godo
told me that Yuffie was searching in the great glacier area
when she disappeared," Cloud said. "But he doesn't
know exactly where she was. It's a big area to search, so
we'll have to split up into teams. Reno, you take Rude and
Elena and search the western portion of the glacier. Barret,
you take Tifa and Red and search the eastern. I'll take Aeris
and Cait and search the central area." Reno
looked at him thoughtfully but said nothing. Elena and Tifa
both seemed to want to say something, but neither one spoke.
Cid looked at him. "What
about Vincent and I?" he asked. "You
take the Slipstream and do an airial reconnaissance. You may
see something from the air that we would miss on the
ground." Cid
nodded. "We'll
all work our way north through the glacier and meet at Mr.
Holozoff's cabin when we've completed our search. If we don't
find anything, we'll tackle the Gaea cliffs the next day. Any
questions?" He
looked at each of them in turn, but no one spoke. "All
right," he said. "Then I suggest we all relax for a
while. Just remember that we have a long day ahead of us
tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest." "Thanks,
Dad," Elena couldn't help but say. Cloud
looked at her for a moment, but then smiled. "Okay,
I guess I kind of deserved that." The
party split up. The Turks walked over to the bar and sat down.
Reno ordered them all drinks. Elena sat beside him, glaring at
him angrily. "It's
bad enough we have to work with them," she spit out,
"but do we have to take orders from Cloud as well. Who's
the boss here, anyway?" Reno
sighed and turned to look at her. "We
are not taking orders from Cloud," he said patiently.
"But it would be foolish to quarrel over every move we
make. That would just slow us down, and the sooner we finish
this mission the sooner we get paid and get rid of them.
Besides, what he said made sense." The
waiter came over and placed their drinks in front of them.
Elena picked hers up and quickly drained it. She banged it
back down on the counter and glared at Reno. "I
know a lot of unpleasent things about you," she said
accusingly, "but I never realized before that you were
such a wuss!" She
got up and stalked away. Reno
raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Rude, who seemed
completely undisturbed by the entire conversation. "She
seems a bit upset," he observed. "Umm."
Reno
looked at Rude for a moment. "You
didn't know we were going to be working with Cloud," he
said finally. "How come you didn't look surprised when we
met them?" Rude
took a leisurly swig from his glass, then set it down. "Nothing
surprises me," he answered with a shrug. Elena
headed for an empty table in a dark corner of the bar as far
away from the others as she could find and sat down. Damn
Reno, she thought. Why did he always have to be so smug? He
should have warned them ahead of time who they would be
working with. They were Turks, weren't they supposed to stick
together? She
took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. The
worst part of it was, he was right, she was letting her
emotions get in the way. But she couldn't help it. The pay was
good, yes, but it wasn't everything. Reno had known people who
died in the reactor blasts too, didn't he feel anything for
them? She didn't think she could ever be that cold blooded. "Looks
like you're having a difficult time with this." She
jumped up and turned to see a dark figure sitting at a table
right beside her's. Anger
blazed in her eyes, and for a moment Vincent thought she was
going to shout at him, but then it passed, and she sat back
down again slowly. "Please
don't scare me like that," she said wearily. She really
didn't feel like taking to anyone right now, but of all the
people in Cloud's party, Vincent was the one she disliked the
least. After all, he hadn't had anything to do with blowing up
the reactors in Midgar, and he had once been a Turk. "Sorry,"
he said. "I do seem to have that effect on people." Elena
looked over to where Reno and Rude were sitting at the bar,
but they had their backs to her now. "Sometimes
it's hard being a Turk," she said. "I never realized
how difficult it would be." "Nothing
of value is ever obtained easily," Vincent replied. "Oh,
please," she responded, shaking her head. "The last
thing I need to hear is some philisophical nonsense." She
looked at him with a tinge of anger, but he returned her look
unflinchingly with his piercing gaze. She quickly turned away.
"Very
well, I'll be blunt," he said. "Stop feeling sorry
for yourself. So you lost a few friends in a reactor
explosion, you think that gives you a monopoly on pain and
suffering? You don't know the half of it. I've seen things
happen to people I loved that would make your hair stand on
end. In fact I'd say it's a safe bet to say that everyone in
our entire party has suffered more than you have, and none of
them are whining about it. You want me to be straightforward
with you, well than here it is in a nutshell. Life sucks. Get
used to it." Elena's
mouth fell open, and for a long time she just stared at him.
Then she closed her mouth and a small smile appeared on her
lips. Finally, someone who spoke his mind and didn't sugarcoat
it. "Much
as I hate to quote Cloud," she said, "but I guess I
deserved that." She
stood up. "What
are you drinking?" she asked. "In the spirit of
newfound cooperation between our two parties, it's on
me." Barret
sat at the far end of the bar, as far from Reno and Rude as he
could get, and stared gloomily at the wall while cradling his
drink in his hands. He couldn't believe they were actually
cooperating with the Turks. He
felt someone come up beside him and turned to see Tifa slide
into the barstood next to him. The bartender came over and
looked at her. "Whatever
he's having," she said despondantly, indicating Barret's
drink. He
looked at her, and from the look on her face it was obvious
she was no more happy with the situation than he. The
bartender returned with her drink. She gulped down half of it
and then put it down, staring gloomily in the direction of
Reno and Rude. But
she was looking past Reno and Rude. Cloud, Aeris and Red were
sitting together near the fireplace, talking quietly. She
couldn't help but notice how close together Cloud and Aeris
were sitting. She
took another gulp from her drink. I'm
being a jerk, she thought. It was foolish to be jealous, but
she just couldn't help it. She loved Aeris like a sister, and
was truely happy to have her back, but it was making things
difficult. "I
don't see how they expect us to get along with the
Turks," Barret grumbled beside her. "Umm,"
she said distractedly. She knew Cloud cared for Aeris, but she
didn't really know whether he looked on her as just a friend
or something more. She certainly would never have asked Cloud
so blunt a question, and she hadn't asked Aeris. She
shook her head. The real reason why she hadn't asked Aeris is
that she was afraid of what Aeris might answer. They hadn't
seemed that close since Aeris resurrection, but maybe she had
just missed it. Why had he chosen her to go with him on the
search tomorrow? "In
spite of what Cloud might think," Barret continued.
"I don't trust them. I'm sure they'd turn on us and Godo
in a minute if they saw any profit in it. How do we know what
they would do if someone else offered them more gil than Godo
is paying them?" Tifa
turned to look at Barret and sighed. "Barret,
I love you and all, but sometimes the company of someone is
all the comfort a person needs. So do me a favor and just shut
up!" "I
never thought we’d end up working with the Turks,"
Cloud said. Red,
who was lying on the floor in front of the fire, turned his
head to look at him. "I’ve
a feeling that is going to be the main topic of conversation
for some time to come," he said. Cloud
turned to look at Aeris. Of all of them, she seemed the least
disturbed about the situation. "They’ve
been hounding you for most of your life, Aeris," he said.
"It doesn’t bother you?" She
shook her head. "It’s
like you said earlier," she replied. "That was a
long time ago and things have changed. There is no more
Shinra. The Turks don’t have any reason to be after me any
more." Cloud
shrugged. Not only had the Turks been persecuting her, they
also had a hand in the death of both of her parents. Aeris had
as much reason, if not more, than any of them to hate the
Turks. "You’re
more forgiving than I," he said softly. He wasn’t about
to forget their battles with the Turks, but he was willing to
work with them if necessary. "I
think forgiveness would be too much to ask from any of
us," Red stated. "I think what we should be shooting
for here is tolerance, and even that may be difficult for some
of us," he continued, glancing over at the bar. "It
won’t do any of us, or the mission, any good if we start
fighting among ourselves. You don’t think Barret will do
anything foolish, do you?" Cloud
followed Red’s gaze. He could see Barret and Tifa at the
bar, both silently looking at their glasses. "No,"
he replied. "Barret can be a hot head, but he won’t
jeopordize the mission. Besides, Tifa knows how to keep him in
line." He
looked over at Aeris once again and saw that she was staring
off into space with a far away look in her eye. "Aeris?"
She
did not answer. Her mouth moved as if she were talking to
someone, but no words came out. He realized she was communing
with the planet, and he sat back and left her alone. He often
had to remind himself that Aeris was no ordinary girl, but the
last of an ancient race. Even after all this time he still
couldn’t get used to some of the things she did, and
frankly, this talking to the planet thing kind of freaked him
out a little. Red
looked at Aeris and understood as well. They waited in an
uncomfortable silence for a while, until Aeris finally turned
to look at them. "The
planet feels danger," she said. "What
sort of danger?" Cloud asked. "I
can’t say," she replied. She looked at them in silence
for a moment, as if searching for the right words. "It’s
hard to explain. It’s like, if you are alone in a dark
house, and you feel like something is in the closet. There’s
no real reason to believe anything it there. It’s just a
feeling. So you walk over and look in the closet, and it’s
empty, but you still feel like something is there, or
something should be there. I can feel the sense of danger, but
nothing is wrong." She
looked at him to see if he understood, but his furrowed brow
told her that he didn’t. "I’m
sorry," she said. "I’m afraid I just can’t put
it into words." She
stood up. "I’m
going up to my room." Without
another word she walked away. Cloud watched her disappear up
the stair. He looked at Red, but neither one spoke for a long
time. "I’m
worried about her," he said finally. "How
so?" Red questioned. "There’s
no doubt in my mind that we’re going to run into trouble
somewhere along the line," Cloud continued. "Maybe
as early as tomorrow when we start our search. It’s going to
be difficult for us without the use of our materia, but for
Aeris in particular. I know she’s a wiz with magic but her
hand to hand skills are the weakest among us. I’m afraid she
might get hurt." Red
looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded. "Is
that why you made sure she goes with you tomorrow, to keep an
eye on her?" "Yes,"
Cloud replied. "To tell you the truth I’d feel safer if
she didn’t come at all, but I know she wouldn’t go along
with that." "I
think you might be underestimating her," Red said.
"But if you really feel that way, maybe you should send
her with Cid in the Slipstream. She should be safe enough
there." "I
thought about that too," Cloud answered. "But if
she’s going at all, I think it would be better if she’s
someplace I can keep an eye on her." Red
shrugged. "If
that’s the way you feel. But I wouldn’t worry about her
too much. She’s been through a lot, more than any of us, and
she’s come out of it all right. She just may surprise
you." "I
suppose," Cloud replied, sitting back on the couch.
"I guess we’ll find out soon enough."
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Author: Frank Verderosa, all rights reserved. |