Learning How To Breathe
By Faronon Star Wolf
22/?
Wordcount: 1965
So, when someone whispers for you to come to them, you just don't, right? Especially if you can't see them.
Okay, so we agree about that. Good to know. But, Cloud? His logic is not real-person logic. He stalked toward where the voice came from.
We, of course, followed. Couldn't just let Spikes get skewered because some creep was hiding in the shadows and whispering suggestive things in our ears, right?--okay, maybe not suggestive, but... On a creep scale of one through ten? Fourteen, I'm serious.
So, a few steps into the room, and then the general feeling of wrongness kicks it up a notch. I winced at a brush of thoughts and feelings--splendid--a treasure house of knowledge--and cold dark hatred. It only grew stronger as someone seemed to fade--fade?--into sight.
You know, I really don't like to remember this part. But it's not for this--it's because of what happened after.
But... I guess I might as well continue.
Cloud went up and confronted white-haired dude. White-haired dude is obviously completely out of his mind.
I mean, becoming one with the planet? Get real.
So we listened to Crazy White-haired Dude for a while longer (really, I tuned out what he was saying so I wouldn't do something stupid--like, say, grabbing Aeris' whackstick and beating him over the head with it--that sword was longer than Cloud's! I didn't want to be Yuffie-on-a-stick.), and then we had to fight a dragon.
I don't like dragons. Never have.
After the fight, Cloud went a bit...off. Though "a bit" really means "a lot", and "off" just isn't strong enough when it comes to talking about someone who's almost cackling like a maniac. And as we stared at him, he started to mumble to himself, staring at one of the paintings on the wall.
"Cloud...?" Aeris called, looking concerned. She stepped nearer, to join Tifa where she stood a few steps away from Cloud.
"I remember," Cloud-the-weirdo said. It was almost hysterical, when you came right down to it--he sounded like he was on the edge of tears. "I remember. I remember now."
"Cloud." This time it was Tifa's turn to try to get his attention, but even with the two of them standing there he didn't respond for a while.
"What?" he finally asked. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing," Aeris replied, sounding troubled. Oh, sure--don't worry about going insane, we're all crazy here! "Sephiroth--he's gone, Cloud."
"I know," Cloud replied, back in his I Don't Care About You People mode. "So... what's this Black Materia that he was talking about? Where can we find it?"
"I don't know," Aeris replied, but she looked around. Neither of them seemed to notice that Tifa had pulled away and was watching both of them suspiciously. Cloud, because of his little freak out, I guess, but I don't know why she was looking at Aeris like that. Not that I cared or anything--I just came because I owed Aeris! Debt isn't just canceled because the person you owe thought that you betrayed them! "I can ask the spirits of the temple, though."
Cloud nodded, then looked over at me. "Yuffie, see what you can sense."
"What? No way!" I wasn't bitter about the whole Keystone thing, really--well, okay, yeah, I was--but that wasn't all of it. "This is were Tseng got skewered, isn't it? There's no way--"
"Oh, really?" Aeris murmured, a distant look on her face. "I didn't realize that was why... Thank you." Turning to face Cloud, she spoke, and while she was smiling, it wasn't real. It wasn't that bright, easy smile that she had always had. It was forced. "The temple... the temple is the Black Materia."
"So? What do we have to do?" Cloud said, starting off towards the end of the room. "This thing has something to do with it, doesn't it? I mean..." As they walked off, their voices grew quieter--of course, why should they let us hear what they're discussing? We're--er, the others--are just followers. (Me, of course, not having any part in the matter.)
Hah! I say.
In any case, while they went and did their thing, I sat down next to the wall. Red had settled himself across the hall.
It was quiet for a while--it's not like I have much to say to the others, aside from Vincent, and none of them had much to say to me, apparently.
Eventually, though, the silence (relative, anyway--we could still hear Cloud and Aeris talking, but not what they were saying) was broken. Barret had been rubbing his gunarm, and finally he swore.
"Goddamn itch," he muttered, glaring down at the metal.
I blinked. "Uh..."
"Phantom pain," Cid replied. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and shook it until a cigarette came out, but he didn't light it--instead, he just rolled it between his fingers.
Barret was nodding--I guess in response to what Cid said--and he'd gone back to rubbing his arm.
"Okay... so what does that mean?"
Cid rolled his eyes. "If you lose a limb, your body still thinks it's there. So anything that would happen if it was still there ends up happening even if it isn't."
Even though I couldn't figure out how that would work--if you lose a hand, it's gone, right? So why would you feel stuff in it...?--I just left it, and looked for the other missing-hand-guy.
Vinnie was standing in a corner (did he give himself a timeout?), and he was scowling slightly--I don't know why, though. His expression lightened a bit when he noticed I was looking at him. Which was probably a good thing, because I was perfectly prepared to call him an emotard.
What? He is!
Anyway, while he wasn't looking pissy, he didn't look happy. He only lightened up in the matter that it didn't look so much like a storm cloud.
Speaking of Cloud--
"I've got the answer to your problem," Cait Sith said, hopping over to Cloud and Aeris. "You need someone to solve the puzzle, right? I'll do it."
"What--"
"This body's just a robot, remember--there's already another Cait Sith up and ready to go, so don't worry about me! I'll be back in two shakes of--of Red's tail!" Cait boasted. Looking down towards the end of the room, I noticed everyone else was starting to drift in the general direction of Cloud, Aeris, and Cait Sith. Making a face, I got up and joined the flow.
"Why are you willing to do this?" Cloud asked suspiciously. I don't blame him.
"I have my own reasons for wanting to find Sephiroth," Cait Sith said, dropping into that deeper, creepy-from-a-cat-robot human voice again. "But," he said, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped as he slipped back into the voice I'd gotten used to hearing, "take it or leave it! Just keep in mind that Sephiroth might have followers he can waste to get the Black Materia."
And with that, he went hopping off to the other end of the room, leaving a cluster of people and a vampire boy and a liondogthing staring at each other.
"I don't trust him," I announced after a brief pause. "He could do--I don't know, something to mess us up."
"He betrayed you, and you betrayed us. I don't see what the fucking deal is," Cid grumbled, fumbling out another cigarette. I gave both him and his smelly cancer stick a dirty look.
"I stole your Materia. I didn't trick you into rushing into a lifetime--however long that would last--commitment as a labrat." Cid coughed and looked away. I glared at him for a few more minutes before turning back to the discussion.
It didn't take long for them to decide. And of course, they were all trusting like and decided to let Cait Sith do what he wanted. And I didn't bother even trying to change their minds.
I still didn't trust him, though.
After we'd--well, they--decided, we all turned to face Cait Sith, and he immediately bounced over. Well, that wasn't anything new--he always bounces. I think it has something to do with Mog's legs being too short to walk on--but anyway, he was bouncing more than usual. And he had a big wide grin on his cat face.
"Don't tell me what you've decided yet," he said, still with that disturbing grin on his face. "?Cause I'm going to tell your fortunes!" Cloud opened his mouth to reply, but Cait just started to--um, dance is a misleading word, but I don't know what else to call what he did, so...
Finally he stopped, and struck a pose. "See, I took all the names for everyone and I inputted them into a program that I made because--well, long story short, it goes through and chooses the best match for a person. And Cloud, you're first!" Mog's mouth opened as Cait reach down and pulled out a piece of paper. "Now, see, you're most compatible...with..." Trailing off as he looked at the paper, the cat robot frowned. "Now that's odd." He crumbled the paper up and threw it aside, doing his "dance" again.
And while he was doing that, I snuck over and grabbed the paper. And snickered.
Why? Because Cloud had everyone on his list.
--
After a few more failed attempts at getting a "reasonable" list of compatibility for Cloud, Cait Sith gave up and just went on to fortunes. And even there he had trouble getting stuff to make sense. (I mean, Vincent, getting "You are headed for a land of sunshine"? What the crap.)
Finally he got around to me ("You stand in your own light. Let it shine."), and paused. With a small frown on his face, he cocked his head to the side. "Yuffie, when you get the chance... head to Wutai."
"What? Why?" It took me a second to realize he was in my face--why?--my hand was locked in the collar that held his cape up--
His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. "I had the Turks deliver something as an apology, but if you're going to treat me like this, maybe I should just take it back..."
Staring at him, I forced myself to take a deep breath, and lowered him back down onto Mog's head--my arm was shaking--convinced my fingers to release him. "If anyone is hurt--anyone--I am going to hunt you down and kill you," I hissed.
"Why," Cait Sith started, his voice as low and angry as mine, "are you so sure it's something bad?"
"Why should I think it isn't?" I took a breath to continue, but--
"Yuffie--Cait Sith--just--just stop, okay?" Tifa said, rubbing her forehead, and I glared at the robot for a bit longer before turning away.
Cloud explained the decision and then we tromped off, leaving catthing to do whatever. And we went on our merry way, o'er weirdly connected caves and clock, and fought some kind of door monster.
I've got no freaking clue what the hell was up with that thing.
And so we stood outside and waited as Cait Sith babbled at us over the phone--"Don't forget me when the new Cait Sith comes"? What the crap. He'll have the same controller--and then with a rumble, the stones of the temple started to glow.
It grew brighter and brighter until I had to look away, and the whole time the rumbling got louder, too--
--and then the silence came.
I know now that it was the calm before the storm.