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The Sins of Two Fathers	By : wickedorin Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 687 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
"The Sins of Two Fathers" and the general overall
concept of "The Sins of Two Fathers" is completely copyright Orin Drake
1999-2005, as are the characters Kyrie and Rodger and some more random
people that don't matter as much. The characters Seifer Almasy, Squall
Leonhart, Quistis Trepe, Ellone (Leonhart?), Laguna Loire and Rinoa "The
Great Big Bitch" Heartily (biased? me?) are copyright Squaresoft, as are
the terms SeeD, gunblade, Trabia Garden, Griever, and probably a lot of
other stuff I forgot to mention. Hell, if you played the game, you
know. Enough said. Oh yeah, and there are plenty of spoilers
everywhere for everything. That about covers it.

        Background:
To be completely honest, I had no idea this was going to turn into a serious
story. I started writing is as a free-for-all squickfic yaoi fan
fantasy, but it got so out of my control that the characters are actually...
endearing. What have I done?! Ah well. Lesse, there's
a real obvious homosexual relationship, but they don't really do anything
in this chapter, so... oh, there's language. You know me, I like
my nasty language, so look out. Angst, I love putting angst everywhere.
That's about it for now. I will warn you, though, that FF characters
actually don't make up a lot of this story, especially not in the beginning.
I will make it up to you all some day. Enjoy.

The Sins of Two Fathers

Chapter 9

by Orin Drake
        "How'd you get back into
this position?" Cloud finally asked.

        Vincent paused from inspecting
the mechanical workings of the claw. "I can't remember."

        Kyrie and Cloud exchanged
a glance. It was a little... unbelievable, that explanation.
Cloud pressed, "You can't remember?"

        The pale man flexed his
metal fingers, noting everything was in order. "No, I can't remember."
He paused, holding back a shiver. "I can't remember anything... after
the Lifestream..."

        The blonde's eyes widened.
"Seriously?" Vincent's dull glare answered, so he continued.
"Well, I remember that I was... I... Hmm." The fact that he
couldn't remember what had happened 1000 years ago wasn't really so surprising,
he assumed. But it still bothered him. Wouldn't he have remembered
where Vincent had gone off too? And Tifa, for that matter?

        Vincent shrugged.
He had another question in mind. "How did you two come to meet?"

        "Her grandfather is my best
custom..." Cloud answered before he realized it. He immediately placed
a hand over his mouth and tried to pretend he wasn't looking to Kyrie for
a reaction.

        Interestingly enough, she
smiled rather suggestively at him. As if she didn't know the sordid
affairs of her own family.

        Such a reaction from the
two of them caused Vincent to become even more curious. "Customer?
You have a business, Cloud?"

        What a circumstance he'd
gotten himself into. Cloud removed his hand from his mouth and started
pretending to adjust his battle gear. "Just a clothing shop."

        "A clothing shop would not
entitle your spontaneous silence." Vincent quipped.

        It was too delicious for
Kyrie to stay out of. Especially considering Cloud had her cut up
her fingers upon the insistence his hands were too big. She held
back a comment about his very feminine hands then, but she could hold no
more. As innocently as she could manage, she inquired, "It's a women's
clothing shop, isn't it, Cloud?"

        As the blonde's composure
faded and he cast her an unwelcoming look, Vincent got the picture.
He wanted to laugh. It came out as a nearly silent cough of
a chuckle, but the intent of the sound was clear. "That only explains
so much..."

        Cloud took a deep breath,
uncertain if he could utter the name at all. "Sephiroth."

        Vincent's eyes sharpened,
and his chest felt tight. That name. That fucking name.
It hurt just to hear it, and old rage flared in his blood. "I see."
He took another long gaze at Kyrie, trying not to appear to be staring
quite so intensely at her.

        But she did see.
She couldn't miss those eyes. "He... 'abducted' me."

        Curiosity and... well, growing
rage ignited subtly in his eyes. Any number of things could happen
when Sephiroth got hold of something he desired. Rarely were any
of these things good. He didn't know her, didn't have the time to
feel her out, but she did... feel, as far as he could tell, "alright".
Cloud seemed fond enough of her, and not even in that way.

        "Nothing really happened."
She felt the odd need to reassure him.

        "Is that what you'd
call those bruises?" Cloud scoffed quietly, begging to differ.

        She shot him a delicate,
friendly "shut the hell up" look. "Better than it could have been."

        Vincent swallowed, waiting
for a further explanation. When he got none, he assumed Kyrie had
been right. If she wasn't ripped wide open, chances were that it
wasn't that serious--yet. First thing was first. "We must get
out of here. Then we will decide what comes next."

        "Good idea." The blonde
agreed.

        And, of course, it was then
that fate--or destiny, or whatever other fucked up idea of the workings
of the universe--had decided to step in and take control. There was
a click. A very loud click. The three of them all seemed to
have the same idea at the same time; the latch for the door. Had
it been on a timer, perhaps? An instant later, before any of them
had the time to so much as react with more than a breath, the door--their
only way out--slammed shut in an earth-shaking, heart-wrenching thunk.

        Silence. Utter, bitter
silence. None of them could believe what had just transpired, not
at first. It was... nightmarish. It was insane. Trapped
deep in the earth. In a little room. Luckily the flame had
managed to hold onto the lamp and continue to burn, but... they began to
wonder how long it would take for the oxygen to be used up. Maybe
Vincent didn't need a "normal" amount, but two humans plus a flame...

        "Oh, we can always go back,
right?" Cloud joked just a little bit recklessly.

        That's when he experienced
the patented Kyrie Glare; one that by far rivaled both of her parents.
She had this look that could freeze you, kill you; stop you in your
godforsaken tracks. Her eyes were just eyes one moment, then bullets
the next. He had seen something similar in Vincent in days long since
passed, but assumed it was never quite as strong since there was no feminine--alright,
less
feminine--"energy" behind Vincent's gory looks.

        Cloud glanced away from
the red daggers aimed his direction and took just a second to see what
Vincent was doing. He blinked. Several times. Vincent
was almost smiling at those wicked eyes, while he was feeling very much
uncomfortable in their path. Smiling. That... bastard.
If he didn't know any better, Cloud would swear she was Vincent's
child.

        Left with no other options,
the three of them began searching for the counter switch on the inside.
If there was such a thing. It was clear, deep in their minds, that
Vincent had been placed in this room to remain in the room.
Each pressed brick and darker shadow that did not give under their pressing/pounding/punching
carved away at the delicate faith in ever seeing sunlight again.

        When two of the four walls
were completely cleared of harboring any passages or switches, that little
bit of faith they held fell quite a bit lower. It was a narrow line
to walk; on one side, they knew they ought to hurry so they could get the
hell out before they had nothing left to breathe (even Vincent could only
survive so long). On the other hand, if they were to hurry too much
they may have to take another full sweep of the room, so it may be best
to take their time the first time around. Either way, the oxygen
issue was clear. Not to mention the sheer terror that would slowly
creep into them if they didn't keep their mind off of the possibilities.

        Four walls. From top
to bottom. And nothing. As Cloud began to take another forcefully
calm look at the first wall, Kyrie paused and stared at the coffin.
Could it... could they have missed..? She walked over to it's edge
and crouched down, staring.

        Cloud noticed her curiosity
then, deciding to take the lamp over to her. It was an idea, alright.
The best one they had at the moment.

        With the light clearly shining
right into the space between the floor and the coffin... "Bingo."
She announced with certainly. The coffin was raised a bit further
than it should have been if it were sitting on a flat floor. Not
much, granted, but certainly enough to be suspicious. Something
was under it, though as to whether it was going to help them or not...

        But it was certainly worth
trying. Especially now; there was just a touch of lightheaded dizziness
going around. With Vincent's help, they slid the coffin off to a
corner quite easily; revealing a small embedded stone switch underneath.
Very slowly, without any added weight on top of it, it began to raise up
with a grinding sound underneath.

        Then everything jerked;
as if the entire room was being shaken. Weirder still, after the
initial jerk there was the distinct feeling of rotation, of turning, and
stone grinding against stone rattled off the walls. At first they
had wondered if they were just having some sort of psychotic episode, but
it became agonizingly clear that the whole room was moving. Sure
as hell didn't help the dizziness factor, though.

        As the resonating grinding
reached a volume so high they were forced to place their hands over their
ears, the stone floor itself vibrating, there was another loud, crashing
click. All motion stopped, the sound taking a moment to silence,
a few more seconds to die out completely. The door that had previously
been impossible to open lifted slowly, exposing another long, dark hallway.

        Kyrie took a deep breath--and
was almost instantly sorry. The air in this opening reminded her
of a tomb. It was far from fresh, to put it lightly. Like no
one had been here in hundreds of years... the thought sent a shiver down
her spine. Now where the hell were headed? Granted, though,
they certainly couldn't stay where they were. She glanced at Cloud,
mentally shoving him ahead.

        He wasn't exceptionally
grateful for that look. But he had similar ideas. It seemed
far better to explore the obvious option presented in front of them than
stay and see what happens. Besides, even though the hallway was low
and narrow, it felt a little less claustrophobic than the room. Vincent
was quick to follow, just wanting to go somewhere, anywhere, and preferably
far away.

        It turned out that the hallway
only went so far before turning sharply left, slamming right into a very
steep stairway. Up. Up was good. Up was where they wanted
to go. Maybe this was an alternative way out. Yes, yes, that
was a nice thought. One to hold on to for dear fucking life.

        Taking the first step, Cloud
felt his foot sink just a little. Not even time to swallow
nervously; the door to the room they'd just exited slammed shut once again.
But this time... this time their luck had appeared to run out. The
flame from the lamp held for only a second, then disappeared completely.

        "Oh mother fu--" Cloud started.

        "-Cker." Kyrie finished
gently.

        Vincent swallowed, trying
to get his eyes to adjust. He knew he used to be able to see
basic shapes in the pitch darkness. But it'd been a long time, obviously.
He hoped he hadn't lost the essential ability. It would really
come in quite handy right now... Blinking, focussing, concentrating
on that endless field of blackness...

        "Vincent?" Cloud asked,
not having heard anything from him.

        "Hold on." He responded,
getting a little response from his pupils. He could just barely make
out the two forms next to him. "I think I can lead us out."

        Kyrie was damn glad to hear
that. As much as she enjoyed the dark... she didn't enjoy it this
dark, let alone this far under the surface of the earth that she also so
enjoyed. This was... not right. She'd have laughed at those
that had the fear of being buried alive before. Not anymore.

        Vincent took a breath and
carefully climbed behind Cloud, testing a few stairs on the way.
"Can either of you see anything?"

        "Not a thing." Kyrie
responded distantly. It was very eerie. No sight at all, not
even movement. But her sense of hearing already appeared to be magnifying;
or perhaps that was just the very mild terror adrenaline and the stone
walls. Either way, she could hear Vincent's steps clearly, and even
the gentle swoosh-rattle of his clothing.

        "Me either." Cloud
added, trying not to get nervous. He'd been in far worse situations
than this, he reminded himself. There was no reason to worry.
Of course, Vincent wasn't armed... but he and Kyrie were. They'd
be alright. Hopefully.

        "Can you follow?" the pale
man inquired, his eyes finally picking up more than mere shapes.
It was sort of like seeing in dim shades of black and white, but it was
far better than nothing.

        "Yeah." The blonde
tried to answer with certainly.

        Vincent looked back at Kyrie,
seeing her close her eyes and take a deep, steadying breath. She
wasn't usually afraid of the dark or claustrophobic; but of course the
events of the past few minutes had made her rethink her fears, really.
Well, fear it was not. It was more of a very confused, nervous,
ready energy. In the end, she had to put full trust into Cloud and
his old friend. That was weird. Her instincts weren't blatantly
telling her it was a bad idea, however (they were being very passive, if
anything). She merely wasn't used to handing her life over to anyone.

        "Hold to the right wall."
Vincent ordered simply, advancing slowly. He'd have to make certain
all of these steps held before the others got to them. A fall in
the dark would not be good, obviously.

        Cold, dark, quiet save echoing
footsteps. An odd experience. One Kyrie had never wondered
about. For some reason, she'd simply chosen to bring up the rear.
Every once in a while she'd ghost Cloud's hand with her fingertips as it
lingered to make sure she was still safe behind him, but it seemed there
was some... mutual trust at work, here. Again, it wasn't unwelcome;
just very strange.

        No real conversation.
Just climbing, turning, dipping, climbing. With every sharp change
of direction Vincent would tell them where to reach or to take very slow
steps, but that was about it. The two blind wanderers in the dark
could do little more than keep going. Frustrating.

        While it had initially been
astoundingly eerie, after however the hell long they'd been climbing (her
legs had begun to ache frequently, so it had to have been at least an hour's
worth of ups, downs and turns) it had begun to feel a little more... steady.
Still far from "natural", but not so bad. Step after step, then a
long flat surface, then usually a few more steps before an odd turn or
two. The tunnels were beginning to feel like a maze. Or a very
wide circle. Not a pleasant thought to have for a blind wanderer.

        But Vincent had been blessed
with natural directional skills (toned fully thanks to his stay with the
Turks). He knew they were headed in an almost spiral direction, but
it was upward. They were aimed for the surface, alright, but most
likely in a mountainous area. How he knew this he wasn't entirely
sure, but it just... felt like it. Otherwise, his logic insisted,
they'd have already reached the surface by now.

        Long after her legs had
ceased to feel anything like they were attached to her body, Vincent stopped
them to take a momentary rest. In truth, all three of them were a
little out of sorts here. Cloud hadn't walked this far in hundreds
of years. Vincent had been laying in a coffin for a thousand years,
for Hyne's sake. And Kyrie... well, she could kick like a mule but
walking up and down stairs in slightly heeled boots was getting way too
hard. It was a short rest, but a very useful one. Without a
word, they picked up again and began to climb. Several twists, turns
and popping joints later, their journey began to pay off.

        Finally, a pinprick
of light in the distance burned their eyes, just around the corner.
Right up ahead, not too terribly far. Vincent's eyes had already
began to make out color and detail as they marched onward, insistent upon
seeing natural light once more before they passed out. Just a mile
or so up ahead in a very easily sloping path, crumbling from obvious years
of water damage and temperature change.

        Even with the time they
had to adjust to the light, when they were just a few yards from the low
mouth of the cave they all had to shade their eyes. Bright, light,
sunshine, fresh air... it was very close to strange considering where they'd
just been spending so much of their time.

        Squatting just enough to
make it out into the world without bumping her head, Kyrie darted out of
the tunnel with the rest of her strength and plopped down, dead on her
ass, on a flat rock outside. Before anything else, before she even
bothered to look at where she was in relation to the world, she took a
deep, almost painful breath of fresh, lively air. Then and only then
did she survey her surroundings.

        Vincent's thoughts had been
accurate; they were situated on a cliff not too terribly far away from
the inn where all of this shit began (Kyrie could just make it out down
there). It was definitely starting to look like the Winhill area,
given the landscape. Sure they weren't in one of the highest points
of the surrounding area, but she could see enough. Getting her bearings
would take a little longer, though.

        "Well?" Cloud prodded.

        "Southern Galbadia."
She confirmed. "But I'm not quite sure about... anything else.
I haven't been here since I was nine or so."

        Vincent nodded distantly,
taking a seat a few feet away. A moment's rest wasn't such a bad
idea. Cloud had already decided to stretch out flat on his back.

        The bright sunlight and
need of more information drove Kyrie to pull the solar powered computer
from her pocket. Facing it directly toward the sunlight--nothing
happened. Just for the hell of it, she faced it away from the sunlight.
Still nothing, of course. She shook the little device back and forth
before rubbing it against the side of her jeans. Again she pointed
the reflective surface in all directions, sending rays of sunlight every
which way. "Solar powered..." she murmured. "Can't get more
sun than this... piece of crap..."

        Vincent silently commented
to himself, watching her out of the corner of his eye, that technology
hadn't really changed all that much. The smaller, faster and more
efficient something became, the more problems it would give you.
The Turks used to have a funny little rhyming name for things like that,
but he couldn't remember it. Nor did he entirely wish to.

        Kyrie pulled her arm back,
ready to throw the goddamned thing off of the cliff--but paused.
Sure it had never worked since the day it was given to her. But it
was a memorial sort of thing. Of what, she didn't really know.
Maybe of the fact she may be able to seek government protection.
That is, if the computer actually worked and could prove she was who she
said she was. Who knows, maybe one day she could actually get it
to work. With a soft, slightly annoyed sigh, she put the piece of
crap back in her pocket.

        Movement. Just out
of the corner of her eye. Not too far off in the distance, sort of
coming their direction. Upon closer inspection of what appeared at
first to have been a creature with a hunched back, she knew exactly what
it was. And it was worse. It was a drifter. She hated
dealing with drifters. They were all thieves, all of them.
That's how they made their living, in fact. They stole what they
could (stores, camp sites, occasionally mugging), and charged an arm and
a leg out of people who needed said things.

        Cloud, who had just a moment
ago been gazing up at the sky, caught Kyrie's change of direction.
He sat up and stared the same direction, catching sight of the same thing.

        "Drifter." She responded
without being asked. "Packed real high."

        Vincent joined their gaze.
While he remembered similar people from "way back when", maybe this wasn't
so bad. "Do you think he'd have a rifle?"

        "I bet he has twenty."
Kyrie commented. "And I bet they're all pricey."

        Cloud checked his pockets
quickly, then sighed. "I didn't bring anything."

        The pale man shook his head
lightly, in a similar situation. He hadn't had need for money in
so long he hardly remembered what it looked like. Though, to be fair,
it wouldn't matter now anyway. The money would have obviously changed
a bit after this long a time.

        Kyrie tried not to look
too disappointed as she dug into her other pocket, already aware it would
be empty. She didn't carry cash, but cash was all a drifter took.
Hell, she didn't even have--but she felt the cold metal of Gil at her fingers.
Swallowing, she pulled out a handful. 3,000 Gil rested in the palm
of her hand. None of it hers. Sephiroth..?

        Vincent tilted his head
slightly at her expression. Perhaps he should inquire. By her
reaction alone, he'd more or less gotten the situation. Sephiroth
was not a giving man by any stretch of the imagination. But the fact
remained that the money was there, and it was what they needed. They'd
use it.

        Wordlessly, the three of
them began a quick walk to intercept the drifter on his path. Sure
enough as they got closer, they saw the bundle of crap strapped on his
back included, among a million other things, a quality rifle (and a few
very cheap, almost useless guns). Older looking, indeed, but somewhere
between classic and modern. Not so expensive in any shop, but an
arm and a leg from these people. Kyrie swallowed back a mumble just
watching him come through the brush and up to them with an expectant look
on his dirty face.

        Here goes nothing.
"Buy your rifle off of you, sir?" she attempted a most charming smile.

        The man stared at her, a
little surprised that she'd asked. She was a little thing, after
all, and didn't really appear to be the type. But when he saw that
gunblade and the two men at her side, that seemed to convince him.
"No less than 1,000 Gil."

        Normally, Kyrie was one
hell of a haggler (especially when the prices were this ridiculous).
She'd battle it out to bring the price down, if only for some sick sense
of self assurance. But now, there was no time. Besides, it
wasn't hers in the first place. She produced the money from her pocket.
"Fifty more if you tell me where the nearest transportation is."

        The man nodded, scooped
the money into the pouch on his hip and handed over the rifle (which was
promptly taken by the freakish guy with a claw, making him cringe back
ever so slightly). "Two hundred more Gil and you get the bullets
and
a tip toward the nearest transportation."

        Kyrie couldn't afford to
walk away. Suppressing a disgusted face or gesture (though the growl
low in her throat made its way out), she merely handed him the money and
accepted his bullets.

        The man grinned triumphantly
and pointed eastward. "That's where the train would be, if it were
running."

        "What?" Kyrie hissed.

        The man (or treacherous
thief) just nodded, patting his very full pouch. "Been an emergency,
or so I hear. All transportation has been diverted to Trabia and
Esthar."

        A cold shiver ran through
her. "Why's that?"

        "President Loire's son turned
up missing." He answered nonchalantly, already starting down the
road with his loot and a slightly lighter bundle of junk. "And his
granddaughter. Oh, and that Almasy fag, too."

        Kyrie made an obvious stride
to follow the thief and "continue their conversation", but a surprisingly
heavy metal claw fell on her shoulder and pulled her back. If anyone
could smell a bloody fight coming, it was Vincent. They only watched
the man travel away from them without a backward glance, no doubt to rip
off more passers by.

        "Shit." Kyrie breathed.
She was so sure all they'd have to do was get to a train station, then
everything would be okay. Her parents would be worried, but it would
all turn out alright. Then they'd catch that bastard Sephiroth and...
well, do something with him. But now, her parents were missing.
Just completely fucking missing. Then there was Rodger.
Poor Rodger. She really, really missed Rodger.

        "Wow... Kyrie..." Cloud
started, but didn't really know what to say.

        The hand lightly lifted
from her. "Am I to assume you know these people?" Vincent felt the
obvious tension riding the air.

        "They're my parents."
She stated, uncertain of exactly what she should be feeling. "And
I'm the president's granddaughter."

        "You think they'd tag you
for emergencies like this." Cloud tried desperately to break the
tension.

        Kyrie was silent for a moment,
seeing the drifter disappear from vision. They were all around, those
people. They could probably afford to live like kings if they'd just
unload their shit into a house once in a while. "Well, the computer
is supposed to be solar powered and attached to a world-wide network..."
She cleared her throat and completely contained all emotion. Now
was not the time. "At least we've got another weapon. We'll
probably need it. This is still a wild area if drifters offer weapons."

        Vincent began to wriggle
bits of the rifle back and forth to make sure his new tool was in complete
working order. "Where is there to go now?"

        Kyrie handed the box of
bullets over, still having plenty for herself. "There's a big ship
yard on the southwestern coast." She answered, looking for a way
down a small slope in the proper direction without breaking all of their
legs. "It's by an old military base. And I happen to know there's
at least one fully manned and armed ship there at all times, even during
emergencies."

        "Great!" Cloud chimed in.
"How far?"

        "I don't know exactly where
we are." Kyrie admitted, taking the computer device out of her pocket
one final time to try and catch some light with the panel. "But if
the lack of ocean smell is any indication, we could be pretty far."
No lights, no sounds, and no device, still. It was annoying.
A complete computer and communications device that didn't even work was
worse than nothing at all.

        "But we can't be that far."
She assured. "This is definitely the Winhill area. We should
get there sometime tomorrow even if we stop for the night."

        Vincent nodded, satisfied
with her response. They would have to rest, obviously. They'd
done a bit of climbing, not to mention Cloud and Kyrie having been through
a bit in the past few hours. "We'll keep going until nightfall, then."

        After a few moments of rest
(and a bunch of Kyrie's murmurings about drifters), they'd begun to make
their way toward the southwestern coast. Lucky for them they had
packed lightly (hadn't packed at all, really); while the mountain wasn't
really all that much of a structure, it had it's steep points. Most
of the subtle cliff faces were barren of all but stone, but there were
quite a few large patches of forest, making it even more difficult to find
footing.

        Once or twice, there was
a chilling sound behind them. Kyrie herself recognized it, but distantly.
Something large, by the depth of the cry. It started out in a high
pitch, then rapidly changed into a thunder-like rumble. Very concerning
in the forest, but they felt a bit safer every time they came across a
clean patch of rock. Though none of them cared to admit it to themselves,
chances were something as huge as that beast sounded wouldn't care about
a hiding place, however.

        In the time where the sun
was beating down most upon them, the knowledge that they severely lacked
water smacked them around a bit. The tree patches provided shade,
but none of the plants were water holding. Meaning, they were apparently
just south of the desert; good because it meant they had to travel a short
distance to get to where they needed to go, bad because there were no cacti.
If they were to become dehydrated, it'd be all over.

        They didn't really have
much of a choice other than to go on, though. There would
be a river coming up soon that emptied out into the ocean, Kyrie knew for
certain. Just a couple of miles after that would be exactly where
they were aiming for. Until then, however... they were rather stuck.

        Or thought they were, until
she heard a distinct humming buzz. Most animals would mistake it
for a fly of some kind and not bother. But from childhood, Kyrie
knew better. It was a cexussum frog. And frogs can only live
where there is water. Passing into the next small forest oasis,
she was sure of it. "Water." She announced simply.

        "Where?" Cloud looked around
as though he were expecting to see a mountain of it.

        Kyrie closed her eyes, focussing
on the sound. Sure enough, stepping forward and moving a large tropical
fern's branch out of the way, there was a small pond with a red and orange
frog sitting on the side.

        Vincent was impressed.
But he didn't show it. He simply kneeled next to her and inspected
the water's surface. It didn't look dirty. But looks were deceiving.
"Is it safe to drink?"

        She swallowed, staring at
the frog. It stared back with silted alien eyes, pretending she didn't
even exist. "Cexussum frogs aren't known to choose dirty water.
Supposedly that's why the Esthar Spring Water 'mascot' is a cexussum frog."

        "Yeah," Cloud added, "But
how long has that frog been sitting in it?"

        Kyrie grinned. "It's
a chance we have to take."

        "I agree." Vincent
commented quietly. While his companion did have a point, this was
going to be a desperate situation very soon. And he himself had been
through a hell of a lot worse than drinking frog water.

        It was then that the three
of them really understood the danger of wandering around the unoccupied
areas of Galbadia. They felt the footstep as they heard it.
Large. Heavy. Not too friendly, they were all guessing.

        It took only a second for
Kyrie to prepare herself. Maybe she'd been an idiot to have ignored
those calls--as if they could have done anything about it anyway--before,
but now it was important to face up to whatever the hell it was.
One breath, one stilling moment; her hand went to the hilt of her gunblade.

        An unfamiliar feeling encompassed
her as she grasped her weapon. It wasn't at all uncomfortable; just
the opposite. It was like... Vincent and Cloud were on her wavelength.
Were reading her thoughts. As she turned, her new companions followed
suit, weapons ready.

        Oh. Yeah.
She realized what the sound was now, alright. From a news program.
About a whole family being slaughtered. And the sound the beast had
made was, as the reporter put it, "A sound to run away from at all costs".
It was a Hexadragon; but upon closer inspection, it wasn't... quite.
It did have the body, the overall appearance. But it looked a little...
mutated. Dangerously inbred, maybe. Its jaw wasn't quite set
right, and the teeth were almost too big for the beast. The legs,
even though it was crouched, looked weak and elongated. Advantage,
yes... unless it was pissed off about these particular features.

        "Alright..." Kyrie began
very softly. "Supposedly... if we back away... everything will be
okay."

        Cloud glared at her for
a fraction of a second. But, it was too tempting not to try, obviously.
If they could save their bullets for later (who knew what the hell else
lurked around here?), then they may as well try. So, on the same
beat, they began to very carefully step backward.

        At first, the beast appeared
almost amused; if that were possible. It dropped its head and stared
at them out of its irregularly green and yellow eyes, a line of drool coming
from between its teeth. Quiet breath, no movement. And then
it lunged, directly at Kyrie.

        Well, fuck it, then.
She thought, raising her gunblade and darting forward to impale the beast.
Maybe the problem was that it had not watched the same news report.
Or maybe it was the one that killed that family. Either way, it was
not going to get away with being so rude.

        "Oh shit." It was
a clean cutting, matter-of-fact statement. Her gunblade was caught
in the beast's shoulder blade. But there was no fucking way she was
letting it get away with her weapon. It was struggling wildly, screeching
with pain, trying to take a limb off of her, but she wasn't interested.
She wanted her gunblade back. Now. The Hexadragon had
attacked first, after all. She wasn't even going to touch it until
it lunged at her. The least it could do was give her weapon back.

        Completely disregarding
all else, she got a better grip on the hilt with both hands and fired.
Irregularly thick, almost gray blood splattered everywhere. But the
blade was still stuck; now between the shoulder blade and several fragments
of bone, preventing the blood from acting as a lubricant.

        So, she fired twice more
in rapid succession. The beast wailed and rolled it's huge body away
from her; just sharply enough to disengage her blade. Now
for the killing blow. She threw her arms, her weapon, her consciousness
toward that bulge on its neck, firing another bullet as it ripped apart.
Blood gushed in an unbelievable stream that she barely avoided. Just
a spot on her boot, nothing to worry about.

        Cloud and Vincent looked
at one another silently. There was really nothing to be said.
Not in front of her, anyway...

        "Little bastard."
She murmured, holding her weapon across her shoulder for a moment, looking
down at the dead beast. As its blood bubbled out, it congealed almost
instantly into a grayish-green pool of jelly. At least that meant
none of it would get into the water. She turned back to see that
frog still staring at her, not having moved in the least. "Let that
be a lesson to you."
- 8
- 9
- 10
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The Sins of Two Fathers