Chapter 14 - Taking Flight
Submitted July 3, 2007 Updated April 21, 2008 Status Incomplete | When the author's world is connected, she goes on a quest through time with Yuffie and Riku to find her way home. Appearances by the casts of FF7&8. Rated PG just to be safe. For anyone who's ever wanted to travel to other worlds. Comments please!
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Games » - by Publisher » Square-Enix » Kingdom Hearts series |
Chapter 14 - Taking Flight
Chapter 14 - Taking Flight
Chapter 14
~Melanie~
I made my way back to the house, still blushing. Why, WHY did Yuffie have to make such a big deal out of it? Okay, so I’d never had a boyfriend before, due to my extreme shyness around guys. But that didn’t mean she had to taunt me about it. The worst thing, or maybe the best, was that Riku didn’t seem to mind her teasing at all. Which of course, only made me blush more.
I was so lost in thought that I was caught completely off guard by a low growling voice saying, “Hello, Yuffie.” Puzzled, I looked around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. I noticed Riku looking totally shocked, his only facial expression thus far (besides that gorgeous smile- did I just say that?!) I followed his line of sight to a large, fierce-looking orange creature standing in front of our group.
“Hi’ya Red!” Yuffie exclaimed, greeting the big cat with one of her trademark bear-hugs.
“It- it talks!” Riku stammered.
“Please, do not be alarmed. My name is Nanaki. Pleased to meet you.” Nanaki sat back on his haunches and held out a front paw. Stunned, I reached out and shook it, repeating “Pleased to meet you.”
“He’s really not as fierce as he looks,” said another voice, this time from behind our party. I turned around to see a woman in a black mini-skirt, long hair falling almost to her knees, smiling at our confusion. “Tifa!” Yuffie yelled, barreling into her.
“Hold your chocobos, I wanna see the brat, too.”A large, black, gun-armed man crushed Yuffie in a super-sized version of her bear hug. “You bin takin’ good care of my bird?” Barret growled.
“Yeah, he’s out back. I bet Marlene will be happy to see him” Yuffie grinned.
“Happiness is a fleeting thing,” a scarlet-robed man whose eyes matched his cape declared in a deep monotone.
“Lighten up, Vinnie. You’re ruining the mood!” a toy cat on a stuffed mog retorted through a large megaphone. I gaped at the gathering like an awe-struck fan suddenly meeting her favorite stars (wait a minute, I WAS an awe-struck fan suddenly meeting my favorite stars!). I was going to serious sensory overload by now, and it was about to get even worse.
“Well, looks like the whole @#$%ing motley crew is here.” Cid declared. I noticed he was sporting his flying goggles, and wondered why. “We’re all goin’ to Traverse Town on the Highwind.” he revealed.
My jaw dropped. “What?!?!” Yuffie screeched. “How come nobody told me about this?!”
“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise...dinna count on you comin’ here on a quest with your little friends, so you’ll have to come with us.” Cid scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. “But I bet Cloud’ll be surprised to see us. Can’t wait to see the look on his @#$% spiky face!”
‘Spiky face...?’ Yuffie wondered. I was about to reply with a sarcastic comment along the lines of ‘What is he smoking?’ when Cid turned to me. “As long as you’re heading for Traverse Town, you can fly as an honor guard. H#%%, why not? We deserve an honor guard. Well, better get ‘er warmed up!” Chuckling, Cid boarded his beloved ship.
“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m gonna be riding that thing again!” Yuffie complained, eyeing the Highwind with apprehension.
“Airsickness,” I replied to Riku’s inquiring look. Then, to Yuffie, “Well, it IS your guy’s reunion. Besides it’ll be better than riding the gummi ship. More room, you know...”
She sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill: Move around-”
“Stay nervous-” I continued,
“And never, EVER read!” Yuffie finished. “Cloud actually did have some good ideas once in a while...” “Maybe we could look around before takeoff...” I suggested hopefully. Yuffie snorted. “Hmmph! Just talk to Cid. I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to show off his precious ship!” It may have been sarcastic, but I took the advice literally.
We scrambled aboard, starling Cid, who then demanded to know what the @#$% we were doing on his ship. Pulling a Yuffie-style move, I batted my eyes and informed him that I was admiring it. The next thing I knew, we were on the grand tour. Cid was as eager to show off the ship as I was to see it- everything from the bridge to the conference room to the chocobo stables to the deck- and I drooled over every inch of it. I mean, come on! What FFVII fan hasn’t wanted to see the Highwind?
All too soon, it was time for take-off. I reluctantly headed for the Excalibur (Riku’s name for it, not mine. I kinda like Raganorok myself) and was treated to the sight of the Highwind taking off- much better than any CGI you’ve ever seen, I can guarantee you. The Excalibur followed like a tag-along puppy, piloted by Riku, who left me (and my itchy trigger finger) to the battle station. I was champing at the bit and ready to go, but I was about to get more than I bargained for.
I was scanning to gummi formations that passed us when a fleet of heartless ships shot into our path, cutting us off from the Highwind. Being an expert Kingdom Hearts player, taking them down was no problem. At least, not until another group came in from the back... and the right...and the left...
“We’re surrounded!” I cried, stating the obvious. Frantically punching buttons on the radio while trying to blast as many heartless as I could at the same time, I gasped “Highwind, this is the Excalibur! Do you read? We’ve been surrounded!”
Cid’s voice crackled to life, barely audible over the lazer fire. “Holy @#$%! That’s one $#@% of a situation you’re in. Get those @#$%ing missles online!” he yelled at a random crew member. “Hang tight, Excalibur. We’re gonna blast the @$% outa them heartless as soon as we’re turned around!”
“Turned around?!” I shrieked to no one in particular as the transmission was cut off. “They can’t do it fast enough!” The Highwind’s considerable bulk didn’t exactly allow for fast maneuvering, and I watched it creeping around in desperation.
Meanwhile, Yuffie was going ballistic, babbling things like, ‘You can’t die, you just got here! I won’t let you die, you hear?!’ Riku’s thoughts were equally chaotic, but he kept the ship on course.
“They keep coming!” Riku gasped, swerving to avoid yet another fleet that seemed to burst out of nowhere. “Dunno if we can make it...” As if to confirm his words, the alarm went off, indicating just how much longer we had to keep our hearts. I kept shooting, determined not to go down without a fight, and in my panic-filled haze, thought I saw a dragon flying toward us...
“I really am dying, aren’t I?” I said brokenly. “I’m seeing things...”
“A dragon...”muttered Riku, and I stared in shock, first at him, then back at the apparently real dragon.
“You see it too?” I asked.
“Yeah...a dragon. Or is it a ship?” For the first time I noticed the metallic red sheen of the dragons hide, and the fact that it had rockets instead of wings- and also a couple of machine-gun like weapons mounted on the shoulders, which were firing a mile a minute, wiping out heartless right and left. In the time it took me to realize all this, the firing suddenly stopped, leaving an eerie silence filled only with the charred remains of heartless ships.
The radio crackled with Cid’s voice. “This is the Highwind. We hail you and thank you for your aid. Otherwise-” Cid took a deep breath, and suddenly broke with the formality. “Our friends back there would have been in deep @$%.” I didn’t think anything could shock at this point, but the next transmission left me paralyzed.
“Highwind, this is the Raganorok. We are glad to be of assistance.” The voice of the teenage girl on the other end suddenly became uncertain. “Can you tell us where we are?”
~*~*~*~
Mwahahaha! SeeD to the rescue! And you thought I would only drag AVALANCHE into this. No one is safe from my schemes!
~Melanie~
I made my way back to the house, still blushing. Why, WHY did Yuffie have to make such a big deal out of it? Okay, so I’d never had a boyfriend before, due to my extreme shyness around guys. But that didn’t mean she had to taunt me about it. The worst thing, or maybe the best, was that Riku didn’t seem to mind her teasing at all. Which of course, only made me blush more.
I was so lost in thought that I was caught completely off guard by a low growling voice saying, “Hello, Yuffie.” Puzzled, I looked around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. I noticed Riku looking totally shocked, his only facial expression thus far (besides that gorgeous smile- did I just say that?!) I followed his line of sight to a large, fierce-looking orange creature standing in front of our group.
“Hi’ya Red!” Yuffie exclaimed, greeting the big cat with one of her trademark bear-hugs.
“It- it talks!” Riku stammered.
“Please, do not be alarmed. My name is Nanaki. Pleased to meet you.” Nanaki sat back on his haunches and held out a front paw. Stunned, I reached out and shook it, repeating “Pleased to meet you.”
“He’s really not as fierce as he looks,” said another voice, this time from behind our party. I turned around to see a woman in a black mini-skirt, long hair falling almost to her knees, smiling at our confusion. “Tifa!” Yuffie yelled, barreling into her.
“Hold your chocobos, I wanna see the brat, too.”A large, black, gun-armed man crushed Yuffie in a super-sized version of her bear hug. “You bin takin’ good care of my bird?” Barret growled.
“Yeah, he’s out back. I bet Marlene will be happy to see him” Yuffie grinned.
“Happiness is a fleeting thing,” a scarlet-robed man whose eyes matched his cape declared in a deep monotone.
“Lighten up, Vinnie. You’re ruining the mood!” a toy cat on a stuffed mog retorted through a large megaphone. I gaped at the gathering like an awe-struck fan suddenly meeting her favorite stars (wait a minute, I WAS an awe-struck fan suddenly meeting my favorite stars!). I was going to serious sensory overload by now, and it was about to get even worse.
“Well, looks like the whole @#$%ing motley crew is here.” Cid declared. I noticed he was sporting his flying goggles, and wondered why. “We’re all goin’ to Traverse Town on the Highwind.” he revealed.
My jaw dropped. “What?!?!” Yuffie screeched. “How come nobody told me about this?!”
“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise...dinna count on you comin’ here on a quest with your little friends, so you’ll have to come with us.” Cid scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. “But I bet Cloud’ll be surprised to see us. Can’t wait to see the look on his @#$% spiky face!”
‘Spiky face...?’ Yuffie wondered. I was about to reply with a sarcastic comment along the lines of ‘What is he smoking?’ when Cid turned to me. “As long as you’re heading for Traverse Town, you can fly as an honor guard. H#%%, why not? We deserve an honor guard. Well, better get ‘er warmed up!” Chuckling, Cid boarded his beloved ship.
“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m gonna be riding that thing again!” Yuffie complained, eyeing the Highwind with apprehension.
“Airsickness,” I replied to Riku’s inquiring look. Then, to Yuffie, “Well, it IS your guy’s reunion. Besides it’ll be better than riding the gummi ship. More room, you know...”
She sighed. “Yeah, yeah, I know the drill: Move around-”
“Stay nervous-” I continued,
“And never, EVER read!” Yuffie finished. “Cloud actually did have some good ideas once in a while...” “Maybe we could look around before takeoff...” I suggested hopefully. Yuffie snorted. “Hmmph! Just talk to Cid. I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to show off his precious ship!” It may have been sarcastic, but I took the advice literally.
We scrambled aboard, starling Cid, who then demanded to know what the @#$% we were doing on his ship. Pulling a Yuffie-style move, I batted my eyes and informed him that I was admiring it. The next thing I knew, we were on the grand tour. Cid was as eager to show off the ship as I was to see it- everything from the bridge to the conference room to the chocobo stables to the deck- and I drooled over every inch of it. I mean, come on! What FFVII fan hasn’t wanted to see the Highwind?
All too soon, it was time for take-off. I reluctantly headed for the Excalibur (Riku’s name for it, not mine. I kinda like Raganorok myself) and was treated to the sight of the Highwind taking off- much better than any CGI you’ve ever seen, I can guarantee you. The Excalibur followed like a tag-along puppy, piloted by Riku, who left me (and my itchy trigger finger) to the battle station. I was champing at the bit and ready to go, but I was about to get more than I bargained for.
I was scanning to gummi formations that passed us when a fleet of heartless ships shot into our path, cutting us off from the Highwind. Being an expert Kingdom Hearts player, taking them down was no problem. At least, not until another group came in from the back... and the right...and the left...
“We’re surrounded!” I cried, stating the obvious. Frantically punching buttons on the radio while trying to blast as many heartless as I could at the same time, I gasped “Highwind, this is the Excalibur! Do you read? We’ve been surrounded!”
Cid’s voice crackled to life, barely audible over the lazer fire. “Holy @#$%! That’s one $#@% of a situation you’re in. Get those @#$%ing missles online!” he yelled at a random crew member. “Hang tight, Excalibur. We’re gonna blast the @$% outa them heartless as soon as we’re turned around!”
“Turned around?!” I shrieked to no one in particular as the transmission was cut off. “They can’t do it fast enough!” The Highwind’s considerable bulk didn’t exactly allow for fast maneuvering, and I watched it creeping around in desperation.
Meanwhile, Yuffie was going ballistic, babbling things like, ‘You can’t die, you just got here! I won’t let you die, you hear?!’ Riku’s thoughts were equally chaotic, but he kept the ship on course.
“They keep coming!” Riku gasped, swerving to avoid yet another fleet that seemed to burst out of nowhere. “Dunno if we can make it...” As if to confirm his words, the alarm went off, indicating just how much longer we had to keep our hearts. I kept shooting, determined not to go down without a fight, and in my panic-filled haze, thought I saw a dragon flying toward us...
“I really am dying, aren’t I?” I said brokenly. “I’m seeing things...”
“A dragon...”muttered Riku, and I stared in shock, first at him, then back at the apparently real dragon.
“You see it too?” I asked.
“Yeah...a dragon. Or is it a ship?” For the first time I noticed the metallic red sheen of the dragons hide, and the fact that it had rockets instead of wings- and also a couple of machine-gun like weapons mounted on the shoulders, which were firing a mile a minute, wiping out heartless right and left. In the time it took me to realize all this, the firing suddenly stopped, leaving an eerie silence filled only with the charred remains of heartless ships.
The radio crackled with Cid’s voice. “This is the Highwind. We hail you and thank you for your aid. Otherwise-” Cid took a deep breath, and suddenly broke with the formality. “Our friends back there would have been in deep @$%.” I didn’t think anything could shock at this point, but the next transmission left me paralyzed.
“Highwind, this is the Raganorok. We are glad to be of assistance.” The voice of the teenage girl on the other end suddenly became uncertain. “Can you tell us where we are?”
~*~*~*~
Mwahahaha! SeeD to the rescue! And you thought I would only drag AVALANCHE into this. No one is safe from my schemes!
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