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Chapter Sixteen When Cloud woke them at dawn the next morning, Kit's head was pounding so that she could barely stumble out of bed. The voice she'd dreamed of echoed in her mind, ringing in her ears. It wasn't Sephiroth's voice, as she'd first thought, though there was a similarity to it. It had that cold quality of violence that had been suppressed for too long, until it had become a simple fact of life.
As the buggy travelled west, to get around the cliffs and mountains that rose to the north, Kit tried to hide her discomfort, taking her turn as the buggy's defender once more. By noon, after she'd nearly collapsed a second time, she gave up and lay down across the back seat to rest as Aeris suggested.
Between dozing and fending off Aeris's concerned questions, Kit dizzily stared up into the cloudless sky and thought about Sephiroth. Had this happened to him, too? She couldn't picture him ever succumbing to weakness or illness as she had. Of course, he had succumbed to madness, she was almost sure of it now after getting to know the members of AVALANCHE. Of course Cloud wanted revenge for his hometown, and Sephiroth had certainly been mad when he'd done that. Tifa came because she was crazy about Cloud, and had lost her hometown and father to Sephiroth at the same time. Barret was only concerned about the welfare of the planet. Aeris, being an Ancient, wanted to know why the planet was afraid of Sephiroth.
Kit could have laughed at the thought. An entire planet, afraid of one man? Maybe all Ancients went mad.
That led her to a disturbing thought. She had Jenova's powers within her as well, the same forces as Sephiroth. Did that mean she would go mad?
The frightening thing was, he didn't act overtly like a lunatic. He still possessed incredible intelligence, and actually, his mental state wouldn't have been obvious to anyone who didn't know about the events at Nibelheim, or unless they spoke to him about just what he thought he was. At first, even Kit hadn't been sure. But his paranoia over AVALANCHE, his feelings about humanity, the single-mindedness of his goal - that all added up. He was, as Shinra had told her from the start, a very dangerous and unstable man.
Kit turned over in the seat of the buggy, turning her face to the back so the others wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. It didn't matter to her that he was mad. She loved him. She would do anything for him, heal his mind if it was possible, take care of him if it was not. If she didn't go mad as well. And how would she know if she did?
A hand rested lightly on her shoulder, and she wiped her eyes before looking up. Aeris's gentle face looked down at her. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm starting to feel better, actually," Kit replied, and in a way, it was true. Since they'd gotten out of the forest and into this area of rocky cliffs and plateaus, the ride had smoothed out and was less uncomfortable. Physically, she felt much better than she had. Mentally... if Jenova's influence didn't destroy her sanity, her own worries would.
Aeris sighed. "I wish you'd talk to us, Kit," she remarked softly. "Sometimes I wonder if it's holding everything inside you that's making you so sick now. Everyone needs to open up now and then."
Kit shook her head, not so much at what Aeris said, but at her sudden thoughts of Sephiroth. Perhaps she should have stayed with him, he needed to open up more than anyone. Maybe, with time, she could get through to him. Break down the walls he surrounded himself with...
"I can feel there's a heavy burden on you," Aeris said, sitting down on the seat beside her. "We're your friends here, remember what I told you in Costa Del Sol? We're a team - you don't have to bear it all alone." Suddenly she smiled. "That's Cloud's job anyways, being the stoic one."
Why did she have to be so nice? Kit turned her face to the back of the seat again, feeling tears well up again. "Aeris... no offense, but please leave me alone."
She felt Aeris shift hesitantly on the seat, before she finally got up and went to the front with Cloud again. Kit was left alone with her somber thoughts to reflect on.
After some time had passed, there was a strange crackling noise, and she sat up and looked around to see what had caused it. The others were doing the same. The noise came again, and then the buggy stopped with a shuddering creak.
"Oh man," said Cloud, jumped out to take a look. "A breakdown? Now?"
Barret jumped out as well, and walked around to the back of the buggy. The others followed. "Aw,$#@&," Barret growled, looking it over. "It's made by Shinra. Shinra can't build nothin' without it breakin' down." He looked over at Kit. "You worked for 'em, d'you know anything about fixing this $#@&?"
Sparks were jumping from... somewhere. Kit didn't know enough about mechanics to know what exactly might cause it. "Not exactly my department," she said reluctantly. "In fact, not even close."
"At least we're near a town," Yuffie pointed out. "And it looks a heck of a lot bigger than Gongaga, so maybe we can sleep in real beds tonight even."
Kit hadn't even noticed the buildings tucked in between the cliffs a little ways to the north. Very observant, for someone who was supposed to be spying, she thought to herself. She shouldn't have let herself get distracted like that.
"I'll give it a shot," Cait said cheerfully. "I do know a little bit about mechanics - or in my case, perhaps I should say anatomy?" Kit couldn't suppress a smirk. Whoever had programmed that thing had given it a sense of humor. How strange.
"It couldn't hurt," Tifa agreed. "It's not like it's going anywhere anyways. You couldn't do much worse to it if you tried."
"Well... I could blow it up and take us all with it," Cait remarked, as the moogle knelt and the cat peered under the buggy. Then he turned back to the suddenly nervous group with a grin. "Joking, joking. I think I see what's wrong anyways. There's sharp rocks sticking up all over here in these canyons, I think we went over one and punctured uhm... that thing there," he finished lamely, gesturing at something on the underside of the vehicle. "Some wires were ripped loose, they'll need to be spliced back together... it's not something you can just slap a patch on. By the time it's fixed, it'll be nightfall."
Cloud lowered his head, thinking. "Then I guess we might as well stay the night in that town, right?"
"Hmmm..." Barret sounded unusually thoughtful. "Looks familiar..."
"Who cares?" Yuffie said excitedly, starting off towards the town. "Real beds! And maybe shops, too!"
"Hey wait!" Cloud headed her off. "Shops? We have a budget, remember?" he told her. "If you're going to spend any of our gil, on anything at all, you'd better okay it with the rest of us first. Got it?"
"Uh... yeah." Yuffie's grin widened slyly. "If I'm gonna buy anything. Gotcha."
It was only a short walk to the edge of town, where a staircase led up to the entrance where a man stood watching. The town appeared to have been carved right out of the rocky cliffs, on which perched windmills and ladders and... a strange-looking mechanism on the top of the tallest cliff. Kit didn't know what it might be.
As they began up the stairs, Red suddenly bounced by them. Cloud motioned for him to stop - a strange red beast running towards the town guard would not be a good way to make a first impression on a town - but the watchman actually grinned and held up a hand in greeting. "I am home! It is I, Nanaki!" Red said, skidding to a halt before the watchman.
"Hey, Nanaki! You're safe!" the man exclaimed. "Come on, and say hello to Bugenhagen!"
Red nodded, and bounded through the gates, heading for one of the winding staircases that connected one level of town to the others.
Cloud and the others looked at each other, puzzled. "...Nanaki?" Cloud asked.
Barret was staring at the sign that hung above the gate. "I finally made it..." he said in awe. "So this is... Cosmo Canyon!"
Still shaking his head, Cloud approached the watchman that had greeted Red, who had turned his back on the group to watch Red's dash up the staircase. Cloud cleared his throat, and the man turned back. "Welcome to Cosmo Canyon," the man said with a friendly smile. "Are you familiar with this land?"
Cloud shook his head. "Let me explain. People from all over the world gather here to seek the Study of Planet Life."
"Woooo!" Behind Cloud, Barret let out a whoop and raised his arms to the sky in triumph. "I always wanted to come here!"
"Ummgah! It's full capacity at present, so I'm afraid I can't let you enter," the man said, sincerely regretful. Barret clenched his fists and cursed in frustration.
"They helped me some when I was on the road," came Red's voice from the stairway. "Please let them in."
"Oh..." the man said as Red bounded away again. "Is that so? You helped our Nanaki? Please, come in."
Cloud shrugged as the man moved out of their way. "Who is Nanaki?" he asked.
The man shook his head, confused. "Nanaki is Nanaki," he said simply. "That's his name."
"So this is where Red's from?" Kit asked Aeris.
"I guess so..." Aeris said, just as surprised. "He never really talked about it. But he said he was going with us till he got back to his hometown... I guess that means we'll go on without him."
"Really?" It shouldn't have mattered to Kit, she knew that, but it did. "I got the impression everyone here was a team..."
"I wonder if he actually will stay behind when we go," Tifa put in. "I really think he's as caught up in this as the rest of us."
Cloud ran up the stairs to talk to Red, and the others followed. "Here is where I was..." Red began, then he paused strangely. "I mean... this is my hometown," he finished, shaking his head sadly. "My tribe were protectors of those who appreciate this beautiful canyon and the Planet." He hung his head. "My brave mother fought and died here," he added, "but my cowardly father left her... I am the last of my race."
"Cowardly father?" asked Cloud.
"Yes." Red nodded angrily. "My father was a wastrel. And so the mission I inherited from my ancestors is to protect this place. My journey ends here," he informed them, speaking firmly rather than his usual gentle tone.
The group was speechless. It was obvious they all thought, as Kit had, that he was a part of them.
"Hey! Nanaki--! You're home!" a jolly voice boomed from the opening to a cave above.
"Coming, Grandpa!" Red called as he bounded up to the cave's entrance.
"That's perfect," Tifa said after a short pause. "Why don't we take a break too? We can meet back here in a while, okay?" Cloud nodded, and everyone wandered off in their own direction.
Kit glanced around town, and her eyes were drawn to a fire burning on a raised circle in the center of town. Why did it seem familiar... She shook her head. She'd seen plenty of bonfires. It meant nothing.
"Thinking again?" a voice asked brightly just to her left. She looked up to see Cait Sith shaking a finger at her. "You think too much for your own good, sweetie."
"I'm not your sweetie," she informed him, poking the cat in the ribs... or rather, where it's ribs would have been. She supposed there might be some kind of metal framework inside, but the body of the stuffed cat was as soft there as anywhere else.
"Glad to see you're back to your usual fiery self," Cait observed, barely keeping his balance atop the moogle, who danced backwards to accomodate the sudden movement. "Care for a bite to eat? Or is it too soon?"
Now that Kit thought about it, she was hungry. She should be - she hadn't felt well enough to eat anything for the last two days. "Might as well," she agreed. "Uhm... do you eat?"
"I can, to keep up appearances," Cait replied. "Or if I need an excuse to spend time with a lady."
Kit rolled her eyes. "If you insist," she muttered, heading for a carved entrance near the flame she'd been looking at. She could hear the clink of glasses inside, maybe it was a restaurant. Cait bounced after her, whistling to himself, and Kit had to smile at the irony. Some social life she had. First she became the lover of a madman bent on dominating the planet, and now she was having dinner with a robot.
Once inside, Kit saw that what she'd actually walked into was a bar. It was primarily empty, with just one man drinking alone, so she shrugged and was about to turn and leave when the man waved to her. "Hey, you're still alive," he said, sounding pleased.
Kit froze. "What?" she asked faintly.
The man waved her over to his table. "We never knew if..." His voice trailed off as she approached. "Oh. No, you can't be her," he said. "I'm sorry, you look very much like someone who came here years ago..."
Cait looked back and forth between the two of them. "I thought Shinra never came here," he whispered to Kit.
"They don't..." But years ago, she might not have been Shinra. "How long ago?" she asked the man.
"Probably a good fifteen years," he replied, taking another swig from his bottle. "I'm Elder Bugah, by the way, and I remember everyone who's come through here. That young doctor, she could have been your twin... No, no she couldn't," he corrected himself. "She would be much older by now. I'm sorry if I startled you. Still..." He looked her over carefully. "Except for the short hair and the bright eyes, you look just like her."
Young doctor? Kit shivered. Hair was easily cut. Her eyes were a product of Mako energy, from the experiment she'd been subjected to. Could this man have known her... before?
Cait was looking at her with that curious stare of his. She couldn't ask more, Kit realized, without looking suspicious. "No, I've never been here before," she made herself say. She could come back some other time, when she was alone, and ask him. "C'mon, Cait. Let's find someplace to eat."
To Chapter Seventeen. To the intro. That means it's mine, not yours! |
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