Chapter Text
“You said you found him in a coffin?”
I glanced back and forth between my companion and the mountain path. I was trying to be careful of my footing, but the information was distracting, to say the least.
Aeris nodded. The two of us were bringing up the rear of our group of eight—now nine—while I asked her what all had happened inside the mansion in Nibelheim in hushed tones. “Yeah, he was in a coffin in the basement. He almost didn’t come with us, actually. But Cloud mentioned Hojo, and that made him want to tag along, I guess,” she explained, huffing slightly as we trudged uphill towards the gray sky.
I frowned, wondering what our new group member could want with the scientist who made my skin crawl. We’d probably run into Hojo again, unfortunately, but he wasn’t our primary objective. It seemed odd that this guy would want to join our journey to near-certain death for that. But really, finding our new member at all had been strange. I certainly hadn’t expected the three people who went into the mansion to come out with a fourth. We had been looking for information, not hostages… or whatever he was, exactly.
I hummed in thought. “Do you trust him?” I asked Aeris quietly. I glanced to the front of our group where Tifa and Cloud were leading the charge, being the most familiar with these mountains. Vincent was just behind them, appearing as a billowing crimson cape, jet black hair, and the occasional glimpse of gold armor. He made for an intimidating figure, to be sure.
Despite clearly being exhausted, Aeris’s face broke into a small smile as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Yes, I think so.” The expression faded into something more contemplative as a thought seemed to occur to her. “But he seems… distraught. I think he’s been punishing himself for something for a long time.”
I blinked at her, feeling even more confused now, but she offered no further explanation. Instead of pushing for more, I reached out my hand to her. “Here, let me carry the pack for a while.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, you’ve been carrying it for a long time.”
She fixed me with a grateful expression. It wasn’t the heaviest bag our group was toting, but none of them were light. “Thanks, Nadine.”
I smiled at her as I hefted the bag onto my shoulder, shifting my weight to keep stable on the rocks. “Don’t mention it.”
---
We stopped to make camp a few hours later. I’d been watching the new guy from my and Aeris’s spot in the back, trying to learn what I could. He walked with long strides and a self-assured gait. His weapon of choice appeared to be a gun, the holster occasionally visible when a strong gust of wind blew his cloak out of the way. But from what I could see, despite being in the middle of the crowd, he wasn’t really talking to anyone else. Red XIII tried to engage him in conversation once, but it had been a short exchange, with the big cat retreating soon enough.
I put down the bag I was holding as gently as my tired limbs could manage, resting it against a log. After rolling back my shoulders and stretching for a few moments, I started to pull out the balled-up tents and support beams inside. I could hear Cloud explaining the camp set-up to our new member.
“So we’ve got three tents, and now there’s nine of us. It’s usually me, Barrett, and Red XIII in one, Tifa, Aeris, and Yuffie in the next, and Nadine by herself. Cait Sith’s piloted remotely, so the robot just stays outside.” Cloud glanced my way, his typical serious expression masking a bit of mirth. “Nadine stays by herself because she snores the loudest out of everyone.”
“Hey!” I said, pointing an accusing finger at him before remembering I didn’t have much of a defense. “I can’t help it, alright?” I said lamely, hand dropping back to my side. We were all too close for me to be embarrassed by this point, but I did feel guilty about taking the largest share of sleeping space.
Cloud cracked a smile, arms crossing over his chest as if to neutralize the friendly expression. “We know, we know. It’s not your fault, I guess.” He returned his attention to Vincent for a moment. “But the other two tents are pretty full, so… you might’ve drawn the short stick here.” He glanced between the two of us, the implication clear.
Vincent bowed his head, black fringe falling even further into his eyes. “I have no objections. The past thirty years have taught me to sleep through anything.”
I looked at him with wide eyes, surprised. First, because of what he’d said. It was either a major exaggeration or an odd choice of words, as I scarcely would’ve believed the man himself was thirty years old. And second, because it was the first time I’d heard him speak. His voice was captivating: deep, dark, and smooth. I suddenly felt cheated that he hadn’t been talking the whole way here.
“Okay, good.” Cloud looked at me again, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Nadine, that alright by you?”
I nodded. It wasn’t like there was much of a choice, and I was curious about the new guy anyway. “Fine by me.” Vincent and I made eye contact briefly, before he returned his focus to an area beyond the campsite.
With the sleeping arrangements decided, we spent the next little while setting up tents, getting the fire started, and cooking a stew for dinner. After charting out a rough course for the next day from what Cloud and Tifa remembered of the mountains behind their childhood home, we all retired for the night. It sounded like we had several more days of rugged terrain ahead of us, so we’d need all the rest we could get.
I ducked into my tent, holding open the flap for the vampiric man behind me. “Do not wait for me,” Vincent said, pausing and starting to unbuckle the golden gauntlet around his arm. “I’ll leave some things out here.”
I nodded in understanding, letting the flap fall shut behind me. It looked like he had several layers to work through.
Considering that my own gear was relatively simple, my nighttime routine didn’t take long. Luxuries like pajamas had been left behind when we set out from Midgar, and the night was chilly. With those things in mind, I removed the twin daggers from my belt and kept my same clothes on. I divided up the thin blankets allotted to our tent into two piles, then folded one of mine into a makeshift pillow, lying down and pulling the other up to my shoulders. I sighed, counting at least three tree roots protruding under my spot. Objectively, it wasn’t the most comfortable bed, but we’d spent many nights in the wilderness by now; the bumps and pokes came with the territory.
The flap opened again to let in firelight a few minutes later, and I rolled over towards the entrance to see Vincent. He looked far less imposing as he sat down cross-legged on the floor of the tent. The red and gold of his cape and armor had been cast aside, leaving him in relatively simple black, and his wild hair had been set free. It fell across his forehead and shoulders unrestrained, like waves of darkness.
“Hey,” I said, lifting up onto one elbow. He looked at me expectantly, but said nothing. “You have everything you need?” I asked. He glanced at the blankets I’d placed on his side of the tent. “Yes, this is plenty. Thank you.”
Despite his disinterested tone, I quite wanted to keep him talking. Curiosity had the better of me, and without the cape obscuring the lower half of his face, I’d realized he wasn’t at all hard to look at. He was uncommonly pale, with a sharp nose and jawline. I’d already noticed outside that his eyes were severe. Their deep red color appeared vibrant, almost unnatural, in the low light, and his mouth was set into a stern line. Contrary to what the expression may have indicated, he didn’t actually seem angry with anything in his immediate surroundings. Apparently, this was his normal countenance.
After studying him for a moment, my better judgement kicked in. It was probably best to avoid crowding him on the first night we had to share a space. I didn’t want to set a bad first impression, considering that he clearly wasn’t talkative.
“Alright, then,” I said, backing away from any attempt at conversation. “Just let me know if you need anything. Goodnight.”
“Yes. Goodnight.”
Vincent started to settle in, and I turned away to give him at least the semblance of privacy. With our pallets on opposite ends of the tent, there was a fair amount of space left between us. He shifted around for a minute, then went quiet. The only sounds were his even breathing, the crackle and snap of the campfire outside, and insects chirping in the nearby forest. Even with the tree roots poking into my side, exhaustion soon took over, and I fell asleep.
---
We continued through the Nibel Mountains the following day, trudging over and around the many peaks, through dark caves and deep ravines. Unsurprisingly, we were ambushed by monsters a number of times. They seemed to be getting stronger the deeper we went into the mountain range, and their numbers were growing.
Also unsurprisingly, several of us reached our limits in battle while fighting them. Tifa punched an oversized lizard nearly to the heavens; Cait Sith somehow summoned a giant chocobo to crush a group of flying monsters; and Barrett made an eight-foot grasshopper surely wish it had never been born.
The real surprise of the day, though, came from Vincent. After taking a particularly nasty hit from a humanoid monster swinging a ball and chain, he transformed into a beast.
It was one of the more bizarre things I’d seen; one moment, the man we’d known for roughly twenty-four hours was on the battlefield, and the next, he’d phased out of existence and been replaced by a monster. It stood on two legs, with massive curved horns and a long tail. Short purple hair covered most of its body, contrasted by red spikes jutting down its spine. Any connection to Vincent’s original self seemed to be gone. He was much larger, faster, and seemingly more deadly than before, bashing foes with abandon and raining fire on them from the skies.
When the field was cleared and the danger had passed, the monster faded. Vincent reappeared, stumbling and just catching himself from falling to the dirt. He seemed more than a little worn out, hands on his knees, and I noticed he was panting. He looked up at our party, where we’d all retreated across the clearing. We looked at him. The air was tense with unasked questions when Barrett broke the silence.
“That’s one helluva power you’ve got! Should’ve told us right off the bat. Where the hell’d you learn to do that anyway?” he asked, awe clear in his voice.
Vincent’s shoulders seemed to relax at the reaction. He didn’t sound happy when he responded, though, standing to his full height. “I didn’t learn it. The power was thrust upon me against my will.”
“O-oh,” Barrett said, taking half a step back. I knew him well enough to realize it wasn’t out of fear, just a reaction to an uncomfortable situation. “I hear ya. If you can do that, I’m jus’ glad you’re on our side.”
There was silence for a few moments more. My heart was still beating fast in my chest, lingering adrenaline from the battle keeping me on edge. I nearly jumped when Yuffie cut in loudly. “Well, what’re we all standing around for?” she asked, hands on her hips. She started walking back towards the path we’d strayed from during the fight, not looking back. “Let’s keep this train a-rolling!”
In situations like this, I was grateful for her brusque energy. We all slowly moved to follow her, continuing our way up the mountain pass. Vincent positioned himself at the back of the group this time. No one questioned him about the beast again.
When the sun was setting beyond heavy clouds in the west, we decided to stop for the night. We were quite high up now, and the path was growing ever more difficult to follow. “It’s not worth someone falling off the mountain in the dark,” Cloud had remarked. He was right; Red XIII’s night vision may have been stellar, but the rest of us wouldn’t fare as well. It wasn’t worth the risk for an extra hour or two of slow-paced travel.
I set up my and Vincent’s tent in the best location I could find, though the rocky ground didn’t leave a lot of good options. When I was tucked under my blanket and he came into the tent, sans his more elaborate clothes, I tried to make conversation again.
“How was your first full day? I hope you’re not regretting joining up with us.” It sounded joking to my own ears, but I meant the question genuinely. He’d gone from being in a town that he must’ve been familiar with, though it was beyond eerie with the Black Cloaks everywhere, to the middle of the wilderness very quickly. Backing out at this point wouldn’t have been particularly easy.
“I have no regrets about joining you all,” he intoned. “My only regret from today, specifically, is that I have surely struck fear into all of your group.”
I furrowed my brows, but knew what he was referring to well enough. “You mean when we were fighting earlier?” It was a vague statement, but he nodded in agreement.
“Yes. I’ve exposed myself as a monster very quickly.”
I shook my head, disagreeing on reflex despite not knowing him well. “You’re not a monster.” He raised a skeptical eyebrow in my direction. “I-I mean… clearly, you can transform. But you’re hardly the only one who left a trail of destruction today. Everyone in our party can be dangerous,” I said, recalling some particularly brutal encounters from the past few weeks.
He shook his head, my attempts at rationalizing falling short. “They are not comparable.”
I was quiet for a moment, watching him stare at the tent wall and trying to decide whether I should make another attempt at consoling him, when he spoke again. Still not looking at me, he said, “You’re trying to be kind, I realize. But do not deny that which is clearly the truth. With our current arrangements, surely you must be the most afraid of everyone.”
I frowned again and sat up, crossing my legs and facing him. “I’m not scared of you. You transform when you’re attacked, right? When you’re angry and hurt and in danger?” He looked at me with a neutral expression, not responding. “None of that’s gonna happen when we’re sleeping in a tent. I have no reason to be afraid of you.” I didn’t know what this strange man had been through, but he seemed to be wallowing. I wanted to pull him out of it.
He shifted after some time. “Alright, then. I don’t understand. But if you are not bothered by my presence, I’ll stay.” He laid down and pulled his blanket over himself, not waiting for a response. “Thank you.”
He’d said it to the tent wall, but I had to assume the words were meant for me. “Yeah, don’t mention it,” I said softly. I looked at his back thoughtfully for a moment more, wondering how he’d ended up this way—both physically and emotionally—before laying back down under my own covers. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Nadine.”