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Revive (seph&zack) scene... I dunno.
hit the "revive" tag for more of this one.
Zack hadn't wanted to bother taking shifts; alternating their sleeping patterns wasted six to eight hours of the day that could have been used to hunt for food or travel southward, and anything big enough to eat them would wake them up at least a whole two seconds before reaching them. Hopefully. Also, it was easier to keep warm when they could sleep against each other.
Sephiroth had acquiesced, which worried Zack a little because Seph tended to be overcautious at the best of times and should have been adamant about needing to keep watch, but it was so much easier to sleep spooned against the man's back.
With his hands around Zack's throat, not so much.
"Grrhk?" he questioned, or tried to. A second ago, he'd been comfortably asleep, bundled up in badly-sewn furs; now Sephiroth was straddling him, furs scattered, loose hair falling around them both, a cold, steel-sharp look in his eyes. Zack would have asked what the big idea was -- well, alright, he probably would have made some stupid sex-related joke, what with sitting on people naked -- but it was hard to talk when running out of air.
"Where is she?" Sephiroth asked in a deceptively soft voice.
Zack's eyes widened in dismay. Oh, shit, no. Seph hadn't mentioned his Mother for the last two days; Zack had hoped the way the searching, confused looks petered off were a sign of returning mental health.
He tried to shake his head no; black shadows danced in his field of vision. Even a SOLDIER wouldn't stand the lack of blood to the brain very long, but he was afraid trying to pry his superior officer's fingers off would only get Sephiroth to squeeze harder.
"What did you do?" Sephiroth asked in a deceptively gentle tone.
His hold relaxed; Zack gulped in a deep lungful of delicious fresh air. "Didn't do anything to your mom. Why would I?"
Sephiroth's fingers clenched again, and he leaned closer, absolute contempt on his face. His catlike pupils were dilated so wide they took over almost all of the green. "Don't lie to my face, Fair. Don't you dare."
Zack grabbed Sephiroth's wrists and tried to give himself a few millimeters of breathing space. "Not true -- didn't --"
Sephiroth gave him an almost negligent shake; Zack tried to dig his fingers in his tendons, but nothing happened, save for more of that creepily soft, dreamy voice. "Mother was right. You betrayed me. She told me it would happen."
No rock close enough to brain him again. The Health transfer Materia wouldn't have been very useful; but it had rolled out of the makeshift sling keeping it against Zack's bare skin, so he couldn't even use it. Zack planted his heels in the ground and pushed up; Sephiroth only settled his weight on Zack's hips. Desperate, Zack tried to knee him in the back, but the General was almost curled around his upper body, and he couldn't get enough strength in the blow.
The world was going black around him. He shoved to the side with hands and feet, almost managed to roll them over, only to get flattened again. Shit. Shit. Couldn't breathe. He didn't want to die again -- not like that. And Seph -- Seph all alone here, no one to bring him back -- Cloud would just kill him again...
His eyes had closed; he didn't remember when. He forced them open, stared up at intense, disturbingly unconcerned eyed. All around them, gray hair like a veil, and shadows creeping up on him...
He took a fistful of long hair and pulled. Half of it stayed in his hand, ripped off at the root; Sephiroth reared back in startled outrage -- and this time Zack's kick connected, just enough to unbalance him. They rolled over the uneven ground, Zack fighting like a wildcat, with no thought or strategy, just to get him to unclench his hands again, just another second -- air, glorious air -- but they were still fighting and he had to break contact and take cover, and he couldn't. He punched Sephiroth in the jaw -- had been aiming for his nose -- got his stomach hammered, a pressure point at his shoulder stabbed so hard his arm fell limp and tingling immediately. And then he was on his back again, one wrist caught, and with nothing to block Sephiroth's other hand anymore.
He was going to die. Sephiroth was going to kill him. He wasn't sure which was worse.
That was when the chocobo stepped on them.
Sephiroth's body rolled with the impact of a huge, clawed foot; the bird screeched in shock and jumped up, whirling around to peck the General. Zack rolled to the other side and jumped on his feet.
I should have stayed down, he had the time to think. SOLDIER speed or not, he was still dizzy enough that there was no way he could dodge the incoming flock of birds. A short wing clipped his shoulder, sending him whirling; the chest of an almost-grown fledgling slammed into him like a freight train. Zack rolled on the ground and curled up, hands over his head, as the flock thundered over him in a mess of thick claws long as his forearm and shrill, panicked whistles.
It only took about ten seconds before the biggest part of the flock was past, but he could still hear a few stragglers trying to catch up. Zack started crawling toward a rock he could use as cover, glancing all around. The bushes through which the flock had crashed were flattened; in the other direction, he could see a few yellow tails rushing off.
A dozen feet from him in that direction, Sephiroth was sitting in the dust with his legs stretched out, hair and skin a mess of dirt and mud, and the most hilarious stunned expression Zack had ever seen on him. Zack didn't laugh, in case he was still feeling crazy.
A couple of slower birds raced through their camp, screeching in anguish and fear, and Zack realized that for a flock of chocobos to take off like that, there had to be something after them. Something fast and deadly enough to be a problem. Two seconds later, he had his confirmation, as the last straggler -- an aged, fraying-feathered hen -- had barely passed Sephiroth when a huge maned wolf jumped in front of her. It looked no different from any Nibelheim wolf Zack had ever seen, except two sizes up, and Zack already thought Nibelheim wolves were big enough.
They also had in common the fact that they hunted in packs. And even an aging chocobo had to seem less dangerous to take down than two naked humans.
"Seph! Incoming!" he yelled, jumping up in a fighting stance, and hoped the urgency of the situation would snap Sephiroth back to a more stable state of mind. ... Or at least that he would take down the more urgent threat first.
The wolves emerged from the low bushes, circling the campsite and snapping their teeth. Trembling, dancing on the tips of her dulled claws, the old hen whistled and called for her flock, but they were far away by now. Zack saw Sephiroth slowly take in the pack and turn to face them, his back in Zack's direction. Zack started stepping backwards toward him, to keep from being entirely surrounded by the pack. He could count six -- seven, nine -- over twelve wolves. Damn, no wonder the flock had run.
A wolf jumped at him, teeth bared; Zack's foot scythed through the air and caught him in the side of the head with a resounding crack. One down. Two more crawled closer, snapping at his legs. Damn, but those things learned fast. Zack stopped worrying about Sephiroth and the panicky chocobo behind him, and threw himself into the fight.
The skull was the most obvious weak point; Zack didn't have claws or fangs with which to tear into their throats or bellies, and the thick fur would have hindered him; but he could break bone, provided he could manage a good, direct hit. The problem of course was that skull and maw were rather close to each other, and wolves were neither stupid nor slow -- and Sephiroth had left him with a weak, numbed arm. By the time he downed his fourth wolf, he was bleeding from a couple of deep bites.
"Zack, catch," was all the warning he got before the blue Materia orb slapped in his palm. Zack grinned -- Seph felt more like himself, and that made Zack feel better too. That, and now he could start reversing some of the damage. He threw himself back into the fray.
Eventually, the wolves started retreating. Only a couple of them still snapping and growling... And the old chocobo, up until now rooted to the spot between them, moving to bolt. Zack took a chance, turned his back on the wolves, and ran to the bird, snatching up one of the furs from the ground.
"Seph, cover me!"
He flung the fur at the bird's head, covering her eyes, and clung to her neck for dear life as she tried to fling it off. Behind him, he could hear a furious snarl -- and then a yip, and the sound of running paws over the rocks.
Zack threw a grin at Sephiroth over his shoulder. The man stood at parade rest, naked body covered in mud, dust, and brambles, usually sleek hair in strange and improbable tangles, watching Zack with an air of detached interest. In was the kind of look Zack used to get when his superior officer caught him boobytrapping Heidegger's desk with shaving cream and confetti, and it made Zack burst out laughing so suddenly he almost let the hen go.
"Whoa!" Zack's body was flung to the side, and he had to hang from her head and lift his legs high to avoid getting slashed by her big claws. Dulled by age, they could still do a lot of damage if he couldn't dodge them. The chocobo took a few steps, but unable to see anything, she didn't dare take off running just yet. Zack made shushing noises that didn't seem to make a difference, and did his best to avoid the old bird's sudden kicks.
"Are you that hung up on eating poultry?"
Neck bowed, the bird breathed hard under her improvised hood. Sephiroth held onto the edge, adding his weight to Zack's, and arched an eyebrow at Zack wryly.
Zack laughed, intensely relieved. Thank god, he was normal again. "Haha! Oh, no. I just figured we'd go faster with her legs."
Sephiroth allowed himself a faint smirk. "I'd gathered. Still, we might end up going faster on our own two feet than double-riding. It doesn't seem in the best shape."
"Eh, she lived this long. She's gotta be strong. And if not, well, I guess we'll eat poultry."
+
the scene isn't done, but i have to sleep and i figured this worked as a stopping point. Now, anyone got name suggestions for the chocobo? XD she's old and plain yellow and a little shy, kinda slow, but she's nice too.
Zack hadn't wanted to bother taking shifts; alternating their sleeping patterns wasted six to eight hours of the day that could have been used to hunt for food or travel southward, and anything big enough to eat them would wake them up at least a whole two seconds before reaching them. Hopefully. Also, it was easier to keep warm when they could sleep against each other.
Sephiroth had acquiesced, which worried Zack a little because Seph tended to be overcautious at the best of times and should have been adamant about needing to keep watch, but it was so much easier to sleep spooned against the man's back.
With his hands around Zack's throat, not so much.
"Grrhk?" he questioned, or tried to. A second ago, he'd been comfortably asleep, bundled up in badly-sewn furs; now Sephiroth was straddling him, furs scattered, loose hair falling around them both, a cold, steel-sharp look in his eyes. Zack would have asked what the big idea was -- well, alright, he probably would have made some stupid sex-related joke, what with sitting on people naked -- but it was hard to talk when running out of air.
"Where is she?" Sephiroth asked in a deceptively soft voice.
Zack's eyes widened in dismay. Oh, shit, no. Seph hadn't mentioned his Mother for the last two days; Zack had hoped the way the searching, confused looks petered off were a sign of returning mental health.
He tried to shake his head no; black shadows danced in his field of vision. Even a SOLDIER wouldn't stand the lack of blood to the brain very long, but he was afraid trying to pry his superior officer's fingers off would only get Sephiroth to squeeze harder.
"What did you do?" Sephiroth asked in a deceptively gentle tone.
His hold relaxed; Zack gulped in a deep lungful of delicious fresh air. "Didn't do anything to your mom. Why would I?"
Sephiroth's fingers clenched again, and he leaned closer, absolute contempt on his face. His catlike pupils were dilated so wide they took over almost all of the green. "Don't lie to my face, Fair. Don't you dare."
Zack grabbed Sephiroth's wrists and tried to give himself a few millimeters of breathing space. "Not true -- didn't --"
Sephiroth gave him an almost negligent shake; Zack tried to dig his fingers in his tendons, but nothing happened, save for more of that creepily soft, dreamy voice. "Mother was right. You betrayed me. She told me it would happen."
No rock close enough to brain him again. The Health transfer Materia wouldn't have been very useful; but it had rolled out of the makeshift sling keeping it against Zack's bare skin, so he couldn't even use it. Zack planted his heels in the ground and pushed up; Sephiroth only settled his weight on Zack's hips. Desperate, Zack tried to knee him in the back, but the General was almost curled around his upper body, and he couldn't get enough strength in the blow.
The world was going black around him. He shoved to the side with hands and feet, almost managed to roll them over, only to get flattened again. Shit. Shit. Couldn't breathe. He didn't want to die again -- not like that. And Seph -- Seph all alone here, no one to bring him back -- Cloud would just kill him again...
His eyes had closed; he didn't remember when. He forced them open, stared up at intense, disturbingly unconcerned eyed. All around them, gray hair like a veil, and shadows creeping up on him...
He took a fistful of long hair and pulled. Half of it stayed in his hand, ripped off at the root; Sephiroth reared back in startled outrage -- and this time Zack's kick connected, just enough to unbalance him. They rolled over the uneven ground, Zack fighting like a wildcat, with no thought or strategy, just to get him to unclench his hands again, just another second -- air, glorious air -- but they were still fighting and he had to break contact and take cover, and he couldn't. He punched Sephiroth in the jaw -- had been aiming for his nose -- got his stomach hammered, a pressure point at his shoulder stabbed so hard his arm fell limp and tingling immediately. And then he was on his back again, one wrist caught, and with nothing to block Sephiroth's other hand anymore.
He was going to die. Sephiroth was going to kill him. He wasn't sure which was worse.
That was when the chocobo stepped on them.
Sephiroth's body rolled with the impact of a huge, clawed foot; the bird screeched in shock and jumped up, whirling around to peck the General. Zack rolled to the other side and jumped on his feet.
I should have stayed down, he had the time to think. SOLDIER speed or not, he was still dizzy enough that there was no way he could dodge the incoming flock of birds. A short wing clipped his shoulder, sending him whirling; the chest of an almost-grown fledgling slammed into him like a freight train. Zack rolled on the ground and curled up, hands over his head, as the flock thundered over him in a mess of thick claws long as his forearm and shrill, panicked whistles.
It only took about ten seconds before the biggest part of the flock was past, but he could still hear a few stragglers trying to catch up. Zack started crawling toward a rock he could use as cover, glancing all around. The bushes through which the flock had crashed were flattened; in the other direction, he could see a few yellow tails rushing off.
A dozen feet from him in that direction, Sephiroth was sitting in the dust with his legs stretched out, hair and skin a mess of dirt and mud, and the most hilarious stunned expression Zack had ever seen on him. Zack didn't laugh, in case he was still feeling crazy.
A couple of slower birds raced through their camp, screeching in anguish and fear, and Zack realized that for a flock of chocobos to take off like that, there had to be something after them. Something fast and deadly enough to be a problem. Two seconds later, he had his confirmation, as the last straggler -- an aged, fraying-feathered hen -- had barely passed Sephiroth when a huge maned wolf jumped in front of her. It looked no different from any Nibelheim wolf Zack had ever seen, except two sizes up, and Zack already thought Nibelheim wolves were big enough.
They also had in common the fact that they hunted in packs. And even an aging chocobo had to seem less dangerous to take down than two naked humans.
"Seph! Incoming!" he yelled, jumping up in a fighting stance, and hoped the urgency of the situation would snap Sephiroth back to a more stable state of mind. ... Or at least that he would take down the more urgent threat first.
The wolves emerged from the low bushes, circling the campsite and snapping their teeth. Trembling, dancing on the tips of her dulled claws, the old hen whistled and called for her flock, but they were far away by now. Zack saw Sephiroth slowly take in the pack and turn to face them, his back in Zack's direction. Zack started stepping backwards toward him, to keep from being entirely surrounded by the pack. He could count six -- seven, nine -- over twelve wolves. Damn, no wonder the flock had run.
A wolf jumped at him, teeth bared; Zack's foot scythed through the air and caught him in the side of the head with a resounding crack. One down. Two more crawled closer, snapping at his legs. Damn, but those things learned fast. Zack stopped worrying about Sephiroth and the panicky chocobo behind him, and threw himself into the fight.
The skull was the most obvious weak point; Zack didn't have claws or fangs with which to tear into their throats or bellies, and the thick fur would have hindered him; but he could break bone, provided he could manage a good, direct hit. The problem of course was that skull and maw were rather close to each other, and wolves were neither stupid nor slow -- and Sephiroth had left him with a weak, numbed arm. By the time he downed his fourth wolf, he was bleeding from a couple of deep bites.
"Zack, catch," was all the warning he got before the blue Materia orb slapped in his palm. Zack grinned -- Seph felt more like himself, and that made Zack feel better too. That, and now he could start reversing some of the damage. He threw himself back into the fray.
Eventually, the wolves started retreating. Only a couple of them still snapping and growling... And the old chocobo, up until now rooted to the spot between them, moving to bolt. Zack took a chance, turned his back on the wolves, and ran to the bird, snatching up one of the furs from the ground.
"Seph, cover me!"
He flung the fur at the bird's head, covering her eyes, and clung to her neck for dear life as she tried to fling it off. Behind him, he could hear a furious snarl -- and then a yip, and the sound of running paws over the rocks.
Zack threw a grin at Sephiroth over his shoulder. The man stood at parade rest, naked body covered in mud, dust, and brambles, usually sleek hair in strange and improbable tangles, watching Zack with an air of detached interest. In was the kind of look Zack used to get when his superior officer caught him boobytrapping Heidegger's desk with shaving cream and confetti, and it made Zack burst out laughing so suddenly he almost let the hen go.
"Whoa!" Zack's body was flung to the side, and he had to hang from her head and lift his legs high to avoid getting slashed by her big claws. Dulled by age, they could still do a lot of damage if he couldn't dodge them. The chocobo took a few steps, but unable to see anything, she didn't dare take off running just yet. Zack made shushing noises that didn't seem to make a difference, and did his best to avoid the old bird's sudden kicks.
"Are you that hung up on eating poultry?"
Neck bowed, the bird breathed hard under her improvised hood. Sephiroth held onto the edge, adding his weight to Zack's, and arched an eyebrow at Zack wryly.
Zack laughed, intensely relieved. Thank god, he was normal again. "Haha! Oh, no. I just figured we'd go faster with her legs."
Sephiroth allowed himself a faint smirk. "I'd gathered. Still, we might end up going faster on our own two feet than double-riding. It doesn't seem in the best shape."
"Eh, she lived this long. She's gotta be strong. And if not, well, I guess we'll eat poultry."
+
the scene isn't done, but i have to sleep and i figured this worked as a stopping point. Now, anyone got name suggestions for the chocobo? XD she's old and plain yellow and a little shy, kinda slow, but she's nice too.