Scrib!Fic Update - KH (The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun - Ch77)
Title and Link: The Sky and the Dawn and the Sun
Author: Scribbler
Rating: T
General Fic Summary: Before Sora, Kairi and Riku, another special trio were destined to fight the darkness: Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough and Zack Fair. Their journey involves monsters, wizards, mechanics, ninjas, plus the greatest of all nemeses: love and death. Even the greatest love stories can become tragedies in a heartbeat. KH/FF7/FF8/FF12/Disney. Epic like an epic thing.
Chapter Summary: 77: Kairi's departure is discovered. Cloud and Zack go after her. Somebody stop them before it's too late!
Excerpt:
Zack's coat was ruined during the fight with the Heartless, so he has been wearing a couple of thick sweaters under Esmeralda's cloak. He rarely wears the cloak, despite how dramatic it looks, since he once got it caught in the door of the café and nearly garrotted himself in full view of a busy street. When she went back to the apartment to fetch some spare clothes, however, Penelo carried everything bundled up in both his and Cloud's cloaks. It seems churlish to not wear them when she is already beside herself with apologies. The vibrant red seems extra bright in the stark halogen bulbs of Dr. Sweet's, as he and Cloud pull on their things.
Penelo apologises every five seconds for not keeping a better eye on Kairi. She ran into the surgery fifteen minutes after Leon, squawking that Kairi's bed is empty and her clothes are gone. "I was asleep. I didn't wake up. But that's no excuse, I know, I just … I'm so, so sorry -"
"Nobody knew she'd do something like this," Cloud assures her, but the skin around his mouth is tense, and Zack is adept at reading his eyes. Cloud is terrified. No doubt he is already imagining what could happen to a little girl alone in the wilderness - as well as what might already have happened. "It's not your fault."
"Take Laverne," Penelo insists. "She may not be as heavily built as Fenrir, but she can still carry both of you, and she's fast."
Zack doubts she's as fast as a chocobo rooster at full tilt, especially one carrying a light passenger instead of two grown men, but says nothing of this to Penelo. He has seen Fenrir going so flat out even Cloud, an experienced birdsman, had trouble keeping his seat. He also remembers riding that blasted bird the night they arrived in Traverse Town, and how he was almost shaken loose when they careened down the side of a cliff. Laverne may be good, but Fenrir is like the wind.
Yeah, a freaking tornado. He chases away images of Kairi's small body sprawled, ruined after rolling to a halt at sixty miles per hour.
Cloud straightens, fastening his sword harness and attaching his blade to the magnet on his back. "Are you ready?"
It has been decided that they two will chase down Fenrir and bring Kairi back. Zack keeps replaying how all the Heartless in the square zeroed in on her, and Big Daddy's single-minded attempts to break into the church while she was inside. If there are Heartless around, and they sense Kairi, alone and vulnerable, they may decide to attack again. It will take two of them to get her to safety in that kind of situation. Not to mention there's no way Zack is letting Cloud ride out alone with that same threat. Nobody even suggests Cloud not go.
"Not Rocky Road, end-of-the-sale frenzy, but sure, I'm ready." Zack gives his best 'everything will turn out okay because I'm on the case now' grin. "Let's move it."