Wild Valenwind West part III

Title: Wild Valenwind West part III
Author: Enide Dear
Pairing: Valenwind, d'uh
Rating: some violence, fluffy death


"We are being watched, as I thought." Vincent has let all the lights die out in the shack and was now peering out the window behind his ragged curtains. "It's Reno."

"That scrawny punk?" Cid glanced out the other side. "He looks like he'd blow away like tumbleweed!"

"Don't underestimate him. He is a killer." The curtain was slowly dropped into place. "And if we can see Reno, that means Rude is around somewhere to. Probably staying hidden."

"So what's the plan?" Cid chewed his unlit cig.

"No plan." Shrugging, Vincent turned away. "We get to the stable, get on the chocoboes and ride for our lives towards your plane. We'll get chased, and most likely shot to death before we get out of Midgard outskirts."

"Ain't ya a cheerful one?" The blonde ex-prisoner grinned at Vincent's annoyed glance. "Hey, I was to be hanged in the morrow anyway. The odds on my life are still goin' up."

Vincent smiled faintly, despite himself.

"You are a stubborn man, Highwind."

"Well, we can't all be gorgeous like ya." Cid winked.

"Please don't…call me things like that." Turning away, Vincent slid his hand over the rickety wall; the stables where just next to his shed, sharing a wall. It made for some shared warmth, but also a certain shared…smell. But, like one of Rufus cronies - that blonde woman - had sneered, the chocoboes didn't mind.

He wished he'd kicked her in the groin, woman or not.

"Here, allow me." Picking up an iron bar from the ruined jail, Cid slammed it between the boards and with a small grunt of effort tore the plans away, leaving an opening into the warm, smelly darkness on the other side. "Can't have ya do all the heavy work around here. Makes me feel I ain't the man here, ya know."

That made Vincent pause and turn.

"You are aware of the face that I am a man to, are you not?" He said sweetly.

"Well, yeah, but I'm like a real manly man and yer like a beautiful, delicate man who can rip out iron bars…" He didn't get any further before Vincent grabbed his neck with a snarl, bouncing his head into the wall.

"Will you get into your thick, stubborn skull," he snarled. "That I am *not beautiful*!"

Cid Highwind was a stubborn man. But even that stubbornness melted away in the face of full fledged demon wrath.

"Sure," he croaked. "As ya say, Vince. Whatever ya say, Vince. Jest don't expect me ta wear the bridal gown is all I'm sayin'. Got too knobby knees, and I'll never find shoes that fit."

Vincent just stared. And then a burst of laughter escaped him before he could swallow it. Gently, he let the man down from his choke hold.

"We only met last evening, we are about to flee for our lives, and you are already planning a wedding recital in your head?"

"Ain't no harm in planning ahead, is there?" Cid rubbed his neck and winked.

"Suddenly this plan of yours to fly away seems a lot more…precautious."

"Nah," Cid strolled past him into the stable. "Machines I know. It's people I have a problem with."

*I don't think so.* Vincent thought, finding that he couldn't stop smiling at the brazen man.


Cid's chocobo warked sleepily but amiably at them as Cid started putting on saddle and tackle. Vincent looked doubtful.

"She's rather small. Can she really carry us both?"

"That's why I named her *Tiny* Bronco. And yer jest skin and bones. Bronco here is used to hauling around me an' my tool box, which probably weigh more than ya do. First thing I'm gonna do when we get out of here is give ya a good ol' home cooked meal." He cast a sly glance at the dark man checking his guns. "Well, maybe the second thing I'll do."

"You are insufferable." But something warm uncoiled deep in Vincent belly.

"Yep." Cid fastened the saddle and nodded. "Up ya go. I'll sit behind ya and…"

"No." Vincent shook his head. "I'm a very poor rider. I need you to steer this bird for me, wherever we are going. And I am the one with firepower enough to keep Rufus' men at bay. I'll sit behind you."

"But…"

"And if you are even thinking of one more 'precious princess' comment..." Vincent pulled back the hammer of his huge gun and pointed it between Cid's eyes. "Do I make myself clear?"

Cid swallowed.

"Would now be a bad time ta get turned on?"

"Get on the damn chocoboe!"


They burst out through the stable doors, Tiny Bronco already at full (wark) speed as she hit the streets. Cid was an excellent rider; the chocoboe took the sharp turn almost lying down and she was still accelerating as a shout went up from the red-head who'd been taking a piss in the alley. Vincent saw the flash of a cattleprod and kicked out; Reno's weapon went flying but he was already shouting for back up.  Vincent fired a few bullets at him, but Tiny Bronco leapt a wagon and he was forced to hold on to Cid instead; the broad back with its muscles bouncing against him, his face buried in sun tanned neck and dusty golden hair and…

A grey chocobo carrying a dark rider appeared out of nowhere and would have slammed into them if Cid hadn't reversed his spear and knocked the man from its back; the man rolled to avoid his steeds kicking, loosing his hat to reveal a bald head.

"That was Rude!" Vincent shouted over the tapping sound of chocobo feet.

"Yeah? Well, he started it!" Cid retorted with a grin. "Hold on ta yer britches!"

The headlong flight didn't just alert Rufus' men; the whole town was soon in an uproar, lamps being lit, people shouting questions from bedrooms as they raced past. Reno and Rude were nowhere to be seen, but Vincent didn't trust that; it was just a matter of time before they were on the track again, like hounds.

But in the mean time….

He slid his gun back in the holster and unstrapped the sniper rifle; it was a fine tuned weapon, made for a steady ground and patient stalking, you'd be insane to fire it from the back of a fleeing chocoboe.

Or just a very, very good shot.

The black silhouette in the doctor's office was unmistakable, bowler hat or not, and Vincent didn't want to think about what kind of atrocity had kept Hojo up this late. He just shouldered the rifle, took aim and waited for the leap step in which Tiny Bronco's both feet left the ground for less than a second…

The bullet went through the window with a crash and Vincent got a second's glance at horrified eyes under stripy hair before the doctor's head snapped back, splaying blood everywhere.

"Holy shit." Cid gaped as they rushed past the now gore stained office.

Vincent smiled to himself.

"Now," he said with a content smile. "You may call me pretty, Cid."


They got almost a minutes lead which was more than Vincent had expected. Then again, Rufus and his men must have been taken completely of guard by the outbreak. But now they were closing in even as Tiny Bronco's pace was slowing down. The ground rose steeply outside Midgard and Cid was pushing the chocobo on with an odd mixture of swearing and sweet praise. Tiny Bronco scrabbled upwards but too slow; Rufus' men were closing in fast, four of them, and on fresh chocoboes.

"C'mon girl, ya can do this, ya ain't gonna be outrun by some fucking fancy city slicker birds, are ya? Like Hell ya are! Yer my girl and I…"

But whatever Tiny was, she wasn't enough. Guns started blazing behind them, making Vincent throw himself over Cid to hold him down, Tiny screamed in pained and lurched upwards, past the steep incline and onto smoother ground, but it was too late. A bullet had shattered her leg and she went down, throwing Cid and Vincent over her neck. The tumble took the bird hard; she fell over and the long, strong neck broke with a snap.

"Noo! No, Bronco!" Cid scrambled to his feet, but the dead eyes where all that met him. "I'm gonna kill them! I'm gonna fucking kill them, and then I'll revive them, and then I'll fucking kill that fucker once more!"

"No time. Stay back." In the pre-dawn light, Vincent could make out the men coming for them clear enough; he knew of them already of course. Reno, Rude, that blonde bitch Elena and the cold hearted snake from the far East, Tseng. Their chocoboes where already halfway up the incline, but kept in the protection of boulders to make themselves a harder target. "I can stop them…perhaps." If Cid had been right. If Hojo's concoction was nothing but a lie. But there were no time for second guessing now.

Air blurring, Vincent turned and Cid's jaw dropped as he saw the huge, slobbering monster standing where the gunman had been a second ago. Beady, yellow eyes turned at him, but snuffled and turned back to the slope where the first hat could be seen.

Galian roared. It was a primitive, raw howl of a supreme predator and it made the chocoboes wild with insane terror. Screaming, the birds tossed of their riders and fled for their lives, leaving the four bipeds to tumble back down the slope again, screaming and swearing.

Then the monster turned to Cid, licking its massive jaws in hunger. Furious, Cid shook his spear at it.

"Yer not eating my Tiny, ya hear me ya big lump? She carried ya all the way here and she deserved better than being demon food!" He tapped the demon on its snout. "So ya jest back off, buddy!"

Galian snorted and huffed, almost as if insulted. Then he blurred and Vincent stood there, swaying and clutching his nose.

"Thad hurd." He said, pinching his nose.

"That's what ya get fer tryin' ta eat my poor bird." Cid sighed and his shoulders slumped a little. "I guess there is nothing for it. We have ta go on on foot and leave her here. Poor girl."

"I suppose so…wait!" Vincent spun around. "They're still coming!"

"Oh yeah? Great." Grim faces over his dead chocobo, Cid took something out of his pocket - a heavy bundle of dynamite. "'Cause I owe these fuckers." He lit the fuse on his cig. "Eat this!"

The whole mountainside seemed to explode; gravel and rocks flying or tumbling down over the hapless people halfway up the slope. They went falling and running down again, but even as the dust settled and the ground stopped shaking, Vincent could see them trying to get to their feet again.

"Worse than pests." Cid grumbled as he stepped up. "But it oughta have bought us an hour or so. Better get moving."

Vincent nodded. Then he grabbed the blonde man's yellow scarf, drew him closer and kissed him, hard, long and hot.

Cid's eyes were slightly glazed as they came up for air again.

"Wha…?" he managed.

"To keep you from getting too sad." Vincent smiled. "And for luck, of course."


"Shit, still after us." Cid threw a glance over his shoulder. "And gaining. We must have pissed 'em off royally."

"I think getting their mounts scared of and then almost being blown to pieces might do that to certain people." Vincent agreed. "Will we make it to your plane?"

"Yeah, sure. But I don't like this. It's like their heardin' us towards something." He threw another glance at the men approaching, now well back and keeping their distance, but still cutting off any possible retreat. "

"They know these lands, and so do I. This cliff ends in a gully. There is nowhere we can run from there."

"That's what they think!" But brazen as he sounded, Cid still looked a bit hesitant. It all came down to his plane now, his insane idea…would it even work? He had no way of knowing until he got there. "Here she is!"

Vincent hesitated as he saw the…the mechanism. He'd never seen anything like it; double wings stretched out longer than he'd thought they'd be, a propeller in the front and perched on two small wheel, the small body of the aircraft. It didn't look anything like any other flying being he'd seen - not a bird, a bat or a butterfly. But he was far too late to go back now, should he even want to.

A sound, far off, alerted him.

"They're coming! Hurry up!" The gun blazed as he lay down cover fire, but they were four against one and this would not work for long.

"I'm working, I'm working!" Cid tore up the engine protection and gently lowered the materia into place; it should start glowing red, it should start getting warm and push power into the engine, to feed the motion of the propeller…..but nothing happened. "Holy fucking shit!" He fiddled with the materia, tried to get it in a better position; furious he banged on it with a wrench but nothing happened.

"Cid! Hurry up!" Bullets tore around Vincent as he came running back. "What is wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Vince! I can't…I can't get it ta work!" Even as he kept trying, desperation brought almost tears into cyan eyes. "Fucking shit! I'm so sorry!"

"Why? Why isn't it working?" Vincent shook his head. He'd come too far to accept defeat easily now.

"I can't get it ta start. Like it needs a spark or something…" The cig fell out of his mouth as the air blurred and Vincent changed again; this time a huge hulking monstrosity, a caricature  of a man made up from different pieces. The creature hummed, a deep sound like rusty chains and pointed a finger at the engine. Lightning leapt from the outstretched digit.

The materia purred to life, red light glowing all around it and the engine coughed. The propeller spun swiftly around on greased cogwheels.

"It's working! It's working! I'm a fucking genius!" Cid jumped with delight.

"Get your genius ass up in the plane then! We need to move!" Vincent slapped said ass and hurried aside as Cid removed the breaks and jumped neatly into the plane's seat. "Where do I sit?"

"Sorry, this is a one man plane. Ya have ta sit in my lap." Grinning, Cid reached down and easily lifted him up, seating him across his knees. "Hold on ta yer britches!"

The plane moved forward in a hail of bullets; rolled toward the hundreds of meter drop that awaited it and Vincent found he held his breath. Cid revved up the engine as they rushed towards the fall and possibly their deaths, Rufus' men running up behind them and he wanted to scream at the mayhem.

And then there were peace. The plane left ground and hurdled over the face of the cliff; the upwinds caught it and lifted it higher, the engine hummed as they soared away, far away, far from the chaos and death on the ground. Up into the sky where the sun was just rising.

Cid was laughing and screaming in delight as his plane - the Highwind, Vincent now saw painted on the wings - flew through the sky. Up and away. Up and away from everything. Vincent just leaned on him and held him tight.

"Hey…" Cid buffed at his neck with his nose as his hands were busy with the steering wheel. "Ya alright?"

"Where will we go now?"

"Dunno. Don't matter. Wherever we're going, we'll get there. Tagether."

"Hm. We might need a lot of luck, with a goal like that." Vincent turned to kiss him.

"Yeah." Cid kissed him back. "A lot of luck."

And the little plane flew steadfast and true, into the rising sun.




The End