Final Fantasy VII: The Promised Land


     "Lifestream...."
     Cloud uttered the word softly, almost reverently as the massive green
tendrils of spiritual energy flowed across the landscape, gathering together
to join the shield of energy known as Holy.  The two merged together, the
living energy of the planet with the Ultimate White Magic, and in a blinding
flash of light obliterated Meteor, sending countless fragments hurling back
into the depths of space from which it came.
     When everyone's vision returned all that was left was a greenish tint
to the atmopshere and a wide swath of destruction on the ground.  The Planet
had been spared, but the city of Midgaar was in total ruins.  The upper plates
of the massive city had been subjected to Meteor's gravity well and had been
shredded like so much cheese.
     "Marlene..." Barrett whispered as he gripped the railing of what was
left of the Highwind, still crusing in a wide orbit around Midgaar.  With a
fierce growl, he turned to Cait Sith and demanded, "What happened to Marlene
and everybody else?!"
     The stuffed toy blinked both sets of eyes.  "I told you, I had everyone
take refuge in the slums beneath the plates," the cat whimpered softly as it
nervously readjusted its position on the giant moogle.  "The plates took a
beating, but they don't seem like they're going to come down on top of us."
     "Is that it?" Tifa asked quietly as she peered out of the massive front
windows of the Highwind.  "Is the Planet safe?"
     Cid took a very long drag on his ever-present cigarette.  "Well, unless
someone is going to toss another giant Meteor at us, I think we did it."
     The realization took a few seconds to fully sink into everyone's mind.
"Yes, we did, didn't we...?" Barrett said slowly as his face started to split
into a massive grin.  "We kicked Sephiroth's ass back to kingdom come, and now
we just gave that big rock the boot!"
     "Allllll-RIGHT!!" Cid yelled as he pitched his cigarette into a corner
and tightly embraced the nearest person, who just happened to be Vincent.
     "Hey, watch the arm...." Vincent replied dourly, trying to make sure he
didn't accidentally claw Cid with his artificial hand.
     "We did it!" Tifa whispered fiercely to Cloud as she gave him a hug tight
enough to make his ribs creak slightly in protest.
     "Of course!" Yuffie squealed as she swept up Red-13 in an awkward hug.
     Red-13 blinked hard, first at the unexpected gesture, then again as he
felt Yuffie's hand brush across his hairpin.  "Hey, did you just...?"
     A sudden, piercing alarm disrupted everyone's train of thought.  Cid ran
back to the controls of the Highwind and immdiately got a sickened expression
on his unshaven face.  "Oh, shit, big-time problem.... This bird wasn't meant
to be flown as a glider for long periods of time, just long enough to find a
safe place to put down...."
     Cloud was about to ask a question when there was a heavy thunk from the
emergency thruster and it suddenly went quiet.  "Out of fuel?" he ventured
carefully as everyone started to worry about the sudden silence.
     Cid swallowed hard.  "Something like that, yes...." he said as he started
steering the Highwind south.  "Engine is gone, but we can still glide.  I think
I can put this baby down with a minimum of skid marks, but I gotta find an open
spot first."
     "Where are we?" Cloud asked as he whirled around to look out the window.
"Alright, we should be close to Fort Condor, so see if you can steer us there.
Can we clear the mountains?"
     Cid shrugged.  "One way to find out.  Okay, people, everyone sit down and
grab onto something solid, this is gonna be a bumpy ride."
     "Oh gawd, don't say that," Yuffie whimpered, "I'm gonna get air-sick...."
     Barrett grumbled as he sat down with his back to the auxiliary consoles
and wrapped his good arm around the railing support.  "So stick yer head out
the window."
     "WHAT window?" Yuffie replied as she wedged herself in a corner.
     "Don't do it," Tifa mumbled as Barrett pointed his gun-arm at the wall.
What was said next became totally lost as the Highwind heaved sharply and sent
everyone sprawling in random directions.
     Cait Sith made a noise that sounded exactly like static interference as
it went tumbling across the bridge and into the nose of the Highwind.  Cloud
slammed into the forward section next, landing exactly in the center of the
stuffed moogle's toy body and greatly cushioning his impact.  Tifa landed on
top of him in a very suggestive but entirely accidental pose, and aside from
her elbow meeting his ribcage Cloud had no problem with it whatsoever.
     A loud screeching sound filled the bridge as Vincent jammed his artificial
hand into the deck plates and anchored himself in place.  He reached out with
his good hand to grab one of Red-13's legs as he went skidding past, saving
him from joining the pile of bodies up against the front windows.
     The only thing keeping Cid in place was his iron grip on the controls of
the rapidly descending Highwind.  "We cleared the mountains!" he yelped as he
fought with the controls, deciding not to mention that the right wing hadn't
cleared and was still sitting back on the mountain they just clipped.
     Cloud lifted his head and peeked out from under the stuffed moogle's arm,
then suddenly wished he hadn't.  "Hold on," he whimpered to Tifa as he did his
best to roll into a protective ball around her.  "We're about to land...."
     The next sixty seconds seemed to blur together as the deck of the Highwind
tilted at a crazy angle and "down" suddenly felt like it was in six directions
at once.  The only two recognizable thoughts in his mind were that he was very
proud of himself for not letting go of Tifa during the ordeal, and that he was
very very grateful for the fact that Cait Sith's stuffed body was cushioning
the bulk of his landing.
     Reality continued to waver for a few more seconds before snapping back
into a definite focus, bringing with it a lot of pain.  It took a great deal
of effort for Cloud not to moan as he slowly filled his lungs with air and
let it back out.
     "Owwwwwww, damn..." a heavy voice groaned.
     "Oooooh, I dink I broke my noze...."
     "Umm, who's sitting on my tail?"
     "Oh god oh god oh god...."
     "Cloud?" Tifa murmured as she slowly stirred.
     "I'm right here," he whispered softly.
     "Ugh, that HURT.... hey, Cloud, you awake?" Barrett grunted as he tried
to untangle himself from the mass of bodies pasted against the front window.
     "Yeah, I think so...."
     "Damn, werez dose tissues we got from da Gold Saucer?  Ohh, my noze..."
     "C'mon, who's sitting on my tail?  This hurts...."
     "It's probably me, but my arm is still jammed and I can't move."
     "<puff><puff> Okay okay okay, I think I'm gonna be fine...."
     "SHUT UP!" Barrett roared.  He waited until everyone was quiet before he
took a deep breath.  "Is everyone alive?"
     "I belive so," Red-13 said.
     "I am, but I wish I weren't," Cid mumbled as he tried to staunch a large
nosebleed.
     "I'm not gonna puke, I'm not gonna puke, I'm not gonna puke," Yuffie said
to herself over and over, almost as if it were a meditative chant.
     "Good, because you're on top of me," Vincent said.  "And I'd have to kill
you if you did.  Now as soon as you can move, can you get off my arm so I can
get off Red-13's tail?"
     Everyone fell quiet as an ominous groaning sound filled the room and the
whole deck started to vibrate.  "Uhh, Cid..." Barrett said.
     "Just hold on," Cid grumbled.
     "To WHAT?" Yuffie whimpered as the deck started to tilt.
     Gravity tilted ninety degrees and everyone crashed back onto the deck of
the Highwind's bridge in a jumble of arms and legs, adding more cuts, scrapes,
and bruises to their already impressive collection.
     "Are we finished?" Vincent muttered dourly as things seemed to stabilize.
     Cid grunted as he struggled to his feet.  "Yeah, we are now.  We landed
nose-first with our butt sticking up in the air, and it just came back down."
     Yuffie rolled off of Vincent and sat up, her face almost literally green
with nausea.  "Oh god oh god oh god...." she whimpered quietly as she fought
to keep her insides from heaving.
     "Just hold your breath," Vincent advised as he braced himself, ripped his
artificial hand free from the deck plates, and quickly moved off of Red-13's
tail.
     "Thank you," Red-13 replied as he scampered to his feet and quickly put
some distance between himself and the queasy ninja girl.
   

To be continued (maybe....)