Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch11 - Ghosts From the Past

Present Day

"She alive?"

"Ya think?"

"Sure, does look like she's breathing,"

"Then why we gotta carry her ass around with us?!"

"Barret! If we'd let her, she'd die!"

"Not ma problem!"

"Barret!"

"I can hear you, dumbass," Jocasta groaned as she rubbed her eyes and her temples with a hand. She realized she was in the back of an uncomfortable vehicle. Maybe that was just 'cause they were four of them -and what looked like a dog- with somebody driving on the front. The vehicle bumped on every little stone it passed on.

Jocasta groaned as her hand found her head and she rubbed the insistent ache away. She looked up and sat straight only to take a clear look of that very peculiar dog and a pretty muscular man with a gun attached to his left arm. A young girl with bangs and a pink dress stared down at her curiously as she offered a hand to help her sit up. An even younger girl, with a wide smile on her face, barely wearing any clothes, was radiating with energy as she leaned closer, wide eyes stared down at her in excitement.

"What's your name? And how did you end up passing out in the middle of nowhere? Where were you headed? Why are your eyes so strange? Where are you from? And what..."

Jocasta cringed at the sudden blow of endless questions. But the young girl kept throwing them over to her like a thunderstorm. She felt thankful when the other girl cut her.

"Yuffie! Give her some space," the girl in the pink dress said.

Yuffie frowned and sat back on her previous position "Fine,"

The girl in the pink dress lent a hand over to her in an attempt to help her sit straight "Are you okay?" she asked, offering a kind smile.

Jocasta knew better than to accept help from a stranger. She sat straight on her own as she eyed the other four curiously. She noticed the three-wheeled blue truck moving over lands she barely had the time to recognize "I... where... who are you?" she asked confusedly. She remembered herself passing out in the middle of nowhere.

The younger girl sat up, throwing a fist in the air "Feast your eyes on Yuffie! The most fearsome ninja this world has ever s-" the young girl let out a shout as the dog purposely passed his tail beneath her feet, making her lose her balance and land back down on her bum "OW!" Yuffie shot the dog a glare.

"I'm Aerith," the other girl said after sparing the others a smile and then she turned at the muscular guy "That's Barret," and then she turned at the dog "And that's Red XIII,"

Aerith... There was something so oddly familiar about that name. She'd heard it before, she was sure. But alas, she couldn't remember. It's been so long.

"We found you passed out by the-"

Jocasta let out a cry of alarm as she realized the dog had actually spoken. Her eyes widened as she pointed a finger at it "Whoah! The dog speaks!"

"Hey! The name's Red!" Barret cried out as if he was the one she'd insulted.

"It's quite alright," Red XIII said reassuringly.

Jocasta remained freaked out for a moment, as she thought back on her rusty knowledge on Medical Science and tested the possibilities of a dog speaking. She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes for a second. She groaned. She hadn't thought anything related to science in the past years. Not after everything that happened.