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A full moon rose up above the darkened skies of Sapstrath Deepwood, shining its bright rays of light onto the dirt field below, slowly passing over the dark haired woman with sharp orange markings surrounding the corners of her luminescent vermilion-green eyes standing in front of a horde of dead monsters as she and her summon Bahamut took the time to wipe themselves clean of the blood staining their bodies—or her clothes in the former’s case.
“..Gross...”
The King of Dragons didn’t say anything other than sparing his summoner a brief glance the minute he heard her say “Oh forget this” in a mumble, and then felt a surge of mana gathering to the surface right after those words.
“Waves come forth! Splash!”
A giant series of water streams appeared in the sky, only to fall on the two with a gushing roar, wetting them completely on the spot.
Bahamut grumbled in annoyance, making the soaked woman next to him laugh under her breath, as he moved away and over to a corner somewhere to dry himself off.
Tifa shook her head, taking care to avoid the gruesome scene by her feet for now in favor of feeling amused by the dragon’s moody behavior; however, that didn’t mean she forgot about the mess on her clothes. So she turned her gaze away from Bahamut and placed them back on her outfit, which consisted of a blue off shoulder long sleeve crop top over a white tank top and black sports bra, a pleated black skirt with some dark shorts underneath it, and a pair of black and blue thigh-high boots that had some black and red leg guards attached to them, matching with the metal-plated black and red leather gauntlet gloves she wore on her arms that contained all six of her Materia placed within their slots at the bottom.
Everything was now blood free, including the boots—which had seen some better days despite looking brand new and everything.
Though to be frank, she did just go through a battle in the mud and dirt that had dragged on for what seemed like hours not too long ago. So really, it was a miracle to see that the boots were still in one piece, including her clothes that had been made to not only withstand any types of battles but the weather and the elements as well. Because if they couldn’t handle any of that, then she would’ve gotten rid of the whole ensemble years ago.
Thank Gaia for the power of gil and the existence of shops that sold rare materials and custom-made clothing you could make a request for, although the gil part almost had her wincing from the memory of her learning the exact amount of money she needed to pay in order to have her outfit done and shipped to her asap.
“Well...” the young woman shook her head again, banishing the thought away before she went and proceeded to dry herself off by raising her internal body temperature through willpower alone, “I suppose that wasn’t too bad at all.”
His response to that was a snort of course.
“Look, we still would’ve been getting the blood off if I hadn’t decided to cast Splash earlier. Be grateful that I even thought of the idea in the first place, okay?”
The dragon did not respond right away. Instead, he came back over to join her side, only to see a huge amount of steam rising off her clothes. So he paused in his tracks to look at the steam cloud first. Then after that, he switched his gaze over to Tifa, and took note of the former disappearing until there was no more of it lingering in the air, before giving her an apologetic growl that was both low and solemn in tone, as he knew her sensitive ears would be able to pick his words up from even here.
Once she was finished, Tifa turned around to face him. Then with a tone of voice that perfectly matched the one her dragon used just a second ago, she said, “Alright. You are free to go now, Bahamut, if you’re done here.”
The King of Dragons closed his eyes, and with a rumbling growl that reverberated in the back of his throat he vanished from the spot, leaving behind particles of purple lights in his wake.
Guess I better head out too before any more monsters show up.
After checking herself over and finding everything okay, Tifa ran over to the edge of the path.
Let's see... She thought, pausing to jump and land on the ground below before continuing straight ahead. If I keep heading this way without making any sudden turns to the far left or right, then I’ll reach the exit in no time at all.
Satisfied with her calculations, the woman moved a little faster, and for the remainder of her trek through the forest she kept a steady pace, jumping over every ledge she came across while feeling the breeze blow over her head.
This feels nice.
She jumped again, but this time with her eyes closed as her body twirled in the air mid-descent.
Really nice.
One step. Two steps. Perfect landing!
Yes. I really do like it this, Tifa’s eyes snapped open as she shot over to the opposite side of the clearing in a flash that was too fast for the naked eye to see, and then entered the next one shortly after it. This feeling of freedom... I want to see how long it will last. Will it grow beyond what I feel now? Or will it wither away until there’s nothing but an empty spot there?
The right side of her lips twitched upward in a smile, as if she was amused by the thought of her admitting something like this, admitting to no one but herself how great it felt to be on her own. In fact, traveling alone on a far away planet from what she’d learned in these last seventeen months was fun. And the experience she gained from it turned out to be a very liberating one, which was a first for her, considering how she had always been surrounded by a large group of individuals in the past until now.
However, Tifa also knew that she wouldn’t be getting around to confessing those words out loud or telling the gang that she was starting to prefer Planet Aselia just a teeny tiny bit over the phone any time soon.
So yes, this feeling of hers was...well...even a mystery to her, as surprising as that had sounded to her own ears just now. It was truly hard to describe because it was a type of feeling she hadn’t experienced before, and yet somehow, instead of being nervous in the beginning like she should’ve been, the only familiar feeling she had felt flowing throughout her body then was pure, unadulterated joy. Excitement. She was excited for many things and many reasons her friends were unable to grasp, seeing as they couldn't understand why she’d wanted to leave Gaia in the first place, but...despite their own mixed feelings on the matter they all decided as a group to respect her decision.
After all, they had noticed a change in her behavior a while back—mainly on the day they moved on from Nibelheim. And by the time they had reached the Northern Crater to take on Sephiroth, they knew for certain something was up with her. Something big and different. Because Tifa Lockhart had gone and changed from being a quiet yet reliable friend of theirs to this unbelievably powerful woman who had an indomitable will that made her light up like a phoenix whenever she got really fired up in battle or was on the verge of snapping from anger. And not only that, but she also had a vicious streak rivaling that of what you would normally see from a dragon, had the ability to move at high speeds and fly without the use of magic, and could cast some strong magical attacks with such ease that it nearly made her look like a natural-born magic user.
Incredible.
Simply astounding.
It was as if she had been either born with it or acquired it through other means, which should’ve been impossible to begin with considering the only established party member in the group they knew who could naturally use magic without having to draw it out directly from a Materia would be Aerith, but lo and behold Tifa could do it, too. And she could do it quickly, one after another, even though her brand of magic had looked and felt different compared to Aerith’s for some strange reason.
But still... The change had been so drastic that it had left them speechless for a while. A good few weeks from what she could recall, in fact, but soon enough they got over it, and things went back to normal for them.
So despite all of that, and despite the fact she had gone a bit animalistic on Sephiroth, who most certainly did not expect to see such a significant jump in power or behavioral change from the woman at all, the same woman he’d been mocking and pissing off the entire time apart from screwing with poor Cloud’s head from six ways to Sunday during their long-winded battle, and then paid the price for it after he had tried but failed to stab Aerith again, they still accepted her new change by the end of the fight, and then later her next goal in life once Meteor had been destroyed as well.
And that would be to travel and explore the other worlds out there; to recreate the experience she once felt as a young child while being on a whole another planet when her parents were still alive.
This was personal to her, this was a feeling—no, an itch that reared its lovely little head after she’d read the letter Master Zangan left for her to find back in Nibelheim, and that damn feeling never went away since then.
She knew it, they knew it, and so they let her go. They watched her leave down the road before splitting and heading off to who knows where, disbanding the group right then and there.
Avalanche may not exist anymore, but the bonds we have made over the course of our journey from last year are still there. Strong as ever, Tifa smiled as she looked back on the phone call she had made to the group over a month ago, letting them all know how she was doing on her journey—to which they appreciated the update very much, and broke through the final clearing at last. Cloud. Aerith. Barret. Cid. Yuffie. Vincent. Red. Reeve. My family... Found family.
Yes, she would see her family again in the future.
But for now, Tifa wanted to explore some more, and see what else Aselia had to offer.
Oh.
Up ahead her eyes spotted the exit leading out of Sapstrath Deepwood—
There it is.
—and without so much of a backward glance, she flew over to it.
My ticket out of here.
The wide expanse of an open valley filled with monsters frolicking in the grass or near the flowers growing by some trees here and there greeted her eyes the second she came outside and took it all in.
Everything just looked so...green, so vibrant and amazing. She couldn’t get enough of it or this world. And in a moment of uncharacteristic giddiness, Tifa called her summon right back out, much to his confusion, then pointed a finger straight ahead.
“Let’s have a race, Bahamut! I'm in the mood for one. How about you?”
At the word race, he cocked his head to the side and asked her where.
“From here to the next major city. I’ll see you there!”
Then she took off in a black blur before he could even agree to anything, leaving him to stare at her retreating figure in the distance.
Oh the nerve of this summoner of his...
“What’s wrong? You’re not getting cold feet are you?” came her teasing voice from afar.
He narrowed his eyes and flapped his wings, taking to the dark skies quickly.
No. He was most certainly not getting cold feet.
I will show that hatchling a thing or two.
A moment later, Bahamut took off, chasing after Tifa with a roar that nearly scared the crap out of the monsters below.
Yes, he may have allowed himself to take the bait, but he will win.
I am a king in speed too when it comes to racing.
He roared again and zipped through the sky like a fighter jet flying by.
On that same night—or early morning the next day, a group of civilians and military soldiers alike standing some feet away from the exit leading out of Sharilton became treated to the sight of an attractive woman with long raven hair down to her waist and side-swept bangs flowing over luminescent vermilion-green eyes surrounded by orange markings on the sides kneeling on the ground, panting and scolding the dragon standing next to her, telling him how much a cheater he was, while he looked at her and laughed his butt off.
However, not too far away from the crowd were three men, who not only stood in different parts of the area but gave their undivided attention to the two as well.
And furthermore, each of them wore different expressions on their faces.
“Such foolish behavior coming from what appears to be a powerful summon,” the first man spoke in a way that showed just how disappointed he was at the sight. “But that is to be expected when one chooses to to be in the company of a human who acts the same way in public, it seems.”
Then with a slight shake of his head, he turned around, closing his crimson eyes while doing so, and left his spot without mumbling another word, passing by a familiar purple haired man and his large dark blue and light gray-white dog standing near another pole on the way before disappearing through the crowd of shoppers at the market square.
He stared at where the silver haired man had disappeared to before saying “And he hasn’t changed a bit, I see. Still the same cold guy since I last saw him. He didn’t need to be so harsh with his opinion of the two” in a low voice with a sigh and moving his gray eyes back on the dark haired woman and her dragon.
“Woof!”
“Glad to hear that you agree with me,” he smirked, flicking his gaze down to his partner for a brief moment before bringing it back over to the now-arguing duo. “So... What do you think?”
“Woof?” the dog glanced at him, confused.
The guy raised an eyebrow in response. “Well yeah,” he slowly said, with slight laughter present in his voice, “I wouldn’t be talking about anyone else except for them, now would I?”
The dog woofed, rolling his green eyes playfully, before telling his owner what he thought of the newcomers, and the man crossed his arms in thought, nodding along to what the former was saying with an easygoing grin stretching across his lips.
“Yeah. I think they’re interesting, too. Makes you wonder where she and the dragon came from since her clothes stand out a bit much compared to everyone else here.”
“Woof!”
After sneaking in a few more glances at the duo, but more so at the woman and not the dragon to be honest, the young man moved away from the pole and said “Come on. Let’s get out of here” to his partner.
The dog nodded and barked once, following after him once he had started walking away.
Nearby and across from the stall that sold a variety of fine pottery and silverware, the third guy with spiky obsidian hair and amber eyes removed his gaze from the newcomers. He looked to the ground instead and slipped his hands down in his lab coat pockets, circling the question of who were they in his mind with furrowed eyebrows, fully aware of but not paying any attention to the former Imperial Knight and his dog who walked just right past him.
Maybe, or perhaps, it’s possible for them to be from another planet since I have never seen that kind of dragon before. And that woman... She stands out just as much as her friend does with the clothes she has on.
He shook his head, and then decided not to think about the mystery behind those two anymore before he turned on his heel and walked from the area, too.
🔸⬥🔸🔷🔸◆🔸🔷🔸⬥🔸
It took a bit longer than she’d like to recover, but Tifa was glad to see most of the staring she and her summon had gotten earlier died down by a ton, with the majority leaving to go wherever they were headed to beforehand.
Gaia, that had been so embarrassing; and it didn’t help that the three men and the dog from afar had seen her little argument with Bahamut there, giving her those judgmental looks of their and all—
Oh wait... It was actually one judgmental look, but the other two...well, they were just as bad as the first one because of how intense they felt on her person. It was in their auras—the curiosity and amusement, and that was all she was able to pick up from them in the emotion department.
Hell, she even noticed the kind of markings and animalistic features they had in their appearance despite the distance between her and them.
Like that man with the long silver hair. The markings surrounding the corners of his crimson eyes had a soft shape to them and were colored gold, while the two hair spikes he had on his head looked like griffin ears, so to speak.
And from what she had seen on the purple haired guy, he had hair spikes on the top of his head like the silver haired guy did, except his was more wolf shaped, and his markings were soft as well with a magenta coloring to them instead.
But as for the last guy—the one with spiky black hair, that is, he had at least two hair spikes that were thicker in shape to resemble the ears of a deer as well as small dark brown horns that looked both deer-ish and draconic in appearance, and his marking were sharper than her own and the color of blue.
So taking all of those details into account... Does that mean they are like me? Special? As in they are not exactly one hundred percent hu—
A puff of air blowing across the top of her head broke Tifa from her thoughts, and with a small blink she lifted her gaze to look up into the worried eyes of Bahamut.
“I...” a small sweat-drop appeared near the side of her temple, “I’m sorry. I got a little...distracted there in my head for a while. But don’t worry! It was nothing bad or sad, I assure you. I’m alright.”
Then to bring home her point of reassuring the regal dragon, she flashed him the softest of smiles she’s ever done in, like, forever, and reached up high to scratch at one of his favorite spots.
The underside of his chin, to be specific.
As expected, he closed his eyes and leaned more into her touch, purring softly like a cat.
“See? I wouldn’t be doing this if I was not fine, don’t you think?”
He nodded before pulling away, and seeing as he no longer felt the need to be here, Bahamut leaned back down to give Tifa a gentle goodbye nudge to the head and reverse-summoned himself in a flash of purple lights.
Tifa straightened her hair with a heavy sigh, styling it back to the way she preferred wearing it as her eyes moved forward.
Huh?
Empty. The couple of stragglers from earlier weren’t there anymore. Just a few civilians and a soldier or three walking around and about, which was good enough for her.
Right, she smiled once again. Now let’s see what this Sharilton City is all about.
With that plan in mind, the young twenty-one year old walked deeper into the city while thinking about what to get for breakfast later on.
Decisions, decisions. She truly had no idea where she wanted to go, but that was okay. The answer will come to her sooner or later.
There was no need to rush.
Because as it stands, I have all the time in the world today, tomorrow, and the rest of the following days to come.
Which was the truth. Her schedule was non-existent, as she didn’t even have one. She was as free as she could be. No responsibilities, no having to save the world from dying or chasing down evil bad guys that had to be put in their place regardless of how attractive any of them were, no...nothing really.
It was beautiful.
And free.