Writing Final Fantasy 7-The Red Fist

[Sephiroth]

this is the sequel to my other final fantasy 7 story, the return of aeris, enjoy :)

CHAPTER I
STOP THEIF!

The light in the corridor was dim. There were torches placed periodically along the walls, but they were few and far between. They cast pale shadows on the rough stone walls that rose up into the darkness of the fortress, their light diminished by the immensity of the stucture around them.

Two men walked slowly down the corridor. They were dressed all in black except for a red insignia on the left breast of their shirts. They talked in hushed tones as they passed down the hallway, almost as if they were intimidated by the cold walls that surrounded them.

They paused for a moment in the middle of the corrider as one of them lit a cigarette. As they moved on a little bit of rock dust drifted to the ground behind them.

Clinging just below the ceiling on the wall directly above where the two men had been standing the young ninja breathed a sigh of relief as the two men disappeared down the hallway. Much as she would have been amused to see the look on their faces if she had dropped on top of them, it was unlikely she could have taken them both out before they raised an alarm.

She slid silently down the wall. She stopped when she reached the bottem and looked around quickly, more out of habit than caution. She knew the next patrol would not come through for another ten minutes.

Smiling to herself, she quickly passed down the corrider. So far, things had been absurdly easy. At the end of the corridor she turned left and entered a narrow room, dimly lit like everywhere else. On the floor was a brightly painted murel of a large red dragon.

She walked slowly across the room, being careful not to step on any portion of the floor that was painted red. On the other side was a locked metal door. She crouched down beside it for a few minutes.

There was a soft click, and then the young ninja stood up and swung the door open. With one more glance around she stepped inside.

The room was circular, and even darker than the others. A flickering glow dimly lit the room, but it was not the glow of torchlight. In the center of the room stood a narrow pedistal. On top of it was placed what looked like a materia orb.

The ninja could not help but stare in wonder at it for a moment. She had never seen anything like it. It was huge, much larger than any materia she had seen before, almost the size of an ostrich egg. But the thing that really captivated her was the color. Normal materia glowed faintly with a certain color depending on what type of materia it was, but this sparkled with multicolored lights. Red, blue, green and yellow all flashed and flickered within it.

She slowly walked over to it, unable to turn her gaze away. The colors whirled around inside it. One growing brighter than the rest, then fading away, to be replaced by another color. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

"I've been expecting you."

She jerked her head up to see a figure standing in the darkness nearby. Instinctively she flung her shuriken at point blank range.

Almost too fast to see the man stepped to the side, then almost casually reached out his hand, and suddenly he was holding her shuriken.

Her eyes widened in spite of herself and she took a step back.

"I'm afraid you'll have to do a little better than that," he said calmly. He tossed her shuriken aside and stepped toward her. He was an older man, with white hair and a short beard, and he wore the same black uniform she had seen on the other men in the corrider. On the left breast was the insignia of a red fist.

The young ninja lauched a kick at the man's knee, but faster than she could follow he reached down and intercepted her leg. He twisted it round and she felt searing pain run up her leg. With a cry she fell to the floor.

The man let go of her leg and stepped up beside her. She turned to look at him just in time to see him stoop down and bring his fist forward. Then all was blackness...

CHAPTER II
TROUBLE IN WUTAI

The dark object came hurtling directly at Cloud's head. With cat like reflexes he dodged aside. His sword flashed through the air, and the dark object was split in two. He held his sword balanced lightly in front of him as twice more a dark object flew at him, and each time he neatly devided it in half.

"I told you you couldn't hit me," he said with a smile.

Tifa pulled two more apples off the tree. In quick succession she threw them both at him as hard as she could, one high and one low, and almost faster than could be followed he swung again and neatly cleaved each one in two.

"Give up?" he said smugly.

They stood about fifteen feet apart on a tree shaded lawn in back of Tifa's bar.

"What are you kidding?" she questioned. "I haven't even started yet."

She reached up to pluck another apple from the tree just as the back door of the bar opened. Cloud turned and saw a young women with chestnut brown hair and dark gren eyes step out onto the lawn, a warm smile on her face.

"Aeris," he said, smiling back at her. "You're back."

The apple whistled through the air and caught him solidly on the side of the head.

"Owww!" he exclaimed. He looked over at Tifa, who stood with her hands over her mouth, a shocked look on her face.

"Oops," she said, and quickly ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Both girls tried to look at him with a serious expression, attempted to suppress their laughter, and failed miserably.

"Thanks for the concern," he said, rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry," Tifa said when she had finished giggling. "But I told you I'd get you!"

Cloud resisted the urge to argue that he had been distracted, knowing that it would just sound like whining. He turned to Aeris.

"So what brings you back so soon?" he asked. "I thought you would be in Cosmo Canyon for at least another week."

After her resurrection, they had returned to Kalm, and Aeris had wished at the time for nothing more than to return to the simple life of a flower girl she had led before their adventures started. But after a while she had come to realize that after all that had happened to her she could never again go back to that life. Things around her, and especially she herself, had changed too much. She found herself thinking more and more about her real mother, and the heritage she had as the last of the Ancients, the last of her race. And quite suddenly she felt a desire to know more about them. She had so many unaswered questions, and the desire to find answers grew day by day. She buried herself in books and talked to everyone in Kalm who might have had knowledge of her ancestors, but the store of knowledge in Kalm was limited, and she did not find out nearly enough to satisfy her. So two weeks ago she had set off for Cosmo Canyon, hoping to find there what she was looking for.

Aeris nodded, her face turning serious.

"I was," she said, "but I received a disturbing message from Godo. Yuffie is missing."

"What?" Tifa exclaimed.

"Something strange is happening in Wutai," she continued. "They're having some kind of problem with their materia. Godo sent Yuffie to investigate, and she disappeared. Now he's worried sick."

"How long ago was this?" Cloud asked.

"He last heard from her a week ago," Aeris replied. "Actually, he heard from Staniv, who he sent along with her to keep an eye on her. I guess he figured Yuffie wasn't reliable enough to keep in touch herself. Staniv was supposed to report in every few days."

"Where were they when he last heard from them?" Tifa asked.

"I don't know," Aeris replied. "He didn't say. He just asked to get you and come to Wutai as quickly as possible. He made it seem like something big was going on, something much more than just the disappearence of his daughter."

"What did Red make of it?" Tifa asked.

"Well, he was concerned of course, but we didn't have any details. Still, he thought it serious enough to head on to Wutai ahead of us while I came back here to get you."

Cloud pondered this for a moment.

"I wonder what could be going on? When did you get the message?"

"This morning," Aeris said.

"This morning?" Cloud repeated. "You were in Cosmo Canyon this morning? How did you get here so fast?"

Aeris smiled.

"I forgot to mention, I got the message from Shake. Godo sent him in a helicopter. He's waiting for us right now. If we hurry, we can be in Wutai before nightfall."


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The sun had sunk below the horizen, and one or two of the brightest stars could just be made out in the darkening sky above Rocket Town. Cid sat on the cool grass beneath the wing of the Tiny Bronco looking up at them. A cigarette hung from his lip, and the stubbed out butts of half a dozen others lay in the grass around him.

His gaze dropped and he shook his head. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it out also. He got up slowly and turned toward the house. He looked up to see a figure standing not more than five feet in front of him.

Startled, he stepped back, and banged his head sharply against the wing of his plane.

"Damn!" he exclaimed.

The dark figure stepped forward, into the light that streamed out of the window of the house beside them, and Cid immediately recognized him.

"Vincent," he said. "Must you sneak around like that all the time? Why can't you stumble around like a normal person. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Vincent came up beside him. With his dark cloak and shrouded features, Vincent could put a scare in someone even in broad daylight. In the dark his appearence was even more frightening. But Cid knew he had nothing to fear. In spite of his appearence, Vincent was a loyal ally to his friends.

"I apologize," Vincent said. "It's just that you looked so contemplative, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Contemplative?" Cid repeated. "I was just looking at the freaking stars."

"Of course," Vincent replied with a shrug.

Cid waved for Vincent to follow him and stepped into the house. He led them into the living room and motioned for Vincent to sit down while he went into the kitchen. He came back in a moment with two drinks.

"So what brings you to Rocket Town?" he asked, sitting down beside Vincent and handing him one of the drinks.

"A chance meeting," Vincent replied. "I was on my way to Gongaga when I happened to run into Nanaki just west of Cosmo Canyon. Apparently Yuffie has gotten into some kind of trouble."

"That isn't much of a surprise," Cid responded.

"But there is more to it than that," Vincent continued. "Godo wanted us all to come to Wutai as quickly as possible. I told Nanaki I would stop to get you along the way. If you are willing to come, that is."

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?" Cid questioned.

"Well, I know you have a lot to do around here," Vincent replied quickly, almost apoligetically. "What with you're building a new rocket and all."

Cid waved his hand dismissively.

"The rocket is fine. It's moving along nicely. It's practically building itself, in fact."

He got up.

"No, they don't need me. Actually, it'll be good for me to get out of this dive for a little while. Just let me get a few things together and we can be on our way."

He walked off into another room. Vincent was a little surprised. He knew Cid had always been fond of Rocket Town, and his rocket was more dear to him than life. When he had come into town looking for Cid the first place he had gone was to the rocket site, and he had been surprised to find that Cid was not there. He was such a perfectionist (at least, when it came to his vehicles) that he usually oversaw every detail of their construction. This was not the Cid he knew.

Vincent stood up and looked around.

"Where's Shera?" he asked. Perhaps she could shed some light on Cid's odd behavior.

There was no response for a moment.

"Who cares," he heard Cid reply gruffly from the other room.

Vincent's eyebrows went up. He walked into the bedroom. Cid was pulling some clothes out of a dresser and stuffing them into a backpack.

"What happened?" Vincent questioned.

Cid continued rummaging through his dresser for a moment. He gave Vincent a look like he did not want to talk about it, but then he sat down on the bed and stared at the wall. He lit up a cigarette but did not speak for some time.

"She took off on me," he said finally. "About a week ago."

Vincent just looked at him thoughtfully.

"She's living with her sister on the other side of town," Cid continued. "She was nothing but a pain in the *** anyway. I'm glad to get rid of her."

Vincent still did not speak, but looked at Cid skeptically. Cid returned his gaze for a moment, but then turned away.

"All right!" he said sullenly. "All right, I admit it. I...I miss her. There, I said it. Does that make you happy?"

Vincent shook his head.

"Have you told her that?" he asked pointedly.

Cid took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Hell no," he replied.

Cid looked at Vincent again, but his friend only stared at him with those piercing eyes. Somehow that made Cid more uncomfortable than anything Vincent could have said.

Cid stood up and grabbed his backpack.

"Stop looking at me like that," he exclaimed. "I'll tell her. Eventually. Now let's get going. Whatever is going on in Wutai is probably more important than anything that's going on here."

"I'm not so sure," Vincent said.

"Don't tell me how to run my life, Goddammit!" Cid said angrily. "I'll staighten everything out with Shera when we get back, so just drop it, okay?"

Vincent shrugged, but Cid still couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the face.

"Let's get going," he said quickly, walking past Vincent. "C'mon, I've got something to show you. The rocket isn't the only thing I've been working on lately. I've got a new toy you might want to take a look at."

He walked out the door without looking back. Vincent shook his head again and followed.

chapter 3 will be posted when I bloody well feel like it, lol....

[Flash]

Yuffie's in danger! Nooo!! Come on, FlashBoy!

FlashBoy: Jiminy Jilkers, FlashMan!

*jumps into the Flashmobile, batman music plays*
---------

Hmm, Yuffie's MIA, eh? I'm not sure wether to stop reading for lack of a beautiful Ninja babe, or keep reading to see what happens to my Samurai sweetheart, lol. Nice writing, Seph.

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue]For the love of god...........get over it FLASHY! She's not that hot...........hell, she probably can't even cook![/COLOR]

[Flash]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Raiha [/i]
[B][COLOR=royalblue]For the love of god...........get over it FLASHY! She's not that hot...........hell, she probably can't even cook![/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]

....Blasphemer. You're just jealous of me and my Cult of Yuffie!

*runs to Yuffie shrine*

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue]Call me a Blasphemer again and you'll need a new head. Make that....two new heads.[/COLOR] :demon:

[Spikey]

guys stop it, that is a very nice story. you don't have to get mad about that flash likes tifa. its all in his opionions. nice stroy sepphy.

[Tigervx]

very nice. and if flash wants to get married to a big doll he customly made of tifa, fine, just get over it that he likes a animated piece of a game this is most likely to not come to life just to fall in love with him.

[Sephiroth]

haha, you two are mistaken, flash likes yuffie, not tifa, I like tifa, heh heh, anyway, on with the story....
-----
CHAPTER III
MEN (and a WOMAN) IN BLUE

The wind swirled around Tifa as she stepped out of the helicopter, followed closely by Cloud and Aeris. They saw Red sitting a short distance away.

"Hi, Red," Tifa said, running over to the red beast.

"It's good to see you all again," Red replied. "Come on, Godo is waiting for you."

He led them quickly through the streets of Wutai until they came to Godo's residence. Godo was waiting inside.

"You're here," he said, seeminingly quite pleased to see them. "Come, sit down. I know you must be tired from your trip and probably would like to get some rest, but what I have to tell you is very urgent."

"We're not tired," Cloud said quickly.

They sat down while Godo stood in front of them. His face was drawn and he looked worn. Aeris thought she had never seen him so obviously worried.

"The trouble started about a month and a half ago," he said. He suddenly produced a small orb and walked over to let them look at it.

Cloud examined it closely. It was a materia orb, all right, but something was wrong. All materia glowed faintly with Mako energy, but this orb appeared dead. It was a dull grey with no hint of color or life.

"What happened to it?" Cloud asked, looking up at Godo.

"We don't know," Godo replied. "But I can tell you that all the materia in Wutai is like this. Something is sucking all the energy out of our materia, and it's not just happening in Wutai. It happened at Icicle Inn about two weeks before it hit here. In fact, all the northern regions seem to have been affected, and it's spreading."

Tifa looked at him curiously.

"Like some kind of disease?" she suggested.

"Possibly," Godo replied. "We really don't know. But I don't think so. I suspect a single entity is behind this. I seems that someone, or something, is gathering all the Mako energy on the planet, or at least a good portion of it. To what purpose, I have no clue, but I think we urgently need to find out."

Cloud nodded in agreement. Whatever was causing this, he had a distinct feeling that no good would come of it.

"Aeris," he said, turning toward her. "Have you ever heard of anything like this?"

"I'm not sure," Aeris replied slowly. "I seem to remember a story about some kind of materia that could draw it's power from all other materia. But I think it was some kind of legend, or children's story. I don't think it was real. It was a long time ago, and I'm not really sure..."

She stood in thought as her voice faded into silence.

"The only thing that seems certain is that the source of the drain, whatever it is, is somewhere in the north," Godo said. "So that's where I sent Yuffie, but now she has disappeared."

"Where was she when you last heard from her?" Cloud asked.

"At Icicle Inn," Godo replied. "They were exploring some area north of there, but I don't know the exact location. That's another reason why I think this materia drain is being caused by some directed intelligence, and not just some strange natural phenomena. I believe she must have found out something, or run afoul of whoever, or whatever, is causing this. I fear she could be in serious trouble."

"Then the sooner we're on our way, the better," Cloud stated.

"I agree," Godo replied. "But even with my daughters life at stake I know it would be foolish of you to rush off unprepared. The others should be arriving some time tomorrow, if all goes well. You can safely wait at least until then, I should think."

"You've been in touch with everyone else?" Tifa asked.

Godo nodded.

"Yes. Red has already spoken with Vincent, who is on his way to get Cid. The others are gathering at the Gold Saucer. I can send Shake to pick them up tomorrow. Until then, rest and renew yourselves. You have the hospitality of my house, and don't hesitate to ask if you should need anything. I will have some food prepared, and then I suggest you get some rest. You may have a long and hard road in front of you."


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The first thing she noticed was the smell of smoke in the air. She was not concerned. The smell of burning leaves, or of a late autumn cookout, was not uncommon this time of year. But as she neared Nibelheim and the smoke began to swirl thickly about her, she realized that something was very wrong.

She had been up in the hills around Nibelheim most of the day, exploring new trails in the mountains. If she was going to be a guide she needed to know the area like the back of her hand. She was tired, but that didn't stop her from breaking into a run when she saw the flickering of flames through the trees ahead of her.

She came out of the trees and stopped in shock. Nibelheim was in flames. The whole town seemed to be caught in a huge inferno. She could see figures running through the fire, and she heard the screams of the dying.

"Pappa..." she mouthed, though no words came out. The fear choked off her voice, and for a moment it was almost overpowering. But in spite of it she found herself rushing recklessly toward the inferno, the fear overcome by a more pressing need. What had become of her father?

She turned the corner that led onto the main street, coughing as the smoke enveloped her. Now the flames were all around her and if she had stopped to notice she would have felt the intense heat. She did stop, but not because of the heat. Across the road stood her home, or what was left of it, engulfed in flames.

Tifa stared helplessly, tears streaming down her cheeks. Then she heard cries off to her left. She turned. The flames rose high overhead, but through them she could make out a dark figure striding slowly down the street, his deliberate pace in sharp contrast to all the other paniked individuals she had seen. As two people ran by him, a sword flashed in the flickering light and they fell to the ground and lay still.

Suddenly her fear was gone, overwhelmed by anger that welled up inside her. Sephiroth! She knew somehow that he was responsible for all this. With sudden determination she started toward him, but a wall of flame rose up between them and forced her back. She shouted his name, but he did not hear over the roar of the flames. Now he was walking away from her, toward the old Shinra Mansion.

She ran down the street until at the end of the block she found a way past the flames. Quickly she made her way back, but when she got to the mansion Sephiroth was gone. She looked around, the mansion was in flames along with the rest of the town. He had not gone in there. The only other way he could have gone was down the trail to Mt. Nibel, toward the Mako reactor. She ran down the trail.

The flames faded away behind her, but the fire still burning in her heart raged on. She reached the Mako reactor just in time to see Sephiroth cutting down yet another person standing in front of it. She called his name again, and this time he hesitated for a moment and seemed to glance in her direction, but then he turned and entered the reactor.

She ran on. The man Sephiroth had struck was lying by the reactor entrance. As she ran past him he moaned softly and turned his face into the light.

Tifa stopped as if she had run into a wall. She knelt down and lifted her father's head. He opened his eyes and looked at her, and the trace of a smile formed on his lips at the sight of her. His mouth moved as he tried to speak, but no words came out. Then his head sank back in her arms.

"Pappa," she said softly as the tears ran down her soot stained face. For a moment more she cradled her father's lifeless figure in her arms, head bowed. Then she felt the anger washing over her once again. She placed her father's head carefully back down on the cold earth. Then she lifted up her fists to the sky.

"Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako reactors, Shinra, everything. I hate them all!"

She turned to face the entrance to the reactor. A sword gleamed on the ground nearby. She picked it up, and, abandoning all caution, ran inside.

Sephiroth stood at the top of a long stairway, facing away from her. She ran blindly up the steps, sword held high, with no thought of caution or stealth. Her rage consumed her, and her one thought was to stirke out at the person that had destroyed everything she held dear.

Sephiroth turned as she came clattering up the steps. He easily sidestepped her clumsy swing. He reached out and grabbed her arm with a vice like grip, twisting it and slipping the sword out of her hands. He pushed her away and swung the sword up. She raised her hands in a useless attempt to fend off the blow, and then the sword came down savagely.

Tifa woke up and stared at the ceiling above her for a few seconds, a shiver running down her back. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since that night in Nibelheim, yet she still remembered it as if it were yesterday.

She glanced over at the window to see the early morning light streaming in. There was a sound coming from outside. A dull roar, and that must have been what woke her. Curious, she got up out of bed and went over to the window. The sound grew as she did, and now it was almost uncomfortably loud. As she walked she felt the house vibrating slightly. She looked out the window to see some sort of large aircraft descending above the houses not far away.

She walked over to the dresser and slipped off her nightgown. She paused for a moment to look in the mirror above the dresser. Slowly her hand traced the scar that ran from her left shoulder to just below her right breast. Most of the scars Sephiroth had left behind were not so obvious.

Hastily she threw on her clothes and ran out to see what was going on.


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"So what do you think of the Slipstream?" Cid asked.

The others were gathered around him in a large open field at the edge of Wutai. A sleek black jet rested in the field in front of them.

"It's very...loud," Aeris said. Even in idle, she could barely be heard above the rumble of the engines.

"Very impressive," Cloud said, and he meant it. He didn't share Cid's love of all things mechanical, but he had to admit the jet was a good looking piece of equipment. "You built this while working on the rocket too? Where do you find the time?"

"I like to keep busy," Cid said curtly.

"Very nice," Red commented, "but I'm surprised you didn't use the parts for your rocket."

"Believe me, it was tempting," Cid replied wryly. "But I was commisioned to build it by the Governor at Fort Condor. They paid for all the parts and equipment."

"So it's not really yours," Tifa said.

"Oh, it's mine all right," Cid replied quickly. "In return for building it and giving them the plans I got to keep the prototype. I did consider taking it apart to use on the rocket, but when it came down to it I just couldn't. I guess I just miss the my old airship more than I thought."

"I was kind of suprised when you told us you had dismantled the Highwind," Cloud agreed.

Cid shrugged.

"It appears you no longer need the use of the helicopter," Godo observed, speaking for the first time.

"No," Cloud agreed. "I?ve got a feeling we?ll get where we are going a lot faster in this thing."

He turned to Cid.

"We?ve got to pick up the others in the Gold Saucer. So how would you like to take us for a little ride."

"Just hop right in," Cid replied with a grin.

In took them a few minutes to get their things together, but in a short time they were in the air, winging their way toward the Gold Saucer. Cid couldn?t help showing off a little by putting the plane through some high speed turns and rolls. The others endured it with varying degrees of enthusiasim. Tifa sat clutching the arms of her chair with white knuckles as they flew upside down just above the treetops, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing. Cloud, on the other hand, seemed to be having a great time, and kept encouraging Cid to do more wild manuevers. Tifa was sorely tempted to tell him to shut up, but held her tongue. Red was looking out the windows nervously, his tail twitching furiously. Vincent seemed to be the only one completely undisturbed. Aeris looked calm as well, but then she looked at Cid.

"Can this thing fly in a straight line?" she asked.

Cid looked back at them and grinned.

"Yeah, but what fun would that be?" he replied.

In spite of his response he righted the plane and leveled off, although it seemed to Tifa they were still dangerously low. She tried to relax the rest of the way, but she did not feel really comfortable until they had finally landed and she stepped off the plane at the Gold Saucer.

"So where are we supposed to meet the others?" Aeris asked.

"In the lobby of the Ghost Hotel," Cloud replied. "C'mon."

He led them swiftly through the entrance. Even though Tifa had been here many times, she was still facinated by the glitter and carnival atmostphere of the huge amusement park.

They reached the hotel and entered the lobby. They immediately spotted Barret pacing back and forth in front of the reception desk. Cait sat in a chair nearby, a deck of cards laid out on a small coffee table in front of him.

"Barret," Cloud called.

Both Barret at Cait looked up at his call. Cait gathered his cards and they both walked over.

"It's about time you guys got here," Barret said with a smile. "I was starting to wear a hole in the carpet.

He pulled both Tifa and Aeris to him and crushed them in a bear hug.

"How are my two favorite ladies?"

"We were fine until now," Tifa gasped.

"How's Marlene?" Aeris questioned when he relented and let them go.

"Good," Barret replied. "She had her first day of school last week. Can you believe it?"

"How did she take it?" Aeris asked.

"She did fine," Barret replied. "I was the one who was a mess. She's growin up so fast! I've finally gotten to see a little more of her and I just want to spend every minute..."

He stopped, looking at something behind them. The others turned to see three people standing in the lobby entrance. The Turks!

"How touching," Reno said with a mocking look on his face.

Cloud's hand immediately went to his sword.

"What are you three doing here?" he questioned sharply.

"Relax," Reno replied causally. "We're not here to fight. In fact, we're here to help. Godo hired us to give you a hand finding Yuffie."

Everyone except Rude looked at him in surprise.

"What?" Barret exclaimed angrily.

"We're working with them?" Elena said, the shock plain on her face.

"No way," Tifa found herself saying.

"We don't need your help," Cid said grimly.

"Apparently Godo disagrees," Reno replied, unfazed. "I guess he's so concerned about his daughter that he thought you could use all the help he could get you. I don't really know, and to tell you the truth I don't really care. I'm not too pleased with the situation myself, but Godo's gil is just as good as anyone else's, and he's paying us a lot of it."

"You didn't tell us we'd be working with them," Elena cut in angrily, obviously as much in the dark as Cloud and his friends had been. "There's no way I'm going to do it!"

Reno looked at her dryly.

"Elena, snap out of it," he said rather harshly. "You're a Turk, don't forget that. It's unproffesional to let your emotions interfere with a job. I'm suprised at you."

Elena gave Reno a look of pure hatred. She opened her mouth as if to protest again, but then shut it and turned away angrily.

"Well, I'm sure as hell not working with them!" Barret spit out angrily. "Not after what they did to Sector 7. Not after they murdered Jessie, Biggs and Wedge!"

Elena turned back toward them.

"And how many people do you think died when you blew up the reactors in Sectors one and five?" she questioned caustically. "I knew a lot of those people. Some of them were close friends."

Barret glared at her, but said nothing.

"All right, everyone just calm down," Cloud said. He was surprised as everyone else with this turn of events. Could this be some kind of trick? If so, he could not see the purpose behind it. It would be easy enough to contact Godo and verify Reno's claim. It was kind of shocking to think that Godo would hire the Turks, but who knows what a man would do when his only daughter was missing? If Godo felt desperate enough, he might just do it.

"We all did a lot of things we regret back in Midgar," he said. "We all lost people who we were close to. But that was war, and in war you often do things that you may not be so proud of later on. But the important thing to remember is that it's over now. There is no more Shinra, there is no more reason to continue that paritcular fight. We have a new mission now, to find out what is happening to the materia and to find Yuffie, and much as it may displease me to work with the Turks, I'm willing to do it if Godo thinks it's the best way to find his daughter."

He looked at each of the others in turn, his gaze lingering on Barret, who grumbled but said nothing. Tifa could sympathize. Of everyone here, she and Barret had been closest to those who had died when Sector 7 was destroyed. It was a bitter pill to swallow to have to work with the one who had caused it now, but if Cloud thought it best, she wasn't about to protest.

"So it's agreed," Aeris stated, looking at the Turks, "We all work together?"

Rude nodded. Reno looked at Elena, who glared back at him but gave a curt nod.

Reno looked at Cloud.

"All right then," Cloud said. "Now that that's settled. Godo said that Icicle Inn was the last place Yuffie contacted him from, so I guess it would be best to start our search there. C'mon, let's head back to the Slipstream."

He turned and walked out, the others falling in line behind. As he walked Red came up beside him.

"So what do you make of this, Red," Cloud asked softly. "Do you think Godo has lost faith in us?"

Red shrugged.

"I don't think so," he replied. "I think like most fathers his daughter means everything to him, and he'll do anything he can to get her back. I guess he figures the more people he has looking, the more likely it is someone will find her."

"But why pick the Turks, of all people?"

"Their morals may be in question," Red replied, "but they do seem to have a certain code, and a reputation to uphold. As long as he pays them, I think they will do everything in their power to get the job done. Their questionable morals may even come in handy in certain circumstances. They may be able to obtain information that we could not."

Cloud shook his head. What a strange twist of events, he thought. Whatever else might happen, he didn't think he would get a bigger suprise than to find out that they would be working side by side with the Turks! Little did he know how wrong he was.

chapter 4 posted tomorrow hopefully....

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue]LOL, it's good to know I can name my FF7 characters without a hitch. Even though I don't play it. :smirk:

I like Red. He's cool. But it's too bad he's red....purple is way cooler. Anyways, continue tomorrow please.[/COLOR]

[Sephiroth]

CHAPTER IV
ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY

They reached Icicle Inn early that evening. After they had settled in they all gathered around the fireplace in the lobby to dicuss their strategy for the next morning's search.

"Godo told me that Yuffie was searching in the great glacier area when she disappeared," Cloud said. "But he doesn't know exactly where she was. It's a big area to search, so we'll have to split up into teams. Reno, you take Rude and Elena and search the western portion of the glacier. Barret, you take Tifa and Red and search the eastern. I'll take Aeris and Cait and search the central area."

Reno looked at him thoughtfully but said nothing. Elena and Tifa both seemed to want to say something, but neither one spoke. Cid looked at him.

"What about Vincent and I?" he asked.

"You take the Slipstream and do an airial reconnaissance. You may see something from the air that we would miss on the ground."

Cid nodded.

"We'll all work our way north through the glacier and meet at Mr. Holozoff's cabin when we've completed our search. If we don't find anything, we'll tackle the Gaea cliffs the next day. Any questions?"

He looked at each of them in turn, but no one spoke.

"All right," he said. "Then I suggest we all relax for a while. Just remember that we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest."

"Thanks, Dad," Elena couldn't help but say.

Cloud looked at her for a moment, but then smiled.

"Okay, I guess I kind of deserved that."

The party split up. The Turks walked over to the bar and sat down. Reno ordered them all drinks. Elena sat beside him, glaring at him angrily.

"It's bad enough we have to work with them," she spit out, "but do we have to take orders from Cloud as well. Who's the boss here, anyway?"

Reno sighed and turned to look at her.

"We are not taking orders from Cloud," he said patiently. "But it would be foolish to quarrel over every move we make. That would just slow us down, and the sooner we finish this mission the sooner we get paid and get rid of them. Besides, what he said made sense."

The waiter came over and placed their drinks in front of them. Elena picked hers up and quickly drained it. She banged it back down on the counter and glared at Reno.

"I know a lot of unpleasent things about you," she said accusingly, "but I never realized before that you were such a wuss!"

She got up and stalked away.

Reno raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Rude, who seemed completely undisturbed by the entire conversation.

"She seems a bit upset," he observed.

"Umm."

Reno looked at Rude for a moment.

"You didn't know we were going to be working with Cloud," he said finally. "How come you didn't look surprised when we met them?"

Rude took a leisurly swig from his glass, then set it down.

"Nothing surprises me," he answered with a shrug.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elena headed for an empty table in a dark corner of the bar as far away from the others as she could find and sat down.

Damn Reno, she thought. Why did he always have to be so smug? He should have warned them ahead of time who they would be working with. They were Turks, weren't they supposed to stick together?

She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

The worst part of it was, he was right, she was letting her emotions get in the way. But she couldn't help it. The pay was good, yes, but it wasn't everything. Reno had known people who died in the reactor blasts too, didn't he feel anything for them? She didn't think she could ever be that cold blooded.

"Looks like you're having a difficult time with this."

She jumped up and turned to see a dark figure sitting at a table right beside her's.

Anger blazed in her eyes, and for a moment Vincent thought she was going to shout at him, but then it passed, and she sat back down again slowly.

"Please don't scare me like that," she said wearily. She really didn't feel like taking to anyone right now, but of all the people in Cloud's party, Vincent was the one she disliked the least. After all, he hadn't had anything to do with blowing up the reactors in Midgar, and he had once been a Turk.

"Sorry," he said. "I do seem to have that effect on people."

Elena looked over to where Reno and Rude were sitting at the bar, but they had their backs to her now.

"Sometimes it's hard being a Turk," she said. "I never realized how difficult it would be."

"Nothing of value is ever obtained easily," Vincent replied.

"Oh, please," she responded, shaking her head. "The last thing I need to hear is some philisophical nonsense."

She looked at him with a tinge of anger, but he returned her look unflinchingly with his piercing gaze. She quickly turned away.

"Very well, I'll be blunt," he said. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. So you lost a few friends in a reactor explosion, you think that gives you a monopoly on pain and suffering? You don't know the half of it. I've seen things happen to people I loved that would make your hair stand on end. In fact I'd say it's a safe bet to say that everyone in our entire party has suffered more than you have, and none of them are whining about it. You want me to be straightforward with you, well than here it is in a nutshell. Life sucks. Get used to it."

Elena's mouth fell open, and for a long time she just stared at him. Then she closed her mouth and a small smile appeared on her lips. Finally, someone who spoke his mind and didn't sugarcoat it.

"Much as I hate to quote Cloud," she said, "but I guess I deserved that."

She stood up.

"What are you drinking?" she asked. "In the spirit of newfound cooperation between our two parties, it's on me."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barret sat at the far end of the bar, as far from Reno and Rude as he could get, and stared gloomily at the wall while cradling his drink in his hands. He couldn't believe they were actually cooperating with the Turks.

He felt someone come up beside him and turned to see Tifa slide into the barstood next to him. The bartender came over and looked at her.

"Whatever he's having," she said despondantly, indicating Barret's drink.

He looked at her, and from the look on her face it was obvious she was no more happy with the situation than he.

The bartender returned with her drink. She gulped down half of it and then put it down, staring gloomily in the direction of Reno and Rude.

But she was looking past Reno and Rude. Cloud, Aeris and Red were sitting together near the fireplace, talking quietly. She couldn't help but notice how close together Cloud and Aeris were sitting.

She took another gulp from her drink.

I'm being a jerk, she thought. It was foolish to be jealous, but she just couldn't help it. She loved Aeris like a sister, and was truely happy to have her back, but it was making things difficult.

"I don't see how they expect us to get along with the Turks," Barret grumbled beside her.

"Umm," she said distractedly. She knew Cloud cared for Aeris, but she didn't really know whether he looked on her as just a friend or something more. She certainly would never have asked Cloud so blunt a question, and she hadn't asked Aeris.

She shook her head. The real reason why she hadn't asked Aeris is that she was afraid of what Aeris might answer. They hadn't seemed that close since Aeris resurrection, but maybe she had just missed it. Why had he chosen her to go with him on the search tomorrow?

"In spite of what Cloud might think," Barret continued. "I don't trust them. I'm sure they'd turn on us and Godo in a minute if they saw any profit in it. How do we know what they would do if someone else offered them more gil than Godo is paying them?"

Tifa turned to look at Barret and sighed.

"Barret, I love you and all, but sometimes the company of someone is all the comfort a person needs. So do me a favor and just shut up!"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I never thought we?d end up working with the Turks," Cloud said.

Red, who was lying on the floor in front of the fire, turned his head to look at him.

"I?ve a feeling that is going to be the main topic of conversation for some time to come," he said.

Cloud turned to look at Aeris. Of all of them, she seemed the least disturbed about the situation.

"They?ve been hounding you for most of your life, Aeris," he said. "It doesn?t bother you?"

She shook her head.

"It?s like you said earlier," she replied. "That was a long time ago and things have changed. There is no more Shinra. The Turks don?t have any reason to be after me any more."

Cloud shrugged. Not only had the Turks been persecuting her, they also had a hand in the death of both of her parents. Aeris had as much reason, if not more, than any of them to hate the Turks.

"You?re more forgiving than I," he said softly. He wasn?t about to forget their battles with the Turks, but he was willing to work with them if necessary.

"I think forgiveness would be too much to ask from any of us," Red stated. "I think what we should be shooting for here is tolerance, and even that may be difficult for some of us," he continued, glancing over at the bar. "It won?t do any of us, or the mission, any good if we start fighting among ourselves. You don?t think Barret will do anything foolish, do you?"

Cloud followed Red?s gaze. He could see Barret and Tifa at the bar, both silently looking at their glasses.

"No," he replied. "Barret can be a hot head, but he won?t jeopordize the mission. Besides, Tifa knows how to keep him in line."

He looked over at Aeris once again and saw that she was staring off into space with a far away look in her eye.

"Aeris?"

She did not answer. Her mouth moved as if she were talking to someone, but no words came out. He realized she was communing with the planet, and he sat back and left her alone. He often had to remind himself that Aeris was no ordinary girl, but the last of an ancient race. Even after all this time he still couldn?t get used to some of the things she did, and frankly, this talking to the planet thing kind of freaked him out a little.

Red looked at Aeris and understood as well. They waited in an uncomfortable silence for a while, until Aeris finally turned to look at them.

"The planet feels danger," she said.

"What sort of danger?" Cloud asked.

"I can?t say," she replied. She looked at them in silence for a moment, as if searching for the right words.

"It?s hard to explain. It?s like, if you are alone in a dark house, and you feel like something is in the closet. There?s no real reason to believe anything it there. It?s just a feeling. So you walk over and look in the closet, and it?s empty, but you still feel like something is there, or something should be there. I can feel the sense of danger, but nothing is wrong."

She looked at him to see if he understood, but his furrowed brow told her that he didn?t.

"I?m sorry," she said. "I?m afraid I just can?t put it into words."

She stood up.

"I?m going up to my room."

Without another word she walked away. Cloud watched her disappear up the stair. He looked at Red, but neither one spoke for a long time.

"I?m worried about her," he said finally.

"How so?" Red questioned.

"There?s no doubt in my mind that we?re going to run into trouble somewhere along the line," Cloud continued. "Maybe as early as tomorrow when we start our search. It?s going to be difficult for us without the use of our materia, but for Aeris in particular. I know she?s a wiz with magic but her hand to hand skills are the weakest among us. I?m afraid she might get hurt."

Red looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded.

"Is that why you made sure she goes with you tomorrow, to keep an eye on her?"

"Yes," Cloud replied. "To tell you the truth I?d feel safer if she didn?t come at all, but I know she wouldn?t go along with that."

"I think you might be underestimating her," Red said. "But if you really feel that way, maybe you should send her with Cid in the Slipstream. She should be safe enough there."

"I thought about that too," Cloud answered. "But if she?s going at all, I think it would be better if she?s someplace I can keep an eye on her."

Red shrugged.

"If that?s the way you feel. But I wouldn?t worry about her too much. She?s been through a lot, more than any of us, and she?s come out of it all right. She just may surprise you."

"I suppose," Cloud replied, sitting back on the couch. "I guess we?ll find out soon enough."

and I disagree, red is far cooler than purple ;)

[cloudffx]

I just finished reading the hole story and it is good I hope you will finish this story becase it would be a shame to end it here

[Sephiroth]

half of chapter 5 heading your way....

CHAPTER V
WINTER WONDERLAND
Tifa turned sharply and slid to a halt. She stepped off her snowboard and looked back up the slope. The others were far behind. She could make out one small figure up on the slope above her, but of the other there was no sign.

She studied the figure, but he was too far away to identify. Still, she knew it had to be Red. He was going in much too straight a line to be Barret.

She picked up her snowboard and looked around. It had snowed during the night, laying down another six inches of powder over the ground that had already been covered, and blanketing the trees in the forest in front of her with a layer of white.

She glanced up. The sky was clear now, and the sun shone brightly, but it gave off little warmth. Although she was flushed with heat from the effort of snowboarding down the slope, she knew it would soon pass. She pulled the zipper on her ski suit up another inch, thankful that they had had the foresight to come properly prepared this time.

She looked back up the slope. She could see Red plainly now. He had a rather unique snowboarding method. She had never seen anyone sitting on one before. However, though not very fast it did seem to be effective enough.

She looked back up the slope as Red came to a stop beside her. She could see Barret now. He seemed to favor the slide wildly out of control, then fall and roll method of snowboarding. Even as she looked she saw him take a tumble.

She shook her head. Cloud would have given her a run for the money. But he was...

Oh no, she wasn't going to get started with that again, she thought firmly. This wasn't the time or the place.

They waited patiently until Barret stumbled to a halt not far away. He stepped off the snowboard, picked it up, and heaved it into a nearby snowbank.

"Goddam stupidest form of transportation I've ever seen!" he said angrily as he walked over to them. Tifa smiled. With his clothing covered with snow from his numerous falls, he looked like nothing so much as a huge polar bear.

"What the hell is so funny?" he said, looking at her accusingly.

"Nothing," she replied, trying to look innocent. She pointed to the left. "I think the trail leads off this way."

"Ungh," he grumbled, and started off. Tifa and Red fell in behind. A narrow trail led into the trees. Tifa looked around, trying to remember if they had come this way when they were here the previous time, but she couldn't be sure. She remembered a lot of walking on trails through the forest, but they all looked pretty much the same to her.

The trail led east, and for a long time it ran level through the forest. After a while they came to a rocky area, and they investigated a small cave, but it was empty, and showed no sign of having been visited recently. The path from there led northward, and the ground started to climb up slowly.

Eventually they reached a large clearing with a single pine tree near the center. Tifa seemed to remember seeing that before. To the left the forest dropped down into a shallow valley. She could see the gleam of sunlight off of a small lake at the bottem. A trail led down that way, but the one they followed led northward, up steeply into the hills. She was sure they had been this way before, and the climb had not been easy. It was no easier this time, and they were all huffing and puffing when they finally reached a clearing high up on the hillside.

"Let's rest here a minute," Barret said. He brushed the snow off a fallen trunk of a tree and sat down.

Tifa quickly sat down beside him, gratful for the rest. They were high up in the hills now, and could see miles of wilderness below them. Tifa stared out at the land below. She could see no sign of them, but she knew that somewhere below them the others were making there way though that very same forest.

"What a veiw," Barret commented.

"Uh huh," she replied. She continued to stare, hoping to see...what? She really didn't know. Maybe a small movement somewhere in the trees below, or perhaps the flash of sunlight glinting off a sword.

"Almost makes it worth the trip up here," Barret continued. He looked around. "You know, I'm suprised we haven't run into any wild beasts. They were pretty numerous the last time we came through here. But we haven't seen one."

He turned to look at her.

"Or am I talking too much again?"

She smiled.

"No, you can talk. I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay, I'm a big boy," he replied. "I can take it. I just didn't realize how upset you were about the situation."

Tifa was silent for a moment.

"It's not even that really," she said finally. "It's not the Turks, although I don't like working with them. It's just that..."

"What the hell is he up to?" he interrupted.

She looked at Barret, who was looking behind them. She turned to see Red slowly working his way up through the rocks, head down and moving back and forth methodically.

"Red?" she called.

He did not answer. He continued moving up the rocks. Then he suddenly lept up onto a large boulder and disappeared behind it.

They both got up.

"Red!" Tifa called. "What are you doing?"

There was no response. They walked over the the rocks that Red had climbed. They saw nothing out of the ordinary. They both looked at each other.

"Where does he think he's going?" Barret asked.

Tifa shrugged.

"Don't know, but I guess we better follow."

They started up the rocks. They went slowly, for the footing was treacherous. Some of the rocks came free when stepped on, so they had to walk carefully. Eventually, however, they climbed up on the large boulder Red had disappeared beyond.

Red was in a narrow cleft that formed a small level clearing among the crumpled rocks of the mountainside. He seemed to be walking around randomly, nose to the ground as if sniffing the rocks. Every once in a while he would lift his head and sniff the air as well.

"Red, are you okay?" Tifa questioned.

Still he did not answer, though he was barely ten feet away and she knew he must have heard her. He had his head down once more, and now seemed to be concentrating on one small area just under the cliff face. He pawed a few of the rocks out of the way, his nose to the ground.

"What the hell had gotten into him?" Barret exclaimed.

They stepped down off the boulder and walked over to stand right beside him, but he still acted as if they did not exist. Suddenly he sat down on his haunches, lifted his head to the sky, and gave off a mournful howl.

"Red, what the hell is the matter?" Barret shouted.

Red howled again. Barret went to grab hold of him but Tifa stopped him. He looked at her, but she just shook her head and pulled his arm back slowly.

Barret shugged and they both just stood there. Red howled once more, then his head sank down to the ground. He sniffed once more, then turned towards them.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"What the hell was that?" Barret exclaimed.

"I'm not quite sure," Red replied. "There's something here, or there was something here. I smell something in the air, and on the rocks, all around. I've never smelled anything quite like it. It made me feel so strange. I don't know how to explain it, but I've never experienced anything like it before."

"Something dangerous?" Barret asked.

"No, at least, I don't think so. But it isn't like that at all. It makes me feel...good, I think. I can't explain it."

Barret gave Red a puzzled look.

"Now you're begining to sound like Aeris. You're not making any sense at all."

Red shrugged.

"Sorry."

"Are you all right now?" Tifa asked.

"Yes, of course" Red replied.

Barret looked around.

"Well, if you're done doing...whatever it was you were doing, we better get going. There's only an hour or two of light left. We better get a move on if we are going to cover our area before dark."

They climbed back over the rocks and continued north. The trail now wound back downhill. It was much easier going and they soon reached the bottem of the slope. The sun was low in the sky now and hidden behind the mountain. The wind started to pick up, blowing in from the east. It felt much colder, and Tifa pulled her hood up.

"Look, there's another cave," Red said, looking over at a dark crevice at the base of the mountain to their left.

"Let's check it out," Barret said, starting over.

"A good excuse to get out of the cold," Tifa observed, following quickly.

The entrance was narrow, but it widened out immediately, and was quite spacious inside. Though the light inside was dim, it appeared empty. Tifa walked toward the back where she thought it might be warmer.

Red walked in last and looked around.

"Someone has been here," he said.

"Huh?" Barret exclaimed. "How can you tell?"

"There are faint tracks on the floor," he replied. "Not that recent, but not too old either."

He indicated a spot on the floor, and when Barret looked carefully he saw faint footprints. He stood up and looked at Tifa.

"There may have been somebody here," he said. "See anything back there?"

Tifa looked around, surprised. Somehow she had not expected them to find anything.

"No, I don't...oh my God."

"What?" Barret exclaimed. They rushed over to Tifa. She was standing with her hands covering her mouth, looking down at a body lying in the rear of the cavern.

"It's not Yuffie, is it?" Barret asked.

But it was obvious from a glance that it was not. It was a much larger person than Yuffie, and it was a man. He was laying on his stomach, with his face turned partially towards them. Barret looked at his face and at first thought it was a stranger, but then he realized it was familiar.

"It's Staniv," he said slowly.

"Oh no," Tifa said and turned away.

Red came up beside Barret and looked at the body.

"Did he freeze to death?" Barret asked.

Red did not answer for a moment.

"I'm not sure," he said slowly. "There aren't any cuts, but a lot of bruises. I don't know if that would have killed him. It looks like he was in some kind of fight though."

"Could he have gotten the bruises in a fall?" Barret asked.

Tifa steeled herself and turned to look at the body over Red's shoulder.

"Good question," Red replied. "Hard to say, though." He turned away and examined the floor for a while.

"There are a lot of tracks here," he said after a short silence. "At least five people. I don't think any of them were Yuffie, there's no tracks small enough to be hers. I think he was the victem of foul play. If the others had not been enemies, why would they leave him here?"

Tifa had been examining the body slowly, now she turned toward them.

"His neck was broken."

"What?" Barret said. He walked over to her. She pointed to a bruise on the back of Staniv's neck.

"Someone hit him at the base of the skull."

"Hit him with what?" Barret asked.

"Their fist," she replied. She stood up, still looking at the body. "And these other bruises, I think there's no doubt about it. He was killed by someone trained in martial arts. Someone who was very good."

They all stood in silence for a long time. Neither Barret nor Red doubted what Tifa said.

Finally Barret turned to look toward the entrance.

"We better get moving," he said. "It's almost dark. I think it's time to head to Mr. Holzoff's cabin. We've got a lot to tell the others."

No one else spoke, but Red followed Barret toward tne exit. Tifa glanced once more at Staniv's body, shivered, and slowly followed them out.

that was part of chapter 5, other half tomorrow, stay tuned....

[Raiha]

[COLOR=royalblue]Okay..............broken neck. ALRIGHT!! NOW IT'S GETTING GOOD![/COLOR]

[cloudffx]

it is geting interisting this is verry good

[Sephiroth]

"Let's get moving," Cloud said.

Aeris slung her snowboard over her back and followed Cloud as he led them down the trail. She had been uncomfortable on the board, but she thought she had done quite well for a beginer. Cait had barely been able to stand on the board, and though she had tried to stay with him for moral support, he went so slowly that after about the tenth time he waved for her to go on she did just that. Cloud had stayed with her, though she knew he could have easily outdistanced her if he had chosen to.

Though she hadn't done badly she was still glad to be off the board and on her own two feet.

They trudged through the forest for quite some time in silence. Aeris wasn't exactly sure what she should be looking for. Some sign of Yuffie, she knew, but she hardly expected to run into her walking down the trail in the other direction. With last night's snowfall, it didn't seem likely they would find any tracks either. She kept her eyes open, but all she saw was the empty trail ahead and the snow clad trees all around.

Eventually they came to a large clearing with a frozen lake in the center. Cloud walked to the edge of the ice and looked out across the lake. He turned to the others.

"There's an island out there with a small cave. I remember it from the last time we were here. We should go check it out, but the ice on the lake is trecherous. Aeris, you better wait here while Cait and I go take a look."

"What, it's too dangerous for a girl?" she said, somewhat indignently.

"That's not what I meant," he replied. He had been hoping she wouldn't object, but to tell the truth, he hadn't been that hopeful. "It'll be better if we have someone back here safe. Then if we get in trouble, you can give us a hand or get us some help."

Aeris looked at him for a moment.

"Nice try," she said finally, "but I'm coming along."

Cloud turned away and shook his head. Women!

He started off across the ice, realizing that arguing was pointless. Aeris and Cait followed. Cloud remembered that the ice had been breaking up in the middle of the lake the last time, but now it was a solid sheet. It must be colder than it had been then, he thought. It made the going a little easier, but the wind and water had churned up the ice as it had frozen and there were jagged humps and narrow crevices they had to negotiate, so it was still trecherous, but they made it across without mishap.

The entrance to the cave was narrow and little over three feet high. They had to get down on hands and knees to enter. Aeris wasn't comfortable squeezing into such as small space, but she did not protest, and inside the cave was roomy enough.

They could see as soon as they entered that the cave had been inhabited some time in the past. There were some ragged sacks, or perhaps clothing, and the broken handle of what might have been a shovel in one corner, and there was a ring of ashes and some charred wood in the center of the room.

"Do you think this could have been left by Yuffie?" Cait asked, looking around.

Cloud pushed the pile of rags around with his foot.

"These could have been left by anybody," he replied. "I seem to remember at least some of this stuff being here the last time we came though. That fire, however, was not there. Someone has been here not too long ago, but unless we find some better clues, there's no way to tell who it was."

They looked around for a short while, but found nothing more. Although he had no proof, Cloud had a hunch this was somehow connected with Yuffie. This was a remote region, almost uninhabited. Any sign that they found at all was more than likely to be connected to her in some way.

"Looks like we've seen all we can see here," he commented. "Let's get going."

Even if they had found positive proof that Yuffie had been here it still wouldn't tell them much more than that they were on the right track.

They squeezed out the entrance and headed back across the ice. This time across Aeris slipped once and banged her knee painfully, but she glanced at Cloud and went on without a word. When they reached land once more they headed north along the eastern shoreline. A mountain rose up steeply on their right as they walked, but they stayed along the lake. Aeris shaded her eyes and looked up the slope. A trail led up that way, and she was glad they weren't going in that direction. She was tired enough trudging through the deep snow, going up the mountain would have made it even more difficult.

The lake curved slowly to the left until they found themselves heading west. Aeris noticed that this portion of the lake was ice free, and she could see steam curling off the water.

"Is this a hot spring?" she asked.

Cloud looked at the lake.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Let's stop for a minute," she said, walking toward the water without waiting for a reply.

As she approached the water she could feel the heat coming off it. She sat down on the edge and inhaled deeply. She had been cold and her knee ached where she had banged it, but the warmth made her feel much better.

She turned to the others to call them over.

A mound of white was moving toward them out of the trees at the foot of the mountain.

"Look out!" she cried.

Cloud turned to see a huge cicular mouth bristling with dagger like teeth bearing down on him. With a cry of surprise both he and Cait dodged out of the way. The mouth missed, but the huge bulk of the giant ice worm bowled them both over and sent them sprawling into the snow.

Cloud sprang to his feet, struggling to try to unsheath his sword. They had not met any dangerous creatures, and the sad fact was he had let down his guard. Now he flung himself to the side again as the jaws snapped at him one more time.

Cait found himself pinned under the creature in the snow, and thought for a moment he might be crushed by the huge weight. He would have been an easy target, but for the fact that the creature was focused on Cloud as it's main course. Cait struggled to pull himself out from under it, but to no avail. He pounded on the creature with his fists, but it felt like he was punching a huge rubber ball, and he doubted if the monster felt anything at all. He glanced over at Aeris, who had not moved from the lake. She was just standing there with her head bowed, not even looking at them. He didn't think there was much she could do, but she could at least lend a hand!

Cloud continued to dance wildly around in the snow trying to avoid the worms fearsome jaws, but the snow hindered his movements. As he dodged he looked for some kind of cover, but the treeline was a good thirty yards away, and he would never make it in this deep snow. If it would just give him a moment to draw his sword he would at least have a fighting chance.

Suddenly Cait found himself free. The worm had twisted round, swinging it's huge bulk into Cloud and sending him sprawling into deep snow. He scrambled to get up, but the snow made it nearly impossible to move. The worm towered above him.

Cait stood up and started to rush over, but the snow hindered him as well, and he knew he could not reach Cloud in time to be of any help. He looked over at Aeris, who suddenly looked up and raised her rod over her head.

An aura of yellow light suddenly blazed around her. It swirled and flashed in the air, and then it flashed out and inundated both Cait and Cloud.

Instantly Cloud felt himself filled with power. He drew his sword in an instant. He raised it over his head, and it flashed with light. The ice worm struck, and was met by cold steel. Cloud swung with inhuman speed, slashing like lightening, over and over again. Now the worm was stumblling backward, trying to escape from this floundering human that had suddenly turned into a ferocious beast. Cloud pressed in, showing no sign of fatigue or slowing, swinging the sword as if possessed by a demon. The worm reared up once again, but this time in it's death throes. Then it collapsed to the ground and lay still.

Cloud looked around, almost as if in a daze. It seemed to take him a long time to realize that the there were no more enemies to fight.

Cait stood looking at Cloud. Even though he had felt the power inside himself, he had barely had a chance to move before Cloud had dispatched the beast.

Cloud looked at Aeris, who was walking back over to them slowly.

"I take it that was your doing," he said.

Aeris nodded.

"You looked like you needed a hand," she said modestly.

A smile formed on his lips.

"Thanks," he said.

bah, I made chapter 5 too long, more of chapter 5 tomorrow....

[cloudffx]

it is a great story and it dose not matter that ch 5 is long it is verry good and you have been doing a great job of geting this this out faster then the first one

[Sephiroth]

"About time," Elena said as Reno slid to a stop beside her.

Reno gave her a dark look.

"You're pushing your luck," he said. He stepped off the snowboard and slipped it over his back. Then he took out his nightstick and pointed it at her. "If we weren't on an important mission I'd be tempted to teach you a little lesson."

"Ohh, I'm so scared," she replied sarcastically.

Rude walked between them and started down the trail.

"Let's go kids," he said.

Reno stared at Elena for a moment more, then turned and followed Rude. There had been a definite lack of discipline lately, and it was starting to annoy him. The fall of Shinra had a lot to do with it, he thought, but the death of Tseng even more so. Tseng had been the leader, the one that had held them together. Things had changed since he was gone, and all for the worse. Reno had tried to carry on in Tseng's footsteps, had tried to hold together what Tseng had built, but he realized he didn't have the leadership qualities that Tseng had possessed. Elena especially had looked up to Tseng, and now that he was gone she seemed almost uncontrollable. He was unhappy that the once proud Turks appeared to have fallen so far, yet he was at a loss as to what he could do.

Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered about it. Even with the death of Tseng and the fall of Shinra they were still doing pretty well. There hadn't been any shortage of jobs for them, and they were actually doing quite well financially. When it came down to it, wasn't that all that really mattered?

Reno caught up with Rude and they walked together down the trail, Elena following a little behind. It was slow going in the deep snow, and Reno thought they would have been better off with skis than those blasted snowboards. At least they could have used those cross country. He also might have been able to keep up a little better. It didn't help his leadership qualities to have been left in the dust by both of the others.

Much as he hated to admit it, the money was not all there was to it. He had wanted to be a Turk since childhood. He still remembered the pride he had felt the first time he had slipped on the blue suit. How he had finally felt like he was part of something, that he belonged. After a childhood spent drifting from one foster family to another, he finally had found a home.

No, the Turks meant much more to him than just a name. They had been the only thing of importance in his life for almost as long as he could remember, and he was scared to death that the fall of Shinra would mean the end of the organization.

He glanced at Rude, who trudged on stoically. Good old dependable Rude. They had been friends since they had joined the Turks, but even Rude seemed changed since Tseng had died. Though he had never been much of a talker, Reno knew that Rude had shared his feelings about being a Turk. But now Rude just seemed to be going through the motions sometimes, and Reno suspected that Rude might just be staying with them because of their friedship, and not for any pride in the organization they represented.

He couldn't really blame either one of them, he thought ruefully. Just what did any of them have left to be proud of? Mabye Elena was right, and they had been reduced to stooges taking orders from a group of people they despised. Was this what the Turks were all about? What would Tseng think if he saw them now?

Reno looked up and suddenly saw that he had fallen behind both Rude and Elena, and now was last in line.

He shook his head. Tseng was dead, and there was no bringing him back, and no replacing him. He couldn't be Tseng, he thought, and it would just make things worse if he tried to be. He just had to be Reno, and go on as best he could.

They slowly made their way northward. For a long time they saw nothing but the trail and the forest surrounding them. Occasionally the trail would open up into a clearing, but they saw no sign that anyone had been in the area recently. The ground gradually grew rockier around them, and the land slowly rose up on their left. The trees became less numerous, but the land was broken up and full of jagged and jumbled rocks, so the going actually became more difficult. They discovered a small cave a little further down the path, but it was deserted.

The mountain rose up steeply on the left now. Reno glanced up and the glint of sunlight reflecting off something high up on the slope caught his eye, but in an instant it was gone. He kept glancing up as they continued walking, but saw nothing further.

Reno wondered if what he had seen was important. He couldn't think of anything out in the wilderness that would reflect the sunlight like that. They probably should check it out, but he wouldn't have been anxious to climb up that steep slope on the best of days, much less through deep snow when they were already exhausted.

He was tempted to walk on without even mentioning it to the others, but finally decided he was just being lazy. Typical Reno mentality, he thought.

He called the others to a halt and told them what he had seen. They looked up the slope, obviously no more anxious than he to climb up.

"Are you sure you saw something?" Elena asked dubiously.

"Yes," he replied. Did she think he was making it up? "The sun glinted off something, right up there. I'm sure of it."

"Okay," she replied. "I just wouldn't want to walk all the way up there for no reason."

"Where was it again?" Rude asked.

Reno pointed.

"Right around there."

"Don't see anything now," Rude stated.

"But there was something," Reno reiterated. Were they both doubting him now?

"I suppose someone should go check it out," Elena ventured. "But I don't see why we should all have to go up there."

Reno looked at her.

"So who's going to go?"

Elena shrugged.

"You're the one who saw it."

He resisted the urge to snap at her. He was the leader, he should either volunteer to do it himself or designate one of the others. He looked up the slope again. He did not want to go up there.

"We're all tired," he said finally. "Let's just rest for a little while. Then we can decide."

Elena shrugged but didn't object. They brushed the snow off some flat rocks on the side of the trail and sat down. The rock was uncomfortable and cold. Reno folded his arms acorss his chest to conserve body heat. This wasn't turning out to be one of their most comfortable assignments.

They were sitting there for only a few minutes when there was a sharp retort from somewhere up on the mountain above them. They all looked up at the sudden noise, which had sounded like nothing so much as a blast of gunfire, or cannon fire. It echoed through the valley around them.

"What the hell was that?" Rude said.

Reno stood up, puzzled. He looked up the slope and suddenly it looked as if the entire mountainside was moving.

"Avalanche!" he yelled. "Run."

They all scrambled up and ran as fast as they could through the snow back the way they had come. Reno kept glancing up at the slope, and each time he saw the wall of white closing on them with frightening speed. Now the ground around them trembled, making footing even more difficult. If they stayed on the trail they would be overwhelmed.

"This way," he shouted, running off the trail and into a tangled group of boulders to the right. He threw himself down behind the largest one and turned to the others.

Rude was just coming around the side of the boulder when the wall of snow struck. Reno saw Rude for an instant being thrown through the air, then everything turned white.

For a moment there was a thunderous roar, and then all went silent. Reno lay unmoving until he was sure it was over. When he tried to move he found he was pinned by the snow. He felt panic rise up inside him. God knew how deeply he was buried!

With all his strength he pushed upward. He felt the snow give a little, and then it fell away as he burst up into the sunlight. He stood for a moment looking around, blinking. He had not been deeply buried at all. The boulder had shielded him from the worst of it.

The others were nowhere to be seen. He stumbled away from the boulder in the direction he had last seen Rude, calling wildly. But just as he did so he saw Rude scramble out of the snow not ten feet away.

Rude looked at him.

"Where's Elena?"

"I don't know," Reno replied. She had not reached the shelter of the boulder before the avalanche hit. Thinking back on it now, he wasn't even sure if she had followed them. He couldn't remember looking back as they had run.

He looked around helplessly.

"How close to you was she when it hit us?" he asked.

Rude shook his head.

"I'm not sure."

"Did you see her at all?" Reno questioned sharply.

"She was behind us when we were on the trail," Rude replied. "I don't know if she followed us into the rocks."

"Damn," Reno muttered. He started working his way back to the trail. In some places the snow was over chest deep. Even if she had been following them the snow could have knocked her yards away. Unless she was right nearby it would take a miracle to find her.

Rude followed, a little further to the right.

As the minutes dragged by Reno began to despair. He didn't know how long she could survive under the snow and it was begining to look like it might be impossible to find her. She could be a pain in the *** sometimes, but she was still a Turk, she was still one of them. He did not want to lose her.

He paused for a minute to catch his breath and looked around helplessly. The snow had buried the entire trail in front of them. She could be anywhere.

He was about to continue when he stopped suddenly and looked around. He thought he heard a muffled sound.

Rude was scraping through the snow nearby.

"Rude, hold on a second," he said.

Rude stopped, and Reno stood there for a minute, listening carefully. He could faintly make out muffled cries.

"I hear her," he said forcefully. "She's over this way. Give me a hand."

He started shoving the snow away with renewed vigor. Rude came over to search beside him. He stopped again and now he hear her plainly, calling their names. She had to be close.

"Elena, we can hear you," he shouted. "Keep calling."

He pushed the snow aside to his right, and suddenly a hand appeared in the whiteness. He grabbed it and hauled her out of snow.

She gasped and shivered.

"Oh, thank God," she said. "I thought I was a goner."

They helped her over to the boulder, where she sat down to catch her breath. Reno and Rude sat down on either side of her.

"Are you okay?" Rude asked.

She nodded.

"I was so scared. I thought I was dead for sure. Thanks for pulling me out."

Rude just shrugged, and Reno didn't say anything, but just looked at her. She was actually a pleasent person when she dropped her arrogent air, and it kind of reminded him of why she had been chosen to join them in the first place. He just hoped it didn't always take a near death experince to bring out this side of her.

"Do you think you are strong enough to go on?" he asked.

She stood up slowly and looked at herself as if to check and see if all her parts were still there. Then she nodded.

"Do you think we can continue now that the trail is obliterated?" she asked.

Reno looked northward. The avalanche had dumped an enormous amount of snow on the trail in front of them. It would be difficult to get through.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "It might be more difficult to go on, but we're much closer to Holzoff's cabin than if we turned back. Besides, someone deliberately set off that avalanche. Whoever did it was either trying to kill us outright or at least discourage us from continuing. Nothing would please me more than to show them that their little scheme had failed. It looks like we might be on the right track"

Elena nodded and the all stood up.

"Let's get going then," Rude said.

sigh, more of chapter 5 tomorrow, or maybe later than that....

[Sephiroth]

They headed northward once again, trying to make their way as best they could through the deep snow. It was difficult at first, but after about half a mile they passed the area where the avalanche had affected, and the snow subsided to only a foot or two.

Reno kept his eyes open for any hint that they were being watched, but saw nothing. He especially kept his eyes on the slope of the mountain to their left. Perhaps when they saw they had failed, whoever had caused the avalanche would try again, but he saw nothing out of place up there either.

The ground started to slope upward, and the mountain started to level out on their left, until finally it was a mere hill that posed no avalanche danger at all. Reno breathed a sigh of relief.

But it was a bit premature. As the reached the top of the slope they saw half a dozen people standing on the trail ahead of them.

"Looks like we're being met by the welcoming committee," Rude observed.

Reno slipped his nightstick out again and walked forward. The strangers stood in a line across the trail, looking as if they had been waiting for them, which was no doubt true. The were all dressed the same, in black outfits with a red insignia on the shirt. As he got closer he saw the insignia was of a red fist.

He stopped about ten feet in front of them.

One of the men in the middle of the group spoke.

"Apparently we didn't make it clear enough that we don't want any visitors here," he said. "I was hoping our little hint would convince you to turn around."

Reno shrugged.

"We are kind of thick headed that way," he replied.

"Who are you?" Elena demanded.

The man glanced over at her.

"That's not important," he answered. "It must have been difficult to get through that avalanche. I admire your determination. Too bad it was all for nothing."

"I wouldn't say that," Reno replied. "After all, we got to meet all you pleasent people."

"Very funny," the man said, "But I'm afraid your journey ends here."

"You expect us to turn around now?" Elena said. "After all we went through to get here? That's not very hospitable of you."

The man gave her a look of contempt.

"We don't expect you to turn back," he stated. "We expect you to die."

Elena and Rude stepped up on either side of Reno.

"Sorry," Reno said. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to disappoint you again."

Their opponents charged forward. Reno aimed his nightstick at the one who had spoken and let loose with a blast of electicity. The man cried out and fell to the ground, stunned. The others hesitated for just a moment, and then came forward again. Reno had no time for another blast before they were upon him.

He jabbed with his nightstick, forcing one attacker back. The other one kicked swiftly at his leg, landing a glancing blow and knocking him off balance for a moment. His own leg shot out even while off balance and managed to knock the other one back.

As a Turk he had been trained in all forms of combat, as had Rude and Elena. Though competent at hand to hand he was no expert, working as often with weapons or materia as with bare hands, not specializing in any particular area. There was no materia available at the moment, and his nightstick was not all that useful at close quarters. They were outnumbered by a group of people he soon realized were much more skilled than they in weaponless combat, and soon found themselves on the defensive.

Still, for a while they held their own in spite of the odds. Perhaps their enemy underestimated them, or perhaps the realization that they were fighting for their lives inspired them. Whatever the case they battled to a standstill for quite a while.

But eventually the tide inevitably began to turn in their opponents favor. With their superior numbers their enemy was constantly trying to slip someone behind them, and their constant manuevering to avoid this eventually found them with their backs to a pile of jumbled boulders which, though preventing them from becoming surrounded, also left them no place to retreat.

To his right an opponent suddenly got under Rude's guard and struck him solidly on the left cheek. Rude stumbled back and fell. A second man sprung forward to deliver another blow. Reno turned swiftly and let loose with another blast from his nightstick. The man went down as if hit by a truck.

Reno felt a solid blow to his side and he went down as well, the nightstick flying from his hand. To his left he saw Elena, backed up against a large rock, desperately trying to ward off two attackers.

The man who had spoken to them suddenly stood looking down at him.

"You have fought well," he said. "It may be of comfort to know that I take no pleasure in killing you."

"It's no thrill for us either," Elena piped in just before a blow to the forehead sent her to the ground as well.

Their opponents moved in to finish them, but suddenly they paused, looking around. A sound filled the air. Reno had not noticed it in the heat of battle, but now it was too loud for even that to mask it. It was the unmistakable roar of a jet engine.

The sound grew until it was nearly earsplitting. Then the Slipstream flew over them, so low that the nearby trees bent in the wind as it went by. Reno thought he could almost feel the heat from the exhaust of those great engines as it roared by.

Their opponents just stood looking at it. Obviously this was something they had not anticipated.

The Slipstream roared up into the air and swung around. Then it dropped down again and headed straight for them.

Their enemies hesitated, still looking at the jet. Then the one who had spoken turned to look at Reno.

"This isn't the end of it," he said.

In an instant he was off and running, the others following close behind. There was a narrow trail that led into a mass of rocks off to their left, and they sprinted down it as the Slipstream bore down on them.

Reno lay unmoving, looking up at the aircraft and watching the smoke trails as the Slipstream let loose with a barrage of rockets. The last of their opponents had just disappeared into the rocks when the entire area erupted in a ball of flame.

Reno shaded his eyes for a moment at the blast, and felt a shower of pebbles from the pulverized rock wash over him. He hastily covered his head.

When he looked up again there was a sizable crater where the missles had hit. He couldn't see how anyone could have survived such a blast.

Slowly he stood up. He walked over to Elena and helped her up as Rude came up next to them.

The Slipstream made another turn and came around again, this time much more slowly. Rude and Elena waved.

The black jet waggled it's wings as it went by, then streaked off to the north.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes.

"Everyone okay?" Reno asked finally.

Rude nodded.

"Yes," Elena said.

Reno walked over and inspected the area around the crater. He came back to them in a few minutes.

"I don't know if any of them survived, but there's no one around now," he said. "There is a narrow path beyond the rocks. If any of them escaped, that must be the way they went. We're obviously close to something they don't want us to find, but even if all those we saw were killed, we don't know how many others there may be. I think the best thing to do now is to head for Holzoff's cabin and tell the others. I think for this job we're going to need all the help we can get."

Rude and Elena said nothing but followed him as he slowly led them down the right hand trail. No one suggested exploring any further. They had all had more than enough excitement for one day.

sigh, MORE of chapter 5 tomorrow....

[cloudffx]

great story I can't weight to see what happens next

[Sephiroth]

Cid and Vincent were the last to arrive at Mr. Holzoff's cabin that evening. They brought the Slipstream down on a rocky outcrop just after dark. Soon they were all gathered around the fire inside swapping stories of the days events.

"Sounds like we had a boring day compared to everyone else," Barret commented.

"I wouldn't call finding the dead body of someone we knew a boring day," Tifa commented humorlessly.

Barret looked at her but said nothing.

"Did you see any sign of the people who attacked us?" Elena asked Vincent.

"No, but we did find something strange," Cid cut in. "A little to the west of you was a narrow valley filled with fog. Couldn't see a thing in it. It was a clear day and there was no sign of fog anywhere else in the region."

"So you think the fog was artifically created?" Cloud asked.

Cid nodded.

"That's my guess. It corresponds to the direction those people took off in after they attacked you," he said, looking at Elena. "I think the fog is being generated by someone to conceal something. Something they obviously don't want anyone else to find out about."

Cloud sat back in his chair.

"You could be right," he said. "At any rate it looks like this bears further investigation. Whoever these people are, they're going through a lot of trouble to prevent us from finding them. There's no doubt in my mind they are connected with the death of Staniv and the disappearence of Yuffie."

"Do you think you killed any of them when you attacked them?" Cait asked.

Cid shrugged.

"Who can say? Reno, you said you didn't find any bodies. Unless we got a direct hit, the broken terrain could have protected them. I'm sure at least some of them got away."

"And who knows how many others there are?" Barret mused. "For all we know the hills could be crawling with them."

"I don't think there could be that many," Red observed. "If there were a lot of them someone would be bound to have seen some sign of them. Out in this wilderness they would have to be getting supplies from somewhere."

"However many there are, it's going to be tough to fight them without our materia," Cloud said. "How good were they?"

"Very good," Elena said.

Reno nodded slowly.

"Difficult to say because we were outnumbered. We might have had a chance one on one."

"Oh, stop it," Elena replied. "They would have kicked our asses and you know it."

Reno rolled his eyes.

Cloud looked at Tifa.

"What do you think?"

Tifa shrugged.

"All I saw was some bruises on Staniv's body. I wouldn't be able to say until I actually saw them fight."

"You may soon get the chance," Cloud replied. "I think our first order of business tomorrow will be to check out this mysterious fog. And I think it would be best if we all went together."

He looked around, but no one else seemed to have anything to add, and they fell silent. Cait and Barret went upstairs. Reno got up and went into the kitchen. He came back in a minute with two drinks and sat back down next to Rude, handing him one.

"She's been hanging out with that freak an awful lot lately," he said quietly, nodding toward Elena and Vincent, who were talking together on the other side of the room. "What's the matter, we're not good enough for her anymore?"

Rude glanced over toward Elena and then looked at Reno.

"You jealous?"

Reno chuckled softly.

"Yeah, right."

He took a long drink from his glass.

"It's not that," he continued. "She's a Turk, we should stick together. Being friendly like that might give them the wrong impression."

Rude did not respond.

Tifa got up and walked toward the hallway. Reno saw Rude's gaze following her. He nudged him.

"And you're no better," he said. "You better forget about that one, though, she's way out of your league."

Rude shook his head slightly, his face remaining expressionless. He took a drink and then looked at Reno.

"So who's your favorite?" he asked.

Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Out of this bunch? Not much to choose from," he replied.

Rude looked at him skeptically.

"All right," he said. He paused and looked around carefully, as if making sure they weren't overheard. Then he turned to Rude and said in a low voice.

"To tell you the truth, anyone that'll say yes."

Rude looked at him, but he just smiled in return. Rude shook his head and drained his drink. He got up.

"You are one screwed up dude," he said. "See ya later."

"What," Reno called after him. "As if you wouldn't."

He was about to turn back to his drink when Aeris walked by. He got up and followed her into the kitchen.

Aeris glanced at him as he came in.

"Wouldn't what?" she questioned.

"Huh?"

"As if you wouldn't what?"

Reno smiled.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just guy talk. What, were you spying on us?"

"Of course not," she answered, taking him seriously. "You said it loud enough."

"So, it sounds like you saved Cloud's *** today," he changed the subject.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said. "It was a battle. We all helped each other, just like always."

"Don't be so modest," he answered. "You know, I really don't understand you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're so much better than they are. You've been running around with a two bit terrorist with a chip on his shoulder and his brainless cronies for how long now? When are you going to ditch them and find some people who are more in your class?"

She looked at him for a moment in surprise.

"You mean like you?" she asked finally.

"Well, it would be an improvement," he replied with a smile.

She looked at him skeptically.

"Are you drunk?" she asked bluntly.

He gave a slight shrug.

"Not yet."

"You're out of your mind," she said. "I better get back to the others."

He stepped out of her way as she walked by.

"That spikey haired jerk is just going to break your heart," he said.

"As if you wouldn't," she answered immediately.

Reno was not about to deny it.

"At least I have some charm," he suggested.

She shook her head and walked out of the room. He stood there for a moment, then drained his drink.

"Oh well," he said softly, and turned to get himself another.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tifa sat on a narrow porch in front of the cabin, staring into the dark. She could occasionally catch the sound of someone talking inside if they raised their voice, but that was not often. There was no wind, and the night was silent and clear.

She looked up and the stars blazed above her in cold fury, almost unaturally bright and beautiful.

The door to the cabin opened and light flared around her briefly. Then it closed again. She looked over to see Rude standing by the door looking out into the dark. She turned back and looked out blankly into the night. For a long time neither one spoke.

"Cold night," Rude said noncomittingly.

"Umm," Tifa said, not looking at him. For a long moment he thought she would say nothing more.

She looked up at the sky again.

"But the stars are so pretty. I love looking at them on winter nights. I can't explain it, but they always looked best to me in the winter, almost as if they were closer somehow."

She fell silent again. She didn't even know why she was talking. She had come out here to be alone.

Rude took a hesitant step toward her, then changed his mind and sat down where he was. He looked up at the sky.

"It is pretty," he said.

She nodded but again said nothing. She heard a short bark of laughter from inside. It sounded like Cid.

"There's something..." Rude said and stopped. She glanced over at him but he didn't finish at first, just looked at her for a moment and turned away.

"Umm?" she said.

"There's something I want to tell you," he said slowly, not looking at her. "You probably don't care. I mean, it probably won't make any difference, but I want you to know..."

He stopped again and looked at her. She returned his gaze expectantly, athough she was not sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"I don't know whether you'll believe me. I don't expect you to believe me. I know how you feel about the Turks, but I didn't know what they were going to do to sector seven until it was too late."

He turned away again, looking down at the ground now. For a long time she just looked at him. Then she shrugged.

"Too many people have died," she said softly.

He looked at her again. He hadn't been sure how she would react to his statement. At least she didn't seem angry.

"It never ends, does it?" she asked, then went on before he could answer. "It seems all my life people have been dying around me. My parents, my friends in Avalanche, Aeris, and now Staniv. When does it all end? When we first started Avalanche I thought we were saving the world, and maybe we have for others, but not for us. I thought after Shinra was destroyed we could live in peace, but I don't think that'll ever happen now."

She looked up at the stars again.

"Maybe it's my own fault," she went on. "I chose a bloody path when I helped destroy the reactors in Midgar. Maybe once you choose that path there's no turning back, or changing direction. Maybe now I'm paying for all the people who died in Midgar."

She bowed her head and said nothing more. Rude resisted the urge to move closer to her, but just sat there, knowing there was nothing he could do to comfort her, but wishing there was.

finally, the end of chapter 5! chapter 6 to be posted tomorrow.....possibly

[cloudffx]

greeat fanfic you should consider posting this story on fanfiction.net

[Sephiroth]

CHAPTER VI
EATING WITH THE ENEMY
Yuffie ran over to the small window and looked out. The room she was in was high up in the fortress and overlooked a small courtyard. Nine men were down in the courtyard below, excersizing. She stood looking out the window, running vigoursly in place, as she had been for the last half hour. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her clothes were soaked.

She ran back into a corner of the room where she could not be seen just in case someone looked through the little window in the door to her chamber. Although it was unlikely anyone would. No one came to her room until shortly after they had finished excersizing outside. They were so predictable.

She continued running in place, every once in a while going over to look out the window, until she saw the people below leaving the courtyard. Then she started to count to herself. When she reached five hundred she walked over to the bed, lay down and closed her eyes.

Less than five minutes later she heard someone at the door. It opened and she heard them come into the room. Although she did not open her eyes, she knew from previous experience there would be two of them.

"Hey, you alright?" she heard one man say.

She didn't respond.

"Hey," the man said. It sounded like he was right beside her now.

"Is she okay?" she heard the second man ask.

Someone shook her.

"Are you alright?" he said loudly in her ear.

She turned her head slightly and moaned.

"She's sweating like a pig," said the man.

She felt a hand on her forehead for a moment.

"She's burning up."

"She seemed sick for the last few days," she heard the second man say.

They were silent for a moment.

"You better go get someone to take a look at her. We don't want her to die just yet."

She heard footsteps slowly fading away. She opened her eyes a slit to see the man who was left glancing back toward the door.

Her foot came up and caught him in the back of the head.

"Ugh," he said, and fell to the side. She sprang up and pummeled him with numerous quick blows. He was too surprised to defend himself, and after half a dozen blows fell to the floor and lay still.

She jumped past him and ran out the open door. To the left the hall ended blindly. She turned to the right and saw a man with white hair and beard leaning against the wall, looking at her thoughtfully.

She stopped.

"Damn!" she exclaimed.

He walked slowly over to her.

"Much as you may find it hard to believe, but we are not all idiots. I hope you didn't damage Danz too badly. He's a good man, though a little green."

He indicated her chamber.

"Shall we go back in?"

She looked him over for a moment but did not move.

He smiled.

"Do you wish to challange me again? I have to admit I admire your spirit. You are very brave, though still young and foolish. If you play your cards right, you may still get out of this with your skin intact. As the daughter of the leader of Wutai you are a valuable prisoner, one I would not wish to see die unneccesarily, but if you keep up these foolish escape attempts, you may leave me with no choice."

He stepped back into ready position.

"So what will it be?" he asked casually.

She looked at him for a moment in silence, then sighed and walked back into her chamber. He followed her in, but she could sense he still had not let down his guard.

Danz was just getting up from the floor, holding his head. He turned and looked at Yuffie darkly.

"You're going to pay for this," he said through clenched teeth.

"Enough," the white haired man said commandingly. "It is not her fault you were stupid enough to fall for her trap. Understand your mistake and learn. Never underestimate your enemy nor let down your guard in their presence. That is what you should take from this, not a witless desire for revenge. Do you understand?"

Danz bowed his head.

"Yes, honored one."

"Good. You will make a fine warrior someday, but you have much to learn. You will continue to guard our prisoner, and she will not escape or be harmed in any way, or you will be held responsible. You have seen her tricks, and have fallen into one of her traps, but that can be forgiven. To have it happen again, however, would disgrace you. Do not let that happen."

"Yes, honored one, thank you" Danz replied again.

"Very good. Now why don't you get our 'guest' some clean clothes. She seems to have rather abused the ones she's wearing, and we wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable."

Danz walked out the door. The older man followed but turned to Yuffie when he reached the entrance.

"My guess is that it would be pointless for me to ask you to stop making these escape attempts. I think you feel duty bound to continue regardless. A point of honor, I would say. At least, that is how I would feel about it. Nevertheless, I am going to ask. You will not escape. I will be watching at all times. Continuing can only lead you to harm, and even though I do not wish that, do not doubt that I will kill you if it becomes neccesary. Your stay here can be quite pleasent or otherwise, it is up to you."

He turned away and closed the door. Yuffie did not move for some time, then turned slowly and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Already she was thinking about her next move.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cloud awoke refreshed. He thought he had dreamed some, but he couldn't remember what about, only that it left him with a satisfying feeling. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a pleasant dream.

Tifa was in the kitchen, whipping up breakfast for all of them. The others were in the main room, all except Reno and Cid, who were still presumably sleeping. After a while Vincent and Rude went to fetch the two laggards, and finally managed to get them up with threats of missing breakfast. Soon after they gathered their gear and headed up into the hills in the direction Cid and Vincent had seen the mysterious fog the day before.

It was a little warmer than the day before, but not much. The sky was clear and the trail seemed little changed. It didn't take them long to reach the place where the previous days altercation had taken place. They inspected the area where the missles from the Slipstream had hit but, like yesterday, found nothing of significance. There was a narrow path that led up through the rocks to the west, and Cloud soon led them up it.

The path led over the top of a jagged ridge, and then dropped down into a shallow valley. Or what they took for a shallow valley, for all they could see below them was a sea of fog.

"I guess this must be the place," Cloud commented.

The path narrowed as it dropped down into the mist, and they were forced to walk in single file. Cloud could see but a few feet ahead through the fog, and the walls of the canyon rose up steeply on either side of them. He moved foward slowly. He did not have a good feeling about this. The lack of visibility and narrow confines practically screamed ambush.

He drew his sword and continued on. If they did run into an ambush, he was going to be prepared. He listened intently as he went. With the low visibility he thought he might hear something before he saw it. Even that was unlikely, however. Anyone walking through the soft snow would make little sound, and they wouldn't have an opportunity to hear even that if their enemy was already waiting on the trail ahead. The only way to hear them would be if they slipped up and spoke or made some other sound accidently, and he didn't think that would happen. Even if they did slip up and make a sound, it was unlikely he would hear it with all the talking that was going on behind him.

He turned to look at the others.

"Quiet," he said, trying to speak loud enough for all of them to hear but not loudly enough to be overheard by others. "With all this talking we might as well be shouting 'here we are.'"

Some of the others gave him a look but they all fell silent.

He turned around and led them down the trail once more. They seemed to have reached the floor of the valley, for the ground leveled out and the steep walls on either side of them fell away. Now they were walking in a sea of snow and fog with no landmarks at all except for trees that materialized out of the mist occasionally around them.

They walked on for some time with no sign that anyone else was in the area. Though he was walking what he hoped was a more or less straight line, with little visibility and few landmarks, Cloud soon became unsure of which direction they were traveling in. He hoped he wasn't just leading them in circles.

Barret, who was directly behind him, seemed to be thinking much the same thing.

"In this fog we could walk within ten yards of someone and not see them," he said softly. "We could wander around in here for months. How are we going to find them? Assuming, of course, that there is in fact someone in here and we're not just walking around on some wild goose chase."

"I feel the same way," Cloud replied. "but I don't see that there is anything we can do about it, unless someone knows some way to make this fog magically disappear. We'll just have to keep trudging along and hope to stumble upon something through blind luck. I don't think we are wasting our time, though. I know they're here somewhere. We're close to them, I can feel it."

Barret did not reply, willing to trust Cloud's instincts, but he was not happy about it. With each passing minute he felt more and more like a rat trapped in a maze.

They moved on, and soon after Cloud did hear a sound ahead of them, the sound of flowing water. A river appeared out of the gloom and they stopped at it's bank. The water was flowing swiftly, preventing it from freezing over. It was not very wide, but it looked too deep to wade through, and he knew none of them would be anxious to swim in freezing water.

"What now?" Elena said.

Cloud looked across the water, but he could not see much past the far bank.

"Well, we can't cross here. Let's head upstream. Maybe we can find somewhere to cross further on."

There wasn't much else for anyone to say, and they followed him once again as he led them beside the river. For a while they saw nothing, but then something dark appeared on the river ahead.

"What's that?" Aeris asked.

Before anyone could answer the mist cleared slightly and they could all see it was a wooden bridge that spanned the river.

"A bridge," Cloud replied unnecessarily.

He led them quickly over to it, heartened to have finally found some sign that they were not traveling through empty wilderness. When they reached the bridge he found something to please him even more. A trail of footprints came from out of the mist and crossed over the bridge.

"Looks like we're not alone out here after all," Cait said.

"It's about time we found something," Barret commented.

Cloud said nothing but led them quickly over the bridge. The tracks led off to what he considered the west, athough in the fog that was only a guess. He led them swiftly now, though he still kept his eyes open. He felt much better now that they were no longer wandering around aimlessly, but by the same token he knew the chances of an ambush were greater as well.

The trees closed in around them, but the track went in a more of less straight line and was easy to follow. Soon they saw a dark mass loom up out of the mist in front of them. The stepped forward to find themselves at the base of a large stone building.

The tracks led up to an iron bound wooden door.

"Never thought I'd see anything like this out here," Cid commented.

Even as he spoke dark figures materialized out of the fog around them. There were more than twenty of them. They all wore the same identical black outfits. Not exactly designed to blend in with the snow, but the fog had hidden them well enough. A man Reno recognized as the one he had spoken with yesterday stepped forward.

"I told you it wasn't over," he said, looking at Reno. "I knew you'd be back. Some people are just gluttons for punishment. I see you've brought some friends, for all the good it will do you."

He looked up.

"And I don't think we'll be getting any rude interruptions from above," he added. "It is death to look upon this fortress."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Reno replied dismissively. "We heard it all yesterday, but surprise, surprise, we're still here."

"Not for long," the man replied. "Yesterday I said I would not enjoy killing you, but after that dirty trick with that airplane it will be a pleasure."

"You're wasting time," said a deep voice from the back. "Finish them."

Their opponents started forward immediately. Cloud did not have time to form a battle plan, and the fight soon became a confusing melee. It was impossible to keep track of everyone, and he quickly decided it was best to tend his own business and not worry about the others. Not waiting for the enemy to reach him, he sprang forward to the attack.

Tifa tried to stay close to Cloud. As she followed him a man came up on her left. He struck at her with his fist. She blocked and kicked at his knee, but he dodged nimbly out of the way and countered with a kick of his own. It got under her guard and hit her in the side. With a grunt she went down. He stepped toward her and she instantly swept her leg around and brought him down too. She sprang to her feet and kicked again before he could get up, hitting him in the side of the face. He fell back and lay still. She turned to follow Cloud, her side aching. Elena had been right, she thought ruefully. They were good.

post the rest of chapter 6 at a later date....

[cloudffx]

another great chapter I am looking foward to seeing more of it

[Zero-Sama]

Okay, Okay, I know this is an old topic, and i'm probably going to get yelled at, But when exactly do you plan on posting the next part, Seph??

[cloudffx]

yah when

cotinue this or else

[b][size=1]Please do not double post, or spam for that matter --Elite[/b][/size]