Ever since she was a child, she had known that the place at the very top of the Da-Chao Mountains was strictly off-limits. There was a small little temple pagoda that sat there serenely, but it was forbidden. Maybe it was that word, forbidden, that plagued Yuffie Kisaragi as much as it did. It was practically a taunt, a seductive call that did nothing but beseech her. Of course, when she was young and naive, she only believed it to be something frightening and not to be trifled with. But as she grew older, her curiosity only grew as her mind yearned for knowledge; knowledge and treasures, at least. It was one fateful day when she was but seventeen years old, not too long after the events of Meteor took place.

Yuffie was having a hard time settling down again after her latest escapade with the anti-Shinra group. After saving the world once, there was little she found she could do that gave her the same thrills it had before. So one day, as she went about her daily life in Wutai, she ran into a curled old woman who was telling a tall tale to a handful of young children. Yuffie was hooked at the mention of a new, never before seen materia. She asked about it's rumored whereabouts almost immediately as the group scampered away and the old woman only gave her a funny smile, raising her frail arm to point a withered finger to the crest of the Da-Chao mountains behind them.

It was only then that Yuffie came to recall the mysterious pagoda said to have been there. Was it perhaps the home of that one of a kind, special materia? The cogs in her mind began to wind and turn, thanking the lady once before she found herself curiously ascending the mountain by the paths she knew so well. It wasn't allowed, but it was just a tiny peek. Any mentions of materia were considered prized information in her book. And what harm could a little look do? Yuffie was old enough; she could take care of herself and anything else that came along.

When she came to the red and gold pagoda that sat far from the edge of the mountains, Yuffie only inspected the elaborate locking mechanism briefly before stepping back to sift through one of her pockets. A mere lock wouldn't stop her, for she was a master thief and the greatest ninja of all time. In a matter of moments, the lock was cleanly unlatched and the doors cracked open for the first time in who knows how long? It was dark inside and Yuffie felt a wave of stale air hit her clean in the face, but she continued on to set foot in the tiny, square temple without a second thought. The inside was rather plain and uninteresting to Yuffie, but she immediately honed in on the miniature pagoda that sat at the far end of the room on an important looking altar.

"Aha," A bright grin made its way on her face and she moved forward with sheer delight. "Now let's see what we have been hiding here." She sang as she leaned forward to grasp the mini doors of the tiny model. Her mind was racing over what she would find inside, wondering what lovely shade of materia she would be gazing at as she pulled them open. Her face immediately fell as she laid her eyes on a single, rather scraggly looking feather that sat unobtrusively on a crimson velvet pillow. Disappointment and confusion drew themselves across her features as she brazenly plucked it from its home and waved it around expectantly.

"This is it? An old feather?" Yuffie pouted, looking back and lifting the pillow to make sure there wasn't anything hidden beneath it. After further inspection, she could find no trick mechanisms or secret passages. The feather was all that was there and Yuffie was sorely disappointed. She looked at the feather again, twirling it between her fingers. "Unbelievable, what's so special that they had to hide this thing here like some secret weapon? What a letdown."

A play of light seemed to run up the spine of the old feather and for a moment it caught Yuffie's eye. The feather wasn't anything remotely special. It was long and white, running about the length of her elbow to the tip of her fingers. It was sharp and straight as an edge, unlike any other feather she would ever see. At first, it was like a blue hue that inched up the length of the stem before diffusing outwards. Yuffie drew back a bit uneasily as the whole feather began to glow and a sudden burst of white light nearly burned her retinas through and through if she hadn't squeezed her eyes shut. An odd sensation of warm water dousing her whole ran down the length of her body, but as quick as it had come it was gone a second after. When Yuffie looked up again, she could only find stale air, dust, and an empty hand.

"Oh no," She looked down at her hands and spun around at least three times in search of the prized feather. "Oh crap, I'm so dead." Yuffie cried out gluing her hands to the side of her head as she ran out of the pagoda and turned her eyes to the sky in search of some kind of answer. A large monster sailed overhead and it was within the blink of an eye that Yuffie had the Conformer in her grip as she pursued the winged beast over the hill it was flying over, exclaiming that she'd have a feather from its tail is it was the last thing she did.

Years later, Yuffie never imagined her mischief would lead to the downfall of her beloved Wutai. Guilt and shame plagued her mind as she tore blindly through the mountains of the Wutai continent. Despite the fit young woman she had gradually grown to be, it was her own past actions that stole everything away from her. It was frustrating to think in the end, after all her toils and troubles to leave the brat behind, her old self landed a sucker punch square in her jaw. Cold rain splattered on her face, making her cheeks numb to the tears that slid down them. Yuffie had tried, tried and failed to escape that past that was her own self, now she was running from the disgrace of it.

"Dammit!"

They were hot on her tail now and she could hear the patter of footfalls gaining quickly on her. Even then, she couldn't help but recall the events that took place hours before. It would be burned into her memory forever, she was sure of it. The fierce battles, the crimson stained pathway, the last moments of her father's life. They were looking to that relic for aid, in hopes of fighting back those attackers, but when they look it was not there. Godo's face was beyond pale as he lay there in shock, surrounded by his own blood.

"They, they must have taken it, Yuffie," He gasped upon catching sight of her. "The relic, in the pagoda, there is nothing but a worthless feather. You must get it back. You must retrieve it before they find the others. You must escape tonight, Yuffie, because it must be you that brings Wutai back to its former glory."

And then without warning he was gone. He did not fade away, but he was just suddenly gone. It tore the young woman to shreds, especially at the mention of the lost feather she had caused to go missing. It was her fault. Because she was stupid. Foolish. The thought of it made her teeth grind and in her frustration, she dug her heels into the ground and spun around, using the momentum to send her 

Conformer whizzing back towards her pursuers at a lethal speed. She wouldn't go down without a fight, she would make it known that they weren't dealing with a royal little flower.

"Mark my words, you scum! You'll never be rid of me!" Yuffie shouted over the strong gusts of wind, catching sight of her returning shuriken in the brief flash of lightning. She jumped back a bit and caught it in her hand, preparing herself for the approaching battle. Who were the attackers? And what were their motives? That old relic?

It was gone. Just like everyone in the five story pagoda.