This part of the canyon was simple. Sprawling rock shelves soared upwards. It was steeped in fallen rocks and boulders. A few days rain had pooled and stagnated in pools at the bottom. It was grimy, crusty and baked red, but it retained the sense of peace that the area around Cosmo Canyon always had. Tranquillity mixed with the subtle tinge of filth, yet the filth is meaningless, as it is natural filth. Even 2 months after Bugenhagen's funeral, Red still managed to throw the kind man from his mind and focus.

But something disturbed it, in the far end of the crag. It was a far shadow. Far shadows meant a creature. But Red was naturally suspicious. He wasn't alive because he waltzed straight into danger, he was alive because he was careful and decisive at the same time.

Red took 9 quick steps forward. This brought him a quarter way into the crag. He could scent a few desert frogs to his left. He could smell the canyon winds soaring overhead.

He was perfectly balanced on the rocks. He was drawn back into a battle crouch. He was as brilliantly poised as a warrior, superiorly set as a beast.

Nothing stopped him as he took 20 paces, before leaping off an uplifted jut of rock towards the shadow. He was a flash of fire, the dagger that strikes unseen before tearing apart your insides.

But not even he, a beast born to fight, could realise what he was leaping into. He was in mid-air when he saw it. He fell, as it struck him hard across the head, shattering his consciousness. The Tiger-Wolf descended into sleep. The creature growled, before hooking it's head under Red's body, and dragging him towards both of their former homes. It almost idlely whispered into Red's ear.

"I'll meet you at Midgar."

He awoke at the bottom of the steps of Cosmo Canyon. He looked up. Nothing was different from years before. But somehow, it seemed different now. He looked towards the Cave of the Gi with the look of a haunted man, fear plain as day upon his face. He sprinted the steps like a being scared not for his body, but for his soul. Elder Sirenwind looked up from his seat, carving a subtle image of Red for his son.

"What seems to be the matter, Young Nanaki?" The old, tanned man said.

He was, like most elders, fit, lean and healthy. But his age was beginning to tell from the lines on his face and dozens of tiny little scars across his wrinkled hands, as his role of carpenter didn't always end without a cut or two. His silver hair fell around him like snow in a blizzard, and it created an illusion of light that reflected the man's personality.

But the Young Wolf had no time for the kindness of the man. He fled upwards, towards the Cave of the Gi. He dodged around the inhabitants like a wind, not much could have stopped the ragged red blur anyway.

He leapt the ledges lithely and magnificently. Had you seen him, you would have recognised what it is to be a member of his race, and be poised on a single thing.

The Cave was covered in several decaying bodies, mostly bones, from his first trip down here, aswell as some others. He regularly fled down here to keep it clear. But also to think, and look up at his father, Seto. It was a weekly routine that was all that kept him true to himself now that Bugenhagen had died. But Nanaki hoped for one thing, by The Planet, he hoped his encounter had been a dream.

As he passed through the chamber where he and Avalanche had fought Gi Nittak, he looked up at the shining sky. It was beautiful, almost beyond belief. Each star shone like the core of a diamond, the eye of a dragon. It was like looking up at confirmation of all Red protected. But there was one thing missing atop the beautiful crags, something that dragged Red's fragile heart out of his chest and threw it to the wind, discarding all he had relied on in these 3 years past. Throwing away his rock.

Seto no longer stood guard over Cosmo Canyon.

Red sat stubbornly at the prow of the Shera, an unfading statue. He was like his father had been for so many years. Steely, sharp and proud. Cid couldn't understand him. Why would he need to suddenly travel to Midgar, and at such short notice? Red had literally arrived in Rocket Town and asked, no- demanded, to be flown to Midgar. Red had been angry and snappy, instead of the calm and cool Wolf that had been at Bugenhagen's Funeral. It was absolute proof that something very bad had happened. Shera had tried to give him food, but as she walked back she saw the same food flying behind them. The woman had almost gone back and given him a rather unpleasant piece of her mind, but the sight of those deep, engulfing emerald eyes, tinged with the pinch of sorrow so deep that you could lose yourself in them, diverted her course. She returned to the bridge, where Cid sat against panel, looking out at their friend.

"What do you think's wrong with him, Cid?"

"Fuck if I know. But I ain't never seen him like this. It's like he's snapped."

Cid's wife nodded.

"I've known Red for 3 years. Not one time have I seen him growl at you at Rocket Town."

Cid shook his head, unconsciously putting a cigarette to his mouth, before a slap on his hand brought him back out of thought.

"All those times he helped me out, he's become my best buddy. He's pulled me back from saying or doing something stupid more times then I can remember. He was even a laugh one time in a hundred. But I don't think I can help him here. I don't know how." The steely deck, although booming with noise as it's crew adjusted the rudder slightly, fine-tuned the engine, chatted about the mark being left on the deck by Red's tail and, drawing straws to see who would clean up the latest patch of vomit from a passenger who really shouldn't be flying, still seemed lonely and quiet to both Shera and Cid.

"He's been out there for 4 hours now. Go talk to him, Cid."

"After what he said to me in Rocket Town.

FLASHBACK

"DAMNIT, CID! I need a trip to Midgar right now! If you don't do this one favour for me, after all the times I've sacrificed MY time for you, I'm gonna show you the real meaning of the term "Hurts like a bitch!""

Suffice to say, Cid would not quite of enjoyed forgiving Red for that, but he had been right. The creature had effortlessly pointed out things wrong with certain parts of the Shera that would have taken Cid a few weeks to discover. The Airship ran smoother then a shined quartz because of him. And he also owed him his marriage.

Cid nodded his head, sighing.

He quickly made his way through the ship to the open-air prow. Red was just as undoubting and proud as ever. His mane was swept back by the breeze.

"Red." Cid muttered, sitting himself down cross-legged beside him. He only grunted his assent.

"What's wrong with ya, Red? It's like you're here but gone, y'know? What happened between now and Bugenhagen's funeral?"

Red said nothing. He only turned towards Cid, looked back towards Midgar and breath a heavy sigh.

"Cid. Have you ever had something in your heart so pure and untouchable, that it kept you going in the darkest of times. It reminded you, in the pitch of bitter night, that the sun will soon glance over the horizon, before bathing your world once again in light?"

"Who the hell d'ya think Shera is!" Cid couldn't help but at a touch of bitterness to his tone.

"Mine was honour and pride. Pride in my mother and most of all, my father. They both died to protect the Canyon. They are an inspiration from my past that I never knew. The only thing I ever wanted was to be like them. My honour stopped me from giving up. It stopped me from acting beneath myself, as something my parents wouldn't have been proud of. Now, I have lost my pride."

Cid seemed taken aback. He had seen the Statue of Seto, heard the tale. Red did indeed take great pride in it, showing it to any who dared brave the Gi Caverns. But here…

"How Red?"

"Cid, I may tell you when this is ended, but until then all you should know is that my heart is no longer made of stone."