Hmmm. Sorry its been a few days since I updated, I've been a tiny bit busy with work! As usual! I would like to thank those of you that reviewed. Its nice to get a bit of feedback. And this time I promise the next chapter will be up tomorrow because its nearly written now I just need sleep!

Enjoy!

Xx

"Hey Kiddo, you hear that right?" Fang looked sideways at the young girl. She had her arm firmly over Fangs shoulders, her weight supported as much as possible off her bad leg.

"Your kidding, I felt it more like" she huffed back, the ground had trembled slightly beneath her feet sending a shockwave of pain through her leg and up through her body.

"You okay?" Fang voiced, concerned. She pulled her up slightly to take even more weight off her injury. Doing this earned her a hiss from the younger girl.

"Sorry…" Fang whispered, forgetting that the girls ribs also hurt. She had to be careful. The last thing she wanted to do was to cause the girl more pain.

"I'm okay, its just a bit sore" Vanille half grunted, gritting her teeth together.

"Lets take a breather then yeah?" Fang whispered, clutching Vanille's wrist tighter to stop her from slipping.

"No… I… we need to keep moving" she panted, her voice slightly lower than usual.

Fang sighed quietly, she was tired. It was tough on Vanille for sure but Fang was feeling it too. Carrying her was taking its toll and she hadn't been sleeping much either, she didn't feel happy falling asleep with Vanille so vulnerable.

"You don't have to push yourself so hard." Fang whispered, she carefully removed Vanille's arm and lowered her down. To much protest.

Vanille hated sitting still, she hurt everywhere but she wanted to drive on. The caves making her feel claustrophobic and cold. The sooner she could see the sky she would be happy. Wincing as she sat down she thought back to the group they had been forced to leave behind. She hoped they were all okay. It seemed lonely without them, she had grown so used to everyone being around it felt strange to be just with Fang again.

"You now what that rumbling was right?" Fang broke through her thoughts, her voice cheerier than it had been for a while.

"Atomos yeah" Vanille nodded back. She knew it meant there might be some hope at the end of the tunnel. It was about time, they were both totally run down. Her voice was slightly husky due to lack of water, dehydration setting in with the both of them. The only water they were hanging on to was being sweated out with the constant exercise. She was also hungry, but that she could deal with. On Pulse it was sometimes days before a hunter came back with something to eat. It was a feeling she was well used to.

"So you know that means we cant be far from the others, if they have any sense they would have followed it too." Fang nodded wisely.

She was right though, her and Vanille had spoken about how the fal'Cie could carry passengers too and fro a destination. If they had any sense they would have followed Atomos through the caverns and if they carried on heading towards it too they would soon be reunited.

Vanille looked up ahead into the caverns, something had caught her eye. Fang hadn't noticed but she could have sworn she saw something move. She shook her head, the dark was playing tricks on her.

"What's the matter?" Fang asked, looking over her shoulder to where Vanille's eyes were fixed, squinting she could see nothing.

"I thought I saw something, its probably nothing. Just tiredness I guess" Fang noted how the spark had gone from her voice. The young girl was struggling, her usual cheeriness gone. She didn't like it.

"Tell you what I'll go look" Fang added. Something to give Vanille a little piece of mind. They were both on edge and it had been too quiet lately. It made her shudder, she was really beginning to hate this place. It held none of the magic it used too. Everything that had once been here had been destroyed while they were in crystal slumber. It was no longer the Gran Pulse she used to love as a child.

She rose to her feet, her tired muscles screaming out in protest. She was reluctant to leave Vanille even for a minute, but it had to be done.

"Sit tight" She whispered, patting the girls head carefully, she avoided the cut on her hairline which was still sore, it had however ceased bleeding.

"I'll be back in a sec"

Vanille nodded.

"Be quick"

Vanille looked on ahead as Fang made her way down the tunnel and into the darkness.

Fang could see something now too, a flash of fire, lighting up and then vanishing. 'How strange' She thought to herself. Not many creatures used fire for no reason. She strode out faster curious but apprehensive at the same time. It was bound to be some kind of creature but she was confident she could stay out of its way. As she moved on ahead she could see the silhouette of something big ahead in the darkness and it wasn't until she was nearly upon it that she saw what it was.

"Not again" she whispered to herself. It was the same Juggernaut from before. She could tell from the slight dent she had imprinted with her lance. It was the reason they were stuck down here.

And this time. It was blocking the way out.

Truth be told, she was just fed up of running. And that, in itself was quite an achievement.

Lightning was doubled over, her sides heaving, which for the pink haired soldier was not a regular occurrence. Her fitness was at a very high standard, high enough for her to trek all day and feel only slightly fatigued. At the pace she was travelling however, it was wearing even her down. She didn't regret the decision to push on by herself. The rest of her little group had stayed back, and she had gone on alone. To much protest. Amazingly after everything that had happened Snow still carried with him his wireless earpiece, the same one she and Fang had been using back on cocoon, and even more incredibly, it worked here on Pulse. Which was odd seeming it was a separate planet.

They could take all the help they could get. And that was most definitely a help.

Lightning Farron had never been one to sit around and do noting and to be honest, the slow pace her companions were travelling at was driving her insane. Still, there was an uproar of disagreements when she had voiced that she would be going forward alone. Seeing the look of hurt on Hope's face when she told him he couldn't go with her had saddened her but she could still talk with them wirelessly and if they ran into any trouble she would know about it. It was a handy little communication to have.

Once her breathing had calmed down enough for her to push on she began picking up the trail with a brisk walk. One she always wore in front of everyone else. It was a kind of proud 'no nonsense' type of posture, it tended to make her appear more mature than her age suggested.

She was restless, she knew that her friends needed her help and although she appeared cold hearted on the outside on the inside, she would do anything she needed to get the two women back. She found it hard to shake the images from her mind, it was as if they were haunting her, pushing her forward in desperation.

She was finding it rather hard to keep up her usual persona, in fact she was sure that underneath all of the dust and the sweat you would be able to see faint lines of worry etched across her face.

She had suggested that they all take different routes through the caverns, she had decided that she would take up the responsibility of finding Fang and Vanille and the others would try and track down Atomos, the wild fal'Cie. Not an easy task by any means but then again, neither was hers.

She had decided that she would cover the ground better; thus providing her a better candidate for a one-woman search party.

She was slightly beginning to wish she had company, at least someone to drive her forward. She couldn't recall ever being afraid of much but in this place, it was hard to keep your emotions in check. Her acute senses weren't working properly, her eyesight disadvantaged by the dark and her sense of smell obscured by the dust found all around her. Gran Pulse was one big survival test and one by one, they were all being sought out. She shook her head, shaking with it all thoughts and pictures from her mind. She needed to think, if not to find her way then to dodge all of the enemies she had been coming into contact with.

Down here, it wasn't too hard. She found she could simply melt into the shadows and appear completely disguised by the dark coloured walls. Her light clothing was so covered in dust and mud it was nearly the same colour as the surrounding rocks. She realised though, she had to keep her hand pressed against her shoulder, obscuring the two glowing stripes. She wasn't even sure why she kept them on now, it wasn't like she was still a sergeant. She had given up on that when she first boarded the purge train, when she had first took on the mission of saving Serah. Then again none of that would matter if none of them got out of here.

She rounded the next bend with cautious steps, she couldn't see too far ahead but noticed the ceiling here looked higher, the walls grainier and less stable. Her heart skipped a beat. Her senses were telling her that this place was familiar to her. It looked more unstable than the rest of the caverns, older perhaps. The roof over her had large cracks running through it and she noticed her feet didn't sound so loudly on the floor. Inspecting this she found the floor to be covered in a large layer of small rubble and dust. She was getting closer.

Rushing forward now she soon came to the other side of the cave in. The tunnel completely blocked off by the familiar boulders she had seen a few days back staring down at her once more. She looked around desperately, Fang and Vanille were nowhere to be found.

"That's a good thing right?" She whispered to herself, she hoped that meant that they were unharmed. Her heart felt slightly lighter at the thought. Picking up the earpiece she quickly fiddled with it and set it to what she had been instructed to do.

"Hey Light" Snow piped up, wow that was loud. She cringed and pulled the speaker away from her ears slightly. Ever cautious she spoke in a lower tone, almost a whisper.

"I've found the cave in, they don't seem to be here" straight to the point, as usual.

"You're kidding? That's great news!" he once again yelled, she heard him tell everyone what she had said.

"Not yet" She answered, "I'm going to push on ahead and see if I can find them. Keep trying to catch that thing."

"Will do" Snow replied, "Be careful"

"Tsk" She quickly disconnected the earpiece, its blue light giving off more of a beacon than she would have liked. Who was he to tell her to be careful, wasn't her always the one to charge in headfirst when things got heated?

Besides she could take care of herself.

She noted her surroundings, checking for any marks that would help her determine what direction she needed to be heading in, forward was of course the only option, back the way she had came but after that she had no idea. She had already woven through a maze of tunnels. She doubted she could find her way back to the others even if she had too. Not at least until they had more help on their side. She just wasn't sure how they would catch the fal'Cie once they found it. But that was up to them. She had bigger things to worry about. She was always taught to never leave someone behind, no matter how desperate the situation looked. She hoped by pressing on she would uncover any tracks the pair might have made.

She didn't have to look far, she was squinting down at the ground, something was laid right by her feet. Kneeling down she gave the item a general inspection, on closer look she felt her heart sink back down again, the elated feeling she had been previously feeling left her.

It was a piece of material she clutched in her grasp, one that was not barely recognised. Torn, she noted from the bottom of a piece of clothing. She knew who's as well.

A piece of Fang's sari. But it was no longer blue, it was blood soaked. Someone was injured, and by the looks of things badly. She knew it had to be Vanille, if it was Fang, Vanille would have healed her and had no need for material. But she knew healing was a magic that Fang didn't yet know.

She raised herself back to her feet, an unsettled feeling weighed upon her. Surely they couldn't have gone too far, not if Vanille was hurt. If she pushed herself on she should find them fairly quickly.

She had to.

Well I know there isn't really too much going on in this chapter and it's a little shorter than the rest. Its just leading up to the next one and I didn't want to put the both of them together. :D

Thanks for reading : )