Chapter 7

Aerith sat on the deck of the boat. Slowly, but surely, it was starting to sink from the damage caused by the fight. So Shinra had decided to show them self at last?

"This has got me worried." Zack said. She listened as he spoke with Red XIII in the captains room. Their voices echoing out through the open window.

"I know, for Shinra to openly force recruitments is a bad sign. Just how powerful are they that they believe they can force people to join them? What exactly are they planning to do."

"I don't know, but I shouldn't even be here. I don't know if it's Shinra who's behind this, or something else, but I'm supposed to be dead."

"Hmm, I wonder." Red XIII said. "Close that window."

Aerith continued to listen, but heard nothing. Now she was curious, what was it Red had been thinking? She considered getting closer to listen in, but decided against it. Were they hiding something from her? It was kind of odd that they hadn't told her they were going to talk. It made no sense to her, but she had to trust in her friends. Especially with the northern continent on the horizon.

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The boat ran ashore on a beach, giving the three of them a chance to get off of it. They reached the plains, and looked back at the boat, to find that it had been swept away.

"Well, I guess their isn't any turning back now." Zack said. The group slowly began making their way north. Aerith kept looking around, searching for any sign of Gigases, but found none. Could it be the the whole continent had escaped the outbreak? That would make traveling a lot easier. They could only hope they managed to reach Icicle Lodge without running into any trouble. They continued to move over the plains, making their way towards their destination. Eventually, they found themselves in Bone Village.

"OK, all we have to do is make our way through the Forest, and then Shell Village, and we'll be home free." Zack said. I think we should spend the night here, and then make our way in the morning.

Red and Aerith agreed, they barricaded themselves in the former office of the dig site. Resting easy until morning without incident. Unknown to them, however, they would soon find that their path was not so straight forward.