Through the oppressive darkness, the group of three walked on. Ryu had slowly increased the pace until he was heading at a brisk walk, but nothing further. Even if he felt confident enough to run, Kaidia would have called a halt. By running, they risked him stumbling over an unseen crevice in the rock and falling with the sample; which could lead to his infection and possibly all of them becoming sick with the same exposure.

It was a horrible death; slow and incredibly painful. Suzu's flesh and internal organs had been virtually eaten away, decaying as he still lived as the devastating sample began to kill him. It was like watching the natural decomposition process of a human body or any living body speeded up until it occurred in a matter of minutes, while the person was still alive.

Kaidia knew that people who would create such an infection to use against a fellow human existed and drew great pleasure from their work. She knew that there were people in this world that delighted in making others suffer, but she had never expected to see something that horrible come from another human. To have one capable of killing another in such a fashion, it almost made what she had done to those innocent runners seem somehow less drastic.

She had killed untrained men, but they were a part of an army that wished to spread this thing to the populous of Dollet and possibly to the outside country and maybe even the world. They may have not had much training with weapons, but they had joined up with the unknown forces and had learned that they were to assist with potentially capturing the surrender of an innocent state, leaving many deaths in the process. 'But they believed in what they were doing.' She argued mentally. 'They thought they were right and we were the enemy to them. Light and dark; right and wrong. Which side are we? Which side am I on? SeeD wouldn't create a substance like that, and we definitely wouldn't use it on our enemies, even if we had it.'

The group slowed once more, at a forked section of the path, with a possible exit of four different directions from where they stood. Ryu and Kaidia drifted back a few steps, allowing Kayden the time to investigate their surroundings to get a sense if any enemies existed on either path. He took his time carefully investigating all four, probably wondering if there were any creatures that may be in hiding, ready to ambush their prey, or just have a strong enough sense of smell to track them down no matter what the path they took.

He drifted slowly up to the furthest right one, and quickly slipped back to the group, a slight frown marring his features. She guessed that that path was blocked by something he did not wish to encounter. Not that an encounter with any form of enemy was wise at the moment, when their Squad only had two fighters to begin with. They could not afford any mistake, and it would definitely be wiser to avoid the monsters, if possible.

"Ryu?" She addressed the boy she was guarding.

"It's the path furthest right."

'Of course it is… I have horrible luck which has transferred to the entire group.' She thought to herself just as Kayden sighed.

"There's four Geezards that way, right in the middle of the path. We'd have to fight them to get through."

"Is there another way?" Kaidia asked. 'Geezards and Anacondaurs? What the hell...'

Ryu glanced back down at the machine he was holding. It had been determined earlier, mostly by her and her cautiousness that it was not a wise idea to try to force the boy to balance both the machine and the sample in his hands, not at the same moment. He had wisely secured the sample onto a buckle on his belt attached to his waist, making sure that the contents within did not spill. It was safer; avoiding the accidental fumble that might have occurred. Kaidia did not want to place the nervous shot gun specialist in any more danger than what he already was, and was grateful he had taken her advice.

She saw him frown at the device, as if mentally blaming it for whatever it was showing him as he traced their path out on another route from their present location. Kohana could tell, and mainly because she was almost sure she heard Hyne laughing at her, that their only option was the right hand path. She immediately did not like the direction this was heading, because it would lead them right into the pack of Geezards.

"The middle path, I mean the second right, leads to a dead end a few turns in; and even if we follow it we'd end up too far from the exit; it tends to lead up." Ryu reported to her. "The furthest two left would lead us right into one of the larger groups of the soldiers."

"Wonderful… just wonderful…" Kayden muttered to himself. "Only one option then."

Kaidia nodded to that statement. "Ryu, you stay back behind the two of us. Don't worry about what happens, just keep behind us. Kayden and I can handle a pack of Geezards. Which way after that?"

"We stay straight then take the right most path again."

Both SeeD candidates nodded and slipped ahead of the boy. A moment later Kaidia summoned forth a second protect spell and placed it on the boy. Every instinct had told the small cadet that the first spells' effects were beginning to vanish; and the last thing she needed to worry about was Ryu's vulnerability at the moment. As she left the scene, their long range fighter completed the protective bubble by replacing his Shell spell. She then slipped ahead to join Kayden at the mouth of the cave, with Ryu standing a few steps behind her.


Kayden was the first to reach the mouth of the cave, and he returned to observing the enemy lizard like creatures. Not a few seconds later his attention was half diverted as his girlfriend slipped to his side and moved to opposite section of the wall, observing as well.

The Geezards had a dark brownish tone with shimmers of red donning the top of their bodies. Their extended claws that ended in almost pincer like toes on either side of their head, were made up of two sections, a lower one that sat almost on the ground and a second one that would close in on an enemy and pin them between the first so that the creature could eat in peace, or just take a bite from their prey. Running along the pincers their colour changed to more of a tough scaly grey tone donning the lower section of their bodies and striped in a layer to protect the back of their head from attack. The scales protected their defenceless stomachs from attack, since the monsters constantly dragged their way across the rough rocked-ground.

Their long tails waved and curled on the grounds, sending slight noise vibrations to the group of fighters. That was how the creatures communicated with each other; using the vibrations of their tails on the ground to send a message to the sensitive tails of the others surrounding it. The message would then travel up their nerve system and be interpreted by their lizard like brain.

They had nightmarish faces, almost like a distorted and badly mangled human face. They had curved and angled glowing yellow eyes that looked like fire embers had been embedded in their skulls. They did not seem to have any pupil to their dangerous eyes. Their nose ended above their wickedly grinning mouth, and resembled more a human nose, but it was less useful for this creature to use then it was for a human. The mouth was full of sharp cutting teeth and when open the full extent of the mouth rounded almost completely around the creatures face, so that the lizard could nearly dislocate their lower jaw to swallow a larger prey whole.

There were only four, not a large number, and one that Kayden and Kaidia could deal with together. But as it stood, they were not interested in encountering any monster, even if it were ones they could easily defeat.

Kayden caught the girl's eye. Geezards were slow creatures, needing time to react to a situation, and these ones were sitting with no clue that they were being watched from an opening of the cave. They lacked that fast reaction time of the Funguars or the Anacondaurs, but when there were enough of them in a group, they could surround an enemy and inflict some harm. Both he and Kaidia agreed that charging the creatures and surprising them would be the best plan. 'Deal with them quickly and efficiently and then get away from this location. We have to get out soon.'

Without waiting, the tallest boy held up a hand, and began to slowly count down with it, folding every finger down over his thumb, and as it got to one the attack began. He charged forth and right into the pack of the surprised lizards, who were slow to react. As they were just moving into an attack, he blocked the one that flew up at him, and knocked it back to the ground with a practiced flip of his sword. The creature flew backwards at the momentum and landed on the third, which hissed in anger at the first and began to bite at its companion. There was a shriek that answered its bite as the mouth found a section of unprotected skin and drew blood. Kayden winced at the sound and hoped to everything that the noise would not alert their enemy to their location.

He stalked the last one standing and dodged its desperate grasp at his leg, but not quite missed the second set of the creatures' pincers. It clamped onto his leg and dove in to bite a section away, the creatures mouth widening to its' full out grin as it prepared for a snack. To block its quick attack Kayden thrust his Gunblade down and right through its head before it could come too close to him. As he pushed his sword through its scaly head, he triggered into its skull and the bullet ripped the length of the sword, gaining momentum before continuing its course down through the creatures opened skull and into its head.

Kayden looked to see where his companion was. She had hung back and was diverting the last and only free Geezard's attention away from the way they had come. It had charged at her, he had seen from his side and she had to jump back in order to keep herself between Ryu and the angry lizard. He watched for only a moment longer before busying himself with the last two. Kaidia would hold her location, and when she was finished with the one she was challenging she would approach slowly, keeping herself between their enemies and the boy they were both protecting. Her speed made it more likely that she could stop an attack on Ryu before it came.

Kayden stepped forward slowly, the two were battling now; one angry that its companion had 'attacked' it instead of the enemy and the second angry that the first had bit it for no reason. He approached warily, and as he stepped within range of their flashing tails they both turned on him, flying almost at the same moment. He instinctively dropped to miss the attack. They whirled on him, now cornered between the two fighters. Kaidia approached from behind the lizards' backs and the fight was joined.

The one nearest to him slithered quickly towards him, intent on tripping him with its long body and to bring him to the ground, where it would have the advantage of being able to pin him. Kayden was ready for this tactic; having it used on him, effectively, before. As the creature rolled towards him, he side-stepped it and brought his gunblade crashing down on the creatures' harsh back, the momentum caused a cut, but little damage to the irate creature.

Hissing in rage, the red lizard moved once more, this time, in an attempt to regain its balance and approach its target once more. Before the heavy monster could regain its footing, Kayden moved from behind, avoiding its whipping tail with a practiced dodge. He brought the full force of his blade down on the lizards' vulnerable neck and severed its head from its spine. The creature gave one final twitch as it lay dead, its nerve ending reacting to the lack of stimuli.

Kayden then turned to check on Kaidia; to see if she needed assistance. As he turned, he caught the motion of the last Geezard flying right at the girl's face. Without changing expression, she flicked her gunblade downwards and met the lizards charge. Knocking the lizard down to the ground and stumbling slightly to regain her balance, she efficiently finished her attack by bringing the brunt of the weapon downwards into the shocked monsters' unprotected side and triggered into its twitching body. A moment later, it lay dead at her feet.

Without waiting a moment, she pulled her blade free of its host and sheathed the weapon back and the two stood and began to remove the bodies to a less obvious section of the cave. Ryu approached cautiously and as quickly and quietly they walked past the place of attack and continued on their way, without a word between them.

Heading straight down the tunnel into the darkness; Kay personally wondered when the night would end.

Speed, in this case, was not as important as safety and, despite the order to withdraw demanding their quick reaction and even quicker withdrawal of their posts; speed did not matter. What they were carrying did, he realized. Speed had been forgotten by the now weaker Squad, in place of a cautious escape that did not risk any more than was necessary to obtain the sample and deliver it to Garden representatives for further study.

Garden had to have seen what occurred, and knew what they had with them. Because Suzu had the only communications device, it was now impossible to contact anyone for help and it was just as impossible for them to be contacted. All had seen what happened to Suzu when the infection had been injected into them, and he had seen exactly what had covered the phone.

The destruction of Suzu's body had caused his bladder to explode and the contents drained out and onto the available cloth of his uniform as well as what was around his waist. With the infection covering the device and no way of sanitizing it, there was not much reason to try to take it with them. Not for the chance that trying to use the cell phone to contact their superiors would most likely infect a second member of the team. They still had a locater device, and they could just use that as a way out.

Kayden had tried to lock down his feelings on Suzu's death, now feeling guilty that he had judged him so harshly for his nervous orders to the group. There was more to life then following orders, much more, and Suzu had done as best as he could, in that situation. But now, because of his panic, he was dead, and nothing would change that.

'Maybe if I had dealt with that man faster, he would have lived. If I had gotten there faster and had gotten to the last two before they could inject him… Stop it! Maybes don't matter anymore; its fact what happened and me wondering about maybes won't change that.'

He had a mission; a goal and he couldn't afford to dwell on the anger, the pain, the frustration of not being able to help their fallen team mate. He had to protect Ryu and help deliver the sample to Garden. Then he could feel all the emotions he was bottling up, after it was over. 'And no matter what they decide, I didn't do anything to stop her, so I tie my hands with Kaidia's decision. Whatever is decided, I'll be there for her.'

He shook his head to regain his focus, and a slight noise drifted to his ears. Kaidia was looking behind her, having stopped and turned back to see. It came again, the echo, and his eyes widened as he identified the sound, footsteps.

They had just gone down another right hand path, heading towards the base of the mountain; close so close to their salvation. There was only a few more turns left; Ryu had told them just after their fight, and then they'd be out and among their elders from Garden.

He watched as she took a step back, waving them on; telling them to keep moving and forget her. She had been spotted by something and did not want to risk her team. By the flickers of emotions that darted across her eyes, she knew she would not survive this encounter if she gave in to the approaching people. She would give herself over to them to give them time to escape and get the sample to Garden. She was willing to offer her life to save everyone else and there was nothing he could do about it.

"There's one, boys! Get her and bring her to the Commander!"

She waved them away once more and Kayden took a breath, squeezing his eyes shut and gestured for Ryu to follow him. Ryu tore his eyes from the girl and forced himself onwards.

Kayden and Ryu darted as fast as possible down the tunnel. Moving as rapidly as they could without upsetting the precious bottle they held, one that would cost two members of their Squad to bring out. He knew why Kaidia had made that choice, and knew that as a SeeD that situation was bound to come up where he would have to abandon her or someone else he cared for to complete the mission. He ground his teeth as he moved on. His emotions tumbling over themselves as he forced himself away from the side of the only girl he could see himself loving.

Then, on a sense, he unsheathed his gunblade. Some instinct had warned him that something lay ahead. He motioned Ryu behind him to stop, and cautiously moved ahead. Before he really knew what was happening, a large number of Galbadian SeeDs and a few Dollet soldiers had surrounded him, each with weapons drawn. Kayden blinked once more to make sure they were still there and not some form of hopeful mirage. There were at least forty of them; as far as he could tell.

"It's them!" A tall brown haired male spoke as he stopped at the group. "Where's the girl? We were ordered to find the rest of Squad A and draw out with them."

"She stayed behind, in the large chasm just behind us, to head off the approach of enemy soldiers, Sir." Kayden answered.

The man he addressed nodded. "Teams A through C move out and destroy the enemy. Team D, divide yourselves and half of you pull out with Cadet Dos Santos. Bring her back safely." At this, his men and the team divided and only a few stayed behind; the one that was commanding them included.

"Where's the sample?" He continued when he was done ordering his troops.

"I have it." Ryu answered.

"Good job. Chelsea, Huan, Derrick, Zia, Vaughn. Get the Cadets out of here."

"Yes, Sir." The ones called responded and moved to circle the group, while the ones that were still with their section leader drifted to him and ran off to join the fight.

"May I have the sample?" A girl asked, directed at Ryu. "I have the proper means of securing it, although you didn't do such a bad job yourselves."

Ryu nodded, and gently handed the small bottle over to the girl.

The light-haired blonde took it carefully from Ryu who looked elated that he would not have to carry it any more and as she secured it, wrapping it up further and placing it in a case that she had with her before, she said anything more.

"That was Felix Duian, the leader of our section of the army. I'm Chelsea…" She continued, carefully wrapping the bottle down and tying it steady in the case she held.

"What about Kaidia?" Ryu asked, beating Kayden to the question.

"From what I heard, she's a resourceful girl. I'm sure she's okay. I'm done." She announced.

With that Kayden and Ryu found themselves surrounded and the small team of fighters ran with their guards, circling them from all directions, towards the exit.


She saw them walk away. Kayden giving her one last look which she returned. Not showing any of the most painful emotions, she smiled at him, preparing for a battle which would cost her life. Thankfully, her body had blocked her team mates from view and they could still continue the mission. Her death would not mean much, as long as Garden had a sample of the virus to create a vaccine. The sample had to be delivered to Garden, no matter what the personal costs.

She would not surrender to them, and would go down fighting blocking the large opening they had stumbled upon in their desperate walk to the exit. Kaidia slipped to the mouth of the cave and blocked the only way into the room. They would have to get around her before they could get to her team, and if she bought them enough time, they would not know that she had been traveling with others.

'I won't tell them anything about the others… no matter what they do.' She determined in her mind, but privately she prayed that her death would not be from that 'thing' they had created.

"There's only one!" The voice yelled again.

Before they got any closer to her, she pulled as many spells to the forefront of her mind as possible and started firing off as many as she could at her furthest range. Golden stars followed by a large clocks circling over the heads of the approaching men, using as many of her stronger status spells to thin the group as much as possible. As each was hit with a spell, she could feel her exhaustion mounting at every spell she cast. It took energy to summon up the magic, energy gathered from within to bring the spell to life, and each time she cast one it sipped her energy down further.

The men in the dark red – brown and black tunics yelled in anger as their men began to fall, due to the effects of her spells, and as they closed in, she was thankful that they did not have magic, or this fight would have already been over. There was more than fifty, an exact number Kaidia could not tell. But they kept coming, down the twisting tunnel her team had emptied from not a few minutes before.

She slipped away, moving backwards as a dagger embedded its self near the side wall she was standing on, shaking as the motion upset her balance, and the exhaustion began to creep up further. Cures healed physical wounds, but nothing could replace the energy she lost at every firing of a spell, not a spell she had at least. She reached the back wall just left of the chamber her team had gone down. Kaidia knew that her endurance was running out.

She was tired, and did not know how much more magic she could cast before her limit was overused and she collapsed. The men, pouring out of the wall, began to approach her, grinning as they did. Their dark uniforms almost blending them in with the walls around them and it was almost like the shadows walked and had their own dark purposes poured into bodies.

"Hey, beautiful." One catcalled. "Give up and we won't hurt you."

She frowned and sent a sleep spell at him. He dodged the golden sheen of stars but it didn't matter, it just took down another of his team in his place. He laughed at her efforts. The soldiers spread out in the mid sized chasm they were in, beginning to surround her slowly, their feral grins reflecting off their drawn weapons. There would be no escape for her, but at least Kayden and Ryu had gotten away. 'Maybe if I use haste and got closer to the exit.'

She stayed where she was giving no indication of her plan, but as the moments ticked by, the men continued to approach her and already there was quite a few between her and her intended path. She had to do something to clear it, or get a few of the soldiers out of the way without the entire group realizing her intent.

"Give up…we have you surrounded!" The leader proclaimed once more.

"Take her alive…"

"Yes, Sir." His men called to him.

She drew on a couple more magic spells, narrowing the number further, targeting those closer to her, and then she hit the spell she wished. Concentrating on one of the men standing closest to her path she sent a golden wave of energy at him. Above the shocked man's head a large object formed and before he had any sense on what was occurring it dropped right on him, and small golden Chocobo's circled over him. His eyes grew large and echoed with confused light.

Before he ran from her range of magic she brought forth an elemental spell. The poor man that she had picked now had a ring of fire circling him, which erupted and set him alight. He screamed in panic and as any person that suddenly finds himself on fire would do, he ran back into the crowd of his friends and the chaos continued as more felt the effects of her flames.

There wasn't a second to waste, now that their attention was diverted, haste only lasted a few seconds and that was all she needed. Drawing inside herself once more she summoned the final spell she needed and cast it upon herself. Doing the only thing she could against an army of more than fifty men, she darted past the confusion and to the opening she needed. The man's screams echoing in her ears. 'There was no other way.'

Kaidiacontinued, and only a few moments after turning down the corridor she ran head long into a group of soldiers. It took her a moment to recognize the uniforms of the SeeDs and just as she did the spell wore off and she stumbled into something and fell forward, gasping for air as she tried to pull whatever energy she had left to stand up. She sensed the majority spilling past her to the chasm she had just exited, in their time only seconds before, it was as if a dark blur had materialized in their midst. Several wore expressions of shock, having had the running blur pass by without them realizing exactly what was occurring. She too had passed them by without really seeing who they were, but the one she collided with looked up at her with amusement.

"I seem to find myself in this position a lot. Good thing Chelsea didn't see that." A short black haired male spoke.

"Sorry." She answered, slipping off of him, trying very hard not to flush in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. Cadet Dos - Santos I presume? I'm Nick Faclicon." The man she had landed on spoke again.

Kohana swallowed and nodded, finally pulling herself to her feet. "The sample, is it safe?"

"Yes. Your team is being led out right now. My team is meant to lead you out."

She nodded, understanding the soft spoken order that had been given to her, and without a moment's wait all set off in a run.

As a group of six, they slipped behind the protection of their own forces and withdrew from the nearby battle, but the enemy's dying cries echoed as they ran down the corridors, following one person. With the sound of the battle in her ears she ran with them, clutching her gunblade low to her body in case of a surprise attack. She was positioned in the center of the group; not yet being a SeeD, with two on either side of her running parallel with her, two SeeDs' behind and the one SeeD guiding their way out ahead. There were no words between any; the major concern now was to escape this cave.

They cut left harshly and then there was a slight spewing of the sun, shining down through the original entrance of the complex spider web of caves they had entered in. The lead SeeD slowed the run and in response she too slowed. They stayed in the outskirts of the cave for a moment; giving her time to adjust to that light, lest it strike her blind when they leave the cavern and she stumble then.

But it was over. This horrible exam had ended and she was still alive. She had guided herself and her team out and had secured a sample for Garden, at the cost of a team mate's life. But now he would at least have his story told.