~/*VII*\~/*VI*\~/*VII*\~/*VI*\~

The next day, they were out of the desert in little over two hours. Cool grass and the shade of trees had never seemed so welcoming. Edgar seemed to knew where he was going, so it wasn't long before they reached the mountains.

"Hey," said Zack, looking up at the peaks curiously. "Isn't this by your place, Sabin?"

Sabin shook his head. "Nah, that's more to the east. It's pretty close though. Maybe we can stop by on the way from the town of South Figaro to the Returner's hideout."

"How do we get over the mountains?" asked Terra, glancing at them with a hint of apprehension.

Edgar gave her a wink. "We, don't, m'lady!" he gestured at some point ahead. "We go under them!"

They rounded a bend to see a Figaran soldier standing guard at the entrance to a cave. He was busy talking to his chocobo, stroking it and feeding it greens as he waited for his shift to end. The bird noticed them first, letting out a surprised 'wark,' making the soldier jump to attention, recognizing the king right away. "King Edgar, sir! Where are you headed?"

"South Figaro," the machinist answered smoothly. "Return to the castle, and tell the Chancellor we're fine." The soldier saluted, and mounted his chocobo, preparing to leave. "Wait," said Edgar then, as an afterthought. "Take the chocobos with you. They won't go in the caves. One of them is injured."

The others gave up their rides, some more reluctantly than others, and then they entered the caves.

~/*\~

The underground journey was uneventful, but provided a welcome change in temperature and scenery. They dispatched the many small monsters easily enough, and came out on the other side relatively unscathed. Even so, they all let out a sigh of relief when they saw the town in the distance.

"I don't care what time it is," said Locke as they approached. "As soon as we see an inn, I'm taking a nap."

The gates to the town were open, but before they walked in, Edgar stopped and tapped his chin in thought. The others walked on ahead of him, but stopped and turned around when he called for them to wait. "Go in and get me some street clothes. I don't want a whole ruckus about me being here." Locke gave him a thumbs up. "And no stealing!"

Sabin laughed. "Sure thing...though you might want to do something about that hair!"

Edgar huffed. "I'm not cutting it if that's what you mean!"

Sabin through his hands up in defeat. "Fine! Be that way!" As he walked into the town, he loudly whispered to Zack conspiratorially, "Maybe we'll just leave him out here..."

Zack heard Edgar laugh sarcastically behind them.

~/*\~

Though South Figaro held a good portion of the Figaran military, it still managed to be a warm, cozy sort of town. Zack, Sabin, Terra, and Locke walked for a bit on the stone bridges and pathways until they came to some shops. Zack looked at some of the weapons while Sabin bought the clothes.

Coming back to the entrance, they again passed the pub/inn and Locke looked imploringly at it. He looked back at the group, then back at the inn. "Alright guys," he announced suddenly. "Whoever doesn't want a nap, give these to Edgar." Everyone except Terra immediately started walking toward the inn. So he shoved the clothes in her arms and followed the others.

The door they entered through was the pub entrance. The group trudged up the flight of stairs into the dining and bar area and found a place to sit. It was a nice place. The lighting was warm, flower vases decorated the tables...

"So why does everybody look so nervous?" inquired Zack with a raised brow. All the people around them seemed to be whispering. And all of them were shooting apprehensive glances toward the bar. The group followed their eyes.

A man sat there alone; face masked, dressed all in black. A thin blade hung at his hip, his lean body hunched over his drink. An enormous, muscular dog sat still as stone next to his stool. It poked his hand with its nose, and he slipped it something under the counter.

Locke was the first to get up and investigate, sliding into the seat next to the man. Zack and Sabin came up behind him. "Hi," greeted the ex-SOLDIER cheerfully. "My name is Zack Fair." The masked man didn't even look at him.

"Hey!" called Locke. "You could at least smile!" The man didn't smile, but this time fixed him with an icy glare. Locke almost jumped back in surprise. The man's face was dyed a dark blue, and his eyes were strange; misted over in a way Locke had never seen before.

Zack took the liberty to sit on the other side of the man in black. "I'll have what he's having," he told the bartender.

Suddenly, he was taken aback by a low growling sound that wasn't coming from the dog. "Get lost,' the stranger said, speaking for the first time. His voice was low, laced with venom and a hidden warning.

Zack sighed, about to get up and go back to the table, when multiple things happened at once. Sabin reached down to give the dog a pat, and the next second he was being thrown against the wall by the man in black. He was shockingly fast. "The dog bites," he growled. The room went utterly silent.

At that moment, however, the door burst open, and two people came running up the stairs. "Sabin!" called Edgar quickly, approaching the scene.

The shrouded man let go of the martial artist, who looked as if he were about to fight back. But Edgar, with quick steps, grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back across the room. Zack and Locke followed. The stranger returned to his seat calmly.

"What do you think you're doing?" whispered Edgar fiercely, casting a glance or two back in the direction of the bar. "I leave you for ten minutes..."

"What? do you know who he is?" asked Zack.

"That's Shadow," Edgar answered seriously. "The world's deadliest assassin. They say he'd slit his mamma's throat for a gil." The others looked back at Shadow in surprise. "Come on," said Edgar. "Let's get a room."

The group then followed Edgar into the inn area, and the king approached the front desk. "Good evening, sir," he said cordially, giving the manager a smile. "We'd like a room..."

"Two rooms, actually," cut in Locke. Edgar looked at him. Locke gave a look back. "I think you can afford it," said the thief sarcastically. "Terra gets her own room."

Edgar put a hand to his heart, as if mortified. "Why of course she does!" he exclaimed. "Who do you think I am!"

Locke rolled his eyes. "I just hope you didn't do anything traumatizing when she went to give you those clothes."

Edgar just winked at him. "You know I'm a perfect gentleman." he responded. "I did nothing of the sort."

The inn's manager handed them the keys to their rooms, and Edgar handed him the gil. As they walked down the hall, Locke leaned over to Terra and whispered, "Did he?"

Terra laughed softly, shaking her head.

~/*\~

Cloud lifted his head slowly, dragging himself out of another mako-induced slumber, when he heard an unusually loud commotion outside his tent. Through the flaps he could see the shapes of soldiers moving by, quickly, as if frightened. They were whispering nervously. He could hear snatches of their words.

"The clown? He's here?"

"...thought he wasn't supposed to be at this..."

"...Figaro...really angry!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Here he comes!"

Even through his muddled thoughts, Cloud could hear the approach of someone with a loud, shrill voice. The man was screeching at everybody around him. He could even hear some physical blows being dealt out. "Where's General Leo?" the 'clown man' shouted, as he stopped directly in front of Cloud's tent.

Then the man's voice who Cloud had come to be familiar with could be heard. He could see the two men's vague outline through the tent flaps.

"Kefka!" General Leo said with a raised voice. "What have you done? Attacking Figaro..."

A grating, shrill laugh reached Cloud's ears. "Figaro is no longer an Imperial ally!"

Leo didn't miss a beat. "We have no orders to attack that kingdom! Emperor Gesthal..."

"Emperor Gesthal!" cackled Kefka wildly. "Emperor Gesthal ordered me to attack Figaro whether they had the girl or not!"

There was a tense silence. "...What?!"

"Figaro is too powerful to leave unchecked. Did you really think they were on our side anyway? You'd think after we poisoned their last king..."

Leo cut him off, shaking his head. "So what are we going to do?"

Kefka laughed again, shrill and high. "Show them that the Empire means business!"

~/*\~

The next morning, the men prepared their things quickly. Zack walked to the next door and knocked, hoping Terra was already awake. She was, and opened the door almost immediately; fully packed and equipped for the next part of their trip. Zack raised an eyebrow. She looked exhausted.

"Didn't get much sleep?" he asked, more of a statement than a question.

She looked at the ground. "I...uh..."

Zack saved her from a response, clapping her on the back as he began to walk back to his room. "It's fine. We'll be leaving soon, unless you want to do some shopping first." Terra shook her head and followed him.

The group of five checked out and left the building a few minutes later, Terra shooting an apprehensive glance at the now empty bar as they passed it.

They soon reached the town's gate, and looked about as the Figaro brothers, who knew the area best, got their bearings. "It's east, right?" said Sabin, and Edgar looked at him curiously. "I've known about the Returners for a while. Their base is very close to where I've been living, though I don't know the exact location."

"Well, I do," cut in Locke with a grin. "It's this way." With that, he struck of in the direction Sabin had pointed out.

"That's what I said!" called Sabin, jogging after him.

Soon the group had put quite some distance between them and the town, which was rapidly getting smaller in the distance. Terra couldn't help but glance back at it wistfully, now regretting the chance to sleep that she had passed up. But suddenly, something caught her eye, and she gasped. Locke, who was walking next to her, was immediately at attention. "What? What is it?" he asked her, turning around to follow her eyes. Then he saw it. A vast column of soldiers, complete with lines of Magitek armor, was marching toward the city of South Figaro.

"Look!" cried Locke, grabbing Edgar's arm.

As soon as the king saw the army, he cursed and threw the bottle of the water he'd just drank against the nearest tree. "How dare they!" he shouted angrily. He began marching back in the direction of the town.

"Woah!" yelped Sabin, moving to intercept his brother. "Usually you're the one telling me to be sensible, but..."

Edgar took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I know..." he said finally, not tearing his eyes away from the soldiers. "I should've...I'm-!"

"We need to keep moving, Edgar," said Locke seriously. "There's nothing we can do at this point but keep moving, and get help from the Returners."

Edgar shook his head. "...that's a completely different mission." he replied.

But Locke could see he was starting to see sense again. He needed to think of something that would get Edgar to go on. Then it came to him, and he snapped his fingers. "How about this," he said loudly. "I'll sneak back in and see what's up. Whatever happens, I'll send a message to the hideout."

Zack caught on. "That sounds like a plan." He began walking east again, away from the city. He waved his goodbye to Locke. "Good luck!"

Sabin put a hand on Edgar's shoulder. "Hey," he said. "Let's go, alright? They'll be fine."

Finally, as Locke started back to South Figaro, Edgar turned and joined the others. Even so, Sabin could clearly see the guilt on his brother's face.

Finally! I got the new chapter in! Unfortunately, I don't think Sunday night updates are going to work anymore...it's just too busy! :P

So what do you all think of Shadow? :D I hope his description was okay. He didn't get that violent in the original game, but with the added persistence of Sabin and Zack...he gets that much more frustrated...

And I got some Cloud in! Yay! I can't wait until he rejoins everyone..But now Kefka's with him. And Kefka's angry...O_o

And poor Edgar. Feeling like he let down his kingdom?

Next week: Edgar, Zack, Terra, and Sabin encounter Vargas and get to the Returners...and Cloud meets Kefka