Chapter Twenty-One

Scarlet Earth, Emerald Flow

With Gongonga and the Turks hardly a speck in their rear-view mirror, Cloud drove the van farther along the continent. He was pleased that they now had such a reliable method of travel but the fact that they hadn't seen any sign of Sephiroth since they had docked in Costa del Sol frustrated him. His and Tifa's old home of Nibelheim was a few hundred miles north of their current position and Cloud, by some unexplainable intuition, felt that Sephiroth would undoubtedly head there. He hadn't voiced these feelings to the others yet, but that was the general course of their current direction. There were still a few days of travel between Gongonga and Nibelheim anyway, not to mention the huge red plateaus of the nameless mountain range that was protected by humid, dense jungles sprouting at the foothills.

Red, seemingly familiar with the area, had directed them to a hidden road through the jungles along the outside edge of the mesas that was both well travelled and relatively free of obstacles. Their trek through the jungle made them doubly pleased to have the luxury of the van. The sunlight was choked out by the dense foliage of the moss covered trees and the humidity was starting to become noticeable even inside the vehicle. Cloud was grateful for Red's direction because when the finally broke from the main patch of thick jungle, a huge river lay between loose sandy banks and a conveniently placed rickety, mossy bridge perched on stilts across its width.

After the rickety bridge, their ascent into the plateaus was much easier on the nerves. The paths through the canyons were wide and mostly even, save for several large potholes that caused the van to bounce wildly if Cloud accidentally drove over them. The road wound like a snake to and fro through the mesas, and the drive was slow, albeit far speedier and more comfortable than actually walking it. Around sunset, Cloud suggested that they pull over to make camp, but Red, in an uncharacteristically impatient moment, urged them to travel further. Cloud agreed; the more distance they covered, the better.

As they passed between to walls of solid crimson rock, a loud clunking noise caused everyone to exchange startled, worried looks. Cloud tried to locate the source of the noise when another, louder set of clunks set them all on alert. Peering into the rear-view mirror, Cloud moaned when he saw the remnants of the fan belt bouncing along behind them accompanied by a handful of small metal bits. The engine cut out and they idled to a stop along the canyon wall. "Oh, you're fucking kidding me," Cloud nearly shouted as he punched the dash board in anger and frustration. They exited the vehicle and stood around it in a half circle, Cloud, Barret, and Yuffie bemoaning their awful luck. Barret finally said what no one wanted to hear. "Can't replace no fan belt out here. We're gonna have to abandon the van."

"Come with me," Red said suddenly, facing the mouth of a narrow trail that none of them had noticed, "There's a village at the summit.'

The lion-like beast lead them up the narrow trail at a quick pace. It curved around the edge of a plateau and ended abruptly at the front gate of a village, just as Red told them. This town was unlike anything Cloud or the others had ever seen. The buildings were nestled right into the natural curve of the mountain and tall windmills were perched on the outcroppings to, assumedly, provide the small city with electrical power. A winding path led upwards to the pinnacle where an observatory sat, peering interestedly into the red evening sky. As Red approached the gate, the guardsman gave a strangled cry at the sight of him. It wasn't until Cloud caught a glimpse of the man's broad grin that he realized that the guard was most pleased at the sight of Red. "Nanaki is back!" he shouted joyfully to some cohorts who were passing his station, "Go get the elder!" One of them stood stupidly with a look of great relief on his face while the other turned and bolted up the path towards the observatory.

Red walked to the gate keeper and greeted him jovially, "I must see my grandfather and I cannot wait. Will you see that my friends are properly treated?" He gestured to where Cloud and the others stood with a heavy paw.

"Certainly, Nanaki!" the man said happily, "Bugenhagen will be so very happy to see you!" After Red had disappeared up the path to the observatory, the gate keeper turned to Cloud and the companions and bowed deeply. "Please follow me," he said, smiling brightly, "I'll show you to your rooms. I'm so happy to see that Nanaki has gained companions he trusts enough to bring home."

"Who," Cloud asked, unable to stop himself, "is Nanaki?"

The gatekeeper gave the young mercenary a look that plainly questioned his intelligence. He said simply: "That was the name given to him at his birth."

The man offered no name for himself, but simply led them to a natural cave on the ground level of the town that had been furnished and converted into a makeshift bedroom. "Here is where you will sleep," the man said, gesturing to the fur-lined beds, "And the ladies may occupy the adjoining chamber." He pulled aside a heavy orange curtain to reveal a second room that was equally comfortable. "I expect," he went on, "that Bugenhagen will want to see you at dinner, so I'm sure he'll send someone to collect you in a few hours' time."

As the man left the room with a bow, Barret dropped his pack on the foot of a bed. "I never knew his name was Nanaki. Why didn't he jes' say so?"

"Yeah," Tifa said, looking a little sullen, "I feel pretty stupid for just calling him 'Red' all the time… now that I think about it, it sounds like a dog name."

Yuffie couldn't stop herself from snorting with laughter, "He's got his own reasons for not telling you everything. If he wanted you to know he would've told you."

Aeris rolled her eyes at the young ninja, wondering where the sudden comment had come from. "Maybe he didn't tell us because he didn't think he could trust us. Maybe he never corrected us because he didn't care. Try not to feel bad, Tifa."

They had comfortably unpacked and were lazing about the bedrooms when a young girl arrived to bring them to dinner a long hour later. Outside, the sun had already set and the inky blackness of night had nestled over the village. The sky was free of the taint of city lights and the stars were as clear as Cloud could ever remember seeing them. A huge orange moon was rising lazily rising on the horizon, over the glimpse of ocean visible to them. The girl led them up the main path, but took an offshoot to a warmly lit dining room where a low table sat in the middle of the floor, surrounded by mismatched cushions. At the end of the table an ancient-looking man sat next to Red and when they entered both of them stood to greet them. "Cloud," Red greeted with a toothy smile, "this is my grandfather, Bugenhagen. He is the village elder and an accomplished scholar on many subjects."

The old man smiled warmly through his snowy moustache. "Welcome to Cosmo Canyon, Cloud and companions. Nanaki has told me all about your journey thus far. Eat with us and we will discuss many things."

As they seated themselves around the table, several attendants brought dishes of piping hot food to them and Bugenhagen wasted no time in helping himself. "Nanaki tells me you are generally unfamiliar with this land, correct?"

Aeris smiled happily. "We must seem a little weird," she said with a small chuckle, "We've only known Nanaki as Red, and we've gotten so close!"

Bugenhagen chuckled himself, the lines around his eyes crinkled gleefully under his small spectacles. "Nanaki," he said with a fond glance towards the crimson cat, "Can be very reserved sometimes, but your friendship must be true if he led you here. Anyway, welcome, again, to Cosmo Canyon" said the old man with some propriety, "this is the greatest learning center in the world for those seeking the Study of Planet Life; we are all scholars here."

Aeris looked up from her dinner, "You study the Planet here? Like, biology and ecology?"

"Yes," replied Bugenhagen with a chuckle, "but also things of a more elusive nature, like cultural tides and natural wonders like the Lifestream."

"Grandfather, let me introduce you," Red offered as he cleared his throat, "This is Aeris; she is the only survivor of the Cetra."

"Goodness, yes!" Bugenhagen cried out in surprise, "Are you really, my dear? Extraordinary!"

The huge feline went around the table naming them off, as the old man happily greeted all of them. "This is Tifa, a martial artist from Nibelheim, Cloud is an ex member of the ShinRa's SOLDIER, Barret, the leader of the original AVALANCHE, and Yuffie, a young ninja we met along the way."

"I'm so glad that you were kind enough to rescue Nanaki and help him return home," Bugenhagen said, punctuating it with his eccentric chuckle.

Red looked a little affronted. "Grandfather, please, I am not a child, I am forty-eight years old."

The old sage waved him off with a dismissive hand that only seemed to offend him further. "Now, now, don't try to mislead your friends," he said with a mollifying smile, then he turned to Cloud and the others, "Nanaki's tribe has amazing longevity; at his age of forty-eight, by our reckoning he would only be about fifteen or sixteen years old."

Yuffie choked on a mushroom she had just popped into her mouth. "Sixteen? That's how old I am."

"But," Tifa stuttered in surprise, "he's so… mature."

"He is, isn't he," Bugenhagen said with the affection of a kindly father, "He's very deep and reserved so it is easy to mistake him for an adult."

Red sighed in a depressed sort of way, still looking a little irritated. "I want to be an adult, grandpa. I want to grow up and protect this village and all of the people here."

Aeris wore a very kind smile when she said, "That's very selfless and brave of you."

"This is where I was born," Red said, sitting a little straighter on his haunches and swelling with pride, "my tribe has protected this canyon through the ages. My brave mother fought and died here after my cowardly father fled and left her for dead. Now, I am the sole survivor of my race. That is the mission I have inherited from my ancestors; I will protect this canyon. That is why," he stated, though he couldn't quite hide the disappointment in his deep voice, "my journey ends here."

Cloud swallowed the lovely morsel of roast that he had put into his mouth and his curiosity won out over his desire to be polite, "Cowardly father?"

"Yes," the cat answered, and like his disappointment at leaving the friends he had come so far with, he couldn't quite conceal the anger in his tone, "my father was a scoundrel who fled the canyon during a vicious battle with a neighboring tribe. My whole family was killed in the process- I myself was an infant cub at the time and only survived because my grandfather hid me. To wipe away the sins of my father, I must protect this canyon with courage and wisdom."

Bugenhagen put down his fork and looked towards his adoptive grandson. "Nanaki," he said gently, "you are unable to stand on your own just yet. To rush maturity without development would only destroy you in the long run. You must grow and learn in spite of all obstacles; even in the very face of death. Even in the face of death for the Planet, you must learn and grow and accept that you are merely a part of the moving consciousness of the Planet.'

They were all silent for several long moments, each dwelling on the old sage's words. Aeris, her face glowing from the warm candlelight, looked worried. "What do you mean," she asked quietly, not quite meeting Bugenhagen's spectacled eyes, "Death for the Planet?"

"It could be tomorrow or a century away but, my dear, knowing what you are I know you must hear it."

"Hear what?" Yuffie asked, her plate of food momentarily forgotten.

"The cries of the Planet."

Aeris couldn't stop herself from gasping and she looked at Bugenhagen with shock and slight fear in her crystal eyes, "You couldn't be a…"

"A Cetra, dear?" When she nodded wordlessly, the old man chuckled and pushed his small glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. "Certainly not, child, but anyone can hear the cries if they listen hard enough. Go on then. Listen." He held up his hands for silence and as if on cue, a horrible, hollow moan howled like wind through a cave. Aeris was the only one present who didn't clap her hands over her ears in surprise. The sound was terrible; like the dying sigh of a wounded animal. Cloud could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and goose bumps showed plainly on everyone's arms. The noise was unlike anything they had ever heard or could even imagine hearing- it was so ethereal that the line between imagination and reality was frighteningly blurred. Was the noise in their minds? What is a physical sound?

"What the fuck was that?" Barret demanded, his dark eyes as wide as saucers.

"That, my friend," the sage replied calmly, "was a scream from this Planet; 'I hurt, I suffer' it says, quite plainly."

The resulting silence was thick, but Red cleared his throat and leaned closer to his guardian, "Grandpa, these people are trying to save the Planet. They have tried to hinder the ShinRa and a greater enemy from reaching the Promised Land of legend. Perhaps you could show them your observatory."

The old man chuckled again. "Perhaps, Nanaki, but after dinner. For now, being fed and watered will be priority." The rest of dinner carried on in relative silence, awkward snatches of small talk punctuated the long stretches of quiet. As the plates were being cleared away by an attendant nearly an hour later, Bugenhagen stood and invited them to the observatory to see some of his life's work. The path to the observatory wound in and out of the natural caves of the cliff face; in and out of rooms were people studied, laughed, and played. The final leg of the trail ended with a steep staircase that opened onto the flat plateau that overlooked the entire canyon. Cloud could see the sharp peaks of the Nibel Mountains far off in the distance, glowing like blue spikes in the moonlight.

Bugenhagen led them inside the small building perched all alone on the empty mesa; past his personal living quarters and into the main body of the observatory. The room was cramped, and AVALANCHE had to stand in a close circle as Bugenhagen operated the central console that stood squat in the middle. With a mechanical hum and a loud whirring, the platform began to rise, taking them into the domed pinnacle of the tower. With a final bing several colored lights turned on, creating a beautiful holographic display of the solar system. Bugenhagen cleared his throat, exactly as Red did, sounding very much like a professor about to begin a lecture. "Everything currently known about space has been entered into this system; it can display events with only a few seconds' delay."

With a squeal of delight, Tifa suddenly pointed to an area near their own planet, "A shooting star!" Sure enough, a sparkling ball of silver came racing around the curvature of the planet, swayed by the pull of gravity.

"It is something, isn't it?" the old man said appreciatively. "Well, right to the subject then, shall we?"

With another beep, their own sapphire and turquoise planet grew and occupied the center of the observatory as the old scholar stood next to it. Red specks of light gathered at one end of the globe to make the upright figure of a man, he stood tall for a moment, before shrinking and falling to the ground. "All humans die eventually," Bugenhagen began, "what happens to them when they die? The body decomposes and returns to the Planet, as they say, but what about the soul? The consciousness?" The red of the man's prone body morphed into a swell and moved further down, reforming as a pine tree. The tree withered and died; the lights melted into a swell which repositioned itself and this time, formed a rabbit. "The hearts and souls of all things return to the Planet. The spirits form a swell that flows through the Planet that we call the Lifestream. The spirits roam, converge, and divide in the endless waltz of life and death. Children are blessed with the spirit energy of the Lifestream, and are born. When it is time for them to die, their souls rejoin the swell of spirits and return to being part of the Lifestream. And it is thusly that all things live and die by this cycle." The lights on the planet had gained in energy, moving faster and faster as new people, plants, and animals began sprouting and falling as Bugenhagen explained his theories. The red lights had fallen to a glowing jade as the swell that encircled the planet began to look more and more like a spiritual ocean; tides and currents swelling and falling, new life springing from its wake and returning spirits adding to its strength. "Now imagine this: what would happen if we were to remove the spirit energy from this Planet?" The old man held a withered hand over the hologram, sucking away the green swell as though he had an invisible vacuum. The sparkling jewel colors of the oceans and land masses faded to a dusty, barren grey and a loud crack resounded. To their collective horror, the smooth orb split in half and crumbled to space dust. "And those," he said with some finality, "are the basics of the Study of Planet Life."

"If the spirit energy- Lifestream- is taken away, the Planet dies?" Cloud asked, admittedly a little spooked by what he saw.

"Spirit energy exists within nature, so it is a part of it. When it is forcefully removed, and say, manufactured, it cannot revert to its original state and carry out its true purpose."

"You're talkin' about Mako," Barret said numbly, realizing for the first time what Mako was actually doing to the Planet.

"Correct," answered Bugenhagen. "Everyday, Mako Reactors are sucking up the Lifestream, diminishing it. The reactors compress it into Mako energy and thus, living things are being used up and thrown away. Mako can only destroy the Planet."

Silence followed in the wake of the scholars words. Mako was spiritual energy? The all wondered how something so unethical had ever been supported and what lengths the ShinRa must've taken to ensure that the common folk were not aware of such knowledge. Aeris, in an uncharacteristic moment, allowed them to surmise that she was able to partially interpret the thoughts of those in the Lifestream, but when Yuffie asked if she could hear dead people better when the lights were on, the conversation was immediately truncated as the rest of AVALANCHE nearly attacked her for her audacity.

Later that night, Red led them to the Cosmo Candle; a gigantic bonfire in the town square that was kept burning at all times. It represented the burning desire for wisdom, he explained, and was a source of courage for all who looked on it. It was also customary for visitors to offer prayers to the flame. So they all sat there, watching the flame dancing across the splintering firewood and the smoke rise into the clear night sky.

They were all in relatively low spirits, especially Red, who seemed saddened by the abrupt end to his chapter in their journey but still determined to remain in his sacred home. Barret had idly mused that this was where the original AVALANCHE was formed but his neutral expression swiftly melted to one of quiet despair. With a rising voice, he vehemently declared that he didn't care what the justification was, but that he'd bring the ShinRa to its knees even at the cost of his own life. Everyone seemed a little too lost in their own thoughts to really get behind his enthusiasm, though, and even Yuffie appeared too preoccupied to complain. Aeris and Tifa both seemed unwilling to talk to anyone else, and when Cloud asked them what was wrong, Aeris blinked back tears and Tifa wouldn't look at him. Finally, all shreds of conversation started to turn towards the repairs on their vehicle, which Bugenhagen had kindly taken care of for them, and what their current plan of action was. Cloud was careful to avoid mentioning Red's retirement from the team, but did finally reveal that Nibelheim was their ultimate goal. He glanced carefully at Tifa's reaction, which seemed less than thrilled. When Barret could no longer take the heavy mood of his companions, he bluntly asked Red why he looked so down.

"I am merely a little nostalgic at the moment," he said evasively. "Once, when I was very young, we all sat around this fire, but- no, never mind. It isn't important."

"What happened?" Aeris asked, forgetting her own woes.

Red looked away as though he didn't wish to continue, but he started speaking slowly and forcefully as if he was trying to pick the perfect words. "It was about my parents. When I think about my mother, I am filled with pride and sadness, and that is good. But, when I think about my father, anger boils inside of me and I cannot keep myself from hating him."

"Is it really that hard to forgive him?"

The all turned to see the figure of Bugenhagen stepping slowly towards them, his long, violet robes covering his feet as he moved. Red looked scandalized, "Of course," he said vehemently, "He left mother for dead when the Gi attacked… everyone was killed because of his cowardice."

The old man sighed heavily and turned away from them. Over his shoulder he called to Red. "Come, Nanaki. There is something you should see. If these people are truly your friends, they may accompany you."

Confused, Red stood up and slowly followed the ancient man, nodding silently for the others to follow him. The decision, on Bugenhagen's part, seemed like a hard one. He was silent as he led them, once again, up the path to the observatory. Instead of taking the fork they had traversed to dinner, he continued into a furnished cave where an old door sat, ominously dark, in the corner. Red seemed to realize that Bugenhagen intended to open this door, but kept his jaws clamped tightly shut. His grandfather had all but forbid mentioning this mysterious forbidden door throughout his youth, and now, without preamble, he was simply going to open it? The warm glow of the torches didn't quite seem to reach the heavy iron clamps that held the door shut, and the old man's shadow cast a deeper darkness on the portal as he deftly undid the lock and swung it open.

They couldn't see within the inky blackness beyond, but the hollow howling of ages-undisturbed wind brought with it the stink of the unknown. The hairs on Red's back stood on end. The old sage gestured for the others to precede him. "It could be dangerous," he said, to mollify Red's confused expression, "I'm afraid my only strength lies in my wisdom." Red, with an involuntary shiver, gave a final glance back to his companions and entered the chamber beyond.

The room wasn't a room at all, but a black pit. Crumbling, dank stairs wound their way along the circular wall all the way to the bottom, which no one could make out. The giant feline took the lead, stepping down each step with senses on high alert. He had never been allowed here before and now he knew it was with good reason. The foul stink of the damp stairs was enough to make him wish he was back in the main chambers of the canyon. Something worse, however, tingled his senses- something that made his hair stand on end and put him on alert. He could feel the tenseness radiating off the others as well, each loosely grabbing their weapons as though expecting an attack at any moment. Bugenhagen alone seemed calm.

The bottom of the pit finally came into view, ending in a circular floor and another iron-clad door. Again, Bugenhagen reached forward to open it. The room beyond, like the black abyss, wasn't a room at all, but an open chamber of cave- they were within the walls of the red-rocked canyon itself. Determined not to falter in his chance to prove his bravery to his grandfather and his friends, Red, again, stepped into the lead. The room stretched on for nearly fifty feet, broken only by columns of ruddy rock formed by the ancient spring that had flowed here eons ago. Red hate the columns, he could've sworn he saw something moving behind them just out of sight. He took a few more tentative steps forward and stopped dead in his tracks. He was certain he saw something that time. The others stopped behind him, silent.

Far in front of them something shimmered in the dim light. They collectively inhaled, waiting for some unknown threat to come charging out from behind the columns. Red strained, knowing his heightened senses would be able to give him the advantage. Squinting, the cat looked as hard as he could at the spot where the glimmer had been. He stood stock still, calling on his hunting instincts to aid him. But there! Just to the right of his point of focus, the shimmering light appeared and disappeared. He adjusted his position. The light looked vaguely like some kind of animal, but it had disappeared far too quickly for him to indentify.

Directly in front of his nose, without any sound of warning, the hideous, mutilated face of some monster appeared. He arched his back in alarm and swiped at the thing; Cloud and the others cried out in terror at its sudden appearance. Red's onyx claws met with only smelly air- the thing had vanished. A horrified shriek behind him made him whirl around, fearing the worst. Yuffie, with a trembling hand, pointed towards the wall of the cave.

Foul, iridescent shadows of beasts lined the walls, gnashing their bloody teeth and clawing at the dirt. There were hundreds of them, coming out of the walls and out of the wet ground. Their horrible, hideous faces were bloodstained silver and some of them had been torn. Their moaning and growling was growing into an angry cacophony. An explosion of water erupted from Aeris' hands; but only managed to scatter some of the terrifying apparitions. "All of these scarred spirits," said Bugenhagen as calmly as though he were teaching in a comfortable classroom of his favorite students, "are people of the Gi Tribe, all dead from a certain battle. They hate you, Nanaki, but they also fear you."

"Convenient, but how do we get rid of them?" Cloud asked tensely, gripping his sword in front of him.

"They will not leave," replied the old man with all the interest of deciding to do the laundry, "but they will not attack. Come, we must move on. Nanaki, please lead on."

Red obliged trying not to be frightened of the ghostly beasts. He had the crazy urge to suddenly roar at the top of his lungs- to scare away the horrors, to make him braver- but he resisted. Holding his head high he forced one paw in front of the other, past the snarling ghosts towards the far end of the open room. A long, narrow corridor lead deeper into the cavern, but a breeze that was free of the stale air of the cave told them that an opening outside was not far along. The pressed further along, faster and faster, desperate for fresh air and an escape from the awful Gi. The corridor pinched in on itself and once they had cleared the small opening, the cave ended and the beautiful diamond-studded blanket of night could once again be seen.

They were in a tiny ravine, surrounded by tall cliffs. A rockslide barred their passage forward, but the old scholar had signaled a halt. "This is the back of Cosmo Canyon," he said, the heavy note of depression lacing his old voice. "The last person to travel this old cave was a lone warrior. Nanaki, you have grown stronger, and I know now that it was not a mistake to show you this place." He pointed upwards, his white, bony hand catching the moonlight.

A statue of a lion-like beast sat on the lip of the cliff, unnoticed until now. His rugged, bestial face was tensed in a grimace of pain, but it wasn't the grimace of one who succumbed to it. The poor beast's back had been pierced; the long shafts of wooden arrows sprung out the smooth stone.

"That is the lone warrior," said Bugenhagen, his voice was like thunder in the deserted ravine, "that is the one who battled the Gi one by one. He stopped them from taking even a single step into the canyon and sacrificed himself in the process. Look, Nanaki," he commanded, "Look at your father, the warrior Seto."

Red's single golden eye was wide and his jaws were gapped slightly in shock, his pearl fangs glittering in the moonlight. "That is… Seto?" His voice was thick with emotion, more than the others had ever heard.

"Seto fought the Gi here, even when the poison of their arrows had penetrated his blood so deeply the curse was irreversible he protected us. Even now, Seto's bravery protects this canyon."

Red moved forward, climbing up the rockslide to see the cursed visage of his father. When he spoke, his voice was shaking badly, giving him a stutter that was never heard in his usual eloquence. "Grandpa, did… did mother know?"

Bugenhagen smiled sadly. "Yes, she knew. She made me promise to seal this cavern and told me to forget that it even existed." Red couldn't speak; he could only climb further up the rock slide towards the otherworldly form of the frozen beast that stood on the lip of the cliff. Softly, Bugenhagen turned towards the mercenary and his companions, "Can I ask you to leave us, Cloud? I think that so long as you are quick, the Gi will not hinder you."

Cloud seemed about to sputter in protest, but Aeris snatched his hand and yanked him back towards the cave. Resigned to the dank and the horrors within, the others turned to follow at a quick trot. Once their backs disappeared into the darkness, the elderly scholar turned, once again, to the bestial grandson he was so very fond of. "Nanaki, I am sorry you were misled. I wanted to show you your father but I could never find the moment." The poor beast seemed nearly stricken; the expression on his face was such as the old man had never seen. Nanaki turned to look at Bugenhagen over his furred shoulder as he sat, a little hunched, on the rocks. "Nanaki," he began gently, "I want you to continue your journey with Cloud."

"Grandpa?" Nanaki seemed caught off guard after such a suggestion.

"They say that they are going to save the Planet and they need your strength and wisdom. Their efforts may be ultimately futile, but don't we have a responsibility to help? Isn't it important for us to try? Even if death is inevitable shouldn't we do something? I know we are all wishing against fate, but I am too old to do anything myself, Nanaki."

Nanaki seemed a little put off by the tone of the old man, "Grandpa, don't talk like that."

"Oh please," Bugenhagen croaked with a roll of his eyes. "I am one hundred and twenty this summer, I am old and I have lived a full life."

"No!" Nanaki said, suddenly wide-eyed, "I don't want to face life without you."

The old man couldn't keep the smile off his wrinkled face. "I am old, Nanaki, and you know the way of things."

"You must live!" the feline said, looking, for once, like an emotionally vulnerable teenager. "I'll continue with Cloud and the others, and I'll come back and I'll tell you everything." Bugenhagen chortled, in his eccentric way, but Nanaki wouldn't let the subject slide away lightly. "I am Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon," he said fiercely, throwing his head back, "son of the warrior Seto! I will go out into the world and earn merit as a warrior; true to that noble legacy!"

The silver moon suddenly broke through a shadow and cast a beam of pale light across the petrified body of Seto. Both looked up to see the once-proud warrior, now pathetically cursed. The illumination across the animalistic face revealed crystalline tears rolling out of blank eye sockets. Bugenhagen inhaled sharply, uttering the hero's name in shock and wonder; Nanaki's mouth was agape. "Fa- father?" he whispered, awed and heartbroken. The tears fell in droplets that glittered for a split second before disappearing into the dusty earth. Nanaki, for once accepting his bestial nature, let out a mournful howl; a cry that echoed off the dry canyon walls. Bugenhagen would never be able to forget the sound. Not even on his deathbed would the sound of Nanaki's lament escape his senses.

It was very late when Cloud and the others were finally dressed and packed; ready for the next leg of their journey. The team's mood was a little heavy, except Yuffie, who seemed more than pleased to be rid of the 'boring' canyon and its 'geeky' inhabitants. Cloud felt that the cat would at least say goodbye to them, but he hadn't returned from the ghost-cave last night. He would've worried, but the thought that Bugenhagen was there pacified him somewhat. Aeris sighed sadly as they made their way out the front gate; the same guardsman from the day before waved them a solemn goodbye. "I'm going to miss him," she said heavily as she took place between Cloud and Tifa.

"Yeah, well," Barret said with a shrug, "I guess that's the way it goes sometimes, y'know? He was kinda cool."

"Wait!"

They all turned from their progress down the narrow road to see the fiery orange feline running towards them at a gallop. "You must wait!" he panted as he reached them, "I'm coming as well."

"Really?" Aeris asked, surprised but smiling.

Tifa smiled also, looking relieved, "What happened?"

He shook his mane a little in the bright mid-morning sun, "I think I grew up a little bit; I want to help you stop the ShinRa and Sephiroth."

Cloud smirked slightly, and put a gloved hand on Red's furred shoulder. "We could use the help."