Tori and SA: (exchange glances)

Zas: Finally got that Avatar/Image system to work. Anything to say for yourself?

Saria: I'm learning how to use photoshop and I want to go to Metrocon.

zzzzzzzzzz

We slept on the plane that night after tying off on a rock to prevent ourselves from drifting. All along the plane or on the rock everyone spread out for sleep. At Zack's insistence we did have a watch that night and I managed to call the first shift.

Cid insisted on sleeping in the cockpit of the Tiny Bronco, strapped in the pilot's seat at that. Yuffie was adamant that she sleep on the rock and no one objected. All around the various members of AVALANCHE pulled out extra jackets and shirts since sleeping bags were out of question right now.

I kept my perch on the tail of the aircraft as everyone spread out and fell asleep. My watch was peaceful and uneventful, and with the sound of the sea lapping around us it quickly became hard to stay awake. Finally the two hours passed and I woke Red for his turn before lying down myself.

The morning came and everyone was ready to keep going except Yuffie who had to be dragged onto the plane/boat.

"Why can't we just go on land?" Yuffie moaned as Cid started up the plane and got us moving again.

"Can't land here, there're cliffs!" Cid yelled at her, still feeling foul about not having his smokes.

Despite Yuffie's illness and an obvious desire to offer her comfort, Kunsel managed to focus on more of the scientific journals and notes today along with Vincent and me. Each of us took notes on what we read and shared those with the others and little by little a very thorough log of Sephiroth's life, starting prenatal, was put together. It was grisly, starting with how seven children were initially born from the Jenova Project and all were separated from their mothers immediately, Sephiroth being no different. Of the six other children, two had died within a year of their birth and the other four eventually passed away either due to infection or mako poisoning between the ages of 3 and 9. Photos of the kids showed thin faces, empty eyes, and many bruises.

"That's IT!" I finally screamed as I shut the book I had been halfway through with a slam and forced myself not to hurl it into the ocean. "Wanted criminal or not, Hojo can't be allowed to get away with this!"

Kunsel wore a grimace himself as he leafed through a separate book which must have been equally upsetting. Vincent's expression was empty also but I could feel his anger rising.

"There's already a line for punching Hojo," Zack called out.

"Who said anything about punching?"

Zack raised his eyebrows at me then realized I was completely serious. A sad smile formed over his face then. "That bad?"

"Children," I responded as I shoved the book into Kunsel's bag, letting him know that I was done. "If I were on a jury and I saw those notes and pictures, there is no way I'd be able to convict Sephiroth for finally snapping."

"It is pretty bad." Kunsel also shoved the book he was studying into his pack while Vincent stowed his own. "But we've learned some things about Sephiroth at least."

"Such as?" Cloud asked from the wing where he was studying the shoreline.

"He hasn't been stable for a long time. No contact with a stable parental figure-"

"Just say it! He's bat-shit insane and would likely latch onto the first beings to show him kindness or even a hint of caring." Zack was the one responsible for that outburst and everyone stared at him.

Barret heaved a heavy sigh. "Evil as he is, gotta feel sorry for 'im."

"Alright knuckleheads, headin' ashore!" Cid called from the cockpit and we all turned to see a beach that we were now quickly approaching.

Everyone was happy to finally have land under their feet and we dragged the Tiny Bronco onto the beach to allow the plane to dry out. It was just midmorning and Yuffie happily took the lead, heading towards the highlands with a skip in her step.

"Since you guys aren't ninja it should take about a day and a half to walk to Wutai, the capital. That's where most of the records and archives are!" Yuffie chattered happily, all evidence of motion sickness almost completely gone.

Though the games never indicated this, I soon found Wutai had a number of small villages throughout the country side which was also very beautiful. The fields were a bright green that turned to lush hillsides as we trekked north. We passed several merchants on the roads that were leading various beasts of burden such as oxen and chocobos, but not once did I see a horse. The farmers themselves were private people who nodded to Yuffie but didn't acknowledge the rest of us at all.

Since we were running low on rations and had no way to purchase more, we purchased some food that would serve as our dinner from one such farmer. He hadn't seemed willing to do business until Yuffie stepped forward and conducted the purchase herself.

Soon after we left the main roads completely, traveling instead by little used roads into the true highlands. If I hadn't already known what was to come, this alone would have made me very suspicious.

Most of the day had been spent just getting to the highlands but Yuffie assured us that tomorrow would be much easier as we set up camp for the night.

Dinner was once again cooked over the campfire, a simple fare of several fish and some vegetables. Being no fan of fish, I chose to forgo my portion and allowed someone else to have it.

Then came the decisions over who would have which watches that night. I wasn't surprised when Yuffie immediately called last watch which made me the odd one out: Yuffie always tried to get out of watch duty.

Cait Sith didn't have watch duty that night, nor did I for that matter, but I watched him until I turned in, waiting for some clue of when Reeve may take over. I was oddly disappointed when he didn't.

I shared a tent with Aeris that night; she smiled and told me that she was beginning to hear the Planet more clearly even though she wasn't in her church anymore or in the presence of natural mako springs. I in turn smiled back at her even as I began to think of when the best time to begin training would be. I had previously decided that the best time would be right after Cait Sith gave away the Keystone, now I think that would be too late.

"Are you hearing just murmurs or actual voices?"

"Murmurs for the most part, but every so often I hear a clear voice."

I smiled and thought back, trying to get an idea of what her progress would be like in the next few days. If our growth rates were comparable then within a week she would be hearing the Planet clearly.

"Within a week," I finally said aloud as I tucked my pack into the foot of my sleeping bag and changed out my good materia for some junk pieces that I didn't care much about, realizing at that moment that I had never gotten my Ice back from Cait Sith.

"What?" Aeris asked, her green eyes curious as to what I meant.

"We'll begin your training within a week," I explained and saw a large smile appear on Aeris's pretty face.

"Are you serious?" Aeris demanded in her excitement and when I nodded, she reached out and hugged me. I stiffened for a moment then gave a one-armed return of the hug.

"Just promise me one thing," Aeris backed up for a moment at my words. "I don't want you talking about your training to anyone, even Zack for a while. And don't try to use what you learn in a fight unless you have no other choice. Understand?"

Aeris nodded her head, her eyes still sparkling with joy. I guess she had been really looking forward to this for a while now.

We both lay down for sleep after that, and I could feel Aeris's joy at the thought of finally learning more than just stories soon.

The green of the Lifestream flowed around again for the first time in quite a while. It was easy to relax here as the feeling of life rushed through me.

"You've made her very happy," Minerva's voice rang out through the Cetra meeting ground.

I shrugged though internally I was glad. Aeris was such a sweet person, she deserved to live and be happy. Though I would give her Jedi training I had no intention of her ever having to use it. "She'll make an excellent healer."

Minerva seemed to hum at my response though she sounded pleased also. "Have you decided what to teach her first?"

"Levitation, that seems to be the most basic of all the skills. After that we'll focus on weaving nets to make oneself unnoticeable, after that we'll focus on healing."

"Leaving out some of the skills that would possibly lead to her so many risks I see."

"She'll be learning the Mind Trick soon enough, and receive a very firm warning about it when she does."

"Good, I would hate to have to cut you or her off for abusing such a power."

I felt myself jerk slightly. "Cut us off?"

"Think of it as a revocation of your abilities if you should do something detrimental. I have educated myself in the ways of these "Sith" and agree I don't need any running around. If you, Aeris, or anyone that you train should "fall" then they will lose their powers."

"Anyone else? As in Aeris's children?" Ok, that was a scary thought: miniature Zacks running around with the ability to levitate items. "Wait a moment, who said I was going to stay here long enough for that to be an issue?"

Around me laughter filled the air. "Aeris may train them then. Oh, and it seems your thief is about to strike."

The green Lifestream faded and I saw the tent that I lay in, Yuffie creeping through the flap and silently moving to Aeris's side, her hand sliding over the woman's armlet and weapon before turning to me.

She couldn't reach my pack where I'd stashed my best materia but she was only targeting the ones I had equipped.

Shinra

Reeve glanced at his modem, wondering why he was so hesitant to log in and check in on AVALANCHE. He was certain that nothing new had happened, and with Cait Sith near enough to old military towers in Wutai they were still receiving reports, but you just couldn't beat an actual person interacting with others, no matter how good of a machine you built.

Stepping on his hesitancy, the Director of Urban Development grabbed the head piece that allowed him to log in and opened Cait Sith's eyes. Apparently he was sharing a tent with Barret that night but it would soon enough be morning.

Sticking his head out of the tent, he was surprised once again to see the center of the camp was empty save for a fire, something that was normal for Rachas's shifts, but he didn't see the woman anywhere.

Movement caught his eye then from one of the tents and he was surprised to see Yuffie emerge from a tent while shoving several materia into her pack.

Seconds later she entered yet another tent and reemerged several minutes later after a bit of shuffling, shoving even more materia into her pack!

Glancing down at Cait's megaphone, Reeve almost growled when he saw the Transform materia was gone. Running back to his mog and checking one of the robot's hidden compartments he felt relief rush through him when he found Rachas's Ice materia that she had loaned to Cait while in Mt. Nibel. Cait had placed it there after Yuffie attempted to snatch it after the fight.

Right as he raised his megaphone to raise an alarm so the rest of AVALANCHE would wake and hopefully stop the thief, another voice called out from outside of the camp.

"There they are!" Two MPs who looked like they were on an early patrol came rushing into the camp then.

Normal

I jerked awake at the yell of, "There they are!" and shared a glance with a groggy Aeris before we both pulled back the tent flap and stared out at the camp. Two MPs stood by the fire, eyes roving over our circle of six tents from which Zack, Cloud, Kunsel, Tifa, and Vincent had all already emerged. Yuffie was also out there and looked very much like a deer caught by the headlights.

"That's not them; these are the other guys from before." The soldiers were confused, their guns wavering for a second. Aeris finally collected herself and we both exited the tent.

"Yuffie, by any chance did you?" Aeris started to ask.

"I didn't know! I had nothing to do with this one!"

"This one?" Barret was starting to pull himself from his tent, Cait Sith peeking around him. "So you were plannin something!"

Yuffie looked like she wanted to protest but when the rest of the squad of MPs showed up she simply turned and ran.

"Everyone drop your weapons and put your hands in the air," the one I assumed to be the lead MP ordered as his five subordinates circled us, guns drawn.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered as I glanced around. This entire scene wasn't going the way that I remembered it with the exception of Yuffie running off after stealing our materia.

"Take'em down!" the leader yelled.

Surprisingly enough Cait Sith started to fight with a megaphone scream, causing the trooper closest to me to drop to the ground, hands over his ears. Rushing forward, I spied a tranquilizer in one of his hands and wrested it from the man and poured the chemical over the man.

A call through from the Planet caused me to turn and I saw one of the troopers about to throw a grenade right as Vincent leveled his gun and fired into the man's knee. The MP dropped the grenade and without thinking I slapped the grenade away with the power. It exploded harmlessly in the nearby brush.

The fight was pretty much over by then, Zack, Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, Red, and me each having taken down one of the MPs. Behind us Cid finally dragged himself out of his tent, cursing and yelling about the noise.

"My materias missing!" Barret yelled, having apparently done a quick inventory while we had had our fights.

Everyone glanced at their armlets and weapons then and gave shouts themselves.

"Mine too!" Aeris cried out in shock.

"Same here!" Red turned in the direction Yuffie had gone. "We can track her down."

"This particular thief is going to receive that lecture I promised that kid!" Zack declared as he took a step in the direction Yuffie had gone in.

"Surely you don't intend to leave your tent and supplies," I called after him.

"I still have a materia," Cait Sith offered and held out my Ice.

"Hold onto that for right now," I informed the cat. Running back into my tent, I yanked my pack from the foot of my sleeping bag and checked my store of materia. "I still have my reserve materia!" I called out to everyone else.

There was visible relief as I passed out my "extra" materia after extracting promises that everyone would return it after they had their own materia back. Red got a Fire, Aeris got a Restore, Tifa got Time, and I held onto Heal and Lightning. Cait Sith held onto Ice and after some consideration I handed Shiva to Cloud. We did coin flips for Elemental and All with me not participating due to having two materia already. Red got the All, Tifa won Elemental, and after a brief moment of consideration they traded.

Camp was packed quickly by everyone and we were chasing Yuffie's trail less than five minutes later.

We ran for as long as we could to try to make up some ground, but Cid was a smoker, I was getting knocked in the head by a tent pole, and Barret simply wasn't a runner. We ran all of twenty minutes before slowing to a jog that everyone confirmed they could keep pace with while Zack helped to straighten the tent I carried so it wouldn't keep banging against my head.

Breakfast was whatever you could pull out and eat. Cloud checked the map after an hour and announced that with our current pace we should reach the village of Wutai around mid-afternoon.

The day dragged on, hour after hour of us keeping that set pace, some of us more easily than others. By noon my canteen was over half empty and I had handed off the extra tent to Cloud. Thankfully the day wasn't too hot. Then we finally began to descend from the highlands and Wutai came into sight.

Having our destination finally in view caused everyone to speed up a bit more, even Cid who seemed to be having the worst time of all of us, picked his feet up a bit more.

Wutai was incredible to behold and I realized that it was really mid-April maybe due to the blooming Sakura. All of the people walking through the village wore kimonos or yukatas while the buildings were in the traditional Japanese fashion; the Pagoda almost seemed to glisten from its surreal location. The village looked serene and utterly beautiful.

"There she is!" Barret yelled, pointing down the path at Yuffie. She seemed shocked that we had actually followed her but turned heal quickly and took off.

"Come back here!" Zack yelled as he ran after her, the rest of us following suit.

Yuffie was one thing when she needed to be though, and that was fast. Add to the problem that this was her hometown and you can guess that we lost her rather quickly.

"Dammit!" Barret yelled when he realized she had given us the slip.

"Everyone split up!" Cloud commanded and we separated easily. I somehow found myself paired with Zack and Cait Sith.

"Excuse me, you seen a girl about yay tall, really loud?" Zack asked one citizen but was ignored.

"Watashiha, anata ga aru iiwak-" The person I was attempting to speak to looked at me as though I were possessed and ran.

"We're looking for the Single White Rose!" Zack was chasing after yet another citizen which I brought to a halt using the good old fashioned ear-grab.

"Zack, let's think back on her behavior. She's not used to crowded rooms or sharing and wants to return Wutai to its former glory. She's also very boastful. What sort of people are like that?"

"Hero wanna-bes?"

"In this sort of culture."

"Nobility," Cait Sith piped up. "Nobility are the ones who have titles with few exceptions. Almost everyone else lives in semi-close quarters and shares."

"So… We're looking for nobles?"

"Yes, look for the biggest and fanciest house in the village."

The palace was easy enough to find then Zack went charging straight into the building.

"At least acknowledge the culture and take off your shoes!" I yelled after him as I toed off my own shoes before following. I caught up with Zack right as he came back from one hall and yelled, "Not down there," before charging to another wing of the palace.

Cait Sith followed him and I followed Cait. Soon enough we found ourselves at the door leading to the chambers of the Lord of Wutai.

The man wasn't looking very Lordish right then as he lay sprawled over his futon, beard and robe in disarray.

Deciding to be polite just for the sake of hopefully having him more willing to help once we caught Yuffie, I stepped forward when the man's eyes blinked open and kneeled into seiza, folding my hands into my lap.

"Konnichiwa, watashi wa-" I was cut off by the Lord raising his hand to stop me.

"I understand your language though I appreciate the gesture. What do you want?"

Zack leaped forward immediately. "We're looking for a girl named Yuffie."

"Yuffie? ...Never heard of her." The Lord lay back down then, shutting his eyes, intent to fall back asleep.

Zack reached forward this time and grabbed the man's shoulder, giving him a quick shake.

Godo's eyes snapped open and he turned to Zack. "You again? I told you once and I'll tell you again, I don't know her."

"She said she was born in Wutai." The man gave sat up again.

"Listen, I said I don't know her! There isn't anyone here named Yuffie!" He got up and finally took a good long look at the three of us.

"Never seen you here before... Lately I've seen Shinra all over the place, you wouldn't have anything to do with them would you?"

"No, we just got here, although AVALANCHE is being pursued-" Godo held up his hand and Zack stopped.

"I don't care who you are, but if you're in trouble with Shinra then I'll have to ask you to leave. I don't want Shinra here looking over my shoulder."

"What's with you, you coward?" The four of us looked around for the new voice. Then in the open doorway Yuffie dropped to the ground.

"Yuffie?" Godo looked shocked.

"You're scared of Shinra? Then why don't you fall in line and obey them, just like all the other towns?" She pointed at us.

"These guys are the ones who are really fighting Shinra!"

"Shut up! What would you know about this?" Zack and I forgot about Yuffie to witness the exchange though I noticed Cait Sith beginning to edge towards her.

"You get beaten once, and then that's it? What happened to the mighty Wutai I used to know?"

"No kid like you is going to talk to me like that. You keep acting like that, you should be ashamed of yourself!"

"That's my style! And it's my own business, not yours! You don't try and dictate what I do!"

"Style? Dictate? Throwing around those words, you're a miserable daughter!"

"You're a sad excuse for a father!" Godo leaped at her then, Yuffie knocking Cait Sith aside as he chased her from the room then returned shortly after.

"I apologize, she is very boisterous."

"We kn-mph!" I slapped my hand over Zack's mouth.

"Please don't concern yourself. We'll show ourselves out." I herded Zack out the door then with Cait and his mog following. I put my shoes back on as we left and the three of us headed back to town.

"Did you find her?" Aeris asked when we regrouped.

"For a moment," Zack responded, looking slightly embarrassed. "That was like the Sector 5 market all over again. Where's Cid?"

"He went to the bar, certain there would be people who'd talk," Barret responded. "Don't seem a bad idea right now."

I groaned at the notion of entering a bar, thus far I've not had very good experiences with them here in Gaia. None the less I followed everyone to the place.

"Y-y-y-you? How did you get here?" Sparing a glance at the Turks I was slightly surprised to see that Rude looked oddly on edge while Reno was giving me a sharp look out of the corner of his eye. Elena on the other hand…

"Butt! Tseng! Report butt Tseng!" Her eyes stared at me in absolute horror and I was instantly concerned. Had my prank affected her that badly?

"Great… She's rambling again." Reno stated this as he sipped at a glass that looked to contain alcohol.

"Tseng butt!" The female Turk reached over and grabbed Reno's glass, downing it all in one gulp. "Squeezable!"

"And now our vacations ruined." Reno shot a look at us that suggested we were to blame. As though we had known they would be here. Ok, I'll admit guilt to that.

Calling out to the power, I tried to enter Elena's mind, intent to try to either remove the memory or dull it down to nothing only for the woman to jerk mightily and run giggling from the bar.

"Even the booze tastes bad now." Reno didn't seem to have noticed Elena's departure as he stared at the ice in his otherwise empty glass. I wonder just how drunk he was to either not realize he didn't have any or not call for more. "What are you jerks doing here?"

"Looking for a teammate who ran off earlier today," Cloud replied, his eyes narrowed at Reno.

"Haven't seen anyone," Reno replied as he sent a disgusted look at us though he refused to make eye contact with me.

We wasted no more time as we rushed out of the bar and re-separated into our groups. I wanted to find Elena but I knew of a much better time to corner her.

Zack, Cait, and I moved quickly through the village catching the occasional glimpse of her jumping out of the item shop and leaving someone's house then we were back in front of the bar, everyone else reporting her having gotten away as well.

"Slippery little cretin," Cid muttered.

"Where could she be?" Even Kunsel sounded agitated now, not that I could really blame him.

I glanced over and right on cue saw the pot give a shake. Drawing Red's eye I glanced at the pot as did he right as the pot gave another shake. Kunsel noticed our distraction and looked as well.

Gesturing for everyone else to remain silent and cover the exits, the three of us crept over to the pot. Red steadied the pot while I reached for the lid and Kunsel got ready to grab. The former SOLDIER raised three fingers and began the countdown and right as he hit zero I ripped off the lid of the pot, Kunsel's arm disappearing into the pot and retracted moments later, a struggling ninja in hand.

"Let go!" Yuffie yelled as she twisted to no avail in Kunsel's grip.

"You're not getting away Yuffie." Zack approached then and stood before the girl, hands on his hips. "Now return our materia and get ready for the longest lecture of your life."

"Okay, I know, I was wrong. You win; I'll give you back your materia," Yuffie declared and Kunsel set her back on the ground. She began the slow trek towards her house, sparing sneaky glances every so often. Glancing around it was evident that Vincent was definitely suspicious as were Kunsel and Red.

Focusing my mind outward with the power, I let myself walk on automatic as I sought out Elena's location and was surprised to find her sitting near the shrine, piecing herself back together. She wasn't babbling anymore at least.

We entered the traditional looking house and followed Yuffie down the stairs to what appeared to be a training room that had various types of weapons lining the walls. I made it a point to linger by the door so that I could run as soon as Yuffie took off.

"I've been hearing it ever since I was little. Before I was born Wutai was more crowded, more important." She walked past the group.

"Have you seen it now? ...Just a resort town. After we lost the war, we got peace, but with that we lost something else. Now look at Wutai." She was now at the entrance, on the verge of tears.

"That's why if I had lots of materia I could-"

"Listen Yuffie," Cloud started but was cut off by Kunsel.

"Having lots of materia won't change anything if it isn't wielded by people with the spirit to fight what is happening. Your father made a choice to try to preserve the lives of his people, as a leader it was his duty. If you truly want to liberate Wutai then why steal from those who also fight your oppressor?"

Zack seemed to sigh as he stood in the middle of the room with everyone else. "If you give it back now, we'll drop the whole thing. No lecture even."

"I know, I know that." She really started to tear up now. "That switch on the left… sniff... Materias in there." Cloud walked up to the machine in the room and pulled the left switch. The cage dropped down then, capturing everyone except Yuffie, Cloud, and me.

"The fucking hell!" Cid beat at the side of the cage with his spear while Barret glared black murder at Yuffie.

"She got us again…" Red sounded irritated.

"Ha Ha Ha! Never trust anyone that easy! The materias mine, tough! If you want it, go find it yourself! When you're looking for the materia, remember you got to steel it! HA, get it? Steel!" Yuffie then charged the door. I made a move to grab her but I swear that girl had to be at least partially a serpent based on the way she twisted and avoided my grab.

"Don't let her get away!" Barret yelled from the cage and I automatically took off after Yuffie while Cloud tried to figure out how to bring the cage back up.

I didn't really pursue Yuffie, I simply ran full tilt to the shrine, using the power to allow me to reach the place before Yuffie, intent to get close enough to Elena to undo the damage I'd caused. Really, couldn't that woman deal with a little embarrassment?

I made it to the shrine without running into anyone and caught Elena at the door, her eyes widening comically as I grabbed her shoulder.

Not waiting even a moment, I slipped into her mind and pushed back, seeking the memories of the cave and upon finding them began to fade them as much as I could, blurring the experience while pushing down her embarrassment to unnoticeable levels. For her it would be as though the comment was never made.

Finally satisfied that I'd restored her as much as I could, I pulled back and left the shrine fast, leaving a very dazed looking Elena and ran across the street to the palace. Several moments later Yuffie dropped down from a roof and ran to the shrine. She had apparently used a very roundabout route to get here.

Running back to the main street area, I was pleased to run into Red and Tifa first.

"She went this way, towards the palace! I lost her before seeing where she hid!" I called to them.

"Alright," Tifa said as she pulled out her PHS and called the others as we ran to the palace area.

Red didn't even need to be asked about seeing if he could smell her, he automatically ran down the street, sniffing as he went and found Yuffie's scent right as Kunsel, Zack, and Cloud arrived.

"The shrine!" he called to them and I watched in horror as Zack ran to the door of the shrine and kicked it down. We rushed into the shrine to see a bound Yuffie being held by a thug.

"Let go! I SAID LET GO! Who do you think you are! What are you doing jerk!" Kunsel jumped into the room then, sword drawn while Cloud and Tifa looked surprised over who else was in the room.

"You?" Corneo was wearing his signature red coat and wiggled obscenely as he turned to face us.

"Corneo?"

"Finally I've got a new chicky! Two for one in fact!" Corneo did his strange little hip thrust then and I briefly wondered if it were possible to make this guy mentally impotent so I'd never have to worry about seeing that again, no matter how long or short this guy lived.

"Two?"

"Hey let me go! You're going to regret this!" Elena seemed to be out of her daze and very much herself again if her yells were anything to go by. The thug who was carrying her stood at the top of the stairs, apparently ready to go. Then all three men were running up the stairs and disappearing through the door at the top.

"Who was that?" Red demanded even as Kunsel charged the staircase.

"Don Corneo, pervert extraordinaire. We needed information from his once." I stared at Tifa even as I ran to one of the chests in the room, Cloud grabbing the other one, and found an elixir. Zack already was pushing through to follow Kunsel up the stairs and we followed shortly after.

Corneo was in the center of the next room, Shinra troopers at the door, Zack and Kunsel standing by the stairs.

"There he is! It's Corneo, don't let him get away! Attack!" And like the oh-so-intelligent beings they were, he and his sheep opened fire. Corneo ducked and managed to roll out of the way while the rest of us had to make some interesting evasive maneuvers. Zack planted the Buster sword and took cover behind it, Cloud doing the same with his sword while Kunsel rolled to the opposite side of the room as Corneo and Red, Tifa, and I all jumped back into the stairwell.

Red and I proved to be the only ones capable of attacking then since we didn't need to get close to cast with our materia. I threw several lightning spells and Red cast fire, then Kunsel saw an opening and took it, jumping upon the troopers with a shout.

During the ensuing chaos as Kunsel took down the troops, Corneo managed to slip out of the room.

Once he was done, we all followed Kunsel out of the room and found we were back in the palace. Tifa's PHS went off right as we reached the front door and caught sight of everyone else plus the Turks.

"That Corneo is good at escaping." Reno rubbed his head, probably had a pretty bad headache.

"Elena." Rude mumbled. Reno shook his head and looked at his partner.

"Let's go Rude. We'll give'em a taste of what the Turks can do." Rude nodded and ran ahead while Reno glanced back at us.

"If Elena is in his hands, that's going to make things difficult."

"He took Yuffie from us." Cloud said.

"Don't misunderstand, we aren't joining you... But considering the circumstances we won't bother each other."

"Fine with us, we have no intention of cooperating with the Turks... Now what direction did you see Corneo go?" Zack was the one who spoke this time.

"Nice attitude, here's a clue; it's the place that stands out the most." Reno then turned and headed after his partner.

"Is it so hard to get a straight answer from that guy?" Zack declared even as Kunsel, Red, Cait, Vincent, and I took off.

"Where are you going?" Aeris called after us.

"Stands out the most!" I shouted back, pointing at the large monument that stood behind the village.

Zack smacked himself when he realized we were right and charged after us, quickly overtaking Cait and me. Everyone else caught up easily enough and kept pace with us as we ran to the monument, Cloud stopping to make an offering at the box before the monument.

We met the Turks at the base of the mountain and Reno stepped up once more.

"Took you long enough, we're going to split in two, you do whatever you want but don't endanger Elena, and we won't do anything to endanger Yuffie."

"Fine by us!" Kunsel pushed past the Turks, surprising almost everyone in his haste. I rushed after him and heard the others start their own trek.

"Slow down!" I ordered, barely able to keep up as Kunsel took the path that headed almost straight up the monument.

"We need to hurry or he might hurt them!" Kunsel barked back then turned as he reached the peak and peered down, obviously trying to spot them. "Found 'em!" He shot down past me, heading for the statue's hands.

I followed quickly but carefully, not wanting to slip.

"LET... ME... GO!" Yuffie's yell reached my ears right as I saw Kunsel get grabbed by Vincent, he obviously told the man to calm down.

Vincent had paired up with Red and the four of us snuck around the rocks to see what was going on.

Corneo stood on one of the hands of the statue, Yuffie and Elena tied up and hanging in front of the eyes of the statue.

"Hmm, delicious, scrumptious! I think I found a new hobby!" Corneo jiggled as he laughed and I had half a mind to push him.

"Should I go... with HER?" Corneo looked at Elena as though he were a dog considering a slab of meat. Elena looked beyond disgusted.

"Hey, I'm one of the Turks! Don't think you can get away with this!" Corneo ignored her and danced around looking at Yuffie.

"Or... maybe... HER?" Yuffie looked extremely annoyed and sicked.

"Oh god, if I knew this was going to happen I would have taken rope escape lessons more seriously."

"I have made my choice! My companion for the night will be... the cheerful one!" Yuffie looked horrified.

"GROSSNESS! Don't mess with me old man! You don't even have any materia!"

"Oh and she's saucy too! Whee, wheee!"

"If we push him now, no jury in the world could convict us," Kunsel murmured.

Before any of us could agree or disagree, Cloud and Zack jumped past us, ruining any possibility to ambushing Corneo, not that Kunsel seemed like he could take much more of this. We joined Cloud and Zack on the arm.

"Oh man! Kunsel, get me down!"

Corneo seemed startled about having company but tried to cover it up with some false bravado as well as confidence that he could one up us.

"Oh long time no see," Corneo said looking at our group.

"You damn Midgar hyena!" Barret appeared further up the arm, gun ready.

"We should have taken care of you back at Midgar." Tifa yelled as she appeared also. Corneo looked angry.

"Be quiet! None of you know how much I've suffered since then... It's a long story but..."

"Did it involve you being remanded to a laboratory in the name of "scientific research" that would be conducted by a madman?" I demanded. "If not, then I think we can easily claim worse experiences. Now release those women!"

"Oh you're all serious... Good, good. I don't have time to be messing around either, but why did you kill my little Aps? How about I make you play with my new pet? That way you can't get in the way of me searching for a bride!" Corneo whistled and called out. "Rapps come here!" From behind him a creature rose that looked like a pterodactyl with the wings of a bat. "Attack!"

Rapps screeched as it flapped its wings rapidly, climbing above us and circling. The wind was horrific and though Red and I fired spells, the blasting wind skewed our aim or caught our projectiles. Barret and Vincent also tried to fire on the monster but were experiencing similar problems. Tifa tried throwing a bolt plume but the wind sent it fluttering away to harmlessly zap air.

"Everyone down!" Cloud's yell was barely audible over the roaring winds, but everyone complied as Rapps decided to attempt to slash at us with a wing.

"I can't hit that damn thing!" Barret shouted as we all climbed back to our feet, the wind temporarily abating.

Zack glared at the monster that circled above us again and hefted his sword. "Guess we need to clip this bird's wings!" He leaped then, attempting to slash at Rapps before it could really get the wind going again. Unfortunately Rapps was easily able to avoid his strike and kept circling.

Zack landed hard next to Vincent and flapped his arms to keep his balance.

"We gotta make it stop for a moment!" The wind began to pick up again as Zack yelled.

The answer came in the form of a wave of cold as Cloud raised his armlet and summoned Shiva. The ice fairy appeared and with a wave of her hand ice began to form along the arm, making walking a treacherous act. Ice also formed on Rapps and the beast sank to the arm of the statue, struggling to stay aloft the whole way.

Neither Cloud, Kunsel, nor Zack wasted a moment. Before Shiva even began to fade they were charging the monster but their swords got in the way of one another. Cloud managed one laceration before he put his weapon away to try to beat the monster with his fists as Zack and Kunsel did the same.

Rapps managed the throw them off with a violent thrash which was responded to by Red casting fire as I cast lightning. Cait Sith also threw an ice spell but his angle was bad.

The pterodactyl still managed to regain the air by rolling off the side of the arm and catching the wind in his wings. It was a bit scorched and bruised but still had plenty of spirit.

"Damn it!" Kunsel yelled even as Barret opened fire on the monster again.

Confused why Vincent wasn't firing as well, I glanced over to see that Vincent had holstered his weapon and was staring intently at Rapps. A whisper from the Planet was the warning I received before the former Turk launched himself at the monster as it climbed.

His transformation into Galian wasn't done with a burst of light or anything so dramatic, rather his cape seemed to form a mist around him then dissipated into nothing, leaving the metamorphosized Vincent.

Galian slashed at Rapps as he passed then caught himself on the rock face between Yuffie and Elena, both women too shocked to say anything. Then he jumped again, this time catching Rapps across one of its wings and jumped off of the back of the flying beast as it came crashing back towards the arm.

Dodging the monster, I stared at Vincent's trajectory, realizing within a split second that there was very little chance of him catching himself on the ledge he had probably aimed for. Taking aim, I launched a Jedi style push, forcing Vincent/Galian towards the intended ledge.

Red had latched onto Rapps the moment it landed this time, pinning the monster by its neck while Zack and Kunsel both jumped forward, their fists smashing down onto the form of the beast. Cloud joined them a moment later, his sword slashing down onto the wings right as Zack was pried off by the monster's talons.

Once again Rapps managed to free itself by thrashing but this time as it tried to regain the air by rolling off of the arm of the statue, it discovered that its wings were too tattered now to support it. Everyone stared as the beast fell, screeching the whole way.

Still wielding his sword in a threatening manner, Cloud turned towards Corneo, Kunsel a mere step behind him. Corneo stared at them with wide eyes.

"Wait... Wait a second..."

"SHUT UP!" Kunsel bellowed, his rage apparent to all.

"Just listen to me, it won't take long. Why do you think a bad guy like me would swallow his pride and plead for his life?"

"Because he thinks he might win," Cloud responded then froze as he realized what had to be going on.

"Right!" Corneo exclaimed as he reached into his coat and pulled out a rather bulky controller, pressing one of the buttons with hardly a glance. On the cliff we heard yells and yelps as Yuffie and Elena were flipped upside-down. "If I push this button, they'll fall and then we'll have squashed tomatoes!"

Kunsel stared at the man, anger written all over his features. Then suddenly his eyes turned to me. His arm lashed out and grabbed me by the sleeve as he hauled me close. "Do something."

"Like what?" I hissed.

"I don't know, just do something or I'll tell everyone your little secret. The one involving how you got that hammer to jump into your hand on our first night camping," he whispered.

My eyes widened as I stared at Kunsel, wondering if he had figured me out already. Glancing around though, I saw that no one else seemed to be having any ideas though Zack and Cloud's eyes were narrowed at Kunsel.

"Please." Kunsel's plea was enough for me to take action.

Turning to face Corneo, I straightened myself up and crossed my arms, affecting the air of the in-control captain that my instructors had tried to ingrain into me from day one of flight training.

"Take a moment to seriously consider your situation," I ordered Corneo. "Behind you is a fall that will lead to your certain demise, and before you are three SOLDIERs, none of them could be rated as less than First class, and they are backed up by eight people with skills in everything from martial arts to medicine to mechanics." Corneo's gaze was still smug, him feeling as though he had some control. "If you press that button, these good men will insure you pay a very heavy price for killing our friend then hand you over to the Turks. I wonder what they would do upon finding out you kidnapped, assaulted, and ultimately killed one of theirs."

Corneo actually seemed to freeze, considering what I was saying.

"Hand over that remote," I ordered, calling to the power to put authority into my words and took a step forward. "Hand over that remote, release the girls, and we won't have to do something you would regret."

Corneo's hand loosened and I seized the moment, using a Jedi pull to make it look like Corneo threw to remote to me.

The fat man's eyes went wide as I stepped back, remote in hand.

Barret was the first to speak up. "So how're we gunna deal with this guy?"

"That's up to us." Corneo looked around for the new voice.

"Who goes there?" Looking behind the group I saw Reno casually walk up onto the statue's thumb and look at Corneo.

"The Turks?"

"You knew this was going to happen ever since you leaked the secret. We're going to take care of you personally." Corneo looked between him and our group, his eyes turning to a pleading expression.

"Y-you've got to understand, I-I…" Corneo took a step back and slipped in some of the remnants of ice left over from the summoning of Shiva. Corneo yelled as his hands lashed out, just barely catching the statue's thumb.

"Alright Corneo, this will be quick, so listen up." Reno strode past those of us already on the thumb, being careful of the ice, stopping right before where Corneo hung.

A jolt went through me then as Corneo's fear struck me. "Wait…" Kunsel stopped me by grabbing my shoulder and pulling me away from where Corneo was about to experience his last moments. "Don't do this!" I yelled back anyway, even as Barret grabbed my other shoulder and Tifa took the remote. Reno ignored me and instead stepped down onto Corneo's hand.

"Why do you think we went through all the trouble to team up with those guys to get you? One: because we are ready to die. Two: because we were sure of victory. Or three: because we are clueless." He started twisting his foot, making Corneo shake his head.

"Two... It's number two!"

"All wrong." He stomped on his foot one last time making the man let go and fall off the mountain, just like his pet had. Aeris and I both turned our eyes away.

"The correct answer was because it's our job."

"Oh thank you so much, I didn't think you would help!" Elena yelled to Reno who sighed and looked at the woman.

"Elena, don't act so weak, you're a Turk!" She abruptly adopted her business face, which was really red now due to being upside down.

"Yes sir." She yelled, and Reno finally did a double take.

"Guess all she needed was a little shock treatment…" He muttered as he turned to walk back along the arm.

I may not have liked Corneo's character in the least; he was a perverted, crude, and cowardly being whose death in the game had made me cheer for Reno in the original storyline before ever seeing Advent Children. In real life though, that was beyond cold.

It must have shocked everyone when I lashed out and struck Reno hard across the cheek. "He was helpless," was the only explanation I offered.

Reno didn't react in anyway other than to reply, "It's my job."

His phone went off a moment later and the Turk answered it without hesitation. "Yeah it's Reno... Yes... Yes... We'll get right to it." Reno looked at our group and closed his phone.

"Was that the company?" Elena called.

"Yeah, they want us to find Fair and crew."

"Are we on?" Rude asked, standing from where he had been attempting to deal with the rope system holding up Yuffie and Elena. Reno shook his head.

"No, today we're off duty." The group relaxed.

"I don't care about that. Get me down!" Kunsel glanced over at the rope system and walked over to try to figure it out.

Reno stopped suddenly before leaving and turned to stare at us. "The boss also said that an amateur pilot stole an airplane in Rocket Town. You guys know anything about that?"

"Amateur? All those stunts and he calls my skills amateur?" Well, Rufus has just made my rather short "shit list".

"Oh, so you do know. Might I ask where the plane is? Apparently it was pretty expensive."

I was almost at wits end. Tired, dirty, hungry, read and saw some of Hojo's experiments, heard and felt a man's death, and now my skills as a pilot were being insulted! "He can find his plane about a mile off of the coast near Rocket Town though most likely he'll need to send divers for it." I offered with a grin.