Sazh sat in his kitchen, a newspaper spread across the table. He scanned the page, his gaze lingering upon a certain headline.

A child ran into the room, pulling open the refrigerator door to grab a container of yogurt.

"Good morning, Dajh." Sazh looked up from the paper. "Got your lunch, too?"

Dajh held up a paper bag, before stuffing it into his backpack along with a spoon.

Sazh narrowed his eyes at the newspaper. "Homework?"

Dajh was already halfway out the door. "Yeah!"

Sazh nodded. "Have a good day." His phone began to ring, and Sazh answered it. "Katzroy."

A soft voice replied. "Sazh, correct?"

"Yes... May I ask who this is?"

"We have a mutual friend."

Sazh leaned back in his chair. "That doesn't quite answer my question."

A quiet laugh. "For the moment, all you need to know is that Lightning and her family will soon be in need of any aid they can receive..." The voice paused. "Will you be ready?"

Sazh was silent for a moment. "I'd like to know who this is."

"We don't always get what we like, Mister Katzroy."

Sazh sighed. "That, we don't..." He turned the page of his newspaper. "If Lightning needs me, I'll be there."

"Wonderful... Until then."

The line clicked, and Sazh closed his phone.


Fang's ears twitched at the sound of thunder, and she opened her eyes. Green rings stretched out into orange, her eyes half-lidded. Fang raised an arm, gazing up at her fingers, human skin spanning her entire hand. After lifting her other arm, Fang grinned, and she looked down at herself; her carapace was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you done?"

Fang nearly startled, but she quickly recognized the voice. "Light?" She looked up to see Lightning, who sat in the branches with her back facing Fang. "Enjoy the view?" She chuckled, still examining her arm.

Lightning sighed as she crossed her arms.

Fang frowned, and she tilted her head to the side. "Bad night?"

Lightning kept still for a long moment, before she gave a quick nod.

Fang looked down at herself, and she closed her eyes, concentrating on her skin.

Rain pattered against her carapace as Lightning gazed out over the forest, a deep ache throbbing within her chest. Her lungs felt weighted, her arms stiff, and Lightning narrowed her eyes as she grit her teeth. She kept completely still, even when Fang jumped up to the branch beside her.

Fang lowered her voice as she hung against the trunk of the tree, her claws sinking into the bark. "Wanna talk about it?"

Lightning shook her head.

Fang paused, before she dropped down to land on the forest floor. "C'mere."

Lightning leapt down as well, her eyes half-lidded as Fang walked forward to pull her into a hug.

Fang mumbled against Lightning hair. "Can I do anything to help?"

Lightning shook her head, but she returned the hug, her chin resting upon Fang's shoulder. "This helps."

Fang hummed, nuzzling into the embrace. "Well... Tell me if you need anything, alright?"

Lightning nodded, and she closed her eyes.


Vanille stepped out from the forest to gaze over the expanse, the grassland stretching out for miles. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of grass and rain, the wind streaming through her hair. A heavy layer of mist rolled along the plains, obscuring most of the field itself.

Hope made his way out of the trees as well, his gaze flickering down to the dirt. He could make out a trail of hoof prints, but they were barely visible in the mud, the rain having washed most it the outline away. He knelt down, squinting to examine the tracks.

Vanille walked over to look at the prints as well, kneeling down beside Hope. "There's not much left..."

Hope nodded. "Just keep an eye out; we don't want to be caught unaware."

Vanille shrugged, and she gazed over at the mist. "I think it'll be alright... The people in town didn't bother us."

"That's because we didn't bother them." Hope shook his head. "Stay alert."

Vanille shifted her mouth back to frown. "What's gotten into you?"

Hope lowered his ears. "I'm worried, that's all. Light's been a little testy, lately."

Vanille's eyes went wide. "You don't think she'd..?"

Hope shook his head. "I just don't want to take any chances... Better to have an early warning system, so it doesn't catch her off-guard."

Vanille nodded. "I'll keep an eye out."


Fang jumped over a fallen log, waiting for Lightning to follow. "I found Five, in there." Fang gestured at her horns.

Lightning leapt up, her claws sinking into the bark. "I'm assuming she listened to you."

Fang laughed under her breath. "Not at first."

Lightning dropped to the forest floor, standing up to walk. "Really? One didn't put up too much resistance."

Fang shrugged. "She didn't want me to shift back... But we set down some ground rules." Fang held up her arms, flexing her claws. "We came to an understanding."

Lightning's gaze flickered away, and she stared at the ground. "One doesn't think I can control myself."

Fang narrowed her eyes. "One doesn't know what she's talking about."

Lightning's shoulders sagged, but she continued at a steady pace. "Can this stay between us?"

Fang paused, moving to hold Lightning's shoulders. "You can tell me anything, Light." She nodded, shifting her face back to smile.

Lightning kept silent for a moment. "I'm not sure if she's wrong."

Fang frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lightning grit her teeth. "You've tasted it, before. Twice, right?"

Fang thought back. "Three times, if you want to get technical." She held up a single digit. "That one guy got too close..." She held up two more. "Ran around after playing sick, bit two of them while I was out."

"How did you hold back?" Lightning asked, "The first time, it just hit me, and I froze... The second, I had to hold myself back."

Fang shrugged. "First time for me, I was still under those sedatives." She grinned. "Second, I was having too much fun with breaking the lab apart."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "Until they brought you back down."

"It was fun while it lasted, at least..." Fang's expression sobered. "But you think you'll have trouble controlling it?"

Lightning tensed. "I couldn't even think when Serah cut herself... One just took over, I guess."

"Did you tell her to stop?" Fang asked, "Five listened to me, eventually."

Lightning nodded. "She said that she can't."

Fang frowned, but she slung an arm over Lightning's shoulders. "I'm not sure what advice to give you, here..." She started to walk once more, guiding Lightning along. "But if it looks like you're about to go chomping on someone, I'll hold you back."

Lightning shifted her mouth into place, a tiny smile twitching over her lips. "Thank you."

Fang grinned. "We look out for each other." She glanced up at the forest, noticing the thinning treeline that lay up ahead. Fang inhaled, testing the air. "Vanille and Hope are over there..."

Lightning flicked her ears. "Out in the grass."

Fang nodded as she lowered to all fours, running into the grass. Lightning followed behind her, soon jumping out along the field. The sky was still overcast, but the rain had slowed to a light drizzle, and a thick fog hovered about the area.

Vanille suddenly hopped up from the grass, waving at them, and Fang smiled at her.

Vanille ran over to tackle Fang in a hug. "Did it work?"

Fang paused. "Oh, right..." She pulled back, kneeling down to concentrate on her arm. The carapace crumbled away, human skin quickly growing to replace it.

Vanille's eyes widened. "What did you do, exactly?"

Hope made his way over as well, walking up to examine Fang's arm.

Fang shifted her carapace even further, human skin crawling all the way down to her elbow. "I went to sleep while thinking that I wanted to talk to Five."

Vanille froze. "That's what they called you, back then..."

Fang nodded. "The organism can think." She reached up to tap at her horns.

Vanille paused, and she reached up to touch her own horns as well. "So... Do you think there's a Four, in here?"

Fang shrugged. "Maybe." She stood up, gazing out over the plains. "You should to try looking for her, later."

Lightning stepped forward, her ears twitching back and forth. "We should get moving."

Hope stood up on his tiptoes to see over the mist. "Do you think we can still find the highway in all this?"

Vanille hopped up, squinting at the plains. "Yeah! It's a ways off, though."

Fang grinned. "Let's get going, then." She started off in a slow jog, before lowering down to all fours as she broke into a run.

Vanille darted after her, Hope following behind.

Lightning paused, her eyes scanning the mist, but she soon ran off as well.


Noel leaned back in his seat after pulling the car to a stop. He inhaled, attempting to steady his breathing, but his lungs threatened to overtake his composure. After a moment of silence, there was a soft tap at his window, and Noel opened his eyes to see Caius.

Noel opened the door, and he let out a deep breath. "Resting again; we'll get going in a minute."

Caius shook his head. "What happened?"

Noel averted his gaze, silent for a long moment. "I left Mog with some friends." He covered his eyes, before pulling them back with a sigh, wiping away the tears. "He's dead, Caius."

Caius paused, before he took Noel by the wrist. "Follow me."

Noel moved to grab his cane, but Caius helped him down from the car, supporting Noel's weight with his arm.

Caius looked over at Snow. "Laps." He gestured at the clearing beside the highway. "Keep going until we get back." Caius began to lead Noel into the woods, ignoring when Snow rolled his eyes in protest.

Noel kept quiet as they walked through the trees, before he looked up at Caius. "Where are we going?"

Caius pushed past a tangle of branches, and he pulled Noel into a clearing. "You need to let it out." Caius lead Noel to a flat rock, gesturing for him to sit.

Noel took a deep breath, and he slowly sat upon the rock.

Caius sat down beside him within the grass. "Let it out."

Noel shuddered, before finally breaking down into tears. He held his face in his hands, trembling fingers threading into his hair.

"You gave him a home." Caius kept his voice low, holding as soft a tone as he could manage. "He was alone, and you gave him years of life."

Noel nodded as he wiped the tears away with his sleeve.

Caius paused, and he waited for Noel to finish crying, before meeting his gaze. "Do you know how it happened? If someone was to blame?"

Noel exhaled. "All I overheard from the Cavalry was that the fire looked unnatural."

Caius narrowed his eyes. "Someone started it, then."

Noel nodded, narrowing his eyes as well. "If I find out who..."

Caius quickly stood up. "Noel... Vengeance eats away at you from inside." He looked Noel in the eye, his gaze intense. "Mourn, and release it."

Noel's eyes remained narrowed, but he nodded. Caius offered his arm, and Noel accepted it, easing himself up from the rock.

They began to walk back to the car, but Caius couldn't help the stirring feeling in his chest, the primal urge of retaliation for a lost ally, a fallen family member. Caius grit his teeth, and he tightened his free hand into a fist.


Lightning paused, swiveling her ears about. Fang skidded to a halt as well, Hope and Vanille stopping beside her.

Lightning stood up on her back legs, and she pointed out at the mist. "Wolves."

Vanille gasped, running up beside Lightning to look. "Where?" She jumped up, her eyes widening at the sight.

A pack of wolves stood within the mist, gazing warily at Lightning. Vanille grinned, but she frowned when the wolves began to retreat.

"They know not to mess with us..." Lightning let out a short laugh, but her tone was bitter. "We're bad enough to scare off wolves."

Fang took a step forward, frowning at Lightning. "We're just stronger than them, that's all."

Lightning grit her teeth. "Yeah... Let's keep moving." She started to run once more, but Fang caught her by the wrist.

"Talk to me." Fang held her gaze. "What's going on?"

Lightning glanced at Hope and Vanille, before she lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning forward to brush her mouth against Fang's ear. "We aren't human, Fang." She pulled back to stare into Fang's eyes. "The kids might have a chance to really go back... You might, too." She exhaled, her breath sharp against Fang's cheek. "But I don't." Lightning pulled away, and she began to run once more.

Fang stood in silence, keeping still even as Hope and Vanille approached her side, their eyes gathering with worry.

Fang turned around, and she watched as Lightning stood upright on a ledge, her figure swathed in mist. Her ridges and horns stood out against the fog, before she turned away, continuing into the grassland.