BOOK TWO: PURSUIT

EIGHT

We made camp about a mile or two into the gorge, well out of sight of the dead serpent. After our harrowing journey through the marshes, we decided to take a day to rest and recuperate before heading into the mines. I didn't like the delay, knowing that Sephiroth was getting even further ahead of us, but I knew we all needed the break after all that we had endured in that hellish swamp.

We set up the tents within a small cluster of oak trees along the left side of the ravine. Mountains rose up above us to the south and west as the skies cleared and the sun came out. We took turns washing up in a nearby stream, getting the mud and dirt off as best we could. But there wasn't very much we could do for our clothes, which were pretty much covered in muck. At least, that was what I'd thought at first. But Aerith, it seemed, had bought some soap back in Kalm when we had done our shopping. She always seemed to have a way of thinking ahead like that. But what really surprised me was that Barret, out of all of us, knew the most about this sort of thing.

"Never figured you for the domestic type," I smirked.

Barret snorted. "Who said anythin' 'bout that? I ain't, but Marlene's clothes don't get clean by themselves. An' she always loved jumpin' into them mud puddles outside the bar and splashin' like hell."

"Biggs brought her inside one day and she was completely covered in it from head to toe, remember?" Tifa laughed.

"Oh, hell yeah," Barret chuckled. "Pain in the ass to clean, too."

I raised an eyebrow as he took the small box of laundry soap from Aerith. This was a side of him I'd never even imagined him having, and I wondered what else there was about him that I didn't know yet. More than I thought, probably. We had bathed already and had changed into some of the extra clothes we'd brought with us. Picking those up hadn't ever occurred to me, but Tifa had thought of it back in Kalm when we had gone shopping, and now I was glad for it.

"Here, Spike," Barret thrust a pile of our dirty clothes at me. "Make yourself useful an' carry these."

I ignored Tifa's laughter and tried not to feel too self-conscious as I did as Barret had ordered while he and Aerith walked with us down to the stream. She was still oddly subdued and hadn't said much since we had seen Sephiroth's handiwork at the edge of the swamp. I fell in next to her as we drew close to the water.

"You okay?" I asked.

She sighed. "Yeah, it's just… what we saw, it was so overwhelming. You were right, Cloud. I… I'm sorry I doubted you."

I shook it off. "It's alright, Aerith. Don't worry about it. All you had to go on was what I told you."

"That should have been enough, though."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," I told her. "It's no big deal."

Now she did smile, and it was good to see it. "Thanks, Cloud. That makes me feel better."

"No problem," I grinned. "Just doing my job."

"Keeping me whole in every way. You really are a good bodyguard, Cloud," Aerith said, her green eyes twinkling. "And you know, you look awfully cute helping out with the laundry."

I laughed. "Thanks. I think…"

Tifa winked at me. "She's right, you know."

I shook my head helplessly, then glanced over at Barret. "So how'd you learn to do this stuff, anyway?"

He stopped abruptly a few yards from the water's edge, his eyes not on us but somewhere far away. Barret didn't answer at first, but I knew he had heard me. He just stood there for a moment, the box of soap in his hand. What was the matter? It had just been a simple question, and I had no idea why it had affected him like this. His voice was strangely quiet when he finally answered, softer than I'd ever heard it before, and tinged with an ache I found oddly familiar.

"My wife taught me…" he sighed.

I exchanged a startled glance with Tifa and Aerith, both of them as surprised by Barret's words as I was. And by Tifa's stunned expression, I knew she'd had no more idea that he'd been married than I had. She'd known him for years, but apparently he had never mentioned this even to her. I wondered why he had kept it so private.

"Your wife?" I asked, putting down the stack of dirty clothes.

Barret nodded. "Yeah. Long time ago."

"What happened to her?" Aerith wondered.

"Don't wanna talk 'bout it right now," he said, his gaze still distant. "It's jus' hard, ya know?"

She patted his arm. "I understand, Barret. It's okay."

Moving up by the shore to stand on his other side, Tifa put a hand on his shoulder. "You miss her, don't you?"

At her words, I suddenly understood why the ache in Barret's voice had seemed so familiar to me. I'd heard it in my own voice whenever I had talked about Jessie. Losing her had hurt badly enough, and I'd only known her for a short time. I couldn't imagine how much harder it had to have been for Barret, who had lost a woman who had been his wife. How long had they been married? What had happened to her? I was as curious about it as the girls, but we knew better than to pry into it. He'd tell us when he was ready.

He glanced at Tifa. "Yeah. Comes an' goes, but… I do."

"Well, we're here for you whenever you're ready," she smiled.

Barret gazed at us for a minute, and I returned his nod with one of my own. Then we got to work on those dirty clothes. Or rather, he and Aerith did after they shooed us away. Tifa and I headed back up to the tents, where Red was taking a nap outside. He had lain down almost as soon as he had finished taking a dip in the stream earlier to wash off all the mud and dirt from his paws and fur.

While Tifa worked on dinner, I got a small fire going, and soon the flames danced and flickered in the late afternoon sun. Then I sat down and watched as Tifa set everything out. By the time the food was ready, Barret and Aerith had returned from the stream, our clothes clean but damp. They laid them out by the fire to dry as Red stirred and woke up with a yawn that showed off plenty of sharp teeth.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and we turned in early that night, taking turns on watch as we had the day before. Two hours each this time. Nothing bothered us, though, and the only sounds we could hear were the chirping of crickets somewhere in the underbrush and a soft breeze whispering through the trees. I had the last watch this time, taking over from Aerith, who had woken me with a smile and a gentle nudge on my shoulder before returning to the tent that she shared with Tifa. She glanced at me over her shoulder for a moment, her green eyes glittering with reflected firelight, and then disappeared inside. It took a minute or two for me to finally look away.

Dawn was just creeping over the eastern horizon when I heard the chopper. I glanced up at once as it flew overhead, ignoring the startled mutterings of the others as they woke up. Although the helicopter was fairly high up, I knew who it was. The chopper sped southwest over the mountains and past the mines before descending out of sight. The only thing I wondered was why it had taken them so long.

"The hell was that?" Barret barked, stumbling out of the tent.

I glanced at him. "A Shinra helicopter. It's probably somewhere on the other side of the mines by now."

He stared at me. "Say what? They know we're here?"

"I'm not sure. But I'd say it's a good bet we'll run into them."

"Damn!" Barret muttered. "We'll jus' hafta blast through 'em then. Friggin' Shinra bastards…"

Aerith emerged from the other tent only seconds later, bewildered but very much awake and with Tifa just behind her. "What's happened, Cloud? What's going on?"

I explained the situation to them while Red padded over to join us. It didn't take long, and we agreed that it would be best to get underway as soon as possible. So after a quick breakfast, we took down the tents, gathered our things, and headed out. We traveled north for a few miles until we reached the broken remains of the abandoned highway. A few cars and trucks sat along the cracked pavement, rusted and empty, and it felt as if no one had come this way in a thousand years.

We had switched partners on the chocobos today when we had set out, and now Tifa sat behind me while Aerith rode behind Barret. Red, as usual, loped a little ahead of us. Heading southwest, we followed the ruined highway deeper into the gorge. It was a quiet journey, and none of us spoke much. There was no further sign of Sephiroth, and I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disturbed by that fact. We also didn't see any hint of that ninja thief. She must have still been out there ahead of us somewhere, maybe even already in the mines, but there was no way to know for certain. She had helped us back in the swamp, though, so I figured we would see her again sooner or later.

After about an hour or so, we reached a small settlement sitting in the shadow of the mountains, crouched at their feet and utterly devoid of people. Like the highway, it must have been abandoned months ago after the mines closed down and the monsters emerged. We only saw a few of the beasts wandering about the empty streets, tearing mindlessly through the broken remains of shops and homes, but I knew there had to be more of them. Probably keeping out of sight until nightfall. They must have swarmed out of the mines and either killed or driven off the townspeople. It didn't seem like they'd had much warning. We rode on, making our way through town until we finally reached the entrance to the mines on a low, rocky ledge just past the foreman's office. The black maw of the tunnel gaped open like the mouth of some impossibly huge monster, and I saw that the lights along the walls were dead. There was hardly a sound to be heard as we brought our mounts to a halt and got off. Even the chocobos were quiet.

"Damn, but this place is spooky," Barret muttered.

"Cree-py," Aerith agreed.

I started unsaddling my chocobo. "No kidding. But we gotta go in. Sephiroth's bound to be on the other side by now."

Putting the saddles, bridles, and other riding equipment aside, the four of us quickly redistributed our gear while Red kept a watchful eye on the abandoned town behind us. We couldn't take the chocobos into the mines with us, much as I would have liked to. I'd started to get used to riding them, but they wouldn't do well underground and the tunnels were likely too narrow for them to be comfortable, anyway. I knew the girls would miss the birds the most.

Aerith cooed to them, whispering a few soothing words while Tifa carefully brushed their feathers. When they were done, Aerith nodded, and I lightly smacked one chocobo and then the other on the backside of its feathered tail. They squawked, scampered around for a minute or two, then ran off back the way we'd come.

"Well," Barret sighed. "Ain't no turnin' back now."

"Will they be alright?" Aerith asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. They're fast, we've seen that ourselves. And there's plenty of greenery for them to eat. They'll be fine."

Tifa smiled. "Don't worry, Aerith. They know what to do."

"As do we," Red added. "Shall we go?"

"I'm ready," Aerith replied, grasping her staff.

Drawing Hardedge, I crept forward into the mines, Aerith and the others just behind me. About fifty feet or so into the tunnel, Tifa pulled out one of the flashlights and flicked it on as the light from outside fell away amidst the gloom. There was a pale green glow here and there all along the walls, and I stepped closer for a moment to get a closer look. It seemed to be coming from some kind of luminescent moss growing here and there along the rock.

"How pretty…" Aerith murmured.

We kept going, walking deeper into the passage, our steps echoing on the stone beneath our feet. A set of tracks ran down the middle of it with an empty mine cart lying on its side nearby, chunks of mythril ore spilling from the bin and onto the ground. Scattered and broken pieces of mining equipment lay everywhere, but no bodies. I guessed that the monsters had dragged off everyone who hadn't managed to escape the attack. Where were the creatures now, though? The place was empty as could be. Like a tomb. I shivered at that thought.

We followed the tunnel for a few hours until it opened into a more natural cavern. Ahead of us, the passage came to dead end that split in two different directions in a T-intersection. Both corridors wound out of sight into the darkness, the faint green aura all we could see ahead of us either way. I gazed first down one passage and then the other as Tifa shone the flashlight ahead of me.

"Which way?" she asked.

I thought for a minute. "Both. I'm not sure which direction the exit to Junon is, so it looks like we'll have to do bit of exploring. Barret, take the other flashlight and go with Red down the left tunnel. See what you can find. The girls and I will head right. We'll meet back here in twenty minutes and figure out our next move. Got it?"

"We on it, Spike," Barret nodded. "Jus' leave it to us."

"Be careful, you two," Aerith said.

Barret hefted his gun-arm and grinned. "You too, ladies."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ladies?"

"Aerith told me all 'bout your little adventure back in Wall Market the other night, Cloud. But damn, that's funny! Now I understand why Tifa was laughin' so hard when we left that clothes store. Wish I'd been there to see it!"

"You didn't…" I stared at Aerith.

She giggled, smiling with mock innocence. "Whoops…"

"It was a most fascinating story indeed," Red added. "I didn't know you had such a talent for disguise, Cloud."

"Not you, too…" I groaned.

Tifa laughed and patted me on the back. "It's alright, Cloud. It was kinda fun, actually. And you did look pretty good. I didn't even know it was you at first until Aerith told me."

I shook my head and sighed, not quite able to hide a smirk. "You're all enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely!" Aerith chirped.

Barret chuckled. "You damn right we are!"

"It's all in good fun, Cloud," Tifa agreed, her eyes dancing.

I snickered. "I'll bet."

We all shared a laugh then, even Red. I didn't mind the teasing, not really. I knew Tifa was right. And I was also sure I'd get an opportunity to return the favor sooner or later. So after we were finished, I led Tifa and Aerith down the passageway to our right while Barret grabbed the other flashlight and followed Red into the left one.

The tunnel the girls and I were in went straight for a short distance before beginning to twist and turn, first to the right and then the left. I kept my eyes open for monsters, but nothing showed itself. And then I thought of that Shinra chopper and wondered if they were here, too. It wouldn't be long before we found out.

Red an' I was headin' down the lefthand tunnel for a while when it opened up into a bigger cave. The walls was all glitterin' with streaks of mythril, an' I had to crane my neck up jus' to see the ceilin' high above us. A tall ledge with vines of some thick moss hangin' from it ran along the left side of the place, an' ahead of us was a natural staircase leadin' up to a small platform surrounded by a deep-ass pit.

I walked up them stairs, stopped near the edge of the platform, an' glanced down that big hole. I couldn't see the bottom any more than I'd been able to see the top of this damn cave, an' a shiver ran up my back as I stepped away. More pieces of discarded mining equipment lay here an' there, includin' some rope, a couple dented helmets, an' a few picks. They'd been dropped in a hurry, it looked like.

"What do you suppose these were for?" Red asked.

I knew well enough. "See them rusted pitons on the ground there? Miners use 'em to hold their ropes in place so they can hang down over the edge of the chasm an' get at the ore. Gotta be veins of mythril down there embedded in the rock along the sides."

Red sniffed. "It seems hazardous."

"Damn right it is! But mythril's worth a lotta gil to the right people, folks who can shape it into weapons, armor, and all kinds of stuff. The miners know it, an' they know the risks. It's why they do it."

"Risking your life for profit?" Red wondered.

I shook my head. "It ain't jus' about that, Red. The miners need the money to support their families."

He nodded. "I see. That does make sense."

"It's dangerous, but these folks usually don't have much of a choice if they wanna survive."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Red said.

I sighed. "I do. Ya see… I was a miner once myself, years ago. Coal, not mythril. But we're still the same. We got the same goals, take on the same risks. So yeah, Red. I do know."

I knew it all too well. But I wasn't ready to talk about it. An' it's not time to go into it yet in this story of ours, either. We'll get to it later on. It's not easy tellin' it, an' I only mean to do it once. Anyway, I was 'bout to head back the way we came when I saw a flash of purple light up on that high ledge. Red glanced up there, then back at me.

"You saw it too?" It wasn't really a question.

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's check it out."

We head back to where those vines was hangin' down, an' I was jus' wonderin' how the hell I was gonna climb up there when I noticed Red backin' up a few steps. Then he bunched his muscles, ran right toward the side of the ledge, an' jumped. He caught the rock with his claws jus' a second later an' climbed up to the top.

"Whaddya see, Red?" I asked.

He came back down a minute later, a purple orb in his mouth. He tossed it to me. "A materia. Long Range, if I've sensed it right."

"The hell's that mean?" I frowned.

"If you have it equipped," Red explained, "you can hit as hard from a distance as you can when you're up close. It also enables you to reach enemies you couldn't normally."

I pocketed the orb. "Not bad. It ain't somethin' I got much need for, but Spike might find it handy."

"Indeed," Red replied. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Right. Let's head back. I wanna show Cloud what we found. An' it looks like this is a dead end anyway."

We retraced our steps, an' as we did, I wondered how Cloud an' the girls were doin' an' if they'd found a way out. I didn't like the thought of bein' stuck in this place, an' I tried not to think 'bout all the rock above our heads. I hadn't been underground in years, an' in my minin' days, I hadn't had no problem with it. Maybe it was 'cause I'd been away for so long, I dunno, but I couldn't help feelin' like the walls was pressin' in on me. I took a few deep breaths as we reached the place where we was to meet Cloud an' the girls.

Only they wasn't there.

"The hell?" I growled. "They forget or somethin'?"

Red shook his head. "Doubtful. They knew when we were to meet. I suggest we go after them."

"Awright. Let's get goin' then. They might be needin' us."

My fists raised, I ducked beneath the arc of the monster's swinging weapon, the huge iron ball whirling just overhead with a whoosh of air at the end of its chain. Before the beast—something called a Madouge, according to the Sense materia in my wrist guard—could recover from the miss, I swept in with a flurry of punches to the side of its pink torso and followed it up with a low sweep kick and knocked it off its feet. As I sprang back, Cloud spun right past me and sliced Hardedge deep into the thing's body in a chain of quick slashes.

There was a sudden flash of yellow light to my right, and I glanced over to see Aerith race in at the second Madouge, her arm moving with uncanny speed as she grabbed something first from one hand and then the other, leaving the creature's long, gray fingers exposed. She tried to dart away, but the Madouge caught her wrist just before she got out of reach and spun her back around as its other hand whipped its iron ball straight at her head. Her green eyes widened.

Aerith shrieked, but I was already there. I slammed the deadly ball away with the back of my fist, then drove a knee into the creature's gut. It doubled over, and when it did, it lost its grip on Aerith. Together, she and I pounded the creature. I hit it with a smashing uppercut that sent it into the air, and Aerith followed up with a blast of lightning from her materia and a swift backhand strike from her staff. And then, before it landed, Cloud cut the thing in two with a single leaping blow from his sword. He looked over his shoulder at Aerith. "You okay?"

"Yeah, thanks," she nodded. "You guys have great timing!"

I smirked. "We make a pretty good team."

"All of us," Cloud added.

That was true enough. After sharing a laugh together, we started to move on, but Aerith held up a hand. "Just a sec. Tifa, check these out! I took them from one of those monsters. That little Steal materia's pretty nifty, don't you think?"

"It sure is," I agreed. "What have you got?"

She held them out, and I picked them up and held them before me. They were a pair of gloves, made out of a toughened leather hide much sturdier than my old ones. It looked like they just might fit, so I pulled off my mythril claws, put them in my pack, and slid on the new gloves. They felt good, nice and tight, their dark red leather firm but flexible. I clenched and unclenched my fingers a few times, getting the feel of my new weapons and breaking them in.

I hefted my fist and grinned. "I like them, Aerith. Thanks."

"No problem! Ready to go?"

I was, so we headed onward, following the tunnel as it twisted first one way and then the other, and I hoped we wouldn't get lost in here. I had seen a few tunnel openings off to the side now and then as we had gone along, but Cloud had kept us on course through the main passage and hadn't taken any detours.

After a little while, the tunnel opened up into a larger chamber. To our left, the ground fell away in a deep chasm. The path led to another tunnel ahead and to our right but also split off to the left, where several ledges led up to an opening from which daylight shone. We had found the way out! But on the path just ahead of us stood a man I recognized right away. It was one of the Turks, the bald one. He wore a pair of dark sunglasses, a set of small silver earrings in each ear, and a short, neatly-trimmed beard with a thin moustache.

"Hello, Aerith," he glanced over at her.

She frowned. "What do you want?"

The man ignored her and looked at us. "Know who I am?"

"You're with the Turks," Cloud answered.

"Right. Since you know, this won't take long. It's not easy to explain what the Turks do."

My eyes narrowed. "Kidnapping, right?"

The man nodded. "That's putting it negatively. But… there's much more to it now. How do I say this…?"

"It's alright, Rude!" a new voice called out.

We all looked up and behind us to a high ledge. Another Turk was standing up there, a slender young woman who looked about the same age as Aerith and myself. She had short blonde hair and clear blue eyes, and her navy blue suit and tie were neatly pressed. She glared at us and then returned her attention to Rude. "I know you don't like making big speeches, so don't force it!"

"Then explain it to them, Elena," he said.

She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm Elena, the newest of the Turks. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're shorthanded. Although I was promoted because of that. But don't even think I owe you! You got that? Anyway, our job is to find out exactly where Sephiroth is headed and stop you every step of the way. Oh, wait a minute… I think it's the other way around. You're the ones getting in our way… right?"

"Elena," another voice said. "You talk too much."

I turned along with Cloud and Aerith to see another man walking into the cave from the exit. Aerith stiffened immediately, and I realized I knew him as well. It was the same Turk who had been in the chopper at the Sector 7 pillar. He was the one who had taken Aerith and had let the bomb go off that had destroyed our home, our friends. Rage sprang up in me at the thought, at the ache of loss as memories of Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge rose up in my mind, scenes of better days that would never come again. I had offered, along with Cloud and Barret, to go with him to Shinra and turn ourselves in if the Turks would relent and spare the lives of everyone in the slums.

But the man had refused. And so many had died.

Above us, Elena swallowed. "Sorry, Tseng."

"You have your orders," he told her. His long, dark hair hung down past his shoulders. "Now go. Don't forget to file your report."

She saluted. "Yes, sir! I'll go after Sephiroth. We've heard rumors of him heading for Junon Harbor!"

Tseng shook his head. "Elena, you don't understand."

"Oh!" her eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry!"

The corner of my my mouth curled upward in a little smirk when I heard Elena's blunder. Cloud's matching expression told me he'd caught it as well. We had suspected that Sephiroth had been heading that way, but it was nice to have confirmation of it. Aerith couldn't hide a giggle, and Elena's stony expression only made her laugh harder.

Tseng sighed. "Go. Don't let Sephiroth get away."

Elena climbed down one of the thick, hanging vines dangling from the ledge and sprinted across the rocky path until she reached the steps rising up to the ledge where Tseng waited. Elena sprang up the natural stairs, darted past her boss, and slipped out of the cave. Tseng watched her go for a moment, then turned back to us.

"Aerith," he said. "It's been a long time. Looks like you're safe from the Shinra for a while now that Sephiroth is back."

She frowned. "What are saying? That I should be grateful to him?"

"No," he replied. "Just be careful and stay out of Shinra's way."

"Strange, coming from you," Aerith murmured.

He shrugged. "Well, then… I should be going. But I can't have you following me, either. It's nothing personal. Just my job."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Tseng snapped his fingers. "Rude. Stall them."

While Tseng walked out of the cave after Elena, Rude moved out in front of us and flexed his fists. "Reno wants to see you after his injuries have healed. He's going to show his sincere affection for you all. With a new weapon. You'll love it."

"I wouldn't count on it," I brought up my own fists.

Rude launched himself at us, but it was Cloud he went for, not me. I spun to the left as he went by, letting my right fist swing around with the motion and slamming it into his side. Then I followed it with a left hook into his gut that sent him staggering backwards in time to catch a blast of lightning from Aerith and a smack across the face from the flat of Cloud's huge sword. Rude stayed on his feet, though, shaking off the hits and grabbing Cloud by the wrists before he could get away. Cloud pulled, but Hardedge clattered to the ground, and Rude started to spin. My eyes widened as he continued to go, faster with each rotation, until he finally let go, throwing Cloud right at us.

Aerith and I flew backwards as Cloud crashed into us with a groan, and we all landed in a tangle of arms and legs. We were still struggling to get up when Rude closed in on us, a fist descending toward Cloud's face. I grabbed it in both of my hands just before it would have hit him, springing into a crouch and pulling Rude off balance and right up into my face. "I don't think so, big boy."

Gritting my teeth, I braced my feet under me, took one hand off of his wrist to grab hold of him, and leaped up into the air. At the peak of my jump, I pulled Rude back and threw him back down to the ground with a yell. He landed flat on his back with a muffled grunt of pain as I descended toward him, my fists raised. I led with a right punch, but he rolled away at the last moment. My gloved fist smashed the stone floor, shattering it at the area of impact as I touched down.

Rude took a staff to the face before he could get up, though, Aerith smacking him with a swift backhand strike that sent him sprawling on his back again. He got up quickly this time, and I ran at him. He didn't ready himself to fight back, though, but dove aside and went for Cloud instead. I didn't know why he wouldn't try to hit me, but I decided that it didn't really matter. Cloud had retrieved his sword and was swinging at him with the flat of the blade again, but Rude dodged and managed to get a few punches in before I could get there.

He blocked a second blow from Aerith's staff, knocking it aside as he dodged another strike from Cloud. I went in low, pummeling Rude with a string of punches and kicks, but no matter how many times I hit him, he wouldn't attack me. He just kept swinging at Cloud and Aerith. Then there was a flash of green light, and a bright orange blast of flame suddenly singed their bodies as they rolled away. I ducked to avoid the fire, glaring at Rude, but before I could do anything, his jaw dropped and something red, four-legged, and furry suddenly flew right over me and slammed into him, a flaming tail in its wake.

"Red!" I called.

And then a deafening stream of bullets sent Rude running away as Barret strode in, a wide grin on his face. "Thought ya might need some backup. So here we are."

Cloud nodded. "Looks like the cavalry's here."

"You bet!" Barret grinned. "Let's send this sucker packin'!"

But Rude didn't stick around. He took one look at the five of us, all poised and ready to fight, and raced to the far ledge and out of the cave exit. It wasn't until he was gone that I finally relaxed, and we all shared a laugh and patched up our wounds with potions, Cure spells, and that healing wind of Aerith's.

When we were finished, we headed up to the ledge ourselves, using the vines hanging from the walls to steady ourselves. After we got up to the top, we headed outside and into a wide, grassy slope. I breathed the fresh air long and deeply, glad to finally be free of the caves, and closed my eyes for a minute.

I opened them and saw an empty road in the distance, descending down from here to the valley below. Apparently this side of the Mythril Mines didn't see much in the way of traffic. The monsters inside might have been responsible for that, just as they had at the other end. There were also a pair of long, deep grooves in the ground nearby.

"What do you suppose those are?" I asked.

Cloud bent close to get a better look. "Must be where that chopper landed. Looks like the Turks are gone."

Barret grimaced. "We'll be seein' 'em again, though."

"No doubt," Cloud agreed, standing up.

The whole valley lay spread out before us in a wide panorama, and in the distance, a solitary mountain stood to the south and west. There was something odd about it, but it was a moment or two before I could understand what I was seeing. Its slopes were totally barren. They were brown and lifeless, with not a spot of green anywhere to be found. And there was another thing as well, something near the summit. I couldn't tell what it was, though. But it was big, that was certain.

"What's that?" I wondered.

Cloud gazed at it. "I don't know. It's too far away to tell."

"A mako reactor," Red replied. "I can just make it out. My eyes are much keener than a human's."

"What else do you see?" Cloud asked.

Red padded forward. "There is something else, something atop the reactor. But I'm afraid I can't tell what it is."

"Me either," Aerith added, a hand above her eyes.

"Seems like it's on the way," Barret mused. "So I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we?"

Cloud nodded. "Looks like it. So let's head out."

We did, taking our time, and as the sun sank lower into the sky, we managed to put some miles behind us before dark. I had never been in this part of the world before, and I knew that we were going to see a lot more of it by the time our journey was over. It was interesting, exciting, but also sad in a way, at least for me. Every step put Midgar and all that I had lost further behind me, and I wasn't sure I was ready to let go just yet. But as Biggs and Jessie had told me before they died, I had to keep going. It was all I could really do. So, my heart still bruised at their loss and that of Wedge, my home, and the life I had known there with those three dear friends, I went on.