BOOK TWO: PURSUIT

FOUR

Kalm's market district was a busy place, with several rows of shops and stalls situated along a number of elevated streets along the far edge of town. I surmised, what with the wide variety of goods being offered, that Barret and I would easily be able to find everything we needed for our journey. I saw stores offering everything from weapons, protective gear, and materia to food, camping supplies, maps, and other goods we might find useful over the course of our travels.

"We do have enough money, I assume?" I asked.

Barret nodded. "Damn right we do. A few thousand gil, that ought to get us what we need for now."

"I would guess, however, that we'll eventually need to find a way to make more in order to cover the further expenses that our journey will no doubt incur as we continue traveling."

"Yeah, I guess you got a point," Barret admitted. "We'll figure it out later, though. Cloud'll wanna have a say in that."

That was, of course, quite true. "Indeed. Let's see what we can find, then we can come back with the others later to purchase what we can't carry with us right now."

"Awright, then. Let's get to it."

Crowds of people milled all around us as we made our way over to the shops. The market district was certainly a busy place, and at times I found that people passed quite close to us as they hurried on their way to the next sale or wherever it was they were going. There were times I simply didn't understand two-legged things, and although there were a few shops and such back home, it wasn't like this. It was much quieter, more orderly, than the chaotic rambling I saw here in Kalm.

We chose to begin with the general store, deciding to work first on procuring things like tents, potions, medical supplies, and food before looking elsewhere to purchase those phones Cloud had mentioned and possibly upgrade our weapons, armor, and materia. But just as we drew near to the shop's entrance, someone from the crowd suddenly brushed up against us. I had just enough time to glimpse a slender, dark-haired girl sliding in between Barret and I before she hurried away, almost out of sight now with her head held down.

"The hell's up with her?" Barret grumbled.

I shook my head. "I do not know. But perhaps… Wait! Remember what the innkeeper told us? About a thief?"

"Yeah, I do, now that you mention it. But what–?"

"Barret! Your wallet!" I exclaimed, my good eye widening.

He patted his pocket and swore. "Shit! It's gone!"

Not waiting for Barret to follow, I ran off in the direction I had last seen the girl, weaving my way swiftly through the crowd as I did so. At first, I couldn't find her, but then I caught sight of her farther down the street. She was fast, but as I was running on four legs rather than two, I was certain I could catch up to her. Or at least, so I had thought. But as Cloud had pointed out in his narration earlier, none of us knew yet just how skilled and cunning she really was.

The girl darted into a side street off to the right, and moments later I charged into it myself. There were far fewer people in here, which was most likely part of her plan. She glanced back over her shoulder, finally seeming to realize that I was pursuing her. But she did not appear to be the least bit concerned. Instead, she smirked at me.

"Hey, fuzzball!" she said. "Let's see ya keep up with me!"

The girl was indeed young, as the innkeeper had said. In her teens, so I imagined. She wore a sleeveless olive green top, white shorts, a pair of orange shoes with high socks, and a black headband. Her hair was as black as midnight and very short, hanging just below her ears, and her slanted brown eyes gleamed with mischief. Over her left thigh, the girl wore a brace of some kind, with some sort of netting covering her knee and calf, and more such netting covering her arms all the way up to the shoulder while soft leather gloves covered her hands.

The girl held up Barret's faded leather wallet in one hand. "I'll give this back to ya if you really want it that bad."

"Hand it over!" I demanded as I closed in on her.

She grinned impishly "Sure… but ya gotta catch me first!"

With that, she bolted away again, moving a great deal faster than I had expected her to. Before I could even come within fifty yards of her, she darted into a nearby alley on the left, her feet making practically no sound as she moved. I sprinted after her, growling low in my throat as I went. I was bound and determined to beat her challenge and raced into the alley, prepared to corner her and force her to return that which she had so callously stolen from us.

But when I got there, she was gone.

"Up here!" she called.

I looked up instantly and saw the girl standing atop the roof of one of the buildings lining the alley, her legs spread apart and her hands on her hips. How had she gotten up there? She was extremely clever, I had to give her that. The girl was grinning, and I realized then that she was enjoying this chase. And in an odd sort of way, so was I. It had become something of a competition between us.

I raised an eyebrow. "I suppose this is fun for you."

"Definitely! I was gettin' pretty bored what with all the easy marks around here. And then you guys came along. You know, I've never met a talking cat before. Maybe you'd like a big ball of string?"

"I am not a cat," I snapped.

She laughed. "Nah, I guess not. Anyway, catch ya later!"

"We're not through yet, miss!" Now it was my turn to grin. I made sure to show off my sharp teeth as I did so.

I had noticed how close the alley walls were to each other and had formulated a plan while talking with the girl. Backing up a few steps, I flattened my ears and ran full out toward the wall below where the girl was standing. A dumpster was there, and I jumped on top of it, turned around, and leaped across the alley. When I reached the opposite wall, I used my momentum to bounce off of it and back to the other wall. As I returned to it, I quickly unsheathed my claws and dug them right into the painted plaster and siding. Then I swiftly climbed the wall, my eye fixed on the girl, who despite her words was still there.

"Hey, not bad!" she said. "But you'll still have to do better than that to catch a ninja! See ya!"

With that, she ran away across the roof. I was still a few yards from the top of the wall at that point, so I finished climbing as fast as I could and pulled myself over the top just in time to see her jumping across to the next rooftop. Retracting my claws, I ran after her and easily cleared the gap myself when I came to it. But she was still ahead of me, moving from one slanted roof to another, and so I followed.

I found that I couldn't gain any ground on her, but I didn't lose any, either. The girl really was quite fast for a two-legged thing. But even so, I was determined to catch her, now more than ever. And not simply to reclaim what she had stolen, either. It had become a matter of pride for me, strangely enough, and I did not want to lose to her, to be beaten at a chase by some young human cub with an attitude.

Racing across another rooftop, the young thief reached the edge of the building. There was a much larger gap ahead of her this time, one I knew she could not hope to clear, and I charged across the slanted blue shingles of the roof in an instant, certain I had at last caught my elusive quarry. But as I neared the girl, she glanced over her shoulder, waved at me, and simply dropped over the edge and out of sight. When I caught up to where she had been, I looked down and growled.

A wide ledge ran along the side of the building, which formed part of a large courtyard with a fountain splashing in the middle of it. A few of the town's taller buildings rose up like towers in the distance, and at each of their corners was a small spire that made them look almost like parts of a castle from a child's fairy tale. I tore my eyes away from them and saw that the girl was running along the ledge. It bent to the right as it reached the end of the building, and another ledge lined the building on the opposite side of the courtyard. From both of them, a set of stairs descended to the ground on either side of a wide arch.

Seeing that the girl was heading straight for the stairs, I grinned in anticipation. I had found what I needed. Bunching my muscles, I took a few steps back, ran toward the edge of the building, and jumped over the edge and all the way down into the courtyard itself. I spread out my paws when I landed to absorb the impact, then darted over to the base of the stairs. Just as I had anticipated, the young ninja thief came flying down the steps a moment later. The girl skidded to a rather abrupt halt a short distance from the bottom as soon as she saw me.

"Going somewhere?" I asked.

At first, she just stood there, unable to hide her surprise. But then a moment later, that cocky grin of hers reappeared. "So, you think you've finally cornered me, eh?"

"I believe I have, young lady," I answered.

"You're awfully sure of yourself," the girl snickered.

I nodded. "Indeed. You have nowhere left to run. Now return what you stole and I might not turn you in."

She winked at me and laughed. "I don't think so!"

Before I knew what was happening, the young thief ran right at me and jumped. She bounced off my back and did a forward somersault in midair. As I spun around, I saw her land on her feet and race across the courtyard to the other arch at the far end. Growling once again, both at her ingenuity and my own overconfidence, I sprinted after her and told myself not to underestimate her again. As the girl reached the arch, she looked back at me and grinned.

"Had enough yet?" she quipped.

I shook my head as I ran. "Not a chance!"

Now that we were on the ground again, a plan began to form in my mind. I did not believe that we were very far from the inn now, and if I could somehow push the girl into running in that direction, then I was certain that we would find Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith. I doubted they had gone very far while asking around about Sephiroth, and perhaps Barret would have returned to them by now as well. The girl couldn't possibly evade all of us. Could she? I did not know, but I had no other choice if I was to catch her and retrieve what she had stolen from us. As I passed through the arch and turned left to follow the girl, I took note of where I was and began herding her toward the inn.

"You're sure about this?" I asked.

The man nodded, shivering. "Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. I saw the guy you're talkin' about."

My heart hammered in my chest, and I didn't know whether to be enraged at the thought of Sephiroth or afraid. Maybe both. I still had a long, faint scar across my chest from where he had slashed me that day so many years ago. Hearing Cloud talk about it, along with everything else that had happened, had brought those dark memories to the front of my mind, and I hadn't quite been able to put them aside ever since. I wasn't really sure if I could. And there were other things about Cloud's story that bothered me. Things that didn't make sense. But I wasn't too sure. Or was I? I didn't know.

My own memories of those terrible days weren't entirely clear, but I remembered enough. And what I remembered concerned me. But if I said something to Cloud, if I told him what I knew, what would it do to him? What would happen? I recalled that when he had first come back into my life and reluctantly joined AVALANCHE, I had noticed that he hadn't seemed quite like himself, like the Cloud that I knew. There had been something strange about him, out of place, and it wasn't just from being in SOLDIER. And now, the story he had told us, it had added to my concerns rather than alleviating them. But telling him now was too much of a risk. So I decided to watch and wait.

Shaking off my thoughts, I returned my attention to the man I was talking with. "Where did you see him? When?"

"I live in one of the outlying farms nearby, and I was busy working outside, tending to my crops, when I glanced up and saw him strolling along through the fields. This was yesterday morning, and the sun had been shining pretty bright at the time, but when that guy walked on by, everything seemed to just get dark for a moment, like he was carryin' a storm cloud or somethin' with him, and everything got real still. Then, after he was gone, things got all bright and normal again like he'd never even been there. He's got this killer sword and looks real scary, so I'd be real careful if I were you."

"Thank you!" I replied. "Do you know which way he went?"

He nodded. "He was heading east, last I saw him. Probably toward the valley and the grasslands. Might be going to that big chocobo farm on the far side of the mountains. The mythril mine is off that way, too., but you've got to cross this huge swamp to reach it. No one's been there lately because of all the monsters infesting the place."

I thanked the man again and rushed out of the town square to find Cloud. He had gone into a nearby pub to ask around while I had come here and Aerith had stayed close to the inn and the town gates to glean information from whoever she could. It didn't take long for me to find Cloud. He was sitting casually at the bar, nursing a drink and listening to an older man maybe in his fifties as he talked to him about his work in the mythril mines. Cloud nodded now and then, and when I walked up to him, he looked at me and motioned to the empty stool on his left side. "Hey, Tif. Have a seat. You find out anything yet?"

"Yeah, I did," I answered, sliding onto the stool. "I just spoke with a guy in the town square. He saw him, Cloud."

Cloud froze, his eyes locked on me. "He did?"

"There's no doubt, Cloud. He's heading east, probably toward those mines. But why there?"

"I don't know," he answered. "but there's been trouble there lately. I doubt that's a coincidence."

I nodded. "I've heard about that, too."

Cloud went on. "I've been talking with Jarvis here, and he says that those monsters just started showing up there recently. They killed and drove out all the workers, and it's been shut down ever since. There are other mines, but the one that's southwest of the chocobo farm is easily the biggest in the region. It's pretty far from here, though. It'll take even Sephiroth a while to get there. Jarvis used to work in the place before it was shut down, then he moved back here with his son until it reopens. There's no telling when that'll be, though."

"Do you think there might be a connection between Sephiroth and the monsters?" I wondered.

Even as I was asking that question, Cloud shook his head. "I'm not sure. It seems more like it's Shinra's doing than his, especially in light of what I told you about the reactors. I don't doubt he'd take advantage of it if he could, though."

"I guess you're right," I agreed. "We'll just have to be careful."

"Yeah. Come on, Tif. Let's go find Aerith and see if she's found out anything else."

We both stood up, and after Cloud left some gil next to his glass to pay the tab, I followed him outside. We headed back in the direction of the inn, but we had only gone a few steps when we heard a shout from behind us and off to our left. We both turned to see Barret scowling as he ran toward us. "Guys! There ya are! Got us some trouble!"

"Where's Red?" I asked.

"Chasin' down that goddamn thief the innkeeper warned us 'bout," Barret explained. "Little runt swiped my wallet jus' as we was gonna go get some supplies. Red took off after her, an' I tried to keep up, but they both are jus' too damn fast. Knowin' him, he's probably followed her all across town by now. Not sure how to find 'em, though."

Cloud swore. "Damn! I saw her earlier, back at the inn, but figured it was just my imagination."

I glanced sharply at him. "Where was she?"

"On the rooftops across the street. She must have been watching us the whole time. I should have gone with you, Barret."

He snorted. "Hell, Cloud, how was you supposed to know?"

"Right," Cloud admitted. "Anyway, let's get moving, people. Aerith should still be near the inn and the city gates, so we'll find her first and fill her in on what's happened. Red knows we're supposed to meet over there, too, so he might try to nudge our thief back that way if he's been able to keep up with her so far."

"He ain't losin' her," Barret nodded. "Count on it."

He was right, of course. I knew that Red wouldn't stop until he had caught up to the thief and made her give back what she'd taken. I didn't think it would be easy, though. And he would need all the help that we could give him. So we hurried through the crowded streets back to the inn as quickly as we could, and as we went, I found myself hoping that it wouldn't take too long to find Aerith. As it turned out, she was just a short distance down the street from the Silver Dragon and talking with a few people. When she saw us, Aerith excused herself and walked over to meet us, worry on her face.

"Guys! What's wrong? What happened to Red?"

I was just getting ready to answer when a slim, short-haired girl of about sixteen or so suddenly came pelting around the corner of one of the buildings, her dark, almond eyes widening when she saw us. Other people moved aside to get out of her way as she ran, and seconds later, Red bounded around the same corner the thief had just come from, his good eye narrow as he ran after her..

He called to us. "Cloud! It's her! Don't let her escape!"

Cloud glanced at the three of us, his eyes blazing. "You heard him! Spread out! Fence her in!"

Instantly, we scattered, each of us falling into position and forming a wide circle in the middle of the street as the girl sped right toward us. She saw exactly what we were doing and tried to turn around, but Red was right there behind her, keeping her moving ahead as he closed the circle. As the girl looked this way and that, the five of us moved in, and I knew we had her. By the time we were standing within a few yards of her, she sighed and dropped her head.

"Looks like you got me after all," the girl whimpered.

Cloud folded his arms in front of him and frowned at her. "You've got something that belongs to us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" she nodded.

"Hand it over," he ordered. "Now."

The girl slowly reached into the front pocket of her shorts. "I didn't think you'd catch me. You guys are really good."

"Just give us what you stole. There's no way out now."

"You think so?" she asked.

Red stiffened. "Cloud, be careful…"

I heard the alarm in his voice but wasn't sure why he was suddenly so agitated. Cloud certainly seemed wary enough. And he was right in what he had told the girl. She didn't have any way of escaping now that we had surrounded her. But even so, I couldn't help feeling like we had missed something. Red's warning sent my nerves on edge, and I found myself suddenly holding my breath and wondering just what was going to happen next. The young girl certainly looked defeated enough, with her shoulders slumped and her head hanging dejectedly, but I couldn't help feeling like Red was right, that we should still be cautious.

"I will, Red," Cloud answered him. Then he turned back to the girl. "I know so, miss. It's over."

She whipped her head up and grinned. "Guess again!"

Before any of us could stop her or even move, she yanked her hand out of her pocket, raised it high over her head, and smashed something small, round, and white onto the ground right in front of her. Instantly, clouds of gray smoke billowed all around us, and we all coughed on the fumes and tried not to choke. My lungs and eyes burned as I struggled to breathe, and I heard Barret swearing in between coughs. By the time the smoke finally cleared away just a few moments later, I knew exactly what we would see. But still, as I swept away the last of the fumes with one arm and looked in front of me, I felt my heart sink.

The girl was gone.

"Goddamn it!" Barret growled. "That little runt! I'm gonna tan her friggin' hide when I get a hold of her!"

"She will surely be difficult to catch," Red pointed out. "However, I share your sentiment, Barret."

Cloud bent close to the ground. "Hold on…"

"What is it?" I asked.

He pointed to where the girl had been standing. "You see that, Tif? She got away with that smoke bomb of hers, but she left us something, too. Check it out."

I gasped. "Barret's wallet!"

I could hardly believe it. But it was there, lying on the cobblestones where we had cornered the girl. We hadn't caught her, but she had still left us what she owed us even though she could have easily kept it with her instead. And as I realized that, I thought that maybe she might not have been such a bad person after all.

Barret picked it up and checked it. "Looks like it's all here. Girl ain't as bad as I—wait, I'm a hundred short! Damn!"

"What?" I blinked.

Cloud sighed. "Well, considering that she could have just taken the whole thing, I'd say you got off lucky, Barret."

"Yeah, I suppose so, Spike."

Red looked at him. "She seemed to be more interested in the chase and the excitement than in the money, from what I saw of her. And the fact that she left almost all of it when she didn't have to would seem to support that observation."

"Do you think we'll see her again?" Aerith wondered.

Cloud nodded. "I've got a feeling we will. Something tells me we'll be running into her again sooner or later."

"Some of the people I talked to, they mentioned her. They say she's stolen only from people with a lot of money. Not families or the poor. I also heard she's fond of materia and that she's hit several shops that sell it. So if we get some new materia…"

"We can use it as bait!" I finished.

Cloud grinned. "Good thinking, ladies. We'll go pick some up and make sure anyone can see it on our gear. And as soon as that girl finds out what we've got, she's bound to come looking for us."

"Whoa, wait a minute!" Barret argued. "All this over a hundred gil? Sure, I don't like bein' shorted like that, but still…"

"I understand, Barret. But it's not about that, not really. You've seen how fast she is. And she was able to outrun Red all across town. That's not an easy thing to do."

Red laughed. "Thank you, Cloud."

"It's the truth," he replied. "On four legs, you're faster than any one of us. That she stayed ahead of you for so long says a lot about her and her abilities. She also had to have been able to think fast and improvise in order to do that."

"Indeed," Red agreed. "She is quite skilled, I must admit."

I frowned. "What are you getting at, Cloud?"

"We've got a long, dangerous journey ahead of us," he said. "And I think we'll need all the help we can get. She could be useful to us, and I bet she's pretty good in a fight, too."

Barret stared at him as if he'd gone insane. "Say what!?"

"If and when we run into that girl again, I'm gonna see if she wants to come with us."

"You sure about that, Cloud?" Barret asked.

Cloud nodded. "I don't trust her any more than you do. Not yet, at least. But wouldn't you rather have her right where we can see her than out there somewhere?"

"I guess you got a point. Can't say as I like it much, though."

As for me, I wasn't entirely sure what to think. Although I believed Cloud and trusted him, I was still worried and could understand what Barret was saying, too. And there was something else I wondered. Even if we did find her again and Cloud asked her to join us, she might turn him down. She might say no. What then? Would he force the issue? Or would he let her go? I wasn't sure which I wanted.

"Cloud," I said. "What if she says no?"

He looked at me. "That's a good question, Tif. I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we come to it."

I smiled. "Fair enough. So what now?"

"Let's all head back over to the market district and get our supplies and materia," Cloud decided. "Then we'll grab some dinner and return to the inn. We'll leave town early in the morning."

As we started walking, Aerith spoke, her voice low. "Cloud, there's something else. I also found out that there were a few murders in town last night. Three people, out on the streets. Cut down, from what I was told, and just left there for anyone to find."

"Does anyone know who did it?" I asked. I had my suspicions, and I shivered at the thought.

She shook her head. "Not for certain, no. But witnesses saw a man in a black cloak leaving the scene just minutes later."

"Sephiroth," Cloud grimaced.

"But why?" I wondered. "If he was here, why didn't he just destroy everything like he did in Nibelheim?"

Cloud sighed. "I don't know."

"You think he wants us to follow him?" Aerith said.

"Whether he does or not, it doesn't make any difference. I'm going after him no matter what."

I wasn't the least bit surprised, and hearing the resolve in his voice made my own feelings about it stronger as well. Wherever Cloud went, I would go, too. Even if it was just us and everyone else was gone. I had no doubt about it. I cared about Cloud too much to ever do otherwise, even if I didn't know yet how to tell him.

The rest of the night was fortunately uneventful, and we were able to buy all the supplies and equipment we needed. Red picked up a new mythril clip for his feathered headdress, and it had a couple more slots for materia than his old one. And speaking of materia, we bought a few new ones, such as Earth and Heal, and made sure we fit them onto our gear right away. There was no way to know when we'd run into that girl again, so we were going to be ready for her.

I hoped that she would take the bait, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Cloud might have been right about her after all. And I was curious to find out more about her and what had driven her to steal from people. Why was she so far away from her homeland? She had definitely been from Wutai, there was no question. Her round face, almond eyes, and straight black hair had shown that clear as day. I found myself anticipating our next encounter with her. And I was quite sure there would be a next encounter.

Only this time, we would be ready for her.