Disclaimer : Kaiki-Chan does not own Squaresoft, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters involved. Kaiki-Chan's only possessions are a funny-looking ring, a spiked wrist band, and a mis-shapen hair-do. Also, Kaiki-Chan has realized that her paragraphing was totally random, and made her feel stupid. So, she has changed it to be a little more easily readible. ^_^ Arigatou!

Yuffie had been travelling for around a day, now. Her legs were weary, and her arms were heavy. She wanted company, dammit. If she'd persuaded Vincent to come.. Okay. Fair enough. It wouldn't have made much of a difference, but at least it'd be something. She pouted. Travelling alone was -so- boring. She missed the days when her and the others used to explore different places, looking for a guy in a black cape.. Then battling strong monsters.. And-- Yuffie's thoughts were cut-off, as she stood, rooted to the spot.

The snarling Nibel-wolf was foaming at the mouth, ahead of her. A few seconds after, a rustling in the bushes occured. Five more of the Nibel- wolves made their presence known, their demonic red eyes staring at Yuffie's petrified form, as she stood there, unsure of what to do. Carefully, Yuffie took an anxious step forward. The wolves saw this as an immediate threat. They rushed forward, barrelling into Yuffie at an incredible speed. She reached for The Conformer, that usually hung from her belt.. Wait. Where -was- her weapon? Yuffie struggled, and forced one of the hungry wolves off of her, while the others continued to rip at her clothes and belongings. She spun around, spying the edge of the Conformer poking out from behind a rock. 'Dammit..' Yuffie thought, still trying to force the wolves off of her vulnerable, defenceless form.

Vincent's long, powerful stride had gained him an immense amount of time. He didn't sleep, either. He had passed what looked like Yuffie's camping site for the night before, about an hour ago. He urged himself on. He started to think about how Yuffie had been. From what he'd read about in her letters was mostly about Godo, and how he "enjoyed" bossing her around. Free spirits are free spirits, Vincent told himself. He knew Godo couldn't control her, even when she had taken initiative to volunteer to find the Full-Cure the town needed. He wondered how Yuffie could stand up to such a man. He reminded himself that Yuffie was certainly not like Aeris or Tifa. Yuffie wouldn't be caught dead going along with everyone else. She always had to do things by herself. He admired her, for that. Soon, it made him wonder how well they'd get along, now. Had she changed, in just six months? He wondered if that was possible. Vincent's thoughts were soon interrupted, by a haunting scream. Instinctively, he took off, into a run, in the direction of the scream.

Yuffie bit and smacked at the wolves, but it was no use. She tried and tried, throwing punches and kicks, but the wolves always came back for more. She felt blood leaking, and a searing pain, from her stomach region. 'No! Not now! Don't do this to me!' The young girl screamed, before her eyes became heavy, and she began to feel dizzy...

Vincent hurried, as fast as he could, darting past fallen trees, jagged rocks, and the tough and typical Nibel Pass. His ears had perked, since the scream. He stopped, abruptly, completely still. He listened. There was a whimper, and a small yelp. Vincent's ears traced the direction, and his eyes fell to a small area, directly down from the cliff that was a few metres away. He hurried over to the cliff, crouched low, and saw what he would have nightmares for, for the next millenia. There was Yuffie, her short, delicate form, laying on the dirty ground. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was open, just slightly. But the worst.. The right side of her stomach looked like it had been lashed and bitten at, and blood was still seeping out of it. Her clothes were torn, she was covered in scratches and bite-marks. The look of horror on Vincent's face faded, and was replaced with one of anger, as he sighted the pack of Nibel-wolves.

He felt a burning, tingling sensation all over his body, as he stood up, and yelled, into the crisp, dewy air. Vincent's concealed arms began to bulge, and grow into hideous muscles. His skin faded, and gradually turned a deep violet, as short, course fur began to grow, all over his body. Wings exploded from his shoulder-blades, and horns out of his head did the same. Soon, the torn clothes of Vincent lay discarded on the ground, as the Galian Beast took a step forward, sliding down the rocky cliff. He bellowed a loud roar, his free mind losing control. The violet beast reached a solid, flat surface, and took off into a sprint, in the wolves' direction, roaring all the while.

The demon charged at the wolves, and managed to skewer one of the fiends on his right, piercing horns. The creature yelped, before it's untimely end. The beast glared at the other wolves, for a short moment. Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One..

The living wolves took off, with their tails behind their legs.

The beast removed the dead wolf from it's horn, and tossed it aside. Carefully, it stomped over to the unconscious girl, behind him. Slowly, the violet monstrosity bent down, and sniffed the girl's face. Miraculously, the tiny girl opened her cerulean eyes, and looked into the violet beast's. Before long, Yuffie's head fell backwards, as she slipped into unconsciousness, yet again. The beast began to shrink, slowly, and gained his original, fur-free complexion. His naked body returned to normal, and the wings and horns shrunk back, into his skeleton. Vincent was drained. His very energy had depleted, but he knew he had to stand up. He did, although with alot of pain, and some dizziness. With immense difficulty, Vincent dressed in the last torn bits of his clothes, ripped off a little of his untouched cape, and applied pressure to Yuffie's wound. After this, he reached his arms down, and out towards Yuffie. He slipped his arms around her scarred and tattered body, and lifted her into the security of his arms. Slow and limping, Vincent resumed the journey.

Kaiki-Chan's last note! : Thank-you for reading. Thanks for all the positive reviews, too! I hope this chapter isn't somewhat of a let-down. I hope the goriness of Yuffie and anger of Vincent wasn't too OOC, but I tried my hardest. Also, I don't think Cure3 or Full-Cure would be able to heal Yuffie's wound, so I improvised in a more realistic way, I guess. Arigatou, nice people! ^_^ Don't forget to review!