Chapter One
The days had gotten longer during the muggy summer months; to young Yuffie Kisaragi they seemed tortuously longer. Wutai, Yuffie's age old home, decorated with carvings of past rulers on the mountain side, and replicas of temples for ancient gods long forgotten, seemed a place lost amongst the growing and modern world. It was a place to come and lose your worries of life, and meditate on thoughts of healing and relaxation. Or if you were a brave man seeking power, you came to battle the gods found in her father's pagoda, The Pagoda of Trials. However to Yuffie, it was a trap, a place to hold her captive, where her father could keep his eye on her and keep her out of trouble.
Yuffie hated being stuck in one place, hated having to help her father take care of the old temples. The temples were wearing away bit-by-bit each day it seemed, constantly needing repairs or a fresh coat of paint. Working in the summer heat was not her idea of fun. Yuffie wanted to explore and see places, have an adventure. But that was not going to happen anytime soon. Her father had not been himself after the war with Shinra many years ago, but he was still strong, strong enough to represent the god Omni in the Pagoda of trials, the strongest one of all. Also, every year there were fewer and fewer patrons to fund the temples, and Godo, her father barely made any gil, let alone having enough to allow them to travel.
Yuffie thought about where she would go first if her and her father could escape this tourist trap. She had heard about a city far away, where everyone lived in metal houses, and never saw the real sky. Or a farm where they bred gigantic birds called Chocobos. Yuffie stopped for second and wondered just what a chocobo looked like? Was it a giant chicken? Or maybe a huge finch? Oh well she thought, losing hope of ever stepping foot outside Wutai, never to see the wonders the world had to offer.
It was finally starting to get dark outside. Yuffie had been at one of the temples organizing a desk full of scrolls and writing brushes, when she had taken a moment to look out at the blue sky. She sighed to herself and went back to her work, she was almost done anyways and then maybe her father would allow her to go home and relax, and forget about the emptiness in her life.
Yuffie opened a drawer in the desk and slipped some scrolls inside only to find they wouldn't fit. She tried just shoving them in but they still wouldn't go. After trying one more time and getting frustrated she put her hand towards the back of the drawer to see if she could feel what was jamming her work. Her long thin fingers found something smooth, yet hard like rock. She curled her fingers around it to find it was spherical in shape, and about the size of a small orange. Gently pulling it out of the drawer her eyes fell upon a beautiful orb emitting a phantasmal glow of blood red, the essence inside swirling like a torrent wind over the seas. She found herself mesmerized by its beauty, its enchantment. She twirled it in her fingers, letting its colors catch the rays of the sunset and then bounce off the temple walls. It was so magical, she thought, truly a rare treasure.
"Yuffie!"
Yikes! It was her father! Yuffie suddenly realized what she was doing and tried to stash the sphere in her pocket, when suddenly it slipped through her nervous fingers and fell to the floor. Yuffie clenched her entire body waiting for the shatter of glass and the loud crash that associated with it. But it did not come. Instead she heard a faint ting as if a small coin had hit the floor, and to her surprise it bounced, more then once, each time making the faint ting sound until it finally rolled off into the shadows of a corner. "Ah! There you are Yuffie." Her father had just entered the room. He was wearing his normal temple garb, but his face looked especially tired that day. Probably from the extreme heat thought Yuffie, hurriedly regaining her composure.
"What do you want old man?" Yuffie snapped, a bit harsher than she wanted to, but kept her demeanor anyway.
"I was hoping to find you finished already you lazy twerp!" He stopped and a took a deep breath and looked as if he were trying to keep himself from picking Yuffie up and tossing her across the room. He took another breath and a bit calmer said, " I was hoping you would be so kind as to run to Turtle's Paradise for me. I need you to buy some refreshments, we're having a guest tonight, and I wanted to show him some real Wutai hospitality."
"Guest?" asked Yuffie. They hadn't had a real guest in a long time, not since before her mother had passed away. Yuffie wondered what the occasion was. "Who is this guest?" Yuffie's curiosity was starting to peak.
"No one in particular, just someone interested in the trials. Now hurry up! I don't want him to think I run a unruly household!" Godo stomped off, with his face getting redder and redder as he went. Yuffie watched him leave until she saw him enter the courtyard and head towards their home.
Yuffie breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards where the sphere had landed. She found it in the corner and she picked it up to inspect it for damages. As she was feeling it over for any scratches her light touch fell upon some unusual markings etched into the sphere. The markings were very small, and she was barely able to make them out. She moved closer to the light to get a better look. That's when she noticed six distinct characters and she recognized the word, "MASTER".