Chapter Two
Yuffie squinted as she gazed over the orb. MASTER? What was MASTER? Oh well she thought, no matter. Surely this orb would fetch a handsome price somewhere in town, then maybe she could take that little vacation she's always dreamed of. Yuffie carefully stashed the orb into the side pocket of her cargo shorts and headed towards Turtle's Paradise to pick up those refreshments.
She kept up a good pace on the way to Turtle's Paradise, sort of skipping as she walked with a little smile on her face. She thought about all the money her new treasure could be worth and all the places she would go. Then she remembered why she was going to Turtle's Paradise. Her father mentioned a guest interested in the trials. But no one had come to face the trials since before the war with Shinra. What kind of person would be interested in that kind of power and knowledge now? Probably some psycho out to take over the world or some nonsense like that, thought Yuffie. It was no concern of hers, but she was concerned for her father. He represented the god Omni in the Pagoda of Trials, the strongest, most powerful of all. She worried, because he hadn't had a chance to represent Omni for many years, and even though he was strong, he was rusty.
Yuffie saw a little cat scamper across the road chasing after a fly, and then leap into a large ceramic barrel with its lid off. Silly cat, she thought, how will you get out now? It took her mind off what she was thinking and focused her attention to the little store right behind the barrel. That's funny, she wondered, where did that store come from? Wutai was such a small village, she was surprised to find a place she couldn't recall seeing before. She took a step toward it to try and see the name of the store. She frowned; she couldn't find the name anywhere. She took another step closer, than another. Finally she was close enough to peer inside through a little window. The window was dusty and made everything look blurry inside, so she wiped just a small corner of the window clean with her fingers in order to get a clear look. She was surprised to find it was old, and dirty looking inside, and empty. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years. Suddenly a small spider crawled right into her vision from the other side, making her jump backwards a pace. She gasped for a breath and then realized what it was. She looked around to see if anyone had seen her, she felt a tad embarrassed having jumped so easily. She noticed that the streets were empty. In fact there was no sound at all, not even a meow from the playful cat she had encountered.
Yuffie looked again at the old store. Something about it gave her a mystical feeling, a feeling similar to when she gazed upon her newfound orb. Yuffie decided to take a little adventure inside the old store and have a look around. She wouldn't be long, just a quick peek, and then she'd be on her way to Turtle's Paradise. She had better hurry though, it was getting darker outside and she would need at least some light.
Yuffie crept towards the door, brushing away old spider webs, and weeds that had grown up all around. She reached for the door handle, it was old and rusty, she turned the knob, and she gently pushed against the door. It budged a few inches making a creaking sound, so she pushed a little harder and the door sprang wide open for her to enter. Inside she saw basically what she had expected, a run down old general store with empty shelves except a few old jars, and an old cash till sitting on the counter. She turned around and closed the door, making sure it was shut all the way. When she heard the click of the door telling her it was closed tight, she blinked, then suddenly as if paint had fallen from the skies, the room around her encased itself with color! The room shone with brightness of every sort. The walls were a crystalline blue and suddenly everything was clean and there were drapes over the windows in a brilliant emerald color. The floor had become lush with a rich thick red carpet, and the ceiling glistened yellow like the radiant sun. And all the shelves were now a delightful fuchsia in color.
Yuffie stood with her mouth wide open and her eyes gaping at what she was seeing. Her hands were limp at her sides and she felt her knees begin to buckle slightly beneath her. She took a deep breath and brought herself back to life. She closed her mouth and then her eyes and then opened them again. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, she began looking around at all the display cases that shined like freshly polished diamonds, and what was inside left her speechless. She took a step towards the display case closest to her on the right side, and bent slightly to get a better look. Then from towards the back of the store she heard a man's voice say, " Take a look around, I'll be there shortly!" Yuffie straightened, startled by the voice. How did anyone know she was here? The place was empty only a moment ago, what was going on here?