A/N: Hey guys. This chapter took a lot of thinking and getting angry and that sorta thing. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Summary – The gang is picked up by Cid Highwind in the Sentinel. They met a robot called Cait Sith and his creator Reeve in Gold Saucer. Squall is introduced to Bahamuts 'Big Brother.' The gang are now heading to Rocket Town.

Chapter 13 – Ninja Warning and Vampire Attack

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The Sentinel landed near a small town called Rocket Town. Barret was the first to disembark, with Marlene on his shoulders and Angelo walking beside him. Squall and his friends came out next, while everyone else took up the rear. Squall say Cloud mutter something to Cid, who nodded and started walking towards the town. Everyone but Squall, Rinoa, Cloud and Tifa, followed him.

"I'm going to the forest to practice my materia skills." Squall told Rinoa.

"Okay. How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know, but I'll get back as soon as I can, okay?" he said stroking her cheek.

"Deal." She kissed his cheek and they walked away.

Cloud and Tifa had watched them

"Cloud, don't you think you should go with him?" she asked.

Cloud looked at her confusedly.

"Why?"

"Well you never know what could attack him. It could be a Dark Dragon or…or Iron Giant. I mean they could probably beat you up pretty badly."

Cloud considered this.

"I guess you've got a point. But I shouldn't go; you know he doesn't trust me."

"How about sending Bahamut. He can come and warn you if Squall gets in trouble." She suggested.

"That's a good idea Tif." He turned around and whistled. Bahamut flew towards him and landed with a thud in front of him. It bent down so Cloud could talk to it.

"Listen carefully Bahamut. I want you to follow Squall, but he mustn't know you're there. If he's in danger, come and get me okay?"

Bahamut moved its head to say that it understood. It took flight and flew towards the forest.

* * * * *

Squall quietly walked over the Launch Pad area plains, heading towards a nearby forest. His gunblade was strapped at his hip and he had a Rune Armlet on his wrist. Four materia were contained in its slots. Lightning, Restore, Sense and a Time materia. He decided to get some practice. He had become good at using basic spells like Bolt and Cure, and had decided to start using stronger magic.

He chose Time materia because it seemed good to learn to 'Slow' or 'Stop' his opponents, or make himself faster with 'Haste.' Sense was good for finding out how strong his opponents were, their weakness and being able to tell if he could defeat them or not.

In what seemed, no time at all he reached the forest. He cautiously walked to an opening. He saw nothing but a large clump of bushes around him. He felt unsure, he had a feeling that he was in danger, somehow.

He concentrated on his 'Sense' materia. It was his first time using it. He managed to detect a small amount of energy behind the bushes. Cautiously, he walked up to them.

Before he could even react, he was knocked off his feet by something tackling him. He landed on his back with a heavy object on top of him. His Lionheart gunblade landed on the ground about a foot beside him. It was a girl who had tackled him. She had a short, dark brown hair and wore a green top, with shorts. She had a shuriken on her back, and what looked like, a shield on her arm. She looked younger than he was, she was a ninja. She pinned him on the floor and dug her hands in his jacket pocket. Squall struggled to get her off him, but she had him firmly pinned to the ground. She was holding something in her hand when she brought it out his pocket, and a grin slowly crept across her face. She then got up off of him and darted off.

'What was that about?' Squall thought as he sat up. He dug his hand in his pocket and he realised his Gil pouch was missing.

"HEY!!" he shouted after the girl. He got up, grabbed his gunblade and ran after her. "That's my Gil."

She darted between the trees trying to lose him, but didn't do very well. She kept running until she came to a cave. She grinned and ran inside. Squall saw her and followed. He was engulfed by darkness as soon as he stepped into the cave. He could hear the girl's footsteps as he travelled deeper into the cave. He knew it would be hopeless to find her without any light so he focused on the magic inside his body. He lifted his gunblade and, using his Elemental Junction ability, he focused the magic into it. It started to go red then flames burst out around it. The flames gave off enough light for him to see the cave very clearly. He cautiously walked deeper into the cave.

He saw the ninja rush out of an opening to his left and she darted down the path. Squall hastily followed her. She stopped at a dead end and looked at him. Squall slowly walked up and held out his hand.

"Give me my Gil now!" he ordered.

This didn't phase the ninja in the slightest. She smiled cockily and raised her hand, which held Squall's Gil pouch.

"You mean this?" she asked sweetly. She looked back at Squall, who maintained his cool posture, "Come and get it then."

"Gladly," Squall snarled and he ran towards her. The ninja was taken aback and reached for her shuriken.

Squall raised his gunblade as he ran towards her. He slashed down, but she leapt to the side. He swung at her several more times but each time, she dodged out the way. Her agility would match that of Selphie's, who was particularly fiendish to hit. Squall swung at her again and she back flipped out of his range. Quick as lightning she took her shuriken of her back and threw it at Squall. Her attack came so suddenly, that he barely had time to block. The ring of his gunblade smacking the shuriken away echoed through the cave. The ninja's shuriken came back to her and she got ready to throw it again. But before either of them could attack, a high pitched screech rang through the cave. The noise pounded in Squall's head, making him drop his gunblade. He clamped his hands over his ears to block out the noise, but it still screeched in his head. He felt like his head was going to explode.

The screech stopped and he took his hands away. He suddenly felt something bash into him from behind. He was knocked clean off his feet and slammed against the wall. He slowly stood up, slightly dizzy and looked at what had attacked him. His mouth fell open.

The creature was tall and vampire-like. It looked similar to Diablos, one of Squall's GFs. Its large wings reached to both walls. It had huge claws, sharp fangs and blood red eyes. It had several long horns on the back of its head and they looked very lethal. Squall stood up and backed away a few paces. He then realised that he couldn't find his gunblade. He looked at the ninja, who had a victorious grin on her face. She stood behind the vampire-thing and in her hands was his gunblade. Squall looked back at the creature.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

* * * * *

Everyone, bar Squall, was in Cid's house. They were all sitting in a group, talking about the old days. Even the gang were joining in. They swapped short stories and Cid told a few of his dirty jokes.

Cloud and Tifa sat side by side, mostly listening. Tifa laid her head on Clouds shoulder while his arm was behind her. She didn't know why but she was very tired. It was also slightly cold this far north but she was warm next to Cloud. She just wanted to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, but they were only staying her for a while, so Cid could get supplies for the Sentinel.

She was barely listening to what the others were saying, she just wanted to relax. She looked up at Cloud, who was staring at the floor. He looked like he was daydreaming. But there was a slight frown on his face, like he was concentrating. His eyes suddenly went wide.

"Damn." He whispered.

"What is it?" she asked

He stood up quickly and went outside. Everyone watched him walk out, and Tifa followed him. She saw him at the other end of the street.

He stared in the direction of the forest as Tifa ran up beside him.

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Cloud? What is it?" she asked worriedly

He didn't answer immediately. He had a worried look on his face.

"Squall's in danger. There's someone there with J-E-N-O-V-A cells in them. I can feel it."

Before Tifa could say anything, they heard a familiar cry. Bahamut landed in front of them and moaned. Squall was in trouble.

Cloud turned round to face Tifa.

"I've got to go help him. Who knows what's out there."

"I'm coming with you. You may need help."

Cloud didn't want Tifa to come. Not because she wasn't a good fighter, hell she would be a great help, but he didn't want her to get hurt. But when Tifa made her mind up about something, nothing was going to change it.

"Okay, but I want you to be careful."

She nodded in agreement and they both climbed onto Bahamut. Soon, they were heading to the forest.

* * * * *

The creature swiped at Squall but he ducked and ran behind it. He grabbed his gunblade from the ninja, who had been tampering with her materia. The creature lashed out and he did the same. The claw scratched Squall shoulder, while his blade pierced the creature's rib.

The creature screeched again, forcing Squall to cover his ears and become vulnerable. It grabbed his next and pressed him against the wall.

The creature tightened its grip around Squall's throat. He couldn't breathe, and his head was still pounding from the screech. He grabbed the creature's wrist, hoping to make it let go, but it tightened it grip even more. He could feel all the air gone from his lungs. He started to choke, desperate for oxygen. He felt himself almost slip into unconsciousness.

But it didn't happen. The creatures screamed in pain and let go of Squall. He collapsed to the floor, gasping. He could barely see in the dark, but he could make out two figures behind the monster. The male one was easy to recognise. His bright blue eyes were the only part Squall could see perfectly. The woman behind him, he could recognise as well. There was only one person with hair that long.

It was Cloud and Tifa.

The creature looked ready to attack when it whirled round to see the newcomers but stopped. The ninja slowly walked up to beside the creature. She spoke to Cloud and Tifa.

"Hey guys. Long time no see." She said

Before talking back Cloud changed on of the materia's in his sword, which caused it to become engulfed with flames, lighting up the cave.

"Hey Yuffie...Vincent."

Tifa ran over to Squall.

"Are you okay." She asked. He slowly nodded and tiredly stood up. "Looks like we got here just in time."

Meanwhile, Cloud was talking to his attackers.

"You can change now Vincent. Squall's not the enemy." He said to the creature.

The creature nodded and started to transform. The wings were absorbed into its back and its claws changed into human hands. The horns separated into strands of jet black hair and lay against its back. A long cape appeared where the wings were and one of its arms was replaced with a gold, metal one. The creature was human.

"It's good to see you again Cloud." He said in a mysterious voice. He turned to Tifa, "You too Tifa. It's been a long time."

"Yeah" the ninja, supposedly called Yuffie, said.

Cloud smiled slightly.

"Yuffie? I believe you have something of Squall's."

"Oh yeah." She moaned; sounding disappointed that Cloud had found out. She walked up to Squall and gave him his Gil. "Sorry about that."

Squall scowled. Obviously, AVALANCHE's favourite way of greeting people was by attacking them.

Their greetings were cut short by the loud engine roar of the Sentinel. Cloud turned to Squall.

"Let's go. We're going to Cosmo canyon, to meet the final member of AVALANCHE."

A/N: Sorry this chapter took sooooo long. I had a big writers block. They don't mix with homework. Next chapter will come out quicker though and after that, the plot will really start to thicken.