Cloud's mind was on many things aside from what lay on the road ahead. On what he had heard in Gongaga about that other SOLDIER, Zack; what Aeris had told him; and more importantly, about the encounter with Turks.
A Shinra spy seemed the most likely answer, but the thought made Cloud's stomach turn. Besides, who could it have been? Sadly enough, fingers pointed more to either Yuffie or to Cait Sith than any of the others. Both would have their reasons, however strange they might be.
Had Yuffie's greed for Materia really have gotten the best of her? She was spoiled rotten, but Cloud wasn't ready to believe she could go as far as outward betrayal.
And Cait Sith, the robotic cat and Mog, spent a lot of time to themselves, and he had admitted as much that the Mog was simply a stuffed robotic toy. The cat looked real enough, but Cloud had learned the hard way that appearances could be deceiving.
And then there was Sephiroth. Sephiroth wanted the Promised Land and so did Shinra. And Cloud needed to get Aeris there as well. But for what purpose? Why was he going to the Promised Land in the first place? To settle up with Sephiroth? Or was he going for Aeris?
And even the actual location of the Promised Land was a mystery, even to Aeris. Sephiroth claimed both to be an Ancient and to know the whereabouts of the Promised Land, where as Aeris had little or no clue at all where to even begin.
Currently, Sephiroth was in the lead with Shinra hot on his heels, leaving Cloud and the others straggling behind, scraping for answers in the remains left by Shinra, and even they were scrambling for clues behind Sephiroth.
Finally, what about Cloud himself? Was Sephiroth even aware that his former friend and soldier was still following him around? Or was he just leading him along? But why do such a thing? It would be a lot simpler to just confront him now and get it over with. Was he just toying with him?
Maybe a final battle…maybe that's what the dark warrior wanted most, but Cloud doubted that he would be much of a challenge to Sephiroth.
Cloud's train of thought was suddenly derailed as his face split into a long yawn. Blinking, Cloud looked out the side of the buggy and was rather surprised to see the rocky red canyon walls of Cosmo Canyon streak past his door.
"(Have we really travelled so far north already? That must have been some daydream)," thought Cloud.
Cloud then noticed that Red XIII was suddenly looking practically serious all of a sudden.
"This is Cosmo Canyon, my birthplace, and my hometown. If it's not too much trouble, I would like to stop and be let off here please," said Red XIII.
Before Cloud could answer, though, he jerked around and slammed on the brakes as a thunderous explosion blew the hood off the buggy and sent sparks flying from the battery.
The buggy gave one more shudder, then dropped off its anti-gravity jets onto the ground, damaging the engine and spraying a jet of hot water into the air. But luckily, they had just broken down outside Cosmo Canyon, and would be able to stay there until the buggy was fixed.
"Looks like we're all going to be staying here for a while," said Cloud, thoroughly annoyed that there would be an even further delay that would cause him to lose even more progress on finding Sephiroth.
"So this is Cosmo Canyon, huh?" said Barret, amused, and looking around at Cosmo Canyon with great interest and clear fascination, as he and the others all got out of the buggy.
Barret ascended the stairs leading up from the canyon floor and stood in front of the front gates, his eyes wide with wonder at the sight before him.
Unlike the dirty, clogged skies of Midgar or the over-civilized city of Costa Del Sol, Cosmo Canyon was relatively small and smelled of opening desert blooms as they prepared to soak up the night's moisture.
Several windmills provided the small power needed to run the few houses built into the cliffs, the biggest one being the very large, gigantic telescope on top of the highest cliff.
"Wow…it's amazing. I just wish you guys could have seen this…" muttered Barret, to himself, and Cloud knew he was talking (and thinking) about Biggs, Wedge and Jessie.
Cloud turned his gaze from the huge telescope to Barret as the big man gave a deep sigh and hung his head sadly.
The death of his comrades in Sector 7 still weighed heavily on both his mind and his conscience, causing even Barret's great big black-skinned muscular shoulders to slump in despair.
Cloud, and the others entered Cosmo Canyon. They walked to the front gate where a man was standing guard. Suddenly, Red XIII ran straight past them and ran up to the man at the front gate, who suddenly seemed very pleased to see him.
"I am finally home! It is I, Nanaki!" said Red XIII, proudly.
"Hey, Nanaki! You're safe! Thanks heavens, we were all so worried! Come on in and say hello to Bugenhagen!" said the man at the front gate, joyfully.
Red XIII seemed suddenly excited, and he ran straight past the gate and ran along the town.
"Nanaki…?" said Cloud, confused, and saw that the others were looking as bewildered as he was. Cloud and the others walked up to the man at the front gate.
"Welcome to Cosmo Canyon. Are you familiar with this land?" asked the man at the front gate.
"No…" replied Cloud, truthfully.
"Then let me explain. People from all over the world gather here to seek the Study of Planet Life," explained the man at the gate. Barret seemed excited by this.
"Yeah! I always wanted to come here," said Barret.
"It's full capacity at the moment, so I'm afraid that I can't let you enter," said the man at the front gate.
Barret suddenly looked very disappointed indeed.
Just then, Red XIII ran back to the front gate, and stopped beside the man at the front gate.
"They rescued me from my lab prison when I was captured by Shinra, and they helped me travel to here safely all the way on the road. Please let them in," said Red XIII.
"Oh, is that so? You helped our Nanaki? Please, come in, come in," said the man at the front gate, gratefully, stepping aside at once and bowing to them.
"Who is Nanaki?" asked Cloud, confused.
The man stared at Cloud, surprised and taken aback.
"Nanaki is Nanaki. This is his name. Don't you already know that?" said the man at the front gate.
He then walked off as Cloud and the others walked over to Red XIII, who turned to face them.
"This is my hometown, and the place where I was born. My tribe have lived many, many years and they were all protectors of those who appreciated this beautiful canyon and the Planet. My noble mother fought and died bravely here. But my cowardly father left her. I am the last of my race," explained Red XIII.
"Cowardly father?" said Cloud, confused.
"Yes, my father was an utter coward. And so, the mission I inherited from all my ancestors is to protect this place. My journey ends here," said Red XIII, speaking very firmly rather than in his usual gentle tone, making it very clear that nothing would convince him otherwise.
Everyone else's eyes widened in surprise and they were all speechless with a sudden gloomy feeling they all shared.
They had all believed and truly felt that Red XIII was a vital part of the team, and that he would stick with them to the very end of their adventure.
They had all believed that Red XIII had felt the same way about it too…
"Hey, Nanaki! You're home!" shouted a rather croaky voice that sounded very old indeed, which was coming from the top of the highest cliff where the large telescope was.
"Coming, Grandpa!" shouted Red XIII.
He ran up some steps and into some houses to get to his adoptive (human) grandfather's house on the top of the cliff beside the telescope. Barret stared after Red XIII, amused.
"Grandpa, huh? So that's what he was talking about back in that Shinra prison cell. Good timing, though. Let's take a breather. I've got some stuff that I want to find out about too," said Barret.
Barret then walked off to a house built in one of the cliffs, while Cait Sith walked off to another house built in one of the cliffs, and Yuffie walked off to find a Materia shop.
Aeris and Tifa walked off together towards a bar in Cosmo Canyon, while Cloud quickly followed Red XIII.
Cloud entered the houses and he went along them until he ran into Barret, who was standing in a room.
"There was this guy who studied Planetary Life here. He couldn't take things the way they were, so he went to Midgar to form AVALANCHE. You wanna hear more?" asked Barret.
"Go on," replied Cloud, shrugging.
"I guess you could say that this is where AVALANCHE was born. I always wanted to come here myself to see it. And now, I've finally made it at last. A lot has happened these past few months though. Far more than I expected…" said Barret, thoughtfully.
"And then?" asked Cloud.
"I dunno what's gonna happen now…now that there's no more AVALANCHE…" said Barret, miserably.
It was quite clear that he was talking about the deaths of Biggs, Wedge and Jessie, and that he was still very upset about them indeed.
Cloud left the room and he walked to the top floor of the houses. He found a room at the top and he went in.
Red XIII and his adoptive (human) grandfather, Bugenhagen, were in the room alone, and both turned to face Cloud.
To Cloud's astonishment, Bugenhagen was one hundred and thirty years old. So he was very old indeed, but he was still an expert in Planet knowledge.
More than an expert, in fact. He was also very wise and intelligent. He wore black sunglasses, a purple jacket and green trousers. He seemed, strangely, to be floating in the air, floating above where his legs should have been.
He seemed to be using some strange, fairly old device that seemed to have been built by Shinra to make him hover above the ground.
"Cloud, this is my grandfather, Bugenhagen. He is truly incredible. He knows everything," said Red XIII.
Bugenhagen chuckled at that, and turned to face Cloud.
"I hear that you looked after Nanaki a bit. We are eternally in your debt. Nanaki is still only a child, you see," said Bugenhagen.
"Please stop it, grandfather. I'm forty-eight years old," said Red XIII, with clear exasperation.
Bugenhagen simply laughed at Cloud's thoroughly bewildered expression.
"Nanaki's tribe can live for an incredibly long time on this Planet. So you see, his forty-eight years would be equivalent to that of a fifteen or sixteen year old in human reckoning," explained Bugenhagen.
"Fifteen or sixteen!?" shouted Cloud, shocked and surprised, hardly believing that Red XIII was that young, or that he would live for so long.
"Nanaki is quiet, mature and very deep. Did you think that he was an adult?" asked Bugenhagen. Red XIII sighed sadly.
"Grandfather…I want to be an adult. I want to grow up, and be able to protect you and the village," said Red XIII.
Bugenhagen shook his head firmly.
"No, Nanaki. It is not wise to grow up quickly. Grow up too fast and you miss far too much. You can't stand-alone on your own four feet and protect this canyon right now. To do that now would destroy you in the long run. Reaching up into the heavens, threatening to snatch the very stars from the great city of Midgar. You've seen it, haven't you? Well, that's a bad example. Looking up too much makes you lose perspective. When it is time for this Planet to die, you'll understand that you know absolutely nothing," said Bugenhagen.
"When the Planet DIES!?" shouted Cloud, shocked and immensely horrified.
"It might be tomorrow, or it might be a hundred years from now. But its not too far off," said Bugenhagen.
"How do you know all of this?" asked Cloud, suspiciously.
"I hear the cries of the Planet," replied Bugenhagen.
Suddenly, they could all hear a strange sound.
"What's that?" asked Cloud.
"The sounds of the stars in the heavens. While this goes on, Planets are born and Planets die," said Bugenhagen.
Suddenly, an even stranger sound was heard, sounding like a cross between a wail and a screech.
"What was that?" asked Cloud.
"That was a scream from this Planet. Didn't you hear. As if to say, I hurt, I suffer," said Bugenhagen.
"They have come here on a journey to save the Planet. Why don't you show them your Planetarium?" said Red XIII.
"To save the Planet? A most difficult task. But, then again, I guess it wouldn't hurt to show him," said Bugenhagen.
"Bugenhagen!" shouted a voice. A man entered the room.
"Several different looking people have come," informed the man, flatly.
"The whole place has got busy all of a sudden," said Bugenhagen.
"Cloud brought his friends with him. I'll go get them," said Red XIII. The man left the room.
"Cloud, please call two of them. Only three people can fit in grandfather's Planetarium machine," said Red XIII.
He left the room and Cloud also went outside and found Yuffie and Cait Sith at some sort of restaurant that looked more like a kitchen than anything else. Cloud walked over to them.
"Hey Yuffie, Cait Sith. Red XIII's grandfather, Bugenhagen, offered to let me take a look at his Planetarium. So I'll be up there for a little while. He said I could bring two friends, so I'd invite you two if you wanted to come," said Cloud.
"Nah, we want food," said Cait Sith.
"What are you talking about? You're a robot. You don't even eat food," said Yuffie, bewildered. Cait Sith just shrugged.
"Well actually, I know Barret would love to see it. And Tifa and I used to look at the stars, back in Nibelheim, when we were kids. It'll be like old times, maybe, so I had planned on taking her too," said Cloud.
"Aw, poor Aeris will feel so left out," joked Cait Sith.
Yuffie giggled slightly and Cloud nearly blushed as he left.
Soon though, Cloud was back at Bugenhagen's house with Barret and Tifa, ready to go into the Planetarium.