Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII walked through the metal door with Bugenhagen behind them. They climbed down some ropes and they entered a sealed cave.
They were in the Cave of the GI tribe. They went along the cave until they came to the first passage in it.
"Every creature in this cave is a ghost of the GI tribe. Killed in a certain battle," said Bugenhagen.
"A certain battle?" said Red XIII, curiously, knowing exactly what battle Bugenhagen was talking about.
"The vengeful spirits of the GI tribe didn't disappear and couldn't return to the Lifestream. It was here that the bloodthirsty GI tribe made their final stand. Their spirits still reside in this cave. We still have far to go," said Bugenhagen.
"Tell me about it. Are you okay, Tifa?" asked Cloud.
"I'm fine, but this cave is giving me the creeps. It's as if something's not too happy with us being down here," said Tifa.
"Well, would you enjoy someone coming into your grave and waking you up? We'll be leaving soon anyway, the back of the canyon isn't too far ahead," said Bugenhagen.
Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII walked through the passage and along the cave with Bugenhagen behind them. They walked along the cave until they came to another passage.
"As you can see, this cave leads to the back of Cosmo Canyon. It was most unfortunate that the GI tribe were larger and more vicious than us. If they attacked through here, we wouldn't have stood a chance. Let us move on. The treacherous GI Nattak, the evil leader of the GI tribe who summoned up the fury of the Planet against us, met his match in a single warrior in the back of this very cavern. If it were not for that great warrior, we would have been lost. It would not surprise me to find out he is still here," explained Bugenhagen.
"How much do you know about the GI tribe anyway?" asked Cloud, curiously.
"He knows everything," replied Red XIII, shortly.
"Quiet! The GI tribe have been long-time enemies of the guardians of this canyon. Why they are our enemies or how it came to be is a story so old that even I do not know it. Yet we continued to fight, regardless of any reason. What other reason did we need other than the fact that our fathers died fighting the GI tribe? Perhaps the GI tribe themselves knew. Yet now, they are all dead, so it will always remain a great mystery," explained Bugenhagen.
"(No reason to fight…then what am I fighting for? What are we all really fighting for?)" thought Cloud, to himself.
Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII continued through the passage and they walked along the cave with Bugenhagen. They walked along the cave, came to five passages, went to the second passage, and they walked along it until their path was blocked by a spider web, and a huge, gigantic, green spider.
They had no choice but to attack it. Bugenhagen could not fight because he was very old and weak, so he quickly moved out of the way while Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII began to battle the giant spider.
The giant spider suddenly rammed hard into Red XIII, knocking him backwards and sent him flying into a cave wall and he dropped to the ground afterwards, but Red XIII seemed fine for the most part, although bruised, and got back up slowly as the gigantic spider reared down upon him.
Seeing that Red XIII was in trouble, Cloud quickly ran over to the giant spider, raised his sword, and he slashed his sword right through the middle of the spider, killing it instantly, as it fell to the ground in its own dark blood.
Red XIII looked at Cloud, and bowed his head at him to show his thanks for saving his life. Cloud understood, and simply shrugged in response as if to say it was nothing, which Red XIII also understood, and they continued along the path, with the others quickly following them.
Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII continued further along the path of the caves until they reached the last passage. Bugenhagen was behind them, and began to speak up again.
"The great warrior entered this cave all by himself. Fighting attackers one by one, one after another, until he finally faced the leader, the GI Nattak, and was able to defeat it in battle, but he perished in the deed," said Bugenhagen.
"Grandpa…that warrior…" began Red XIII, curiously.
"We're almost there," said Bugenhagen, quickly interrupting him, and Red XIII looked surprised at this, but said nothing, as they walked towards the last passage of the caves.
Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII went though the passage with Bugenhagen behind them. They walked along the cave until they suddenly saw a very strange and menacing sight, and they all quickly stopped in their tracks, shocked and horrified.
A towering figure composed of raw Mako, burning fire and the stone-cold dead seeped from the walls, and stood blocking the cavern leading into the back of the canyon.
The hulking un-dead stretched its long-unused limbs, and it shrieked again and again, as it burrowed its fist into a large rock, instantly smashing it to pieces, and then it pulled out a huge, deadly spear nearly as long as it was, with a very sharp pointy spike on the end of it, as with a thrust of its spear, the ghost sliced another huge rock into pieces as if it were no more than warm butter.
"What…what is this!?" shouted Bugenhagen, surprised and shocked, and clearly alarmed.
"Grandpa, is he…!?" shouted Red XIII, shocked and horrified, recognising the un-dead ghost.
"After their death…the ghosts of the GI tribe…like stagnant air. This…cannot be!! shouted Bugenhagen, horrified.
The ghost's haunting eyes glowed darkly, and then it grinned an evil grin.
Suddenly, the big ghost appeared right in front of them. It was not transparent and it seemed a little solid, but otherwise it was clearly a ghost. It had a pitch-black face, two arms and no legs. It floated in mid-air and it was carrying the large spear in one of its ghostly hands.
The ghost was the GI Nattak itself, the evil leader of the GI tribe that was responsible for the terrible battle in Cosmo Canyon many years ago.
Cloud, Tifa and Red XIII began to fight it, while Bugenhagen quickly got out of the way, and he moved quickly away from the battle that quickly took place.
Green light quickly burst from the ground at Cloud's feet, as a ball of ice with very sharp icicles on the end of it appeared out of nowhere and struck the GI Nattak, but the GI Nattak shattered it to pieces with its spear, so the GI Nattak wasn't affected.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII'S feet as some flames suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck the GI Nattak, burning it slightly.
The GI Nattak then suddenly drained energy from Tifa using its spear, and transferred the energy to itself. This caused Tifa to suddenly get slightly worn out, while the GI Nattak was fully healed from its burns.
Despite feeling drained, green light quickly burst from the ground at Tifa's feet as some bolts of lightning appeared out of nowhere, and struck the GI Nattak hard, giving it an electric shock. The GI Nattak seemed dazed and had marks over its ghostly body.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII'S feet, as some icicles appeared out of nowhere, and were about to strike the GI Nattak, but it was able to smash them to pieces using its spear, and was therefore not affected.
Green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as some bolts of lightning appeared out of nowhere, and swiftly struck the GI Nattak hard, shocking it and giving it more marks across its ghostly body.
The GI Nattak suddenly attacked Tifa with its great spear, whacking her straight across her face with the handle of it, breaking her nose and injuring her, as she yelled out in pain, and stumbled to the ground, but then she just managed to get back up, though was still bleeding.
Acting quickly, green light burst from the ground at Tifa's feet as a circle of magical energy suddenly appeared and closed around her, and then vanished, fully healing all of her injuries in the process.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII'S feet as a bolt of lightning appeared from out of nowhere and struck the GI Nattak, but it was able to deflect it with its spear and was therefore not affected.
Red light suddenly burst from the ground at Tifa's feet as she quickly ran up to the GI Nattak, and she punched it several times with powerful blows, knocking it around several times and leaving it with bruises and dazing it.
Tifa suddenly performed a somersault, and hit the GI Nattak hard with her legs in mid somersault, sending it flying backwards into the cave wall, and injuring it.
Not stopping her attack there, Tifa suddenly performed a handstand, and she spun herself around several times, her legs hitting the GI Nattak hard and quickly several times, knocking it about several times, and leaving it with many bruises and injuries across its body.
Tifa quickly back got up, and she went back over to Cloud and Red XIII, feeling slightly exhausted from her sudden barrage of attacks.
Green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as a wall of fire appeared out of nowhere around the GI Nattak, closed around it, and then vanished, giving the GI Nattak many burns and wounds, and it didn't seem like it would last much longer, as the GI Nattak let out an agonized shriek.
Green light suddenly burst from the ground at Red XIII'S feet as a bolt of lightning quickly appeared out of nowhere, and struck the GI Nattak hard, dazing and injuring it, and nearly finishing it off.
But the GI Nattak suddenly raised its large spear again, and pointed it at Red XIII, suddenly draining some energy from Red XIII, leaving him feeling slightly exhausted, and transferred it to itself, fully healing of its injuries, burns and bruises, much to the horror of the others, as they began to wonder if this thing could really be defeated if it kept healing itself…
Green light burst from the ground at Tifa's feet as some bolts of lightning quickly appeared out of nowhere, and struck the GI Nattak heavily, dazing it and leaving it with many marks, and injuring it.
Green light burst from the ground at Cloud's feet as a ball of ice with sharp icicles on the end of it appeared out of nowhere and struck the GI Nattak, smashing into it and piercing it with its sharp icicles, wounding it.
Green light burst from the ground at Red XIII'S feet as a bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere and was about to strike the GI Nattak, but it deflected the attack with its spear and was therefore not affected.
Green light burst from the ground at Tifa's feet as some bolts of lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck the GI Nattak, dazing and stunning it for a while, as well as leaving it with scorch marks.
Red XIII quickly used this to his advantage as green light burst from the ground beneath his feet, as some icicles appeared out of nowhere, and struck the GI Nattak, all of them going right through its un-dead body, and stabbing it straight through its horrible, ghostly heart.
The GI Nattak shrieked loudly with rage and agony, and with a sudden flash of bright light, it disintegrated into nothingness, and was gone forever. Bugenhagen floated back over to Cloud, Red XIII and Tifa.
"Thank you, Cloud, and Tifa. Because of you two, we survived and defeated the ghastly creature. But it was because of Nanaki especially that we survived and won. Nanaki, you have grown strong, too. Indeed, you have grown much since I saw you last. You are now as strong, as brave, and as noble as any of your ancestors were," said Bugenhagen, proudly.
"Oh really?" said Red XIII, looking rather pleased and delighted, and glowed with pride.
"Now I know without doubt that it wasn't a mistake bringing you here. Come, I have something that I want to show you, Nanaki," said Bugenhagen.
Cloud, Tifa, Red XIII and Bugenhagen went through the final passage in the cave to the very end of the canyon. Cloud found and picked up a green Gravity Materia on the way there, quickly pocketing it.
When they got there, they came to a large pile of rocks, and behind the pile was a mountain. Bugenhagen turned to face them, looking at Nanaki, and he spoke up.
"This, Nanaki, is the end of the canyon, where the last battle between the GI Nattak and a lone warrior from the canyon ended many years ago. The earth heaved, and the stars fell from the sky with the fury of the battle, or so the story says," said Bugenhagen.
Red XIII looked very puzzled.
"A lone warrior? Grandfather, you told me all the guardians were at the gates to Cosmo Canyon when the last battle took place," said Red XIII.
"All but one, Nanaki. Look up, onto the cliff, struck with poisoned arrows, which turned him to stone, the great warrior himself, who stayed behind by himself to hold off the GI tribe from coming through the secret ways of the canyon. Should they have come through here, we would have all been dead," said Bugenhagen.
Red XIII looked up at the mountain and at the cliff on top of it, where a figure stood upon it.
On the top of the mountain on the edge of the cliff was a lion-like creature like Red XIII, but it was stone, and therefore, was not moving.
It was bigger and far more muscular than Red XIII and it had arrows stabbed in its back and all around its body. Red XIII leaped and climbed onto the top of the pile of rocks and he stared up in amazement and disbelief at the stone lion-like creature on the top of the mountain.
"This is…" began Red XIII, but Bugenhagen interrupted him, and started to explain the truth, also looking up at the stone lion-like creature.
"This is the great warrior who fought against the GI Nattak, and all of the GI tribe. He kept them from even taking one step into Cosmo Canyon. But he was unable to return home after he was turned to stone. Look, Nanaki. Look at your father, at the great warrior – Seto!" said Bugenhagen, pointing to the stone lion-like creature on the top of the mountain.
"That's Seto? That's…my father?" spluttered Red XIII, in disbelief, stunned and speechless. Bugenhagen nodded.
"Seto continued to fight the GI tribe here. To protect this canyon. He ran from the canyon to lure the GI tribe away from the canyon, and its secret ways that they so desired to reach, and he fought against them in these caves. Even after the GI's poisonous arrows turned his body to stone. Even after they all ran away after their leader was defeated, and even after they were all defeated, Seto continued to protect us. And although he is no longer living, he continues to protect us even now," explained Bugenhagen.
"Even now…" whispered Red XIII, thoughtfully.
"You saw him run from the canyon, and thought that he was a coward. But he alone gave his life to protect Cosmo Canyon and all of its people. He was bravely luring the GI tribe away from the canyon, not running away from them. That is what your father, Seto, did for this canyon," explained Bugenhagen.
"That's what Seto did!? Did my mother know!?" asked Red XIII, urgently, shocked, staring back at Bugenhagen.
"Oh, she knew. Years before they died, both of them made me promise to keep this cave shut. They asked me to seal it myself, and not to tell a soul. They said we should forget about this cave. Cloud, Tifa, would you both mind leaving the two of us alone?" asked Bugenhagen.
Cloud nodded, and he and Tifa left Bugenhagen and Red XIII alone, and went back to Cosmo Canyon outside the cave.
Bugenhagen turned, and looked back at Red XIII.
"Nanaki, I want you to continue your journey with Cloud and the others," said Bugenhagen.
Red XIII jumped in shock, and he was clearly very taken aback indeed.
"Grandpa!?" shouted Red XIII, surprised and shocked.
"Listen to me, Nanaki. Cloud says that he and his friends are trying to save the Planet. Honestly, I don't think that it can be done. Even if they stop every Mako Reactor on the Planet, it's only going to postpone the inevitable. Even if they stop Sephiroth, everything will perish," explained Bugenhagen.
"But, Nanaki, I've been thinking lately. I've been thinking that if there was anything we could do as a part of the Planet…something to help a Planet already in misery. No matter what happens, isn't it important to try? Am I just wishing against fate? Either way, I am too old to do anything about it. I'm already one hundred and thirty years old. I will not live to see the Planet's fate or salvation. That is why, Nanaki, you must go forth with them. For my sake and the Planet's," explained Bugenhagen.
"Grandpa…" said Red XIII, quietly, speechless.
"I wanted to show you what your father was really like before you left. I'm so glad that you came back while I was still alive to show you," said Bugenhagen.
"Grandpa, don't talk like that. I don't want to think of life without you," said Red XIII, sadly.
"Well, I've had a very long life, Nanaki, more than almost any human that has ever lived on this Planet. You must remember that," said Bugenhagen, calmly.
"Grandpa, you still must live! I'll see to it! I'll see to what's happening to the Planet, and I will help save it! And I'll come back to tell you all about it one day!" shouted Red XIII.
"Nanaki…" said Bugenhagen, slowly, struck anew by how mighty and noble Red XIII suddenly seemed to become, as the lion-like creature stood proudly upon the large pile of rocks.
"I am Nanaki of Cosmo Canyon! Son of the great warrior, Seto! I will come back as a great warrior, just like my father was, true to that noble name! So please, grandpa…" said Red XIII.
Suddenly, something fell from the stone body of Seto at the top of the mountain, and dripped onto the ground. It looked like a large green glowing drop.
"That's some of Seto's spirit energy. He truly is listening to us, Nanaki. And he is expressing his pride in you," said Bugenhagen, looking speechless for once.
"Seto…my father…" said Red XIII, staring intently up at the stone form of his father without breaking his gaze.
Red XIII howled mournfully into the night, as more and more of Seto's spirit energy continued to pour and fall.
****************************************************************
Meanwhile, Cloud and Tifa had got out of the cave, and they walked over to Cosmo Candle, where Cait Sith, Aeris, Yuffie and Barret were still waiting, and they all turned to face each other, as Cloud and Tifa explained what had happened, and afterwards, they all prepared to leave.
"The buggy's fixed," informed Barret, having took care of its repairs earlier with help from Cait Sith and Yuffie.
"Then shall we get going?" asked Cloud.
The others nodded, but they all looked slowly back at the canyon, all of them deep in thought about one person only…
"So this is it, Red XIII…" said Aeris, thoughtfully, with a soft, sad sigh.
"That's just the way it goes sometimes. He sure did come in handy at times, though. I think we're all gonna miss having his help…and his company," said Barret, thoughtfully.
The others all nodded in agreement, all thinking the very same thing, but they would have to just continue on without him, it seemed...
Cait Sith, Aeris, Barret, Yuffie, Cloud and Tifa all made their way slowly over to the entrance of Cosmo Canyon, and they started to leave, when suddenly, Red XIII ran up to them, calling out to them. Cloud and the others stopped in surprise.
"Wait for me! I'm coming too!" shouted Red XIII, urgently.
Bugenhagen also arrived, and he floated up to Cloud.
"Cloud, everyone, please look after Nanaki for me. To guard the canyon, he must first save the Planet to prove himself, right?" said Bugenhagen.
Cloud nodded, but he still seemed bewildered by Red XIII's sudden change of mind.
"What happened?" asked Cloud, curiously.
"I think I grew up a little. That's what happened!" exclaimed Red XIII, excitedly.
"So, should we get used to calling you Nanaki, then?" asked Cait Sith, curiously. Red XIII shook his head.
"No thank you, Red XIII is just fine. As I said before, Nanaki is the protector of Cosmo Canyon. Red XIII is…one of you," said Red XIII.
"I knew you would choose to come with us," said Tifa, kneeling down and hugging him, and Aeris hugged him too.
"I guess I should have known it myself. We really are a team," said Red XIII, grinning.
"Damn right, we're a team! There ain't no getting off this train we're on! We're AVALANCHE, people! AVALANCHE!" shouted Barret.
The others all cheered in agreement, and it was clear that all of them, even Cloud, were happy that Red XIII would be staying with them after all.
With the buggy fully fixed, they were all ready now to leave and continue their journey.
Soon, they all left Cosmo Canyon, got back in the buggy, and then they all continued their journey, and travelled to their next destination, not knowing what they would find along the way next, nor prepared for what was to happen…