Liberi Fatali

by NotxFadexAway

The sorceress Edea, and the crazy and powerful, Sephiroth are trying to drain energy from different worlds. A handful of people, drawn along against their will are the only light to quell the ever-growing darkness.

5. The Oasis Chapter 2

Author's Note: Finally!! Chapter Two! Enjoy guys...'cause it only gets longer, and better.

Rikku

Rikku glared at the back of Seifer. Sure he had helped, but did he have to be so touchy feely about it? Suddenly her glare turned into a smile, and she hopped over, having lost her crutch when he had abruptly picked her up. Thus arriving, she gave him a sweet smile.

"You're right. I didn't thank you."

Rikku's smile turned evil and with a big push she shoved the opportunist into the oasis.

"Thank y—"

Rikku's face adopted a startled look as her ankle gave out again, and losing her balance she went tumbled into the water after him, rather shocked by the coldness of it and rather wishing she'd had the foresight to realize she couldn't brace herself when she shoved Seifer in, due to her foot. It was much colder than the desert oasis... obviously. She spluttered as she broke the surface, soaked through, her long wet hair plastered to her face. She turned to Seifer with a glare.

"Cold!!!! This is all your faul--- hey my ankle! It doesn't hurt anymore!"

Then hearing Riku's comment, she moved over to where Vincent had Tifa...

"Yeah like he says... just dunk her, almost to the mouth so you get her head... it'll fix right up!"

Then crawling to the edge, she began to climb out.

Vincent

Vincent shrugged and glancing at Cloud, he set Tifa in the water, making sure to keep her face above the surface. He figured he'd better do it otherwise Cloud would just notice the similarities to this and Aeris, and Tifa was going to be fine. Vincent nodded at Yuffie who was still holding back seeing the coldness of the water.

"Dunk your foot in."

Why did she always make things difficult?

Seifer

Seifer grumbled in anger and shot death glares at Rikku. He shook water from his blonde hair before climbing out of the water, completely drenched. "Nice, you ruined my coat. Ungrateful little--" He stopped himself and muttered curse words under his breath, while trying to squeeze the cold water out of his trench coat. At least his wounds had healed, which was the only thing he was greatful for. Now if he could just get his hands on that crazy, hyper, lousy good for nothing....well if he could get his hands on Rikku, he would have strangled her.

Seifer muttered a few more obscenities before standing alone in the corner, clearly not wanting to be bothered. If Rikku so much as smiled at him, he would have both hands wrapped around her throat in an instant. Nothing would give him more pleasure than to see her in pain. Destruction...Pain....That was what he stood for, before. Before now, before he became what he was this exact moment, undecided....A story without a conclusion. A choice not yet made. Seifer truthfully didn't know what he wanted, but he hoped being on this journey would give him some kind of guidance.

Seifer also noticed something else, Riku seemed to have the same inner-feelings as he did. He could tell that Riku was also battling with the choices of good and evil. They actually had a lot more in common than he thought, of course he would never let on to that, not in a million years. For now he had to be content with studying Riku's choices, and seeing what path he ended up choosing. For now, he had to play the role of goodie, unless he wanted to be thrown out on his own. As tempting as it sounded to be lost in the darkness, it was also dangerous. For now, he would let light devour him.

Rinoa

Rinoa ran her fingers through Squall's hair and smiled. Her wounds had healed, and she was feeling completely better, both physically and emotionally. Squall always knew how to make her feel better, no matter the situation. She kissed him softly on the lips and hugged him closely to her chest. "Thanks, You know, Squall, that really means a lot." She smiled again, before resting her chin on his shoulder. Just knowing he was there, made her feel like she could go through anything, anything at all. She continued to run her fingers through his hair.

"Squall, do you think we'll ever get out of here? I'm not scared, it's just, I miss it all, you know?" She sighed softly before looking around at everyone else, for about the hundredth time that day. They all seemed to be fairing well, despite everyone being tired, she was no exception. Rinoa felt as if she could dose off right in Squall's arms, but she had to make sure everyone was okay, it was her job, to worry, to protect. Rinoa buried her head deeper into Squall's chest and took in his scent. Leather mixed with a piney scent.

Rinoa loved that smell, and loved Squall, more than life itself. She knew she would do anything for him, even give up her life for him. Just thinking about him brought a smile to her face. She didn't even know how she would survive without him, but thinking about it brought tears to her eyes. Rinoa wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, even if it was in some unknown world that they may never leave. As long as she was with him, nothing bad could ever happen.

Squall Leonhart

Squall's face instantly brightened considerably as Rinoa kissed him, obviously fully healed, in more ways then one. Smirking as she hugged him, he brought one hand to stroke the back of her hair, and the other stroking her back, rubbing it reassuringly as he rested his own chin on her exposed shoulder, looking in his reflection in the Oasis as he did so, nothing mattering but the two of them...for now. It took a moment for Squall to answer her first question...because in reality, he didn't know. They had all been thrown into this unwanted situation, and even though it seemed like ages ago, it hadn't been that long ago. Or maybe it had been, maybe they had been knocked out for ages and ages...who knew. Sighing, Squall lifted up his head and stared Rinoa in her eyes, his nose rested on hers, and his forehead on hers as well, her beautiful presence brightening his mood just by looking at her.

"I miss it too..." he sighed lowly and breathed, his senses wafting Rinoa's scent, her aura It seemed. He merely smiled vaguely and continued to stare into her eyes, kissing her on her cheek and speaking once more, his words much more sturdy and certain then before. "But we're together, that's all that matters", his words were true- and they sounded just that. Although the look Squall gave Rinoa told that they were going to get back to their own world, no matter what it took. They still had to look at the big picture, Edea was loose, and if she was somehow involved in the situation...they had to stop her, no matter what the costs.

Shaking his head, he backed away slightly and looked around, catching sight of Quistis, who Riku had obviously laid up near the base of a tree, feeling horrible for leaving her with him. Squall glanced towards Rinoa and craned his neck towards his former instructor, indicating that they should help heal her. Standing up, Squall walked over towards Quistis and helped her up, guiding her over to the Oasis and eventually over the edge, leaning her legs in, and splashing more water on the exposed skin of her body, healing her up as they had been. "You ok?" his words were much clearer then they had been previously, a result of the Oasis- it had healed him, both physically and mentally, and he felt much better then before

Riku

Riku glanced over towards the others as they healed themselves and their comrades, his emotionless eyes scanning the outline of the clearing, where the trees met the light and the shadows retreated deeper into the forest. And for the first time...the wielder of the Key blade spotted coconut looking shapes hanging from the tops of a few trees, curious, he walked over- and sure that the Heartless weren't inhabiting the illuminated tree's, he unsheathed his keyblade and swiped at the coconut looking shapes. Cutting them loose and watching as they fell onto the ground- and when they hit...they sounded...hollow, quirking an eyebrow he picked the coconut up and tossed it in the air, gathering the rest of them and taking them near the base of a rather large tree, surrounded by a few rocks that dotted the clearing near the Oasis.

'These could be...useful, Riku thought to himself as he glanced into the Oasis, his reflection showing the 'coconut' in his hand once more, when suddenly...he got an idea. Taking his weapon in his hand, he held it above the 'coconut' and swiftly sliced downwards, cutting open the circular hollow object and looking inside- it was a rather smooth surface inside, and they seemed to be a type of fruit that Riku had remembered from the forest when he had visited, although obviously the liquidly content had already been sucked out by animal creatures, for their were two small teeth marks on the side, where the animals had sucked the liquid from.

However, Riku had another use for them, dipping them into the Oasis, he filled up half of the 'coconut' and smirked, if he could cut down some of the none lethal vines in the forest, he would be able to create multiple holders for the Oasis water, or any other supplies and good they found. For when they traveled off in the morning, they would need to make sure they were prepared, so if Riku's idea worked, then they would be able to cut the hollow fruits open and fill them up with the Healing Water, then tie them together with vines, hopefully creating a portable, magickal- 'first aid kid'.

Tifa

Tifa felt like she were slapped awaked when she was emerged in the water. She awoke with a gasp and began to struggle a bit not knowing what was happening, she stopped when she realized there were hands holding her up.

"Geeze, it's freezing."

She nodded her thanks to Vincent, who let her go, then cast her gaze around for Cloud, finding that he was looking at her with an extremely worried expression on his face. Tifa flinched inwardly, immediately recognizing what this looked like... aeris's funeral. Amazed at how much better she felt, she walked over to Cloud, wanting to hold him, but not wanting to get him all wet.

Rikku

Getting to her feet, Rikku glanced back at Seifer who was still in the oasis, and just barely managed to cover the smirk on her face. It really did serve him right. Actually, it wasn't too hard, it was freaking cold and she was sopping wet and wasn't exactly in the desert environment she had dressed for. She twirled her foot around extremely pleased that it was back to normal, she hated being hampered. Hopping up and down slightly to quell the cold, she looked around at the others trying to distract herself from it.

She pointedly did not glance at Seifer, having the feeling that if she did, she'd laugh and he'd throttle her, so instead she looked around at the others. That one girl still didn't seem to want to go into the water... she bet that the dark haired man would likely throw her in soon, he had that sort of look. The blonde woman Squall was currently helping looked extremely worn out, and Rinoa seemed only to be waiting for Squall's return. Once again, Rikku realized that she really was all alone in this place, I mean sure they would help each other out, but really what did anyone care about a lost Al Bhed girl. They likely didn't even know what an Al Bhed was. Choosing to discontinue this depressing train of thought, she continued to study the others.

She was happy to see that the water had fixed the girl, and wanted to doublecheck, but obviously she and Spiky, whose name she really did need to find out, lest she accidentally call him that, were having a little reunion. She didn't want to bother them... Glancing at Riku who was doing something with coconuts ooh and with that sword of his too. Rikku decided that she didn't really care whether she bothered him or not. He had said he would answer their questions anyway.

As she approached, still hopping up and down a little, and feeling warmer for it, she noticed just exactly what he was doing with those coconuts.

"Oooh, smart, those'll hold much more then this."

Rikku held up the vial she had managed to fill before she got out of the oasis, then nimbly swiping one of the coconuts away, she pulled out her knife and cut out a chunk out of the skin that would work as a stopper, then smiling slightly she set it back in the pile. It's not like she could have reached the coconuts anyway, and she only took a little. Rikku sat there for another moment, pretending to look around again, but actually watching Riku with the keblade. Then as casually as possible she brought it up, pretending to admire his skills with the coconuts. Then of course after he offered up some explanation about the keyblade, she could come up with allll sorts of questions to ask. She loved banishing a mystery. This was the perfect time too because everyone was around, and they wanted to know just as badly as she did, so he'd be less likely to brush aside the questions unless he wanted trouble.

"That cuts really well."

Smooth...

Rikku smiled, the same innocent smile that she had given Seifer before she shoved him into the oasis.

Seifer

Seifer watched Rikku with an amused expression on his face. It was clear that she was going to try and steal the keyblade, but he didn't know if Riku would be too busy with the coconuts to notice this. Seifer sighed, shaking his head, and kept a mental note to add both Rikku and Riku to the list. Riku for possibly leading them into danger, and Rikku for being annoying. Seifer's gaze drifted towards the couples by the oasis. Rinoa looked intently at Squall, as if she would collapse if he wasn't around her.

Pathetic...

Seifer watched as Quistis was instantly healed up. He had a feeling Rinoa would drag Squall away the minute Quistis moved a muscle. She did, and Seifer saw Rinoa bouncing on her feet, excited to have Squall back into her arms at any minute. Seifer watched as Rinoa dragged Squall away from Quistis gently, and warpped her arms around his neck. He could tell that she was scared, and for once he was glad Squall was around to give her confidence.

What Am I thinking?

Seifer shook his head before sitting down on the ground and putting his head in his hands. He had a feeling it would be a long next couple of days. It also didn't help any that they had a guide who would one minute try to kill them, and the next try to save them. Or at least that's what he thought. He sighed, contently as his clothes started to dry up. He wanted to light a fire or something so the drying process would go quicker.

No...I have to follow the group's decision...

Rinoa

Rinoa made sure Quistis was okay, and made sure she was comfortable, before dragging Squall away and wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him softly on the lips, then the neck, and finally rested her chin on his shoulder. She yawned softly, before moving her lips to his ear, and reminding him of those words that would always keep him safe and loved.

"I Love you.."

Rinoa heard a loud noise and with her nerves on edge from the heartless, she turned around quickly, just to find that a few coconuts had fallen from a tree. Rinoa sighed deeply, taking a deep breath, and trying to calm herself. She was always afraid of what she might find in the path behind her, and in the path ahead of her. Rinoa turned back around towards Squall before laughing slightly.

"I guess My nerves are a little on edge..."

She smiled at him and took his hands in hers, before dragging him to the edge of the oasis. She pulled him down into a sitting position at the water's edge, and sat in front of him, dipping her feet into the water. She had to admit, that the oasis had a beautiful area around it. Rinoa smiled slightly as she twirrled her fingers in the water. She took Squall's hand, and dipped his fingers in the water with her own. It was very cool, and refreshing. Rinoa leaned her head back onto his chest and stared into the oasis, a dreamy look on her face.

Cloud Strife

As the group continued to battle the heartless, Rinoa was distorted from his vision by one of the larger heartless. She managed to get away but she was injured. Meanwhile he continued to battle a couple of little ones that kept jumping on his back and face. Throwing them off he had seconds to slice them before they'd be back on him again. Looking to his other side he saw Rinoa spring forward knocking Squall out of the way. The following instruction was one he didn't need to hear twice. Running through the trees as fast as he could he didn't look back, even when the creature bellowed and smacked a tree. These things were powerful, nothing like the other heartless and their numbers were increasing. Damn you Sephiroth.

Arriving back at the Oasis Cloud was struck by how it felt. It felt nothing like the darkness of the forest but light, safe. Maybe Riku was telling the truth after all, to an extent. Looking over to check on his new allies he saw that they were healing themselves. This was when he was thanked. "Hey, don't worry about it, Thank you for helping me save Tifa, both of you", he said with a meaningful look and a smile at the two. Tifa!.

Looking around his eyes fell on the main pool of the Oasis where he saw Tifa submerged in the water, he froze. No, not again, please., he thought shaking his head. Please don't let me lose her. This was just like the death and burial of Aeiras. That had crushed him, but this – this would kill him. He saw that vincent was supporting her and he could see that she was still breathing. Good, if this Oasis is what Riku says it is, she's going to be fine. Calming down a bit, he stood there, blocking out everything else, waiting for a sign that she was ok. She was.

Tifa eyes suddenly jumped open and with them, Cloud's heart jumped too. She headed straight for him and a smile spread across his face. He almost laughed when she wouldn't hug him because she was wet, that and he was so happy to see her. Drawing her into an embrace he kissed her, holding her tight. "Oh Tifa, I love you more than anything, I'm so glad you're ok". Holding her close to his body he cast a glance over to Vincent; "thank you". With that he looked over to Riku, he'd been telling the truth this time but there was still something about him. For now he'd let it lie but if he ever found out Riku had anything to do with it then he wouldn't even get a chance to be healed in the Oasis. For now though, he held Tifa close, feeling their hearts beating as one. He needed healing aswell but in that moment the world stood still for them, two lovers, two allies, two friends. Tifa was the person in his life that made him who he was, as she'd been healed, he'd also been saved. Now all he could think was What the hell is coming next?

Squall Leonhart

Squall watched as Rikku pushed Seifer in, laughing softly before turning back to Rinoa, allowing her to pull him away slightly, glancing over his shoulder back at Quistis- he felt bad leaving her alone. They all needed to stay together, they were the only four from Balamb- and eventhough he had begun to trust a few members of the group...he had just met them, and he couldn't relate to them like he could with Quistis, Rinoa...and sadly, even Seifer. Sighing, he glanced down at their reflection in the Oasis, wrapping his arms around Rinoa's stomach as she leaned on him, his eyes wandering around the group as Cloud walked over to the girl- who he was obviously madly in love with. Laughing softly and shaking his head, Squall merely glanced back into their reflection, meeting Rinoa's eyes as the Oasis reflected the two, resting his chin on the top of her head as they sat together...peaceful, for now.

"Its ok, my nerves are shot too- this ", he nodded his head all around them, signifying he was talking about their situation. He heard the feint 'chopping' noises as Riku and Rikku cut up odd hollow fruits, obviously using them as storage for the Oasis water. He supposed he should go and help, but right now Rinoa needed his attention...she had been so care free when he had met her- in a way, she had always been determined, even when she was with the Forest Owls, and that determination had increased since she had come to Balamb with them- smiling as he remembered when they first met. He slid his hand down towards her own, intertwining their fingers and holding onto her as if she would fly away if he let go.

"I love you too", he responded towards her comment before, lowering his head to kiss her on the top of her raven hair, his eyes never leaving hers as he stared at their reflection. The soft Oasis water rippiling with the Healing energy held within its surface, he supposed he couldn't trust Riku fully, but he had led them to a safe place- and Squall knew he had some emotion, some longing...he could see it in his eyes. The longing for love and release...but sometimes, that longing could get out of hand, and from what he knew about Riku so far, that longing could be clouding his judgement, his soul- and that could be dangerous. Very dangerous.

Riku

Riku had been concentrated on cutting into the Hollow fruits when he felt Rikku's shadow fall on him. Stopping for a moment, he looked upwards as she sat down with him, obviously trying to learn more about the blade. He supposed he could tell her, somewhat about the Keyblade- not too much, but enough to keep her from asking over and over again. Running his finger along the blade, he took out his blindfold and ran it down the weapon, cleaning it somewhat before continuing to chop into the fruits, filling them up from time to time before speaking towards the young odd girl before him. Holding the blade horizontally with two hands, allowing the light from the Oasis to dance across its mettallic finish.

"It was made to", he nodded as he spoke in response to her comment. Moving the blade between his fingers before speaking again, trying to see what he should tell her and what he shouldn't tell her. He could tell Rikku had a wandering eye, and hands in some cases...and he didn't want to perk her curiousity anymore to force her to do something rash- like attempt to steal it. Sighing loudly, he took a sharp breath inward and set a punctured fruit down at his side, looking at his reflection from the beautiful blades polished surface.

"Its a KeyBlade, the Keyblade, a powerful weapon, thats linked to myself. You see...the reason I know so much about this world, this dimension, is because of the blade.", he ignored Rikku's confusion at his vague answer before continuing with his words. Moving the blade further within his fingers to focus on the key like part of the weapon, looking up towards Rikku as he spoke once again.

"You see...the blade itself, is a Key to the worlds of this dimension. This world is just one amongst many, and the Keyblade allows me, and anyone I choose to, travel the worlds. That is why the man...Sephiroth, saught my out. He thought he could use the Keyblade for his own purposes...but it serves only me. Now, are you happy?" he spoke with slight sarcasm in his last comment. Forcing a freindly smirk to etch into his lips as he picked up the fruits again, cutting them in small places like Rikku had, creating small stopper like holes instead of cutting them fully in half, he figured it would be better to go Rikku's way, and to make her think that she was teaching him something. Hopefully stopping her constant questions about the blade, for now.

Tifa

Tifa sighed an allowed Cloud to hold her close, she was so glad they were together and they were both ok.

"I love you too Cloud, always have, and always will."

Tifa closed her eyes and rested her head against Cloud's chest, just enjoying being with him, then after a moment she opened them again at looked at him. Now that they were both safe, she could figure out just what had happened.

"So what did I miss?"

Rikku

Rikku smirked as Riku changed his method of making the coconuts capable of carrying the water. Her way was more efficient, and if he thought of it himself, then why not start that way? Grabbing another, she continued to help make the water holders, trying to make sense of what he said. If it worked as some sort of key... then likely he could get them back to their own worlds. She also got that he was certainly the one that had led Sephiroth to Spira. So at least knowing that much, contented her at least. Still she was even more determined to get a closer look at it. She wasn't going to take it, that would just be stupid, after all where would she go? Besides, he seemed to care for the blade a great deal, something beyond it's function, and losing it would likely hurt him. She would never do anything to deliberately hurt someone, even when they seemed to be the amoral type of emotionally bankrupt person that Riku acted like he was. However, she did want to see if she was right and it was some cross between magic and machine, but she was sure that would take no more then two minutes anyway.

Rikku smiled at his slightly sarcastic, slightly exasperated comment. She often got that reaction to her questions, and she was certainly used to it by now.

Not even close.

She always found out in the end.

"You really don't like answering questions do you? Why is that I wonder?"

Seifer

Seifer watched Rikku pester Riku and he sighed. He decided he might as well save Riku from the annoying, well, Rikku, even if he didn't like Riku much more than...er...Rikku. Seifer walked over to the two and stood in front of Rikku. He grinned down at her, evilly, and crossed his arms over his chest. Seifer then raised an eyebrow, at Riku, as he was staring at the keyblade like it was the only thing left in the world. He shrugged and looked back down at Rikku.

"Questions Reveal Too much information, you wouldn't like it if someone pestered you for answers to their questions constantly."

He smirked again before grabbing a coconut and throwing it into the air. He took out his gunblade and sliced it through, perfectly. He was imagining it to be Riku or Rikku's head. He then turned towards Rikku and held the two pieces of sliced coconut in his hands. He raised the one in his right hand to meet her eye level and he smirked again.

"Watch your back, or you'll end up with your head cut open. I would love to be the one to cut it in half, too."

Rinoa

Rinoa over-heard Seifer, Rikku, and Riku talking. She raised and eyebrow before kissing Squall on the lips and standing up. She snuck up behind Seifer, and with one arch of an eyebrow, and one devious smirk at Rikku, Shoved him forward. Rinoa watched in amusement as Seifer fell on his knees, completely thrown off balance.

She laughed out loud as one of the coconuts landed on his head. She fell onto her butt, unable to contain her laughter. She was sent into hysterics and her face was turning a bright red. Rinoa stood up, gasping for air, and took the coconut off of Seifer's head. She looked down to see an angry glare, and a fist clenched. Rinoa Muttered an "Ut oh," before starting to back up.

Seifer

Seifer stood up, flames of anger dancing in his eyes. "You better start running, Rinoa!" With that he sped forward towards her, and heard Rinoa shriek while running to get away from him. Seifer eventually caught up with Rinoa and grabbed her arm tightly. He spun her around and saw Rinoa wince slightly. He smirked at this sight.

"The next time you shove me, it will result in your death."

With that he threw Rinoa over his shoulder. She kept hitting him in the back, which only annoyed him further. With no hesitation what-so-ever, Seifer threw Rinoa into the oasis. He then wiped coconut juice out of his hair and went back to his corner. He watched as Rinoa's head poked through the surface of the water. She was giving him an angry glare, and attempting to shake her wet hair out of her eyes.

Rinoa

"Seifer Almasy! You're going to wish you had never done that!"

Rinoa wiped wet hair out of her eyes and started to swim to the edge of the oasis. She climbed out and marched angrily up to Seifer before smacking him in the face. This resulted in a surprised, and angry look. Rinoa and Seifer both glared at each other. It was evident that a fight was about to break out. Seifer was clenching his fists, while Rinoa was gripping her pinwheel handle, tightly.

Squall Leonhart

Squall watched as Riona got up and kissed him, before walking over towards Seifer, who was being his obnoxious arrogant self. Watching in slight amusement as the two pestered each other, he hastily shot up into a standing position, his fist clenched as both of them stared each other in the eye. His long strides taking him over towards the two instantly, grabbing hold of Rinoa's hand and lowering her pinwheel, this was no time for fighting- especially not from two of his Group members. Gazing angrily towards Seifer, he shot a warning glance towards them both as he spoke, this was no time for fighting- and it seemed all eyes were on them at the moment.

"Both of you, enough! This is not the time, nor the place". His words came out in a rather authoritive tone, he was still their Group Leader, and even if he did love Rinoa, he was not going to put up with the two of them fighting. Glancing towards Quistis as if for support, he backed away from the group and glared towards Seifer, guiding Rinoa back towards the edge of the Oasis and standing rather close to her, looking into her eyes as he spoke, trying to calm her down before he went off on Seifer.

"Rinoa, you know this isn't the time...ignore him, he'll feed off your anger, just try and stay calm", he smiled sadly once more and brushed a strand of her raven colored hair out of her eyes. Tucking it behind her ear before glancing over his shoulder at Seifer, about to say something when Riku stood up, his emotionlessly eyes staring straight into the sky...obviously fed up with all of their personal fighting as well.

Riku

Riku had had it with the infighting amongst the group, and as another blonde man dressed in a white trench coat got into an argument with Rinoa, he instantly stood up. His emotionless eyes not set on the two...but the sky, the sun was dropping and lowering in the sky, which meant night was on its way, and they had yet to get supplies. Sighing, he cut in as Squall was about to speak to Seifer, speaking up and pulling out his Keyblade, making his way towards the edge of the clearing, and rather close to the trees, they had to get supplies, perhaps there were more fruits or food in the jungle like setting, or they could cut down trees and use them as firewood, or to build a adequate shelter for the night. Sighing, he walked towards the trees and turned around, his pale skin half illuminated by the glittering lights of the Oasis.

"Night is coming, we need supplies. Half of the group comes, half stays, any volunteers?" it was clear Riku was going as his spoke- he was their guide. Although he wanted someone authoritive to stay as well, or at least someone that could keep the other half of the group in tact, and under control. Taking his Keyblade, he swiped towards the nearest branch in his way, cutting the other beginning of another path before turning to survey the group once more, he wanted strong and able warriors to come with him...people who could carry enough supplies, and move quick and hasty back to the Oasis. However, he didn't want to stray to far away from the clearing, he had heard the crash of the tree when Squall and the others got back, and he knew that the larger Heartless were angry...and were probably stalking the shadows of the Oasis, just waiting to attack.

"We must be quick, the Oasis is the only safe spot close enough when the moons rise, and it will keep us safe during the night. But we need supplies, firewood, and any food we can find. Now, who's coming? We don't have that much time", he surveyed the group once more. His emotionless eyes dancing across one Warriors face to the next, impatiently waiting for volunteers, if they took too long to decide, he would decide for them. He didn't want to be in the shadows when the Moons rose, the Oasis was the only safe place for them...and Riku didn't want to be away from it long.

Vincent

Vincent nodded as Tifa nodded her thanks to him, after he let her go. He stood there near the Oasis, letting out a sigh hearing the fighting amongst the group. His thoughts wandered to Lucrecia and clenched his left hand into a tight fist and became more determined to stop Sepihroth. He let out a soft sigh, which was barely audible, as he became tired of this place which felt like a prison to him. All he wanted to do was to get out of here and for the fighting amongst the group to stop otherwise that would tear this group apart and the heartless would pick them off one by one if they separated as a result. He snapped out of his thoughts and glanced upwards at the sky, noticing that the sun was setting and the bright golden lights were beginning to fade, becoming more duller and darker which meant that night was fast approaching. He glanced towards Yuffie from the corner of his piercing eyes and felt pleased deep down that she had done what he told her.

He turned around, hearing Riku stating that they needed supplies and watched as he swiped the nearest branch with his weapon, and Vincent stepped forward. He reached into his black robe and got out one of his guns which was a Quicksilver. He had another gun in his robe and his emotionless face stared upon Riku's almost daring him to say anything as his cold, emotionless voice rang out as he told him that he was coming. Whether he liked it or not. The young man (or old) c0cked his gun, which made a noise as it was ready to be used or shot in case the occasion demanded it. Thing about Vincent, he was very quick and certainly had a deadly aim, for guns were his best weaponry use.

"I'm coming with you."

Yuffie

Yuffie was carefully considering how she would get up without actually moving, when Vincent swooped down and helped her up. With a slight "oof", Yuffie was soon leaning on Vincent for most of her ability to walk. The further the group went, the more Yuffie could put weight on her ankle, until she was walking almost normally, if not for the occasionally trip or curse as she stumbled. She had been concentrating on her steps when she heard Rinoa's voice shouting at them to go. She turned to see Cloud rush up to Vincent, who was still holding onto her elbow, keeping her steady on the uneven terrain. Without much ceremony, except for a swift kiss to Tifa's forehead, Cloud had instructed Vincent to take her and go.

Yuffie was unsteady for several moments as Vincent let go of her arm, and she couldn't help but glare slightly at Cloud's retreating back, but all anger was forgotten when she saw Tifa. She couldn't stay mad at Cloud for forgetting about her when Tifa was hurt. She followed the moving group as fast as she could, but invariably was left behind, but not by much. She watched as Vincent attended to Tifa immediately, and with a sigh of relief, Yuffie sat down on the ground, inching herself towards the oasis. There was a sudden splash to her right, and Yuffie started to laugh as she realized Rikku had pushed Paranoid-Guy into the water. I should probably learn his name, mused Yuffie. Before I actually start calling him Paranoid-Guy aloud. Her thoughts were interrupted as Rikku herself fell into the water. She surfaced, irritated, but realizing her ankle was actually healed.

Yuffie hesitated before slipping herself in, and of course Vincent noticed. He prodded her to do it, and she shrugged, rolling her eyes simultaneously. With a swift push off the bank, she was submerged up to her waist, which was where all her bruises seemed to be. She leant there, hoping the oasis had worked. She had seen it work already, but she couldn't help but doubt. It was human nature. The water certainly was cold though, so she pushed herself back onto the bank, shivering slightly before attempting to stand up again. She almost laughed as she felt her legs hold her weight again.

She grinned when she saw Tifa awaken, and most of the party arrive back and use the healing properties of the water. Flopping back on the ground, she watched upside down as Riku and Rikku cracked coconuts, assumedly to place water in them. Though she wouldn't tell Riku, Rikku's method seemed more efficient, but she remained quiet. It seemed as though the trip with all the others had dimmed down her usually big mouth, and Yuffie opened her mouth to say something classically-Yuffie, but closed it. Too much seemed to be going on, and the only who might've noticed if she had said something, would've been Vincent. And he never cared for her jokes anyway.

Sitting back up, she watched as Riku speak about supplies and needing half of the group to stay, and the other half to go. She saw as Vincent volunteered...actually, not even volunteered, he was going, no matter what. Well...that was Vincent. Yuffie shrugged mentally and hopped up, smiling to herself as her healed wounds stayed healed.

"Well, I suppose I'll go." she said as she strode forward, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "And you'll all need someone to keep you from getting into trouble." she said with a smirk as she felt her knife and boomerang's comforting weight beside her. Eh, something to keep me from getting bored. Doubt I could've even taken a money pouch with this crowd. Too on edge. With a careless shrug, she stretched, getting her limbs ready for more walking.

Cloud Strife

Cloud smiled as Tifa opened her eyes and asked to be caught up. "A lot", he said. "You were out for a long time", he said with a sad look before replacing it with a smile. She was fine now. "Where shall I start?" he said, taking her hand into his as they begun to walk around the Oasis. "After you collapsed, I kinda picked a fight with Riku who's that guy over there", he said pointing over to Riku. "I thought he had something to do with our being here and your being injured, I thought he was linked with Sephiroth, and what can I say... I ended up attacking him. Nothing came of it, getting you here was more important", he said, slowing down to let Tifa take it in. "Then, I went off with those two..". He pointed at Squall and Rinoa. "We held back the heartless, a bunch of evil creatures that you really don't want to meet so that you could all get here safely. Infact we just about made it out.", he said with a smile as to dismiss any worry that Tifa may have felt. They were both fine now, and together – that's all that mattered. "Rikku", he said, pointing to the young al-bhed, "helped you, as did Vincent.. everyone really pulled together and I'm pretty sure we can trust everyone.. except maybe Riku. I'm not sure about him yet."

That was when Riku told the group to split in two, asking for volunteers to get some supplies. "Screw that", he said thinking aloud. Turning to Tifa he led her over to the Oasis, remembering that he needed healing. "Sorry, that came out a bit wrong, but I nearly lost you and I want to spend some time with you, I'm sure everyone will understand and it's not like they're not capable. From what I've seen their as skilled as we are with their weapons". He then slid his jacket off followed by his shirt, laying his sword down at his feet. What he found was more than he'd expected. A deep slash lay in his chest, probably left by the heartless. Mustn't have noticed it with all the adrenaline , he thought as he reached down and touched it. Wincing he pulled his hand away, cupping it with the other to take some water from the Oasis. He splashed it onto his cut and was amazed as it slowly healed before his eyes. Soon enough it was gone. Smiling at Tifa he put his shirt and jacket back on before picking up his sword and placing it back over his shoulder and back.

"Besides", he said, continuing the conversation. "Vincent's going". Casting Vincent a glance and a smile he told him; "Take care of yourself, it's rough out there. I'm staying here with Tifa". He hoped he'd understand, that they all would. He just wanted to spend some time in her company. Besides, he'd already been out there fighting the heartless, he deserved some time with his love. "Yuffie's going aswell, they'll make sure they both get back fine, meanwhile, did you dream of anything?"

Quistis Trepe

Quistis let Squall help her to the Oasis. She could see he was torn between everyone. He didn't know who he was meant to help first. Usually Quistis would be by his side, helping him in any way that she could. She felt helpless, these injuries seemed to be stopping her from doing anything useful. He suddenly sped up without warning, Quistis stopped herself from crying out in pain. Her feet were dragging along the overgrown forest. She looked up to see what he was running after - Rinoa was in danger, it was a Heartless. She understood his speed. Before she had a chance to ask him to leave her here he stopped. Quistis could see a hint of hesitation in his eyes when he said he had to go.

'I'll be fine, you just go.'

Seifer and the others were with her. Even with the injuries Quistis knew she could take care of herself if such a situation presented itself. The pain made it feel like Squall had been gone for ages. He came back and helped her towards the Oasis. She gladly let him help her. There was no way she would have been able to their herself and asking Seifer to help her was an option but not one she felt like taking at the moment.

As soon as she got into the Oasis, Quistis could feel herself healing. There was a tingling sensation all over her body, her arm began to feel normal again. She closed her eyes and slowly began moving her right arm again. Her eyes opened again and Quistis looked down to see that the bruising was gone, almost like it had never happened. She got to her feet and walked out of the pool of water towards where Squall and Rinoa stood.

'Thank you for the help Squall.'

She would have done the same for him but she felt it was important to let him know that she really appreciated his help. Quistis still wasn't 100 sure about this Riku guy, only time would tell what his true intentions were. He seemed to be taking charge, talking about getting supplies. She would be up for that if she got the chance, it would have to depend on how many people were going. If everyone decided they wanted to go then camp would be abandoned, not a good idea.

Tifa

Tifa listened with a worried expression on her face. She didn't want any unnecessary fighting. Especially with the cold looking man, who they knew nothing about. She'd have to thank the little blonde girl later, but for now she was happy to sit with cloud. She smirked faintly at Cloud's "screw it," it was very like him, but then her smile faded when she saw the slash across his chest. She lay her hand on Cloud's arm and looked up at him, ignoring his question.

"Cloud you have to be more careful, I love that you want to protect me, but you have to look after yourself... I couldn't bear to lose you."

Turning away she looked around to see that Vincent and Yuffie were ok also. She trusted Cloud would tell her, but she wanted to make sure. She was glad Vincent had volunteered to go look for supplies, he never failed in anything, and she wouldn't worry about him. Now Yuffie on the other hand... as much as Tifa adored her, she was a troublemaker. Still, as long as Vincent was there, she couldn't get into too much trouble. He missed nothing, that one.

Rikku

Rikku scowled at Seifer who had interrupted her questioning. Which he shouldn't, she was finding this stuff out for the benefit of everyone. She rolled his eyes at his threat, though she could totally see him picturing her head when he sliced the coconut... but really the dunking cured him of any wounds, you'd think he'd get over it by now... Rikku watched as he and Rinoa began to fight. She supposed he just wanted to fight in general, maybe it was how he coped with the situation... though tensions were running very high... Oddly enough though, it seemed mostly in group fighting as opposed to between the people from other worlds, Seifer's threat aside.

She turned back to Riku and realizing that this could be a chance for her to resupply so she'd have something better to use then a knife if those heartless attacked again. Besides, she was still cold, moving around would help, and she might be short, but she was fast, she could get back to the oasis in time. Furthermore, she was bored and when she was bored she thought about things like Gippal, and she was trying to stay positive. So almost immediately Rikku's hand shot up and still hopping from the cold, she waved her hand a bit in the air.

"Ooh, I'll go!"

It was perfect really, cure boredom, and continue the questioning as they got the supplies they needed as a group, and that she needed to mix up a few things of her own.

Rinoa

Rinoa took a few deep breaths before calming herself completely. She frowned apologetically at Squall before turning to hear Riku speak. Rinoa knew she wanted to help, and probably should. That's when she heard Rikku say that she wanted to go. Rinoa cringed slightly at the thought. Rikku did tend to ask a lot of questions, what if she wanted a background check on each person? Rinoa sighed before slowly walking over to Rikku. Rinoa studied the other woman's face for a second before opening her mouth to speak.

"Rikku, I don't think that's a very good idea. Your very capable of going on a mission like this, but we're going to need someone with keen senses and an outgoing personality to keep everyone's spirits up. Personally, I think you're perfect for the job. Besides, if Sephiroth comes, don't you want to get your revenge? And, If you get hurt, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

Rinoa gave her a weak smile before turning to Riku. "If you want to get anywhere with this crowd, myself included, you better start giving us a reason to trust you. Try talking a little more, and being a little more friendly. And, you know, It wouldn't hurt to answer Rikku's questions every once and a while." Rinoa sighed, shaking her head before turning to Squall. "I'm going with them." She then turned her head back to Riku to repeat this, "I'm going with you, but that doesn't mean I trust you. I swear if you pull anything I'll have your head shot off within seconds."

Rinoa didn't think she was capable of being bitter, but she had pulled it off. So far, of the people going, she didn't really know anyone. She sighed before placing her hands on her hips. "I suggest, everyone else fills up more coconuts just in case. Not only that, but you might want to start up a fire, it could get colder as the night goes on." Rinoa spun on her heels to face Riku again. "Now, we have Four People, we just need one more." She secretly hoped it wasn't Seifer, as he would be a pain in the butt.

Seifer

As stubborn as Rinoa could be when she slapped him he was surprised and even further angered. He spotted her hand ready on her pinwheel and gave a knowing smirk, a hand lowered to his Gunblades handle, gripping it tightly, daring her to use her Pinwheel on him. If it hadn't been for her beau jumping to the rescue he would have attacked her in that second, while they were staring each other down. But, no, Squall just had to ruin his playtime. Green eyes darted towards Squall. "Keep your girlfriend under control or I will hurt her next time!" He warned, tracing Squall's scar with his eyes, a small smile passed over him, he had given Squall that scar in 'training'... later Quistis had told him off for that which infuriated him, but it didn't remove either of Squall's or his identical one.

Walking off away from the couple he glanced over towards Quistis as Riku spoke, asking for volunteers. Staying here was getting rather boring and maybe a little action would be a welcome change. Instead of small arguements. So, now it was up to one from the Garden's small "group" to go, and he was betting that left either him or her. If she went and they got attacked, he could bet on her getting hurt again. Sure, Quistis was stronger then he openly gave her credit for, but that didn't mean she was a better fighter then him. He welcomed chaos and destruction... it was all part of life anyways, so why shy away from it.

Still, it had been his need for chaos and destruction which landed him kicked out of Balamb Garden, at the time, it had been the only thing he knew as a home. His time away was more then welcomed, but when he was told he couldn't return a small part of him was hurt. For a while he had longed for the familiar walls of home. Then, he was welcomed back - though not without having to pay some sort of punishment and it seemed this was it. Check on Edea, she just happened to go missing from her cage and now... here they all were in a strange world.

To stay and continue being bored or go and leave things for Quistis to handle... that was the question, and seeing as he never was one to handle being bored fairly well, he'd go. That, and part of him wanted to keep her in the safety of the Oasis. Sometimes it felt like she was maybe the only one that truely understood him. And that's why he hated her.

But as Rinoa went up and took the hyper-blonde girls spot, Rikku's, he rolled his eyes at her threat towards Riku. Was she trying to mimic him? Either way, things here were boring. "Hmph. If you all think I'm staying here you've got another thing coming." He said moving over to the group of people whom had volunteered to go. "I'm going."

Edea

Golden eyes glinting ominously, an irritated frown faintly creased the intimidating yet elegant face of the Sorceress Edea as she turned her head away from the keyhole; casting her gaze onto Sephiroth, with whom circumstance left her little choice other than to collaborate with. Mostly, she preferred to work alone, or to be the one commanding the situation; it did not sit well with her that she stood alongside somebody who thought himself her equal. However, he had proven his use (it had been he who freed her from the cage she had been imprisoned in, much as she would like to forget), and if she was going to team up with anyone, it might as well be somebody like Sephiroth – seemingly powerful enough and with enough arrogance and assurance to execute a plan.

She stood still for a moment, recalling how Riku had escaped them, despite Edea's efforts to the contrary. An icicle that she had summoned had come close – incredibly close – to hitting the intended target, but Riku had been deft in his closing of the hole, his simple plan succeeding after managing to distract the Sorceress and her companion. It bothered her to realise it, but Riku had beaten them – for now – and could use his weapon with apparent ease, handling its power without difficulty.

And I can feel it, the Sorceress thought to herself, her frown growing so it contorted every facial feature, the expression on her face becoming evermore sinister as her eyes momentarily wandered back towards the keyhole the pair were trying to reopen in order to pursue Riku. I can feel the power from the other side.

The fact that Riku – wielder of the Keyblade – had escaped them had infuriated Edea; that he had then been so bold as to forcefully close the keyhole upon Sephiroth and herself incensed her, and inside a quiet yet forceful rage was bubbling, threatening to spill over at any moment. Her eyes sparking with unspoken but quite obvious wrath, mouth pursed ready to speak, she shifted her weight onto her other foot as she took a step forwards, one hand on her hip as she did so.

Yet Sephiroth beat her to it, interrupting as she opened her mouth preparing to talk. Raising an eyebrow in an incredulous arch, her eyes flashed with anger as she listened to his words. Eyes narrowing, she took a silent but deep breath – it simply would not do to unleash her full rage upon the man with her; it would reduce her advantage – she had the element of mystery in her favour, not to mention that she had a broader range of power. Not that he needs to find that out yet, she decided, I am not the more intelligent one of this pairing for nothing. She would let him stand there basking in his arrogance for the moment – sooner or later (though it would most likely be the former if Edea had her way and Sephiroth had any sense), he would realise her natural superiority.

Returning his frosty glare with ample measure, she let her lip curl into a cold, somewhat sadistic smile.

"Many more useful things than you, it is apparent." she replied coolly, watching the man begin to pace up and down. Though she wanted to find Riku as soon as possible, she would wait and see if Sephiroth would offer any move.

Squall Leonhart

Squall merely watched silently as members of the group volunteered around him, his eyes widening slightly as Rinoa asked to go, or rather said she was going to go. Personally, Squall hadn't been thinking of going to get supplies with the rest, but if Rinoa was going...he wanted to. Releasing a sigh of annoyance as Seifer spoke, his annoyed glare danced over towards Seifers eyes, his eyes tracing the scar straight between his eyes- one identicle to his own. The mere thought of how he had gotten the scar bringing a wave of anger through him- which quickly diminished as he calmed himself down, resting a hand on the hilt of his Gunblade as he spoke towards Seifer, obviously angered.

"Seifer, keep your threats to yourself. You touch her, you'll have to go through me first, and we both know that won't go well. For you at least", Squall spat back out as a response to Seifers coment. In more ways then one the two were very similar...much to Squall's dislike, but Squall could throw back quick comebacks just as quick as Seifer, and he believed he was a better fighter then him as well...as well as a better leader. Seifer was arrogant and destructive, where eventhough Squall held the potential to cause destruction deep down inside...he was the more level headed of the two, and obviously, much more charming. Running a soft hand through his brown hair, the group leader merely rolled his eyes as he walked over towards Rinoa, catching Seifers gaze once more as he strode over towards her.

"And you wonder why Garden threw you out", rolling his eyes once more as he spoke. Squall neared Rinoa and glanced into her eyes, holding her hands in his as he spoke. He knew that he couldn't go- it wouldn't make much sense for the strongest Warriors to leave camp, even if it was protected by the Oasis's Magick...who knew what the darkness could do, it was obvious the worlds in this dimension were much more differrent then Squall's own...and he would have to get used to it, quickly, if he was going to have a chance to survive.

"You know I don't want you to go, but stay close to the group this time. I'll stay here to keep the others safe, but promise me you'll follow the rests lead, don't go off on your own...I won't be there", he kissed Rinoa on her lips breifly. Before pulling back and turning to Riku, giving him a warning glance as if anything that happened to Rinoa- would be on his hands.

Riku

Riku was mildly impressed at how many jumped up to join him, mildly at least. Brushinghis soft hair out of his face once more, he allowed his emotionless eyes to wander across the volunteers. Stopping on the blonde man with the large white trench coat, Riku could sense, feel the arrogance and destructive forces the young man harbored, and he didn't want to deal with him at the current time. And at the rapid pace the sun was setting- they didn't have time to waste. So Riku merely shook his head and motioned for the volunteers to follow him, holding up another hand to stop Seifer as he came by.

"You, stay. I don't have time to waste, and we have plenty members of the Party as it is. Stay here at the Oasis", Riku tried to be more discreet, as he heard Rinoa's own suggestive words. He merely rolled his eyes inwardly, supposing that he could play along with her for the time being, his eyes catching Squall's as he turned around, and instantly recongnizing the glance he had gotten. Riku had given that own faciel expression...to Sora, when he went off with Kairi, even thinking of the lost love of his life shot pain through his tainted heart, and he quickly forced her image back into the darker depths of his mind. Turning on his heel and hacking away at the forest, making a larger path for the rest to follow.

"Everyone, stay close this time. Be on your guard, and stay as close to the Oasis's perimeter as you can. We will not go far, we just need to get essentials. Firewood, anything else you see as well, run it over with me before you go after it". He nodded as he spoke, grabbing the fruits that he had hung around his waist, all full of Oasis water, and tossing several to each member of the group. Craning his neck to see over his shoulder as he spoke.

"Those are incase of Emergency, if you are attacked and need healing, drink- or splash that on your wound. If a Heartless comes by that we can't handle, splash it on them- the Heartless stay away from the Oasis for a reason...it hurts them, and does the opposite it does for us. Instead of healing them", he cut himself off as he spoke. Turning his back infront of him as he swung once more, chopping into more shurbery as he finished off his comment. "It kills them".

Riku made sure to stay back with the group, motioning over towards a fallen tree, they could take wood and branches from that to use fire wood, and luckiy- a portion of the Oasis light splashed half of the tree, which secured that it was not inhabited by heartless. After slashing a larger path towards it, he merely waited for the rest of the group, his emotionless eyes taking a head count, and making sure everyone was close together, he didn't want anyone wondering off again. At all.

Rikku

Rikku sighed as Rinoa spoke, someone dejected, but she wasn't going to contradict the only person who had made an effort to be nice to her when she had been so upset about Gippal, who had even noticed at all.

"Ohhh... okay."

She realized why the other girl was saying it, but those creatures attacking was hardly her fault, and the other girl was attacked as well. Rinoa spoke as if she were trying to appease a child, which was more then a little annoying to say the least, but her words were heartfelt at least... and besides, instead of searching for the supplies, she could search for what she needed. She figured she'd be safe enough if she didn't wander too far, which actually made her more then just a little determined to get her things in order. Rolling her eyes when Seifer volunteered, and then smiling faintly when he wasn't allowed either, she ignored the group and walking to a rocky bit of soil she pulled off her pack and set it down. Shaking out the glass carefully into a pile away from the area, but still visible so people could avoid it, she proceeded to form a circle of rocks. Then grabbing the driest grass she could find, followed by some little kindling that was lying around, and placed it within the circle. Finally she took out her knife and cut a small strip from her pack. Very small... She knew the chemicals that had spilled in it would be potent. Then getting to her feet, she picked up to rocks, and preparing to jump back she hit two rocks together in order to generate a spark above the pile she had built. It took two tries, but then her efforts paid off and spark hit the pack material and exploded into flames, Rikku jumped back, falling to the ground, as the fire flamed high into the air before settling down. A smile on appeared on her face... true the fire was an odd purpley blue color, but it still produced light and heat. It would do.

Sitting down again, she wrapped her arms around her knees, staring into the fire and watching as the flames danced back and forth, first purple then blue. Once again she ran over the events of the day in her head, trying to absorb any detail that she might have missed... had it really been only a day? When she thought she saw Gippal's face looking back at her from the flames, Rikku looked away startled. Then remembering that she had been carrying pyrefly essence in her bag, she made sure not to look back again. She didn't have any desire to see more faces of dead people. She wondered if the others saw anything, or whether it was just some link to Spira. Another difference between these people and herself. Glancing around, she decided that enough time had passed. She'd start to scavenge for what she needed herself.

Rinoa

Rinoa turned on her heels to look back at Squall once more. She bit her lip before dashing over to him and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. She hugged him tightly, and then ran back to the group, making sure to stay with them. At the same time her fingers wrapped around her pinwheel and she knew she was ready to take on whatever came her way. Rinoa knew that with her training from Squall in Balamb Garden, she could do almost anything. Somehow she was still nervous. However, she put on an act of bravery as best as she could. Showing her weak side would only get her into danger. Rinoa turned back in time to see Rikku making a fire, she smiled at the other girl. Rinoa was sure that Rikku was smarter than anyone here. She smiled before turning back around and following Riku into the path.

Rinoa was hesitant to back into the darkness of the woods, but she realized she had no other choice. Forward was the only route that would keep them all safe, and that's what she wanted to do – was to keep everyone safe. Rinoa raised her pinwheel, just in case they were faced with any sudden attacks from the heartless. Rinoa was positive that they would be attacked by heartless, but she at least had one hope that none of the larger heartless would come their way. She had a feeling deep within that they would come, and they would be faced with severe danger, but she also had a feeling that if they stuck together, they might just have a chance. Rinoa looked down at the healing water of the oasis and had a slight idea. She sprinkled some of the water over her weapon, hoping to strength it with the water, and give herself a better chance of attacking.

Rinoa looked ahead into the looming darkness and was filled with a strong sense of dread. Why had she decided to come along anyway? It sounded like a good idea at the time, but with so many creatures around, she didn't know if she could do it. Her eyes darted around in the darkness, warily, and she looked for any signs of danger. So far so good, of course...That didn't mean the safety would last. Most good things didn't last long, or at least...That's what she was starting to believe, ever since they ended up here. Of course, the only good thing that had happened was the fact that she was still with Squall. For that she was both grateful, and lucky. Rinoa turned around to take one last look at her love before watching his face disappear behind her. She sighed and turned around with only one though in her mind.

I hope I see you again....

She instantly missed the feeling of warmth, safety, and happiness that came with the gift of light. She also missed the sense of deep security in Squall's arms. It seemed that whenever they were separated for more than two minutes, they needed each other like a bird in the desert needs water. Rinoa remembered falling for Squall for the first time. It seemed like only yesterday they had gone on that journey. If that journey had never happened, they would have never fallen in love. This made Rinoa smile, she was glad she asked Cid for help from the SeeDs. After that journey, they hadn't been separated since. Their love also grew stronger, and Rinoa knew that she wanted to be with him forever. She secretly hoped he wanted to be with her forever as well.

Because I Love you more than life itself...

Sephiroth

He had the beginnings of a plan, which was more then he could say for Edea. Whom despite his obvious superiority continued to think she was better then him. The son of Jenova, and ancient. He held magics at his disposal as well and was not threatened by a mere Sorceress whom could toss ice around. He smirked slightly as he continued to pace, his silver hair swaying with his movements. Well, whatever the two were going to do staying here wasn't much of an option and he needed more power to break through after Sora.

Power... the thought struck a plan and he just pushed aside Edea's meager comment as if it was nothing, cause in truth, it was just that to him at least. He was not threatened by her, nor intimidated. He could back up his words and prove himself, the only question was, could she? A smirk crossed his face as he withdrew his sword, the Masmurane from it's sheath, green eyes glanced towards Edea as if threatening to use it upon her. But, no, she could still prove usefull to him. And therefore, he would spare her life for now.

Turning towards the door the two had orginally come from after killing Gippal, he slashed his sword open, providing a doorway to the previous world. "I suggest you stick close if you expect to prove that comment true." he said in his cold, emotionless voice, before stepping through the portal he had created.

No sooner had he arrived in the desert cave had he repeated the previous action, not even waiting up to see if Edea followed him or not, to where this portal led he couldn't exactly say, but anywhere was better then here. And hopefully the world beyond would have enough power to allow him to break through the worlds to get to the stubborn boy. He would be the one in the end to kill Riku for his betrayal. Riku would pay, and he would pay dearly. Not just by death, but Sephiroth could do more then anything Riku would be able to imagine.

Stepping through this portal he came out upon a beach, a couple was nearby, no where near as shocked as they should by of the appearance of a man on the beach through a portal. The couple seemed to have been more used to the idea of people just popping out from different worlds then the blonde girl and her dead boyfriend were.

The male arched an eyebrow quizzically at him, seeming to try and place Sephiroth in his head. However, he had no such luck and instead walked over, holding out his hand in order to shake it and greet him. "Hi. I'm Sora." The brunette said with a friendly smile, Sephiroth just looked down at the hand, it meant nothing to him whom this boy was, however, the fact that he carried a Keyblade at his side was intrigueing. "Are you a friend of Riku's?"

And yet, this boy was even of further use to him. He seemed to know the very one that Sephiroth wanted to torture. He didn't take the offered hand and instead with his free hand (as he still had his sword drawn) he grabbed at the girl, holding the blade of his sword to her throat, this act startled Sora and Sora went to draw the keyblade immediately. "Kairi!"

"Not so fast. If you want to live, and her to live... you'll open a keyhole for me." Sephiroth commanded. Sora glared at him, as if that would convince Sephiroth to let go of her. But it had little to no effect on him. And Sora knew that he would have to go along with this man until he could break Kairi free of his grasps. So he reluctantly lowered his keyblade, awaiting instructions which came not a second afterwards. "Through the portal... you'll come to a desert cave with another like it, go in. And then you'll reach the keyhole I need opened!" Sephiroth commanded. The holes he had created would last long enough for Sora to do get back to where Edea was, and further, Sora without a further word went through the portal, followed by Kairi and Sephiroth.

Upon returning to the room, he caught Sora simply ignoring Edea and already jumping to activate the keyhole, a smirk crossed over his face, he'd get his revenge upon Riku sooner then he had intended. Shooting a look towards Edea, one full of mock for while she stood here being useless to him, he had managed to find yet another keyblade holder and two friends of Riku's. The part he wasn't telling Sora though was that he had no intentions of keeping him nor his girlfriend alive after the keyhole was opened. Sora turned towards Sephiroth, anger burned behind his eyes. "I've done as you've asked, now let Kairi go!"

Sephiroth nodded toward the opened door, instructing Sora to go through, which he did with some hesitation. Yet, again followed by Sephiroth, though the moment Sephiroth arrived in the forest he waisted no time in sliding the Masmurane blade through Kairi, literally decapitating her. Sora cried out angered, his voice travelling over the shadows as tears sprung to his eyes. "KAIRI!!!!" with his keyblade he went to attack Sephiroth, only to end up being impaled with the Masmurane through his heart. His limp body fell to the forest floor as soon as Sephiroth removed the sword and smirked. Of course, he was going to do more then let their bodies rot in this forest, for they were only a small part in his revenge upon Riku for the betrayal.

Putting away his sword he still held Kairi's head, which dangled as he held her by her hair, he found a small bag on Sora which held food and such inside and emptied the contents upon the floor of the forest. Before placing Kairi's head in the bag and latching it to his side. His gift to Riku when he found the pesky boy. After he picked up Sora's keyblade and smirked to himself. If he could get this to work for him since it's master was in fact dead, then he'd have no need for Riku.

Now all he had to do was wait for Edea to arrive.

Seifer

"Hmph." He took no threat to Squall's words, actually, a re-match between himself and Squall would be more then welcomed, since before and even during his return to Garden he'd been training. Honing his skills and improving them, he did not take defeat well and having been defeated by Squall once - he was going to make sure it didn't happen again. Ever. "I could get to her and defeat you in my sleep." Seifer huffed, smirking, green eyes daring Squall to have a reaction to his words. Of course, it would take more then just a few fancy moves in his sleep to defeat Squall. He wasn't stupid, he knew that Squall was infact a talented fighter, but he wasn't going to admitt that either.

Being told to stay by Riku only added more fuel to his temper. "You've got to be kidding me!" He protested, voice more than a little raised to this comment. Riku had to be younger then him and did he really think he could boss Seifer around like he was a petulant child? He scoffed and turned his back on the group heading out, he had a chance to be of some use to the group and next was told he couldn't go?

He didn't wonder why Garden had threw him out, he knew the reasons deep down inside. But... still... he wanted to be of some use in this strange world, it annoyed him that he wasn't allowed the chance to prove his worth. Crossing his arms stubbornly across his chest he leaned against a nearby tree, looking into the flames of the fire Rikku had started.

Thoughts of Fujin and Rajin raced through his mind and a sadness filled his eyes, he wished they were here with him now. They were the only friends he had ever truly had, willing to follow him to any lengths, even though they had known he was making a mistake in becoming Edea's "knight" they followed willingly. Back then he didn't realize just how much the two meant to him - but now, in a strange world surrounded by people who didn't trust him - not that there was reason to trust him - and not knowing when or if he'd ever get back he longed for their compainionship. It seemed that everyone else were making friends easily enough, but even the people he knew wouldn't trust him as far as they could throw him.

He shook his head and glanced towards Quistis briefly before looking away, scanning over those whom stayed behind, as he didn't watch Squall for long but the mere sight of him brought up further hidden emotions and thoughts. Things he didn't show outwardly, but they were still there.

He envied Squall. Born leader, everyone seemed to like and trust Squall even if Squall was an emotionless a$$hole, yet Seifer, every move he made just seemed to end up being wrong and losing the trust of others. Not only was Squall talented with a Gunblade, a leader whom everyone liked, he also got the girl of his dreams. Rinoa. Seifer wouldn't admitt it but a small part of him wished he could have someone like Rinoa - not Rinoa of course, nor anyone with her qualities, but someone whom would love him. As for Seifer, he was utterly alone in this world. He didn't have Fujin nor Rajin to back him up and everyone openly hated him.

Ugh. I'm getting soft! He thought with extreme distaste and annoyance before returning his gaze to the dancing coloured flames. Not really paying attention to them, only using their dancing to avoid his thoughts. His attention drifted as he heard a shout or cry or something, but it was far too muffled to make out who it was let alone what gender it was, part of him silently hoped it was Rinoa. But he was pretty certain it wasn't considering Riku seemed to stress the point of staying close to the Oasis.

Rinoa

Rinoa followed Riku deeper and deeper into the woods, hoping against hope that he wasn't leading them into a trap. She stifled a yawn as they entered the darkness, and found herself becoming tired. However her nerves were on edge, which prevented her from closing her eyes. Rinoa gazed at the darkness, and made out the lines of her companions. Other than them, she couldn't see any outlines of creatures. Rinoa was relieved, she didn't know how she would fight the creatures in the dark...unless....there was light. With that thought in mind, Rinoa bent down and luckily found a flint rock on the ground. She picked this up, along with a long wooden stick. Rinoa put the stick on the flint rock, and then picked up another rock. She struck this against the stick and the flint and instantly created a torch. It was pitch black now, and she could see her companions, thanks to the blazing flames.

Rinoa then picked up more wooden sticks and lit them on fire with her own. She passed these around so everyone had one, so they could see. Rinoa then pocketed the flint rock and the other rock, just in case. She found herself looking around at huge trees that seemed to be looming over them. She then moved the torch over the patches of darkness in the forest. So far, so good. She was almost certain, however, that it wouldn't be like this for long. She moved the torch over Riku's face and watched as his winced in the sudden light. She gave him an apologetic smile before moving it out of his face. That's when she heard it, one snap of a twig, another. Rinoa spun on her heels and her expression took on one of shock as they started to come. The Heartless. Rinoa took out her pinwheel, and with one hand, shot them as fast as rain poured from the sky.

Rinoa waved the torch in front of her, towards the heartless. They seemed to back away from this. She found herself grinning as she continued to shoot them. It would be sensible to collect some rocks, and more wooden sticks, so they could make spears and other weapons, if needed. Rinoa filled her mouth with some of the oasis water but didn't swallow it. Instead she blew it into the fire, and watched as the fire sent out a wave of fury towards the heartless. This made them die easily, and Rinoa was satisfied. She waved the torch towards the trees and noticed all sorts of fruits growing on them. Rinoa started to climb the trees, despite the looks she received from her companions. She knocked plenty of Bananas, Pineapples, and Some other star-shaped fruit off of the trees.

Rinoa quickly put these into her pockets, making sure they would have at least something to eat when they got back to the campfire. She smiled at the others before dragging Riku along to find some animals for them to eat. Her search for the animals had ended when she saw a group of rabbits clearly scared in front of them. Rinoa winced, she didn't want to hurt the animals, but they needed food. Instead, Rinoa pushed Riku in front of her and demanded that he do it. She turned around as she heard the clean swipe of a blade through flesh. She then made a gagging face as Riku dumped the dead corpses of the rabbits into her arms. Forcing herself not to throw up, Rinoa carried these in her arms. She watched as blood dripped onto the ground and almost found herself wanting to drop them.

Rinoa then saw a flock of birds overhead, barely visible in the darkness. She shot them down one by one with her pinwheel. Rinoa collected these, also. She pulled out a cloth from her pocked and dumped the animals into it, surprisingly they all fit. She then tied this up and proceeded to walk with the others, every now and then collecting rocks and sticks for spears. Rinoa also shoved plenty of herbs into her pockets, satisfied with the process she was making. Rinoa stopped in her tracks as did the others. It pretty much looked like their work was complete. All Rinoa wanted to do now was rest, and fast.

Sephiroth

As Edea came through the keyhole just before it closed he cast a look in her direction. Single handedly he had managed to get his grips on two of Riku's friends, one of which was also a keyblade holder, and to solve their dilenma of not being able to reach this world. Yes, draining Riku's world of it's energy would be quite fun too... Maybe I'll get to that later. He thought to himself.

Having the sheath and the keyblade he secured them to his side before looking around the shadows, the shadows which had eyes that watched him and the Sorceress hungerily. "We're not alone Sorceress." He said over his shoulder to Edea before walking to a pre-cut path, he looked down it for only a second. "We go this way..." He didn't say why, but he was quite sure that the Sorceress would pick up on the fact that Riku had went this way. He was willing to bet on it.

Walking down the path to the Oasis Sephiroth encountered a few heartless, but the creatures were soon enough dispossed of, a large one that had survived a previous fight entered the path blocking his way to Riku and he sighed softly. The creatures just seemed to think that Sephiroth was easy pickings, taking his Masmurane, he lifted it high and slashed the thing, succeeding in cutting off its poor, pathetic tail and opening up the pathway again. The large heartless cried out angerily and threw its huge arm out towards Sephiroth, whom jumped to the side, getting past the heartless. He smirked as now the thing seemed to go after the Sorceress. This was her chance to do something semi useful.

Continuing down the path, he was sure Edea could handle her own against that thing. Coming to the Oasis he smirked to himself, the place was bright and even had it's little group about. The blonde girl whom Riku had stopped him from killing was kneeling down by a bright and colourful fire, and then there was Cloud and Tifa. Actually, if it weren't for these three he wouldn't have even paid the group any heed at all.

Edea came up behind him shortly enough, looking slightly irritated with Sephiroth for leaving her to deal with that thing back there, but he couldn't really care any less. There was however, one brave boy in the group whom pushed himself off of the tree he was leaning on. Wearing a white trench coat, it seemed with the arrival of the Sorceress something struck him inside and he decided to play hero. Drawing the odd sword which came with a gun for the hilt. The boy stepped infront of Sephiroth and Edea.

"Point the way to where Riku is and I might just let you live." Sephiroth said in his cold emotionless voice.

Seifer

As he glanced into the fire and began to pay more attention he could swear he saw Fujin and Rajin in it's flames which startled him softly, but he wouldn't look away. He longed for their compainionship frowning very slightly he looked away. Forcing his mind to think of other things... he wouldn't get all "touchy feely" in front of this crowd. However, a welcome distraction came as a man with long silver hair walked into the Oasis. Unsure of whether this man was friend or foe, any questions he soon had were pushed away with the arrival of Edea.

It was their fault then that he was here. Seeing that if Edea was with him, he assumed the other man was Sephiroth of whom he had heard so much about. He waisted no time in drawing his gunblade and blocking the two of theirs path to the others. This was the chance he had been waiting for, to prove which side he was on, for now. He could easily prove them all right about who he was and join up with this man and the Sorceress (yet again) and follow a path of chaos and destruction. But he wouldn't. He was playing on the good side this time, and he would defeat the both of them, single handedly if need be - or die trying.

As the man asked a question he just nodded his head toward the path that Riku had taken with the others. "He went down there... but you're not getting past me." Seifer said. Determination burned in his voice. Maybe he'd be able to get out of this strange world sooner then he expected, re-capturing the Sorceress as well - or killing her this time so she wouldn't be of his worries.

With that he waisted no time of jumping into action, taking his sword and slashing out at Sephiroth's chest, which he was sure would be blocked somehow by the man's long 6-foot sword, or even the keyblade maybe that rested at his side. However, a gunblade had more advantages then just a blade, as it's name suggested, and he pulled the trigger as well, aiming a bullet at Sephiroth's chest.

Riku

Riku continued down the path with the rest, although stopped momentarily to grab one of the torches Rinoa had fashioned, he had to admit- it was good to have her, he doubted the arrogant man with the trench coat would have been much use then a thorn in his side- and he didn't have the patience to put up with that kind of behavior anymore. Sighing once more, he motioned his hand to signify that they wouldn't go any farther, he didn't want to shy away from the Oasis too much, enough to find what they were looking for...but close enough for them to get back unharmed- which was soon diminished as Rinoa seemingly blew fire with the help of the Oasis water into a group of Heartless...however, it wasn't the small heartless he was worried about- he didn't want the larger heartless to come running to help their smaller, weaker breathen. Sighing and slashing the remaining Heartless with his Keyblade, the pale young man watched as Rinoa gathered fruits, and nodded towards her as If saying 'good job'.

"We shouldn't go any farther...", was all Riku managed to spit out before Rinoa grabbed him and ushered him deeper into the forest, to a group of bunnies. Rolling his eyes at her squirming, he effortlessly cut into most of the group, the rest of the unfortunate animals running off deeper into the darkness. Picking up the bunnies, he merely dropped them into Rinoa's hands and continued on, marveling at her skill with her Pinwheel as several birds dropped down from the sky...which was when he felt it. The unbearable shooting pain that seemed to crack his heart in two, he winced and grunted aloud, clenching his chest with one hand and seeming to double over, landing on one knee to support himself when he looked for, but that wasn't the only odd thing that happened. For some odd reason, he thought of Sora and Kairi, and himself...when they were children on the island, carefree and 'best friends forever' as they used to tell each other. Shaking his head and trying to force the memories back into the depths of his mind, he managed to stand up and withstand the fading pain that shot through his heart. Looking towards the others as if nothing had happened and motioning towards the Oasis path.

"We go...something's...", Riku didn't get the chance to finish his sentence when a much larger Heartless...that seemed to have been in a fight before, seeing it had several bullet holes and half of its tail was missing. Not taking any chances, he merely glared into the beings red and yellow eyes, clenching the fruit filled with the Oasis water and quickly throwing it towards the creature, but he wasn't done yet...as it flew past him, he quickly plunged his torch towards it, the flames licking over the fruit and eventually catching it on fire, however...the flames mixed with the Oasis water, and the fire quickly exploded in a flurry of white and silver flames as it came in contact with the heartless, easily catching it on fire and diminishing it to a puddle of shadow and blood. "Wrong", he finally finished his sentence before turning on his heel, stepping over the creatures remaints and continuing to the Oasis clearing...

Squall Leonhart

Squall watched as Rinoa disappeared into the shadows, forcing himself to turn away and not go after her, shaking his head and focusing on the fire that Rikku created, he casually made his way over towards the purple and blue flames whilst motioning over Quistis as well. Stopping momentarily as he saw flashes of Garden in the flames, shaking his head once more, he figured it was just the longing for home getting to him, making him see things. So he eventually tore his eyes away from the flames as well, walking over towards Rikku and settling down next to her, glancing headlong at the odd petite blonde girl, hoping to form a stronger friendship with her as he spoke.

"Hey, nice going", he motioned his hand towards the fire, indicating that he was indeed talking about that, he was still amazed at how she could have created fire with a simple hair band...maybe she used Magic? Shrugging, Squall's ears instantly perked up as he heard an unfamiliar voice, his eyes darting towards the path they had made their way to the Oasis with...where he saw a tall silver haired man, and more importantly...Edea. Quickly standing up, he pulled out his Gunblade and walked towards Seifer, his facial features instantly hardening as he glared into the Sorceresses golden pupils.

"Seifer, don't do anything stupid, I'm still your Squad leader. Quistis, make sure the others are safe", he spoke whilst glaring at Edea, flashes of Balamb and her prison running through his mind like flickering images on a television screen. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his Gunblade, watching horrifically as Seifer burst forth and attacked the silver haired man, instantly running forward and trying to defend Seifer, holding his sword up in a defensive posture he had learned in Garden. He may not like Seifer much...but he was still his Squad leader, and he didn't want any of his Squad to die.

'Rinoa...Please stay away' Squall thought of Rinoa bursting in and trying to do something heroic. He knew the silver haired man was just as evil and powerful as Edea...and they couldn't even defeat the Sorceress before, just imprison her. He was afraid- not for himself...but for Rinoa, he hoped that she stayed out of sight, and desperately hoped she did not get hurt.

Quistis Trepe

Seifer had offered to go, there would be no point in Quistis offering as well. It would just lead to some sort of argument, she was happy enough staying here and helping Squall and Rinoa with the camp.

She watched those who had decided to get standing together, then she looked over at everyone else. Rinoa and Squall were standing next to each other. She heard Rinoa say she wanted to go, Quistis looked over at Seifer, he had that look on his face that told her he was beginning to get annoyed. Rinoa's desicion to go led to an argument between Squall and Seifer, their arguments were nothing new but still they did become tiring after all this time.

Quistis walked towards Squall and stood next to him and watched the group begin to leave. They were brave, who knew what was out there. They were all trapped in this unknown dangerous place, at least they were all working together now. It would have been much worse if fights had started up between them. Riku stopped Seifer and told him to stay here, Quistis couldn't help but smile. It was about time people started showing Seifer that they wouldn't be pushed around by him.

Quistis nearly jumped when a silver haired man arrived with the sorceress Edea. This was not something she had been expected. Seifer was already prepared to fight but Squall told him to stand down. She had been given told to make sure the others were safe and that's what she would do.

'Ok. You heard him.'

She turned around to face those who remained. Her only fear was that they would decide to do their own thing. She whispered some instructions to them, Edea would most likely still hear her but whispering it gave her some sort of comfort.

'Everyone move back. We're trained for this.'

Rikku

Rikku smiled at Squall about to thank him and was considering warning him about the side effects that the fire had, when she also heard the noise. Seeing Sephiroth there, she felt a flash of pain and outrage, as well as a brief flicker of irony that the group supposedly safe at the oasis was now in the most danger. Most of all she was determined. She was going to kill the bastard even if it killed her. She didn't even hear Quistis's telling them to get back because they were "trained". She was raging inside, and trying to decide what she was going to do. As anything associated with the pyreflies is wont to do, the flames reacted to her strong emotions flaring brightly as they burst higher up into the air with a loud popping noise. Drawn to the flame again because of the sound, she saw not only Gippal's face, but Yunie's as well, both yelling two words to her soundlessly. Rikku stared entranced, everything fading away, the shouts from Quistis, Squall, and the others, even the existence of the silver haired man and golden eyed woman who had become her worst enemies with just one slash of a sword. As these all faded a way, and Gippal and Yuna came into almost crystalline focus and there shouts became clear in her head.

"Not yet! Not yet! Not yet!"

Rikku, in a daze, was about to ask why when the sounds of more gunshots shook her out of it, and Gippal and Yunie's faces wavered then vanished in the flames taking with them all uncertainty about what to do as well as giving her memories of what had happened more focus. She knew exactly what happened, could even remember some of that conversation. It had somehow filtered into her subconscious. Most importantly though, the door in the machine had opened by a key... the very keyblade that Riku had in his possession, which was why she supposed Sephiroth was looking for him at all. Because he could open the paths between the worlds for him... but if he had one in his possession now... One thing was clear, they'd have to get it away from him. Though Riku said that his was attuned to him, or something to that effect, who knew about the one Sephiroth had, maybe it was his key to power.

Rikku firmly believed that despite any sort of authority of rank, ultimately decisions came down to personal choice. They had to at least alert the others of what was going on, so they could stay away or come and fight. Otherwise there would just be blame and regret. Thus, dropping to her knees in a swift movement, she reached out and she grabbed not one, but five of the strips she had cut. Moving quickly she reached with her other hand and grabbed the pile of glass, ignoring the bite as they cut through her skin, it didn't matter about her hand now. She dropped the glass into what remained of her pack and tucked it under her arm, glancing over to see that Sephiroth and the Sorceress were still distracted as Squall joined into the battle. How the others decided to act or not act was ultimately a personal decision, and she felt that everyone needed to know what was going on. Turning back to what she was doing, but moving faster now, she kicked one of the small branches by the fire away, still lit, grabbing it as well. Jumping to her feet, she backed up a set, and got ready to run when she tossed the cloth strips into the fire.

"Heads up!"

An explosion immediately followed, sending the fire spiraling up up ten feet, fifteen, twenty into the air, a strange purple fog flowing outward. Her action had two purposes, firstly to warn those in the woods that something was up and to stay away or come as they will, and secondly to give her cover. Glancing back briefly as she ran, she could barely make out the other figures faintly flickering from the odd firelight like ghosts in the fog before disappearing all together. Rikku herself headed for the trees, while normally clumsy, when she was focused on a task she could move both quickly and silently. Circling back wide enough, so she could get around behind where Sephiroth and Edea were standing, severely hoping her small candle-sized flame was just another flicker in the fog to anyone looking. Gripping the pack full of glass tightly in her fist, she began to approach.

Sephiroth

If Seifer had been nearly as intimidating to Sephiroth as he seemed to believe he was, Sephiroth may have made a move to remove to gift in which he had made for Riku. He was looking forwards to meeting up with the boy once again, longing to see his reaction. Seifer was unimportant to him at the moment, merely an obstacle in his way. Same with Squall, Cloud, and the others, he had no care for them. No threat taken in by them. He would kill them if they insisted upon fighting though

As soon as he found Riku he'd deliver his gift, if he failed to get Riku's friend's - who's name he had already forgotten - keyblade to work he'd merely use Riku to get to the promised land, and then to become a god, not to mention reuniting with his mother. In the end he'd get what he wanted. That he knew.

Another man began to utter orders to Seifer and someone else, this one seemingly having more sense then Seifer had. However, Seifer disobeyed orders as he jumped at Sephiroth, Sephiroth moved quickly drawing his Masmurane to hit the oncoming blade off target, he caught sight of Seifer's finger beginning to pull the trigger of the gunblade and at that same moment threw his weight backwards, leaning over, he continued to move, spinning around and bringing the hand in which he held his sword to the back of Seifer's neck. He narrowly avoided the bullet that Seifer had shot off in his attack, but after his attack, Seifer fell forwards.

"Now, anyone else wish to play hero?" he asked, scanning over the group that was present. It was the blonde girl whoms boyfriend he had killed that stepped into action, actually, he had only caught sight of her tossing something in the air which gave off a purple fog, covering the area. Sephiroth may be pyschotic, but he wasn't stupid, he figured the girl was coming in to attack him with the cover of her mystical fog, and so, he kept his senses up. As sight was of little use.

He soon heard her watchful breathing and careful steps creeping up behind him and smirked inwardly, he didn't turn around, but instead the grip upon his sword tightened, he counted down in his head silently. 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... and with that, he spun on his heel, his silver hair flying about his shoulders and he swung his sword out towards the girl.

Seifer

He rolled his eyes in annoyance as Squall told him to basically "stand down". He could handle the Sorceress and Sephiroth, but at the very least it wouldn't be single-handedly. It wasn't like just because of one fight he'd jump sides, Despite his show of arrogance and attitude he had learned his lesson the last time.

However, secretly he was glad that he had also ordered Quistis to stay back. At least that way he wouldn't have to worry about the others, or anyone else, getting injured. As Sephiroth easily dodged his attack Seifer had been caught off guard, yes, he did expect Sephiroth to find someway out, but he hadn't counted for the man to escape his shot without a wound. He didn't have time to retailiate though as Sephiroth's sword hilt hit the back of his neck, the pain hit immediately, shoot through his spine and and neck and with a startled gasp he fell face first into the dirt. Fighting to stay concious.

It took a few minutes, but as the world became covered in a purple fog, he just made out the outline of Rikku sneaking up behind Sephiroth, lazily, he glanced towards Sephiroth whom stood still fairly close by, he noticed the clenching of his hand and figured it out almost immediately, the man knew she was there. He would attack and if he had his way - probably kill her.

It was pure adreniline which gave him the strength to get up off the ground at the last seconds, not even bothering to fully stand as he threw himself forwards, pushing himself and Rikku down to the ground as Sephiroth's blade soared out, not without further injury though as further pain shot through his back, the blade, had caught him leaving a deep gash in is back, but he was alive... and Rikku unharmed. He rolled off of the petite blonde, and smirked as he let out a comment.

"You should be more carefull girly."

Rinoa

Rinoa followed Riku towards the Oasis. She stopped in her tracks, when she saw the purple fog over head. She immediately recognized this as a signal that they were in trouble. Rinoa quickened her pace and they reached the oasis. She stepped slightly in front of Riku, as to hide him from Sephiroth's view. Rinoa's gaze darted towards Squall, who was way too close to Sephiroth for her to handle. Rinoa shot him a worried glance before turning her gaze upon Edea. She seemed to be the same cold-hearted sorceress she had known years ago.

Rinoa looked at both Sephiroth and Edea with hatred. She gazed at Squall, willing him to step back from Sephiroth. If he so much as got a scratch on him, Rinoa would never forgive herself. She looked at him with pleading eyes, as she stood her ground, currently unable to do anything. Rinoa felt as if she was trapped, and she hated that feeling. She wanted to protect Squall, but she also knew she had to keep Riku out of sight. She hoped Riku wouldn't do anything stupid.

Please...

Rikku

Rikku stepped carefully, she could just barely see his outline, when she noticed that he seemed to tense up.

Shoopuff... he knows I'm here.

She was getting ready to move, when Sephiroth's blade swung out and Seifer jumped in front of her, the blade grazing off his back as he fell on top of her, totally squished by his weight, but otherwise unharmed. Rikku gasped as he rolled off of her, but moved into action as well after all Sephiroth was still standing there..

"Gee thanks. Now run for the oasis!"

She figured, she'd just have to dodge Sephiroth for long enough... Thankfully the flame hadn't gone out, due to the properties of the chemicals, it would burn for hours... and this worked to her advantage. Glaring at Sephiroth, she danced out of reach, while she fumbled with her pack. He might be bigger and physically stronger, but Rikku was certainly faster. Thankfully Rikku had left the strap of the bag alone, because right now she needed it. Setting it alight, she dropped the stick, which still lay burning on the ground, and held the bag out, essentially holding a bomb and fuse... with not just the explosive that seeped the bag, but the glass inside as well.

"You saw the explosion, this will be ten times as strong. You killed the only person I had left... that was a mistake, for now I have no fear of death... do you? Drop that keyblade and get out of this place, or we all die."

Rikku smiled and glanced at the cord, getting smaller and smaller. She didn't even check to see if Seifer had left, though she was keeping her eye out to see if that magic woman was about. She could bluff with the best of them... at least so long as there was no thunder involved. If Sephiroth still made no move, she'd keep her distance until it burnt down and then she'd throw it at him and hope for the best... the explosion wouldn't be that big she hoped... but that was of course why she had wanted Seifer to run... and then she could at least grab the keyblade away so he couldn't use it to kill more people in other worlds.

Seifer

He had no thoughts of heading to the Oasis just yet, he was pretty sure that Edea and her friend didn't know about it's healing properties and he wasn't about to let his small injuries be the what gave that away. No, he could live with this, he had after all survived worse. Much worse.

"Let's keep that our little secret for now..."

He said in a soft whisper, pulling himself up, he winced slightly as movement provoked further pain in his back, but laying down in the dirt had only been stinging his open wound. The thought struck after words that his trenchcoat had been slashed and stained due to his wound, and his anger level rose considerably.

Watching as Rikku threatened all their lives he arched an eyebrow quizzically, it didn't make any sense. Sure, she had no wish to live because she was alone, but did she have to take all of them with her. It appeared the little girl was a bit suicidal by the looks of things - either that or she was bluffing. It was too hard to tell and trying to figure it out only succeeded in a migrane.

He listened as she mentioned something about dropping the keyblade. He didn't understand yet wat was gon on completely, so instead he'd just have to play along, and get that keyblade. He knew enough that the Sephiroth and Edea having their hands on a keyblade was not good news.

It seemed Sephiroth was distracted by Rikku and he smirked slightly, moving forwards didn't wait around to alert Sephiroth that he had been up again, instead of attacking he ran to the side of Sephiroth, his hand dropping to grab hold of the keyblade's hilt...

Cloud

Cloud looked deep into Tifa's eyes, listening to her words and actually taking them in. Before, he would have cared only for himself, but she changed him. He cared more for her than he did about himself, that he did about anything, and it was only natural that he'd put himself on the line to save her. "I know, I'm sorry.. I just couldn't bear seeing you like that", he said, leaning in for a tender kiss on her lips. It was behind them now and they were together.

Meanwhile, the group left as Rikku started a fire. Not a normal fire but a strange enticing one, almost forcing him to look, pulling him inside. She seemed very skilled, it hadn't taken much to pull it off and she'd done it with some sort of chemical mixed that he guessed she'd concocted. "Beautiful isn't it?", he said, turning to Tifa. Sitting there with her in front of the warmth and beauty of the fire was like heaven for him. He couldn't think of anything better. It was almost like the sliver lining of the clouds. That something as great as this could come from being thrown into the woods with nightmarish creatures. However that was all about to change.

As Sephiroth pulled into the clearing Clouds eyes snapped from the fire to glare at him. Son of a..., he thought as flashbacks of Aeris's death entered his mind along with the sadness and worry that filled him as Tifa lay uncoscious and bleeing in the woods. If Riku hadn't brought them there then he had - it made sense since they'd been after him and even more considering who and what he was. It was just his sort of thing.. but then again not. He wouldn't want all of these warriors together unless he'd really gone crazy. Whichever it was, Cloud didn't care. He'd taken Aeris and caused nothing but pain and now he was here he was going to die.

Cloud was about to jump up when a number of things happened in rapid succession. One of his companions attacked Sephiroth with what Cloud guessed was a gunblade. However he didn't manage to even scratch Sephiroth with bullet or blade. Another one told everyone to stay back, that they were trained for things like this. Stupid fools.. they have no idea what they're dealing with – who they're dealing with.. Rikku then took her turn, doing something that affected the flames, making them raise higher but that didn't work either. She'd only barely been saved from death. A keyblade was also mentioned – that Sephiroth had dropped one which only led to more questions such as; how did he get a keyblade? This was bad, very bad. He was about to attack when something in the flames caught his eyes.

"Aeris?", he thought aloud as she appeared in the flames, covered with a purple glow. What did this mean? What the hell was going on? He thought it was a trick of the mind but then she spoke to him. She told him not to attack, that it wasn't time. "Well how do I know when its time?", he asked in a whisper. She replied that he'd know when it was the time, that he'd feel it but for now he was to wait until that feeling came and then it would be the time for him to get his revenge – to kill Sephiroth.

He guessed that this also had something to do with a woman with him. She looked powerful and it was also as he could sense power coming from her. The others seemed to know her, she was sort of their Sephiroth.. if that was possible. She didn't seem to have a weapon but perhaps she was a mage, a blackmage. Whatever her power was, he wouldn't underestimate her as the others had done with Sephiroth. However when it was 'the time' to attack Sephiroth, he'd be ready.

Looking towards Rikku he saw that she seemed to be threatening Sephiroth, but what she said next shocked and amazed him. What the hell is she doing?!, he thought, thinking of Tifa. Just because she'd lost someone, didn't mean that he should have to lose Tifa. How dare she take all of their lives into her hands! She seemed to have gone over the edge but perhaps she was just threatening him, or just distracting him. One of the others seemed to think so as he went after the blade. Cloud doubted that he'd get it considering Sephiroths speed and skill but he also doubted that Rikku'd kill them all. Aeris told him that his time would come and that wouldn't happen if he was dead. For now all he could do was hold Tifa close, watching in silence as the events unfolded. Ever waiting for his revenge...

Tifa

Tifa smiled and kissed Cloud back, trying to quell the terror she felt at the thought of losing him. Sitting down next to Cloud in front of the oddly colored fire, she leaned her against his shoulder, and stared into the beautiful flames, giving Cloud a sleepy smile at his comment. At a point she was almost certain that she had nodded off because she began to see the stars over cosmo canyon again in the fire before the scene danced away to be replaced by Nibelheim, burning all over again. Tifa lifted her head up disturbed and felt Cloud tense beside her. Following his gaze she saw to her horror that Sephiroth had arrived. Though they had been on their way to destroy him before, it was quiet another thing for him to just pop up seemingly out of nowhere. Standing up, she was about to move into action, but paused, her attention was drawn away when she noticed the small strangely dressed girl throwing something else into the fire.

What is she ...?

She jumped slightly as the fire flamed up and the strange fog began pouring out, covering the surrounding area. Straining her eyes in the fog, she could barely make out what was going on. She turned back to Cloud hearing him mutter Aeris's name and frowned slightly, wondering at what he was seeing as he stared into the fire. Was he actually talking to Aeris?!

She watched as the fog lifted slightly, now noticing Rikku again, holding what appeared to be some kind of bomb. Touching her forehead, Tifa remembered what Cloud had said about the girl binding her wound, and just couldn't believe that she was really going to try and kill everyone. Besides, she kind of suspected it was more directed at Sephiroth. Still it was a bad situation and no resolution immediately offered itself, so she stood with Cloud to watch, and wait... looking for an opportunity that she was sure would present itself.

Riku

Riku's cold emotionless eyes widened as Rinoa stepped in front of him, seemingly trying to hide him from view of Sephiroth and the odd Ice Sorceress who had nearly impaled him last time. For a few moments, the true Keyblade Wielder stood still, listening to the conversations amongst the two evil beings and the rest of the group...that was, until he saw the one known as Seifer reach for something around Sephiroth's waist...a Keyblade. Instantly clenching the hilt of his own, his emotionless eyes squinted into the purple fog that was slowly dissipating around them...realizing the Keyblade as none other then Sora's. Soras...how could that be? He was safe on Destiny Island with Kairi, shaking his head. Riku glanced over at the licking purple flames that Rikku had created, his muscles tensing slightly in surprise as flashes of both Sora and Kairi seemed to dance within the blue and purple flames...how could that be? Shrugging, Riku had waited long enough, and instantly pulled out his own Keyblade, he was confident in his abilities- as well as the nine warriors in his group...who all seemed to have something against both Sephiroth and his partner...which he could use to his advantage.

"Sora" He spoke his thoughts aloud unwillingly, side-stepping Rinoa and stepping out into the open. His keyblade firmly drawn and pointed straight towards Sephiroth's back, seemingly cornering him between Squall's gunblade and his own, more deadly weapon. Accustoming his eyes to the fog, that even though was lessening in nature...still plagued all their sights. He merely squinted his eyes once more and held the Keyblades hilt firmly in his hands, not having the faintest idea at how Sephiroth had gotten Sora's keyblade...unless...unless he had, no- Riku couldn't think that. Sora could take care of himself; he wouldn't be taken advantage of by some menacing stranger. Sora had faced more...hadn't he?

He merely shook his head once more, his own silver hair falling out of his eyes, revealing much more of his face then even the nine warriors had seen of him. His emotionless eyes glancing from the Keyblade to Sephiroth, the Keyblade pointed towards Sephiroth's back, and the torch that Rinoa had fashioned for him held firmly behind the odd Ice Sorceress, he had seen her skill with the Element of Ice...and he hoped, fire was her weakness, or at least would counteract her own Magicks. Clenching both weapons in front of him, he glanced towards Rikku and raised an eyebrow as she spoke, instantly realizing she was bluffing- she may have lost the one she loved...but she wouldn't risk all of their lives. Would she?

Squall Leonhart

Squall's eyes twitched as Seifer continued to taunt Edea and the odd silver haired man, holding his ground and clenching the hilt of his Gunblade once more. Positioning himself for a perfect strike when the time came, which came sooner then he thought. Both Seifer and Riku seemed to move with each other, and Riku had a torch and his own weapon to both Edea and Sephiroth, and while Rikku was distracting Sephiorth and Edea, and while Seifer was lunging towards Sephiroth's waist...Squall didn't wait any longer. He had fought Edea before, and he knew there was no room for error- or any room to let her gain the upper hand. Shooting a warning glance towards Rinoa, as if to tell her that he didn't want her getting hurt. Squall instantly jumped into action, leaving the small window of time that Rikku, Riku, and Seifer's actions had given him.

Squall instantly pulled his Gunblade downwards, dragging it through the air to slice across Edea's chest, pulling his trigger as it sliced past Sephiroth, shooting his own bullet towards Sephiroth as well- Squall didn't have time to calculate a plan, and he wasn't acting like himself either, he didn't have time to. He had to do what he thought at the moment, and with Edea out of her prison, and powerful as ever...as well as teamed up with what seemed like a male version of her- power wise, he didn't have time to act level headed, it was what ever came to mind- and what ever he could do to possibly bring Edea and her...partner in crime, down- once and for all.

Yuffie

Yuffie waited and watched, yawning as there was a slight disagreement on who should go along with the three who had already volunteered. Rikku, Rinoa and Seifer all seemed to want to go, but it ended up that Rinoa went, at the bidding of Riku. She shrugged at this, it didn't really matter to her either way. They were going for supplies, sure it was dangerous, but she knew they would return. It was only a supply run after all, what could go wrong?

Unfortunately, The Fates seemed to hear the question and find it amusing, for things did go wrong.

She stretched as everything was finally decided and almost got smacked in the head by the coconuts Riku had thrown at each of them. It was only her ninja instincts that stopped her from being whopped upside the head. Catching them and placing them around her waist as Riku did, she followed the line into the forest, catching only the last part of Riku's speech. "Instead of healing them-it kills them." Yuffie decided he had been speaking about the Heartless and the Oasis water, and she felt slight relief on having another weapon, just incase.

Yuffie tramped along the others, unconsciously sliding her fingers back along her knife, tapping it, almost as if assuring itself of it's existence. There was a flare of light somewhere beside her as Rinoa created several torches. Yuffie almost grinned, it was nice being finally able to see. There were a few more silent minutes before a slight crack of a stick was heard. This wasn't an unfamiliar sound, they had been cracking and stepping on sticks since the beginning, but this sound was much too far off to be any of them. But then that meant-Yuffie groaned aloud as darkness seemed to overcome all else around them, flipping out her knife as she gazed around. Holding it like an old friend, another burst of light came from her side and she watched as Rinoa blew Oasis water across several Heartless at once.

Fumbling with one of her coconuts, she bathed her knife in the water, then slashed several of the Heartless, not wanting to be useless in this fight. The darkness seemed to die away, leaving a still dusky path. Rinoa scaled a tree, almost monkey like, and Yuffie would've said something if she hadn't noticed the fruits at the top. Yuffie followed the group, almost bored after their encounter with the Heartless and watched with a half grin as Riku dumped dead rabbits into Rinoa's arms. Grossness thought Yuffie, and said as much.

Trotting along, Yuffie made comments every now and then, as she gazed at plants, deeming a few edible and collecting them as did her teammates. There was sudden silence though as Riku doubled over, seemingly in great pain. He started to speak, but was cut off by the arrival of another Heartless. Yuffie swore and began to take out her knife, but Riku her beat her, his hands moving so fast, they were almost a blur. The Heartless was gone a few seconds later and Riku finished what he had begun to say. Yuffie just nodded and followed, noticing that the ever silent Vincent was even more silent than usual, as if that was even possible. All thought was reigned in as Yuffie saw Sephiroth and another woman in the clearing. Noticing Rinoa step in front of Riku, Yuffie's mind raced and she stepped forward also without hesitation. If she was going to die, she was going to go down fighting. But that's when the thought registered, no one was fighting. No one had moved until Squall jumped, but then, he attacked the woman. Yuffie's brain raced and all she could think to say was,

"Why the hell aren't we attacking?" but she spoke low, her vocal chords rebelling, only the ones closest to her could hear. Mainly Vincent, as he hadn't moved. Vincent was usually the only one who actually heard her, so this wasn't a new surprise.

But honestly, Sephiroth was right there and everyone was just going to wait for him to unleash something new and deadly? Well wowee, what a brilliant plan. Yuffie mentally sighed. Well, she would wait, just like everyone else, for Sephiroth to unleash some new evil upon the world.

Like that was a surprise. Didn't evil villains ever get tired of being so...Yuffie shrugged, so damn evil? Apparently not.

Quistis

As Rikku seemed to completely miss what she had said about staying back and going to fight Quistis tilted her head slightly, turning to watch the scene as it unravelled, without a thing she could do. She felt sort of useless in comparisson just standing there with nothing to do, though Seifer's heroics did catch her as a surprise. In all her years of knowing Seifer, since they were children basically, she had known him to only play for himself and no one else. Now here he was working almost as a team with Rikku. What had gotten into him?

The purple fog that covered the place threw off her vision and as she heard the sounds of the fight continuing she held her breath - nervous as too whom the winner would be. Seifer had been hurt and in true Seifer-fashion he refused to go down without a fight - nor to heal up in the Oasis. Apparently wanting to keep it's healing properties secret, which she couldn't blame him for.

The fog began to lift slightly and she could make out the outlines of Seifer, Sephiroth, Squall, and Rikku as well as hear the threat Rikku had made very clearly. Is she out of her mind? Her heart raced with the threat to all of their lives. And she moved without thinking... a protective instinct for herself, her friends and the others.

"Now hold it... lets not be doing anything rash!" she said towards Rikku. An attempt to convince the girl not to take them all with her.

Sephiroth

Movement to the side caught his attention as he noticed the arrival of several others. Though due to the purple fog, he couldn't make out whom it was, only that there were 4 of them. Though he didn't have enough time to think about it as Rikku, the stubborn blonde girl made an idle threat. Not that he believed she'd actually risk the life of herself - nor the present group. Though, she could be telling the truth he had met few people whom were willing to go that far to hurt him.

Mentioning the keyblade though, he smirked, a hand drifted down to it's hilt, grabbing hold of it just as Seifer caught him by surprise from behind, grabbing at the hilt at the same time. "You again?" He asked, sounding somewhat bored with this small child he was faced to fight. It seemed the boy hadn't learnt his lesson the first time. Seifer went to absently reach for his gunblade to attack when he realized he didn't have it, no his gunblade was still down where he had fallen earlier.

However, it seemed the little group just kept on coming for their piece of Sephiroth, Riku moving in behind him with his torch, and Squall in the front, he released his hold on the keyblade, letting Seifer take it and pulled out of the way, in the nit of time, recieving a small scratch from the bullet as it grazed his arm.

Sephiroth laughed softly as his green eyes caught sight of Riku though, he ignored the small insignificant scar left by Squall's bullet as he turned to face the boy, forgetting everyone else, his free hand dropped to the bag that was attached to his waist, holding it up for Riku to see, the brown leather material darkened at the bottom, he tossed it towards the boy.

"A gift your your little stunt earlier." He said in a oddly cold and amused voice. Whatever was inside the bag Kairi's head could not be good news for Riku.

Seifer

"I've got it!" He shouted out in mild shock and victory as he held up the keyblade, stummbling over his own feet slightly with the force of which he had ran at, stopped and began again it threw his balance off. None of that mattered much though as he had the keyblade that everyone seemed to want to get away from Sephiroth. It was a team effort, yes, though would he admit it later on, probably not.

Edea

While Edea of course had no care about the death of some silly boy and girl, she did object to the fact that Sephiroth had so foolishly slain another who could apparently use the keyblade. Revenge was all well and good, she planned her own to be sweet, however, patience was something that Sephiroth would do well to learn. It was incredibly foolish of him to kill that boy, they could have continued on like they had originally intended... power first and then destruction. Why not use the weaker more easily manipulated one to open the doors. That way if something went wrong, they could always find the infinitely more troublesome Riku, and once they had what they wanted, they could always destroy him. Destroy them all. Either way, his destruction was inevitable. Unfortunately, the foolish swordsman did not listen to reason. She'd teach him to soon enough, either that or kill him, but for now she'd use him. So Edea kept her silence, even grudgingly appreciated the effect that the head would have, and after all though she didn't particularly care when Riku died, the sooner the group from Balamb died, the better.

Edea didn't even need to hear Sephiroth's words to know the direction in which to go once they got in the forested world. The power called to her. Edea trailed after him through the forest, she followed not out of fear of those they hunted, but sense. If Sephiroth should die, all much the better, for she wouldn't have to listen to his idealistic prattle about the promised land. She watched through serene golden eyes, as things exploded around them as she had expected, waiting for the right moment to act. After all this was her first chance to truly see whether this Sephiroth was a worthy ally or not, for those deaths he was responsible for thus far were hardly consequential. Studying from a slight distance, she kept her eyes on the girl with the makeshift bomb. She wasn't particularly worried, but she was curious as to how far she was going to go, whether it was a bluff or not. Soon though, the situation forced her to act and it became blatantly obvious that Sephiroth couldn't handle his side. He was more concerned with delivering the parcel then anything else. His death would come swifter then she thought. Edea permitted herself a small smile as Riku, pressed a torch close to her back. It was both amusing and primitive, and he was acting under the influence of a serious misconception, one that she was very careful to cultivate. Good thing too, or they would have tried harder to come up with a plan to kill her while she was in captivity. Edea merely liked the ice element as it fit her personality, her powers were far more encompassing, and as a sorceress she did not have the normal weaknesses that elemental creatures typically had.

Barely moving her hand, she froze the air around the fire, choking it out, if he had tried to stab her, that would have been more effective, but only slightly as Squall had to realize moments later when as he tried to slash her, a blue icy barrier appeared in the air around her holding his sword in place, stubbornly he tried again. Edea's eyes gleamed and lifting her arms, she called up an icy gale that whirled around her forcefully knocking both Riku and Squall back. She let the gale die as Sephiroth tossed the bag, by now soaked through with the blood of the girl's head, and at that moment Seifer, her once puppet, grabbed the keyblade away and the strange little girl began with her threats again, waving the fire dangerously close to the weird bomb she had. Inclining her head she spoke.

"Enough with these silly games."

Rikku

Rikku noted the faces of the others as they glanced towards her. A bluff only worked if it fooled everyone, as the reactions of bystanders added to the overall effect. Unfortunately, Sephiroth seemed to be in a world of his own, or just a freaking psycho in general. While Rikku was no death seeker, it seemed that the situation called for her to go through with it... if she could get the others to leave that was. Smiling slightly as she heard Quistis's comment, she responded without turning her head, making her voice carry.

"It would be best if you all ran now."

She breathed an inward sigh of relief seeing that at least Seifer had managed to snatch the keyblade. That at least was something so long as he ran immediately. It was at this point that the creepy lady, who oddly enough reminded her of Lulu, finally moved into action and Sephiroth chucked something in a messy looking bag at Riku. Instinctively she knew that whatever it was, it could not be good. Maybe it had to do with the name the Riku had shouted a short time before, or the first look of real emotion that was now present in his cold blue eyes, or at least more emotion that had ever showed before. Rikku scowled at Sephiroth and lifting the fuse, she pressed it down so the fire was almost touching the bag.

"Except you! Think I'm lying? No more moves unless it's to back away."

At that point the sorceress's chill voice, calm in spite of the chaos cut through the air, and the air began to get very very cold, Rikku knew what this was, the same shift in the atmosphere had occurred before the sorceress had trapped her in that barrier of ice. She had to do something, now. She touched the end of the wick very close to the pack, they had no more then ten seconds, so she had to be fast. Closing her eyes briefly, concentrating. She had known the best blitzball player ever to grace Spira, and though at the time he taught her the Jecht shot, she like everyone else couldn't even begin to get it right, with great determination, and countless times of falling on her butt, exactly three years after Tidus had died along with Yuna, she had gotten it. True, they weren't in the water now, but hopefully the effect would be the same. Dropping it, Rikku kicked the pack hard not towards Sephiroth, but towards the sorceress, as she had hoped, it repelled beautifully off her weird force field, and jumping up, she spun and kicked it again with more force this time, high into the air.

"Bmayca pa rekr ahuikr!" Please be high enough...

For a moment, Rikku was certain she had gotten the timing wrong, that it was going back down before it would explode... they'd all die and it would be all her fault. Then, the pack exploded producing massive amounts of light, noise, and an impenetrable fog reigned down with the blue fire. As she had hoped, the ice the sorceress was created in the air allowed for two things to happen. Rikku yelped slightly as a thin spark landed on her arm. Most if not all of the fire was stopped before it could hit everyone, they'd probably be pssed at her about the burns, but if they could find there way towards the oasis now, and listened for once, maybe they'd make it. The ice also accomplished a second thing though, the coldness of the atmosphere meant that the fog would stay thick instead of disappating, the distraction would last.

"RUN!"

Rikku yelled once, then took her own advice only to move forward and hit an ice wall. Rikku stumbled back. Turning to see if her way was totally blocked, she thought she saw more of those shadowy things moving out of the fog, the heartless. She sighed. This made things infinitely more complicated. Rikku began to whispered calming words in her head. She'd make it, they all would.

Zicd kad du dra uycec... Just get to the oasis

Tifa

Tifa was about to stop the blonde girl with glasses point out discreetly that it was probably a bluff, when Sephiroth tossed something over towards Riku. Recognizing the blood on the bag, she turned to Cloud with a worried look. Cloud finally took a step forward to take his chance with Sephiroth, when she saw Rikku and the sorceress move at the same time. Grabbing Cloud's arm she pulled him back.

"Wait!"

Then the bomb went off, and Tifa was glad that she had grabbed his arm. At least with the panic she wouldn't lose track of Cloud. The little blonde girl was right, they couldn't fight now. That sorceress scared her as much as Sephiroth did, and as tired as they all were, they were in no condition to fight at the moment.

"Please, Cloud. We'll get the chance later... let's go!"

Riku

Riku didn't give the bag at his feet a second glance as he tightened the hold on his Keyblade, the jagged edges of the key part of the weapon dangerously close to cutting Sephiroth's neck in two, the young man did note the color of the bottom of the bag- and tried to ignore the fact that blood had seeped through the material, staining the ground beneath it a deep crimson. However...Riku had no time to even consider opening the bag as Rikku's explosion rang out through the forest, illuminating the darkest of the shadows and startling Riku- as well as various other members of their Party. His body feeling the licking flames that rained down above them, the impact of the explosion alone throwing his body to the ground, and the bag at his feet towards the Oasis, as well...as Sora's keyblade.

Wincing slightly, Riku glared upwards in attempts to make out the faces of his enemies, but his eyes still stung with the illumination of the flames ahead- shrugging. He managed to get to his feet and stumble forwards, his senses alone guiding him to the healing light of the Oasis, the curiosity of what was in the bag...as well as the longing to hold Sora's keyblade fueling his speed as he sped up towards the Oasis. Slowing down as his eyesight came back...and his body dipped into the cold water of the Healing Oasis, instantly feeling the burns from the flames above fade away into nothingness, and completely heal his eyes from the blinding explosion- just in time for him to catch the strap of the Leather bag that Sephiroth had brought with him. Gripping at the soggy material, he pulled it out of the water and into his hands; fumbling with unsettling curiosity and prying the bag open...perhaps the first pure sign of emotion striking Riku's face, and forcing a tear to run down his cheek, dripping into the Oasis below him.

'No...No...Kairi, NO!' Riku's disturbing thoughts ran out through his mind as he stared down into the lifeless eyes of the only love that had ever grasped his heart, her beautiful red hair covered in her own crimson blood, which stained the Oasis water around Riku's body with a hideous copper tint. Biting back the urge to shed another tear, he felt more roll down his cheeks- his eyes locked with Kairi's own before he finally had the will power to close the bag shut. Looking down into his own rippling reflection as the tears hit the surface water...the bag falling from his hands and drifting into the depths of the Oasis water, it had seemed Sephiroth had managed to hit a soft spot in Riku's cold hardened body...and even though it seemed like a good idea at the time, in the long run...he would pay.

"Kairi..." Riku's words left his lips in a soft whisper, the image of Kairi's head embedded in his mind as he glared at his own reflection. The still fiery sky above them flashing in the background of his own reflection as he clenched the hilt of his Keyblade, which miraculously managed to stay with him during the explosion. However, those tears of sadness quickly washed away, Riku's body overcome with anger and fury as he glanced up from his own reflection, the noise around him lost in his ears as he looked up through wet slicked hair, which framed his pale face surreally, his once emotionless eyes showing warning, anger, and despair all in one as he glared in Sephiroth's direction. Showing the man that he had made a grave mistake, possibly his last, however...unbeknownst to Riku, Sora's keyblade had fell into the Oasis in the explosion as well...and as tightened his grip on his own mystical weapon...Sora's touched the Oasis floor, which oddly...glowed. Sora's keyblade quickly recognized the signature of an undiscovered keyhole, golden energy and light outlining and carving a Keyhole into the bottom of the Oasis floor...the Keyblade itself only a few feet away from the keyhole...

Squall

Squall struggled against the odd energies that held his sword in place, his eyes slit with anger as he glared towards the Sorceress. His muscles tensing as he fought to pull his sword free from her Magical prison...however, it wasn't his own strength that had pried his sword free, but the force of Rikku's explosion. Squall's body instantly rocketed backwards, despite the explosion going off above them, he still felt quite a lot of its force, and his body slid across the forest floor and near the edge of the Oasis as his sword flipped through the air, the blade sticking into the earth before him as he rubbed his head. Reeling from the effects of the explosion

"RINOA!" was all Squall were able to say as he lay near the edge of the Oasis. A small wave from Riku's descent into the water splashing over his head and seeping into his skin, healing any burns or injuries he had sustained from Rikku's seemingly suicide attempt. Although it wasn't his own wellbeing he was worried for...it was Rinoa's, all he could see were flashes of her smiling porcelain like face before his eyes, over come with the flames from the odd blonde girls explosion. Struggling to stand up, he propped himself up with his elbows before he remembered what, and who they were dealing with. Grasping in front of him blind idly as he grasped the hilt of his Gunblade, pulling it out of the ground and peering into the cloudy mist ahead of him, bringing his blade towards him as a sort of comfort object before he began to stand up, Kneeling at first before bringing himself to his feet and glancing around him, hoping to see Rinoa- alive.

Rinoa

Rinoa watched the events take place. It seemed to go too quickly for her. One minute, everyone was attacking the two evils, the next, they were all being blasted backwards by a stunt pulled by Rikku. Rinoa was blasted into the air, and plummeted into a tree. She slid down the rough base of the tree before falling to the ground. Rinoa wiped at the back of her head, and a trail of crimson was streaked across her fingers. She sighed and shook out the lure of falling into the darkness. She wasn't going to give into it again.

Rinoa wiped dizziness out of her eyes, as she heard Squall call her name. She wanted to shouted back to him, desperately, but her voice came out small and barely audible. She let out a sigh of defeat, she couldn't see Squall either. It seemed that everything was lost in the endless smoke cloud that now invaded the oasis. Sure, it was a good idea, but it also caused her to not be able to see almost anyone. Rinoa stood and tried to look for Squall through the fog.

Well, everything was invisible – except for the strange glowing coming from the oasis. Rinoa raised an eyebrow as she saw this clearly through the smoke. That's when she started to cough, raspy, deep, coughs. This was caused by the smoke, and she was inhaling it. Rinoa covered her mouth before moving towards the glow. She started to see Squall's shape in the distance, and new hope was restored within her.

Rinoa moved towards Squall and hugged him tightly. She buried her head into his chest, the only place she could breathe without being suffocated by the smoke. Rinoa then raised her head and looked over at the glowing Oasis. She wondered what this was, was it a keyhole? What was Riku doing? And why did he look so upset? All these questions ran through her mind, but not one of them seemed to come with an answer.

Rinoa's shoulders slumped as she looked into Squall's eyes. He was clearly worried about her. Rinoa had mutual feelings about him. She ran her fingers through his hair, before silently reassuring him everything was okay. She kissed him lightly on the lips before pointing over his shoulder towards the oasis. "What's going on? It's glowing...I don't know about you, but that strikes me as odd."

She smiled at him before gently turning him towards the glowing oasis. She then looked over at Riku to see a copper color surrounding him, starting to fade. She wanted to know why there was blood around him, but she knew it wasn't in her place to ask. Rinoa moved hair out of her eyes before stepping more closely to the oasis. She had to find out why it was glowing, and quickly.

But First - - - Rinoa bent down and scooped some of the oasis water into her hands. She then put this on the back of her head, to heal her wound. She took some more and sprinkled it on Squall's wounds. He seemed to have gotten a few from the nasty explosion as well. Rinoa was relieved to see they weren't too serious, if they were, she would have done anything to heal him - - even use her own power.

Rinoa sat at the edge of the oasis, glad that both Sephiroth and Edea couldn't see them because of the thick smoke now surrounding the area. She dipped her fingers into the water, tracing them lightly over the glowing area. It seemed to react greatly with Riku, which could only mean it had something to do with the keyblade. Rinoa wondered what kind of world was beyond this keyhole. Yet again...maybe she didn't want to.

Rinoa then moved into a crouching position as she examined the area around her. Her eyes quickly rested on the animals they had killed. She snatched these, just in case they may need them. Rinoa then grabbed a few more sticks from around her. She knew they would make the plunge into the new world, for, they had no other choice. But, if they were going to be in a totally new location - - she wanted to be prepared.

Rinoa looked at the sky of the forest and saw that it was starting to get lighter - - had they really been out here that long? She knew it would be best to leave before sunrise - - mostly because they once again had no choice. If they stayed, most likely they would end up dead. But if they went - - well...Who knew? None of them knew what lied in the worlds beyond, they could only guess.

Rinoa hoped the next world would at least have suitable climates. If it didn't, she didn't know if she would survive. Well, she would, as long as she had Squall. Rinoa sighed, looking back over at him and giving him a small smile. She just wanted to get out of this whole mess - - She just wanted to go home.

Home - - Even though it had its ups and downs, she still missed it terribly. She felt empty inside now that she was away from it. The only thing that still kept her going was Squall, but she knew he missed it too. How long could they stay in a world they didn't know? Sure, these other people probably had the same feelings, but she couldn't help but feel annoyed with the fact that they were stuck here.

She let out another sigh, only this one of pure frustration. If they survived another day of this, it would be a miracle, or close to it. Rinoa knew they had much more to come in their journey, though she secretly wished it wasn't true. She also knew they would encounter Sephiroth and Edea sometime again in the future. She just hoped it was in the far, far future.

Was it even possible to think about more destiny? She thought they (Squall, Quistis, Seifer, and herself) had ended their destiny years back. Apparently not. Apparently, destiny could go on forever without a single rest. Is This where she would be stuck the rest of her life? Rinoa couldn't bare the thought of it at all.

She pushed these thoughts far back into her mind. She had to think sensibly right now. The only thing they needed now was to survive. To survive this world, to survive their enemies, even to survive each other. She clenched her weapon in her hand tightly, and prepared to make an attack if needed.

That was the one thing she was starting to get good at: Preparation. She owed this mostly to Squall however, If it hadn't been for him training her, she didn't think she would have made it this far. Rinoa looked up at him with an even wider smile before her gaze was lost to the ever-glowing Oasis....

Seifer

A feeling of pride and usefullness had washed over Seifer at the fact that he had gotten the keyblade, this feeling didn't last long though as he quickly realized just how serious Rikku had been, tossing the make-shift bomb up into the air and having it explode, the forces threw him back and his grip on the keyblade was lost, he watched helplessly as the blade fell into the blue mist. His eyes stinging from the smoke and fire that surrounded him. Yet, he was fine, just a few more scratches and burns to add to his list of wounds to be healed later.

Still, the fact that he couldn't see much anything in this darkness wasn't very pleasing and his mind raced. Quistis had been standing rather close to Rikku when she threw the bomb, apparently trying to talk the small girl down from killing them all off. Some use that had. Sure, they were presented with the cover of the thick fog now, but he could barely see to the end of his nose, his back was screaming at him in protest, he had lost the keyblade and he didn't have a clue of where any of his compainions were.

He heard sounds around him, sounds of the others, something sounding like a splash which could only be the Oasis, and murmuring. Though it took a minute to place anyone's voice, his mind was beginning to fall into a sense of dullness. Not by some spell, but pain, blood loss and confusion. He shook his head, forcing the thoughts away as he felt something was actually digging into his back, he leaned forwards with a small groan, reaching behind him he grabbed onto metal, strangely famaliar to him. It suddenly clicked why as he pulled it slightly, the weight of the item, and it's handle, it was his gunblade. Lucky he had landed on it, or else there was a small chance that he was never to find it again in this mist. And even luckier yet, he had only landed on it's hilt, if it had been reverse, well, it was very likely he could be dead just about now.

His mind raced with worry as he pulled himself to a standing position, using his gunblade for the time as a crutch to help support his weight. Where were the others, it didn't matter much but he didn't want to accidently find Sephiroth or Edea in this... and he still wondered if the blonde girl had actually managed to kill anyone with the blast, where was Quistis, where was Rikku? Where the hell was the Oasis? He stummbled forwards, before blurting out. "Quistis? Where ar-"

He lost his footing on the ground beneath him as he had unknowingly just stepped right over the edge of the Oasis, falling into it's cold water for a second time and having his words cut off by a mouthful of the stuff. He paniced slightly as water surrounded him, though the pain his body had been feeling had faded and left completely, his wounds healed. He kicked out and pulled himself to the surface, gasping for air and placing his gunblade in it's sheath.

It was here that he had spotted Riku was also in the water, and the water beneath him was glowing oddly... he furrowed his brow as he let the one thought that crept into his mind at this glow. "What the hell...?"

Cloud Strife

Cloud sat by Tifa who seemed to be giving him odd looks. I guess she couldn't see Aeris, he thought. Then again, it made sense. Well, as much sense it could make, which wasn't much. He'd been thinking of her a lot recently and the fire must have picked up on it. This Rikku could obviously mix up some great things, so he assumed the bomb was also real and would cause an enormous explosion. He didn't know if the girl would do it. She'd been so kind earlier, how could she then risk their lives, just for revenge. Revenge, he thought. I guess I couldn't blame her, I've been consumed with revenge recently but I wouldn't take us all down, there'll be more opportunities, I'm sure of it.

Turning to Tifa he nodded with a smile. As if reading her mind he answered; "Yeah, I was talking to Aeris... she was...... in the fire. Now, I know that sounds crazy but I assure you it was real, well – I believe it was". He didn't understand how it worked but he was glad it had happened, it was nice to see her and it made him hold back, which was great. He'd soon find out that he was right and that she'd saved him.

Suddenly, as one of the others turned to attack Edea, she struck back with ice. She held some major power, just as he assumed, but with all of the others attacking, it seemed like his time to attack Sephiroth. That was until Tifa grabbed his arm as Rikku let the bomb go off. The explosion was enormous and rippled through the area, black smoke and fog filling out, blocking Sephiroth and Edea from his view. Realising that it was heading right for them, Cloud knocked Tifa out of the way of it's path. Turning, he was hit by a fireball the came from it and was sent flying into a tree. As he hit the ground he was already unconscious, burns covering his face. Almost near death...

Tifa

Though others might have though Cloud was crazy to have seen Aeris in the fire, Tifa automatically believed it, not just because of the nature of the fire, and the visions Tifa had seen herself, but because of who Aeris had been. Still at the moment, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they get the hell out of there. She had grabbed Cloud's arm and started to run as Rikku had told them, when the blast went off. With a quick push, Cloud had shoved her out of the way and as she hit the ground she turned and saw him for a brief instant before he was blasted back into the purpley-black fog.

"Cloud!!!"

Tifa got quickly to her feet, scanning the area, but the fog was thick and she couldn't see a thing. She had forgotten everything, Sephiroth, the Sorceress, everything was replaced with her concern for Cloud. She sprinted through the fog in the direction he fell, only to hit a wall of ice, angrily she kicked it once, twice, and the third time the force of the kick shattered the ice, such was the strength of her fear for Cloud's safety. Eventually she made it to his sideDespite all unlikelihood though, when it came to one another, Cloud was more of the hopelessly emotional worrier of the pair. Tifa did plenty of worrying, but when there was something that had to be done, she blocked it away until she had time for it. Kneeling by Cloud, she assessed the damage, immediately realizing that if she didn't get him to the oasis, he wouldn't make it. Lowering her head to his, she spoke quietly in his ear, knowing that though he was unconscious, somehow he would hear her.

"I'm her Cloud, and I'm going to get you to the oasis, and you will be fine. Just hang in there until then. If you die on me, I will never forgive you! Now I am going to lift you up and we WILL make it to the oasis."

Reaching down, she lifted Cloud's arm putting it over her shoulder, straining to lift him off the ground. She knew it was pointless at the moment to call for help, who knew the condition of the others and if Sephiroth made it through the blast unscathed, she did not want to attract his attention. Struggling she stood up, lifting Cloud as well, and taking careful steps she dragged Cloud along. She always had a good sense of direction even without the light, it came from living in Midgar, essentially a subterranean hell for so many years. She whispered encouragement to Cloud as she walked, and eventually the burst out of the fog and at the oasis. She ignored the weird glowing door, ignored the others, concentrated on nothing, but getting him to the water. She scooped water gently over his face and his cuts seemed to heal, but he didn't open his eyes. Reaching it she pushed Cloud in, jumping in with him, looking anxiously down to see if he'd wake up.

"Come on, we made it. NOW WAKE UP!"

Quistis Trepe

She was too late to stop Rikku. The girl seemed to have a mind of her own. While this sort of bravey was something that could benefit them it wasn't always good. She had this carelessness to her which once again was about to put them in danger. Quistis moved closer towards Rikku, even though she had told them all to get back. If this was dangerous then she would have to get the girl to safety somehow.

There was a huge explosion and Quistis knew that whatever Rikku had planed had gone all wrong. She wanted to run towards the girl but the force of the explosion threw her back. She landed a few meters away, on her back. Pain shot down her spine but it was only from the shock of the landing. There was dust flying around her, she couldn't see anyone. All she had was hope that they were all fine.

Her eyes focused on the point where Seifer had been standing before, she could swear she could see an outline. Getting up, Quistis headed that way but stopped on hearing a voice. It was Rikku telling them to get to the Oasis. She wanted to get to one of the others first and since Seifer was the only one who's position she knew of, she headed towards him. He wasn't their.

'Seifer, Squall, Rinoa'

Quistis called out for them but received no reply. There was the sound of splashing, she must be near the Oasis. Quistis followed the sounds, hoping she was on the right path. Near the oasis the dust seemed to clear up a bit. She found Seifer and Riku sitting in the healing waters and the others round about them.

'Is everyone alright? '

She looked to Seifer for some sort of answer, he would no doubt give her a straight answer.

Yuffie

Through the damp purple fog, Yuffie's eyes squinted, attempting to see something other than vague shapes, resembling overgrown chickens. A few of the purple chicken shadows seemed to be moving, leaping even, like...well...like chickens with their heads cut off. Yuffie didn't even attempt to figure out who was who, she just waited for the fog to dissipate completely.

Actually, waiting didn't seem to be an option as most of the group streaked by Yuffie, heading somewhere. It didn't take long for Yuffie to realize they were heading for the Oasis, seeing as a few of them were injured by Rikku's little moment of pyromania. She raced after them, ignoring the stings from the tree branches that cut her as she ran by. Purple smoke still clouding her vision, though it was fading away fast as she ran further from the clearing, Yuffie closed her eyes and ducked her head, trying to avoid the whipping braches.

Unfortunately, this wasn't as smart as an idea as it seemed, as Yuffie soon discovered when she went tumbling into the Oasis.

"What the he-" her startled cry was cut off as she landed face first in the water, almost landing on top of those already submerged in the Oasis' healing waters. Surfacing quickly, Yuffie clutched the edge of the pool, coughing up water and pushing her drenched, short, dark hair out of her eyes. When she could actually breathe without coughing up a gallon of water, fish or lung, she sighed and slumped onto the ground, half in and half out of the water.

"Okay, one complaint. I propose that someone put a sign in front of this place, you know, so people like me can't go tumbling in. It could say: WELCOME! To the Oasis" and then people would know. Then people like me wouldn't go running through the forest blinded then fall in and half drown." She knew she was babbling, but she didn't care just then.

"And I have one more thing to say-" she said, ignoring what she knew to be soft groans from those who knew Yuffie was a babbler. "I congratulate Rikku on being even more crazy than I am. That's an accomplishment worth noting." She laughed weakly and rested her head on the grass beside the pool. The whole "running-fighting-jumping-falling-tripping-half dying" routine could get old pretty quick, and Yuffie just wanted to sleep.

Cloud

As Cloud lay there, covered in burns, on the brink of death, all he had in his mind were images of Tifa. They were mute but beautiful, his thoughts were of her as he slowly began to slip into the darkness. Then out of no-where he heard his beloved. That she wouldn't forgive him if he died, that he WAS going to make it to the oasis. It was these words and the sound of her voice that brought him back, made him fight harder. Long enough for her to drag him over to the Oasis, to drop him in and heal him. She told him to wake up.

His eyes flipped open as he took a sharp intake of breath. He'd nearly died and she'd saved him. This was one of the many occasions that proved that he needed her just as much as she needed him. They loved each other, helped each other and needed each other. Their bond existed on so many levels and it was that along with a burning attraction that kept them going. They cared for each other more than anything, they were each other's lives. They were the reasons that the other was still alive. A bond like that is untouchable.

Turning to look at her, steadily feeling better, his burns healing he coughed and smiled. "I guess we're even."

Turning to look around he saw that they were surrounded by a large number of the others. They were all ok, they must have been – at least physically. Mentally however he was sure they'd all seen better days, much better days. Sure, it isn't everyday that you end up in a strange world, fight Sephiroth and Edea and then get blown up, he thought with a slight chuckle. It was almost funny, stuff like this always happened to them, this was classic. Perhaps though, this was their toughest challenge yet. They'd overcome it of course, they always did but unfortunately, sometimes there were casualties. Casualties?. "Where's Rikku?!".

He couldn't be mad at her, she'd done what she had to do. That woman was packing major power and she did try and aim the bomb away from them. It was just unlucky that cloud had chosen that moment but maybe without Aeris's warning he'd be with her – dead.

Looking around he couldn't see Rikku. The fog was still thick, he wouldn't be able to find her in it. Then there were the two crazies outside that wanted them dead. He feared the worst but hoped the spry young woman was ok. He'd call out but it'd alert the enemies. He felt truly sorry for her, but at some level he felt that she was ok. She knew what she was doing, she wouldn't have killed herself for example if he'd done it, he would have marked his path first and headed straight for it. So, why isn't she here?.

At that moment, something caught his eye. A strange glow illuminated the bed of the Oasis. Near it lay a sword, a keyblade. "Is that one of those Keyhole thingy's?", he asked, not having forgotten about Rikku but curious about what a glowing hole right underneath them meant. He was also hoping that the two wouldn't make it anywhere near the Oasis. Otherwise they'd be healed. They weren't dead though. People with power such as theres would have survived that. They'd be back, they'd come face to face again. He'd finally settle it with Sephiroth. That was the only thing he truly knew in that instant.

Vincent

Vincent accepted the task of getting supplies for the group but what followed next was nothing more than a crazy blur. Battles with the heartless.. they were bad enough but then there was Sephiroth and now this woman with the power to control ice. Not to mention the crazy girl with the bomb! He didn't know these people, had no idea if she'd do it but he sure hoped she wouldn't. Afterall, then they'd all be dead. He just hoped he'd get a chance to escape. He wouldn't.

Suddenly the girl told them to run, throwing up the bomb as it exploded, sending purple smoke into the air. Vincent was disoriented but unharmed as he'd been further away from the action. His vision was blurred and he couldn't see anything, his calls for his friends, for anyone were unanswered. Stumbling around he fell into the Oasis. Which was already filled with a number of the others including himself. To his relief he saw Cloud, Tifa and Yuffie along with most of the others. The girl who set off the bomb on the other hand...

"Hey", he said, his wounds healing. "Is everyone alright?". Without an answer he turned and looked down, a strange glow rippled towards the bottom of the Oasis. "What the hell is that? Should we be worried?".

Tifa

A half-laugh/half-sob escaped Tifa's lips as she flung her arms around Cloud's neck, hit by the fact that she'd almost lost him.

"Don't ever do that to me again!"

She didn't care if her statement was unreasonable, and she didn't really expect a response, she just hugged him again, reassuring herself that he was alive. Then she began to look around for the others, relieved that both Yuffie and Vincent had made it as well. She frowned at Cloud's comment. He was right, the little blonde was no where to be found. Glancing around she noticed that the others in the party were at least ok, and focused her attention back on the fog. Tifa nodded.

"She'll make it."

She was certain of it, and glancing over towards Riku she took in the scene clearly for the first time, recoiling slightly at the head. Who was it to him, she wondered. She figured he'd say if he wanted to and began to study the weird light.

A keyhole?

Rikku

Rikku took a step forward once again running into the ice. Obviously the sorceress had thought to contain the blast, so she'd just kill herself. Still, Rikku was also willing to bet that if she got out of the ice, she'd find more of those walls around, hopefully incomplete. She dreaded to think of the others similarly encased in prisons of ice, while the ice might protect them from the blast, it could also keep them in harms way. She hadn't seen enough people running when she had told them too. Rikku was fairly sure the others would be ok, but just in case, she'd search around a bit before heading to the oasis. She figured with the fog, if she saw Sephiroth or the sorceress, she'd be able to disappear no trouble. Besides, she didn't exactly relish the greeting she was sure to get. She had no doubt some of them would be severely pssed off.

Of course, all of this depended on whether she'd get out of the ice box that the sorceress's magic had managed to build. Checking both to her left and right, she saw that she was indeed blocked in, able to witness the figures moving through the fog in a blur around her. She had to get out of there before the fog lifted... Jumping up, she was relieved to find, her hands grazed the uppermost limits of the ice walls. She'd be able to climb out. Jumping again, this time she caught hold, and ignoring the bite of the ice into her already cut up hands, she lifted herself up slowly, managing to get a leg over the ice wall. Stopping at the top, she looked around then slowly stood up, balancing now a bit above the fog range, but still partially hidden, as it continued to fall to the ground and spread out around her. She could see some of the heads of people moving through the fog, ones she wanted to avoid, and ones she wanted to be certain made it out of there. She also saw the shapes of the heartless probably attracted by the pyrotechnics. Glancing over to the oasis, she saw to her relief that a couple of the others had made it. That still left a few... Rikku decided to keep her precarious position, keeping a watch on Sephiroth and Edea, severely hoping that they did not look up. This way she could get the best vantage point. She flinched as she saw Tifa dragging an unconscious Cloud out of the fog and into the waters. That was all her fault she knew. And breathing as sigh of relief, she saw Cloud sit up. She hadn't killed him. That reaffirmed her opinion that she'd done the right thing, Sephiroth and the witch would have killed them all at this point. Suddenly Rikku noticed that she couldn't see Sephiroth anymore, nor the witch, and she felt adrenaline wash over her.

They could be anywhere...

Casting a glance back at the oasis, she noticed that the others had made it, and she jumped down her self, falling into a crouch, then hopping up. Panicked that Sephiroth or Edea might be waiting nearbynot to mention the heartless.

Rikku began to move, just in time as multiple blasts of ice shattered nearby. Figuring that if Sephiroth was in front of her, maybe she'd surprise him just as much as he would her, and she through caution towards the wind and sprinted for the oasis, flinching slightly as one of the thin blades of ice hit her arm. Obviously, the sorceress didn't care if she could see or not and was just blasting randomly... Or she can see... Brushing away the scary thought, she hoped that the heartless would catch up with the sorceress and Sephiroth, and would give them some reprieve. Rikku focused on the oasis and sprinted out of the fog to where the group was.

"They're coming!!! More heartless too."

Rikku stopped abruptly, and as she caught her breath she fell to her knees, noticing for the first time that her arm was literally soaked in blood, from all the cuts.

Why did it have to be the same arm?

Picking herself up, she stumbled the last few steps to the oasis in a daze, registering the redheaded...head, as well as the glowing keyhole, but only distantly, as if she were someone else watching the scene.

I suppose we all know what was in the bag now...

Dunking herself in the waters of the oasis she stayed under for about a minute, as if the water could help clear the haze from her mind, then breaking the surface again she repeated her earlier warning.

"We have to go."

Sephiroth

While he was concentrating on Riku, it seemed the annoying blonde wasn't bluffing. It was little matter to him though as, due to Edea's ice walls, most of the blast was kept contained, doing more injury to the girls 'teammates' then to either him or Edea. However, the ice walls didn't hold everything back, a strong blast still came towards him and the thick fog covered, stinging his eyes slightly, but it didn't mean all that much nor harm him. He was fine, further annoyed yes, but unscathed.

Chaos was everywhere, something he was relishing in. Worry, panic, fear. None of which he felt, though it was around him. He could smell it. And then there was Riku's "gift". Before the intense fog had hit he had saw the tears, and the look of a broken heart in the boy's eyes. It was the look promising death that Riku had given to him that he found the best. Killing the girl did more damage to the boy then he could have thought. As things seemed to calm down slightly he spoke, his voice loud and mocking from his position in the fog.

"Riku... the holder of the other keyblade has recieved the same fate as the girl."

A dark laughter come from him as he walked off, after all, he had a promised land to get to, worlds to drain of power, and chaos to cause. There was work to be done before he killed Riku. Before he killed Cloud - and the rest of them. Things needed to happen in order for him to become a god. And nothing would get in his way. He was finished with the small group and looking back over his shoulder for merely a second he called out to Edea. "Coming?"

With that he walked off deeper into the woods, killing any heartless that dared to cross his path.

Seifer

"Seifer, Squall, Rinoa."

Was that Quistis? He couldn't be sure, the voice was too distant, he wasn't even sure if she was alive and a lump had seemed to form in his throat, though he would rather die before admitting that he was worried for Quistis, he was half tempted to go running back into the fog and search for her. Squall and Rinoa were nearby and he had completely forgotten about the strange glow underneath him when he had thought he had heard Quistis. His heart pounded against his rib cage. Painfully, almost.

Just as he had began to move towards the surface to go looking for his comrade there she came, out of the fog and he found himself relaxing a bit, his breathing returned. Did she have to be so damn slow getting here? It was no matter, she was fine apparently and as she asked the question, directed towards him he shrugged his shoulders, returning to his usually c0cky self. "How the hell should I know?"

True, her question was out of the same worry that he had felt only moments ago, but he wouldn't admit to that small detail. And it seemed everyone but one was nearby, that one being Rikku, the girl whom had just about killed them all. He couldn't probably care less whether she was alive or not. If she was going to blow them all up anyways... However, just to 'satisfy' Quistis he threw a quick glance around the area, everyone seemed alright, and everyone in the Oasis had been healed so there was really no real need to be worried. "It seems everyones alive."

Just as he was about to turn his attention away from Quistis and towards Riku to ask about the strange glow, Rikku had come bursting forwards out of the fog. Telling them that they had to go. He wasn't about to argue with her, at least, not yet, but once they were out of here, he did have some things to say to her... something along the lines of blowing everyone up with her little stunt.

Squall Leonhart

Squall wrapped his arms around Rinoa as she hugged him, cupping some water and running it over her body even as she healed his own wounds. Kissing her softly on the cheek as they embraced, he was so happy she was ok...but for how long? He was doing everything he could to protect her from Edea and Sephiroth...but how long would he be able to? He saw the look in Riku's eyes as he let the brown bag drift off into the bottom of the Oasis- and he knew how Riku felt...he had lost someone he loved. Looking into Rinoa's eyes, he tried to imagine life without her- and came up with nothing, if Rinoa ever got hurt...or ever, died...he would die with her. Rinoa was his heart and soul, and nothing was going to change that.

"I'm so glad your ok...", he smiled sadly before following her eyes to the Oasis, bringing his own palm up to shield the intense light pouring out under Riku from stinging his eyes even more. Leaning over to peer deeper into the water, he thought he could make out a Keyhole when Rikku came bursting forth, shouting about heartless. Instantly pulling himself and Rinoa deeper into the Oasis, he inched towards the others and clenched his gun blade, shooting random bullets at shadows and even towards Edea and Sephiroth as he glanced towards Riku, his eyes pleading with emotion for him to do something.

"We have to get out of here, now" Squall spoke in more authority then he had meant to, his true leadership qualities shining through as he continued to shoot bullets off towards the shadows, hopefully piercing hides of various heartless that were hopefully, kept at bay by the Oasis water. Clenching Rinoa tighter in his arms, he glanced back towards Riku and urged him to help them, and fast.

Riku

The shouts of warning were lost within Riku's ears, his eyes were staring off into Sephiroths general direction, his eyes hardened with more anger and hate then ever seen within the young mans eyes. Even the Keyhole begging to be open below him was lost, all that he was focused on was revenge...revenge for Kairi and Sora. However, it seemed Kairi had different plans, for just as he stepped forward to run after Sephiroth, the remaining flames in the air seemed to dance with life, and soon- Kairi's face formed within them, speaking to him. Telling him it wasn't time, and that he needed to get the others to safety, revenge was not important. Struggling, he tightened his grip on his keyblade and glared towards Sephiroth, the only words registering were the pyre flies reacting to Rikku's explosion, forming the illusion of Kairi's face and words.

"Kairi..."He looked upwards as he spoke, the hate and anger washing away from his expressions and showing pain, sadness...he had been deeply in love with Kairi- and now she was gone...as was Sora. Shaking his head, he looked down into his reflection, and for the first time saw Sora's keyblade...and the Keyhole. Instantly changing his posture, he glanced towards the others and shook his head, his slicked hair waving out of his face as he spoke.

"Everyone, through the keyhole", as he spoke, the young Keyblade wielder glanced downwards, Kairi's decapitated head having floated from the bag, staring at him next to the keyhole. Struggling to regain his composure, Riku refused to let any more tears drop and thrust his keyblade forth, the small thin light of light drifting from its tip to the keyhole, illuminated it even more and opening it fully, the feint sight of snowfall visible on the other side. "Now!", he hurried the rest of the group through, before plunging underwater and snatching Sora's keyblade before it fell through, looking at the shimmering weapon and tightening his grip on it with his other hand. Glancing upwards once more and hurrying the rest of the party through the keyhole, before glancing towards the decapitated head one last time- before jumping into it himself.