A/N: A short chapter, not my best, but I wanted to further the story just a bit more. It was hard coming up with a description of the moogles, but I hope it's acceptable.

Chapter Three: To the Rescue

Locke was a stealthy man. He had to be considering his occupation, if it could be called that. He slunk through the mines like a snake about to make for the kill. The man stayed clear of the flashing lights a little way down a tunnel. Luckily, they remained none the wiser.

He listened to the soldiers talk among themselves.

"She fell down below." One of them said

"Come on, this way..." a second responded, heading down another corridor.

When the coast cleared, Locke moved to the gapping hole to the floor below. He could barely make out the still body collapsed on the ground.

"Looks like I'm going to have to get there first, fellas." Locke said with a small smile.

He cracked a few muscles then stood. This was probably going to hurt a bit, but...

With a little leap, Locke jumped into the hole. It was a little more than twenty feet from the floor above, which intimidated him at first, but he managed it. He landed with a thud, crouched beside the still girl. Quickly he looked her over.

"Whew, just knocked out..."

For a moment he thought he was too late. That was not a comforting thought.

One of his hands fell to her cheek, moving her blonde hair from her face. She looked at peace. Hard to believe someone so beautiful and so innocent could be capable of the acts he heard of.

'No, the old guy said she was under their control.' He needed to keep that in mind. This girl wasn't evil. Her government was.

"I'll take care of you. I promise..." he whispered to the unconscious girl.

There were footsteps and lights all around them suddenly

"Now we gotcha!" Someone exclaimed

'Oh hell...' Locke thought as he stared at the troops pouring in. 'Wonderful, there's a whole bunch of them...'

He was no match for a small army, not by a long shot. If they didn't kill him, he'd be a political prisoner for the rest of time. That wasn't the way he imagined going out.

"Kupo!" something sounded behind him

Locke's eyes shot to the sound.

"Moogles!" he said

Moogles were outcasts of their society that so happened to migrate to Narshe from the Far North. Many did not know of them, especially since they hid in caves to escape cruel eyes. The Moogles never explained WHO they were, so the townspeople named them. Sadly, "Moogle" was a derogatory term, but Locke did not know what else to call them.

They were short men and woman with large, slanted, pale blue eyes, and stout in a way that reminded many of bears of some sort. Both genders of the Moogles bleached their hair white to the point it almost blended with their very pale skin which they covered in white fur clothing. No outsider knew why nor could ask. No one spoke their language. Almost every word sounded like "kupo."

A few of them had weapons. Their blue eyes were blazing angrily at the troops that had invaded their space. Some of them looked up at Locke, pointing at the others in anger.

"Are you saying you want to help me?"

Locke was shocked. Pleasantly so. He couldn't help smiling just slightly, especially one...a boy seemingly no older than thirteen or so nodded at him in response. Locke wondered if he understood, but that was impossible. Moogles never interacted with anyone...right?

The soldiers were moving in on them. The moogles took their places with crude weapons. Locke joined a group of them, pulling out his long whip.

And the battle begun.

Shots rang through the corridor, flying past their heads and grazing their arms and legs at times. One little moogle man was shot in the arm, but that hadn't slowed him. He just pressed on in determination as his blood seeped through his white fur jacket.

Somehow, the Moggles held their own with pikes, whips, arrows, and swords. They were faster than the soldiers, especially when they came in close. The army was dependant on guns which didn't help at close range. The moogles slashed down on their arms moving so damn fast, the soldiers couldn't get a fix on any of them.

And the one that nodded to Locke earlier...What he could do was truly astounding and unexplainable. He danced. His feet moved with such swiftness that it was a blur...and it made things happen! It was like watching someone alter time and space.

Locke helped too, of course. His whip locked around a gun or two, yanking them away from their owners. The rest of his group moved in afterwards, laying waste to their intruders.

By the time the battle ended, the cavern was filled with the scent of blood. In the end, the army fell. They were all dead. Only one or two moogles had been injured, amazingly. Locke was thoroughly surprised by their skills as warriors. One by one, they retreated into their cavern, each of them nodding to Locke. The dancing one gave him a wink before he left.

"Thanks, Moogles! We're in your debt!" he called after them as he returned to the girl's side.

He lifted her up in his arms, holding her against him tightly and securely. Now all he had to do was find a way out of this place. He knew of a back exit to the caves, but only by word of mouth. There was something about a switch.

Locke came to an odd junction of the cave. The wall was slightly discolored. Perhaps THAT was the switch.

"I think this switch will..." he pressed it a bit until he heard a clicking sound in the distance. It actually worked.

The girl made a soft moaning sound. Locke looked down at her, watching her closely as her head moved from side to side. Eventually, her eyes opened, revealing soft green orbs...innocent and sweet.

"You're back with us now?" he said quietly

She looked at him astonished for a moment. He had cuts and bruises all over him as though he'd just seen a battle. It made her wonder if...

"You..." she said, swallowing hard with a dry throat, "You...saved me?" she asked, confused.

Locke nodded at her, "Save your thanks for the Moogles." He said with a warm smile.

She wiggled in his arms a bit. Locke decided to put her down and see if she could walk. Terra grabbed her head, wobbling slightly

"Uhnn...can't remember anything, past or present."

Locke frowned at the girl. He put his hands on her shoulders firmly.

"You have amnesia?"

She nodded slowly, "A man said my memories would come back..."

Locke offered her another comforting smile.

"Give it time." Locke said gently, but the girl seemed quite unnerved, "Hey, you're safe with me. I give you my word!"

Terra looked at the stranger confused again. The blonde man chuckled

"I won't leave you until your memory returns." His tone remained quite gentle

He slowly led her out of the cavern and out the secret passage that led them to the end of town, away from the army and the Canadian government that began showing up to assist the US.

"This secret entrance might be useful someday. We should keep it in mind." He said quietly.

He noted a pair of ski mobiles off in the distance. Quite the twist of luck. Some of the towns kids must have left them out. Maybe the old man had it arranged? Or it could be a trap...No, he had a good feeling, and Locke's gut never, ever failed him.

"Come on, we need to get to the nearest airport."

"Why?" Terra asked looking around at the snowy terrain.

"We have to get to Figaro. It's in Nevada. We're going to have to sneak into the United States, first. Unless you have your passport?"

She shook her head, looking at the ground as though ashamed of herself. Locke didn't understand and would have questioned it, but now wasn't the time.

"Come on...uh..."

"Terra."

"Terra, I'm Locke. We've gotta get out of here." He led her to the ski-mobiles, taking off quickly.