The Great Warrior of Cosmo Canyon

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, nor do I own the rights to any of the characters that are in this story. SquareEnix owns the rights to the game and characters. Also, the Prologue of this fanfic retells the events right before Red XIII finds out what happened to his father. I changed it a bit, spicing it up a little, but I left the story the same. Enjoy.

Summary

Cloud and the gang arrive at Cosmo Canyon after a long and stressful time at the Golden Saucer. When they arrive Bugenhagen, who has raised and watched over Red XIII, shows the group a secret path hidden in the back of Cosmo Canyon. Fighting through the dangers ahead of them, they reach a secret locked room. There, Red XIII would learn the truth about his father, and the history of his home.

Prologue: Into the Heart of Cosmo Canyon

Bugenhagen stood at the entrance to what was a secret cave that led deep into the heart of Cosmo Canyon. No one, not even Red XIII, knew of its existence.

"Cloud, will you and one other person escort Nanaki and me through this dangerous place?"

Cloud, puzzled at what was happening, agreed knowing that this what Red XIII wanted.

"Ho ho ho hooo, excellent. Be sure to equip yourselves well before we depart. What lies ahead is indeed an evil place. You wouldn't want to fall in battle before you and your group get to 'save the planet' now, hohohoho."

Red XIII, appalled by his grandfather's remark quickly interrupted, "Grandpa, let us be going now…and please, my friends are trying their best to save the planet from Sephiroth."

"Ho ho hooo, all right Nanaki. Cloud, are you set to venture into the belly of the beast?"

Cloud nodded his head and stepped through the cave entrance, and began their descent into the hidden place. The inside of the cave was much different than the lively spirited Cosmo Canyon. The cave walls were painted with eerie green glowing boulders which seemed to resonate with every step the party took deeper and deeper into the cave. Bones of dead beasts littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Wandering ghosts moaned in despair at the thought of their own being dead. Occasionally the group would be attacked by the evil spirits.

"Blade Beam!" shouted Cloud, and with a slice of his sword, one spirit was immediately cut into two, while a massive wave of magic sprawled toward three other spirits, and like the first, they were simultaneously sliced to bits. Suddenly, a forth spirit leaped out of its grave and flew towards Cloud.

"Beat Rush!" Tifa's quick fists pulverized the enemy and sent it screeching back into its grave forever.

Bugenhagen floated by and stated, "Ho hoo, as you can see, the spirits of the Gi Tribe still linger within these stone graves. Tread lightly my friends, for the Gi are a formidable foe indeed."

Further and further the group walked into the creepy cave until they came upon a brightly lit room, filled with small little dunes with cave entrances in them. Knowing that these must be traps left after the Gi perished, Cloud and the others ignored them. A little ways ahead of them they could see narrow paths surrounded by molten hot lava.

Tifa hesitated as they approached, "Wow, one wrong move and we are all soup. Are you sure this is the only way to get across? Maybe there is some other way that is less dangerous, huh?"

Bugenhagen shook his head, "Ho ho! Oh no, my dear, this is the only way to go I'm afraid. We should be all right though. We must take our time though and not rush along."

So one by one they crossed the narrow ledges until they all made it across the lava pit. Cloud helped Tifa onto her feet when he noticed an archway standing before them, covered in vines and old brush. He had a bad feeling about this, but he went ahead anyway and as he walked slowly underneath it…

"Cloud look out!" Tifa yelled.

Cloud immediately looked above him to find a giant spider creature jump down, nearly falling on top of him. The spider was hissing and screeching at the group, attempting to bite them and flinging its long, eight foot legs at them. Cloud took one swing with his Buster Sword and two of the monster's legs went flying into the lava pit, immediately bursting into flames and dissolving into the hot liquid. Greenish blood was splattering on the archway and the spider grew more restless and began spitting toxic venom when all of a sudden a red flash flew by the monster's body…The spider was beaten, its body torn in half by Red XIII's lightning-fast reflexes.

"Ho! You have grown strong indeed Nanaki. Your father would have been very happy," Bugenhagen praised Red XIII.

"My father was nothing but a coward. What would he know about being strong and being courageous?" Red XIII barked back at Bugenhagen and went on ahead.

"Yes…a coward…"

The group kept walking deeper and deeper for what seemed like miles. Tifa then noticed strange pillars along the path up ahead.

"Are we getting closer? What exactly are we doing way back here anyways?" Tifa asked impatiently.

"Ho ho hooo, it shouldn't be much longer now. A long time ago one warrior, all be himself, traveled this same very path that we tread on now. He made his was to the very heart of the cave up ahead. You see, the Gi Tribe had been a fierce enemy of the people in Cosmo Canyon for as long as anyone could remember. Both groups fought frequently, but the Gi were always dominant over the mere humans. Many people in Cosmo Canyon fell at the hands of the Gi in this one particular battle."

Red XIII was silent for a moment, and then spoke, "Grandfather, was…that one warrior…was he…"

"We still have a little ways more to go everyone, keep your guards up!" said Bugenhagen.

After a fashion, the party reached a giant wall with magnificent cave paintings stretching on for at least 30 feet all over it. The paintings seemed to represent a great battle between the people of Cosmo Canyon and the Gi Tribe.

"Ho ho, we have arrived. This painting tells the story of that one particular battle between the Gi and Cosmo Canyon. This was the one battle that would determine the fate of our ancestors, but also the canyon itself. Now, here you see…"

Suddenly a large tremor shook the earth beneath the party's feet, as the rumbling echoed through out the entire cave. Walls began to crack, and dust and rocks started to fall from the ceiling. Then as quickly as it started, it had subsided. However, in its wake the tremor left a tall shadowy figure before Cloud's group.

"A Gi!" Bugenhagen exclaimed in amazement and horror.

Cloud raised his Buster Sword in an attempt to strike the demon, but it swung a powerful tentacle that was strong enough to knock Cloud unconscious. Tifa starred in terror, but then gained her senses to use her materia.

"By the powers of the fiery depths of Hell, I call upon you, Ifrit! Burn all of those who stand in our way with your fiery might!" Tifa summoned the guardian and with a great blaze of brilliant red and orange fire, the Gi warrior was hurled up into the air. At that moment, Red XIII took off from the ground with a mighty leap, gathering his inner strength.

"Bloodfang!" Striking the beast hard, he was able to destroy the creature with no problem whatsoever. The Gi warrior disappeared in a gray cloud of mist, howling in pain and agony. Cloud finally regained consciousness, and to his surprise, the demon was gone.

Bugenhagen floated over to them. "Ho hooo! Splendid! You all are very powerful indeed. Being able to drive away a Gi spirit is no easy task. Even the great warrior had a hard time indeed…Nanaki, you really have grown strong like your father."

"Hmmph, I am nothing like that coward…" Red XIII said, turning his head away.

"Now, through this door, the one warrior of the canyon fought his way to his final resting spot, killing every Gi monster that stood in his way. Even after being poisoned by the deadly Gi arrows, he continued to fight and press on to his destination."

"Grandfather?"

"Nanaki, look well. Look at the warrior, Seto. Your father and the savior of all of Cosmo Canyon…"