Chapter 3

Pawn Patterns

'So, they are coming.' He stood on the cliffs edge. 'You call and they come.' The sun was bright. It hurt his eye's, his skin. 'No matter. If they come...' His body felt like it was being torn from the inside out. 'I will kill them.' He doubled over from the pain. Crouching on the edge of the cliff. The sun reflected off of the roofs. Neiblem...'Kill them...' Standing up, he turned. 'All of them.' He let go, released that which caused him pain. Falling over the edge of the cliff to the waiting darkness below. The last thing he remembered, before everything went black, was that voice. "A Game dark one."

They found Tifa unconscious next to the Vlakorados around mid-day. More than five miles from the town. Exhausted to the point that no one could wake her up. Gus ordered her to be put in her room and left alone to rest. While Tifa slept, the villagers held a funeral for their loved ones. The Vlakorados' body was burned. Gus did notice the wound in the head before the body was burned. 'She didn't have a gun, so what happened?' Gus wondered to himself as he and the villagers headed back to town.

Tifa slept all through the rest of the day and night. Waking up, Tifa was surprised to find herself back at the inn, with the early morning sun shinning through the half closed blinds.

'How did I get here' Tifa wondered as she got out of bed. Leaving, Tifa headed down the stairs. She was surprised to see Gus sitting on the bottom step. Hearing her, Gus turned.

"Good morning Tifa, sleep well"

"Yeah...How did I get here"

"We found you yesterday, exhausted. We brought you here and you've been asleep since. We burned the monster, and buried our dead."

"I didn't kill the Vlakorados, nor do I know who did. Someone shot it."

"I thought as much."

Tifa gave Gus a puzzled look

"I never saw you carry a gun, so I thought that you might not have killed it."

"I wonder who did"

Gus stood slowly. "Come with me."

Gus led Tifa out of the inn and down through the streets till they came to a small stone house. Gus opened the door and motioned for Tifa to follow him. The house was small and the only like came from one open window. The walls were lined with books, and in the middle of the room stood a table and a computer. Gus walked over to the computer and turned it on. The computer sputtered into life with a protesting hum. Tifa walked over to stand beside Gus, and stared at the blank screen. After about a minute a map slowly appeared on the screen. It was a map of the entire world, covered in multi colored dots.

"What do all the dots mean?" asked Tifa.

"This map is connected to multiple computers all over the world," explained Gus. "Each dot represents a location where monsters have been sited in areas were they don't belong and the color indicates how far from its normal territory it is. Red is close, violet is far away. Standard ROY G BIV order."

"Like the Vlakorados?" asked Tifa.

"Exactly. And now I need to mark that sighting down…done. Tifa, look closely at the locations of the sightings. Notice anything?"

Tifa looked at the map and all it's dots. ' The violet dots, they all look like there heading in the same direction…'

"There's a pattern." Tifa stated.

Gus smiled. "I noticed the pattern a few weeks ago. I estimate the meeting point to be somewhere around Nebliem/Coral area."

Tifa studied the map…there did seem to be a lot of monsters converging on that area.

"I am going there. Maybe I can find out what is drawing the monsters to that area."

Gus looked at Tifa. A smile crossed his face. "I was hoping that you would say that. That's why I showed you the map."

That evening found Gus and Tifa sitting in the local bar with their heads together, planning. Gus was pointing at a map of the Nebliem/Coral area.

"I am sure the next sighting will be somewhere around this area, and it will be a very strong monster to have made it that far."

"No way to tell what monster?" Tifa asked, "I'll take a boat from Junion to Costa del Sol, and then ride Hindi to that area."

"Hindi is a blue chocobo right? Wouldn't it be better to have a green or black chocobo for that terrain?"

"Hindi may be suited for shallow waters and rivers, but she's able enough in rough terrain. Besides, Hindi is loyal and stout. She won't shy from monsters."

"You know your bird best." Stated Gus.