Chapter Seven:

The three adventurers continued forward, simply following Kain's still-pointing finger. Kain's arm was violently trembling from trying to stay up.

"You know, keeping your finger up doesn't help if you're just pointing forward." Trice told Kain, it was hard for her to believe that anyone could be so stupid.

"Huh?" Kain stopped and looked down at his finger.

Trice let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head. "You're simply pointing in whatever direction you're facing, not toward the exit!"

As soon as Trice finished her sentence, the three friends entered a small clearing in the forest, not unlike the one they had stayed in the night before; moss covering the indented ground, the same purple crystals protruding from the earth, and small patches of sun beating down from the treetops. Unlike the other clearing, however, was a small tunnel digging into one of the walls.

The adventurers walked a little bit into the clearing, thinking they had gone in a complete circle. They had yet to notice the tunnel off to the side.

"Aha!" Garaku exclaimed as the tunnel caught his eye. He dashed over and began to examine it; it was maybe eight feet in diameter, so Garaku could easily stand inside.

"Wow…a hole." Kain said sarcastically.

"This is it, idiot," Garaku said to Kain, making Trice chuckle quietly, "this is the exit of the Sanctuary." Garaku explained as he disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel. Kain, Trice, and the wyverns followed suit, but were soon completely blinded by the blackness.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous." Kain said as he unsheathed his sword and held it up like a torch; igniting it with flames and filling the tunnel with light.

It was quite a long tunnel; the adventurers had been walking for well over and hour, and with no end in sight. The moss and dirt of the tunnel thinned out, replaced by dark red stone.

Soon, Trice noticed a small orange light off in the distance; the had nearly reached the Meriphataud Mountains.

The cool air of the cave had begun to die out, replaced now with a warm musk. Although the warmth put Kain at ease, Trice and Garaku were becoming uncomfortable, already starting to sweat.

It wasn't long until the tunnel began to glow with sunlight. Kain burnt out the flames around his blade and buried it back into its scabbard. As the group stepped out of the cave, they were forced to shield their eyes from the bright sun. Eventually their vision adjusted to the light, then the three friends surveyed their surroundings.

They found themselves in a deep, thin canyon; only about four feet wide, but with sandstone walls towering far overhead. The ground was mostly covered in red dirt and stones, but with a few patches of dried-out grass and weeds littered about.

"Boy, is it hot here!" Trice said, running her arm across her forehead.

"Yeah, it's hot now, but it'll get very cold come nightfall," Garaku said as he walked on ahead, digging his face into a map as usual, "all the more reason to hurry up!"

The canyon snaked its way left and right for a good thirty minutes before opening up into the mountains themselves. As the adventurers exited the crevice, they found themselves in a large valley; dark red walls of stone sticking up from the ground in random places, creating large canyons and crevices that were strewn about the clearing.

"This region used to be much flatter and easier to traverse, but several large earthquakes shuffled and relocated much of the terrain; now only the paths leading from Jeuno to Windurst exist, so we'll need to find our own route." Garaku explained.

The group was faced with a stonewall blocking their path. Off to the side were several large toppled boulders; there appeared to have been a path there at one point, but it seemed a recent rockslide had caused the path to close.

"How nice of the other students who passed through here to close off their route for us…" Kain complained annoyingly. He began to observe the surroundings for a way through. An old wooden watchtower opposite of the rockslide caught his eye. He stumbled and climbed over the rocks with Trice and Garaku in tow as he made his way over to the old rotting tower. Upon arrival, Kain examined the old post for a short time, then immediately began climbing up the side.

Garaku and Trice soon caught up, Kain roughly halfway up the crumbling tower.

"Umm… Kain-" Garaku began, but was quickly cut off by Trice.

"Get offa there before you fall and kill yourself!"

"Don't worry guys! I'll be fi-whaaaagh!" one of the old termite-worn boards broke as Kain put his foot down on it. Kain quickly began falling, but shot his hand out like a bullet to grab another rafter. He looked down and Trice's panicking face, then grinned stupidly at her. "Heh, got ya there for a second, didn't I?"

Trice stared up at him for a few seconds, confused, before it dawned on her that Kain was simply being an idiot. She clenched her hands into fists as rage filled up inside her, her face turning bright red. She stomped over to the tower, furious.

"Grr… I'll show you!" Trice shouted as she kicked the tower with all her might. The old wooden tower let out a loud crack, then began swaying from side to side. Trice leapt away from the tower, screaming up to Kain, her voice riddled with fear. "K-Kain! Get down from there, now!"

Without a second thought, Kain leaped from the tower, hitting the ground hard but safely. The three looked up as the tower toppled over, crashing onto the rock wall before them; the tower managed to stay in one piece, the top of the tower just under the top of the red-stone wall.

"All right Trice!" Kain said excitedly as he hugged Trice, and then dashed over to the leaning tower.

Trice stared blankly, dumbfounded that Kain had just hugged her, then shouted over to him as she chased after, "What are you up to now!"

Garaku and the wyverns followed behind Trice as she chased after Kain.

Kain climbed up on the toppled tower, and then ran up the side of it until he reached the top. He stopped a moment to gather strength, and then jumped up to the top of the rock wall.

"Ah! Here we go, this will be much easier!" Kain exclaimed as he looked around at the region displayed before him. Although the rocky ground was still uneven, it was at least crossable. Trice and Garaku stumbled up the side of the tower and up the wall, just as Kain had done. They found themselves in a wide canyon, which appeared to open into a wider valley farther ahead.

Kain, Trice, Garaku, and their wyverns moved on ahead through the canyon, trying not to mind the violent beating of the sun. After stumbling across a few yards of uneven, slippery, sandy rocks; the canyon opened up, revealing a brilliant panoramic view of the entire valley and mountain range.

Trice sat down on a small square rock protruding from the ground as she looked around at the scene laid out before them. A strange object caught her attention off in the distance; a large, white wall stretching from one side of the valley to the other. The wall had small black patches speckled about it that Trice was unable to make out from the distance; the top didn't appear to be flat, it was very round and wavy, smoothly flowing up and down across the entire length of the object. The ground around its base seemed to be cracked and shaken, as if the object was forced into the ground, rather than built on top of it.

"What is that thing…?" Trice inquired, curious about the odd, out-of-place object.

"That used to be what was called 'Doragora's Spine,' a large bridge-like object that used to hang in the sky." Garaku explained, " It's made of the material known as cermet, a white and black multi-layered metal used in building many ancient machines and buildings." Ancient ruins such as the Doragora's Spine had always fascinated Garaku; this particular phenomenon had always been one of his favorites. "The spine fell in the great earthquake that ruined the land here. No one knows for sure why it was built, stretching from one end of the valley to the other, but I think it was used as a means of getting across the difficult terrain of the area."

Kain stared long and hard at the fallen "spine," a strange sense of foreboding plaguing his body. He shook himself from the trance and turned to Garaku.

"So, how much longer until we reach that old outpost?"

"Oh, it's off to the west. There used to be a passage through the mountain range, but the earthquakes buried it, so we'll need to take the long way around."

"All right, then, lead the way, Garaku." Trice said as she stood back up and stretched her arms above her head.

Garaku and Nanaja lead the way down the shallow slope toward the fallen bridge, slightly angled to the right as the traced the mountain wall; Trice walked alongside Kain and Khocha. They followed the mountainside southwest as it rounded up into a northern opening. As the mountain range pointed north, Garaku branched away from the wall; heading northwest and into a thin, shallow canyon dug into the ground.

The canyon was quite small, about twelve feet deep and three feet wide; forcing those passing through to walk in a single-file line as the canyon snaked its way across the valley floor. Although the twists and turns made for an unnecessarily long walk, the canyon walls provided some cool shade.

"This canyon will let us out directly at the outpost, just in time for lunch." Garaku said as the group zigzagged through the canyon.

"'Just in time for lunch'? It was time for lunch two hours ago…" Kain complained as he looked up at the sky. The canyon walls blocked the sun, but he was sure it had to be at least 16:00 by now.

As the group rounded left along a corner, the sun beat down onto them, forcing them to shield their eyes from the light. It was even worse than Kain had thought; it was past 17:30! Kain's stomach suddenly felt very empty, letting out a low moan to let the others know it too. Although Kain was the only one complaining about it, Trice and Garaku were both starving as well.

All three let out a sigh of relief as the canyon evened out and the ground gently rose up to meet the top of the walls; revealing and old, run-down wooden cabin surrounded by crumbling fence posts.

"Well, here we are! There's bound to be food left in some of the old cupboards!" Garaku said excitedly as the three friends eagerly ran up to the old shack.

Kain kicked down the old door and dashed over to one of the old cabinets in search of food. Garaku and Trice followed behind, also searching for food. Kain flung open a wooden shudder to reveal a bunch of old bean cans coated with dust and cobwebs. Kain's hand shot around one of the cans like a hawk's talons around its prey, then lifted it high above his head, opening his mouth.

Trice and Garaku stared blankly as Kain stood there with his mouth open.

"Hey! What gives!" Kain said angrily as he noticed the can had already been emptied. He carelessly tossed it over his shoulder and then grabbed another can. Empty. He threw it away as well and grabbed for yet another container. Empty. He went through the entire cabinet of cans, all cut open and drained of the food inside.

Kain slumped down to his knees in disbelief; someone had beaten them to the food! As Kain sat there, sulking, Trice leaned over and picked up one of the empty cans to observe it. On one side of the can, engraved through both the label and the aluminum of the can itself was the word "Geal."

"Geal…" Trice repeated to herself, stumped as to what the word meant. She gently set the can onto a nearby counter-top as she thought about the strange message.

"Well, it seems as though there's so food left here at all." Garaku said as he searched through other shelves and cupboards; all cans empty save for a few traces of liquid.

Kain let out a quiet whimper before standing back up. "Well… we have some food in our packs still, right?"

"Only enough for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow." Garaku said as he left the old outpost, followed by Trice and the wyverns.

"H-Hey! Where are you guys going?" Kain stumbled out of the outpost behind them.

"You heard Garaku, we'll just wait until later to eat." Trice said optimistically, but she was just as disappointed and upset as Kain.

The group slowly trudged along west, slowly curving north. Garaku led them through a thin mountain pass, which eventually opened north into a spacious, relatively flat clearing. The orange mountains still surrounded the area, but there were no longer random jagged rocks protruding from the ground. The clearing was littered, however, with ancient stone ruins and towers. The once proud castles now reduced to rubble from the flames of time. It was getting quite late now, a great shadow of the mountains veiled the area; the sky a brilliant canvas of pinks, oranges, and crimsons; all fading into a deep violet, which at the end of the sky had shifted to black.

The climate was much cooler now that the sun had hidden behind the mountains, sending shivers down the adventurers' spines.

"W-w-well, here we are, Sauromugue Campaign." Garaku shuddered as he spoke; the chilling cold sinking its claws into him. "Let's set up c-c-c-camp in one of the old ruins."

"Good idea." Kain replied as he quickly walked toward the nearest stone ruin.
The three approached the crumbling castle; it was a large square with a small doorway built in one of the sides; the inside was mostly bare dirt, save for some square stones protruding from one of the walls. The bricks stuck out in a patter; angling up and leading to a large stone balcony at the top, resembling a staircase.

Garaku dropped his pack in the middle of the clearing, then pulled out three small rice balls. Kain and Trice both dropped their packs then sat on the ground, relieved to be done with walking for the day.

"Here you go, guys," Garaku said as he tossed rice balls to Kain and Trice, "eat up!"

Trice skillfully caught her rice ball, but Kain's pegged him right in the head. He rubbed his skull with one hand as he picked up the rice ball with the other. He observed it a moment, then bit into it as hard as he could.

"Blegh! What is this!" Kain complained bluntly; the rice ball was rock hard and tasted terrible.

"That's your dinner," Garaku snapped at Kain; biting off a small section, crunching it in his mouth, "now stop complaining! You should be thankful you get anything at all!"

"Can't we at least cook them over a campfire first?" Kain set his rice ball on a flat brick on the ground, dropping another stone on it, causing it to shatter into several small shards. Kain moved the top stone and began lifting the tiny bits and pieces to his mouth.

"Campfire?" trice objected, "Have you seen anything that could even remotely be used as timber? The last plant we passed was back at the outpost, and it was a long-dead weed!"

Kain groaned, but Trice had a point; there was nothing but dirt and rocks around them.

the three of them finished their rice balls, then slowly drifted off to sleep after a long day of walking; all three too tired and hungry to work up the strength for a conversation.