Chapter 4 – The Guardian of the Great Canyon
The first thing Yuffie sensed was the humming of a wasp scurrying around her left ear. Fatigue still loitered in her muscles after that tranquil slumber but from the putrid smell around her she remembered that she was no longer in Wutai. Her eyes opened to face the world again. She wished she had left them shut.
"Oh gawd!" she uttered.
She was face to face with that Shin-Ra commander. She buried her eyes into that cold, morbid mug of his with dread. He was dead alright; heavy slabs smothering the rest of his body confirmed that. As the blood ran down his mouth at snail's pace, Yuffie found herself staring back, empty-minded and dumbfounded. It was almost ten minutes before she even thought about anything else. Casting the pains in her thighs to the back of her mind, Yuffie struggled to her feet. Mideel was covered in corpses. Bodies were slumped under the thick black bricks of recently charred buildings and Yuffie dared not step foot over the rubble in case there were survivors beneath. A dusty fog concealed the edges of the street and the squalid stench seemed to crawl into her skin.
The sky had washed into a palette of orange and red as she stood alone, accompanied only by the warm summer wind. Large, narrow leaves of the Mideel jungle were dancing in the breeze and as the wasp finally fluttered away, she noticed the unnerving hush of the place.
"Hello? Any-anybody here?" she exclaimed desperately.
There was no reply, save the distant tumbling of dust from a roof beyond her sight. Being brave was Yuffie's only option, though on this rare occasion she struggled to muster up her trademark pluck. She stepped on a large metal sheet, staggered over a debris heap as she searched for an exit in this maze. She thought about plugging her ears with her fingers (in case someone beneath her wailed in agony) and sprinted over a mound of remains of the former item shop.
No sooner had Yuffie clambered up, her spirit temporarily lightened.
"Lifestream!" she wailed.
A pool of Lifestream was flowing serenely in a small gorge. The glowing emerald liquid shone elegantly amongst the carnage, gently ebbing just a few metres from her feet. As she gazed into this mesmerizing lagoon, her thoughts were stopped dead. She was overcome by feelings of harmony, fertility, security and affection - everything that the Lifestream represented. She found herself lost in the sheer force of the Planet, reverent to its power. So compelling were these thoughts that as she finally moved her eyes away from the Lifestream she was softly gasping for air.
The whole experience also jogged her memory of the Lifestream appearing in the exact same place many months ago, when Cloud and Tifa plunged into the unknown depths of the Planet and thankfully were washed up again a while later. She had never grilled the two to delve into the details of their experience there and now especially she did not care to know.
An image of Aeris floated around her head. It was most bizarre.
Despite the presence of the Lifestream, the fleeting memory of her deceased companion offered little comfort – with all its awesome energy it failed to deliver a warming cheer that she could have done with right now. Yuffie felt more deserted here than she ever had in Wutai. A lump was swelling in her throat and she was fighting the tears. After all, ninjas do not cry.
"Miss Kisaragi?"
"Is that…?"
"Yes"
Her heart skipped a beat and sure enough, the red-coated beast of Cosmo Canyon came leaping into view from behind an upturned handcart, his blazing tail flickering in the breeze. Before she could think another thought, he spoke,
"Are you alright?"
"Hey, how did you…?"
"Are you alright?" he repeated. "Are you hurt? You don't look too bad"
"Bruised but thankfully that's the worst of it" Yuffie replied sincerely, glimpsing a lifeless body sprawled on a bank.
"I was intending to join you, Miss. However, mitigating circumstances prevented me in doing so"
"Miti-what?"
" I am sorry I couldn't come sooner. And I am sorry that this all had to happen"
"Yeah" Yuffie mumbled, "But you're here now"
Red's eyes fell to the floor. They were aggrieved and lamenting.
"Yuffie, enemies are around. They are here in Mideel still. We must leave now. Questions later"
She responded to the request that they leave with gentle nodding. He lifted his eyes and focused upon her. Still, his eyes were emitting a sombre grief, both cheering and saddening her.
"Thank you" he uttered.
With that, Red soared at least three metres into the air, clearing a mound of bricks with ease and vanishing into the sandy horizon. Yuffie was left to take a final moment glancing at both the Lifestream and the unsettling ruin around her. She began to climb the same brick mound, digging each weary foot into small gaps until the ground levelled again. With each step, a sense of discomfort harassed her mind.
She felt guilt about leaving Mideel; guilt about leaving possible survivors and the guilt that she had been blessed with the fortune to survive all of this.
She had hardly had the time in the midst of her troubles to spare a thought for her friends. In all the shock she realised that she had placed the welfare of Cloud, Tifa, Cid and Barret to the back of her mind; yet another reason for her to feel ashamed and guilty. She owed it to them to keep fighting, to keep herself going. With this in mind she hastened and galloped over the debris, tracking Red's fiery beacon for a way out of Mideel.
A number of hours before the pair managed to navigate themselves out of Mideel and a good way through the forests of the island. Red had decided that it would be safer for them to not go east, which entailed a relatively short trek before they reached open fields and the Highwind. Instead, Yuffie was left with no choice but trust that Red was leading them to the best place. As soon as he had informed her of their western purpose, which led them deeper into Mideel's jungle Yuffie had questioned his decision. He noted her understandable concern,
"Miss. Kisaragi. You say that our friends arrived with you on the Highwind to east. However, I am afraid they are no longer there. Where they are, I do not know but I have seen nor heard nothing of the airship. All I am certain of is that we are being hunted and it would not be wise for us to head out into the open and expose ourselves"
Red said nothing more on the subject and Yuffie respected Red's judgment too much to probe further into the matter. But the word 'hunted' lingered on in her mind. Red paused every so often without warning and would wander into the bushes checking that they were not being followed. In these moments, Yuffie seemed to have her confidence stripped of her, haunted by the prospect of these 'hunters'. All alone she worried, imagining who or what Red believed was trying to track them down and she never failed to be relieved when he returned ten, sometimes fifteen minutes later, content that they were not being followed. Did he not believe that the two of them, both veteran fighters could not tackle these pursuers? Were they too weak?
"Rest your mind Miss, for now"
They had not been fortunate enough to stumble upon a pathway through the woodland this time, though their progress was still decent. Carroty orange had turned to a striking crimson which had turned to a blue and the sky deepened gradually with every step. Soon brilliant stars dotted across the heavens and the warm breeze chilled. Despite the stars amassing above, Yuffie strained her eyes to see the path ahead and they quickly ached. Soon, the outlines of trees disappeared completely and she needed to keep her eyes fixed on Red's blazing tail that lit up just enough of the earth in front of her to move on. This was unbelievably tiring and as she let out her first yawn, Red came to a standstill and broke the silence,
"You are tired, as am I. Our advancement has exceeded my expectations. I say we rest, don't you? After all, my tail is hardly inconspicuous in the dark. I must make effort to conceal it. Quick and come this way"
He headed off down a ditch, overrun by both shrubbery and relentless mosquitos. Yuffie pulled a face in disbelief as she followed him further and just as she was on the verge of collapsing on the spot, Red slowed his pace. They had reached an area further down the trench, where the ground was not overgrown with weeds but soil and patches of moss. The mosquitos were far fewer here. Much to her relief, Red whispered from in front,
"We shall rest here tonight. You just make yourself comfortable Miss, while I just sort this matter out"
Yuffie was far too exhausted and heavy-eyed to be concerned about being comfortable. She crouched into the ditch, which Red had carefully chosen for its dryness and spaciousness. As she began to rest her head against a thick patch of moss, the red-coated beast began digging into the soil as if he felt no fatigue. He dug a narrow opening in the side of the ditch a half metre deep for the end of his tail to rest in as he slept. Right above them the silver moon bloomed in the sky. There were much fewer trees around them now and the silver full moon was exposed against the silhouette of branches above.
Yuffie suddenly let out a question,
"So, like, what's with howling at the moon then?"
Red, settling into his more cramped position registered a surprised look and slowly raised his left eye. There was enough moonlight in this patch of the jungle for her to see his reaction.
"I mean, you howl at the moon don't you?" she asked with as much sincerity as she could. She wandered if Red had taken offence to the question for whatever reason.
"Miss. Kisaragi. I haven't even offered any sort of explanation yet. I would have thought you'd want to hear it now"
Yuffie hesitated, then removed her boots and placed them upon the bank opposite her. As she massaged her worn ankles those uneasy thoughts that had been disturbing her for the last couple of hours returned.
"Red, I guess I just…I 'unno. Perhaps I don't want to know"
She did not understand why she said this to him – she was itching to learn about the fate of Mideel, her friends, Shin-Ra and these 'hunters'. All the same, she was not in the mood for the heavy stuff right now.
"I'm pretty drained right now, you know?"
She yawned liberally.
"Tell me…tell me about you, Red. You and Cosmo Canyon"
Red was slightly taken aback by her request, not expecting such an appeal from Yuffie at all. The leaves whispering in the treetops above and the gentle chanting of grasshoppers seemed to have calmed Red. Somehow, Yuffie's eyelids had not yet succumbed to the fatigue and Red, who still exhibited no sign of his own tiredness gave a light chuckle.
"The elders of my hometown are not terribly pleased with me" he began.
"A-why?" Yuffie questioned. It was an unusual statement to begin a story with.
"Well, Miss. You see, I have left them. I have abandoned my duty as Guardian to come here. I have risked the same shame that I once felt for my father. Rumours have emerged of new shadows swarming beneath the Canyon and some say they hear the haunting cries of the Gi reawakening in the deep chasms under my hometown. And I, I have departed my hometown in its time of need. I do not suppose I can blame them for feeling so disappointed with me"
Yuffie did not know what to say so she decided to remain neutral in her reaction,
"Why did you leave, Red?"
"Well, it was over a year ago that Hojo of Shin-Ra came to our great town. My late grandpa was around then and at that time, he was happy to welcome Hojo with a warm reception. They spent many days in his observatory, often without emerging for many hours. I was certainly intrigued but I let grandpa get on with it. But I was suspicious of Hojo from the very beginning. There was something not quite right"
"With Hojo? I'm not surprised you were suspicious. The man was a creep in and out"
"Most definitely! But still, I had no opportunity to discuss this with grandpa. On the sixth day after Hojo's arrival I was summoned to a meeting with the elders – the Gi you see"
"Right the Gi. But they were rumours, right?"
"Certainly nothing concrete. I brushed the rumours off as mere speculation. The people of the planet were shaken by Meteor, that's for sure. I hear Midgar is in quite a state. The people of Corel are talking about the Gold Saucer collapsing into the sand. Fear goes a long way to creating more fear, it seems."
Yuffie began to realise just how detached her isolated hometown really was from the rest of the world and its problems.
"But when I heard from Cloud…" he continued "…well, I made a promise to my grandpa; a promise to protect this planet above all else and a promise to trust Cloud"
Red laid his head gently upon his paws. That was all that he was going to say for tonight. A moment passed.
"Mr. Bugenhagen knew everything, didn't he?" muttered Yuffie before finally dozing off.
Red took a final glance into the undergrowth before doing the same.
To be continued
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