A few hours later, when the sun had risen fully, Saria awoke. Dark had indeed stayed up all night, sitting on his bag of belongings, his sword in his hand. Bags were under his eyes, but he was alert, and rather jumpy. He darted his head around when Saria yawned.
"You actually stayed awake all that time?" she stretched. "I thought you just said that to make me feel comfortable," she rubbed her eyes. "I had such a bad dream,"
"I don't blame you," Dark said tiredly.
"So, this 'cosmo canal'"
"Cosmo canyon,"
"Whatever. How far is it?"
"Not too far- we ought to reach it by the end of the day," he picked up his rucksack, and slung it over onto his back.
"We're going now?" Saria said suprisedly.
"Yeah, hanging around isn't going to do us much good,"
"But- they caught him, didn't they? There's no need to hurry,"
"Maybe, but you heard your mother; he's powerful beyond imagination. I think that this 'Shinra' company has underestimated him," he looked into the sky. "This…Sephiroth. He's going to be a match, but I have to; must kill him," Saria said nothing; she was still shaken by the loss of her mother. "Cheer up," he added, watching her expression. "I'll get him for you," he offered her his hand up, which she took.
Meanwhile, back at the Shinra laboratory, Dr Black stared at Sephiroth, who was unconscious, chained underneath a strange-looking machine. An assortment of needles and tubes had been dug into his skin. Black smiled, circling Sephiroth with admiration.
"So, do you think you'll be prepared for this?" He said to a man beside him. The man was rather tall, with long, black straggly hair, and glasses balancing on the end of his nose.
"Of course," he replied, his dark eyes glinting. "Soon we will break through scientific history; no one will have ever done this before,"
"So, what exactly does your dad do? Is it important?" Dark asked.
"I'm not sure; I think he works in the Shinra labs, although I doubt he's that important,"
"Maybe he knows something about this," Dark wondered.
"I hope not, I don't want him to get involved," Saria said. "Which way now?" she looked around.
"See those cliffs over there?" he pointed straight ahead, where in the distance orange-coloured cliffs rose above the horizon.
"Those?"
"Yeah. Somewhere in those cliffs over there. I can remember it a little, but I was only very young. I left when I was about two to move to Kalm. I hope somebody will remember me," he sat on the bike, and Saria clambered on after him.
They rode at a steady pace, just enough for a breeze to ruffle their hair. Dark could feel her twist every now and again, to look at her surroundings.
"Why does this 'Shinra' keep popping up?" he asked, not meaning to say it aloud. "Shinra created Sephiroth, your dad works at Shinra, my dad worked for Shinra, everyone asks whether I work there… It's something important, a link to connect all these things together. I can't figure out how, though. After we've been to Cosmo Canyon, we're going to pay this 'Shinra' a visit."
"Good. I really want to see my dad," Saria said. They rode for the rest of the day, with the occasional break to stretch their legs and eat. Dark had little food in his rucksack, and so their food was rationed carefully. It was evening now, and they arrived at the river. Dark stopped the bike, and hopped off; it's engine still thundering. He looked into the river's murky depths.
"She won't go through that," he said miserably. "Looks like we'll have to do the rest of the journey on foot," Saria sighed.
"On foot; to over there?" she whined.
"Sure! For now, at least," he put one foot into the river, the chilly dampness bleeding into his trousers.
"You're joking, right?" Dark shook his head, and took another step into waist-height cold, fast water. He turned, and offered her a hand.
"Come on, it's not so bad," she took his hand, stepping into the freezing water. They waded through, Saria keeping a firm grip on Dark's hand. It was extremely difficult to cross, as the stones they were treading on kept slipping from underneath them, and the force of the river was constantly pushing them.
Saria let out a shriek, as she slipped and disappeared into the water. However, with one pull of Dark's hand, he dragged her to the surface again, where she gasped to get her breath back.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Let's just get to the other side as soon as possible, okay?" the water was up to their necks now, and had Dark not been strong enough to act as an anchor, Saria was sure that they would have been swept away completely.
They reached the other side, and Dark lifted Saria out of the water and onto the bank. He scrambled up too, sitting on the edge. Saria looked freezing, with goose-dimpled arms and blue hands. Unlike Dark, she wasn't dressed in warm clothing, and she wasn't insulated with as much muscle as him, either. He watched her shivering, and then began to unbutton his top.
"Here, wear this," he said as he slid the top over his head, and passed it to her. It was a long-sleeved top with built-in leather shoulder-pads, and buckles around the tops of the arms. She giggled as she put it on, as it was much too big for her. "We'll walk for a while- maybe that'll warm you up some more. Then I'll light a cosy fire, and you can dry off and be warm,"
"Won't you be cold?" she said, looking at his bare chest and arms.
"I'll be fine," he said. He rubbed her shoulders, and started walking. She put her hands where they had been moments before, watched him for a moment, and then followed him.
She seemed to dry off as they walked, but she still looked cold, and her long hair was soaked. However, she didn't complain, and was still contempt to walk alongside him.
"I wonder what my dad will say after all this time," she wondered. "I don't know whether he'll be thrilled or disappointed," she looked at him. "What was your dad like?"
"My dad? From what I've heard, he was a hero; a strong, fearless, valiant man and a saviour to the earth. It's just a shame that he died so young," Dark said. "It just goes to show that the hero's don't always win- in the long term,"
"Well, this 'Sephiroth' guy; I want to get him too. He killed my mum- I want revenge.
"Be careful- revenge can be a terrible motive,"
"Isn't it yours?" Dark stopped and paused.
"That's different," he said.
"Is it? Think. We both have the same problem. After we go and see my dad, I'm going with you to find Sephiroth,"
"If he doesn't find us first," Dark added. He glanced over to the mountains on their left. "Why don't we stay there for the night?" There were rocks which heaped at the bottom of the mountain. They scrambled among them and found rocks which were just right to sit on. Peeping from between the rocks were scruffy plants, which Dark grabbed and threw into a pile. He lit them with a lighter, which took time as the plants were not very dry. However, they were soon cracking under the fire's warmth.
"This is lovely," Saria said, rubbing her hands near the fire.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure whether this is a good idea," he said. From at least a mile away people can see this light. Anyone could see us,"
"Relax," she said. "You need sleep, and so do I. Let's put out the fire and get some rest," she stamped out the fire, and everything went dark. "Dark?" she said. Dark grumbled. "You cold?" Dark obviously seemed too tired to talk. "I'm freezing; can I sleep beside you?" he muttered something which resembled 'sure'.
Saria fumbled about in the darkness, until she found him. She lay down facing away from him, and pulled his floppy arm over her shoulder. She snuggled into his to get herself comfortable, and tried to ignore his snoring.