Loz led the way through the labyrinth of narrow tunnels and passages which wove between the hunks of rubble, trying to recall the route down which he had come. It was treacherously hard-going in the dark, his clumsy, blind fumblings in the doing little to prevent him from walking into steel cabling and suffering painful collisions between his head and iron girders. Yazoo's dependency on his memory for escaping this concrete hive made him anxious and brought him to making rash decisions. Brought him to making rash, wrong decisions. On several occasions he admitted he was lost, stopped and retraced his steps, but Yazoo was not harsh on the matter like Kadaj would have been. Yazoo was so patient and caring and it was paying off, Loz could now see daylight ahead.
He dropped down to his hands and feet, lowering his body profile as he gingerly crept towards the bright daylight. Yazoo silently followed suit behind him and slinked stealthily into his footsteps. They paused frequently, like fearful animals emerging from the safety of their den, apprehensive and uneasy, taking time to check and double check for danger. They made painfully slow progress, easing limbs through motions which creaked their ruined leather suits as little as possible. Loz's eyes were quickly adjusting to the brightness outside and as he neared the threshold, he surveyed the world more thoroughly.
The rain had stopped, but the sky was actually still overcast despite how bright the scene seemed to his tender eyes. The concrete was dark with the water it held and the air was chilly, smelling of nothing but wetness. Most importantly, the only sounds were those of the wind and the distant city of Edge.
Loz slowly rose, then when he was satisfied, he turned and beckoned for Yazoo's company.
In the light they looked each other over, sorrow etched into their features. Yazoo's long silken hair was matted and caked with smatterings of blood, his skin did not look so much pale as unhealthily transparent and he looked so frail his frame may have been made from toothpicks.
Loz could only guess how bad he looked to his brother, and Yazoo drew up close to him, smiling stroking his upper arm affectionately. "Let us see what we can do for you. Let us find our materia."
They searched independently to widen the scope of their search but never strayed further than a few feet from one another's sides. In the gathering dusk the faint mako glow of materia bled out from inside cracks and between rocks, aiding their questing eyes. Yazoo could barely contain his joy when they found his Velvet Nightmare, scratched but still unbroken and just as deadly as ever. He lovingly caressed its embossed barrel and turned it over in his hands several times before holstering it at his hip with a deft twirl through his fingers.
They recovered some materia, but the beasts and animals that roamed the area had made off with the rest. Yazoo did not seem dismayed, they had found all they needed for his plans.
As they moved about the rubble, Loz sighted a deep, clear pool which had collected in a basin formed by a fallen, upturned, aesthetically shaped curve of architecture. His lips were cracked and dry and his thirst was great. He was dehydrated and the thought of a cool drink of water was a considerably pleasant one.
He touched the water, suspicious after the burning rain which was still uncomfortably fresh in his memory. His fingers slipped into cool, clean water.
"Yazoo!" Loz called over his shoulder to his brother, eager to share his latest find. He dipped cupped hands into the pool and lifted them to his lips.
At first it passed over his lips like water, but swiftly it began to tingle his mouth like strong alcohol. He balked at the pure-ethanol sting and then choked as if it were concentrated acid. He could not spit out the offending liquid fast enough or completely enough and the remaining film of it coating his mouth was as foul as some toxic poison. His body instinctively began wretching to rid itself of the dangerous water.
"Are you alright brother?" Yazoo placed a hand on his back.
Loz sobbed as he raked at his throbbing tongue. "I'm so thirsty Yazoo, but this water is like poison. I need to drink but I can't!"
Yazoo stroked his back. "I promise I will find you a drink before sunrise tomorrow my brother. First we need to get away from where this poison rain fell."
Loz sat patiently as Yazoo cast Regen on them both, enjoying the calming, euphoric highs that the spell brought as it bolstered their health. They rested for a while in the shelter of the ruins as the sun sank lower behind the veil of clouds.
"What are your plans?" Loz asked with vague interest. He had faith in his brother's ability to form a reliable escape plan and keep them both out of harm's way, but he was curious. His own thoughts had drawn blanks on how to best evade Strife. He also wished to hear his brother's calming voice, the open ground and dead silence was setting him on edge.
"We should set some distance between us and our foe." Yazoo's hauntingly gentle, absent-minded voice did not carry far on the wind and it sounded as quiet as a whisper to Loz's ears. Yazoo seemed preoccupied with his Velvet Nightmare, tinkering with its loading mechanism and buffing the scrapes on the hilt with the cuff of his leather coat. "We will go from here to the town of Kalm. We can dwell on the outskirts of the town where we will draw the least attention to our presence as possible. There we can obtain the items and materials we need to regain our true strength before setting out for someplace further afield."
"How are we to get through Edge?" Loz thought for a moment more. Kalm was far away for travelling on foot, and Cloud had much more at his disposal as far as transport was concerned. His airship could catch up with them in minutes and would find them all to easily out on the open, desolate wastelands past Edge. Between the wastelands and Kalm there were open grassy plains which offered just as much or even less cover. "Kalm is too far to travel to on foot."
"I wasn't suggesting we walk there." Yazoo gave a wry, cryptic smile. He holstered his gun and glanced upwards, rising to his feet. "It is dark enough now I suppose."
Loz looked on quizzically as Yazoo lifted his right arm as smoothly as a dancer assuming a new pose. He stretched his arm out and lifted his hand until his the flat of his palm faced the horizon.
Shadows streaked around them, gathering darkness and substance until they were like loose balls of black mist careering around the ruins. Suddenly the creeping shadows burst open to reveal grey beasts which leapt into bloodthirsty gallops, searching for the prey they had been summoned to claim.
Shadow Creepers. Skeletal monsters which existed between The Planet and The Lifestream, ghastly, ghostly life forms which dwelled in limbo unless drawn through into the physical world. They were creatures of chaos and destruction, which obeyed Jenova's children only for the sake of their shared desire to 'strike back at The Planet' which held them in their desolate domain of the dead. They were formidable demons, equipped with strong, toothy jaws and long hooked claws. Even their bodies were bedecked with great horny blades.
"I was suggesting we ride." Yazoo concluded the spectacular presentation of his plan.
Loz looked uncertainly at the restless Creepers. They gnashed their teeth and salivated as they wildly thrashed their long, whip-like tails and pawed impatiently at the ground. "Ride a Shadow Creeper?"
"We do not have many options brother. I'm sure they can be persuaded to act as suitable mounts." Yazoo reached out to touch the flank of one which had come to an agitated halt next to him, but quickly retracted his extremities when the beast whipped round with its fangs bared.
Loz advanced on the snappy, untame creature which had lunged at Yazoo's tentative attempt to touch it. He stood upright and took determined, dominative steps towards it. The Creeper snarled in confusion, usually they were summoned to run free and draw blood, not as alternatives for docile riding chocobos. Loz reached out for its head, moving slowly but smoothly but the Creeper made an open-mouthed lunge at his hand, hissing and spitting with rage at having its usual routine broken. Rather than whipping his hand away at the Creeper's challenge, Loz cuffed the beast's snout and grabbed hold of one of its horns. For a while it spat and growled, but it soon succumbed to Loz's will, standing still and not writhing to escape his hold.
"You might be right brother." Loz said, walking forwards whilst keeping his full attention on the Creeper, which took a few uncertain steps to match. "Well, here you go."
Loz passed the Creeper's horn to Yazoo's hand.
Yazoo paused and then mounted the Shadow Creeper's back in one fluid motion. Instantly the beast let out a shrill roar and rose up on its hind legs, lashing out at thin air with its massive claws. It tore into a top-speed run, leaping and bucking. Loz looked on watchfully, worrying for his brother's safety but relieved that Yazoo was beginning to rein the Creeper in and bring it at least partially under control.
"This is so exhilarating! Far superior to motorbikes or chocobos!" Yazoo called out, a thrill seeker's grin on his face as the Creeper leapt among the rubble.
Loz collared himself a Creeper for his own steed and joined his brother. They careered through the ruins with the pack of Shadow Creepers leaping, turning and baying their bloodcurdling screams around them, getting a feel for their carnivorous mounts before Yazoo struck out on a new direction, steering northeast towards the city of Edge, the wastelands, the grassy plains and beyond to the peaceful, sleepy town of Kalm.