A/N: Thank you reviewer, I'm glad people like this fic, not much more to talk about, I guess, here goes chapter 8

Disclaimer: Just so everyone knows, I have no legal ownership over Final Fantasy 7 or its characters, SquareEnix does, and this is non profit. I guess I own the idea but without legal copyright…just don't steal the idea…pweas!


Chapter 8


"Thanks Cid!" the team yelled as Cid waved good bye as he left the continent. It took more than a day of travel to get here and it was already getting dark on the second day when they arrived. Not to mention the hard sleeping conditions of the Tiny Bronco.

"My back is still aching." Shadow said as he tried to straighten himself out, everyone agreed. They set out and reached the forest before it got too dark. They hiked to a clearing and began to set up a camp.

"See, the extra preparation at Junon got us plenty of tents." Alicia said glaring at Nightshade.

"I didn't say it wasn't at a bad idea to stop at that store, but we WERE running late." He said in a huff.

"Hey Shadow were running out of fire wood could you get some with Vincent." Tifa asked. "I'd go, but I'm getting water from the lake."

"Sure, I'll go." The two left as the others continued to set up.

"Okay, we'll cover more distance if we split up." Vincent suggested "I'll take the left, you take the right. If you get in trouble just call one of us well help you." Shadow nodded and took the right path. Half way through he found a pretty good heap and began to head back.

"…! What was that?" He asked aloud as a sound came from behind. He thought it was just the bag of fire wood he was dragging hitting a snag so he continued to walk, more cautiously though. The sound came again though, and this time he knew it wasn't the fire wood.

"Who's out there." He said as he drew the Obsidian sword from the hilt. "Vincent! Tifa!" In response to shuriken flew into the tree beside him. He dropped the rope that held the fire wood and took a fighting pose. He focused and sensed something in a tree close by. He sliced the tree and was met by a swift attack from a small scythe weapon. He quickly dodged the attack and was face to face with the attacker. She was lithe, well built, and swift. Her blaze red was swiftly flowing behind her as she began striking with a bow staff.

Shadow kept up with most of the strikes and as able to slice through it. Believing he had disarmed her, he caught a better glimpse of her. She wore a black and red corset that gave a very good view of her mid-riff; she had torn metallic black leather pants with several leather weapon carriers. He couldn't get a good look at her eyes, though as she took off once again with two mid sized daggers out of two sheaths behind her back. This time she kept the upper hand on him getting in several good strikes. After good small strikes the attacker showed off her skill by using lethal strikes combined to blow Shadow aback.

Shadow couldn't take much more, the entire time he had stressed his limit break, but she was too strong and shadows will was breaking. Suddenly, as the attacker was about to strike Shadow disappeared. Confused she searched the area with every sense. She upped her defenses and as soon as she began to lower them, thinking he had run off, he struck. She barley had time to react and was thrown back into a tree. The alternate shadow finally got a look of the intruders eyes seeing that they were pitch black with shining silver pupil fused with it's retina. He was seeing her through new eyes of his own, his eyes having a menacing glow to them. He closed in on her to keep her steady, but she pulled out several small shuriken for a surprise attack that gave her enough time to turn the tables on Shadow. She grabbed her signature weapon, a small scythe that lay concealed on a strap from her back.

The stared off at each other, each ready to deliver several blows. As soon as they were about approach each other, shots were fired at the mystery woman, she avoided them quickly, saw Tifa as she attempted to trap her in a grip, and gave her a sweep kick that knocked her down. Alicia and Nightshade came from behind a tree and got into fighting positions next to Shadow.

"I see you couldn't keep control." Alicia said getting a look at Shadow's eyes

"Life of a traveler." He said, voice matching the new sinister eyes.

"You got that right…" Nightshade commented as Tifa and Vincent joined the two ready to take on the attacker, right before she was about to strike, a voice came from an approaching distance.

"Vitani, that is enough." The voice said. The attacker backed up in response to the command seeming upset. A few moments later the carrier of the voice came. It was the Chief Manager at the dig site. He emerged from the forest with a few other workers.

"It's all right Vitani, they used to work here…at least two of them did."

"…Whatever." She said as she walked in the direction they came from. The group looked confused, and the Manager seemed to notice.

"Come along you guys. I think I know why you're here and there is a lot to discuss.


Caelum and Narro stood a few inches away from the battle site, fearing that Shadow's new enemy might attack them as well.

"We probably should have brought a few people with us." Caelum said as Alicia, Tifa, Nightshade and Vincent stood near Shadow.

"They'd have slowed us down," Narro said, "besides we got all we needed from them anyway." He held up the small, misshapen green gem that was attached to a pendent necklace. It was glowing on and off slowly.

"Pure Mako, It indicates when were close to the life stream." Caelum agreed, "At least the boss was right to follow them, Come on they're following that man." Caelum said as he mounted his Chocobo. Narro followed suite, and they began to slowly trail the team.


"Wow!" Tifa remarked as they entered the new Bone Village via buggy. Instead of the village being built up of tents around massive bone structures, two stories houses were erected around a massive dig site. The Chief Manager smiled as he drove through the village.

"Yup, with all that money you gave us to excavate helped fund the construction of the new village. We also got funding from the commission from when we finished the previous dig. Those giant bones were sent to major anthropologists and there studying them as we speak."

Vincent looked over at Tifa, remembering her reaction to the harbor. She seemed deep in thought, an emotionless expression on her face. He was afraid to ask, but couldn't help seeing Tifa in the state she was in.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at him. She noted his concerned face and smiled.

"The memories…keep coming back," she replied. "But I have to realize that I have a new goal now, and new friends, and I think that will help me keep my sanity." He gave her smile back along with a blush that they soon shared.

"Well here we are." The driver said as the reached the village Inn. "Let's get down to business.

"How many!" Alicia said in shock.

"At least twenty," The chief replied. "Each one asked directions for the same place."

"The City of the Ancients." Vincent muttered

"Yep, but that's not the strangest part." He said grabbing the team's attention. "About a week ago a strange old man wearing the strangest clothes I've ever seen came here, demanded to see me and foretold the whole ordeal. From the several visitors down to you five."

"Are you serious!" Shadow said emerging from the Shadows behind the Chief, giving him a fright.

"Shadow!" Alicia said as he sat back down. "Sorry, he told us when he transforms, he get a little…mischievous." Shadow gave a smile to match the mood.

"A-a right." The Chief cleared his throat. "Well, the old man told me to reveal the location of the last standing Ancient city, He also told us about Vitani." As he said her name she entered the room.

"…you wanted to see me…" she said not even glancing over at the others.

"Yes, sit down." She obeyed and sat a few seats away from the others. "I wouldn't be so distant."

"…?"

"You'll know why soon, anyway, where was I…Oh yes; he told us all about Vitani's arrival." He continued, Vitani paying more attention now. "He gave a very detailed description and said she would ask about the location of the city. He told me not to tell her but to keep her here and ask her to be a village guard. In doing so she has kept out most of the people who asked about the city."

"That does explain why she attacked us." Alicia said giving a glare at her.

"…among other reasons, I'd do it again." Vitani replied.

"Now, now, none of that you two." Nightshade said dripping with the usual sarcasm aimed at Alicia who was now on her feet. She glared daggers at Nightshade and sat back down.

"Anyway, the old man then told us about you five, Tifa, Vincent, Shadow, Alicia and Nightshade. He said you, along with anyone who gets passed Vitani, were allowed entry to the village. So far no one was able to get passed Vitani, he must've chanced that shot, but he said if Vitani would lost she would travel with the victor, or she would travel with you upon arrival."

"US!" Alicia cried as she stood up quickly and knocked over her chair.

"H-he said that he she needed the stones for the same reason as you!" The Chief replied. Alicia's face changed and so did Vitani's. The whole room gained a more sullen attitude. Noticing the attitude change the Chief went on. "He said the others were just treasure seekers and they had no reason to 'set foot on the land of the Cetra'. So he said that Vitani fight them off and keep rumors flowing so they wouldn't come back. That's about all he said about this."

"…I see." Vincent said. Suddenly a quick flash of light surrounded Shadow. At first the team got defensive and ready to help, until the light faded and Shadow seemed fine.

"Oh…sorry, limit wore off." Shadow said, his voice sounding friendly again. The others just fell to the floor in both relief and fatigue.

"Argh, too…Tired!" Alicia muttered drowsily, but still angry

"I…dnow, umph, your lahing on my FASH!" Nightshade yelled underneath her waist.

"Hmm. AIYA! PERVERT!" She yelled as she jumped up, face beet red. "YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!

"Oh YES, I let YOU fall on MY poor FACE, you, you COW!"

"RARGH!" She plowed her hammer into his face before he could say anything else.

"Umm…Do you have any rooms for us?" Tifa said meekly as a dust cloud of fighting appeared behind her and the others.

"A-aaaa yeah, right this way." The Chief said "But before you leave tomorrow you and your friend with the cloak should visit a shop, your clothes are a mess." Tifa looked down and realized how many holes were starting to appear on her clothes as well as Vincents.

"I think we will thanks…ALICA, NIGHTSHADE!" They stopped and looked at her. "We got rooms, let's go."

"Oh good, that's sounds nice." Alicia said.

"Oh yes it does." Nightshade agreed. Shadow and Vincent just watched slack-jawed as the two walked briskly after Tifa.

"Fatigue has clouded their minds." Vincent said. Nightshade nodded and the two headed off after them. Vitani was still sitting there. The Chief looked back, knowing she wouldn't have budged.

"You know, you should join them." He said. "You did want to go, didn't you?"

"…I'm not good with people." She said as she got up and followed. "…but…I'll trust them…for now." The Chief smiled and showed her to her room.


"Come on Narro! Your falling behind." A teen boy yelled behind

"Wait up Heiner! Izzy! Nex!"

"Come on Narro, your eight-teen now! Our parents finally allowed us to explore the world; you gotta be on your toes!" Izzy said as she continued up the slope.

"Yeah, but I still don't feel good about this…"

"Oh come on, we'll be fine." Nex said as he followed Izzy

"No"

"…Are you sure?"

"Stop them"

"Hey we have each other, what can possibly go wrong." Heiner said giving the teen a reassuring smile "We have each other."

"…Okay."

"NO! STOP THEM!

"Narro! NARRO!

Narro woke up as the jolt of the ice water hit him. He gasped for air as Caelum put the Ice and Fire material down.

"Narro, are you okay?" Caelum said concerned.

"Gah, I'm fine, fine. What ya have to do that for!" He said in a shaky, angry tone."

"Yep you're fine." Caelum said

"What's that supposed ta'-"

"It's all ready five o'clock and Tifa and Vincent set out, they just went to a shop across the street." Narro just continued to huff as Caelum continued about random information.

"Heiner…Izzy…Nex…"

"-and then the boss said that we should…HEY are you listening!" Caelum said irritated. Narro was snapped out of it and waved him off. "Grr, just get ready, we don't know when there gonna take off so might as well be ready." Narro nodded as Caelum headed over to the chocobos. "…you sure you're okay."

"FINE!"

"All right don't want any problems distracting you." He continued to walk off and vanished behind the foliage. Narro stared at their encampment in the forest surrounding Bone Village. He sighed.

"I'm living it guys…I'm living it…"


"AAAAAAAAAAAA! WE SLEPT IN!" Alicia yelled as she stormed through everyone's rooms.

"All right! We get it!" Nightshade said as he stepped out into the hallway. Shadow and Vitani also stepped out of the room.

"Oh, Good morning Vitani." Shadow said, tired but cheery.

"…Morning…"She said with a small untrusting smile. Shadow just gave a nervous smiled and nodded. "Good morning Nightshade."

"…Morning…"He said in an evil morning voice. Shadow just gave the same nervous smile and went on to Alicia.

"Good-"

"WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT IT!" She said anxiously packing supplies. This time he recoiled and hoped Tifa and Vincent were in better modes. He went into each room and didn't find them. He heard Alicia screaming for everyone who was going to pack and now. He grabbed his stuff and met them in the lobby.

"Hey guys, do you know were Tifa and WOAH!" He looked in shock with the others at the spectacle.

There stood Tifa and Vincent in entirely different outfits. Tifa had a dark greenish-grey, sleeveless turtle neck shirt on with ribbons wrapped around her forearms and her gloves occupying the wrist area. She wore dark blue, baggy shorts with knee high black boots strapped with buckles. Vincent wore a sleeveless black trench coat that covered the sides of his face and most of the front though occasionally you could see his complementing small lips and long slender nose. He had a black T-shirt underneath with the short sleeves poking out of the sleeveless trench. Some buckles from the trench criss-crossed over his chest area. He wore somewhat baggy black pants with no pockets though his shoes were now underneath the pants, they appeared to be regular black boots though. He also wore a belt that held his rifle in a holster.

"Wow…"Alicia said breathless, she then glanced at the clock. "EIGHT-THIRTY! MOVE OUT!" She yelled as she ran out the door. Tifa, Vincent and the Others just stared at her nervously as they felt the sweet drop on the back of their heads. Vitani was the first to move again, she walked up to Tifa and Vincent and made a deep sigh before muttering.

"…It looks…nice." She then continued slowly on passed them. Shadow then walked up and complemented them.

"It looks great you guys, much better than before. Vitani! Alicia! Wait up!" He said trying to catch them.

"You guys do look a lot better." Nightshade said with a rare smile as he to walked forward. Vincent and Tifa looked at each other, causing the other to blush.

"Y-You do look nice Tifa." Vincent said as he turned around to formally greet the others. Tifa's heart raced a little and the blush grew immensely. She was about to walk out as the Chief stopped her.

"Tifa!" He yelled as he caught up to her. "Here." He held out two objects, a small green stone embedded in a holder and tied to a strong twine and a grouping of gems that looked like a blossom.

"There nice, but what are they?"

"I'm not to sure myself, remember that old man I told you about." She nodded. "Well he also told us to dig in spots he marked on the floor and to give what we found to you." He handed over the small pendent first. "He said this was a Mako pendent, made of pure Mako from the life stream, he said it would help, but didn't say how, it's been glowing on and off though, it was easier to find." Tifa dangled it around for awhile and then put it on.

"Okay what is that then?"

"That's what I don't know, when I asked he chuckled and said to place it were SHE was, he said you would know what that meant." Tifa gave a confused look and shrugged. "Either way here it is." He said as he put it in a medium sized gem box. Tifa placed it in her rucksack and felt the weight as she lifted it on her shoulders, it was surprisingly light. "Oh and one last thing. The man mentioned as he left to keep an eye out behind you, he also said things might get interesting." Tifa took the words to heart.

"Thank you so much!" she said as she wished him good bye. He waved as she rejoined her new formed team


"Were finally here," Alicia said as her head emerged from the Ancient Forest. "The City of the Ancients" The view was almost perfect from the cliff, they could see the tip of the shell-like abodes. It was still a bit of a distance, but the time flew along as the members talked about some of there older memories.

"And after the Cactaurs stopped chasing us the ship began to stall, that was the last time I every traveled on a Shinra Vessel." Shadow remarked as the team laughed on.

"So-so they really though throwing water on it would make it run away." Tifa said through laughs.

"Unfortunately yes, and it just happened to be the female Cactaur absorbing moisture to reproduce." Shadow remarked chuckling afterwards

"I'm surprised they didn't know they grew as they absorbed water." Vitani commented chuckling a little.

"Finally, a smile outta her!" Alicia said as Vitani blushed and buried her smile, though she did continue chuckle.

"Okay you guys, we finally made it." Vincent said. The team looked up and saw the village entry. They all looked at each other and nodded. Tifa and Vincent led the way to one of the small houses. When they entered they found the path to the ancients closed.

"Darn, now how do we get in?" Alicia asked as she noticed the dead end. Tifa sighed and sat down where the entrance used to be, her rucksack hitting the floor.

"Well I guess we should Check-EYA!" Tifa screamed as she began to lean backwards onto a floor that wasn't there. The team watched as the floor became stairs and led to an inner village. The buildings were taller and centered on a well lit alter. But nothing seemed to continue.

"Well Tifa what next?" Nightshade asked as they walked up to the alter.

"I don't know…we must be going the right way, that old man told the Chief Manager about our arriva-" It struck her. She reached into the rucksack and took the gem out. She walked over to the spot were Aerith once stood and placed the gem down neatly. At first nothing really happened but soon, the gem began to glow. The gem then sank down to the floor and opened up a shallow opening, enough for one person at time. They decided to let Vincent go first. The filled into the opening one at a time, followed soon after.

After what seemed like half an hour the tunnel seemed to go on.

"When will it end, I'm sick of the view." Nightshade referring to Alicia in front of him.

"Har, Har, but really Vincent what do you see…Vincent?" they all hurried a little from to see if they were led into a trap and soon they saw Vincent and much more. Beyond Vincent lay green. What seemed like miles and miles of rolling hills stretched out far across the area was met at the end by a lush, thick forest that continued on as far as the eye can see. The grass was up to Vincent's knees and at certain patches there were assortments of flowers and different plants that caught each of their eyes. They all gathered around and looked at one another they all nodded and began walking, feeling a sense that their journey has just begun.


A/N: All right I worked hard on this chapter and felt it went…okay, I liked it anyway. Um, I'd like to thank Lita Lightning for the character idea, I hope it met approval. And well I'd like to apologize, I skipped a half level of English from regular to gifted and I've been blown away by spelling and writers block -- Oh well, here's to hoping I write the next chapter sooner…Okay you can stop laughing now XD. Oh and sorry if I mixed Where and Were ha ha…ha