~ Watch Me ~

Into the Woods

They landed in a small clearing, the early morning sky still a foreboding circle of grey, due to the mid-autumn cloud. Rose all but leapt from the copter, relieved to finally once again be on solid ground. The others followed suit, the bird immediately returning to the air once the last of them had vacated.

Rose looked around. "Where are we?"

The light was limited, but from what she could see, they appeared to be in the middle of a forest. Other than the quiet chatter of the Troops, and intermittent sounds of woodland creatures, there were no other signs of life. This was not the dark, bloodied war zone she had expected.

"About eighteen kilometres outside of Wutai." It was Sephiroth. He had stopped beside her, looking out into the dim. "This is as close as we can get the copters without alerting them."

Rose nodded. "So the rest of the way is on foot?"

"That is the plan, yes." He murmured, turning to the now steeled line of Troops behind them. "Half of you will accompany us. The other three will make camp here. You can decide who goes and who stays."

Sarah, the Troop who had spoken to Rose, immediately jumped forward. "I'll go with you, Sir. This is my third mission to Wutai, I know the area well." She turned to the others. "Reed, White, and Newstar, you stay here. The rest of you can come with me." She said, gesturing to the two Troops beside her.

Rose raised a brow, impressed by the authority she asserted, and murmurs of agreement rang out.

"That was easy." She heard herself saying.

Sarah grinned. "No time for drama. Besides, wouldn't be fair to leave you surrounded by so much testosterone." She added quietly, clapping Rose on the shoulder as she made to sort out her equipment.

Rose looked up at Sephiroth. "So, we're just going to move as one big group?" She couldn't help but feel that it would be a little counter productive.

"No." He replied, confirming her thoughts. "The Troops will go ahead and set up base. The five of us will follow, but split up and take alternative routes."

"That makes sense." Rose mumbled, regarding the treeline with some unease. "Gonna be fun seeing in there."

"You should have worn your helmet." Sephiroth murmured pointedly. Obviously referring to the night-visison camera built into the lens. "It's why they come as part of your uniform."

Rose threw her hands onto her hips. "I don't see your helmet."

"Firsts do not have to wear standard uniform. It'll be fine. You'll just have to learn to listen for a change." He smiled drily, leaving her speechless, as he moved to speak to Sarah and her group.

Rose narrowed her eyes. She did listen to people. It was just that most of the time, people were wrong.

"Ready to move out?"

Angeal.

Rose nodded, watching as Sarah and her team disappeared into the trees. She glanced up at her brother. "Are you?"

Angeal inclined his head. "As a SOLDIER, it is your job to always be ready. This is the field now, Rose. No second chances."

She regarded him quietly, his face was suddenly very serious.

"I know." She answered defensively, realising what was at the route of his concern. He didn't believe she was ready. "I can look after myself, Angeal."

"Mm." Was his response, rummaging for something in his back pocket. He thrust it out in front of him. "This is low grade Healing Materia. You should be able to handle it."

Rose stared at the green orb with mild fascination. Inside it's glowing shell, Mako danced feverishly, waiting to be used. Her hand twitched forward eagerly, but remembering herself, allowed it to fall back impotently to her side.

"You know what, I'm good. You should give it to someone else." She said, considering the disastrous effect she could have on Materia. He went to argue, and she cut him off. "Honestly, Angeal, trust me. You don't want me using it."

He looked at her, his face falling into a mixture of understanding and annoyance. "Is this another thing you should have mentioned before? What do you do, make it explode?" He finished sarcastically.

Rose shrugged. "Basically."

Angeal rolled his gaze to the sky. "For the love of god, Rose."

"It's never come up before!" She hissed quickly, aware of Sephiroth and the other's watchful gazes. "It's not like I have to use it."

"No, only if you get hurt. Which, on a battlefield, is a strong possibility by the way." He finished pointedly, shoving the Materia back into his pocket. "Do you at least have potions?"

Rose folded her arms. "Yes. Now are you going to ask Zack and Kunsel if they have potions? Maybe you should ask Sephiroth?"

He sighed. "Rose..."

"I didn't think so." She muttered haughtily, readjusting her sheath. "Stop treating me like I'm your little sister, Angeal. We're on a mission remember? So mission."

She stormed away angrily, moving to join the others at the edge of the forest.

Hesitating, Kunsel regarded her warily. "You good?"

"Fine." She replied, glaring daggers into the grass beneath her.

From the corner of her eye, she caught him sharing a concerned look with Zack. "Er, you sure?"

She was about to snap, finding his probing more irritating than comforting, when Sephiroth thankfully cut in.

"Rose said she was fine. We need to get moving. Lets go."

With that, they set off into the forest, Sephiroth leading, and Angeal following up the rear. It was dark, but a small amount of daylight was able to break through the overhead foliage, giving them some light to guide themselves by. Out of all of them, Zack lost his footing the most, too eager to press on. At one point, Rose and Kunsel were even forced to catch him before he fell face first down an embankment. After that he was less of a concern, deciding to move with care over speed. Eventually they came to a fork in the road, and Sephiroth stilled.

"This is where we go our separate ways." He said, his gaze running over both paths thoughtfully. "Rose and Kunsel, you're with me. Zack, you're with Angeal."

This seemed to suit everyone fine. Rose regarded her brother with cautious glances, but if he was bothered by Sephiroth's arrangements, he didn't let on.

Angeal nodded his goodbyes, clapping Zack pointedly on the shoulder. "C'mon. Lets move."

"Oh yeah!" Zack grinned, giving Rose and the others a cheery wave. "See you guys on the other side."

She watched them disappear into the trees, smiling a little.

Beside her, Kunsel shook his head. "He's gonna tucker himself out before he even gets there."

Rose snorted. "Right." Frowning suddenly, she glanced up at Sephiroth. "How long is this going to take?"

"No more than an hour, if we take it at a steady run."

Rose nodded. Finally something she was more than good at. In training, not only was she the fastest, but she'd also held out the longest when it came to the stamina checks. Sure, running probably wasn't on the highest level of priorities when it came to the SOLDIER skill set, but it was something.

They set off hard, making their way through the thicket and brambles, cautious but steady. At one point, Sephiroth was forced to cut a path through the thickest part, the light having almost entirely left them. Eventually they had to rely on shear nerve and balance in order to push through.

Time passed, and the topography showed now signs of becoming easier, when Rose suddenly found herself distracted by an ominous light in the bushes below.

"Hey. What's tha – ?"

No sooner than she spoke, the dirt beneath her feet broke out from underneath her. She hit the ground hard, her body rolling at an uncontrollable speed down a high embankment. The smell of earth filled her senses, and when she did finally stop, she did so with an audible gasp.

"Ow." She winced, getting slowly to her knees.

Rose was sore, but she was pretty certain that nothing was broken. Looking up to where she'd fallen, she couldn't see a thing, and her plan to shift back up to the top, died before it even came into fruition. Sighing, she made to pull herself up onto her feet, but something made her freeze mid crouch. "Oh, so you're the source of the glow."

Suddenly enveloped in dim candle-like light, Rose found herself face to face with three small red creatures. Fire Nymphs, if her memory served her correctly. They regarded her with mischievous eyes, their clawed hands flexing forward, as their wide toothy smiles grew.

"Oh, I don't think you'd like to eat me. I'm far too stringy." She said quietly, though their little hungry expressions told her something different.

One of them raised a palm holding a ball of flames and threw. Rose should have rolled out of the way, but on reflex, she raised her own hand. To her surprise, and by all means, the Fire Nymph's, she caught it. Staring down at her now fiery hand with awe and amazement. She glanced at the creatures again, they were looking at her differently now, Rose couldn't quite place it, but it was almost child-like. Smiling, and not really know why she would, she lightly threw the fireball back, another of the Nymph's catching it in their outstretched hands, and so the game of catch began.

"Rose? What the hell are you doing?"

Her gaze snapped up. Kunsel, flagged by an unreadable Sephiroth, were suddenly illuminated in the glow. They'd somehow followed her down the embankment.

The Fire Nymphs, who had been playing happily with her until this point, startled. One running to her side, while the other two danced angrily on their feet, furious flames growing in their palms.

Kunsel and Sephiroth drew their swords.

"No! Don't hurt them!" Rose said quickly, dashing between the two parties. "They're only playing." She looked at the dancing Nymphs, waving them down. "Chill-out for a second."

Not entirely to her surprise, the fires died in their palms to a dim glow again, apparently trusting her opinion that these two new strangers were of no real threat.

Kunsel looked at Sephiroth, and then back at her. "Have you hit your head or something? Rose, they're monsters. They have to be neutralised."

Rose opened her mouth to argue, but Sephiroth cut across her before she could begin, no doubt sensing a battle that wasn't to be won.

"Perhaps on this occasion, it would be better to move on. We can't leave Zack and Angeal waiting." He regarded Rose silently for a moment. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

"Then lets move."

Rose nodded, turning to wave at the little Fire Nymphs. "Bye guys, thanks for not eating me."

They trotted around her manically, almost as if troubled by her departure, but then they stilled, scampering away, before disappearing into the never ending bush.

She followed Kunsel's lead back up the embankment.

"Use the rocks." He said knowingly. "And be careful. I'm not coming back down if you fall again."

Gripping the stone tightly, she rolled her eyes. "So chivalrous."

"Chivalry is for heroes." He murmured, pulling himself up a particularly steep track. "Right, Sephiroth?"

"If the occasion calls for it."

Rose noted the dry humour in his answer, but that also that he had positioned himself closer behind her than was really necessary. If she were to fall again, she wouldn't fall far.

"Concentrate on what's in front of you." Sephiroth scolded lightly, catching her off guard.

"I am." She lied, wondering how on earth he could tell she had been looking back at him, when she could only just about make out his outline herself. "You don't have to worry, y'know. I won't fall."

"I'm not." He murmured softly. "So move."

She sighed, but did as she was told, moving up the embankment with expert ease. Sephiroth not far behind.

"Almost there!" Kunsel called over his shoulder. "Just one more stone."

Suddenly Rose heard a scuffle, and something wreaking of leather, hit her hard in the shoulder, almost causing her to stumble.

"What the hell was that?" She growled, readjusting her hold. She was met with silence. "Kunsel?"

"Erm. It was a boot!" He called down, but there was something wrong, something different about his voice.

Rose warily sped up, hauling herself onto flat ground with a massive sigh of relief. "What the hell do you mean, a boot?"

Unfortunately, Kunsel had his phone in hand, and the reasoning behind his wording, became almost immediately clear.

There, on the floor, were the dead bodies of Sarah's Troops.

R&R!

Thanks for reading guys! Thanks to the reviewers, followers, and favouriters! Maiven Tahl: thank you so much for taking the time to review. I'm so glad you're liking it so far. Sorry I can't reply to you personally 3

I'm updating as quickly as I can guys. As always life often gets in the way. However let me know your thoughts on the new chapter? Bye, Chicken x