It's been three days into my impromptu, order-induced vacation, and I could feel the restlessness in my bones. Okay, maybe that was exaggerating a little bit. I never was able to sit still, and it infuriated everyone around me when I couldn't stop fidgeting. This, however, was a forced week off and I was powerless in trying to change that fact. Unfortunately for me, it meant that Aerith had even more excuses to drag me along with her to the market, as I frequently and loudly complained of boredom.

So that's where I was – being dragged along by my brown-haired friend, that is – grumbling to myself as the flower girl perused the open-air markets in Autui. In a desperate attempt to distract myself, I wandered away from where Aerith was examining fruit, instead browsing a weaponry tent. Of course, I still had the shuriken Cid had given me over a week ago (he would be surprised to hear I hadn't lost, damaged, or forgotten any yet) but it was fun to see the displays of swords and the like; things that I would never be able to use. I may be good at running, but I would probably end up cutting off one of my own fingers if I tried to use something that large. Small daggers and throwing stars were fine with me.

I continued to browse idly, glancing back and sighing when I saw that Aerith was still preoccupied with vegetables. As I passed the gap between one tent and the next, I was pulled into one of the nearby alleyways, a hand clapping over my mouth before I could shout.

"Mmmmft!" I complained, my voice muffled, and I did my best to escape my captors, successfully kicking one in the groin in my attempts.

"Osprey!"

I looked around, noticing two other men besides the one that had grabbed me. They were...dressed in the uniform of- shit. I just kicked my employers in the balls!

Swearing under my breath, I paled slightly, "Uh, sorry! You really surprised me! Why didn't you just ask me to follow you instead of jumping me?! I-"

The men glanced at each other, chuckling, and helped their buddy off the ground. "We should have known," one said to the other, wincing, "Her reflexes are great – if we had actually been attacking her she would have gotten away. No wonder she's a great runner."

I gaped, shocked. They weren't...mad at me? I laughed nervously, rubbing the back of my head, "Really! I'm sorry! Err – what did you want me for anyways?"

"Urgent assignment," the tallest spoke, motioning for us to follow him through the alleyways, "from headquarters. Another package needs to be delivered to Lasbruck, pronto. Sorry to take you off your vacation, but no other runners could be spared. We're pretty swamped."

I snorted; it was no loss to me that I didn't have the rest of my 'week off' – it was more like torture sitting around doing nothing. Aerith is nice, but a girl can only take so much tea and cookies. I'm a girl of action, and this sounded like exactly what I needed.

When I snapped myself out of my inner musings, I found that my guides had led us back to Autui's offices. There they gave me my package (a bulky and lumpy thing, wrapped in brown paper and then stuffed into a waterproof bag – it was going to Lasbruck, after all) and gave me the address for the delivery. After a quick ten-minute briefing I was stepping outside again, package in my arms and orders to leave as soon as possible. First, though, I had to find Aerith so she could- Aerith! Oh, geez, she was going to slaughter me for leaving her and not telling her where I was going! I sped up my pace, not caring about the odd looks I was receiving from the people I passed.

Finally, swerving through the crowded streets, I made my way back to the marketplace. And, predictably, there stood Aerith – eyes blazing, hands on her hips, and fuming when I came into her line of sight. I slowly approached her, keeping my mouth shut to not further aggravate her. She was practically steaming when I got close enough to her that she could grab me. The brown-haired woman did, dragging me out of the market and down a less crowded street before stopping and turning to face me, a large frown on her face.

"Yuffie," was all she said, prompting me for an explanation. I was happy to oblige, hoping she wouldn't be too mad at me that she wouldn't bake me something before I left.

"Aerith," I whined, "I'm sorry! I was just wandering around waiting for you to finish when my boss grabbed me and had to drag me off for a new assignment! It's really important, Aerith, I couldn't get away from the meeting and I got all my stuff and I'm supposed to leave as soon as possible and-"

"What!?"

I clamped my mouth shut. Her green eyes were wide, had been widening throughout my explanation, and she finally sighed, looking away.

"Another mission already?" she said quietly.

"I know, Aerith, I'm sorry." I let my shoulders sag, my heart clenching with guilt. Dammit. "But...it's only a delivery. I'll be going to Lasbruck, so...maybe I'll see that Squ- Leon guy, and Cloud's working with him, right? So..." I trailed off, watching her face.

She rolled her eyes at my rambling, smiling faintly, "All right. Sorry for getting upset with you...you really worry me, you know?" Oh, I knew. But I smiled, if only to get her in a better mood, and we started walking off towards Aerith's house – me holding the package and Aerith laden with groceries.

It was all too soon, in Aerith's opinion, that I was leaving again. That didn't stop her from making a fuss over me before I left, though. Before I knew it I had a bag of cookies and rice balls for my journey and she was pushing me out the door, chiding me that the sooner I left the sooner I would be back. Knowing that was her way of avoiding a tearful goodbye, I waved from down the road, grinning in the fading afternoon light. Adjusting the pack more securely for running, I took off at a good pace down the dirt road, heading northeast to Lasbruck.

Okay, and I admit: I was looking forward to possibly seeing Leon again. The rain, though, I wasn't happy about at all.

As predicted (okay, as it usually was), it was raining in Lasbruck. Apparently, when the stars align, they actually have a sunny day! Ha, ha. Really, though, I've never seen the city in full sunlight. And while it's said that it gets good weather, I'm pretty sure it's a lie to keep the economy going. Er, not that it's needed – Lasbruck is full of nobles after all.

Anyways. The gray and dreary rain wasn't the first thing I noticed upon approaching Lasbruck. Even from miles away something seemed amiss, though I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was the lack of traffic on the normally busy road, or the faint smell of smoke (despite the rain) but whatever it was, it put my senses on alert. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I faced the city's gates.

I couldn't stop the gasp that instinctively took hold of my throat, my eyes probably the size of saucers at what lay before me. Lasbruck's large, protective gates, the only way into the city that was surrounded by large walls – it was destroyed in a cruel display of twisted, bent metal and splintered wood. The hole where something – something big, I added to myself –had gone through was still singed, embers of the wood smoking slightly and metal a dull, but hot, orange.

When I regained movement in my feet I darted quickly through the gap, taking refuge on the rooftops and keeping my weapons close at hand. Who knows what had broken into the city – and from what I saw around me, it wasn't good. Not a lot of the buildings were burning, but the ones that were let off huge black clouds of smoke, even visible in the rain. Well, that's what I probably smelled earlier. The city stunk of smoke and ash, and things I probably didn't identify. I temporarily forgot my delivery, instead trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

I headed towards the sounds of clashing metal and the roar of fighting, unsure. Was there an uprising of some sort, or was someone trying to take control of the city? From the looks of, I wasn't much far off. From my perch I could see the town square, usually a quiet but pleasant place, filled with men slashing away. Some looked hired, I noted by the crests on some of them that displayed allegiances of families, but there were some that were very strange. In fact, I saw with a frown forming, many of them fell at the hands of several fighters dressed in long cloaks coverin-

Thwack!

I jumped, startled into action as a knife thudded behind me. Talk about déjà vu! There was nothing I could do but swing down into the streets and duck through the alleyways, hoping that if there were fighters on the roofs I could avoid them by ducking inside somewhere. Ah! That was it!Grinning at my idea, I sped up my pace, taking a winding and confusing route (in case anyone was following me, too) and finally coming to the heavy door of the offices at Lasbruck. I could probably get away with dropping off my package at the headquarters here instead of the address, considering the riot-like uproar that had taken hold of the city.

I tried to push open the door, but it didn't budge. Odd. There was almost always someone inside in case of emergencies. Although, this was an emergency...I knocked, just in case. An eye slot opened, one of the secretaries looking out, and the door opened inward when they recognized me. Thank goodness! I was soaked to the bone and dripping, but I still had my package and I didn't think I was followed.

"Osprey, reporting," I said, still panting slightly and sliding the pack off my back. The waterproof bag stuck to my skin, but when I opened it to check on the package inside it was still dry. I sighed in relief.

"Is it all right if I leave the delivery here? It's nuts outside! Err, what exactly is going on?" my eyebrows furrowed as I glanced from person to person in the offices; they were all silent, some looking nervous.

"Osprey...I'm sure you noticed, but there is an uprising here in Lasbruck. It broke out earlier today and has continued...we don't really know much about the situation," the man behind the desk spoke, his face unrevealed by the black cloak that covered him, hood up, "It's good you came here instead of delivering this, the nobles are in an uproar and many are in hiding...there are hired men out there battling it out for the nobles, but who knows who has teamed up with who. Osprey...would you mind going on a slightly different mission than usual?"

I swallowed thickly at the information, not quite as shocked as I had been when I first witnessed the city, but this was a big surprise. Sure, the nobles were bigots and haughty aristocrats, but nothing like this had ever happened before. "What...what do you mean by 'different'?"

"Collecting intelligence on the situation. Your speed and adaptability, as well as stealth, would really be of use for this kind of job. We'll pair you with proper protection, of course...reconnaissance is important right now when we don't know what we're up against, or who. Will you do it?"

"...Yes," I answered without too much mental debate. I'd never done it before, but collecting information couldn't be too bad, right? Besides, I was very stealthy – I wasn't a thief as a kid for no reason.

"Good, it's settled, then," the boss's tone was pleased, even though I couldn't see his face, and I relaxed a little, "You've had a long journey, so you can rest up while we figure out the situation and get you a partner. Be ready to start in four or so hours. You're dismissed."

I relaxed, moving to the door to the barracks – every office had several rooms where workers could stay the night – and upon entering a small bunk room I flopped onto one of the beds. There wasn't really a ton that could be done in four hours, but napping seemed like a good idea to me; after all, I'd been on an emergency run to Lasbruck in the last 24 hours. I stripped out of my waterlogged clothes, drying off with a towel found in one of the drawers, and laying them out to dry as best as they could. (Okay, I know it was in vain, since I'd be going out into the bad weather soon enough, but it wouldn't hurt.) I slipped under the sheets, already warming up, and I dozed lightly for however long it was until knocking was heard at my door. Without hesitation I put my damp uniform back on and shouldered my empty pack, heading into the lobby.

"Osprey, there you are. We've figured out your assignment and-"

"It's you!" I refrained from pointing with all my self-restraint, gaping at the man in front of me. "Sq-Leon-"

"Osprey!" the boss's snap made me close my mouth hurriedly, but I continued to glance at him out of the corner of my eyes through the entire briefing.

"You two will be paired together to gather the intelligence on the current situation here in Lasbruck. Osprey, you'll focus on collecting information about what's going on, and he'll be your backup and protection. Don't take too many risks, and don't get caught in the fighting. Who knows how many we've already lost in this one way or another...Right. Be back here in two hours with anything you've found out."

The cloaked man had barely finished speaking and the brown-haired man I was with was heading for the door. I noticed, belatedly, that as well as his normal attire (black leather jacket with furry rim, wet black leather pants...woah. Gah, Yuffie, focus!) he had on a dark hooded cloak to protect himself from the rain. In one hand he also held a mean-looking weapon; a gunblade with a cold, sharp looking edge and sturdy metal making up its design. It looked heavy. I quickly took step behind him, stepping into the rain with a frown and noting the orange glow sent up into the sky.

As soon as we were out of the alleyway and threading through side streets, I took step beside him. "Um, Leon, right? Hey, what happened? I thought you and Cloud were on a mission together! He's not hurt or anything, is he?"

The glance he gave me was icy, but it looked like faint surprise and confusion. Probably that I was so up front with him. "Cloud's fine," he said after a moment, "Our mission terminated a few days ago, and he went home to Aerith. I don't think either of them know what's going on."

"That's a relief," I sighed. Aerith wasn't the only one that worried about the blond, "Man, I can't believe all of this..."

He didn't respond. More than once he pulled me to the side, flattening against a wall in the shadows so we wouldn't be noticed by people running by. After a particularly close call, a grimace clouded his face.

"Maybe we should take to the rooftops," I suggested, adjusting my pack slightly, "It's a little slippery up there because of the rain, but we'd be able to see better."

When Leon nodded in mute agreement, we began threading through the alleyways to search for a way up – stacked crates, a ladder, a tall fence; anything would have worked at this point. It seemed like the downpour was only getting worse, numbing my skin with cold and constant pounding. I almost slipped, but my flailing arms managed to grab Leon for support (which he didn't look too happy about, but he didn't complain either). Our search led us farther away from the riots and fighting, unlighted alleys becoming darker and more shady – no pun intended. Sighting stacks of barrels at the end of one, I ran over to it – just to make sure.

"Leon! Over here!" I called out, turning to look over my shoulder – but I was left blinking; he wasn't behind me anymore. Maybe he was out at the mouth of the alley still, and didn't see me go in. "Leon?" I shouted again, my voice barely audible over the thundering rain.

I heard a loud splash behind me and turned on my heel, only to meet a black figure head-on, barely defending myself from the attack. I couldn't even shout for help, breathing hard to ward off my attacker. It was useless, though, as I heard another person behind me too late before I felt a sharp pain in my head and my world blacked out completely.