A/N: Hope I did this justice. I was having a spot of trouble thinking this through, so comment if you find issue, please.

The four charged towards Aruni, ignoring the bodies that lay by and on the road. Those people were either dead or soon to be dead, the injuries too greivous for their materia to fix. Nanaki came to the front of the group, his gallop still strong after all these years. The smoke was starting to hit their noses, and it didn't smell just of burning wood.

"Reki, Khlali!"

As they reached the gates they made out Corent's crouched form in front of the open and burning gate; there was a dead man in dark clothing laying haphazardly next to him. He held his spear as he nursed one of the gashes on his chest. He flinched and looked up with a defiant glower that melted into surprise and relief as he recognized the four.

He looked at Cloud, his blue-green eyes full of shame. "I tried m'best to save the town, but there were too many of 'em." He lowered his head.

Cloud kneeled next to him, then motioned for Yuffie to come closer. "Who did this?"

"Bandits. We thought they left the area, but..." Corent grunted as Yuffie used the materia to heal his wounds. He gazed up as he took several deep breaths of air, his eyes looking between Yuffie and Cloud. "Materia?"

Yuffie patted his shoulder. "Yep, good as new, big guy."

Cloud helped him up and slapped him on the back softly. "You did your best, Corent."

He shook his head, disappointed with his performance. "Only killed a few."

"Where are the young ones?" Nanaki demanded.

"They should still be in the house, elder. Dilys woulda been at the shore when they attacked, and Vesta woulda stayed quiet...Just like last time."

"We should go," Vincent said as he quickly passed the ruined gate. The four others quickly joined and observed the chaos sewn by the bandits; villagers worked tirelessly to put out the house fires or help the injured. Cloud put a hand on Yuffie's shoulder, and she looked up at him with an inquisitive, dread-filled stare.

"Try and heal who you can, Yuffie. I have a few potions and another Restore materia in my pockets."

She nodded. "Yeah, good plan. I'll fix'em up!" Yuffie peeled away from the group and sought out the center of the village, where it seemed the injured had been taken to.

The others quickly made their way to the small house, its thatch roof partially on fire and the door torn open. Dilys was trying to put out the fire, but it was too far up for her to throw the bucket of water she held. Cloud took it from behind her and effortlessly tossed the water onto the flames, dousing them. She turned around and held the most despairing look in her watery eyes.

"They took them, I'm so sorry elders..."

Nanaki pulled his ears back. "They what?!"

"I tried chasing after them, but they escaped on a chocobo. I stopped one before you returned, but...but they took the cubs and Vesta!"

Cloud squeeze his fists. He had been confused and agitated over the mystery woman who just would not let them return to their time, and now on top of that bandits raided the village that held his descendants.

One of which they kidnapped, and another they had almost killed. If they were the same ones that killed their parents, that too was on the shit heap. "Dilys, which way did they go?" he asked in the calmest voice he could muster. It sounded downright dangerous to anyone in earshot.

"They came from the east," Corent said.

Cloud nodded. "Alright." He looked down at Nanaki. "Your nose still any good?"

The red beast snorted and gave his friend a withering look. "I found you two, did I not?"

The spiky haired warrior rummaged around one of his pockets. He had put his bracer on before they had left, and wanted to switch out his materia. "Okay, so you'll track them down and then...you remember our old ambush idea, right?"

"How could I ever forget?"

Vincent raised a brow as he looked through his materia. "Really now? It has been a long time."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll do alright," Cloud said as he gave Corent a few small purple materia. "I see you have materia slots on your spear. These are fresh materia, but they should keep you from almost getting killed again."

Corent looked like he had been given a priceless relic. He very reverently took the glowing purple orbs and placed them in his spear. "Thank you, Eld- Cloud."

Cloud nodded, then looked at Dilys. "Comin' with us?"

"Yes."

"Good to hear. What kinda weapon do you use?"

She raised her hands. "My fists," she replied firmly.

"Hm. Just like Tifa..." He studied her hands; there were no materia slots. Cloud handed her a yellow materia. "This is an Enemy Skill materia. Try and get a feel for some of the abilities in there."

"Thank you, Cloud."

"Right. Now let's get Yuffie-"

"You!" They all turned at the voice of Araden, the village mayor walking briskly towards them. "You fools let these scouts into the village!"

Corent frowned. "Scouts? What're you talkin' about?"

Araden jabbed a finger in Cloud's direction. "You leave and then your friends attacked our village!"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this." He motioned towards his friends and family. "Let's go save the kids."

"No. I'm not having you crawl back to your masters-"

"D'y' ever shut up?" An old, wiry man with a stiff silver beard shuffled towards them. He held an unlit pipe in his hand, the long stem brushing his thin lower lip. "Y'talkin' badly of the Elders, fool!"

Vincent leaned towards Cloud. "One of Denzel's more direct descendants. His name is Kalev," he whispered.

Araden opened his mouth several times but stood dumbfounded as he looked between Nanaki and Vincent. Kalev groaned and glanced at Cloud. "With that legendary weapon, I'm sure y'can beat back those bandits, m'boy."

He nodded at the old man. Deep blue eyes looked back at him, and Cloud wondered how they survived half a millennia of family making. "Hold down the fort for us, old man."

Kalev nodded and grinned. "Save our youth, please. We'll take care of the village, right, Araden?" The village mayor gave the old man a look before nodding hesitatly nodding. Cloud looked at the two a moment longer before walking off towards the entrance again.

Yuffie came to Cloud's side as he looked her way and motioned towards the gate with his head. She wiped sweat from her brow as they exited Aruni. "It's a good thing you had materia on you, 'cause those bandits did a number on these people."

Cloud grunted. "They took the kids."

"What?!"

"We're going to ambush them after the sun sets." He looked at Nanaki as he followed the bandit's trail. "He'll lead the call."

Yuffie groaned. "We're doing that again?"

"What is it?" Dilys asked.

Cloud looked towards the blue skies in the east, deepening ever so as the sun continued westward. Wooded hills greeted them in the distance. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do."

Vesta and the cubs huddled together in the prisoner's tent. Just like the other dozen or so youths captured she had her hands bound together. The cubs had their tails tied together with a rope that held them together snugly. Vesta tried to comfort them, but it was difficult with her lack of mobility.

"Grandfather will save us," Reki stated with as much courage as he could.

Vesta nodded. "The elders will stop them."

"Just like last time, right?"

She turned to a young boy that sat five feet away. "They weren't here!"

"There's no way they can take on all of them," said a teen aged girl. "They have your parent's materia."

Vesta looked down. Her parents had fought off a large group of bandits, but when the leader killed them he had looted the bodies of their materia. That materia had been passed down to their family through the generations. "Cloud and Yuffie are with them," she said quietly. The elders trusted them, knew them.

"You mean that guy with the freaky eyes? How're you so sure he doesn't work for the bandits?" came an accusatory voice to her right.

"Yeah, they came after they all left!"

Khlali growled. "Grandfather knows and trusts them! We will be saved!"

The young boy scoffed. "What would you know? You're just a talking cat!"

"She knows more than you do, two-legs!" Reki retorted as he swished his tail.

"Reki..." Vesta pleaded.

He looked towards her and his expression softened. "Sorry."

A guard popped his head in and glared at the huddled masses. "Shut up in there before I give ya cause to scream!"

They quieted, and he left after a final glare at the prisoners. The children would be sold at market far to the south, and the talking cubs could be sold in Junon for a very good price. That was what their leader planned. With the food they had taken and the money they were about to come in to their band was well on the way to becoming wealthy enough to have a permanent base in Kalm.

As the guard sat outside the tent he heard the sound of a wolf howling in the distance. Most likely a Kalm Fang, he thought. A few moments later and another howl rang out in another direction, then another. It sounded like the Kalm Fangs were in a semi-circle around the camp.

He didn't think that was normal.

In fact, the din was off on most of them. They didn't quite sound like wolves at all when he listened hard enough. The guard noted the other bandits had begun to take notice, looking towards the woods that encompassed their camp.

"Awooooooo!" It sounded like a woman.

"This's pathetic," said a bandit. The group readied and aimed their weapons towards the sounds of the howls in the woods, attempting to pinpoint them in the dark. The tent guard scoffed; the villagers made a terrible gamble tonight.

He thought that until there was a horrible roar in the front of the camp.

The guard turned around to see a strange, dark furred beast in a long red kilt sprinting through the camp, attacking anyone foolish enough to come close. It had horns and long white hair, and yellow eyes that burned with unsated hunger. It roared again as it stood over a corpse, and the camp fell into chaos.

"What the hell is going on?!" It was Metis, the leader of their bandit band. He pointed at the monster as his dark, billowing clothing shifted from the breeze. "What are you waiting for? Kill it!" Archers began to knock back arrows as Metis focused on a materia in his bracer.

The monster stared down at Metis and roared in his direction. The bandit leader let out a fire spell, only for it to do nothing. It chuckled dryly at him, then released fireballs of its own. The tents that were in the way caught fire, and bandits who hadn't come out to defend the camp ran out.

The beast ran as arrows zoomed towards it, and a few caught his kilt. The archers knocked arrows in their bows again, ready to take down the monster. Before they could fire a stinking cloud of dark gas seeped onto them, and they screamed out in surprise as they shrunk down. A few just became smaller, but most turned into pudgy frogs. They were crawling on the earth in pain as a blonde haired woman appeared out of the woods, rubbing her head.

As the bipedal beast continued to ravage the large camp a red beast tore through a flank of opponents, then came a hail of ice from another side of the circle that sent the chocobos into a panicked frenzy. Metis growled to himself as he squeezed his gloved hands. "Men! Get that girl, now!"

"Y'think y'can win against us this time?!" Metis stared at the spear wielding bumpkin as he held his weapon out in front of him. The pearly blade held several purple materia underneath it. "My parents, my village..." Corent closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He slowly opened them again. "I want them back."

"Come and get them then!"

Corent charged the bandit leader and clashed his spear against Metis' sword. The bandit leader found the young man was stronger than he had been earlier in the afternoon. He would be no less unskilled, however.

Metis parried another attack and maneuvered to the side to slice into his young opponent's shoulder. The attack grazed him as he twisted his spear around and smacked the bandit in the face with the blunt end, it pushed Metis back but he quickly recovered. Corent swung his spear upward and blocked the slice downward towards his chest.

A huff of air went past Metis' back and neck and he twirled about to meet his next challenger. He was grabbed by the collar of his dark blue shirt and thrust to the ground; cold blue eyes met his as he looked up and positioned his sword to defend himself.

The eyes were glowing, and the pale skinned man who they belonged to was holding two swords in his hands. "You messed with the wrong village."

"Cloud, let me finish 'em, please!" Corent asked.

Cloud shook his head and came closer. Metis jumped up and tried to catch the strange man off guard but was caught by surprise when one of Cloud's swords sliced his clean in half, and then the shorter man shoved him to the ground with his foot.

Metis was in the process of lifting himself from the ground when a boot stomped onto his chest and a blade rested on his neck. "You get to live, unlike the rest of your men."

"Who the hell are you?!" Metis spat defiantly.

"A ghost," Cloud stated. "I came back for revenge. You killed my descendants and stole the materia that I had collected centuries ago." His blade split the skin just enough to make the bandit leader bleed. "But I'm gonna let you live, and you're gonna tell every bandit, raider and slaver on this continent to never attack Aruni again."

"I'm not your messenger."

Cloud chuckled darkly. "You are now." He waved his free sword about; the camp was in chaos as Vincent, Nanaki, Yuffie and Dilys decimated the camp. His glowing eyes returned to Metis. "If I ever catch sight of you in the area again I'll kill you. Tonight, you get off with a warning."

Corent frowned. "He killed my parents! Y'aren't gonna send'em to a deserved grave?!" he asked harshly.

"We need a shamed messenger," Cloud explained. His expression darkened as he stared at Metis. This bandit wasn't going to come out of tonight unscarred; Cloud put his sword to the other man's cheek. "What's your name?"

"Piss off."

"Interesting name," Cloud replied. He looked around the camp and his eyes locked onto a chocobo that couldn't escape. He knew how to get rid of the bandit leader now. But first came the punishment. He looked at Corent. "You'll learn that sometimes living is a worse sentence than death. I don't want you to show him too much mercy."

Dilys overheard him as she finished punting a minied bandit. "What will you do?"

He looked down at the bandit leader. "...I'll chop it off."