Once upon a time, there was a Godly valley with mountains that could touch the sky and trees that cast long shadows. The people who live in the small mountain town are hardworking and happy, so long as they never stray into the forest where the wolves lurk in the darkness. Adults brave the trees in groups to hunt the vicious pack as they have for decades, the conflict is deep with no sign of victory for either side. But wolves are not the only threat, nor the village's only secret - and the link connecting them is a simple cloak of Red ...

Every night, from the highest peak of the uninhabited mountains, a single Wolf howls to the good folk of the valley – as a warning, as a message, and as a reminder of what they did:
"Beware, beware, the Path where the Witch once stood. Beware, beware, of the Wolf in the Wood."

A bell tolled in the distance.

Aerith stared, utterly confused. She stood at the foot of Grimoire's church but the bells were silent. Yet, she heard, clear as day, the sound of a tolling bell from deeper in the valley rang with a single note over and over. She looked at the church tower above her and wondered to herself just how strong the echoes were in this village for the bells to be sounding without movement.

"Vicar?" Aerith called, entering the church with a few hesitant knocks on the large door.

Inside the Church, a woman with long black hair that was let down past her ears was sitting where Elmyra was sitting yesterday her back was bent over in the strange praying pose they often did, and her eyes were closed in concentration. She looked somber and Aerith got the strong urge to leave and not interrupt her moment of grief.

However, the Vicar appeared from his doorway and smiled at the girl, he caught her attention with his kindly greeting, "Miss Aerith, hello, how may I help you?"

She pointed upwards, distracted from her original purpose to solve the mystery of the sounding, yet silent bell tolls. "Vicar, why can I hear bells when they aren't ringing?"

Grimoire laughed at her confusion "Ah, that is because there are two Churches here. The village population was so big that this second Church had to be constructed for the sermons to be conducted in an orderly fashion." He gestured about his domain "I house roughly two-thirds of the town, and the smaller church holds the others."

"Oh, I see." Silently Aerith wondered what the second church looked like – she imagined a lesser make of the one she stood in, whitened stone, tall lofty tower and decorated with the prettiest stained glass that made her want to dance upon the colours cast. When Grimoire returned her attention to the reason she sought him out she rethought her request briefly before deciding that there was no harm in asking. "I was wondering if you weren't too busy, if you would be able to give me a tour of the village, I'm so new here and I'd think you would know a lot about it being a Vicar."

The crimson eyed man chuckled "Such flattery, child." He guided her closer to the door so that they would not disturb the woman in prayer and he gave her a gentle look. "I regret to say that I am indeed too busy to give you a tour though it sounds like a splendid idea, and I am beyond happy that you chose myself over your peers."

Aerith tried not to look too disappointed. She twisted her fingers together "Elmyra explained that a Vicar is one of the town leaders and I knew I had to ask you before anyone else. I see … do you know anyone who could help me? I know there must be so many people who are busy, and I wouldn't want to trouble anyone by intrusively asking."

Grimoire looked out into the village with a thoughtful expression, after observing the daily life for a short minute he said at last, "I will ask Mrs Almasy when she is finished with her prayers." He put a hand on her shoulder "But, I must ask you to be understanding of her should she refuse. Around this time of year, the coming winter, she gets deeply melancholy and comes here often for solace."

Trying hard not to stare Aerith glanced at the woman in question. Now she was aware of it, she could tell that this woman had something on her mind, her concentration in bowing was so great that she hadn't stirred at their conversation. "Did something happen?" she murmured, unsure if she wanted to ask.

"Likely. She has never confided in me despite my invitation and vow of silence. I respect it, whatever troubles her is too much for her to speak of." He looked sympathetic and he touched a hand to the cross on his beaded necklace out of habit.

Aerith sighed, "I wish I could help …" the woman looked so miserable she couldn't help but wonder if there was something she could do. "Can I ask you about the village while we wait?"

Grimoire nodded "Of course."

Aerith looked out over the busy marketplace and tavern yard. "How long have you been here?"

"I have not lived here too long, I moved here less than a decade ago when the townsfolk asked the Church for another Holy Father to teach them the word of God," he folded his hands and smiled. "It is a peaceful place on the whole, and I have enjoyed my time here."

Aerith tilted her head "Is there another Vicar in the village?"

With a small frown, Grimoire nodded "There is a Priest, he's called Father Hojo, he's been in the village for longer than I have, from well before any expansion."

Cautiously, Aerith voiced her thoughts, "It sounds like you don't get along."

Chuckling heartily, the Vicar patted her shoulder "My, you are astute. I believe I can trust you with a small measure of opinion … I admit I find the man troubling, he's quick to anger and guards his half of the village very carefully. I have listened to his Sunday speeches and they are passionate, and his devotion to God is unquestionable. However his charisma worries me, especially when he is enraged." He adjusted his collar as if it was choking him "Well, we do not see eye to eye on most topics."

Aerith hummed "That's a shame, if you're meant to worship the same deity. My Mother's people had many different gods with many faces, but each of them was nice. It's strange that with only one God to look to that your Catholicism is so fractured."

"Division is always a sad thing," the Vicar agreed. "My religion says all creations of our God were made to be one and equal, some have forgotten this …"

His words made little sense to Aerith, how could all creations mean to be equal when there was the cat and the mouse? When some could swim and others could fly? There was nothing much equal in her eyes, but a complex web of life that revitalised the world and enriched it.

Speaking of creatures, "Vicar, do you hear the wolves at night?" at his nod she asked excitedly, "Have you ever seen one?"

Grimoire crossed himself "Thankfully not, I have not had the chance to meet one come my way. I would prefer it that way, to be honest, the wolves have had a reputation for being vicious in this village from way before my time." With another kind look, he said, "You have nothing to fear from them in this part of town, no wolf has ever gotten this far."

Aerith was about to correct him and say she wasn't scared, only fascinated, but the woman they were waiting for brushed past them and caught Grimoire's attention.

"Ah, Mrs Almasy, may I have a word?"

The woman turned around and Aerith recognised her "Oh, you're the butcher's wife."

She nodded "Yes, it's nice to see you again Miss. What's on your mind, Vicar?" she pulled her hair into a bun as she spoke and Aerith spotted a wedding ring on her finger, it hadn't been on when she was working but looked well made; carved and polished wood.

The man in black put an arm around Aerith's shoulder "I was hoping that you would be kind enough to give our new neighbour a tour to familiarise herself with the village. I have my duties for Sunday tomorrow and so I suggested to her that you would be an excellent guide, you know both halves of the town better than most."

Mrs Almasy looked thoughtful as she finished tying her hair back "I … I could give her a small walk about, but I have a shop to run, Vicar. Likely, Miss, you'll have to ask someone else for a full tour," she admitted.

Aerith smiled and curtsied slightly "Even a small tour is generous of you, Mrs Almasy."

The woman smiled slightly at the good gesture and the smile removed the lingering melancholy from her eyes. "Very well, follow me, I can show you all the way up to the old well. Then I can ask an old friend to show you the rest, she loves meeting new people." She gestured for Aerith to follow her and began a leisurely walk down the church steps.

Aerith paused in following her guide to bow to the Vicar, she bent at the waist and clumsily linked her hands together like she saw her maid doing when muttering to her deity. "Thank you very much for helping me," she said.

The Vicar was smiling, approval and kindness in his eyes, "Of course, Daughter, go in peace."

Mrs Almasy did as she said and took Aerith on a walk about the village, pointing out interesting landmarks and sharing old stories. She answered Aerith's questions readily, looking relieved and happy to be reliving her old memories. Aerith was introduced to new people too, she saw Tseng working hard in the wood yard and waved. He returned her wave with a smile and several of his peers began to question him at once.

Other places were the fields where the flocks of sheep grazed, the shops and smaller businesses tucked behind the main streets. Shoe fixers, blacksmiths and textile stores, and many more selling charms and decorations or offering to fix soiled goods. There was a doctor's house where a physician lived, and to the outskirts of the town were several ditches, like a moat surrounding the town and breaking the smooth break towards the trees.

There were a few fields with crops growing, the coming Autumn made them look thriving and full, workers potted about partly aimlessly as they assessed their bounty. Mrs Almasy said that there would soon be a festival to celebrate the harvest, once it was gathered, that was.

As they wandered past the Church to the part of town deeper in the valley, she pointed at a ditch that was in the middle of a patch of green. "When the town was built it flooded so, this was put there before there were any dams put higher up, and I remember all the men and boys on hot days trying to jump it on dares," she had her hand fiddling with her ring and her eyes were distant.

Aerith smiled "Did your husband jump the gap?" she imagined a handsome man declaring his love for her and leaping, a silly romantic tradition that would make a young girl blush.

Mrs Almasy nodded her head "Yes, him and a few others." She looked at her ring with a small wince, Aerith wondered what that meant, had her sweetheart hurt himself? The woman talked on before Aerith could even consider prying. "He wouldn't do it now, and now there's no water in it there's not many willing to jump. I was always told that there was a knack to it," she smiled from behind her bangs "I tried once, when I had drunk a little too much at the new tavern, I didn't make it halfway."

The gap was about three meters wide and two down at the deepest point. Aerith considered the leap of faith before her. "Maybe a run and jump would do it …"

The woman chuckled "Don't you think of it, young Miss. It'll ruin your lovely dress."

Aerith patted down the blue and white dress Elmyra had picked out for her and smiled "You're right, but that wasn't my intention. Where to next?"

The guide pointed to the gap at the only bridge. Mrs Almasy strode towards it with confidence despite how rickety it looked and Aerith followed her lead, "Past this point is the old village before it grew into the town."

Aerith looked back at the newer, bigger buildings, they had been getting slowly smaller and more basic the closer they got to the gap, but past the ditch was an apparent difference. The houses were noticeably older and though some had extensions built on there was no mistake that this was a different class and origin. It felt older too, like stepping back in time.

But … "Why is there such a gap here?" she stopped on the bridge and looked left and right at the town and what used to be the old village. There was twenty feet of space on either side of the ditch, and the distance felt strange and cold.

Mrs Almasy answered reliably, "I think the original plan was for this area to be used for festivals, we still do on the big ones, and … well, it's nothing really."

At the younger woman's curious look she sighed and went on, "Some still remember a wolf attack that happened ten years ago … it left a mark on the village and upon expansion, these stories made the newcomers leave an ample space here to keep themselves safe. Some even think that leaving the old village here will slow them down should it happen again."

With wide eyes, Aerith asked if it would occur again.

Mrs Almasy shook her head, looking melancholy and old "No."

Without adding any further information, she moved to the old village and Aerith trotted to keep up. The village had its own theme, distinct from the town it was a part of, the houses were smaller, handmade by those who lived in them, and each one a little crooked and quirky as a result. Some had tall windows and some had small, low ones to match those inside. Others had gardens and others had small pens, chickens ran in the streets and there were no paved roads. There was green and grass everywhere and people who walked about greeted each other, dropping tasks and tools to give a welcoming hug as if they hadn't seen their neighbour in years.

Mrs Almasy pointed suddenly "That used to be my Father's house."

Aerith saw the three roomed house, it had bigger windows than its neighbours and a large pen that encroached on the territory of the green before the ditch with the distinct signs that sheep had been recently released. The house was by no means grand but it held its own against the other handmade homes and the extra room took up enough space for it to be the envy of a poor, rural area. It had the feeling of hard work and great care radiating from foundations to the decorations to the growing vine that crawled up the wall.

With a polite smile, Aerith said, "It looks nice." She wasn't lying, it was such a sweet little cottage but she would have preferred one with a garden.

Her guide looked delighted at her interest and gushed, "We bred dogs in the house and kept sheep outside. Angelo grew up in that house." She smiled "I have many happy memories of that building."

Aerith looked at her curiously "Do you still own it?"

Mrs Almasy's happiness vanished like a pebble thrown into a lake. Her shoulders crept up slightly and her eyes were distant. "No, not anymore. I … I had to move out, and when I got married my husband and I settled in the new town. It suits us really, we have our own shop there, and customers … I do miss this place."

"Who lives there now?"

Mrs Almasy shrugged "Likely one of the newer couples. I don't come here often enough to know. Anyway, the old well is this way," she stepped onwards briskly.

Not wanting to be left behind Aerith spared the house a quick once over before following her guide who appeared to be getting more and more tense the further in they got. The old territory, familiar to her also seemed to be worrying her.

Aerith was about to ask, both about her sharp topic change and why she was looking so nervous when her guide distracted her with a new landmark. "Over there is the Parish church, so small, right?" she chuckled "The Priest lives in the house right next to it."

The Church was made of stone, greying and mossy and covered in slight rain erosion. It had a single spire and a single bell that must have once been copper, now it was bluing with years in rain and wind. This building had closed doors, small windows with no stained glass, and it gave off a very … aggressive vibe.

Aerith stepped closer to her guide, instinctively seeking protection. "Is that where the other Vicar teaches?"

"I think you mean 'preaches', miss. The Priest, Father Hojo, has office here. He's been here for many years, before you or I was born. He's mountain born though he's good at interpretation the signs of our God and we've been led well by him. When he was head of the village with our Hunters there was always a lot of religious talk."

Moving swiftly on from the Church she pointed to the next location from their same spot "Over there, that large barn used to be the storage for harsh winters before traders made regular visits. It was a successful scheme, everyone would donate one equivalent of a meal every month and we had enough to go around for the entirety of the cold seasons."

"Oh wow," the barn looked hastily built but strong and the idea itself was such a practical one. Aerith loved the idea instantly though she questioned the use of a barn and not the church where the cold would have preserved things better. "What is it used for now? Is there still food inside it?"

Mrs Almasy laughed at her enthusiastic questioning, "I think horses are kept there now, for the travellers."

"Oh. Well, it has an interesting history to it," Aerith hummed, interested and wondering if anyone else had looked at the barn in the way she had, as a symbol of cooperation and unity. How well had the barn worked, did everyone cooperate? Was it a success story or a failure? Who had thought of this idea? Had the barn been a grievance or a joy to build?

"The well, Miss."

"Oh yes!" with that gentle prompt Aerith broke away from her wonderings and moved on, a small blush on her face as she realised that she was getting swept up in her musings, so much so that she forgot that she was out in public with company. Keeping her head held high she apologised, "Please excuse me, when I find things interesting I sometimes think so hard that I forget to listen to those next to me," she bowed slightly.

"Not at all, young Miss. It is so refreshing to see someone so interested in the village without any grudges to its past."

Blinking Aerith asked "But why would anyone have any grudges? This place looks so connected and homely."

Mrs Almasy's face looked tense again, she looked away "Then you are fortunate to not know otherwise."

She would not answer any of Aerith's questions from then on. They walked in silence to a well that stood in the middle of an area cleared of buildings, there was no grass around it but dirt hard pressed with years of many footsteps. No seed could take root in the dense soil. It felt like a rock under Aerith's soles.

"When I was younger I'd spend a lot of time here with my friends, talking about anything topical, the weather, harvests, festivals, the young men we preferred," Mrs Almasy had a small blush on her cheeks. "And any other gossip that we had heard, there weren't many secrets with wives speaking their minds outside of their husband's ears, daughters too for that matter when away from their Fathers," she looked happier again.

Aerith smiled quietly and hoped that she would cheer up, whatever she didn't want to talk about was upsetting her very much, though she wanted to help she didn't want to appear rude to her friendly acquaintance.

Mrs Almasy cleared her throat at last as she looked at the sun and the shadows of the land, "I need to be heading back now, my husband will be waiting for me."

"Oh, I see. Shall we go?" Aerith asked with false positivity. There was still some to explore and she was downhearted that their tour had to end here.

Mrs Almasy looked thoughtful as she read Aerith's face. "There's still a bit to see, not much but it might be interesting to a curious girl like you. I'll take you to the Kinneas household, I think that the Mrs will be happy to show you the rest."

"Thank you!" the spring in Aerith's step could not be contained, not even when her guide laughed at her eagerness.

Soon they were knocking on the door of a modest house with two rooms and a sizeable garden that at one made Aerith envious, there looked to be many root vegetables growing in the earth and even some herbal flowers. The house was homemade in the style of this village and looked newer than those surrounding it, there was a very family feeling to it and the positive glow of someone just starting out.

Distracted by the charm of the house, Aerith jumped when the door opened, a woman looking about Aerith's age standing in the doorway and covered in spots of flour. This was Mrs Kinneas, presumably.

Expecting an exchange of explanation and small talk, Aerith she shocked when Mrs Kinneas's youthful and open expression darkened like the ocean when it hit the seaside cliffs. "You!"

She pointed an accusing finger angrily. "You have some nerve coming here Rinoa! Today of all days!"

'Rinoa' was Mrs Almasy, to Aerith's shock.

Mrs Kinneas picked up a tool that was hung by the door and brandished it like a weapon "Get out of my sight!" she spat at her feet "Backstabbing bitch."

Mrs Almasy stepped back worriedly "Sel-"

"Get lost before I gut you!"

The woman bowed "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to come and upset you, I'll go if you just hear me out." Before Mrs Kinneas could retort she had already begun, her voice clear but rushed "I was asked by the Father of the new town to show a new neighbour about the town. I have shown her most but could you please finish the tour? I can tell my presence here is unwelcome over here."

Aerith blinked, looking at them in surprise. Mrs Almasy, or Rinoa, had been nothing but kind and honest with her. How on earth could such hatred exist between them? The more she studied Mrs Kinneas's glare and Mrs Almasy's meek subservience she could see that something in their pasts had caused this rift. It was so extreme, she felt scared herself.

Mrs Kinneas looked at Aerith, the girl jumped. After glancing over the situation Mrs Kinneas sighed, she put her tool down and said "Well seeing as I've already made my point, I'll take her off your hands, just get out before Irvine gets home. He'll skin your hide before you know you've lost it," she growled as the taller, weaker woman backed away and left.

Aerith watched her go and finally noticed the shifty glances she earned, the sour glares and the cold shoulders given by all those who passed her by … how had she missed it? Was she really that absorbed in the scenery? She didn't remember anyone in the new town doing anything like that.

She called after her "Thank you, Mrs Almasy, for showing me this much."

The woman smiled at her "Come see Angelo sometime, she likes you." Aerith agreed and she waved the butcher's wife off with as much warmth as she could to negate the coldness of the villagers.

A hand on her shoulder made her jump, Mrs Kinneas smiled at her "I'm so sorry for the bad first impression I gave you. My name is Selphie Kinneas, please forgive my rudeness. It's just bad taste for her to show her face here."

Aerith glanced at her, seeing that she was far enough she dared to ask "What did she do?"

Mrs Kinneas looked sad "She drove away two of my brothers, I hardly see one now, and the other …" her breathing stopped and she swallowed quickly. "Well, I may never see him again. I don't want to talk about it, not today." She looked like she was about to cry but didn't know how.

Aerith took her hand, the one resting on her shoulder "My sympathies."

Mrs Kinneas nodded "Thank you. What's your name, Miss, and what can a humble housewife do for you?" with the sadness pushed back and the anger gone she looked young and hopeful once again. Her eyes were bright brown and she had a scarf of yellow tied around a brown shirt with matching ribbons keeping her hair from her eyes in loose braids. She looked friendly and likeable and Aerith felt the initial mistrust slowly leave her.

She smiled "I am Aerith. I moved into the new half of the town just recently with my household, the Vicar asked Mrs Almasy to show me around, but I think she's too uncomfortable to do the rest."

Mrs Kinneas folded her arms "Quite right. Though she's not disliked for the same reasons as my family, she's certainly not popular around here. If a tour is what you need, I'll happily give you one, if you'll kindly take a seat in the kitchen until I've finished with this dough. I can show you about while it proves."

Aerith stepped into the house and bowed slightly "Thank you Mrs Kinneas."

With a chuckle, the woman put an arm around her "Oh enough of that, call me Selphie."

Okay, much better than the last time! Thanks for your comments, here's part 1 of update this week.