"Are you sure we have everything we need?" Tifa asked Aerith as they trudged through the snow on the path out of town that led towards the Crater. Each woman was pulling a sled with winter survival gear and first aid supplies.
"It better be." Aerith replied. The official search and rescue teams had their own specialized gear just for them and only one store was still open, which didn't have much to offer. "We just need to keep following the compass north. We'll either run into the Crater or the coast."
"Yeah, if we make it that far." Tifa said dismally. She was hoping that they had all made it out safely and this was a false alarm. She didn't want to see any of them again. Well Rude was okay, but Reno, not to mention Cloud and Yuffie, were people so far at the bottom of her list they were on a different page, and wanting them to be okay bothered her as much as wanting them to not be did. She also secretly wondered why Reno didn't mock her when Cloud told her they were through.
"When we get out of here, you're buying me a new helicopter." Reno told Cloud, certain it had been damaged beyond repair.
"When we get out of here, your naked modeling days in front of my wife are over." Cloud retorted.
"Can you could help us move some of these boulders so we can unblock the entrance?" Rude asked Cloud, not having any clue what the blonde warrior was talking about, but he really was getting tired of hearing about his partner's naked escapades.
"Oh, Cloud can't do that, his ribs and hands aren't healed enough yet." Yuffie explained before Cloud had a chance to.
"You're injured? That's why you wanted our help? I told you bringing a pregnant chick on a mission was bad luck!" Reno exclaimed, trying to cover his embarrassment at how he woke up with frustration.
"Quit whining and help me!" Rude told him sharply.
"Use your Buster sword and get us out of here!" Reno tried to order Cloud.
"So make a sword blast to blow the rocks to smithereens and set off an avalanche that kills us all? That's a great plan!" Cloud snapped.
"As good as your plan as just waiting for someone to rescue us when no one knows where we are?" Reno fired back.
"You guys aren't helping." Rude interjected, to which Yuffie quickly agreed. "So just see if you can help me move these boulders, partner." he told Reno, who sulkily complied..
"What's this?" Yuffie asked, picking up an unusual feather on the ground when she and Cloud started examining the other side of the cave.
"Let me see that!" Cloud took the feather from her.
"Great, we're moving boulders and they're checking out animal remains." Reno muttered sourly under his breath and noticed an oddly shaped rock in his path. When he went to kick it out of the way, it didn't move, but the cave wall behind Cloud and Yuffie did. It rumbled and disappeared, and a shaft of soft white light poured out of the newly revealed passageway.
"Well, that works too." Rude smiled.
"Zack! Zack!" Cloud called out as he and Yuffie quickly but cautiously strode down the passageway, Reno and Rude following them.
"I think we should make camp for the night here." Aerith told Tifa when it started to snow.
"That's fine with me, it's getting too cold for me anyway." Tifa told her. They set up their canvas tent wearily as the snowstorm worsened. They hurriedly got all their supplies inside and Tifa zipped the door closed, grateful to keep the wind out.
"I'll set up the heater while you find dinner." Aerith said, getting the small square battery-operated heater out. To conserve power, it only worked for four hours at a time, and the heat was dispensed through a single burner at the top that would let you cook as well. "I wonder why Cloud wanted to go to the Crater." she mused as they ate dinner.
"I wouldn't know, obviously he's been living his life without me for a long time." Tifa bitterly replied.
"We should get into our sleeping bags as soon as we're done eating so we don't waste the heater time." Aerith wisely changed the subject, but she was privately relieved that Tifa was starting to accept the truth, even if she wasn't happy about it.
As the quartet traveled down the long passageway, Reno turned to Rude. "If we don't get out of here soon, I say we eat Cloud first." he whispered.
Rude was about to tell him to shut up when they both ran into Cloud and Yuffie who had stopped suddenly. "What…" he started to say until he saw the snow-covered figure crawling down the passageway towards them. Everyone tensed up and assumed battle stances until the figure got closer.
"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed and ran towards him. The other three followed more slowly. "I've been looking for you for ages!"
"Zack." the cold man repeated the name as he became aware of their presence, looking around him in confusion. "Who is Zack?"
