Chapter 5

The emerald eyes raked the sight. The inner walls of the crater rose so high, he imagined they might scrape the skies; leave scratches on the grey and white canvas. Above his head, in the entrance of the tunnel, there were icicles hanging and he grabbed one of them and brought it to his lips, sucking it like a popsicle until Hojo reached him. He ate the ice with a crunching sound formed by his jaw. Raising one silvery eyebrow questioningly at the adult, he asked, "Hmmm?" How was Kadaj not what? The very unfinished question only occupied his mind for a moment before his interest was back on the surroundings. The green gaze swept the place as he started walking, deciding they'd have to check the whole vast place. Calling over his shoulder, his voice echoed in the crater, "Will I recognise her when I see her?" He was currently keeping his eyes open for blue skin. That was what he was looking for.

Taking in deep breaths until his pulse had slowed back to normal, the elder took in the sight of the child as it crunched a small hunk of ice. That was strange, he thought, but he made no mention of it because he had other things on his mind. The crater spread away on both sides for a great distance, curving around until it met again far off ahead, past mists, patches of snow that had filtered in from above and dark pools of melted water that would not freeze properly again due to the strange heat emitted from the earth. Farther in were precipices that led deeper into the ground, towards the core of the planet. Many of them had gone dark where before there would have been soft green light rising from within. The layout of the crater had changed somewhat after the Lifestream had burst forth, causing an enormous cave-in and sealing much of itself off from all but the most ardent of cave-divers. As Kadaj wandered off, Hojo was again grateful that the child wore white - he would show up easily in the semi-gloom.

Hojo looked around and felt utterly lost. He didn't have any idea where to start the search and the crater was so vast, it could take him years, never mind hours. In answer to the remnant's question, he called back, "Yes, you will." The scientist didn't know what he was looking for anymore but he was certain that if he found it, he would know it at once. Suddenly struck with an idea, he called again, "Where is this black water you spoke of?"

The remnant walked by the wall, his white-gloved left hand caressing the rocky surface. If he'd run around the area, he would have been much faster, but he didn't want to leave the Professor all alone in that place. If Kadaj hadn't been born there and hadn't felt that disoriented emotion, when he'd felt perfectly calm even though he'd had no idea where he was and had a very vague idea of who he was, the area could have felt intimidating. So many strange elements; ice, snow, dark grey rock, ponds like miniature lakes here and there and the sun that could barely reach its tentacles into the darkness. The overall atmosphere reeked of supernatural things. Hearing the question, the remnant's steps headed to another direction, his gaze searching for the human form and his lips curving into a small smile, "It's right here…" As he got closer to the pond which he assumed must have been the one he had first stepped out of, he noticed the colour of the water wasn't dark at all. Quite the opposite, it looked like ordinary water, the sky reflecting in an acrylic way from the surface as he halted by the edge. As he turned his head to make sure Hojo was going to join him, he declared, "It's this one…" He pointed at the water with his glove, "But now it's not black…" Crouching and taking his glove off, he dipped his fingertips into the liquid which instantly reacted to his touch, ripples forming, the colour turning black as if smoke had been released swirling to the depths. A tiny, excited laugh erupted from his lips and as he leaned over the surface to see his reflection, he noticed how bright turquoise his eyes had become, nearly glowing. The white hat looked ridiculous even now that it lacked the kitty ears. Standing up and straightening his back, the water soon took its usual colour. "The water turns black when I touch it," he tilted his head and gazed at the Professor, giving him this report of his magical skills.

The remnant's answer sounded very prompt indeed. So prompt that at first Hojo was quite taken aback and felt a bit doubtful – as though Kadaj had given him an answer that was not entirely truthful or correct. But the boy looked very sure so the adult couldn't exactly believe anything else. Curious to investigate, the Professor made his way to where the child was stood pointing with his little gloved finger into a fairly normal-looking pool of water. It was a little difficult to tell at first but Kadaj was quite right – the water was clear and still. Not black at all. As he frowned at it, Hojo absently wondered how deep the pool was. The reflection of the sky above along with the gloom of the crater made it impossible to tell. As Kadaj removed the white glove, Hojo was wondering if maybe they ought to check to see if any of the other pools might be black when suddenly the current one changed its colour.

It was as though the water had been flooded by ink that bled from the boy's fingers. Within seconds, the pool had turned completely black, the reflection of the sky having taken on an almost oily appearance. Though the surface was calm but for a few ripples created by Kadaj's fingers, the water seemed almost to pulse. As though that blackness was the vital essence of something. Something powerful and restless. Someone. Hojo stood watching, transfixed by the sight. Though he could see everything clearly, it felt like that pool of blackness was too bright to look at and it hurt to look at it for too long. That unwelcome feeling of pins and needles threatened to take hold again but thankfully didn't progress very far as Kadaj stood back from the pool and the blackness dissipated once more.

In response to the child's report, Hojo answered with a half-smile. "Yes, I saw. It's quite impressive." Impressive, indeed, but what was it meant to accomplish? It would take him a minute to figure it out. He frowned a little at the appearance of the remnant's eyes. They had changed colour again.

As Kadaj looked at the Professor, he could once more notice that the human's eyes had taken a greener colour. He'd been meaning to ask about it for a while. Given this opportunity, he stepped a little closer to stare right up at the man and inquired, "Why are your eyes so green?" To Kadaj, it wasn't a shock to see someone's eyes take another shade, but in that childish way he was curious about everything and anything.

Temporarily setting his eyes loose, he raked the sight of the crater, narrowing his eyes when he suddenly noticed something he hadn't noticed before. On the opposite wall of where they had come from, there was a darker area. It could have been a tunnel or a cave – a bigger one than the one through which they had entered. "Is that a cave?!" he exclaimed and pointed his left white glove in the direction. It was possible he had missed said cave when he had been there for the first time but in his childish mind he wondered if it hadn't been here the last time and if someone had created it while he'd been absent. In his opinion, it was very likely that his brother or mother had made the cave while waiting for Kadaj to come back.

Excited by the idea that his family might be waiting for him, he started skipping towards the dark area. He had to round a few smaller ponds on his way and he hummed happily, his childish voice echoing in the crater. When he got to the cave, he realised that the entrance was a lot bigger than he had expected. From his point of view, it looked simply huge. And pitch black – he couldn't see anything. Standing firmly at the mouth of the cave, he waited for the Professor to follow and hesitantly called out into the darkness, "Mother?" All he could hear was his own voice travelling inside the tunnel of rock, his voice echoing and twirling in the darkness. His ears perked as he waited for someone or something to react to his calling. So far, there was no sign of anything living but the tunnel was definitely large enough to give a home to any kind of monster.

The half-smile that Hojo wore faded as Kadaj asked him about his eyes. "Huh?" He hadn't known anything about such a thing happening at all, only that his eyes began to feel irritated. After he'd learned who the child really was, he'd made the connection that the alien matter within him stirred at the presence of Sephiroth's will… but he hadn't reckoned that anything about him had actually changed. Only once before had he transformed entirely, when he'd first injected Jenova's cells into himself and Sephiroth had been at his strongest. Before he could form a proper answer, the child had transferred his attention to something off in the distance.

Squinting, though it would not enable him to see any clearer due to the mists that swirled in the crater, the scientist thought he could see what it was that the remnant was referring to – a rather large opening in the crater wall. Then the little white remnant was skipping off to investigate. Caught between wanting to glance into the pool of water and see if his eyes were actually green and following Kadaj, Hojo chose the latter and followed. He was not as sure-footed as the boy and stepped carefully about. If there were any cracks or holes, he didn't want to suddenly fall into one. The Professor wondered at how Kadaj would react if he knew that some of Jenova resided within him. He'd told only a few that fact and they'd been disgusted. Still, they weren't scientists. They had been trying to stop Sephiroth, so what did they know about anything?

In the cave, something heard a noise echoing in the blackness. It opened a single, ruby eye and looked towards the mouth of its cave. At first, it saw nothing… then it saw the silhouette of something very small. Something small and white. The enormous belly rumbled a little at the thought of having a snack. If it had been deeper asleep, it might not have budged and slept on until it was hungry enough to wake. Since it was awake and saw a possibly tasty morsel, it raised its enormous scaly head and took in a deep sniff. The scent was faint but it smelled like a warm-blooded creature. Tempted to know more, the creature flexed its long scaly neck and stretched sturdy legs that ended in long, cruel talons. Stepping forward, the earth beneath it trembled a little as it stretched its long, blunt snout forwards to sniff the air once more. Huge wings, black as night, unfurled to a wide span before folding up to either side of the massive creature's body. A long tail trailed lazily behind it, dragging stones.

Getting closer, the dim light from the skies above the crater revealed inch by inch what this enormous creature was. It was a huge black dragon.

As Kadaj was staring into the darkness of the cave, a sudden earthquake made the ground under his feet quiver. A very short earthquake, until another tremor followed right after. His jaw dropped open as his little brain tried to figure out what was going on. Something big must have been moving in the cave and was probably heading their way. As the adrenaline kicked in, his instincts became as sharp as the Souba blades and his reflexes were lightning fast. "Hide!" He commanded, and already neared the Professor with speed, roughly pushing him behind the largest stone in their proximity. The only concern Kadaj had was the fact that Hojo was a human and would be vulnerable if there was a monster on the loose. The remnant felt no fear for his own health because most times in front of a threatening situation, Sephiroth's spirit would concentrate on its survival, Kadaj's tiny body becoming a weapon to protect whatever was hiding underneath his skin.

As soon as he'd made sure the human was safely out of sight, he sprang closer to the head of the cave again, a little more on the other side so that whatever would dare to crawl out of the darkness would surely keep its eyes on the tasty little snowball instead of paying attention to the rock which was currently shielding the Professor.

Just in case, Kadaj pulled his Souba out and narrowed his eyes, observing keenly as the earthquakes indicated something was heading his way. It didn't take long for the creature to sneak out into the daylight and Kadaj clenched his jaw as he stared up at the huge monster. He had never seen a dragon before, but perhaps based on someone else's memories, he did have a vague idea what the creature was. Whether it was hostile or not was still to be discovered but the dragon's nostrils were flaring as it sniffed the air. To the remnant, it seemed as if the dragon was hungry and his mind rotated different ideas to find the best solution. One idea included a chocobo turned into a dragon's meal, another idea included a remnant turning into mist and slithering inside the dragon's nostrils to put out the fire which was surely just waiting somewhere inside the dragon's lungs. Deciding it was best to let the dragon make the first move, the child stayed still and looked at it both with interest and with a tension which indicated he was very prepared to react to whatever might happen next.

Out the corner of his eye, the Professor had spotted some form of movement in one of the pools. He stopped moving and turned to look, seeing another ripple forming as a muffled thud sounded from somewhere ahead. That was as much as he recognised before a small person in white came hurtling towards him and shoved him behind a rock after telling him to hide. "Oof!" He didn't say anything else as he took in the set of the child's jaw and the way the eyes were wide yet focused. Another muffled thump, along with a tremor he hadn't noticed properly, sounded from ahead. Then it clicked. Something was in the cave and was coming out. Though he was at once curious to see what it was, Hojo stayed still behind cover and watched as Kadaj streaked off again. Whatever it was, it was big.

The dragon had seen the silhouette vanish and paused very briefly. The little thing was fast. Like a snowy hare. The scent had gotten stronger as it neared the mouth of its cave and emerged. It moved a little faster in case it lost its quarry. Once out, though it was sure that it had spotted other movement further ahead as it came forward, the little white morsel stole the great beast's attention as it showed up well against the dark rock of the crater's interior. The dragon saw, then leaned its snout close to the creature and took a good sniff. It smelled very good.

Though the tiny creature was fast, the dragon didn't think it was threatening. The shining blade in the furry creature's paws looked long and sore, if it should pierce the scaly hide… but the dragon cared more about how the creature tasted. It wondered if there might be more about. There was a scent of second, if not a third creature present in the crater. The third was too faint to be certain as it was blown in through the long tunnel that led outside. More like a crack than anything. This white creature had the smell of chocobo about it in addition to its own. Chocobo and something else. Either way, it caused the dragon's tummy to rumble again and it opened its jaws in anticipation of plucking this doubtless flavoursome morsel up off the ground to gobble it down.

Behind cover, Hojo had peeked out to see why it had gone so quiet. What he saw made him pale instantly. A tiny white kitten facing a gigantic black dragon. He picked up a stone, ready to fling it in case a distraction was needed.

Strangely, Kadaj felt no fear whatsoever. A creature that big had to be slow in its movements and the boy knew he would be faster than light. His sensitive little remnant ears could pick up the rumbling noise and based on all the sniffing and flaring nostrils, the dragon must have been hungry. Maybe it was better to make sure how fast the dragon moved and how angry it was while hungry. Sliding one white glove off, Kadaj waited until the great jaws opened and then boldly threw his mitten right inside the beast's wide mouth, observing the creature's expression to see if children's clothing was a common snack or something unwanted. After all, if the dragon tended to eat children, then the taste of fabric couldn't be surprising. Just to make sure the dragon didn't eat him, he did a hasty back flip, landing securely on both feet and out of the monster's reach for now.

In its own way, the dragon was rather beautiful. Eyes red, like blood tainted diamonds, and dark wings like massive shadows. It hadn't even roared and Kadaj wondered if it could be turned into a pet. Oh, but no, it was probably too big to be kept inside any house. What a shame, really. It would be nicer to ride this magnificent creature than ride a silly chocobo. "If you try to eat me…" Kadaj told the hungry dragon, "I'm going to cut your throat and keep your eyes as souvenirs." He meant it but the monster clearly wasn't listening because it had swallowed the mitten and was nearing Kadaj with bared teeth. To the remnant, it was all just fun and games and he released a small, insane laugh as he started running, luring the dragon further away from the Professor's direction, dancing with long jumps in between the pools of water. It didn't take him long to reach the small tunnel from which they had originally come in. He stood in front of the entrance and laughed at the massive beast which still hadn't caught him, "You'll never catch me!"

As he peeked out from behind the rock, the Professor watched in suspense as Kadaj threw his mitten into the dragon's mouth. The beast must have liked it for it began to follow the tiny remnant with its great jaws primed to snap Kadaj up in one bite. Though the dragon wasn't exactly slow, as no large animals are once they get moving, Kadaj was much faster and outstripped the giant black lizard easily – leading it back to the tunnel that led outside. Hojo angled himself round his bit of cover as the pair moved so that he might remain hidden. There was a problem, though. If the dragon decided to turn around and seek another exit, it might spot him. He was glad he was clad in dark colours, as it would make him a bit more difficult to spot.

The dragon slowed as it reached the tunnel, clearly aware that it would not be able to get through if it tried, though the smell of fresh air wafted in from above and taunted it almost as much as the delectable little white furball did. The mixed scent of chocobo and warm-blooded biped was fanned in its face, making it hungrier and riling it to the point that it shoved its big snout into the narrow gap, trying to reach the little morsel that tantalized it. A deep growl was bubbling in its throat... rumbling threateningly like a volcano about to erupt... If it couldn't reach the small bite to eat it, the dragon would burn it to a crisp and sear the entire length of the tunnel with its fiery breath...

Back a ways, the Professor observed the great beast's movements and silently cursed. He had only a large stone and some flares to distract the creature and it wouldn't give him much of a head start. The dragon's talons were scraping the crater floor as it strained to reach Kadaj, who was presumably dancing just out of reach. Before too long, it would pull back and arch its long neck before it spewed flame into the tunnel and blasted everything inside to ash. Kadaj was fast – very fast... but he mightn't be able to escape in time... especially if he was unable to turn to mist properly. A loud roar jolted the elder into action and he threw the rock as hard as he could towards the dragon to convince it to turn around. It landed short, but landed in one of the many pools of water with a loud splash. Ducking behind cover again, Hojo waited for the sound that meant the dragon had drawn back. He hadn't much of a plan in his head but having the surviving remnant of Sephiroth turned to ash was not one of them.

The remnant child had been hoping the dragon would be stupid enough to chase him into the small tunnel and get stuck there. When it became apparent that the monster wasn't quite that stupid, he immediately started thinking about another way to get rid of it. The scales looked tough, he wasn't quite sure if the double bladed Katana would pierce them or not. How does one kill a dragon, hmm? A terrified yelp erupted from his mouth when he heard a splash of water and saw the dragon's head turn away from the remnant. Was the Professor trying to catch its attention? Oh no, he shouldn't, it was dangerous.

When the dragon started moving its enormous body away from the tunnel and the tiny remnant inside it, Kadaj sprang into action without even fully knowing what he was going to do. The simple need to protect the human adult was so huge, he would have let the dragon eat him if it would have helped – however, luckily Sephiroth wouldn't have allowed that. No sacrificing this body which sheltered the remains of the great General.

Kadaj ran after the creature which was clearly trying to look for a mouthful. The turquoise-eyed boy could see the tip of the Professor's hair where he was hiding and reacted without thinking as he grabbed a stone and threw it at the monster. As the dragon received the pebble on its head, it roared in annoyance, its attention directing back to the white mouthful that was now running towards the human's hiding place. The white remnant stopped running suddenly and turned to look at the annoyed beast. It would be good if he could make the dragon harmless. Pursing his lips in thought, he glanced at the pools of water around them and wondered how he would manage to get the dragon soaked. As the monster roared and started inching its head closer to the white meatball, Kadaj concentrated much the same way he had when turning into mist, a tiny frown appearing on his forehead. The power of another creature was humming in his blood, nearly talking aloud as his palms itched and he spread them slightly. A rush of coldness, like ice running in his veins, Kadaj felt strong and confident, fearless and unbreakable. He didn't turn into mist this time, instead the water in the pools started turning into mist, in seconds covering the whole strand of sky visible above them, turning into thick and heavy dark clouds. Almost like thunderclouds, he wondered, and watched them gather there until the whole crater became dark like at night time. And then it all came down in thick blankets of rain, the droplets beating the dragon mercilessly but never fully reaching where Kadaj stood. As the remnant watched, it almost looked like the rain turned into waves, so much water there was pouring down on the poor monster who seemed confused by the sudden situation.

It was aggravated and tilted its monstrous head towards the skies, roaring furiously but that only resulted in some of the water penetrating its mouth which did nothing to help sooth its fury. Recognising this as their only possible moment of escape, the remnant turned and hurried over to the human, grabbing him by the arm, "Run!"

The steps of the dragon seemed to be coming closer. The ground shook with large tremors as it moved its enormous self about, away from the tunnel. Alright, so his ploy had worked insofar as the dragon had changed course and was now looking for the source of the noise. Now what? There was no way that Hojo would ever be able to outrun it. However, even without looking, Hojo could tell that something had changed, as the steps faltered as the beast roared again. What was going on? The sounds of the dragon's heavy breaths and angry growls were so close. Suddenly it grew dark. Very dark. Looking up, fully-expecting to see the shadow of the large reptile blotting out the light, the professor instead saw clouds forming. Heavy, dark clouds that had seemingly formed from nowhere. Sure, it was common knowledge that the weather round mountains could change at a moment's notice... but even this was quite incredible. Then, just like turning on a tap, a deluge of rain dropped into the crater. Within seconds, the distressed roars of the dragon could be heard as it was rained upon. The beast did not like it one bit. Yet, strangely, the rain did not seem to be striking the whole of the crater.

No sooner had he begun to puzzle this little oddity than a little white snowball appeared in the corner of his vision and grabbed hold of his arm with a furry white paw, telling him to run. Hojo didn't need to be told twice. As the pair hurried past, the scientist observed the way the rain was coming down in torrents, beating heavily down upon the great black lizard and giving its hide the appearance of wet tar. Its wings were spreading and folding as it sought shelter from the downpour and it finally turned to retreat back into its cave. Meanwhile, the remnant and the professor made for the dark tunnel through which they had entered and were very soon some distance up it before Hojo simply had to slow down and catch his breath. His heart was pounding like a drum in his chest. Beating so hard, it hurt. "Wait... I need a second..." he rasped, leaning heavily against the wall of the tunnel. The exit to the outside was a pale light in the distance.

Kadaj was mortified when the Professor asked for a moment to catch his breath. They were in danger and not only that, Kadaj was more than worried for the human's safety. He didn't really have time to wonder why this person was so important to him, more important than his own safety, really. "You can't stop now!" the white kitten demanded and stepped behind the adult to violently push him further into the tunnel. Hurriedly glancing behind to the wide area of the crater, he could tell the disappointed dragon had gotten tired of the white kitten and its tricks, and was seeking shelter from the rain in its nest somewhere in the bigger cave on the other side of the crater. Deciding it was safe enough to stop for a moment, Kadaj stopped trying to push the human towards the exit, determinedly staying behind him in case the monster would change its mind and would give it one more go. The rain stopped, the clouds vanished as abruptly as they had first emerged. It came was a surprise to the remnant that he had such powers – the power to control weather.

He was suddenly very tired of the crater, very tired of the weather and snow and wanted nothing more than to just hurry and ride back to the town on the chocobo. The remnant wanted a fireplace, food, and perhaps a nap with the Scientist. Their little journey had been useless, they had found nothing, but the disappointment was subdued by the knowledge that at least the Professor was safe and all was well. Deciding he didn't want to leave the human in the cave alone, he wrapped his little arms around Hojo's waist and cuddled him from behind briefly before letting go and taking his hand, trying to pull him towards the exit. So impatient. He looked up at the man's expression and gave him a tiny, pleased smile of someone who had just discovered they could control the weather, "Can we have hot chocolate when we get back?"

With his chest heaving in and out as he tried to catch his breath, Hojo was past caring that a sudden rush of flame from an enraged dragon might still engulf them whenever the rain stopped and the beast came looking for what might have been its morsel for the day. He would have happily sat down to rest if the little snowball hadn't given him a very rough push to make him keep moving. Forced onward for another few metres in the gloom of the tunnel, the older man had to claw his way along on the tunnel wall to know where he was and to give himself something to help him move forward. Mercifully, Kadaj stopped trying to push him on for a while and he once again leaned against the tunnel wall to get some air back into him. The back of his throat was burning from the effort but at least his heart-rate was evening out... slowly.

In the humid tunnel and the weatherproof gear, it felt far too warm but there was no time to do anything about that as a pair of slender arms hugged him about his waist for a second and a soft paw took his hand again to lead him out. As the little request for hot chocolate was given him, he might have laughed only he was still out of breath and simply nodded. "Let's... get out of here first, though... shall we?" With an effort, Hojo commanded his tired self to move at least until they were outside, then he would just flop in the snow for a little bit before he had to face riding a chocobo again. Yes... That sounded like a decent plan...

Since there was no sound or sight of the dragon and the Professor seemed utterly exhausted, Kadaj simply tugged at his hand restlessly, then let it drop and skipped to the entrance of the tunnel. The sun was still shining, yet it was hanging lower in the sky, most likely they would get back to the town before sunset. Trusting the human to call him if anything bad happened, he went over to the chocobo and started petting it. His stomach was grumbling and his white clothing felt moist. He wasn't too cold though, mostly just hungry. The chocobo started shifting his feet restlessly, and tried to sniff Kadaj's mittenless hand. The animal was probably hungry too. The remnant was too hungry to think about the trip they had done, the fact that they hadn't discovered anything interesting. If he hadn't been that hungry and wanting to go somewhere warm and nice, he would have been disappointed.

The worst part about exiting the tunnel had nothing to do with the distance or the darkness and gloom. It wasn't even the fact that it was humid and damp or even that it was narrow and cramped and low. It was the fact that the ground sloped uphill. The professor was of that particular species of human that spent the majority of its daily life indoors, hunched over documents or peering at writing on screens. Though he had haunted the long corridors of the Scientific Division at night and taken the stairs to travel between floors, that did not necessarily add up to make one fit enough to sprint up a hill for several minutes without pause. Especially not when one was past a certain age.

Once the inexorable little white paw released his hand, Hojo dragged himself a few paces more out into the crisp, cold air and let himself sit in the snow with his back braced against the rocky wall next to the narrow tunnel opening. He pulled down the zip of his jacket to let himself cool off and immediately felt the chill enter to relieve the heat. It felt very nice. After a few seconds where he took a few more slow breaths, he glanced up to see Kadaj and the chocobo restlessly fidgeting. He remembered something then. He still had the knapsack on his back and he awkwardly shrugged it off his shoulders and pulled it out from behind him. In it, his coat was still cushioning the empty sample containers – disappointing. Under that, he found the little helping of rations he had packed. He picked something out at random and tossed it towards Kadaj. "Here." It was an energy bar made of cereals and raisins and no small amount of sugary substances. It might bide him a few minutes of rest while the little remnant munched on it.

As the snack was tossed in his direction, Kadaj quickly caught it with the reflex and speed of a remnant. Twirling it in his hands, he wondered what it was then ripped open the packaging to satisfy his curiosity. The appearance and smell told him it was edible and he sniffed it before placing it between his teeth and taking a bite. Very crunchy. It was a bit too sweet for his liking but he was hungry and took another bite, munching it with a pleased expression. Apparently it would have also been to the chocobo's liking because it brought its huge head very close to Kadaj's and make a 'wark' sound. That made the white-clothed boy take a few steps backwards until the leash kept the chocobo away from his snack.

Turning towards the human, he took another bite and soon casually went to keep him company by sitting on his lap and looking up at him while munching. "Do you want some?" he asked and offered the half-eaten bar. The chocobo might want some too, so if the human didn't want it, the rest would become pet food. As the Professor had opened his jacket, the heat of his body felt almost like a tropical breeze to the remnant who was occupying his lap. There was a strange smell though and Kadaj pressed his nose on the human chest, inhaling deeply. Chemicals. He scrunched his nose and pulled back, looking at the brown eyes behind the glasses. He hadn't noticed that in the house because the whole house had smelled like chemicals – probably a very common scent for scientists.

Offered some of the bar, Hojo declined. He looked at the chocobo though and saw it straining and scraping the snow-covered ground. Clearly, it wanted one too. While he didn't particularly mind that Kadaj had decided to sit on him, the Professor was less than impressed to find the child taking such a shameless liberty as sniffing at him and then pulling a face afterwards. He looked back at the green eyes with a look of disapproval and shrugged cantankerously. "What?" Something he was fast learning was what it felt like to feel self-conscious. If it wasn't endless questions, it was acts like this that made the elder dislike being around children for very long.

If he hadn't still been feeling quite warm, Hojo might have zipped his jacket back up in case Kadaj decided to do something else. Like what? He hadn't a notion. The remnant did what it pleased and without any prior warning. As a follow-up to his rhetorical question, he asked another, "Something wrong?"

The silvery head turned from left to right in a headshake, "No, you just smell funny…" It wasn't a bad smell, just strong for his sensitive nose. As he took another bite from the bar, he got onto his feet and went over to the chocobo to offer it the remains of the snack. The grateful animal took the snack in its beak, then tilted its head back and swallowed it whole. As patient as children usually are, Kadaj didn't like all this waiting – to him, this little moment felt like a lifetime. "Let's go already," he demanded. Not even glancing backwards he lifted his little hands in the air, standing next to the now happy bird, fully expecting someone to lift him up and place him on the chocobo's back.

Hojo raised an eyebrow at that remark and nearly felt like making a comeback. However, since the remnant had merely smelled of leather and water when last he checked, the comeback would hardly have been a match. In any case, the Professor wasn't in the mood to start bickering pointlessly and settled for watching as Kadaj awarded the remainder of the biscuit bar to the bird. It seemed to like it. Once the demand to go was made, the older man felt like groaning. Alright, fair enough. They did need to get going or the sun would be down before they got back. Still, there was no need to be quite so impatient.

"Alright, I'm coming." Almost sulkily, Hojo zipped the front of his jacket back up and he stood up with some difficulty. As he thought, he was going to be stiff for a while after all this running about. He went to close the knapsack first and changed his mind, seeing the way Kadaj stood by the chocobo. Better to sort that out first or suffer the consequences... Catching the small creature under the arms, the scientist lifted Kadaj up to set him on top of the chocobo and turned back to collect the knapsack. He half-toyed with the idea of leaving it there but decided against it as he picked it up and put it back on his shoulders.

Kadaj was very pleased to be placed on the back of the chocobo and smiled widely, clutching with both hands at the feathers. The feathers felt nice and soft on the hand which had lost its mitten in the dragon's jaws. Proudly he straightened his back and glanced at the horizon where the sun was having clear plans of retiring. "The sun is setting soon…" He voiced the results of his deduction and turned his head to study what the Professor was doing. Apparently he was picking up the knapsack, which was a good thing because it meant they might soon be on their way. Humans were so incredibly slow, in Kadaj's opinion. If he'd been here alone, he would've been riding back already.
As he looked at the human, he inquired, "Are you very disappointed we didn't find anything?" It was sad. The remnant had no idea where his Mother might be. He was so impatient, he tapped the chocobo's sides with his heels and the chocobo made a 'wark' sound, clearly annoyed that it wasn't yet allowed to run home.

Hojo hardly needed the reminder that the sun was on its way down. He could tell by the lengthening shadows that they would have to hurry back. He shrugged his shoulders to get the bag into position and sighed when asked if he was disappointed. If he was honest, he was bitterly disappointed. Even if there hadn't been a hungry dragon guarding it, the interior of the crater was enormous, received only a certain amount of daylight and was full of nooks and crevices where Jenova's remains might be lurking. He couldn't face having to trek back and forth every single day until he found something, especially when he had nothing visual to base it on. Added to that, there was no guarantee that there was even anything there.

Rather than say all of this and end up ranting, the Professor merely nodded at Kadaj. "Yes, Kadaj. I am. Still, it can't be helped for today and it's high time we got back." He frowned at the way the little snow-white heels tapped against the chocobo's sides. Lazy or not, the bird was ruffling its feathers – plainly missing its dinner and just as eager to get home. Hojo untied the leash and re-attached them as reins before entreating the bird to kneel rather than set off wandering. It took a sharp tug on the reins to make it behave long enough for him to mount and then it resumed walking without waiting for command. "Well, we learned one thing, Kadaj... What's the phrase? 'Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus'..."

Kadaj was very pleased when the adult took a seat behind the impatient remnant. Although he had no idea what that last sentence meant, he assumed it had something to do with the dragon and declared proudly, "Indeed." Maybe in the summer it would be warmer around here and they could come back for another search. Or maybe the wise old human would come up with other ideas about where Kadaj's mother or Sephiroth might be.

Wearing a small smile of someone who was expecting to get food and a fireplace soon, Kadaj watched the setting sun and leaned back against the Professor, soon falling asleep because the chocobo's pacing was so soothing. Little did the remnant know that he would have plans for the future, and even less did he know that they would meet again one day, a long time after.