Hello everyone and welcome to the ninth chapter of ET. Sorry that it took so long to update this but I've had mass writers block for it lately, let's just pray that this will be the end of it.

I liked this chapter, It turned out pretty good, except for this part at the start. But that's to me, you might not notice it, it just that there was this important part and I forgot how I was going to write it and it didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy, Square Enix does.

A lock of golden hair

A harsh light shone through the green canopy as Hope and Serah finally arrived in the safe zone. As Hope had presumed it was indeed the target of Aaia's guidance. She had led them to the thickly spread forest in a matter of days since she had taken the reigns of their travel. Still, as infamous as the place was for being avoided by Valhallans, it didn't put the girl at ease. She was as wary as always. Truth be told though, while it had taken him a while to realise it, she hadn't let her guard down for a moment since he'd met her. She was always on alert, even when she was happy and laughing.

It made Hope curious. Though that said he was pretty sure that there wasn't a thing about her that he didn't find curious. And despite how he was a little loathing to admit it considering how nice the girl seemed, all that curiosity made him very cautious of her. He was sure Serah was the same.

As the day progressed they travelled deeper into the forest under Aaia's lead. The sun was in the middle of the sky when Hope noticed Aaia to be acting more wary than usual. He didn't question it at first, but as time went on and the heavy atmosphere didn't disperse he saw the need to ask.

"Aaia," he said as he caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder. She flinched upon the contact and Hope scolded himself mentally for forgetting that due to her blindness she wouldn't have known he was going to grab her. "What's wrong? Something seems to be worrying you."

Aaia directed her sightless eyes at him for a moment before diverted them away again, "I don't know. Something about this place doesn't seem right. I know it could just be how this place is foreign to me but it feels like it's more than that."

Scratching her chin as she continued to think, Hope frowned, "Is it anything bad?"

Aaia shrugged, "I don't know, perhaps. We could wait and see, but that could be dangerous."

"How so?" Serah asked, budding into the conversation. Aaia looked in her direction and responded.

"If there is something here that can harm us for example. For instance while this place is one best avoided by them, there's no saying that Valhallans aren't here. You never know how far they'll go to retrieve you two."

Beginning to walk again, Aaia mused, "It's not a nice situation isn't it?"

Staying where she was Serah asked, "Is it one you've been in before I wonder?"

Stopping by the closest tree, Aaia halted. Without turning around she questioned, "Perhaps, but perhaps I don't trust you with my past enough to tell you." Twisting on her heel she turned quarter way around, "Just like how you don't trust me as I am."

Flinching, Serah diverted her gaze sheepishly. "It's not that…" She mumbled in her defence.

But Aaia shook it off, "It does not matter, your lies mean nothing to me. If a lie has no purpose they are useless, your truth will do me more use than your lies ever will. You are right in not trusting me, Hope too, though he does not do so as much as you do. Humans are naturally trusting creatures, it can be a nice asset, but a curse as well. I could be anyone and you'd never know. Even an enemy." pausing briefly, an odd look passed over her face as the said, "The person who first told me this lesson said that due to this even a great enemy could pose as anything, a friend, a family member, even a lover. And you'd never be the wiser."

Turning the full way around, the girl said in a lighter voice, "but warnings aside I do implore you to trust me, I mean you no harm, I am only here to give you help. But of course, I know that listening to me is entirely up to you in the end, if you choose not to I cannot change your view." Stopping briefly again she added with a shy smile, "but I hope you do."

Her part done, Aaia smiled briefly again and with a nod of her head turned around and began walking again. Sending a look Hope's way Serah started after her. Doing the same, Hope followed after them both thinking about Aaia's warning. Funnily enough, but he was pretty sure he had been less wary of her before she'd said it in the first place. But he'd wait and see what the span of the day would do to that.

…:…

As night fell the three of them took shelter in the shadow of a great tree. The roots were raised high from the ground all around them and offered them protection from all directions but the front. They ate a small dinner of the many fruits that grew around them. Meat had been a missing part of their diet for many days now, but there was no remedying that with no edible animals about. It was strange but neither Hope nor Serah had seen any an animal about ever since they had first come to this place. Aaia said that there were some about, but generations of living in an area Valhallan dominated had long taught them to fear the white skinned ones. Neither of them questioned how she knew this.

As the night ticked by Serah fell into a sleep sitting up against one of the roots of the tree that guarded over their camp. Hope was sure that she hadn't meant to fall asleep there, especially considering the position she was in, but she had done so regardless. Thinking how uncomfortable it looked sleeping like that, he lifted her up and laid her down on the ground. She remained asleep throughout it and once she was placed on the ground she snuggled into the hard earth and crawled into a ball.

Laying his back against a tree afterwards, Hope stared up at the night sky for a while. When he eventually tired of that, he sought out something else to occupy his attention. His eyes landed on Aaia where she sat on a branch of the tree behind him.

Staring at her curiously, he noticed her playing with the bandana that hanged around her neck. Watching her twiddle her fingers around the black fabric, he asked her having nothing else to say, "Why do you wear that?"

Looking at him curiously in turn, Aaia counted with equally as little reason, "And why do you ask?"

Hope shrugged, "There wasn't anything else to ask. I'm just bored I guess."

Pursing her lips, Aaia looked down at the object in question, "Well apart from how I like how it looks, it covers this tattoo I have on my neck."

You have a tattoo on your neck?" Hope said, not expecting it, "What of?"

"Of nothing really, it's writing." Aaia answered, continuing to play with the fabric around her neck.

"So what does it say?" Hope probed.

"Sukurae, sousurei, isupara" She answered with a shrug.

Letting out a sigh, Hope laid back on his hands, "I shouldn't have expected English out of you should I?" Pausing his eyes went back to the girl, "Are you going to give me English?"

"No." She answered without a thought. Leaning up against the tree she tacked on, "If you had wanted English you should of asked that first and I might of obliged you."

Sighing again, Hope placed his hands on his knees as he leaned forward again, "I should of guessed as much."

"Mmhmm," Aaia hummed, "If a foreigner has something tattooed on them you should very well expect it to not be English. And I have no reason why I should translate it for you."

Knowing that further probing for an English translation was useless, Hope chose to go down a different topic of conversation, "Why do you have it anyway?"

Purging her lips as she decided whether to give him an answer or not, Aaia slipped off the tree and landed on the ground by Hope. Lifting a hand to her neck she undid the ties of the bandana and slid it off her neck. As it fell, it revealed three foreign characters running vertically down her neck on the left side, as well as three unmentioned small bronze piercings in the shape of roses in the middle of each sign. Running a finger over the decorations she explained, "It's a tradition among the Valhallans that when a child turns eight one side of their neck is tattooed and pierced. Their piercing has to be either gold, silver, or bronze. It's their choice what but nowadays it usually depends on how much money the family has. Which has unfortunately made it become a way of telling wether a family is poor or rich, which is a shame because it was originally something that signified who a person was. Like their heart I mean, their personality, and if they were a good person or a bad one. So it's sad that it has been lost on most people."

Staring the shining piercings, Hope got up so he could get a better look at them. Even though he was not a very big fan of bronze, he had to admit they were very pretty things. Still, there was one more question in his mind that he had to ask, "Hey, seeing as yours are bronze, did that mean you had a poorer family? Sorry if it's rude to ask."

Aaia shook her head, "Not at all, I don't care what you ask. But no, I didn't have a poor family, in fact I could of chosen any of those metals. I just chose bronze because I didn't want it to become something that would say what I was and not who I am."

Watching the soft light of night glim off the rose piercings, Hope asked, "So why do you hide it then?"

Looking to the side hesitantly, Aaia took a moment to respond. Her answer was worded meticulously carefully, "I said I didn't want the decorations on my neck to say what I was but who I am, well it did, but not in the way I wanted it to. The men that you know as Valhallans, the ones that torture these lands, you must have already surmised that we are of course of the exact same species. But we are very different in ways of views and character. Those brutes mindlessly follow a false King who lusts for dominance; my side do nothing but deny this false King. But in doing so we have made great enemies of him and his followers. Bronze may be the most common piercing colour but my roses are superfluous, most people pierce their necks with rings. To them roses stand out in a crowd like blood against white. They like to use them to hunt me down. I would be a fool not to cover them."

Slightly taken aback by the length and detail of her answer, Hope asked her as she turned her back to him, "Why did you get roses then? Wouldn't it have been smarter not to?"

Answering with her backed turned to him Aaia said, "But then I would be being untrue to myself. Rings are not me, the roses are. They are things of beauty that are laced with thorns, imperfect. But that's just how it's supposed to be, for there is nothing perfect in this world." Walking away from him and sitting by one of the large tree roots on the ground, Aaia remarked with her grey eyes turned to the sky, "It is getting late, it is best that you go to sleep soon, I will wake you for the next watch."

Hope nodded and took her advice, "Yeah." Lying back down in the shadows of the tree, he stared at the star laden sky for a while before closing his eyes. As sleep hovered close, he couldn't help thinking how much Aaia saying there was nothing perfect in this world had unnerved him.

…:…

Dawn came, and with it the time of waking. It was a humid morning and there were dew dripping off the foliage when Serah woke. Like always Aaia and Hope were the first to rise. The tired look in Hope's eyes led Serah to believe that he hadn't been awake much longer than her. Sitting up she wiped the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

Hearing her Hope turned to her from where he was sitting with his back to the tree, "Good morning."

Rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes, Serah replied back, "Good morning." Placing her hand in her lap she looked around their small camp. She found Aaia was sitting in her usual place in a tree branch but nothing much else to note. Shifting her position, she got up off the ground and walked over to Aaia.

Arching her neck up so she could see her she asked, "So what are we doing today?"

Looking down at her, Aaia answered looking a little worried, "Moving on, we were just waiting for you to wake up. Something about this place just doesn't feel right; I'd like to get away from here as fast as we can." Slipping off the branch she landed by Serah and dusted herself off. Pointing northwards she told her, "There's a small stream over that a ways, we'll go there for a drink and then head off, alright"

Scratching her ear, Serah nodded, "Yeah." Truth be told she'd have rather stayed for a while. She was still tired and since she wasn't used to travelling for so long and as frequently as she was now she was getting more worn out as time went by. But she was as worried by the bad feeling Aaia was getting as much the girl was, so she wanted to get away from here fast.

Nodding back Aaia walked past Serah to where Hope was sitting, "Getting up?" she asked.

"Yep." Hope responded pushing himself off the tree, "So we going?" He said looking over to Serah.

"Yeah." She said with a nod.

Nodding back, the two followed after Aaia as the girl set off down the path. They found the small stream where she said it'd be and took a drink from it before beginning their journey in earnest.

The day passed without event. They followed Aaia as she led them through the forest without complaint. Until around midday or so Serah pulled into equal stride with her. She procrastinated for a while before she got herself to ask, "Hey, where are you taking us?"

Flicking her eyes to her briefly, Aaia answered, "For now, safety, which is something we won't find around here. I brought you to this forest hoping it'd give us a decent amount of it so we could get out of this territory without coming to harm, but I'm afraid it hasn't turned out as I hoped. There is something dangerous here."

"How do you know that anyway?" Serah cut in. She'd been curious as to how the girl had known of danger here considering it had looked safe enough. What had tipped her off to something wrong?

Aaia did a little frown and scratched her cheek sheepishly, "It's hard to explain, but I've just always been able to sense things."

"That so?" Serah said, deciding that she may as well take her for her word, seeing as she'd heard of much stranger things anyway. Turning back to her Serah let her continue, "So, as you were saying?"

"Ah well, there's no point in leaving this forest now, it's the difference between travelling in a Valhallan infested area and one of much less immediate danger. So I'm going to take you two through this place until we're out of the territory. Once we are out it'll be much more safer for us to travel. We'll see what to do from there."

"Hmmm," Serah hummed. It all sounded well enough, but there was still the thing that Hope had said to her couple days ago that was hanging in the back of her mind. How Aaia could just be doing all of this to lead them into danger. She tried to ignore it, because by this point it was sounding very preposterous. For all the girl had told them had pointed in the other direction, and she'd talked of the Valhallan's leader so venomously she just couldn't be on their side. But the thought still lingered. She guessed Aaia had been right on how she didn't trust her, for she didn't, not at all. To her the girl was a mystery, one she refused to trust. Not that she didn't try.

The day continued on from there with hardly another word uttered. Morning progressed into noon, and noon into afternoon. But all the while Aaia seemed very worried, and became more so as time passed. Whatever was wrong was doomed to come, and they weren't far from a clearing up ahead when Aaia stopped dead.

Serah became worried when the girl took in a panicked breath and whispered without turning to them, "It's her."

"Hm?" Serah mumbled, taking a step closer to her.

"It's her, she's here." The girl repeated in a louder voice, "I'm so stupid, I was guarding against Valhallans when I took you here, but there was nothing stopping her from coming after us!" She gulped in another breath and spun on her heel to face Serah and Hope, "You have to get out of here, now!" She screamed.

But it was all for nothing, for as soon as the words had left her mouth a voice that filled Serah with dread rang through the trees," Too late little birdie."

Before they could anything, a shape jump down behind Aaia and landed a heavy hit to the back of her head, knocking her out instantly. It disappeared and within milliseconds whoever it was had grabbed hold of Serah from behind and kicked Hope into a tree with a heeled foot. Placing a hand over her mouth to halt her from screaming, a lock of golden hair wafted into her vision, and an unknown female voice whispered in her ear.

"You're coming with me."

And fun. It's sort of funny how I'm getting into a habit of giving my chapters names that have something to do with things that happen in the last couple sentences.

Hope you liked the chapter. Please review, I'll love you for it.