Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Thirty-TwoBarret's dark eyes narrowed in fury. His nostrils flared. His huge muscles flexed and twitched irritably underneath his skin. The veins on his arms and neck stood out, pulsing with heated, irate blood. A formidable growl rumbled in the back of his throat. The object of his fury sat cowering on a tree branch across from him, trembling so much that he nearly fell from his perch.
Finally, unable to contain it any longer, Barret's rage exploded. "YOU IDIOTIC CAT!" He yelled so loud that his voice shook the tree he was in. "Didn't we specifically tell you NOT to trick us again!?"
On the opposite tree sat Cait. The petrified cat was clinging to a branch with all his strength, his little claws fixed firmly in the wood. His Mog body was further down, its huge arms wrapped around the trunk. The bigger stuffed Mog was having a hard time climbing up the tree, so Cait abandoned it and climbed up himself. His gold-plated crown slipped over one eye as the tree shook.
"I didn't trick you!" the cat protested desperately. The tree jerked again, and the crown threatened to slip over his other eye. "It was an honest mistake! I swear!" Lifting a shaky paw, he pushed the crown back up to his head. As he moved the tree gave another hefty shake and he jerked forward, forcing him to clutch at the branch. Although he was only a robotic cat, he mewed pitifully.
Barret snorted derisively. "Honest my—" he began.
"That's enough!" snapped Cloud, his patience wearing thin.
Below them, the Vlakorados took a step back and charged headfirst into the tree. Its hefty bulk caused the tree to shudder violently, although thankfully the roots were strong and deep. It wasn't much consolation for the poor group who were sat in the tree's upper branches, holding on for dear life.
It had been three days since they left the Tiny Bronco on the southern shores of the Northern Continent, and already they were lost. They had no map—only vague directions given to them by Bugenhagen another two days before when they stopped by Cosmo Canyon.
Unfortunately the old man had not been very useful. Though he had travelled around a lot in his youth, he had not left Cosmo Canyon for some years, and had never been to the City of the Ancients. It was hard to find—he told them—for those who had never been there. It was built in the hidden depths of a canyon on the northern continent. The Sleeping Forest was like its guardian, preventing looters and monsters from finding the city and taking its hidden secrets. When Barret shouted and demanded more information, Bugenhagen just smiled and wished them luck on their journey. They left none the wiser and began their trek across the ocean.
Cait ended up leading the way, claiming that he had been gathering intelligence from the Shinra computers about where the Sleeping Forest was.
"It's past a huge forest on the southern coast," he piped up suddenly halfway through their second day at sea. "You have to go through a town called Bone Village to get to it. No worries, I'll lead the way. We'll get there in no time. Trust me! Though we will be a little behind the Shinra. Heh, heh." Cait almost got a whack for that last statement, but they let him lead the way.
As expected, Cait had gotten them hopelessly, hopelessly lost. Soon after entering the forest that grew about a mile from the shore, Cait lost all sense of direction. He bounded off confidently at first, assuring them all that he was on the case and they would be in Bone Village by nightfall. But as the hours went by and the sun began to set in the sky, everyone began to realise that something wasn't right. It took long, cold stares from Cloud, Barret, and Vincent to force Cait to admit that he was lost.
"It was an honest mistake!" Cait had protested so innocently as Barret threatened to thump him on the head. "Anyone could get lost in a forest this big!"
Cait's honest mistake had turned out to be a big problem. On the third day of their hike they ran unexpectedly into a hunting Vlakorados. The dragon-like beast had been tracking them for more than a day. It stalked stealthily despite its bulk, and nobody noticed it until it charged out of the trees and attacked them while they ate.
The dragon walked on two powerfully built legs that were made for short distance running. Its arms were far smaller and not very muscular, but were tipped with sharp blue-purple claws. Its head was also relatively small compared to the rest of its body, with beady yellow eyes eyeing them up hungrily. Two sets of long, curved horns grew out of the back of its neck, and smaller horns grew from its elbows. It was a formidable beast, not fast, but with a very high endurance.
"So what are we going to do?" asked Tifa. She'd dug the spiked tips of her gloves into the tree to keep from falling off.
"Hope it gets bored and runs off home?" Cid suggested, sat next to her.
Once he had tried to stab the Vlakorados with his spear. The beast responded to this by grabbing the spear in its mouth and yanking it out of his hand. All his materia was on his spear. The only other weapon he had was his lighter… or his boots.
"Hey, lizard-face!" Yuffie called down to the creature, waving her Razor Ring threateningly. "Run off and find prey your own size!" To emphasise her point, she hurled the weapon down toward the dragon. The jagged, circular blade sliced across the Vlakorados's face before spinning back to Yuffie's hand. The young ninja caught the weapon easily, her gloves protecting her hands from the damage.
In response the Vlakorados roared loudly and slammed its head hard against the tree again. Then it stepped back, turned around, and began to whack the tree with its long, powerful tail. Sparks of electricity flickered off the end of its tail with each strike.
"I don't think it was impressed by your attack, Yuffie," mumbled Red XIII. He was probably the safest of them all, with four claws feet stuck into the wood and his fiery tail wrapped around the trunk.
Vincent unhooked his gun and took aim at the Vlakorados. "We do not have time for this," was all he said before he let loose a parade of bullets upon the creature.
Feeling the bullets penetrate its scaly hide, the Vlakorados screeched and stepped back away from the tree. Bloodied and injured, it should have backed off. But it had not had a decent meal in more than a week and therefore was not prepared to let this large meal go without a fight.
Releasing his grip on the tree trunk, Vincent dropped off the branch and onto the ground. The Vlakorados's small eyes squinted at him, noting the red glow around him that was his body heat, and the faint beating that was his heart. The dragon roared and charged forward.
Vincent jumped up from the floor and, using the tree as a base, propelled himself over the Vlakorados's head. The beast, charging with all its strength, could not slow itself and slammed into the tree. At the same time Vincent withdrew a fresh chamber of guns from a hidden pocket in his cloak, slipped it smoothly into his gun, and fired once more on the creature. A trail of red split open down the creature's back.
"Now, Cloud," the red-cloaked man called up to Cloud. "Finish it off."
Cloud leaped out of the tree toward the injured, staggering dragon. He drew his new sword, Murasame, and stabbed it straight into the creature's back. The slender, curved blade of the samurai-like sword cut straight through the open wounds Vincent had prepared for him, leaving the innards exposed and vulnerable. The Murasame slid straight through its back, lungs, and heart. The dragon slumped instantly, blood frothing at its mouth.
"Well, that was anything short of interesting," Yuffie complained once everyone had climbed from the trees. She gave the Vlakorados's body a kick. "Next time we run into one of these things, let's make sure we're the predators and they're the prey."
Everyone agreed with her. "All right!" Cait said, jumping up. "Let's get going then!" He started to walk off into the forest. A firm hand gripped his shoulder and stopped him in his tracks. Cait turned to see Cloud staring at him, a harsh look on his face.
"Yuffie will lead the way from now on, Cait," he said in a tone that meant no arguments. "I think we've all had enough Shinra interference: honest or otherwise."
Cait stared at him, and then sagged in disappointment.
Bone Village
Yuffie proved to be a much better tracker than Cait. Within twenty minutes she found signs of a trail the others had missed, and was even able to confirm that the trail headed north. There were also signs of human life—faint footprints in the snow, occasional sweet wrappers half-buried in the undergrowth. No materia, she added in slight disappointment, but there was definitely a village somewhere around.
In fact they found Bone Village less than an hour later, appearing suddenly out of the forest and on top of them before they knew it. They knew right away it was Bone Village, unless there was another place that looked like an excavation site.
It really was more of an excavation site than an actual village, but so many people came to dig in the lands surrounding the forest that the diggers decided to build up homes and live here. The diggers were never left without something to do. New things were being dug up out of the rocky earth all the time. The skeletal remains of animals and ancient artefacts left buried and forgotten were just a handful of the things they had dug up over the years. Most of the stuff they found was worthless, but every so often the diggers would find something valuable. But more importantly, the people loved to dig up stuff. Hence why Bone Village was on the map.
Today was a fruitful day for the diggers of Bone Village. They had dug up plenty of new and interesting artefacts—ones that would fetch a good sum of money in the museums of Midgar. The foreman also had an inkling that Dio, manager of the Gold Saucer, would buy a couple of items for his museum, too. Rumour had it that he had developed an interest in rare and exotic items.
It was coming close to the end of the day. The sun's orb was sliding quickly down the horizon, casting a warm orange glow across the sky. He was just about to call an end to the day's dig when he spotted Cloud and his group enter the camp. He was about to go over and greet them, when he remembered there was still a box of items he hadn't catalogued yet. He hurried off to check them.
Cloud and his companions entered the Bone Village camp and looked round in surprise. The camp sure was a lively place. There were people everywhere; some carrying boxes of food or items; others still up to their knees in rock and mud, scraping at the edges of the walls with a shovel.
One digger, seeing that the foreman was busy with his cataloguing, got up from his assigned digging spot and ran over to greet them. "Welcome to Bone Village, a town for nature lovers," he said cheerfully. His face was covered in dirt from a long day's dig. His beaming smile showed he didn't mind, though. He wiped his dirty hand on his baggy overalls and held it out to the group.
Cloud shook the man's outstretched hand. His eyes scanned the rest of the camp as the others shook it as well. There was no sign of her. Cloud didn't know whether he should be thankful or not. Perhaps they past her? Aeris was skilled and getting strong, but she wasn't as fast or as brave as the rest of them. But if she had gotten here first… "Do you know where Aeris is?" Cloud asked, continuing to scan the camp.
The man closed his eyes in thought for a moment. The name seemed to ring a bell. "Are you talking about that girl?" he asked. He turned and pointed to the northwest section of the camp. "I warned her, but she went into the Sleeping Forest anyway."
With that, the digger hefted his heavy shovel back onto his shoulder and strolled off back to his digging spot, which was beside what looked like a large ruined plane. When he was out of earshot, Cloud turned to his companions.
"Aeris has been here already," he said, with some surprise.
"I wonder when she passed through here," said Tifa thoughtfully. "She might already be at the City of the Ancients by now."
Cloud frowned. If that was the case, then they needed to hurry.
They moved as quickly as they could through the camp. The diggers were beginning to pack up for the day now, and they had to constantly dodge and dive past diggers carrying crates and bags to the camp entrance. They climbed a ladder to the next level of the camp. The camp was built in a rocky section of the forest, and a new path leading into the forest opened up. The first few trees looked like the regular forest they had been travelling in for days. However after that, the trees looked like they changed completely. The friends gathered at the mouth of the forest, peering inside the eerie, natural doorway, when a voice behind them made them jump.
"The forest just beyond here is called the Sleeping Forest." The group turned to see a woman in purple dungarees standing behind them, one arm resting on her shovel. "Right now the forest is asleep and anyone who wanders in while it's asleep, it confuses. You can go in, but you may never come out…" She took off her safety helmet and ran her fingers through her brown hair. "But just now, a girl in pink and a man in a Black Cape went in. You think they'll be all right?"
Tifa caught Cloud looking at her. The same thought ran through their mind. 'Just went in'—that meant that they weren't that far behind Aeris and Sephiroth. If they entered this forest they could catch up to Aeris before Sephiroth did!
"But…" Tifa muttered sadly, turning her gaze back to the forest. If what the woman said about the forest was true, then there was no way that they could follow her. And what about Aeris? Would she also become lost in the Sleeping Forest's magic?
A man in green overalls answered her question for her. "You can awaken the Sleeping Forest if you have the Lunar Harp," he said, standing next to his digging companion. "Once awake, they say the forest will open a road for you. The girl in pink that just went in also used a Lunar Harp to get through."
Cloud stepped forward. "I want a Lunar Harp."
The man looked at him suspiciously for a second. He had talked only briefly to the girl in pink and had grown quite fond of her in that short space of time. He didn't want to let anyone who might hurt her through. There was no sign of hostility in Cloud's eyes, so he smiled and nodded his head toward the ground floor. "Ask the guy in the tent below," he told Cloud, and wandered off back to his digging.
"The Lunar Harp is somewhere in the ground here," the foreman told Cloud when asked. He was still going through the last of the crates, listing all the items found that day. Shutting the box with a satisfactory sigh, he climbed to his feet. "We could excavate it for you if you want to."
Cloud nodded and crossed his arms. "Start diggin'," he said. The quicker they found that Lunar Harp the better.
"All right!" the foreman said eagerly, rubbing his hands together. "Then I'll lend you some of my staff." Though it was close to nightfall, he was up for a bit of last minute digging. He put a hand on Cloud's shoulder and led him out of the tent and gestured to the rocky camp around them. "Show us where you want us to dig!"
Cloud looked out at the camp before him. He was no digger! He didn't even know where to begin looking for the Lunar Harp. Besides, hadn't they dug up the Lunar Harp once before, for Aeris? Why did he have to dig it up again when it had been dug up once before? Hesitantly he picked out five spots from around the camp, picking spots that were roughly the same distance apart and spread out across the camp.
"Now," said the foreman as he pocketed the 500 gil Cloud paid him for the diggers, ignoring Yuffie's heart-wrenched gaze at the transaction, "the staff will dig here. The result of the dig will be placed in the town treasure box overnight."
"Sir!"
The foreman, who had been heading back into his tent to finish packing, looked up in surprise. One of the hired diggers was running across the camp toward him, carrying some long, blue, and slender in his hand. It looked a little like a harp. Red XIII's ears perked up and he tried to squeeze in between Cid and Barret in an attempt to see what the digger was carrying a little better. He sniffed cautiously, catching the faint scent of flowers. Flowers? That was odd.
After a few brief words with the foreman, the digger handed the item to his boss and then ran back into the camp. He disappeared quickly amidst the sea of people packing and preparing to leave, tying their belongings securely to the cars they used to travel between the camp and the town. The foreman turned to face the group, a slightly sheepish smile on his face.
"Well, it looks like we won't need to dig after all," he said with a nervous laugh, and opened up his hand.
It was the Lunar Harp. It was easy to recognise because the harp was shaped much like a crescent mean. It was perfect in every detail. The harp appeared to be made out of night blue coloured crystal and had an inner sparkle that seemed like the fiery glow of thousands of stars. Thin, strong strings lined the inside of the harp, shimmering bright red in the setting sun.
Cloud took the harp from the foreman. It rested perfectly in his hands. The Lunar Harp was a truly beautiful item. The blue crystal was smooth and cool; its touch brought a pleasant tingle to his fingers as he ran them over its surface. He lightly touched the strings. A soft, melodic sound echoed from the instrument—a sound so soft and quietening that everyone who heard it felt instantly calmer and at peace.
"Beautiful…" whispered Tifa. Yuffie and Red XIII both nodded in agreement.
Cloud let his eyes linger over the instrument a few seconds more before shaking himself loose of its mystical enchantment. He looked around at his friends. They all looked back at him. No one had forgotten the mission at hand. "Let's get going," said Cloud firmly.
The companions moved back across the camp. Most of the diggers had moved off now—their cars could be heard driving through the forest. The northwest area was completely deserted, everything beginning to grow dark in the approaching nightfall. The path leading into the Sleeping Forest was darker now, seeming like a dark tunnel stretching into blackness.
Cloud felt a sudden sense of unease as he stood at the entrance to the Sleeping Forest. All of a sudden the hairs on the back of his neck and arms stood on end. A terrifying chill crept over his body, like thousands and thousands of ants were crawling across his bare flesh. He shivered. What was this feeling of apprehension he felt when looking into the Sleeping Forest? Did anyone else feel it? Before anyone could see his hesitation he hurriedly stepped forward, walking through the dark doorway that led into the Sleeping Forest.
Darkness enveloped him for a few seconds as the shadows of the forest took over. Cloud walked hesitantly forward, taking careful steps in the blackness. Then with a start that made him almost jump back, the darkness was gone.
The original forest was gone, replaced by a sight Cloud had never seen yet felt it strangely familiar. It took him a few seconds to realise where he was. He was standing in the forest of his dream, where he had met Aeris and she had told him of her plans to stop Sephiroth. And where Sephiroth had said she must be stopped…
Everything was as it was in the dream, the trees, the air, and even the glow of unnatural light at the end of the path. That was where he had last seen Aeris—as she ran into the distance toward the City of the Ancients. That path, Cloud realised, led to the real depths of the Sleeping Forest. That light was the magic of the forest, there to confuse and disorientate those who tried to navigate its hidden paths. His hand went to the Lunar Harp at his side and prayed that it would world.
The others came out of the forest behind him, and each one looked around in wonder. Except for Vincent who glanced at the forest with uninterested red eyes. Apart from when he was fighting, Vincent rarely showed any emotion. A handy trick to have, Cloud thought, and envied Vincent for his ability to remain stoic.
Still, Cloud added to himself quietly, I wonder if there is anything or anyone in this world that can make him react.
The group of eight began to walk through the forest. Cloud held up the Lunar Harp, wondering how and when he was supposed to play it. Should he play it now, or was he to wait? Was there a specific tune he had to play in order to get the forest to lift its spell of confusion?
Cloud decided to take a chance on now. Bringing the company to a halt, they all gathered around him as he held up the harp. He began to strum the strings softly.
To his and everyone's surprise, the sounds that sprung forth from the harp were loud and unmelodic; completely unlike those they heard when they were outside the forest. Cloud still the strings with the flat of his hand, flushing in his shame at his lack of musical skill.
Yet as they watched, something strange began to happen to the forest. The leaves in the trees rustled, though there was no wind blowing. The trunks of the trees groaned and creaked right down to their roots, though nothing touched them. The blades of grass at their feet twitched and swayed, though nothing moved through them. At the end of the path, the glow of light flashed and faded a little, like a door being opened. The Sleeping Forest had awakened.
Yuffie was on the floor while this was happening, happily clutching a piece of materia she had found in the undergrowth. When she heard the trees groaning she dropped the materia in a flash, where it rolled steadily toward Cait Sith. The Mog picked it up and held it up to Cait, who stuck it gladly in his megaphone.
"Is that it?" asked Barret.
Cloud looked down at the harp. The star-like sparkles in the harp's handle had vanished. Its magic was gone. "I think so," he surmised.
Without really knowing what else to do, Cloud placed the harp at the base of a nearby tree. It was an odd thing to do, he thought. The harp looked like an item left behind in remembrance of a fallen comrade who has died at that particular spot. Shrugging, he followed the others as they headed into the now awakened Sleeping Forest.
The harp, meanwhile, seemed quite happy where it was. For as the Cloud and the others vanished into the distance, the harp lightly strummed melodic tunes of farewell notes into the fading light.
Emerald: I will stop butting in one of these days. Just wanted to make a note of the change of events in Bone Village. I didn't want to go through the whole dig thing, so I changed it so they found the Lunar Harp on the same day. That way they'd reach the City of the Ancients by nightfall. And also, I've never seen a picture of the Lunar Harp, so I don't know what it looks like. This is my own invention. I don't have the original Japanese game where they show us pictures of the items as well… Like Cloud's lacy black underwear from Wall Market. I wonder if he's still wearing that…