NOTE: There will be (long) delays in updating now because college life for me is back again. Hope you understand… if there is anyone reading anyway. XD

Chapter 11: The Nonstop Pursuit

"Angeal! She's coming from behind!" Genesis warned, griping his sword.

Angeal turned quickly. He and Purge clashed with their blades in the midair. "Aren't you getting tired of chasing after us yet?" Angeal narrowed his eyes at her. She did not reply and held her ground.

Vincent was hiding with Yuffie behind a tree of the Firefly Forest, making sure that Purge would not attack from anywhere. Tsk, three days passed since Cloud and the others went their separate ways. He thought to himself. They would not be able to get anywhere as long as the assassin was following them.

Genesis ran and jumped into the air towards the assassin.

She bit her lower lip and swiftly pushed against Angeal's sword and jumped back to distance herself from the two men. They're pretty strong… she lowered her head to hide her face. So this is the power of the first class Soldiers… but I don't think I've seen anything yet. What she knew of them came only from old rumors.

It seemed she made a mistake facing them two days ago. When she noticed Angeal and the others were still in the village, she wanted to attack while they were sleeping, but Vincent heard her and stopped her. Her skills as an assassin were starting to rust up.

Genesis and Angeal looked at the young woman and glanced at each other.

"If we don't kill her, she'll just keep coming at us," Genesis said. He had been reasoning this idea to Angeal since yesterday but Angeal refused that way of thinking. "We're only going to fall behind if we don't hurry up."

Angeal grunted, "No, Genesis."

"I don't have to listen to you, you know?" Genesis smirked. His eyes fixed on the hooded woman. "She's just a cold-blooded creature who needs to be put down."

Angeal narrowed his eyes at Purge, bringing down his sword. "Can we talk for a moment?" he inquired.

She silently waited to see if one of them would jump towards her.

With a sigh of relief, Angeal withdraw his sword behind his back. "Purge… is your name, right?" he asked. "Are you from the other world?"

She did not respond.

"If you are…" Angeal gestured to where Vincent and Yuffie were. "There's really no reason for you to be after Yuffie, right? You can't return with her head to get your payment from the person who asked you to kill Yuffie from that other world."

"Are you saying that I should wait?" Purge inquired, using a hissing voice.

Genesis smirked, "So you're really from the other world then. Yuffie's head would rot before you could find a way back."

Purge's weapons disappeared and she crossed her arms. "You guys have a point there," she nodded to herself. "That person wanted me to bring her head nice and fresh. …Now that I think about, I could have already killed Kisaragi and she could have joined the Lifestream already. When I saw her here, I only thought why she was alive."

"Yes, she was already dead," Angeal said. "It's only natural to see her in the Lifestream, in this world."

Vincent carried Yuffie in his arms and walked to the threesome. "You mean… she's really dead?" he asked.

"Seems that way," Genesis said, looking over his shoulders to him.

"I killed her once," Purge nodded to herself again. "And she doesn't have the same wounds I gave her that time. She moved around like nothing more than a few days ago. Yes, she is dead for sure." She smirked and uncrossed her arms. "I guess I already completed my mission, but what am I do to…? Her body must be rotting in the other world by now."

Vincent lightly glared at Purge. "Who told you to assassinate her?" he demanded. He knew it was Purge who killed Yuffie, but the person behind the scene should be the one responsible for this in the first place.

"I've been paid the first half to not give that person's name," Purge said. "Sorry, but it's my job. If you triple the price, I'll tell you."

"Money freak," Genesis assumed aloud.

Purge ignored him and turned to Angeal. "I've heard about your mission back in the village," she said. "Have you guys thought of a way back to the other world? I need to rush back there."

"You mean you eavesdropped," Genesis said.

"No," Angeal shook his head lightly. "Not a clue yet."

She nodded slowly. "Then…"

"Can't you just teleport there to the other world?" Genesis questioned. "Why don't you do that instead of wasting your time with us?"

"I don't think I can," she replied. "I'm not confident enough to try it out. If it is all right… may I come along with you guys? I want to go back as soon as possible."

The three men were quiet.

"I won't be in the way," she said, assuring them. "I'll stand more than one mile from you guys."

"I'm only afraid that you might attack us when we're not looking," Genesis said, smirking.

"Aren't you a chicken," she said in a monotone voice. "We've already settled things about Kisaragi. There's nothing to fear."

"You're talking too much," Genesis pointed his blade at her. "I didn't think you were so talkative until now."

Angeal lightly pushed Genesis's hand away. "You may come with us as you please," he told her.

"What, Angeal?" Genesis glanced at him, irritated.

"I will make sure I won't bother you guys," Purge nodded. "I will try not to annoy that guy in red by talking either."

Angeal nodded.

Vincent heard Yuffie moaning and looked at her. She slowly opened her eyes. "Ow… where am I?" she quietly asked. When she saw Vincent, being in his arms, she let out a loud cry. She jumped off and fell on the ground, hitting her head and back. "Ow!"

"Yuffie," Vincent kneeled down to her. "You're finally awake."

He helped her sit up. "Geez…" she moaned. "Why am I aching all over…? Oh…" She remembered the wound on her back and in her right arm. She just hit her head and it was also hurting.

"How are you feeling?" Vincent asked in a caressing tone.

"Just fine, thank you," she said, not looking him in the eye. She rubbed the back of head with a pout. Damn… I should have stayed in my other form so I can heal faster… She thought, annoyed with her human body.

When Yuffie saw Purge she backed away a little bit. "You can relax," Purge said. "I already killed you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuffie gave the hooded girl a dry expression.

"Let's move on," Angeal said. "We're behind schedule already." He was glad he had things cleared up with Purge. Now they would not have to worry about being chased down.

Genesis followed behind him.

Vincent held his hand to Yuffie. "You're still not in any condition to move around so I'll carry you," he said.

She stared at his hand for a moment and then at him. "…A piggyback ride?" she asked, her eyes shining with hope.

"If you want," he said, half smiling.

She nodded. He turned his back to her and she got on him. As he stood up, she asked, "Hey, why are you being so nice to someone like me?"

He began to walk. "We're friends… aren't we?"

With a paused, she thought about it. …We are? She asked herself.

Purge stood where she was, staring at Yuffie's back. She could not help but wonder if she really was dead or not. The only thing that confused her was why did Yuffie have gray skin, but now it was normal. "I should keep an eye on her," she decided.

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Reno and Rude stepped out of room that was numbered two-zero-nine and closed the door. They were in the hospital, checking up on someone. They were ordered to do that everyday since the day when red Lifestream had appeared in their world.

"How is she?" a woman's voice asked.

Rude looked to his left, looking under his sunglasses. Shelke and Shalua stood a yard away from them. "Nothing changed," Rude replied.

Reno sighed heavily. "Yep, no sign of change at all," he repeated tiredly and looked at Rude. "Why are we even ordered to come here daily? Don't we Turks have something more important to do? It has been more than a week since Cloud and his friends disappeared."

Rude crossed his arms, feeling rather worried about it as well. "Tseng already made it clear, didn't he?" he questioned. "She might be able to help us if she regains consciousness. There's no other clue out there for us to figure it out right now. You understand that, right?"

Reno shook his head in frustration. "I'm going to get something to drink," he said, walking away hurriedly.

"I'm going to see how she's doing," Shalua said, turning the doorknob open. Shelke followed her sister inside.

Rude watched them enter and went after Reno.

Shelke and Shalua stood beside the bed, looking at the status of the Shinra's technology. A lot of wires were spread around the room with soft beeping sounds. Shelke looked down at the person on the bed with a sad expression.

Yuffie lay under the white sheets with the wires under them. She was breathing and her heartbeat was beating, but they were really weak. Despite that she should be dead by now, her body was not rotting and had not been for more than a whole week. Her skin was a bit pale, but her face still showed a sign of life in her.

It was the most mysterious thing.

"Yuffie Kisaragi…" Shelke murmured. "What happened to you?"