Leon and Cloud made their way trhough the forest, looking for any indication of Kadaj or Sephiroth. However, the blonde had other things on his mind as well, and he kept glancinf nervously at the brunette.

"You all right?" he asked, thinking, 'He really shouldn't be out here...those wounds he got from Yazoo haven't healed yet...'

"For the ninth time," Leon grumbled. I'm fine."

Cloud just shook his head, grunting in disbelief, as Leon reprimanded him. "Anyway, Cloud, you shouldn't be worrying about me. Just focus on finding those two."

Although he didn't know it, Leon was right, as cerulean eyes, peering down at them through the foliage, narrowed in distaste. Then the figure slipped off, slight frame slipping silently through the shadows, catlike eyes glowing in anticipation.

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i

Inside the airship, the afternoon sun made the horizon dance happily, and the occupants of the vehicle could feel the heat sinking into them, making them hot and drowsy. Tifa yawned, leaning back and blinking tiredly. Her eyelids sank, finally slipping closed...only to be awakened with a jerk as she heard Sora yell. Leaping up from where she had been sitting in the doorway of the airship, she ran in. the sight she saw made her blood run cold.

Roxas was gasping for breath, with Yazoo's hand holding him against the wall by his throat. The blone's hands were scrablling weakly, helplessly, against the silverhair's pale arms. Sora struggled to break the hold that Loz held on him, fighting and squirming to help. And steel glinted over Riku's exposed throat, the double katana held over the unconscious boy as Kadaj's cerulean eyes, filled with amusement, stared at her.

"Make one wrong move," he said silkily, "and the brat loses his head." Already, a thin line of blood trickled from the ivory skin as Shouba pressed down lightly.

"What do you want?" Tifa asked nervously, her eyes flickering from person to person. Kadaj just laughed. "I wanted my brothers. You stole them from me, and I wanted them back." At his words, a slight smile played over Yazoo's features, and Loz grinned.

"Well, you have them back, now."

"Of course. But Sephiroth gave me instructions. Now, it's not what I want. It's what he wants."

Tifa knew that he wanted her to ask, and she knew that she shouldn't ask. But the words slipped out before she could stop them.

"What...he wants?"

Kadaj winked, turning what was normally a friendly gesture into something menacing and terrifying. "He wants to...let's say...do away with the dogs."

Tifa's eyes narrowed, her muscles tensing. "By 'dogs,' you mean..."

"Yes. These two," Kadaj confirmed, eyes glinting maniacally, geasturing at Roxas and Riku. "The dogs that obey the humans, that run with them and live with them. they're traitors to their own kind...their own blood." Shouba pressed down again, the trickle becoming a stream, staining the pale skin and white sheets.

"Shit," Tifa eyes narrowed, before saying. "Well, what about you?"

Kadaj glared. "What about us? We follow the directions of another one of us, there's no shame in that."

"Since when have they followed our directions?" Tifa asked desperately, brain racing to try and figure out how she could prevent the silverhair from losing his head.

"Since they galloped through the forest looking for us," Kadaj snarled. "Trying to find us over the death of that useless b-"

"Shut up!" Sora growled. "Shut up, she was our-" his voice was cut off as his arm was yanked behind his back and he cried out. Tifa started forward, but a warning growl from Loz made her stop, even as her body screamed for her to spring into action.

"That's right," Kadaj purred. "Take one more step and your, ah...friend will pay. And don't take that threat lightly. We're dead serious."

"I know," Tifa said helplessly, "But please, don't hurt them."

Kadaj shrugged. "Ahh, don't worry. I won't hurt them." He lifed Shouba in the air, grinning. "I'll just kill them!" The blade whistled down, even as Tifa launched herself at him, knowing that she wasn't going to make it...but something whistled by her head, too fast to see clearly, clanging against the double katana, knocking the weapon aside. Not bothering to see who it was, Tifa spun, her foot aiming towards Kadaj's face. He dodged it easily, and she stood between him and Riku, glaring.

Yuffie appeared on the other side of the room, yanking out her shuriken from where it had buried itself in the wall.

"Hey, guys!" she grinned, and even as she spoke, the shuriken left her hand again, streaking towards Yazoo, aiming for the slender, sinewy arm. With a hiss of distaste, he pulled back, but his other hand flickered, snapping the shuriken to a halt, holding it steady in the air. Roxas slid to his knees, coughing and gasping as air was allowed back into his body.

Yuffie eyed the man holding her weapon. "Can you even use that?" she asked doubtfully. Yazoo glowered.

"You underestimate us," he spat. With barely a twitch he sent it back, and it came with such speed and power that the ninja was forced to dodged it, and it buried itself in the wall, the entire length of one to the points. Recovering enough from the shock to the move, Yuffie tugged on it, but it stayed where it was.

"Ah, shit," she grumbled, turning to face them again. Kadaj laughed coldly."Well, this certainly is an interesting situation, isn't it?" And it was. Yazoo stood over Roxas, and Loz still held Sora, while Tifa and Yuffie stood between Riku and the rest of the room.

"How the hell do we get out of this one?" Tifa thought desperately.

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"I want to do something, dammit!" he growled, gold eyes flashing dangerously.

"Patience, patience," Sephiroth assured him, but he wasn't going to be patient.

Turning to the silverhaired man, he snarled, "You forget who made you who you are."

With a flash, the swordpoint was pressed against his neck. "You forget," Sephiroth purred, "Who the better fighter is."

Yay, I'm done typing this up!! And it's me again, for those who saw me in Chris's other story. If not, whatev. I'm Chris's friend who has been assigned to type up his (he told me that it's fine to put up his gender, so sorry about that) stories while he's grounded. Yes, still grounded. Jeez, Chris is such a bad influence on me!! D: Anyways, even though I'm suppose to be updating as much as I can, I've had a TON of homework and haven't even have a lot of time for myself. Also, Chris started to bug me a lot to update, and when I realized that the last story that was updated was the one I typed...well...I felt bad. XD So I'll be typing up as much as I can this weekend. Just keep in mind that I'M the one who is causing Chris's stories to be slowly updated, not him. :3

REVIEW PLEASE AND THANK YOU.