Chapter 8: The Kitsune and the Beast

It was approaching sunset in the area surrounding Cosmo Canyon, and a lone figure was stood on the top of the tallest canyon looking down into the valley below. Nanaki or Red as he was more commonly known to his friends always liked to stand on this canyon. It gave him a chance to reflect and to relax. After all the life of being the Guardian of Cosmo Canyon was a busy one, having to protect the canyon and having people asking for his advice. As much as he loved being Guardian, he never really had much time to himself and he longed to do some adventuring of his own.

"Hmmm…" Red said to himself, "it feels good to be out here on a cool evening." He started sniffing the cool air and he knew that dinner was soon on its way.

Because of his life as Guardian Red only really had a chance to hunt at night, not that he minded. In fact he preferred hunting when it was a lot cooler as Cosmo Canyon became extremely hot during the day. Red listened to the ground but he heard nothing, not the sound of hooves thumping on the ground as wild cattle grazed on what little grass there was in the area, not even the sound of crickets could be heard. The area was deathly silent and it unnerved Red.

"Strange," Red spoke calmly he wasn't one to lose his cool over something like this. "The cattle usually arrive by now to graze." He sniffed the air again and he found a smell that was strange to him. "What is that smell?" He asked as he continued to sniff the air. It wasn't an unpleasant smell, but it was new to him never the less. Red jumped from canyon to canyon until he landed softly on to the valley below. Red crept slowly along the valley, the smell grew stronger the further he walked. "It's definitely something new, I've never smelt anything like it before." Red carried on walking and he suddenly got an uneasy feeling.

"Something doesn't seem right here," He commented, Red wasn't frightened, he wasn't one to scare easily. But being an animal he can sense things better than any human and he didn't like what he was sensing. Red continued to walk through the valley, he knew the area well and he could navigate through it with his eyes shut, but now he was keeping his eyes, ears and nose peeled for anything even slightly out of the ordinary. Red came to a stop when he saw something lying in a heap on the ground, he crept up cautiously to the object and upon closer examination he found it was a body of some kind. But a body of what, it looked human, but it wasn't human, in fact Red hadn't seen anything like it before. Red sniffed the creature and found that it was still breathing. It wasn't hurt too badly but it had the odd cut and bruise.

"I wonder what this thing is?" Red asked himself, he was sure that his grandfather Bugen Hagen had books on this sort of thing in his observatory. Red jumped back as a soft moan escaped from the creature's throat. "Is it coming round?" Red looked at the creature and found that it was still unconscious. "No, now I know where that strange smell is coming from." Red nudged at the creature with his nose and with some difficulty he managed to get it on to his back. "I'll take him back to Cosmo Canyon, maybe the Elders will know what to do." Red darted of in the direction of Cosmo Canyon with the creature lying on his back.

Red walked through the entrance of Cosmo Canyon and the villagers stared in awe at the unconscious creature he was carrying.

"What do you suppose it is that master Nanaki has found?" One villager asked.

"Well whatever it is, it sure isn't human," Another villager spoke up.

Red ignored the villagers and made his way inside the canyon where an elder approached him.

"Master Nanaki," He greeted the beast. "What have you found?

"I've found him in the valley," Red answered, "I'm not sure what he is elder."

"Hmmm…" the elder thought for a while. "Perhaps master Bugen Hagen had books about this kind of thing."

"That's what I was thinking," Red agreed, "I'm going to take him up to grandfather's observatory now, but I need help."

The elder smiled at Red, "I'll see what I can do."

Red and the elder made their way to Bugen Hagen's observatory which was situated on top of the Canyon. The Elder and Red entered the building and the elder helped Red place the creature on to the sofa. Red was now able to get a closer look at the creature. He found that the creature was fox like in appearance, his fur was a reddish-brown colour, his eyes were still shut and he had blue spiky hair which extended down the length of his back all the way down to just above his seven tails. His clothes were torn slightly and he sported minor cuts and bruises.

"What do you suppose he is?" Red asked the elder.

"I've never seen anything like this before," the elder answered, he was just as confused as Red was. "He has the anatomy of a human, and yet he looks like a fox with multiple tails. Maybe Bugen Hagen has some books about this, I'll be right back."

The elder left the room leaving Red alone with the creature, the tip of his tail glowed brightly providing more light to the otherwise dimly lit room. Red stretched his body out and he was about to lie down on the rug next to the sofa when the creature began to stir.

"Ohhh…" He moaned softly, his blood red eyes fluttered open as he tried to get a good look at his surroundings but his vision was blurry.

Red saw the creature move. "Elder!" He yelled, "The creature, he's waking up!"

The elder ran back into the room, "He's awake?" The elder asked him.

Red nodded, "yes," he answered, "did you find anything?"

The elder shook his head, "no," he told Red, "I've never seen anything like this before."

Red: "That's alright," he told the elder, "I can take it from here." The elder left the observatory and Red walked up to the sofa and placed his front paws on to the sofa and pressed his face close to the creature.

"Where am I?" The creature asked groggily his vision slowly became clear and he saw Red's face staring back at him. "Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" He cried out.

Red quickly jumped back, his teeth were bared, his claws were outstretched and his tail was up in the air. The creature leapt off the sofa, his tails flowed all around him as he produced a concentrated ball of dark energy in his hand. For a while neither moved, but they continued to stare at each other intently. After a while Red began to lower his defences, he knew that this creature was a powerful one and Red could almost see the dark aura around him.

"Relax," Red called out to the creature, "I mean you no harm."

After hearing those words the energy ball in the creatures hand was quickly diminished and he lowered his defences. "You can talk?" He asked not taking his eyes off Red.

Red nodded, "Yes, it seems that you can talk as well, my name is Nanaki," Red introduced himself. "But my friends call me Red."

"I'm Nightshade," Nightshade replied, he looked down at his clothes and found that they were torn slightly, Nightshade sat back down on the sofa again and he began to calm down.

Red crept slowly up to the sofa and sat down facing Nightshade, "So what are you?" Red asked him curiously.

"I'm a Kitsune," came the reply. "It's a race of foxes with multiple tails."

"I see," Red replied, he had never heard of a Kitsune before and he was intrigued by Nightshade, especially since he could sense a dark aura within Nightshade, and yet there was also a light aura. Red couldn't see how dark and light could be in equal balance in one being. "I was just wondering," Red began to ask choosing his words carefully.

"Yes."

"When I found you unconscious in the valley," Red continued, "I could sense a dark aura around you and I sensed it again just now…"

"You want to know what that dark aura was," Nightshade cut in.

"Yes," Red replied, "How did you…"

"I read your mind," Nightshade answered, "Kitsunes are psychic, it's a curse as well as a blessing."

"I see…" Red said again.

"Anyway," Nightshade began to explain. "I was born half Dark Kitsune, Dark Kitsunes are dark versions of Kitsunes, but not all of them are evil. As such I have a dark form but I can tap into its powers without transforming, as you had just witnessed."

"I thought it was a bit strange that you could produce balls of dark energy," Red cut in, he was more and more intrigued about Nightshade's powers.

"My dark form is useful in battle," Nightshade told Red, "I can transform into it at will, but it took me years to learn how to fully control it."

"I see," Red said quietly, "so that explains your dark aura, and your light aura?"

"That'll be my Kitsune half," Nightshade answered, "Max is exactly the same as me."

Red gave nightshade a confused stare, "who's Max?" Red asked.

Nightshade hung his head, "he's my son," Nightshade explained everything that had happened, from his wife being killed, to saving Max from the Dark Kitsunes, all the way up to where they are now.

"So, he was born ¼ Dark Kitsune, and now he's half Dark Kitsune?"

Nightshade nodded, "yes," he answered, "Max had to learn how to control his dark side, he can now trigger it at will. We didn't always get on."

"How come?"

"It's complicated," Nightshade said vaguely, he didn't really want to have to go into too much detail about his and Max's falling out. "It took a while but we finally found closure, I haven't seen Max, or the others since we were separated in the storm."

"Well I didn't see anyone else down in that valley," Red told Nightshade, "I'm sure someone would have spotted them."

Nightshade nodded, he knew the beast was right, "yeah, someone's bound to have found them," Nightshade agreed but he couldn't help but worry about Max and the others. He pushed it to the back of his mind for now. "Hey, Red?" Nightshade found himself asking.

"Yes?"

"What are you?"

Red grinned at Nightshade, "I'll tell you what I told my friends years back," he answered vaguely. "I am what you see."

Nightshade gave Red a funny look, "You're what I see huh?

Red nodded, "that's right."

"So if I were to say that you were a lion…" Nightshade theorised.

"If that's what you see," Red cut in, "then that is what I am."

"I see…" Nightshade wasn't sure of what to think about this, there he was in the presence of an animal that was capable of speech. Then again with nightshade being a Kitsune he should have been more open minded about things like this. "Are there more of your kind?"

Red hung his head, "Alas no," he answered sadly, "as far as I know I'm the last of my race. But I've heard that there may be another member of my race out there."

"So why didn't you go looking for them?" Nightshade asked staring curiously at the beast.

"I've wanted to," Red told him, "I've been planning it since we saved the world from Meteor."

"So what stopped you?"

Red sighed, "my duties as Guardian of Cosmo Canyon, having to save the world again, the usual stuff."

"I see, what if you had help?"

"My other friends have their own lives to lead," Red answered.

"Well maybe you should take sometime off, to do a little soul searching."

"Maybe."

"So is it male or female?"

Red looked at Nightshade, "female," he answered confidently, he laughed when he saw the look on Nightshade's face. "The scent of a female is different to the scent of a male."

"And you can tell?"

"Of course," Red answered smugly, "I want to find her, I want to see another member of my kind, I want to, as humans call it, fall in love."

Nightshade snickered at this, "you mean you've never been in love?"

Red shook his head, "no, considering I grew up believing that I was the last of my race."

Nightshade stood up and glanced down at Red, "you're not missing much, put it that way." He walked out of the observatory leaving Red to figure out what he meant.

Nightshade leaned against the railing outside, the sun had long since set and the moon shone brightly in the sky and millions of tiny stars lit the heavens. The night was cool but not unpleasantly so and Nightshade felt the wind blow through his long hair. Nightshade could hear millions of voice all around him, he closed his eyes so that he could hear them clearly, but they were speaking in a language that he couldn't understand.

"What?" He asked the voices, "I don't understand, what are you saying?" The voices continued to speak in their hushed tones and Nightshade held the sides of his heads, "stop it, one at time."

"Is everything alright?"

The voices in Nightshade's head stopped as suddenly as they appeared, Nightshade turned round to see Red looking at him. "Oh," Nightshade sighed with relief, "it's you."

"What happened?"

"I was just…I could hear voices."

Red stared at Nightshade for a moment. "What kind of voices?" He asked.

"I don't know," Nightshade answered, "they were all talking at once and I couldn't make out what they were saying."

"You're hearing the planet," Red told him.

"What?" Nightshade asked looking confused.

"The Ancients could hear the planet, it's strange that someone who isn't from this world can hear the planet."

"I think those voices were the spirits of all those who had died," Nightshade told Red.

"You can hear dead people?" Red asked, he wasn't afraid, rather he was curious.

Nightshade nodded, "yeah, all Kitsunes can hear the voices of dead people, I've just never heard that many before."

"I see, about what you said before, about me not missing much, what did you mean?" Red asked he quickly changed the subject.

"Love is overrated," Nightshade answered he started looking out towards the canyon again.

Red sat down beside him and he looked up at the Kitsune, "how so?" He questioned.

Nightshade sighed, "love isn't all its cracked up to be," Nightshade explained with a hint of sadness in his voice. "You give your heart to someone you really care about. You even get married and start a family, for it all to be snatched away from you, just like that."

"That's what happened to you right?"

Nightshade nodded, "yeah, but I don't want to talk about it."

"And you never thought of remarrying?"

"Aurora was the only woman I ever loved, I can never love again. Like I said, love is overrated. Listen Red," Nightshade quickly changed the subject. "I'm gonna go for a walk, and clear my head."

"Do you mind if I come with you?" Red asked.

"I'd much rather be alone," Nightshade told Red.

"Oh ok," Red sounded disappointed but he still smiled at Nightshade, "I have to do my rounds anyway, makes sure everyone's ok, shall I meet you up here again later."

"Sure."

"See you later, Nightshade."

"Yeah, see you later, Red."

Red and Nightshade climbed down the ladder into the canyon and they went their separate ways. Red ran off in one direction to keep any eye out for any potential dangers and Nightshade began exploring the town. He was amazed at how people could actually live on a canyon. Nevertheless once they had gotten over the shock of the fact that Nightshade was not of their world they were very friendly towards him and Nightshade couldn't help but smile. He made his way down to the Cosmo candle, a huge flame in the middle of the canyon that never seemed to die out. Nightshade had heard of everlasting fire and he wonder what kind of enchantment was used on it. He sat down by the fire and he stared into it and he reflected about everything that had happened in his life.

"Aurora," Nightshade said sadly in his head, "I'm sorry, I failed you, and I failed Max. No," Nightshade stood up and he continued to stare into the fire. "I already failed Max once, I'm not gonna fail him again. I will find him."

Nightshade looked up at the sky and he saw that it was getting late, he walked away from the fire and he made his way back up to the observatory to meet Red.

Meanwhile in Rocket Town Angel woke up the following morning, her eyes were still red due to her crying the night before. She got out of bed and walked up to the mirror to find that her hair was a mess, she straightened it out as best she could without a hair brush and she tied it back into a ponytail. When she was satisfied with her appearance she left the room and walked downstairs to the kitchen where Shera was cooking breakfast for them all. Cid was sat at the table reading the morning newspaper, Shera smiled at Angel as she entered the room.

"Morning Angel," she said cheerfully, "did you sleep well?"

Angel smiled back and nodded, "oh yes, thank you."

"I hope you're hungry," Shera added as she carried three plates of bacon, fried egg, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and fried bread to the table.

"This looks delicious, thank you," Angel replied gratefully.

"Your welcome," Shera responded as she sat down in between Cid and Angel and everyone starting eating their breakfast.

"Hey, this is the best cooked breakfast I've ever had, Shera," Cid said between bites, which greatly annoyed Angel but she kept quiet about it.

"Why thank you Cid," Shera replied gratefully as she smiled at him.

Ten minutes later the phone rang just as they had finished eating their breakfast. "Who the hell would be ringing at this time!" Cid cursed loudly. "Can't I have some damn peace here for once!"

"Cid!" Angel admonished glaring at Cid, "What have I told you about your language?"

Cid snickered as he lit up a cigarette, "well you see," he explained mockingly, "there's what you told me and there's what I actually took into account."

Angel continued to glare at Cid and the phone carried on ringing, Angel knew that Cid was in no hurry to answer the phone and she gave an exasperated sigh. "I'll get the phone!" She snapped, she grabbed Cid's PHS from the table, she noticed the word BITCH in capital letters flashing on the phone before she answered it. "Hello, this is the Highwind residence, how may I help you?"

"Hello…" a young woman answered on the other side of the phone, she sounded nervous, "errm…is Cid there?"

"Yes," Angel replied, "I'll just get him, Cid," Angel called to him, "there's someone on the phone that wants to talk to you."

"Was there a phone name?" Cid asked Angel.

Angel gave Cid an evil stare, "it says the word…" Angel couldn't bring herself to say the word so she spelt it out instead, "B.I.T.C.H. on it."

"Oh great," Cid muttered sarcastically, "it's that brat of a ninja Yuffie."

"Just answer the phone," Angel pleaded, "she sounded really desperate."

Cid sighed and he snatched the phone off Angel, "what the hell do you want?" He shouted down the phone, "Bearing in mind that if it has anything to do with materia, I'm not interested!"

"Cid!" Yuffie yelled urgently down the phone, "I need your help, I'm…"

Yuffie was interrupted by another voice on the phone. "Five minutes remaining," a male voice told Yuffie but Cid could hear his voice down the phone.

"Alright!" Yuffie yelled at the man, "don't get your tail in a twist!"

The man on Yuffie's side of the phone just ignored her. "Four minutes and fifty seconds," he told Yuffie.

"Cid!" Yuffie pleaded, "I'm being held prisoner, you have to help me!"

Cid merely laughed at Yuffie, he never really took her seriously. "What did you do?" Cid asked jokingly, "Try to steal his freaking wallet!"

"Well…" Yuffie began to explain but she was interrupted again.

"Four minutes and thirty seconds."

"I'm getting there!" Yuffie yelled at her captor, "Just hang on!"

Her captor merely grinned and he continued his countdown. "Four minutes and twenty five seconds."

"I'm in a forest North of Wutai," Yuffie explained to Cid, "please Cid, help me out!"

"You tried to steal something from someone and he caught you, right?" Cid questioned suspiciously.

"Four minutes and ten seconds," the man said, "I caught her trying to steal more than that," the man told Cid.

"HEY!" Yuffie shouted at the top of her lungs. "IT'S MY PHONE CALL YOU STUPID GIANT TALKING BLUE FOX!"

Cid listened to Yuffie's loud description of her captor and he turned to Angel, "Hey Angel!" He called to her, "You might want to hear this." Cid pushed the loud speaker button so Angel could hear what was going on.

"Two minutes," Yuffie's captor retorted, "for the insult!"

Angel listened to the voice that sounded so familiar to her and then she realised who it was. "Lance?" Angel spoke into the phone.

"Angel?" Lance's voice could be heard on the loud speaker, "is that you?"

Angel nodded, "yes," she answered, "oh Lance, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Hey," Yuffie asked through the loud speaker, "isn't that the woman with the snooty accent who answered the phone?"

"Oh crap," Lance whispered under his breath, he knew what Angel was like if anyone ever insulted her.

"Snooty…accent…" Angel muttered angrily under her breath.

Cid started to panic, he seemed to realise that Angel didn't take too lightly to insults, especially if it was about her accent. "Damn," he said quietly to himself.

"She heard me, didn't she?" Yuffie asked sounding extremely nervous.

"You're on loud speaker," Lance told her.

"Crap," Yuffie cursed quietly, "sorry, I didn't mean it."

"The last person who insulted Angel ended up in hospital," Lance told Yuffie.

"For what a broken arm?" Yuffie joked.

"They were put in a critical condition."

"Oh…Cid!" Yuffie shouted desperately, "can you help me or not? I'm being held captive by a giant talking fox, there's something definitely wrong here!"

"You're talking to my wife on the other end of the phone," Lance said to Yuffie.

"She's a fox, right?" Yuffie asked Lance.

"She's a rabbit," Lance answered.

"You have a rabbit for a wife!" Yuffie exclaimed in shock. "What does she taste like?"

Lance grinned at Yuffie, "I think I'll go sharpen my spear," he said slyly, "I'm gonna have Wutinian meat tonight."

"Wait!" Yuffie cried out, "I'm sorry ok! I'm sorry I tried to steal your wallet, and I'm sorry for insulting you and your wife…just please let me go!"

"Throw her off the nearest cliff!" Cid suggested to Lance over the loud speaker.

"Come on Cid!" Yuffie tried to reason with the pilot. "Think of all the things I've done for you!"

"What things?" Cid asked quickly.

"Ok…" Yuffie tried a different tactic. "Then think of all the thinks I'm gonna do for you!"

Cid thought for a while then he shook his head, "nah, nothing comes to mind!"

"How about I clean up after myself whenever I throw up on the Sierra," Yuffie suggested trying to come to some sort of arrangement.

"I force you to do that anyway!" Cid was quick to remind her.

"Come on Cid, please!" Yuffie made one last ditch effort to appeal to Cid's kinder side. "I'll let you use the most powerful materia I have."

"You mean the materia I already own but you 'borrowed'!" Cid corrected her.

"Come on, it's a win-win situation."

"Yeah," Cid said wittily, "I lose a pest and Lance gets to vent out some of his frustration!"

"Hey look! I'm sure Lance would love to see his wife again."

Cid sighed, "I'll come to Wutai then," he said finally, "Lance have fun chucking Yuffie off that cliff!"

"Hey! Whatever happened to helping a friend in need?" Yuffie demanded.

"You're not a friend!" Cid shot back, "You're a pest!"

"Now I know you didn't mean that," Yuffie told Cid trying to get into his good books. "I can be useful at times."

"When?"

"Hey!" I could have easily run away anytime since I joined you guys!" Yuffie defended herself, "but did I? No, I went to the centre of the Earth with you guys, and I helped to defeat Sephiroth. I helped to evacuate Midgar when Meteor was about to destroy it, and I even returned to help defeat Bahamut Sin."

Cid laughed at this, "You almost got killed by Bahamut Sin, you had your ass handed to you by Sephiroth and you dropped eleven civilians when you were evacuating Midgar."

"So I can be a little clumsy!"

"A little clumsy! You pushed the DO NOT PRESS button on the Sierra!"

"I was curious!"

"It was the emergency engine shutdown button!"

"Then why didn't you tell me that before I pushed the button?"

"It had a sign over it saying DO NOT PRESS! In big red letters!"

"Oh ok," Yuffie sighed, "I get the point, fine, don't help me then, but it'll be on you conscience!"

Cid merely shrugged in response, "and…" he asked mockingly.

"You guys were always pushing me around!" Yuffie yelled tearfully, " you're just as bad as my father!"

"Your point being?"

"Cid," Angel cut in, "maybe you should help her."

"Angel!" Lance shouted down the phone, "don't tell me you're siding with her after what she said to you!"

"Well I'm just suggesting anything that will stop her from whining," Angel told Lance while she was holding her head, "she's giving me a splitting headache!"

"Throwing her off a cliff sounds like a good idea," Lance commented agreeing with Cid.

"I won't have you throwing her off a cliff!" Angel admonished Lance.

"Yes dear," Lance quietly obeyed Angel.

"Good," Angel said, satisfied, "now Cid and I will be along shortly, won't we Cid?"

"Well…" Cid began to make excuses, "there's some repair work that I need to overlook on the Sierra, and then there's some pilot training lessons I have to do." Angel glared at Cid, he sighed, "we can leave in ten minutes."

"Can't we leave sooner than that?" Angel asked him, "my husband is out there."

Cid shook his head, "nope."

"Why not?"

"We have to get the Sierra ready for take off," Cid answered.

"It takes that long for an airship to take off?"

"No, fuel and supplies take that long."

"Oh…we'll be there as soon as we can, ok Lance."

"Ok," Lance answered on the loud speaker, "see you soon Angel."

"See you soon Lance," Lance and Angel hung up on the phone and Cid picked the phone up and put it in his jacket pocket.

"So, are we ready?"

"Yes."

"Good, Shera, I'm just gonna prepare the Sierra then me and Angel are gonna go and pick up Lance and the brat, alright."

Shera nodded, "ok Cid," she walked up to Cid and kissed him. "Take care of yourself."

Cid laughed and he kissed her back, "don't worry Shera, I always take care of myself."

Shera released Cid and she hugged Angel, "it was nice meeting you Angel."

Angel hugged Shera back, "thanks for having me."

"You're welcome, well you better get going."

The two women broke apart and Angel followed Cid out of the house to the hangar where the Sierra was kept.

Back at Cosmo Canyon Nightshade had returned to the Observatory on top of the canyon. He sat down on the sofa and waited patiently for Red, he produced an energy ball and was tossing it into the air while he was waiting. Eventually the red beast returned and the energy ball disappeared.

"Where have you been?" Nightshade asked Red as he walked into the room.

"I've just been checking every where, to make sure nothing hostile will enter the canyon," Red answered as he sat down opposite Nightshade, "and it all seems fine to me. Did you enjoy your walk?"

Nightshade nodded, "yeah, I ended up at this flame that never seemed to go out."

"Aaahhh, the Cosmo Candle," Red replied.

"Yeah, how does that thing stay alight? Is it some kind of enchantment?"

"I think so," Red answered not really sure how the Cosmo Candle can stay alight. "I'm going to call a few people, see if they know the whereabouts of your friends."

"Ok, thanks."

Red walked over to the table to where the Phs was and he placed his front paws on to the table, and he realised that he couldn't dial the number. "Err…Nightshade," Red called out to him, "a little help please."

Nightshade smiled at this and he walked over to the table and he picked up the phone. "What number do you want me to dial?" He asked the beast, Red told Nightshade the number and he dialled it. When the phone was ringing Nightshade held the phone to Red's ear and they waited patiently for an answer.

Meanwhile in Rocket Town Cid was busy re-fuelling the Sierra and making sure all the supplies were ready. Angel watched him eagerly, she had been in an airship before, but not one like this. Cid had just finished all the checks on the Sierra when his PHS rang again.

"Bloody hell!" Cid cursed ignoring the evil stare Angel was giving him, "who's calling now! If it's Yuffie again I swear I'll…" Cid grabbed the PHS from his pocket he looked at the name and saw that it said the word RED on it. He pressed the loud speaker button, "hello?"

"Cid, it's Red," Red answered down the phone.

"What do ya want?" Cid demanded.

"We need a ride in the Sierra," Red replied.

"We, who's we?"

"I've found this strange creature at Cosmo Canyon, he calls himself a Kitsune, goes by the name of Nightshade."

Angel's ears pricked up when she heard the name Nightshade, "Nightshade!" She exclaimed.

"A friend of yours?" Cid asked staring at Angel.

"Who was that?" Red's voice could be heard on the loud speaker.

"This is Angel," Cid answered, "she seems to know your guy quite well."

"I see…"

"Is that Angel? I can hear on the other side of the phone." Nightshade's voice could be heard on the loud speaker.

"Yes," Angel answered, "a guy named Cid found me, he's a pilot. We got word that Lance is in a place called Wutai."

"Wutai?" Nightshade asked looking confused, "What's that?" He questioned Red.

"It's a town on an island opposite Rocket Town," Red explained, "Yuffie has probably found him."

"Yuffie's currently being held captive by this Lance guy," Cid told Red, "Yuffie called earlier, the pain in the ass said that she needed help."

"We're going to pick up her and Lance now," Angel added.

"Alright," Red stated to show that he understood, "go to Wutai and find Yuffie and this Lance, and then could you stop by at Cosmo Canyon to pick up me and Nightshade?"

"Jeez, do I have the word mug tattooed to my forehead?" Cid yelled down the loud speaker, "everyone wants me to pick them up all of a sudden! I'm not everyone's personal chauffeur!"

"Come on Cid, I wouldn't ask unless I really needed to," Red pleaded with his old friend.

Cid sighed, he knew Red was right. "Alright," Cid gave in, "I'm gonna go to Wutai, pick up Lance and the annoying pest, then I'll stop by Cosmo Canyon and pick you and this Nightshade up."

"Thank you Cid," Red replied gratefully, "You won't regret this."

"Yeah, yeah," Cid responded dismissively, "Cid out."

Cid and Red hung up on the phone and Angel turned to face Cid, "So we're going to pick up Lance and Yuffie first?"

Cid nodded, "Yeah, then we're gonna head to Cosmo Canyon."

"I'm so sorry about this Cid," Angel apologised.

Cid smiled at Angel, "Nah, don't worry about it, well we better get going."

Cid started the ignition on the Sierra and the airship began to take off and flew towards Wutai. Cid and Angel were unaware that someone was watching them, hidden in the shadows, bright yellow eyes flashed in the sunlight followed by evil laughter before the shadowy figure disappeared in a flash of purple light.

Well that's chapter 8 done, sorry it's late but I've been very busy lately. Chapter 9 will be coming soon, please feel free to comment.