"Ryu, mind slowing down a little?"

"Kweh!"

Anne yelped as Ryu halted and sent her flying ahead. She crashed into one of the trees of the dark forest and fell down into a heap, holding her nose.

"Stupid Chocobo," she grumbled as he squawked and waved his wings "Yes, you helped me but you also dragged us into Phoenix's kingdom! You dumb Chocobo!"

Ryu squawked louder, as if he was insulted and settled down to prune his feathers. Anne pinched her nose as she steadied herself to her feet and kept her head down to wait out her nosebleed. Ryu began pacing the area as she looked around the surroundings, sighing softly.

"And now we're lost," she muttered as she wiped her bloody hand down her top "And I'm in my pyjamas. This is all your fault you know."

"Kweh!"

"Ouch!"

Ryu had pecked her on the head sharply and she swatted at him.

"Get lost."

"Kweh!"

Anne watched with wide eyes as he turned around sharply and ran off.

"I didn't mean that literally!" she shouted at him "Come back here!"

"Kweh!"

"Oh you…"

She had only taken a couple of steps when she stubbed her bare toe on a tree root. She yelped, hopping around and leaning back on the tree to rub it tenderly.

"Damn it," she whispered with tears pricking her eyes "RYU!"

She didn't hear an answer.

"And now I'm all alone," she whimpered as a cold breeze passed.

She looked around, the gloomy woods looking the same in any direction she looked. She glanced up but the canopy was so thick, she couldn't see the sky. What time was it anyway? Anne crossed her arms and shivered. She didn't know where to go first. She couldn't stay here; she'd be found by monsters. Anne glanced down at the leaf covered ground. She could make out Ryu's fresh prints but she could also see other prints. Shoe prints. Her heart leapt.

"Tifa…"

There were only a couple clear prints, the others had been trampled by monsters. Anne crouched down by them and squinted her eyes in the direction they headed in. There didn't seem to be anything significant in that direction but Anne reckoned she had a better chance to find Tifa than to go on a wild Chocobo chase to find, well, her wild Chocobo. Anne glanced behind her, checking to see if Ryu was coming back at all. No, he wasn't. Useless Chocobo. Anne sighed tiredly and shook her head before walking in the direction of the footprints. She could see Cloud and Barret's boot prints with Tifa's as well, dotted randomly across the ground. Anne grimaced as she felt the damp soil greet her feet, embedding her own footprints alongside her sister's. Perhaps if Ryu had any brains at all, he'll be able to track her once he's done having a tantrum. Really, he enjoyed to kick off at the most inconvenient of times.

As Anne continued to follow the prints through the dark forest, she began getting wary. She didn't know what kind of monsters lurked in this kingdom, all the stories only told of horrible creatures that enjoyed killing. Some were described as huge with large teeth whilst others flew and enjoyed to paralyse or poison their victims. The further Anne walked, the more she hoped she didn't run into these creatures. If it was a small creature, she might be able to run. But Gaia forbid if she ran into a Behemoth or what if Malboros liked to breed here too? Anne picked up the pace. Or worse, what if she ran into a Tonberry? Those little buggers did crawl slowly but if they wanted to kill, Gaia have mercy, their little legs could run! Anne was speed walking now, her whole body taut in anticipation of something jumping out at her from the darkness. Perhaps she could climb a tree and wait out an encounter. Could monsters climb?

Anne jumped when she heard a growl and shot up the nearest tree without any thought. Her breath laboured, her heart beating against her chest, she crouched on her branch and waited. Her whole body was trembling in anticipation as she heard a tiny snarl and suddenly…

The cutest little Coeurl cub ran across her line of vision.

Anne stared. She watched as a second Coeurl cub pounced on the first and they began rolling around, mewling playfully. Anne found herself relaxing a little, only to tense up again as the mother Coeurl strolled along next, carrying the third cub in her jaws. Anne knew Coeurls didn't attack unless they're attacked first but she wasn't going to put herself at risk in front of a mother Coeurl and her young. She observed the mother Coeurl place the third cub down and glance behind her, her whiskers twitching. Something was spooking her. She looked around, keeping a watchful eye and lowered her head to the ground. She began sniffing and her head turned towards Anne's direction. Anne felt her heart race. Oh no. The mother Coeurl followed her nose to the base of the trunk and looked up. Anne focused on her nose, making sure not to make eye contact. Not that it mattered because this mother was angry and she yowled at her.

Anne's body began trembling as the Coeurl glared up at her, baring her teeth and her whiskers twitching with energy. She then roared and lighting struck the tree, setting it on fire. Anne slid down quickly and backed off, avoiding eye contact as the Coeurl slowly advanced. She suddenly snarled and Anne froze on the spot when lightning nearly hit her and sent some of her hair up with the static energy. Anne's knees trembled as the Coeurl continued to snarl and stop in front of her, ready to pounce. The Coeurl nudged her nose against Anne's clothes, sniffing and snarling, as if wondering if this human was really dangerous or not. Anne was the least dangerous thing in these woods, she had no weapons, no armour, not even any underwear! Anne stilled as the Coeurl nudged her wet nose against her necklace then backed off, snarling viciously. Anne stared ahead, panicking. What should she do? Take the necklace off for her? But as Anne raised her hands, the Coeurl snarled again, whiskers sparking with energy. Nope, she shouldn't move full stop.

The Coeurl took a step back and crouched, ready to pounce. Anne felt her blood being pumped in her veins as she stood there frozen. This was it. Because of her idiotic Chocobo, she was going to die at the paws of a Coeurl. Great, Ryu, just great. But just as the Coeurl made to pounce, a fierce and familiar roar ripped through the gloomy atmosphere. The Coeurl straightened up immediately, head turned behind her, where her cubs were blissfully playing or watching her. She glared at Anne shortly before running to her cubs to herd them away. Anne watched as she disappeared into the darkness and stared ahead where the roar had come from. Either that beast was really close or it was just a massive thing that was miles away. She had heard that roar before but she wasn't sticking around to figure out where she had heard it before. Anne turned on the spot and ran.

Her feet kicked up dirt as she supported her breasts with one arm (seriously, really uncomfortable when they bounce) and just ran, not caring if she was following Tifa's tracks or not. All she knew was that she needed to leave before that thing that scared off the Coeurl could find her. And she doubted hiding up a tree would save her. Anne tripped up over another tree root and rolled a little way before landing in the middle of a clearing. Rubbing her forehead, the little blacksmith sat up and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful lady. She flinched at how lifelike the crystal statue was and backed off. The woman was bent over, her hands reaching towards the ground as if to comfort or cradle a child. Anne stood and stared with wide eyes.

"Wait, you're the Queen's Statue."

There was no answer and Anne snorted at herself for thinking she'd get one.

"Sorry for calling you just a fairy tale."

She glanced down at where the queen had her arms outstretched. Her breath hitched and she bent down, grabbing the little pink ribbon that rested between the leaves.

"Marlene…"

She looked around for tracks, but she couldn't find many. Well, the tracks she found were definitely not Marlene's. Instead there were large prints dotted around the statue and Anne began fearing the worst. There was no blood or any other sign of the little girl but that made Anne the more worried. Where was she? Anne crouched down to touch the prints. They were big but not as big as a Behemoth's. Then again, Anne had only seen a carcass of one so what did she know? Anne looked around and spied a little pathway that had been made by monsters going up and down that particular route. She followed it, deciding that staying in one place was not a good idea. Her feet were filthy now, leaves stuck to her ankles, dirt lodged up in her nails, she was going to have to take a nice long bath when she got home.

As she continued down the path, she saw light. Her heart leapt, finally a way out of these woods! But then Anne stopped in awe at the tall structure that awaited her. There stood a tall black tower with no windows, save for a small one at the top but Anne really had to squint to take a look. Two large gothic doors stood as the entrance although Anne couldn't see them opening any time soon. Everything about this place felt off and Anne didn't want to stay any longer. She turned around to go back but was stopped in her place. The path back to the Queen's Statue was blocked. Anne staggered back in fear as the beast crept forward and rose to its hind legs, engulfing her in its shadow. Anne felt sick as she recognised the beast. This was the creature that haunted her dreams and slaughtered her in each and every one of them. Now the nightmare was reality, Anne was going to die.

"No…" she whispered as the creature took a step forward, baring its ugly teeth at her and glaring down at her with furious red eyes "Not like this, please…"

It snarled and Anne backed off, staring up at it in horror. She turned and ran for the doors. The earth quaked as the creature chased after her. The blacksmith threw herself at the door handles and with all the strength she could muster, she pulled. The door opened a crack and seeing that she didn't have enough time to pull again, she squeezed through, falling over at the beast slammed itself into the door to smash it closed. She sighed in relief as the creature roared angrily, pounding against the doors. She crawled away, leaning against the steps that were in front of the doors and resting, sighing and breathing as her heart began settling. She was so wrapped up in her recovery that she didn't hear the footsteps against the marble until…

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Anne slowly looked up at the well-dressed blond staring down at her with a malicious smirk.

"What brings you here, little girl?"