And it is thus that my internet dies AGAIN!!! Ok, scratch that, my entire computer upped and shot itself in the hard-drive… with a bazooka. For ages I had no computer, and I only got a completely reformatted one literally weeks before Christmas. Yeah, that's some present isn't it?

And then I fall ill, and as I write this Author's note, my voice is distinctly missing in action. Yeah, I've lost my voice... again... and any attempt at speaking louder than a strangled gasp that sounds like I'm trying to whisper while out of breath tends to bring up a rather nasty cough. I know this shouldn't have much to do with the lateness of this chapter, but it left me feeling bad enough that I didn't even want to touch the computer… Migraines don't help either… Oh, nor the fall I had which knackered up my knee something bad. I still can't put any weight on it, or bend it… or even look at it without much pain.

Word of advise: if you slip on the icy pavement (which happened to be on a steep hill, and considering the pavement was right next to a school, you'd think they'd have at least made the effort to grit the sidewalk, but I digress), do not be extremely stubborn and still try to get to the shop at the bottom of the road despite the very painful limp you now have. I did just that and ended up slipping a second time, so my knee felt even worse, and my back was now in pain, and I wasn't able to actually get up for five minutes so I just lay there in the street in shock. Had to hobble along the middle of the road just to get back up the hill, seeing as the road was ice free… moral of the story, being stubborn hurts like a bitch.

Chapter 29: Calm before the Storm

The Wutai capital. It looked like your standard oriental themed city; that is to say… It looked nothing like any city I'd ever been to before and was now just claiming that it looked like a standard oriental city like I was an expert.

Yes, I am incredibly idiotic like that.

It had been two days since I'd arrived, parting ways with Shadow almost as soon as I had put a single foot within the city limits. Guess my presence was too awesome for him to cope with. Or maybe he just went off looking for a mama to slit the throat of for a nickel. Whichever seems more likely.

I'd spent those two days that I was in the capital in a small hotel. It wasn't a five star joint, even with my saved gil, I could never afford to stay in a high class hotel for any longer than a day. No, I'd rate the hotel at a meagre three stars.

In my new found spare time, I had learnt how to eat using chopsticks, and was thus enjoying my chow mein the way it was supposed to be eaten. I'd also found that Spike (as in the internal lizard that won't leave my brain) could understand native Wutainese. I'd been shocked at this discovery, wondering how it was possible.

It turned out that Wutainese was the Mandarin dialect of Chinese… Spike's native tongue, so to speak, pun not intended.

Really, what should I have expected? The little bastard is a Physignathus cocincinus; or a Chinese Water Dragon, if you will. It's only natural that he know some form of the Chinese language, what with it being his cultural heritage.

It would have been nicer if he'd at least informed me of this before I made a fool of myself by trying to speak what very little Japanese I know, somehow getting the impression that Wutainese translated into Japanese. And by very little, I mean all I know is how to say 'hello', 'bastard', 'hyena' (seriously, don't ask), 'jaw' and 'what'. So there I was calling myself a bastard hyena in Japanese, while the poor sod I was trying to talk to gave me odd looks, trying to tell me he couldn't understand a word I was saying, all the while, the lizard within was giggling at me.

Oh, and it turns out even Montblanc could understand Wutainese.

I hate being left out of the loop.

Eventually, Spike decided that he'd had enough fun at my expense and told me what to say to whoever I was talking to if they couldn't speak English, or whatever the Gaian equivalent was. I got the impression that he made me insult myself a time or two, if the giggles from both Montblanc and the lizard within were any indication. It didn't help that I was given odd looks from time to time.

"Wǒ shì yī gè liè gǒu." I repeated the demon residing in my head.

"Nǐ kàn qǐ lái xiàng yī gè xī yì." The young Wutain woman giggled, looking like she was admiring me.

You didn't just make me flirt with her did you?

'No, nothing like that.' Spike reassured me.

Mentally rolling my eyes, I quoted the next thing Spike told me to say. The woman pondered for several seconds before shaking her head. She said something, which Spike instantly translated into 'Not that I've seen'.

"Xiè xie nín.' I bowed.

The woman bowed back, before walking away. I sighed, shaking my head and looking around at the busy marketplace. For a while, I'd been afraid that I'd arrived here too late, and that the rest of AVALANCHE had already been here and moved on. That was why I was in the market, asking if anyone had seen any of the members of AVALANCHE, or, something that tended to get more direct answers, had 'Princess Yuffie' been home recently.

No matter what I asked, nobody had seen my teammates. This at least gave me hope that I hadn't been left behind, but it also gave me the problem of what to do while waiting, and how to make certain that I wasn't left behind when AVALANCHE did get here. In the end, all I could do was continue to ask around and hope that I ask someone who sees them while they're in town.

It was dull, it was boring, it was also necessary.

I was forced to pause in my sulking when one of the people behind the stalls tapped my shoulder and started speaking rapidly in Wutainese. Holding up my hand, he paused, and I asked him an important question.

"Nín shuō Yīng yǔ ma?"

The man smiled for a moment.

"Yes, I do." He answered, speaking in the one language in which I am fluent. Well, unless one counts 'Bad English' as its own independent language, like Bruce Willis does.

"Thanks, care to repeat what you saying before?"

The man nodded.

"I was asking whether you'd like to buy some foot wraps. Fall is approaching, which means that the temperature will start dropping. Going bare foot is probably a bad idea."

"Ah… foot wraps?"

"Somehow, assuming that you really are a giant lizard, I seriously doubt that we'd be fitting shoes on those feet." The man grunted, pointedly looking at my feet.

Following his gaze, yes, I had forgotten that with my metamorphosis, my feet were hardly the appropriate shape for footwear.

"And you just happen to sell foot wraps?" I asked, sceptically.

"During the summer, the lower classes of Wutai prefer wearing them. Only people who don't are those with military backgrounds, Godo, and the five within the Pagoda. I'm just trying to get rid of the last of my stock before no-one else will buy them for another year."

I crossed my arms.

"And came to me because I was wearing nothing." I frowned. "Fine, I'll take a couple."

The man shoved four leather socks into my arms. Looking at them, I felt slightly cheated. They were just leather strips, somehow wrapped in such a way that they were essentially toeless and heel-less socks; if my coat was damaged beyond repair, I could always cut several (supposedly behemoth hide) strips that would work just as well.

Still, being told that it was only two gil, I just rolled my eyes and flipped him a couple of coins which he caught.

"Say, has the Princess Yuffie been home lately?" I asked.

"Not that I am aware of." The man shrugged.

Frowning, I turned away for a moment, gathering my thoughts. I turned back to the man, intent on being polite and thanking him for selling me the socks, if for no other reason than to be polite.

The man was gone, along with his stall.

Blinking, I scanned the crowds, but found no sign of the man, or his stall. Sighing, I took a seat at a nearby bench and began to pull on my all new leather socks. Once I was done, I looked at the end result.

Looks ok, I suppose.

'Those might be a godsend when bad weather hits though. Just picture walking on snow in bare feet…'

I shuddered at the thought. Ok, suddenly I find myself respecting the decision to buy these foot wraps. The Icicle Inn would still be a pain in the ass to visit if ever we go there. All that snow… that coldness…

I shuddered again, and felt the lizard within give a shudder of his own, a very weird sensation, since he was in my mind, and thus had no physical body with which to shudder.

"I have done as you asked, young one." The aged man who had just recently sold a pair of foot wraps to me grunted, bowing his head.

"Thank you." Jade mumbled, a frown marring her features.

"Is there something troubling you?"

"Nothing really." The PS2 shook her head, handing the man something.

The man took a look at the item and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"This, this is for real?" He asked, breathlessly.

"Yes. Now go, give your family a large meal in celebration of your nephew's birth."

Smiling widely, the man ran off, after repeatedly thanking the PS2, who grinned back at the display of happiness. Once he was gone, the frown returned to her face as she turned and exited the alley from the other side.

Her eyes drifted to the entrance to the city, locking onto a robed figure.

"Hello… now who might you be?" She asked herself, rhetorically. "You aren't one of mine."

The figure looked around for several moments, eyes missing Jade, due to her being hidden within the shadows of the building that she was leaning against. Seeming to think that it was in the clear, the hooded figure moved forwards, flowing through the crowds.

"What are you up to?" Jade mused.

Suspicion lacing her thoughts, Jade moved to follow, completely blending into the crowds.

I had finally found a constructive use of my time. I had been constantly meaning to ask either Tifa or Yuffie, but had never had the time to, however time was something I seemed to have a little too much of at the moment.

What new way had I found to spend time on?

Being taught the basics of martial arts.

Yes, what few times I'd had to use my fists in battle everything had been fine, but even I could tell that it was just skin of my teeth, making-this-shit-up-as-I-go-along, plain ol' brawling.

Even street fighters had to learn the basics of actual fighting, and street fighting's loose style held an appeal to me.

True, even if I were to fully learn and master a style of martial arts, I'd still go brawling rather than going through the moves of whatever martial art, but that would be more out of desire to be more unpredictable, and let's face it, no martial arts in all of Gaia accounted for the presence of claws and a tail. Both the claws (and talons, as I tend to call the toenails) and tail meant that unarmed attacks took a slightly different meaning with me. Scratches were actually a valid choice of attack, and fancy spinning kicks? Yeah, I spin, they get a face full of tail… if anybody makes an innuendo out of that, I will claw their eyes out.

Speaking of the tail; who needs arms and hands to grapple people when you can use your tail for just that.

Anyway, it's more of a fall-back plan. I'm hardly going to copy Tifa and start punching steel robots, I have a 'potentially legendary' gunblade that I can't lose, and a knife. Really, this is more a formality, but whatever.

Besides, what if I'm forced into a martial arts competition or some such? Highly unlikely; yes… but considering that I'm a guy that was sucked into a videogame, highly unlikely may as well translate into 'may very well happen'.

Or maybe I'm just over-thinking these things.

Besides, Tifa had been telling me I should at least learn something, back before I fell off a mountain.

Did I ever punch Seifer in the face for that? Truce or not, he deserved a good punch to his jaw for sending us tumbling off a mountain like that.

I'm rambling. I think I mentioned back near the beginning of my tale that I did that from time to time. I wish I didn't, it feels like I'm trying to talk 'till the end of time.

What was the point of all this again? Ah: I was being taught martial arts by instructor Sabin. Weird thing was that despite being the best martial artist in Wutai, he wasn't Wutainese, if anything, he looked like he was from around the Nibelheim area, he did feel similar to Cloud. It was… the posture? No, besides, Cloud's posture shows the fruit of his training as a SOLDIER. I can't really describe it, but he just feels like he was from around the same area as Nibelheim.

Upon entering the dojo, I was slightly disappointed that no Yakuza mobsters started leaping around challenging me to a duel of honour for whatever reason. Clearly all those cheesy martial arts movies I wasted my youth on were lying about that small detail. Shame, I kinda wanted to do an Indiana Jones and just shoot one after a fancy display of martial arts.

At any rate, I am learning from a true master… at a rate comparable to a snail. Sabin was optimistic about the rate that I was learning, all grins that actually reached his eyes, proving his honesty, but I really couldn't see where his optimism was coming from. I was lousy at this whole martial art business.

Well, I did manage to learn how to throw a punch properly, and all the safety guides therein, like not to fully straighten my elbow during the punch, etcetera, etcetera.

Is it a sad thing that I am shocked I even got that?

The day ended with me exhausted from all the training. Sabin claimed that I was doing rather well, and that he could already see definite improvements. I couldn't see it, and outright told him that he was clearly delusional. He just laughed me off, patted me on the back, which hurt even though it was simply a friendly pat, and went off to do… whatever the hell Sabin does when not teaching anthromorphic lizards how to throw a proper punch.

Left in the darkening city, I made my way back to my hotel room, checking just how much Gil I had left.

Enough.

Giving a smile and a wave at the receptionist, who grinned back in greeting, I made my way to my room. I probably mentioned before, but a lack of sweat glands meant that my clothes weren't all stinky after the extensive exercise I've been through today, hell, a whiff of my armpits smelled vaguely of the deodorant I'd used that morning, and not tainted with the horrible smell usually associated with armpits.

Still, after today, I felt a dire need to shower regardless. I wondered, briefly, whether this was simply a habit that carried over from when I was still human, when exercise made me stink bad enough to be used as a super biological weapon. I didn't dwell on the thought, simply deciding that after the stress I'd induced upon my body, it would feel nice to run a nice hot shower simply and remain there for a good hour or so.

Across the city, a robed figure walked out from an alleyway, eyes scanning the street both ways. On the discovery that the street was empty, he moved into a nearby building, pushing the door open with ease. He was forced to blink as his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting as he moved to the bar and sat upon an empty stool.

"Kuroshu." He grunted, as the bartender looked towards his latest customer.

Nodding, the man behind the counter pulled out a bottle and a small cup, placing them before his latest customer, before moving to another customer.

Taking a sip, the robed man turned to the person seated next to him, examining her before nodding to himself.

"Nín shuō Yīng yǔ ma?" He asked.

The woman turned her violet eyes to him, eyes drilling into him with an intensity that almost made him squirm.

"I do." She finally grunted, taking a sip of rice wine.

"May I ask you whether you've seen a lizard-like being around here recently?"

The woman didn't appear to have heard him, and he was about to repeat himself when she spoke.

"I see no reason why it is any of your business." She grunted, flicking a strand of hair from her face. "I know of the one you speak of, but I've not seen him around these parts."

The robed man frowned, returning to his drink, though occasionally shooting glances at the woman next to him.

"I'd keep the eyes to yourself if I were you." The woman spoke after the forth time. "You have no chance."

The man quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't react, though he didn't look at her again until after he finished his drink and got up, placing a couple of Gil next to his empty bottle.

Once he was gone, the woman turned to face the man sitting on her other side.

"What do you think he wanted with the kid?" She asked.

The biker-gangster look-alike furrowed his brow.

"Beats me." He shrugged. "Why, you feeling concern for the lizard-brat?"

"He's interesting. Something about him…"

"Interesting enough that you went and kicked him in the balls."

"Now you sound like you're the one feeling concern." She smirked.

"You kicked a guy in the balls! I might not like the brat, but nobody, not even he deserved that."

"He threw me in the garbage."

Shaking his head, the biker-gangster chugged down some of his drink.

"You're going to make us both stalk him, aren't you?" He asked, sounding annoyed.

"Nooo." She shook her head. "I'm only going to make you stalk him. I plan on stalking the lizard."

"…You're as bad as Tseng. Does having a week off mean nothing to you?"

"Sure it does." The woman grinned, making the man shudder at the sight of her too-large canine. "It means that we don't have to bend over backwards for a bunch of paper pushers and a spoilt brat, and actually do as we please, including making sure a certain lizard is returned safely to the rest of AVALANCHE."

"AVALANCHE are the enemy, in case you've forgotten. Why help them regain strength?"

"'Cos I like this new AVALANCHE." She shrugged. "You remember the originals, don't you? You really want to put to chance that a third generation AVALANCHE will follow the example of the originals?"

The gangster look-alike shook his head, chugging down even more of his drink.

"You're just justifying your crush on the brat."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he stilled, afraid to look at the woman next to him, but feeling compelled to do so. She was glaring at him so fiercely, his mind made him think her eyes were glowing. Absently, he noted that the bartender had also stilled, staring wide-eyed at the woman.

"I'll put that remark down as having had too much to drink." She said, sounding far too calm. "But make it again…" She left the threat hanging.

Swallowing, the man nodded his head.

"I'll just go catch up with the robed man." He squeaked, before rushing out of the tavern.

The bartender spoke up, looking at the woman in fascination.

"How did your eyes glow?"

The woman smirked at him.

"Family secret." She answered, putting down enough Gil pay for both her drinks and those of the man who'd just left.

The robed man stopped walking in the middle of a bridge, turning around sharply.

"What do you want with Spike?" Jade asked, glaring.

"Well, if it isn't the Little Goddess of the world." He smirked in reply. "I'm surprised you deign fit to speak to a lowly mortal such as I."

Jade's glare deepened at his words.

"Answer the question!" She snapped.

The man chose to ignore her, speaking seemingly to himself.

"Actually, I truly am surprised that you chose to interfere. Most of your kind seem too focused on letting things play out without getting involved. Tell me, how many have died that could have been saved? All it would have taken was a little divine intervention and they would still be among the living. How many families have been torn asunder due to deaths that you allow, looking on calmly? What thoughts race through your minds, watching these innocent people die because they were thrust into a position that they were ill prepared for, all because of you and the rest of your kind? Are they experiments to you? See if this dorky kid can survive this, or that lonely girl can take on this challenge?

"Are you here in person because you want to watch the lizard die in person? And what of those who fail in their tasks, but survive? Do you simply kill them?"

All through the man's monologue, Jade's glare deepened, fists clenched so tightly, her nails were digging into her skin.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, that is an interesting question? What's a name? I have many names, though lately I have become known as 'Shade'. Really, I'd prefer to be known as 'Death', but how would that go in a casual conversation: 'Hi, my name is Death'. Hardly subtle, is it?"

"Shade, hmm? Real clever." Jade drawled sarcastically.

"Isn't it though?" Shade beamed. "Really though, I have my Goddess to thank for the name. Actually, scratch that, I have her to thank for my whole identity."

"Goddess? After you so elegantly badmouth me and others you seem to view as divine beings?"

"Ah, but my Goddess is different. My Goddess isn't a watcher, but a worker. She strives towards a goal, a noble and brilliant goal, worthy of utmost respect."

"You're a cultist, following some fraud Goddess." The PS2 shook her head.

"You dare to mock the Goddess?!" Shade screamed out. "Your kind, you are the frauds. Really, you're not Gods, you're Demons. Devils. The worst kind of scum."

"I've been called a Devil before. I think the term suits me." Jade smirked. "But in the real world, there are no Gods and Demons."

Shade took several deep breaths, calming himself, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a small cylinder.

"You might not believe in my Goddess, but she has lent me a fraction of her strength. Enough to temporarily dispel you; force you back to your realm."

Saying that, he shattered the cylinder.

I woke up gasping, images of my nightmare swimming around in my mind.

Rubbing my forehead, I willed the images away, reaching for the glass of water on the bedside table. Gulping it down, I tried to remember the specifics of my nightmare, but as with most dreams, the moment I was awake, I couldn't remember anything more than a basic feeling associated with whatever had plagued my dreams. It was fear. Typical nightmare then.

Sliding out of the bed, I rubbed my eyes and moved towards the pile of clothing, left in the corner where I'd tossed them the night previously before I'd gone into the bathroom to have a shower. Bending over, I scooped all the clothing into my arms.

"Nice arse."

Yelping, I dropped the clothes and pivoted around. Sitting on my windowsill, looking vaguely amused, was a woman with pale violet hair and matching eyes. I recognised her instantly, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing the usual navy blue suit, instead wearing a white t-shirt and tracksuit pants.

"Tia!" I gaped in shock.

"Though, I never pictured you to be the type to sleep in the buff." Tia smirked.

Blushing, I stuttered as I tried to defend myself.

"Relax lizard-lips; I know you just collapsed in bed after your shower yesterday. You looked beat; all that martial arts training must really be exhausting." She commented, smug tone in her voice.

"You've been spying on me?" I finally found my voice.

"Nope, sheer chance that I happened to walk by and noticed you training with Sabin."

"And how you know that I went straight to sleep after my shower?" I growled.

"Ok, that was the scene I witnessed just after I decided to spy on you." She shrugged carelessly, as if it were no big deal.

"You watched me sleep all night?"

"What can I say? Your tush was worth waiting for. I can't speak for the other side, lizard anatomy and all that."

Blushing I turned and grabbed my clothes, prompting a wolf whistle from the Turk behind me. Focusing on the Storage Materia, a pulled out a specific item and tossed it over my shoulder.

"Eat grenade." I said, as she caught the grenade, and moved into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me, though not before I heard a yelp as she realized what she caught.

There was no boom, naturally, since I hadn't pulled the pin from the explosive. Once Tia realized that, I heard her shout through the door:

"That was a dirty trick."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled on my clothes and brushed my teeth, spending extra long just to delay my leaving the room and re-entering her presence. Once I was done, I opened the door to find Tia giggling at her cell-phone.

"What do you think? I think the lighting could have been better, but then it was a spur of the moment photo."

"You took a photo of my arse?" I shrieked, moving to snatch the phone from her grip, however, she danced out of the way and continued giggling. "Delete it!" I demanded.

"Aww, but I bet President Rufus would love to use it as target practice." She pouted.

"Don't care, it goes." I snarled.

"Fine, fine." She sighed. "Don't you even want to see it?"

Not giving me a chance to answer, she thrust the phone in my face, showing me a picture of Reno ruffling Cel's hair. I glared at the photo and then at Tia.

"That was a dirty trick." I repeated her words.

"Payback." She smirked.

"Why do you feel the need to spy on me now?" I asked, moving away from her and opening the door to my room.

All good cheer left Tia's face.

"Someone was asking around about you."

"Really?" I perked up.

Maybe Cloud and co were asking around for me… With that thought in mind, I exited the hotel. Unfortunately, Tia insisted on walking side by side with me.

"It wasn't anyone we knew. Robed guy, dark hair, stupidly pale. The way he walked, the way he moved in general; he's a killer."

"You can tell he was a killer from the way he moved?" I asked, sceptically.

"You've been in the Turks as long as I have; you see all kinds of people. I've seen my share of killers; they always have a way of moving, it's subtle, but its there. He also had a look in his eyes. I don't trust him."

I crossed my arms and stared at her.

"You don't trust a guy asking after me, so you decide to keep an eye on me? Despite the fact I'm your enemy, and don't think I've forgotten or forgiven the fact that I may never have children after what you did to me."

"Oh come on, I kicked you in the joy department, it wasn't that bad."

I rolled my eyes heavenwards and muttered under my breath something that shouldn't be repeated.

"Joy department injury aside, you might be an enemy, but that doesn't mean I hate you, or even dislike you. You're interesting. I look at you and feel…"

"If you say anything perverted and-slash-or implying that you love me; then forget it." I shot at her.

"…I look at you and I'm reminded of my brother." She finally said.

I stopped walking and stared at her, eyebrow ridges raised. Tia kept moving for a couple of steps before rotating around and looking me in the eye.

"Run that by me again?" I finally asked.

"When I look at you, I'm reminded of my older brother, shortly before he went missing. Granted, you seem happier than him, but all the same, I look at you and I see him staring back at me."

"I thought Turks had no family." I mumbled.

Tia shot out a bark of laughter.

"Right, we join the Turks and then suddenly any relatives just mysteriously vanish into the null void of despair. No, if you want the truth, in the case of those of us who still have immediate family, we change our names. Family can and will be used against us."

"So Tia Mataha is…"

"My given name. My brother went missing long before I joined the Turks, I never had a father and my mother is dead."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. For what she did, she deserved worse." Tia snapped.

"All right, I'm sorry that I'm sorry." I raised my arms in defence. "I won't even ask."

"Thank you." Tia said, softly.

We resumed walking, this time in silence.

"You've been busy since you were separated from AVALANCHE." Tia finally said. "You put the fear of Minerva into Kefka, not that he'll admit it."

"It didn't take much." I shrugged. "He asked me whether he looked like a waiter and then fled."

I hesitated a moment.

"How did you know that I was separated from the others?"

"I have my sources. You were separated after you fell from the rope-bridge at the Nibel Pass. They searched for you, a whole week, but it was as if you'd vanished."

I shot her a look at the knowledge that she knew.

"And you claim you've only recently began to spy on me?" I asked.

"As I said, I have my sources. Kind of surprised to find you in Wutai though, and not too far ahead of when the rest of your party will be arriving."

"Cloud should be here soon?" I asked, hope clear for all to hear.

"At the rate he and the rest of the group have been moving, chasing after the Wutain princess, I'd say they'll be here around noon, give or take depending on how many monsters get in their way."

"I'm going to wager a guess that Yuffie stole everyone's Materia."

"You guess right." Tia shrugged. "She's already in the city, but she's good enough that I lost track of her shortly afterwards. If any of us know where she is right now, it'd be Tsang, and good luck getting anything from him."

"Well, even if this guy looking for me for less than benign reasons, I'll be safe once I'm reunited with them."

Tia rolled her eyes, muttering something, though I didn't catch what it was. Probably something about my confidence and how it should be more contained. At that moment, her PHS started ringing.

"Stay here." She commanded, pulling out the phone. "I have to take this, may be important."

I just shrugged, watching as she walked to the side, phone at her ear. I turned around and paused, staring down an alleyway. I could have sworn I just saw Yuffie sprinting down there. I shot a glance at Tia, who was talking animatedly at her phone, facing away from me.

'Well, she has no business giving us orders.' Spike rationalized for me.

Finding that to be true, I gave one last look at the Turk before casually wondering off while her back was still facing me. The alley was poorly lit, the sun being mostly blocked by the buildings either side of me. There wasn't any sign that anybody had come through this way recently, but I had seen somebody, even if it wasn't Yuffie I saw.

Passing by a cat, which hissed at me before running off, I turned a corner, glancing either down any adjacent alleyways that I passed, brow furrowed.

Maybe I should have stayed with Tia; I was starting to get a bad feeling about this. I'd already learnt that movies lied to me, back when Barret, Cait and I had been unable to fix the buggy. However, this wasn't just a fact learnt from movies, but from reading the news as well. Dark alleyways were where muggers, murderers and rapists generally struck. Sometimes it wasn't even dark alleyways but nicely lit and fairly well traversed alleyways.

I considered turning back. It felt like I was being watched, but looking in every direction revealed nothing. The buildings didn't even have windows that overlooked these alleys. A blind spot where anything could happen.

Turning, I planned on leaving the way I'd come. My hand twitched, ready to pull my gunblade into existence.

I felt the sword swinging before I heard it, and dived forwards, twisting myself around. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to land properly and found myself on the ground rather than on my feet. I didn't get a chance to examine the one who'd swung at me before I was rolling away from whoever it was in an attempt to get to my feet. Either the attacker was sloppy, or they decided to let me get myself to my feet, because I didn't hear them swinging at me again.

"At last we meet." The attacker spoke once I was upright.

To Be Continued

AN:: It was short, it was a long time coming (damned computer), and I had hoped for better. Lack of action, but that can't be blamed on me... besides, no stoy is 100% action, we need breaks for those exposition chapters... though I doubt this chapter really counts as exposition.

I was doing a little experimenting with this chapter. Tell me what you think, and all that and I'll see about how to go about future chapters. Next chapter will be in two or three weeks, though there may be an interlude chapter in between, depending on how I'm feeling.

Again, sorry for the delay, I didn't ask my computer to die, but it went and did it anyway.