Trayze jumped down from a cliff, and landed on the ground below with barely a faltering stagger. Lightning hopped down beside him, and Hope tumbled past, landing a few feet away in a heap upside down. Trayze helped him up and then lead them across a rocky bridge that arched over the canyon in the mountainous terrain they were in. He was, Lightning noted, keeping one hand on his sword, and the other ready to use his Manadrive. A very cautious man, she realised.

"Remind me," said Hope, picking his way carefully over the rocks. "Where exactly are you taking us, Trayze?" Lightning pricked up her ears after hearing that. It was true, even she had forgotten where they were headed. Trayze jumped up onto a flat piece of rock above the rest, and pointed.

"If we keep heading towards the Eastern Tors, we'll arrive at the NORA encampment." Trayze jumped down again. "Should be around ten minutes before we get there, if we don't get attacked by anything along the way." He began to rush through the rocks again, jumping over gaps, sliding through rocky pillars and sliding down smooth hills in the rock. He looked back. Hope and Lightning were some distance away. "Come on!" he shouted, waving his arm.

"He moves too fast," said Lightning, groaning.

"Too true, Light," said Hope, picking his way over the rock that stood before them. Trayze beckoned to one of the rocky ledges nearby, and Hope looked over it. Far below, the green surface of the Eastern Tors spread out below, ending in the jagged cliffs at the very edge. In the distance, near the area where one could enter the Maharaba tunnels, a camp had been set up, more like a military outpost then the settlement it most likely was. Trayze beckoned for Hope to jump, and then, after Hope hesitated, he clicked his fingers. The rock underneath the young man slid forward, and he fell down.

His descent was slowed, though, by a pulsation of energy that covered him and the ground. Trayze landed by his side a few seconds later, and then, as Lightning jumped off, Trayze placed a cushion of energy underneath her. He sighed, and swept his long hair back, slicking it so it curved backwards, and then, flicking out a pair of sunglasses and covering his eyes against the blazing sun. He then grabbed his coat, slung it off and simply threw it to the ground, and kept walking.

"Trayze?" Hope stared at the jacket.

"Leave it there, I have lots of them," said the man, continuing onwards. Lightning and Hope shrugged at one another, and kept walking. It took them about a minute to cross halfway to the camp. There, Trayze stopped, and turned back to the other two. "Alright, now, there's something you have to understand. The people in the camp up ahead have been living on the edge for a while. They have been ravaged by the Undying for some time, and they don't appreciate the fact that the Guardian Corps has essentially abandoned them."

"But we haven't been told," said Lightning, looking indignant.

"No, you have. Or you would have, if it wasn't for the fact that every message they send ends up being intercepted by the Undying." Trayze looked around. "In fact, I would not be at all surprised if we got attacked about now." He unclipped his sword from it's holster, and flicked it around so it formed the gun. He looked around again, this time lifting the glasses slightly. He sighed. "Listen, I'm only warning you because these are a very hardened people. If you mess with them, don't expect them to take mercy on you."

"Er…..Trayze?" Hope pointed. "What's that?" All of them looked. Something was speeding across the plains. It was a velocycle. It appeared to be being chased by one large, giant figure, a humanoid creature that was clearly bigger then any normal human. Hope took a step back, and Trayze aimed his gunblade. Lightning drew her own, as the velocycle soared over a rise in the ground and slid to a halt beside them. A black hat and a long white coat, and the cocky grin was all they needed.

"Snow?" all three of them chimed, and the man smirked and gave a thumbs up. He pointed, just as the massive, golem-like Cie'th, a massive blue construct with skin like stone, smashed the ground a few feet ahead after it landed from a huge jump. The Cie'th roared at them, and charged. Snow was about to get off the velocycle, but Trayze looked back and nodded. Snow grabbed Hope and dragged him onto the vehicle as well, and sped off. Trayze, on the other hand, walked towards the Cie'th, resting his sword on his shoulder. He clicked his fingers, and a haze of purple energy covered his hand.

The Cie'th swung a massive fist, and so did Trayze. The two fists collided, and the energy around Trayze's hand formed a wave of energy that forced the Cie'th to stagger backwards. Trayze, gripping his sword, swung upwards, and cut across the Cie'th until it's arm fell away. Snow came back around, and Hope leapt off, firing a Manadrive spell at it, hitting it in the face with a blast of lightning. It again staggered back, and Lightning opened fire on it. The Cie'th roared and fired a blast of magic that forced them all apart.

Snow grabbed Trayze, and sped away. "What are you doing?" asked Trayze. Snow smiled, and swerved back around. Trayze laughed, and opened his sword. Snow sped the velocycle up as fast as it would go, and used his brute strength to launch Trayze up as he sped past the Cie'th. Trayze landed on it's back, and drove his sword into the back of it's neck. It roared, and revealed a red crystal underneath it's jaw. Lightning aimed, and fired. The crystal shattered, and the Cei'th faded into black mist. Trayze landed on the ground, and Snow slowed to a halt beside them all.

"Hey, kids! How ya been?" he laughed, and he stepped out of the velocycle. "Has my old pall Trayze here been keeping you busy?" He slapped Trayze on the back, and knocked him forward a step. "He and I go way back, so I thought I'd send him to find you." Snow gestured to the velocycle. "You and sis wanna take the velocycle to the camp, Hope? I need to talk to Trayze for a bit." Snow ruffled the smaller man's hair, and laughed.

"Sure, but….." Hope stared at the large man for a while. He nodded, and got on the velocycle. Lightning got on it as well, and the two of them sped off into the distance. Trayze watched them go, and sighed, bending backwards and stretching. He sheathed his sword, and sat down on the grass.

"You wanted to say something?" asked Trayze. The larger man blocked out the sunlight, but Trayze could see his look of distaste. "Don't look at me like that, Snow. You asked me to bring them to you, how else was I supposed to do it? Kidnap them?"

"You endangered a train full of people! Some actually died!"

"Ah, but they didn't. I made sure that car was empty. Look, you wanted me to bring them to you, and I saw one opportunity to make them trust me." Trayze stood up. "It's not my fault I can summon the bloody Undying. It's just a curse. A curse you've taken advantage of several times." Trayze glared at Snow. "Don't preach carefulness to me, ass."

"Hey, don't act like I'm the bad guy here," said Snow, hitting Trayze. "So what if I occasionally have you bring some Cie'th to the camp? The guys need to be kept in shape." Snow looked to the distance. "I want them ready for the big day."

"Hah." Trayze mockingly laughed. He started walking towards the camp. "C'mon, Snow. You want them for your little plan, you explain why you need them. You explain how you got your wife in trouble, and how you've ended up bringing almost every Undying in the area right down on our heels!" Trayze looked back. "Or maybe you want to show them that Fal'Cie you dug up? The one that made-"

"Shut it, Trayze," said Snow, raising a fist. "Don't tell them anything until I do, alright? Until they need to know, they can't know, alright? Just tell them you're using a Manadrive, alright?"

"Oh, yeah, just hide the plain truth!" Trayze laughed. "You know, you have some pretty stupid friends. There isn't such a thing as a click-activated Manadrive, and yet that's what I always did. You think they'd realise by now, but no! They're blind to the truth. No wonder the Fal'Cie took them for a ride," he said, laughing. He looked back and dodged the punch. "Sorry, Snow. I forgot you were a l'Cie as well." Trayze laughed and danced around the giant man.

"You're a goddamn l'Cie, you idiot!" snapped Snow, as they walked back. Trayze laughed, and slicked his hair back again.

"Yes, but the difference is, I don't have a Focus." Trayze undid the glove on his hand, and then, after revealing a bandage wrapped around his hand, he cut it off, and revealed a frozen blue brand, like the one Fang had been given. It was not shaped like an Anima Pulse brand. Instead, it merely looked like an eye, encased in a glowing blue sun. He sighed. "I'm a l'Cie without purpose."

"C'mon. You have a purpose. You exist for a reason. To protect the people of the new world." Snow walked along beside him. The two walked in silence for a while. "You seen the new pictures of my kid back home?"

"Oh gods….."

{-}

"So, Snow, what exactly is going on here?" asked Lightning. They were sat in a large tent that was erected in the middle of the camp, that Snow had placed lots of command equipment and technology around the inside. The four of them had sat around a table that had been placed in the centre, showing a holographic projection of the surrounding area.

"Ask Trayze. He knows more then I do." Snow looked to the younger man, as did Hope and Lightning.

"Right," Trayze stood up, and pointed to the map. "This is where we are now, in the NORA camp. This," he said, pointing to an area some distance away, "Is where we believe the Undying to be. They are moving slowly but surely towards us, and we aren't completely sure why. I can be sure that, as they move, they are attempting to wipe out all life in the area, including any kind of plant-based life. We are not exactly sure what their goal is, but I've made a projection."

"Projection?"

"Of what their goal is. Essentially, I believe that the Cie'th we are seeing have been created by the Fal'Cie with the purpose of being Cie'th. You remember the Cocoon Fal'Cie wanted to summon the Maker by destroying Cocoon and killing everyone on it? I think the Pulse Fal'Cie have a similar goal in mind, but intend to kill every creature to summon the Maker. What if that was the case? If the Undying were being sent to kill everything on Pulse, as a Fal'Cie army? They wouldn't need a l'Cie, they would just need to order their army to move out."

"So what you're saying is that the Fal'Cie are creating an army of hard-to-kill Cie'th, all of whom are extremely powerful, with the intention of killing everything on Pulse, and we don't even have our l'Cie powers back?" asked Hope, rolling his eyes.

"Actually, I think I have a solution to that."

"How?"

"You remember the Fal'Cie, Titan? He doesn't have any issue with the world, or the Maker. Essentially, I'm thinking that if we provide him with evidence of the Fal'Cie betrayal and their plan to wipe out his work, he will give us the powers of a l'Cie, and we might be able to fight back."

"How do we get evidence of Fal'Cie betrayal?" asked Lightning.

"We're going to have to hunt a Cie'th, one of the new ones. You know that red eye they have? That is actually a crystal, which is the Cie'th equivalent of a memory bank. If we give a crystal like that to Titan, he can confirm our theory, and he'll give us l'Cie powers."