The Vile Peaks had been going on for farther than I was anticipating. The trek was getting far too long, as the stars moved higher in the night sky with the hour pressing forward.

Both Hope and I were getting tired again, and instead of scolding us, Lightning decided to usher us to a safe spot where we could rest. An area with less debris and junk, just piles of stones and rocks to rest against where no one could find us.

"We'll stop here."

Hope gladly took this moment to let his knees buckle, getting down to the ground and propping his back against a larger stone. He apologized, and Light reassured him that it was okay. She declared that she was going to head on to look around.

"Do you want me to go with?" I asked, hoping she would accept, but also kind of hoping she'd tell me to rest too. Conflicted feelings, I know.

She declined, and urged me to rest with Hope. I didn't argue. My legs were weak and my head ached. I sat next to Hope, the both of us heaving with exhaustion.

Lightning left.

I tilted my head back, feeling a mild breeze hit my face and I closed my eyes to savor it.

Bump. My eyes fluttered open when I felt something touch my shoulder. I looked to my right, and Hope's head had sunk down against me. He was out like a light, his face relaxed and calm. I held back a laugh, I didn't want to wake him. I put my head back again and I watched the stars for a few minutes, before I, too, drifted off.

"Clear." Hope and I walked forward after Lightning checked our surroundings. After our rest, we made it to the edge of the Vile Peaks, crossing through a tunnel into the Gapra Whitewood. Lightning had gone ahead to check for any danger before letting us catch up.

The door that led us into the woods shut behind us, which would stop any PSICOM pursuit that might've been following us. Hope wondered if we would encounter more of the army now that we're in the wood. He's probably right, and Lightning agreed, telling us to keep alert just in case.

"I'll take point." Light ordered. "Hope, you watch our backs. Aurora, keep the center protected."

I nodded. "Got it."

But Hope wanted something else. "Actually… why don't you let me take point." Lightning and I looked to him, and he sheepishly looked away.

"Can you handle it?" Hope looked back towards Light and jogged in front of her.

"It's not a question of can, or can't." He quoted Lightning, which I saw pleased her. She gave him a smile and a nod. Light reminded him to keep his eyes front. I was still to keep the balance in the middle, and Lightning took the rear in Hope's stead.

I looked up to Lightning with a grin. "Told you." She rolled her eyes and lightly pushed me. This elicited a laugh from me and I walked onward.

The Gapra Whitewood is a bioengineered, protected area with a government-developed proto-ecosystem, thriving with weird plants and wild creatures. Many of the hounds and creatures that the army trains for battle are born here, raised up and then taken out for use. The wildlife here is nothing like what you see in regular townships and cities- flowers and trees glow, leaves resemble metallic blades, lizards and snails are far larger than what naturally hatches in forests and beaches. The hounds and beasts are immensely stronger than your average pup or cub. Wires and lines are seen throughout the Whitewood, connected to computers and portals. A majority of what is seen here is formed of crystal, machinery, and electricity.

Lightning told us of how the area is covered by the Woodlands Observation Battalion, something she isn't specialized in, and thus she's never been around till now.

It was definitely freaky, the panthers and leeches we were encounters as we journeyed through Gapra. I see the appeal, but I wouldn't want to go on a field trip in the wood or anything.

We came across an electric lift, boarding it. Lightning scanned over the buttons and got the lift to work.

As it took us up, I saw Lightning rummage through her pack for something, then take it out and hand it over to Hope. The knife… My eyes widened. She's giving it to Hope?

Hope asked about it, and Lightning told him it was for him to be able to further protect himself. He expressed his gratitude. "I'm glad I followed you. I wouldn't have made it on my own." He smiled to Lightning, and then to me.

I smiled back, but my eyes still lingered on the knife. The one that Serah had gifted to Lightning on her birthday, not long before the Purge. My heart did something I can't put into words, seeing the folded blade.

"I'll want it back." Lightning said, firmly. I figured she would. Especially since, well, y'know.

I shook myself out of my thoughts, looking forward as the lift came to a halt. Emotions are for downtime, which you don't have right now. Keep it together. Even though, I couldn't help but have flashes from that day.

"You became a l'Cie, then you're going to marry this idiot, and you think I'm going to buy that?!"

"Lightning, don't be like this-"

"And left me out of the loop until the last minute. Perfect. Heh, full points for originality, Serah." Lightning stood up. "But don't forget, if you really are a l'Cie, it's my job to deal with you."

"What the hell, Light?"

"Are you serious?"

"Sis..."

"This is ridiculous. Worst birthday ever."

Serah ran off in tears, I turned to chase her but Lightning stopped me, "do not follow her, Aurora."

I scoffed and faced back to Light. "You wanna talk about something ridiculous? Ridiculous is YOU treating Serah like a war criminal just because she likes someone!"

"She likes Snow. Not just someone."

Snow joined me. "Why wont you believe her, Light?"

"You kidding me? She gets made a l'Cie and you pop the question?"

I huffed in frustration as Snow scolded Lightning for antagonizing Serah. He slammed his hands on the kitchen counter, "Lightning, stop it!"

Lightning mirrored him. "No, you stop it! Get out of my house, Snow."

"You're shutting her out!" Snow shook his head. "She's your sister!"

Lightning didn't say anything, just turning away with a sigh.

"Fine." Snow took his hands off of the table. "I'll do it. I'll protect her." And he stormed out.

I stood there, willing myself not to tear up, not to cry in a moment like this. I just watched as Snow left, and looked back to Lightning. "I don't know what side of the bed you woke up on today, but you better fix it before Serah comes back."

"Do not talk to me like that, Aurora."

"Or what? You'll 'deal' with me, too?" My voice cracked and I wanted to kick myself. Light turned her head to me at this, but I looked away. "Whatever." I started picking the dishes up off of the counter to clean up, brushing past Lightning to get to the sink.

"Aurora." My head snapped up at the sound of Lightning's voice, and the touch of her hand on my shoulder. I apologized and stepped off of the lift to move forward with her and Hope further into the woods. Bad memories aren't worth it right now.

Gapra was beautiful. I couldn't help but look around, taking in the area while we ventured through. I made sure I wasn't being too obvious, Light definitely would've gotten onto me. As much as our situation sucks, I was still secretly enjoying getting to view a place like this in person. I had to have a light, some optimism, or I would've gone insane.

Hope stopped in his tracks all of a sudden, and I had to catch myself in order to not run into him. He was looking up, around, and we asked him what was wrong.

"We need to hide!" He grabbed mine and Light's hands and rushed us away behind a tree. Above were soldiers on aircycles, zooming around with no sense of urgency. "They don't seem like they're even looking for us." Hope stepped out. "I mean, we're l'Cie and we're on the loose."

Light joined him. "PSICOM's keeping it under wraps. Don't want their failure publicized."

I nodded. "Makes sense. From everything I've heard, they like their secrets, and they like their reputation- even if everyone already knows how sleazy they are." I shook my head. "'What fugitives? Mind your business, civ'," I said, mocking the army.

Lightning agreed with my sentiment. "Exactly. Better to lose us, than lose their pride." She walked on. "They don't know anything about any fugitives," she said with a similar mocking tone.

Yeah. PSICOM gets no love around here. Boohoo.

A few lifts, corridors, and wild animals later, we approached a uniquely lit door, with a definitive barrier shining with blue hues.

Hope sat for a rest, and I stretched my neck and arms.

"I wonder how the others are doing?" Hope asked.

Lightning was examining the door. "Sazh and Vanille? Who knows. They'll get caught eventually."

I frowned. "I hope not. But… yeah, it's likely."

"They'll have to choose: resist, or surrender." The thought of those two getting caught and having to make that decision made me sad. I was still upset with the explosion that separated us back in the Peaks. We had been doing really well sticking together up until that point.

"You think he's still alive?"

"Snow, you mean?" I looked over to Hope who had asked the question. His mild obsession with Snow, it was a little worrisome, but after Hope's prior outburst, I understood why he kept thinking of him. I hate that you had to go through that, Hope.

Lightning just chuckled. "Snow's too stubborn to die." Got that right. "And that's his best quality." Oof. "He's arrogant and chummy from the get-go. Thinks he's everybody's pal. Never liked him much."

"Ouch, sis."

Lightning shrugged. "He just leads around a bunch of kids- gang called 'NORA'."

"Where'd he get the name 'Nora'?" Hope questioned.

"It's a stupid acronym."

"'NORA' stands for 'No Obligations, Rules, or Authority.' It's a rebel group, they fight against the government." I glanced at Lightning. "Ooooh, I see-"

Lightning put a finger up at me, for me to shush. You took it personally, didn't you? "Must be nice, no rules, no authority."

"It's irresponsible." Hope got up to his feet. With his head bowed, he briskly walked ahead as the barrier on the door lifted.

Light and I made eye contact. She looked a little confused, and I just shook my head. "We can, uh, go over it later." She nodded, and we followed behind him.

Further down the line we reached the "natural" wildlife area of the Whitewood, where feral creatures lie. They aren't like the military breeds we were facing earlier, these are legitimate animals, taken from their natural habitat and forced into Gapra for government purposes. It's closed off to the public due to these animals not being programmed with technology. They're real animals. They don't listen to any computer or person. Their feral behavior is an asset to the army, but it's also unpredictable, which is why these animals have to be sectioned off in a different part of the woods.

Lightning made sure to remind us, "wild animals can be even more violent than the trained-to-kill variety." And warned us to be careful.

Citizens and even certain levels of personnel are never allowed down here, even if they're with strong guards and guides. Never know if something is hiding in the tree tops, ready to pounce.

Each species is cordoned off in auto-containment paddocks, with gates designed to turn on when it detects a risk, and turn off when no longer within reach. Lightning said it's built on something call "biorhythms", but that's as much as I can understand of the science-y lingo.

Our new plan to travel through this area was to create distant distractions, luring the animals away from the gates, so we could proceed. The first paddock was small, simple, with only two lobos resting peacefully. We were able to quietly go past them, walking through the fence with no trouble.

Next up were two pens with creepy crawlies, which Hope worried could be venomous. Fortunately, we found a nearby lockbox with a first aid kit, filled with antidotes and clean water.

"How much you wanna bet that this is here specifically because some newbie got too close to a slug?" I grinned, picking out a couple of glass vials to hand to Light to store away, just in case.

We ended up not needing these items, at least not during our visit in Gapra. The crawlers were numerous, but fairly weak, not having any shell to armor their slimy bodies.

Regardless of which type of critter we happened upon, we were able to either defeat it, sneak past it, or lure it away, and gain entry to the next paddock. Hounds, reptiles, and felines, oh my. Despite them all being feral, most seemed to have some sort of understanding of how their playpens worked- let the people get through, and you wont get hurt.

I did say most, though. For one special area locked down immediately upon entering. Nothing was out and about in our vision right away, but clearly the fences detected danger regardless of that.

Lightning moved Hope and me back as she sensed the imminent risk at play- and just in time, as a feral behemoth jumped down from above.