Well, life sucks a bit right now, but I'm still plodding along the best I can, which I suppose is about the most anyone could hope for. I don't want to turn my story into a political platform, but I do want to address something that is going on right now. I'm sure a lot of you out there are dealing with at least some of the effects of the protests, the riots, and the backlash of what's been going on here in the US in the wake of not just the death of George Floyd, but the built-up pressure of the hundreds of known victims of racially-biased police brutality. I am white, and I can honestly say that even despite my personal anxieties around cops, I have probably never been at risk of being summarily executed for... anything, ever. I do not live in Minneapolis, but I have friends and family who do, and on a personal, entirely privileged point, I want little more than for them to remain safe. But so many others don't have that luxury. They deal with the worst this country has to offer on a daily basis, and as a white female I cannot even begin to comprehend the terror and anger that must instill. The story of AVALANCHE against Shinra could be held up as a mirror to what is going on in the US and elsewhere... a money-grubbing oligarchy brutally oppressing its powerless citizenry with overwhelming military might until enough of them band together to break the hold the world-encompassing government has on it, by way of destruction of anything that governing body uses to enslave the planet? Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I am disappointed that this needs to be said, ever, but I'm going to say it, here and now. Black Lives Matter. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever.

Three more weeks, one more chapter. Still alive over here, and trying to keep up my stride as much as possible. I've finally found my center again on writing, which is a really good feeling. I've managed to put together an outline for most of another chapter in the last two weeks. It's slow work, but it is once again working, and that's important.

Comments? Comments.
Shin: That's... mostly correct. The crucial difference between Ranma and Megumin is that Megumin only ever casts Explosion... because she's a nutter and hasn't learned any other magic. So far, Ranma has only learned Beta because this is the first critter they've come across with a learnable attack, but he's already far more versatile a fighter and caster since he can equip materia, and there's quite a bit more Blue Magic out there to be obtained.
Hiryo: Glad you're enjoying it so far.
Mr. Haziq: I may have addressed this before, and if I have then I apologize for repeating myself. Within my understanding, a big part of Ranma developing the Mōko Takabisha from the Shishi Hokodan is that Ranma's pride and confidence outweighed his depression and sadness as an emotional fuel source, while he was on Earth. There are a lot of factors in Gaia that have changed this, but part of Ranma using the Shishi Hokodan now in addition to the Mōko Takabisha is that in the last several weeks of his life, Ranma's borne witness to some truly disturbing imagery. This is more a judgment on Gaia than on Ranma; by comparison to the Tokyo of Ranma's Earth, Gaia is savage and dangerous. Ranma may have his pride, but he knows better than to flat-out discard a useful technique.
doraemax: If you thought Lars was annoying... good. That was the goal. :D I hope you enjoy the other four SOLDIERs set on our heroes. We're going to be seeing a lot of them in the next little bit. In fact...

Back to our regularly scheduled insanity. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Strike from the Shadows

[ ν ] - εγλ 0007, December 17

The group marched hard that day, doing everything they could to stay ahead of the storm coming over the mountains, while also making up ground between themselves and Sephiroth. The ground was hard and partly frozen this far into the wilderness. the towering plateau of Fort Condor and its reactor sat in the distance to the south, visible well beyond the horizon as it rose over the plains. Their travel was eased somewhat by a passing farmer who allowed them passage in the rear of an enormous truck, carrying animal feed and dried hay.

They disembarked outside a forest near sundown, and the farmer turned his truck away to the north, towards a river at the bottom of a valley between the mountains. "The guy said Junon oughta be down the valley and then out on the other side of the forest," Ranma said. "Push on, or stop here?"

"We'll go in a little bit," Cloud said, "try to find a clearing, but we're not staying out here in the open if that storm is coming this way. Besides which, don't want to leave ourselves as a visible target. There's a small Shinra base about twenty kilometers to the north, and they'll probably have patrols out. The forest should give us a little cover if more of Shinra's goons start looking for us again."

The others picked up their gear and began to hike into the woods. Within about ten minutes, they had found a small clearing within the forest, suitable for making camp. By the time the light had gone, their tents had been set up and a small fire was going, courtesy of Ranma getting in a little bit of practice with her materia. They broke out dishes and finished off the last of the canned stew.

"So, what's the plan in Junon?" Ranma asked.

Cloud shrugged. "Junon's a port, so Sephiroth could be going anywhere from there." He cleaned his bowl and munched on a travel biscuit, before picking up a stick and drawing a rough outline of the city in the dirt. "I've been there a couple times, back when I was with SOLDIER. City's mostly split along two levels, one main road running parallel to the mountainside on each level. We'll be at a disadvantage here. Nearly everything in Junon is owned by Shinra, one way or another. There's going to be a lot of security, no matter where we go. We'll have to keep a low profile if we want to get around without… problems."

Ranma snorted at that. "This lot?" she gestured about the camp. "Low profile?"

Barret grinned. "Yeah, we do kinda stick out, don't we?"

Cloud shrugged, then shook his head. "We'll figure it out," he remarked, leaning back against the tree behind him and folding his arms. There was suddenly a thud from the tree, about a centimeter above where Cloud's head was a moment ago. An oddly-shaped knife had appeared in the thick wood, just between the part in his hair, shuddering slightly from side to side. Cloud looked up, rooted to the spot. "Ranma, tell me that was you."

The others noticed the knife, and shuffled rapidly from confusion to full-alert. Almost as one, they stood up and readied their weapons, circling around the camp. Two more of the short, stubby blades appeared in a tree trunk just to Aerith's left, missing her by the thickness of her jacket. The woman let out a short gasp of surprise and leaped to one side.

"It's the fire!" Cloud cried out as he stood up, reaching down to tip over a bucket of soil, smothering the blaze. "Shouldn't be able to see us that easily now. Everyone stay close and keep quiet."

There was utter silence in the camp for several seconds. A distant wooshing sound echoed among the trees. In the dim moonlight filtering through the canopy above, there was the glint of whirling steel scything between the trees.

Cloud saw it first. "Down!" he shouted with authority, and as the others ducked for cover, Cloud drew his Buster Sword and swung hard against the approaching object. There was a clash of metal on metal, and an enormous four-point shuriken with a wingspan almost as long as Ranma's spread arms clattered to the ground, carving a shallow circle into the dirt as it fell.

Ranma's eyes were drawn to the strange, yet familiar, weapon. "Ninja?" she asked incredulously. "Your world has ninja?"

"We can discuss it later, Ranma," Tifa hissed as she returned to her feet. "How many, Cloud?"

Cloud was silent as he considered the question. "One, I think," he answered, turning around to face the darkness between the trees. "If there were more we'd be seeing more attacks from-"

Cloud's tactical discussion was cut off as a small explosion struck him from behind, the force pushing him forward and off of his feet, falling to the ground with a thud. The blast released a cloud of smoke, and three more knives hurled out of the dark, through the smoke from the opposite direction, and missed Tifa and Barret by a hair's breadth. A silhouette appeared in the smoke, ducked down to lift the fallen shuriken, and then vanished again in the blink of an eye.

Ranma dropped to one knee, and took a deep breath, stretching out her awareness. There was a definite chi signature around them, but whoever it was, they were good at masking their presence. It felt like it was moving too fast to pinpoint its location. They weren't moving in a single direction for long either, so the flow of chi was chaotic, putting her senses at a further disadvantage. "Red," she whispered. The wolf turned to face her. "Can you sniff them out?"

Red grinned, his fangs reflecting the moonlight. "I can try," he replied.

Ranma nodded. "Everyone stay still, we're gonna try somethin'."

"Whatever it is, make it quick!" Barret grumbled, raising his gun-arm and peering around through the darkness. "Feel like a sittin' chocobo here."

Red strode forward to the spot where the shuriken had rested a few moments before, while Ranma took a moment to toss a Cure at Cloud. Red padded back and forth over the ground, nose twitching, ears flicking. Ranma grabbed a handful of small rocks and pebbles off the ground, watching Red carefully. After a tense moment of silence, Red barked once, and turned his gaze upwards, to Ranma's left. Ranma followed his gaze to a tree in the distance, several raised branches just above the line of moonlight, the upper canopy cast in shadows. One shadow stuck out from the trunk in an odd way, broader than the rest of the trunk at that height. Without further thought, she turned her body and flung the stones hard, a scatter-shot of debris pelting the trunk, the leaves above the tree, and a person.

"Oww~w~whaaaaaa!"

There was a moment where Ranma actually worried that she'd hurt some innocent bystander somehow. Then her brain caught up to the words 'innocent bystander' and compared them to 'knife-flinging tree ninja' and the train of pity thoughts came to an abrupt crashing halt. The shape in the shadows visibly recoiled, arms swinging up and overbalancing the figure against the dark leaves, before falling backwards out of the tree and towards the ground. Ranma dashed forward, managing not so much to catch the plummeting figure as to collide with it mid-fall, turning a catch into a tackle and finally into a pin as they tumbled to the ground. "Get a light over here!" Ranma shouted.

The camp turned into a flurry of motion as the party rushed to Ranma's side. Barret pulled out a flashlight from his vest and pointed it at the two figures struggling in the dark.

"Get offa me!" a girl's voice called out from below Ranma.

Ranma said nothing, but kept her grip firm, pulling the girl to her feet with both wrists held behind her, a classic hammerlock keeping her firmly under control. "Someone search her, I got my hands full back here," Ranma muttered after a moment.

The shuriken was retrieved from having landed two-points into the soil, and Tifa withdrew a number of additional throwing weapons from the girl's odd clothing which, despite appearing to be a simple knit turtleneck and khaki shorts, were apparently made entirely out of pockets. The inside of the girl's arm-guard likewise held a number of sheaths, presumably for the numerous throwing knives that had already been employed against them. Barret decided for simplicity and was currently sitting atop the small heap of weaponry, his vest spread over the pile to prevent the various spiky bits from perforating his rear.

"All right, she's unarmed," Cloud said. "Let her go."

Ranma nodded, and released her grip on the mystery girl. She stumbled forward, slipping to her knees and rubbing at her wrists in discomfort. "Oww~, jerks," she muttered. Barely taking a moment to draw another breath, she sprang to her feet, taking an aggressive stance as she stared down the group of seasoned fighers. "All right, ya wanna go again? Best two outta three, let's rumble!"

Cloud rolled his eyes, the absolute stick of a girl barely the same height as his shoulders. "Not interested," he said in a tone that managed to convey the depth of emotion he was currently feeling, which happened to be none.

The girl grinned, a glint of moonlight catching on the girl's teeth. "I said fight me! Whatcha, scared 'a me?" she goaded.

Cloud crossed his arms and looked at the girl, a long silence that seemed to stretch on far more than comfortable. The girl seemed oblivious to her surroundings, her situation, and Cloud's disdain. "...terrified," he finally said, the sarcasm dripping from the single word.

Ranma was suddenly put in mind of a Chihuahua, a dog practically the size of a tissue box that behaved as if it was the size of a tank. It took all her willpower to stifle a laugh.

Despite her skill in combat and in stealth, the girl was clearly immune to any subtlety in conversation. "Yeah, that's what I thought. But whaddya expect, skills like these?" She reached up and thumbed the straps of her armor in a self-satisfied way. "All right, Imma get outta here, gimme back my stuff. And good luck to ya!"

Cloud sighed, and turned to Barret, reaching out one hand. "What?" Barret looked up at Cloud, his expression bordering on insulted. "You wanna re-arm her to attack us in the night again?"

"Just…" Cloud reached up with his other hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "The shuriken, Barret."

Barret growled his discontent, but relented, pulling the enormous shuriken free from the bottom of the pile and handing it over to Cloud. Cloud took it in both hands, took up an almost military stance, and presented it to the girl, who snatched it away and spun around, clutching the weapon like it was a trophy of some great victory of hers. "Just leave us in peace," Cloud declared flatly, and turned back towards the camp.

The girl seemed bound and determined to press her luck. "If ya want, we can go another round again. Until then, later!" she called to the backs of the group. There was no response. "I'm really gonna go, y'know."

Ranma stopped walking. Aerith paused as well, seeing the redhead's expression. "You're not…" Aerith asked.

"Trust me on this," she responded quietly. "Wait a minute," she called out loud, turning to face the girl. The rest of the group, several paces ahead, stopped and turned around to look at the trio behind them.

Before Ranma could say anything more, the newcomer skipped forward and laughed. "I knew you had somethin' goin' on. C'mon, c'mon, spill it!"

Ranma caught the girl by the arm almost companionably as she passed, a gentle smile gracing her lips. "Hold up, runt," she said calmly. "You're from Wutai, aincha?"

The girl looked genuinely affronted. "So what if I am?"

"Nothin', but…" Ranma looked over the girl again. Hair cut short to almost a page-boy, headband under her bangs, oversized boots and gloves tied close with thick leather. Everything about the girl seemed to contrive to make her look bigger than she was, and fail in every important respect in doing so. Ranma shook her head, focusing her train of thought. "You don't like Shinra, do you?"

"I'm okay with them," she remarked casually, but there was something behind the simple tone.

"Well, you're probably not gonna want to hang out with us," Ranma said in a singsong tone. "Cuz if we get the chance, we're gonna wreck 'em."

"I'm in," the girl said in a heartbeat.

Ranma grinned. "Thought so," she turned to flash that smile at Aerith. "One thing before you can join up, though."

"What's that?"

The smile on the redhead's face faded, replaced by a stare that could shatter granite. "You can give back the two hundred and four gil you took from Cloud's pockets, the two grenades you swiped from Barret's belt, and the Fire materia from Aerith's bracer." The girl turned a wide-eyed look of innocence to Ranma, but quailed under the simple menace of Ranma's unflinching gaze. "Now," she demanded, fire blazing behind her eyes despite the darkness.

The girl nodded, and reached into yet another hidden pocket somewhere inside her armguard, and withdrew the specified objects, returning them to their owners. "Jeez, you're quick, girl, nobody's spotted that before."

Ranma nodded. "You'll find I'm fulla surprises. You get a freebie this once, cuz before this moment, you're a stranger. You come with, no harm done, but you don't steal from us again. Got it?" The girl nodded once, her gaze downcast. Ranma reached out and cupped the girl's chin, staring her directly in the eyes. "Got. It?" she repeated deliberately.

The girl nodded frantically. "I got it," she answered, the words almost coming out a squeak.

"Jeez, Ranma," Aerith chastised, giving Ranma a bit of a shove to her shoulder. "Lay off the kid already."

"I ain't a kid, lady," the girl responded angrily, drawing herself up to her full height, which wasn't much. "Name's Yuffie."

"Got a tent?" Ranma asked her.

"Kinda."

"Go get it," she said, keeping her eyes on Aerith. When the girl was gone, Ranma smiled again. "Trust me, Aerith, I know what I'm doin' with her."

"Oh?" she asked. "And what exactly is that?"

The smile faded somewhat. "She… reminds me of... someone I was friends with," she said quietly, "when I was younger. If she's goin' through some of the same kind of…" she trailed off, running one hand through her red hair. "I dunno, maybe I can help somehow."

Aerith's smile was genuine, but also looked as if she was restraining herself. "You're adopting her."

"I am not."

"You're adopting a stray ninja," she teased.

"Shaddap, it's not like that!"

"Goddess, it completely is like that!"

Ranma rolled her eyes, but couldn't shake the grin from her face. "Okay, okay, maybe I am," she caved. "Look, I got a feelin', is all. Don't really have the words for it yet. But she danced circles around us for three minutes, and if it's as bad as Cloud says it is, then we might need that kinda help gettin' inta this Junon place."

Aerith nodded. "All right, I'll give you that one. Just remember that you still have to teach Tifa and I."

Ranma blinked, and then facepalmed. "Dammit, I completely forgot to set up the Amaguriken test… and the fire's out now." She shook her head. "All right, I'll get the fire back up, I'll need to show off my other magic trick to that little terrier, anyway."

"...terrier?" Aerith asked, perplexed.

Ranma nodded. "Type of dog on my world," she answered. "Dunno if anythin' like them exist here, but they're bred to hunt rodents. Some folks keep them as pets… anyway, they're all really small dogs and most of them act way bigger than they are."

Aerith stifled a giggle. "Do you have nicknames for all of us like that?"

Ranma froze a bit at the question. "Kinda, but…" She looked away. "I'm tryin' to be better about usin' people's names. I don't wanna be rude to people." She took a moment and reflected on that. "Okay, sometimes I do wanna be rude to people, like Reno or that wingnut SOLDIER who attacked us. I just don't wanna do that to friends."

Aerith folded her arms behind her back and leaned forward and to the side, turning her head to meet Ranma's eyes. "...do you have a nickname for me?" she asked. Ranma nodded. "Okay, I promise I won't be upset, but I have to know."

Ranma turned her head sharply down and away, her eyes cast to one side. "...'glow stick'," she muttered.

Aerith blinked. "What?"

"I nicknamed you 'glow stick'," Ranma said again, her voice still quiet.

Aerith's face contorted in equal parts amusement and confusion. "...why?"

Ranma looked at her. "Cuz I don't know how or why, but your chi lights up like a beacon. I'm not that great at sensing over any big distances, but I could pinpoint you from a couple kilometers away, in a crowd of people, in Midgar, where the local chi paths are all over the place anyway, and most folks are just kinda dim here, like holding up candles in the night and for Kami's sake, you're like a bonfire." Ranma's rant petered off. "Also… because you fight with a staff. So… glow stick."

Aerith stood there almost in shock at the revelation about her chi, and then part of her registered the end of Ranma's semi-coherent rambling. And she laughed, loud and hearty, and reached out and gave the redhead a hug.

"You two share a tent or somethin'?"

Yuffie was back, carrying a small bedroll and a few other items, staring at the two of them. Ranma glared at the girl, but Aerith kept laughing. "Ain't like that," Ranma muttered.

"Yeah, whatever, I ain't judgin'," Yuffie remarked, and walked past them. A few steps further, she froze, her bedroll dropping to the ground in front of her. "Y'all got anyone else with ya?"

Aerith gave the newcomer a puzzled look. "Like who?"

Ranma blinked. "...chikushou..." she muttered, and turned sharply, grabbing Aerith by her torso and pulling her hard to one side. A fraction of a second later, a broad, three-foot-long, curved blade pierced the earth where they had both stood. At the end of the blade was a long metal haft, darkened to the point of being nearly invisible in the deep shadows. At the end of the haft was a man wearing a familiar-looking tunic.

Aerith stared past the redhead to see the dark shape in the shadows tug sharply at the naginata, freeing the blade from the ground. "SOLDIER!" she gasped out, readying her own staff.

Ranma grinned, clenching her fists until her knuckles cracked. "Ya just couldn't leave well enough alone, could ya, Shinra?" She stepped forward as the spearman feinted a thrust to one side, darting in as close as she dared, trying to size up her opponent. The SOLDIER remained silent, sticking to the deep shadows, always moving backwards and away, keeping Ranma at a distance where the massive razor-sharp blade would provide the maximum amount of threat. "I did everything I could to play nice, I warned ya what would happen if ya pressed it, and ya did it anyway." She batted a pair of thrusts to one side, pushing him back again as she advanced. A wild swing of the blade came in next, which Ranma evaded effortlessly as she prepared to move in past his effective range. "An' now, you're gonna get it."

Ranma caught the edge of the next strike on her bangle, pushing it far to one side and opening the attacker up for a solid strike. The SOLDIER suddenly spun to one side, moving with the blade rather than trying to pull the long spear in front of him again-

-in that moment, as the SOLDIER moved to the side, placing her at the edge of the tree line, looking out at a seemingly empty bowl of grassland valley stretching for miles in almost every direction, bathed in pale moonlight, there was something in her senses that screamed for her to move-

-and she dropped prone to the ground. As she descended to the earth, the air currents above her were disturbed, pushing her hair to one side. Another fraction of a second later, and the thunderous crack of a distant rifle echoed through the valley. Ranma scrambled to her feet and darted back into the forest, slipping behind a tree just in time for a second high-velocity round to thud into the trunk of an oak a few meters ahead of her, directly in line with where her torso would have been only a short moment ago. She glanced to either side, but could not see past the first few rows of trees into the forest past the blanket of shadows. She was blinded, isolated, and seemed to be up against not one but two very deadly opponents. She opened her senses and spotted Aerith's beacon of chi almost instantly, about thirty meters deeper into the woods. Neither Yuffie nor the close-range assailant was anywhere that she could sense, but she knew the attacker was close by. There was only one thing for it. She'd have to outlast them somehow. She took two steps forward, keeping the tree in line with where she thought the sharpshooter might be, and cupped her hands in front of her mouth, taking a deep breath.

"Aerith! Yuffie!" she shouted. "Get the hell out of here, right now!" Less than a second later, the naginata blade wandered into view, pointed straight at her. She stared past it to the SOLDIER in the shadows, watching his movements as closely as possible. Don't let him kite you again, she reminded herself as she dodged another swing of the oversized weapon. Whoever else is out there musta been in on the plan, flush us outta cover and bang, game over. The naginata's tip danced in a complicated pattern, which despite her efforts to evade, managed to catch Ranma's exposed forearm, drawing a shallow cut. She ducked the next strike, the gash on her arm trickling blood. How is that other person seeing us in the dark like that? How isn't this guy getting pelted with shots?

Ranma's mind raced as her body wove and threaded between the deadly strikes, trying to guess at her best course of action or find a weak spot. The SOLDIER's defense was far from perfect, but it was obvious to the redhead now that the openings created by his aggressive spearwork were ruses designed to lure her forward and into the field of view of his sharpshooter. It was a fairly effective trap, she realized. If she ceased her defense long enough to try to focus on the sniper, the SOLDIER would turn her into a kebab in the blink of an eye. If she made a run for it, the SOLDIER's enhanced body might be able to run even her down, and could definitely outpace Aerith and kill her without a thought. If she made any serious move to attack, it would require her to advance past the naginata's effective range, drawing her back into the line of fire.

Fire.

Her train of thought halted so abruptly that she nearly fell over. She hopped back, just out of range of the SOLDIER's weapon, and grasped at her mana, channeling it into her materia. She hurled the Fire spell past the SOLDIER's head and into the grasslands as far out as she dared. With a whoosh of heated air, suddenly a fire began to spread in the long grass in the distance. She threw a second, and then a third Fire spell, creating more pockets of flame closer by. The SOLDIER, finally illuminated from behind, bore a wild sprout of short, reddish-brown hair, and wore no pauldrons over his bare shoulders. His mako-blued eyes glinted in the firelight, and what looked like a miniature radio headset was lodged firmly in his left ear, the band secured behind his head.

"I ain't dancin' to your tune any more, buddy," Ranma declared with a grin. "And now you can't hide from me!"

The SOLDIER grinned in the firelight, leaping back into the open field. He spun his weapon in one hand, and held it stiffly to one side as he raised his right arm, a set of green orbs resting within the bracer attached to his forearm. He turned and flung out his hand towards the open fields, and a massive wave of frost exploded out from his fingertips, colliding with the burning patches of grass and extinguishing them in a Blizzaga-powered flurry.

Ranma blinked. "Oh, hell," she muttered, and darted back into the cover of the thick trunks, not giving the sharpshooter a chance to draw a bead on her.

"A good idea," the man spoke for the first time, his tone condescending, his voice smooth and calm over the sound of the crackling ice in the field behind him. "Blind the sniper, expose the assassin. But you failed to take into account how much stronger your opponent was, how much more prepared. And that gulf of knowledge between you and us, that is where you will fall."

"Ordinarily, I'd agree with ya," Ranma replied, peeking her head out cautiously to watch as the SOLDIER began stalking back into the edge of the forest. "But I know a coupla things you don't know."

The SOLDIER smirked, pulling his naginata back to a ready position, the blade pointed squarely at Ranma's torso. "I know you're trying to play me," he said with a smirk. "But I'm curious what you think you might be stalling for. Nobody's coming to help you. I'd see them long before they got anywhere close."

Ranma grinned and relaxed her posture, dropping her guard slightly. "Well, for one thing..." and her smirk widened as the sound of automatic gunfire suddenly erupted from the speaker attached to the SOLDIER's left ear. "I know what's making that noise."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

Minutes prior...

"Aerith! Yuffie!" Aerith heard the redhead shout. "Get the hell out of here, right now!"

For a fraction of a second, she considered doing the opposite, charging out to join the fray and help Ranma fight off the SOLDIER. And then she remembered the sharpshooter, wherever they were. She hadn't seen the shot fired, she had no idea where it had come from. But the moment Ranma had pushed her away, she opened up her senses as far as she could manage. When the shot was fired, it was like something unthinkable had crossed her perception, a solid bolt of death sailing through the air at beyond the speed of sound, faster by far than her ability to understand what it was she had felt. She'd never sensed a bullet before. It was terrifying. The second round was worse, somehow, as comprehension dawned, and she grasped the danger that she- Ranma- all of them were in.

She ran. She ran as fast as she could. In the darkness, she saw the forest as only she could, her senses extended as far as possible in front of her.

Which is perhaps part of why she shrieked at the top of her lungs when she felt a hand on her shoulder, the sudden disturbance to her focus on her forward motion causing her to stumble and drop to the ground. She quickly pulled herself to her feet, readying her staff, and then saw who had approached her.

"Yuffie!" she breathed, lowering the tip of the staff to the ground and using it to brace herself as she panted from the exertion. "You frightened me, sorry."

Yuffie's face contorted angrily. "Where'dya think yer goin', anyway?" the girl demanded. "Aren't ya gonna help her?"

Aerith frowned. "I'm... not that good a fighter yet," she admitted between deep breaths, trying to recenter herself. "I'd get in the way right now. So I'm bringing help to her instead."

"Ranma? Aerith?" a familiar voice called out from somewhere ahead of them.

Aerith allowed herself a smile. "Speaking of which," she said, turning to the sound of the voice. "Tifa, over here! We've got a problem!"

Seconds later, Tifa, Cloud, Barret, and Red regrouped around them. "The hell's that red-haired shrimp gone off to?" Barret asked, glancing around.

"He's in trouble," Aerith replied, gesturing back the way she came. "There's a SOLDIER out there, maybe two of them. Yuffie managed to warn us and they still surprised us. One's got a gun out in the middle of I don't know where, and nearly killed us both. He's fighting another one with a big spear, and... I don't know how long he's gonna last. We have to do something!"

"Wait, 'he' who?" Yuffie asked in confusion. "I thought Ranma was a girl-"

"That can wait," Cloud cut her off, frowning in thought for a moment. "A SOLDIER using a gun?" he wondered aloud. "And another with a spear... Oh, no."

Tifa turned to Cloud. "You know them?"

"Not personally, but..." he shook his head. "I've heard of a pair of Firsts that work together exclusively, a sniper and a spearman, they're supposed to be the best trackers in the world. If we're in their sights then we have to move now if we're going to live the night."

Aerith stared at the blond swordsman. "You're going to abandon him?" she cried out.

"No." Cloud faced Aerith, meeting her green eyes with his own. "I'm not leaving anyone behind. Not Ranma, not you, not even the new girl. If we leave, we all leave together." There was a conviction, a certainty to his words that made Aerith realize just how serious he was, and she nodded her understanding. "But we still need a plan. Yuffie."

"Hm?" Yuffie looked up suspiciously at Cloud. "Whaddya want?"

Cloud took a few steps forward, careful not to loom too close to the girl. "Did you know the spearman was there?"

"I..." Yuffie took a breath, lowering her head, her shoulders stiff and arms at her sides. "I didn't know he wasn't with ya until Ranma said so, or I'd'a said something sooner."

Cloud nodded. "Do you have any materia?" Yuffie shook her head. "How did you move so fast?"

"What?"

"You got behind me during the fight," Cloud began, "then got in front of me to throw those knives at the others. And you did it in half the time you should have. How did you do that without Time materia?"

Yuffie looked up at him. "How did..."

"There's no time, Yuffie, Ranma needs our help," Cloud interrupted, his expression stern. "Help us save her." He took another step towards Yuffie. "Please."

Yuffie looked up at him, guilt and shame spreading over her face. Letting out a huff, she reached into yet another hidden pocket, and pulled out a small black ampule filled with liquid. "It's my last one," she muttered. "Ya better not waste it."

Reaching out a hand, Cloud nodded. Yuffie dropped the crystalline container into his hand, and turned away. "All right, I have a plan," Cloud said, passing the container to Barret. "Barret, get to the edge of the forest as fast as you can. As soon as you're there, drink this, and cut across the valley."

Barret took the crystal ampule from Cloud. "What's in it?" he asked suspiciously, eyeing the minute amount of liquid inside.

"It's Haste in a bottle."

Barret blinked, at a loss for words, but recovered, nodding his understanding. "I getcha."

Cloud gave a sharp nod in return. "Cut north when you get across the valley, get to high ground, and find the sniper. Take him out if you can, otherwise just pin him down and harass him, keep him out of the equation." Barret grinned, turned out from the group, and started running. "Tifa, Aerith, break down the camp, we're going to be moving out the second we're back. Red, keep your eyes and ears open, make sure these two stay safe. Yuffie, I need you with me. We're going to save Ranma."

"You what?" Yuffie shouted in protest as the others began to move. "The hell am I s'posed ta do against a SOLDIER?"

"Nothing," Cloud admitted, and started moving purposefully through the underbrush. "Just help me stay in his blind spot until Barret's in position."

Yuffie groaned in disbelief, but followed anyway. "An' how're ya gonna know when that's happening?"

Cloud turned and flashed a small but knowing smile. "When he's in position, everybody's going to know."

-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-=x=-

The SOLDIER in front of Ranma glanced to look across the field, the lights of automatic gunfire sparking in the distance. "Ven," the man breathed.

In that distracted moment, Ranma saw her opportunity and inhaled sharply, her body blurring. She darted swiftly out from the cover of the trees, grabbed the haft of the naginata just below the guard with one hand, and held it fast before turning her body around in a spinning back kick that knocked the SOLDIER away, sending him sprawling to the ground. Somehow, he held onto the bottom of the spear with one hand, and quickly regained his footing, before pulling hard at the weapon. Ranma's grip on the haft did not falter, and as she moved with the naginata, she took the opportunity to land a series of hammering blows on his exposed body with her free hand.

"You ain't gettin' away from me that easy!" Ranma shouted, dropping into a low scything kick that took the SOLDIER's legs out from under him, sending him back to the ground. Before he could struggle to his feet again, Ranma leaped atop the man, pulling the haft of the spear between them and pressing down on it hard, intending to pin him. The SOLDIER managed to lift his legs before Ranma could position herself, and sent the redhead flying with both feet, regaining complete control of the naginata. Without a word, he advanced on the girl, slashing and stabbing with the long weapon. Ranma saw that his technique was much more polished now, and it was clear to her that she was not going to get another easy shot in. She adopted a defensive posture, sacrificing any attempt to attack in favor of keeping herself from turning into Swiss cheese. And even with her speed and skill, it was rapidly becoming clear that this man was at least her equal in martial combat.

Time to show where I really shine, she thought. Another thrust, missing her by centimeters as she managed to parry the attack just wide enough to give her an opening. She braced her legs, cupped her hands, and focused her chi as rapidly as she could. "Mōko Takabisha!" she shouted, thrusting her clawed hands out at the SOLDIER-

-who had twisted the naginata in response to her parry, the flat of the naginata blade coming around now to slap her hands out to the side with a sharp blow, sending her aimed attack wildly to her left-

-and as the sphere released from her hands, she saw Cloud for the first time, approaching from the direction that her arms were now pointed, his Buster Sword raised as he flew through the air, defenseless, as the orb of chi smacked into his chest, the detonation sending him flying hard into the other direction, falling flat on his back.

The enemy SOLDIER grinned and spun the weapon in a circle, the weighted tip of the haft colliding hard into Ranma's torso, knocking her to the ground with a thud. "Yeah, that's not going to happen, girl." He completed the weapon's spin, putting the tip to Ranma's throat. "Face it, you've lost."

Ranma lay there, prone on the ground, the blade's point pressed against her neck, the haft of the weapon keeping him well out of range of her legs, staring at the man above her. "Ranma Saotome doesn't lose," she growled defiantly.

"And yet, here you are," he retorted, his grin fading. "Rufus said dead or alive, so right now it's up to you. You want to go back in cuffs, or in a body bag?"

Before Ranma could answer, the SOLDIER grimaced and stepped to one side, turning rapidly to the empty field behind them. Ranma sprung to her feet, and saw that the field was no longer empty. Yuffie stood there, one hand filled with throwing daggers. And as she looked over the SOLDIER, Ranma realized that he'd been struck by at least one of those knives, as a trail of blood oozed gently from his shoulder. "Ya maybe wanna ask yerself that question," the dark-haired ninja prompted, her hand flicking out, metallic glints hurtling through the moonlight. The SOLDIER managed to evade most of the volley, but one knife sunk halfway into his lower torso just above the thick leather girdle, while a second disappeared into his thigh.

The spearman tugged the blades free, and for a moment there was a familiar-looking aura of green sparkles about his body. "You think you can take me out with knives?" he taunted. "What are you going to do, nick me to death?"

"Done it before," Yuffie answered coldly, circling slowly as she pulled out another volley. "You can heal up as much as ya want. All that blood is gonna stay outside your body. Even if you have the mana reserves for it, eventually, there won't be enough blood for you to keep moving, and then you're dead." She gestured with both hands this time, and a rain of sharp objects hurtled through the air. Ranma saw something in the midst of the blades, a sphere that shone dully in the dim light. Three knives hit their mark, and somehow Yuffie had predicted exactly which way the man would dodge, the pellet striking him square in the chest with a sudden and unexpected bang, the force of the concussive blast sending him sprawling back onto the grass. "And trust me," the young ninja insisted, "I got more'n enough in my pockets to keep you busy wastin' mana until you fall over."

The SOLDIER stood slowly, his stance defiant, even as he leaned slightly on the butt of his spear. "Yeah, except for one thing," he said, reaching behind him and pulling free what looked like the hour hand to a large clock. He flicked his wrist once, and the metal shifted, the 'hand' seeming to split into four, the bottom of the arrow suddenly becoming the center of a circle, and within only two or three seconds, the SOLDIER was holding an enormous shuriken, much like Yuffie's own. He flung the weapon hard, sending it spinning towards Yuffie, who leaped high and away to avoid the attack. As the shuriken circled back to their attacker, the air between them seemed to wobble strangely, as if it had somehow become a pool of water. Ranma watched in confusion as the distortion in the air grew stronger, the form of the spearman and the ground around him wobbling significantly. The shuriken returned to his outstretched hand, and without warning there was a sound of glass or crystal shattering under extreme stress as the spell grabbed hold of the SOLDIER, and he vanished without a trace.

Yuffie stared at the vacated space where the SOLDIER had stood, gritting her teeth in disbelief. "...kisama..." she huffed under her breath. She paused, stowed the knives she had pulled free, and then strode over to Ranma. "I hope you can wake up big boy over there," she gestured to Cloud, "because I'm not carryin' him.

Ranma got to her feet and threw a Cure spell over Cloud, rousing him from his daze. "Damn, Ranma," he grumbled as he came to his feet, "that thing of yours hits like a truck."

The redhead exhaled in a huff, glancing out across the valley to see Barret approaching. "If it were anyone but you, I'd wonder if you'd been hit by a truck to know the difference," she commented. "Since it's you, the only thing I have to wonder is if the truck survived hitting you."

Yuffie snorted and let out a genuine laugh at that. Cloud grimaced slightly. "How'd it go, Barret?" he asked, turning to the larger man.

Barret shook his head. "Guy got away," he said. "Think they had some kinda teleport magic... Exit or somethin'. I didn't think SOLDIERs were known for runnin', but guess it takes all kinds."

"Then they could be anywhere by now." Cloud ran a hand through his hair. "We can't waste time trying to hunt those two, we have to move camp and do it before they come back. The others should have broken everything down by now, so let's regroup and get the hell out of here."

Yuffie stared out across the empty moonlit field. "Who the hell were those guys, anyway?" she wondered aloud.

Cloud winced, clutching at his bruised ribs. "If they're who I think they are, then they're trouble," he answered. "Jagher and Venator, they're trackers, and they're dangerous. Even if it isn't them, we need to leave. Don't want to get caught out here in the open by anyone like that."

Ranma and Barret both gave nods, and the four of them turned towards the line of woods. Ranma looked back at Yuffie. "Thanks for the save," she said. "I don't like losin', but I ain't gonna lose to him twice." Yuffie waved a hand indifferently, and followed Ranma into the forest. Ranma thought for a moment. "You really still had enough weapons hidden, even after we pulled that big pile of stuff outta your pockets?" she asked.

Yuffie barked a defiant laugh. "Hell no," she admitted, "you guys almost emptied me out. Those three knives I was holdin' there were my last ones I had on me, but I wasn't about to tell him that."

Ranma turned to Yuffie with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Remind me to show you a little magic trick later, once we get set back up."

"What kind of trick?"

A/N: So, about two dozen chapters back, I said I wasn't sure if Yuffie'd even be showing up, much less joining the party. Guess what? I decided. We're going to be seeing some changes here as the characters start to come together. Yuffie normally arrives to the party with a Throw materia, but... I think it's a little iffy for that to be a materia, so I've decided that she can just do that as part of her ninja training. And that's... not all she can do, but we'll get there as we get there. Personality wise, Yuffie always put me in mind of a terrier. Attitude three sizes bigger than its body. Hence Ranma giving her the nickname.

The item that Yuffie surrendered mid-chapter was a Speed Drink, and it is in fact basically a Haste spell in a bottle. It's a fairly rare item, but considering Yuffie would have had to traverse a significant chunk of the planet to get from Wutai to Junon Forest, no matter what route she took, I think it's reasonable that she might have managed to pick up one or two in her travels.

More action this chapter! Jagher and Venator present an interesting and complicated threat. Either one of them alone would be a significant problem for the party to overcome, but when they work together... well, you saw Ranma's reaction to the prospect of having a bullet through her head. As we've seen here, Jagher is calculating, patient, and a capable strategist, and trusts implicitly in his partner's ability to take down any target that Jagher flushes out of hiding. And both he and Venator have watched the security footage from Shinra HQ when Ranma tore it up with her chi, so Jagher would have been informed enough of the signs to be looking for Ranma to let loose with that attack. We'll see more about Venator later on.

Language lessons! "Chikushou" has several meanings, but in this context it roughly translates as 'son of a bitch.' "Kisama" roughly translates as 'you bastard.' Both are Japanese swears. Is Yuffie speaking Japanese? Why would she do that? Maybe find out next time.

Major shout out to FF user Shadowatcher for helping me edit this chapter.

Hope you like it! Feedback and comments welcome, as always.