Fall Of Darkness Chapter 9

When morning came, Cloud found himself tangled in the sheets, curled up in a ball to keep himself warm. He was apparently was going to have to get used to the new climate. He slept shirtless, and the colder weather of the Northern Continent was getting to him. Slipping on a shirt, he stumbled wearily into the Highwind's kitchen.

Cid had heavily modified the Highwind to better support them last year. He took out the library of Shinra documents, and turned it into a kitchen, complete with plumbing. The water supply needed to be refilled often, but it made the Highwind more livable when traveling.

As Cloud appeared in the kitchen, he found everyone waiting for him. "Goodmorning…" he mumbled before sitting down. Shera quickly put some hot coffee in from of him, and Tifa gave him a plate of food. "You guys should open up a catering service." he joked as he dug into his meal.

Cid put this cigarette out and addressed Cloud. "You got a plan or anything?"

Cloud shrugged. "Ask some questions and take a look I guess. Shouldn't be too much trouble." Cloud didn't say anything about his dream.

Tifa came over and sat down next to Cloud. "Let's keep our minds on pleasant things for now."

Cloud nodded.

James was about to say something when they heard a shout from outside. Cloud silenced them and they listened again.

It sounded like a young girl yelling.

Cloud and Barret were out of their seats in a second, hoping that no one was in danger, and proceeded towards the door.

"Wait!" Cid yelled, running after them. "I can what's going on with the outboard monitor. May be a monster."

Cloud nodded and Cid ran to the control room. Pushing a few buttons on a panel, Cid pulled up the security monitor display. He switched to several different cameras outside, until finally, he saw the source of the sound. His cigarette fell from his mouth as it fell open. "Oh, no!"

"What the…?" Cloud said as he looked at the monitor in shock. Outside, he saw a small girl jumping up and down and waving her arms, trying to get their attention. Cloud instantly recognized the green shirt, the too-short shorts, and giant Conformer strapped to her back.

Cid rubbed his head. "Good God, not that kid…."

Cloud grinned at Cid before going to the main door. They were hovering thirty feet off the ground, but there was a rope ladder he could use to let Yuffie in. He opened the door and threw the ladder down. Yuffie ran up to it, but he could tell she was carrying some heavy baggage and couldn't climb with all of it. Trusting his instincts, he decided to make the jump down to her. He heard Tifa yell something as she came up behind him, but he was already in the air.

Cloud hit the ground with a thud a few feet behind Yuffie. Thirty feet was a long way down, even for him. He rubbed his leg as Yuffie ran up to him.

Yuffie greeted him with a tight hug, which he returned, lifting her off the ground. "I've been out here yelling for twenty minutes! Where were you losers?!" she shouted as he let her down.

"Well, we were just saying to ourselves, 'Gee, it's so nice and quiet, it a good thing Yuffie's not here!'"

Yuffie kicked him in the shin. "Give me a hand here. I can't drag all this stuff up by myself."

"That's what I came down here to do!" Cloud said as he took a large, heavy bag from her. Yuffie ran to the dangling rope ladder and began to climb, Cloud only a few feet behind her.

When she reached the top, Tifa pulled her up and hugged her. "Yuffie! It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"Yeah it has! How did you ever survive without me?!"

Tifa rolled her eyes as Yuffie greeted everyone else, even Barret, in the same manner. When she got to Cid however, he gave her an irritated look as he took a drag on his cigarette.

Yuffie looked up at him and sneered. "Are you ever going to get rid of those stinking things?"

Cid grinned. "You'd better be good, squirt, or I'll throw you off my ship!" Yuffie ran up and embraced Cid just as Cloud pulled himself back onto the ship.

"Man, this is heavy!" he said as he dumped the bag on the ground. Barret reeled in the ladder and shut the door, and Cloud introduced Yuffie to James.

"Nice ta meetcha." Yuffie said as she shook his large hand. "So what are you guys doing here?"

Reeve motioned for everyone to go back into the kitchen. "We can share our stories inside."

Everyone agreed and followed him.

Their food had gotten a little cold, but that didn't stop all eight of them from chowing down. It was going to be a big day, and they needed energy.

"So Yuffie, what are you doing so far from Wutai by yourself?" Shera asked as she sat down next to the young ninja.

Yuffie swallowed a mouthful of food. "Well, I had nothing to do and I just got soooo bored hanging around with my dad all the time. So I thought I'd take a trip. I've been running all around trying to find materia. With the shortage, I need all I can get, so I looked through the wreckage of most of the old reactors. I found a lot."

"Materia…is that what that bag is?" Cloud asked.

"Yup."

Cloud and Barret's eyes met. "Good." Barret said.

Cloud turned to Yuffie. "Listen, I think we're gonna need to borrow some of that…"

"Get your own!" Yuffie shouted. "I found it, it's mine!"

"Calm down, we don't want to keep it. But we're here on business, and we don't have much of our own."

"No, you can't…business?" Yuffie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Cloud motioned to James, who proceeded to tell Yuffie his morbid story.

The Northern Crater.

At the very top of the planet, this gigantic hole marked the arrival point of Jenova, two thousand years ago…

…and the beginning of the end for the Cetra.

Over the last two thousand years, this enormous wound has been healing ever so slowly. The Lifestream energy runs thick here, and in the center of the crater lies a mysterious core of energy. A giant wall of Mako, frozen by the sub zero temperatures and natural compression, marks the entrance into the planet's core. It is sealed, but one year ago, it was the point where a great evil literally entered the world.

Also sealed here, entombed in the frozen Mako, were giant machines. Created by the planet as a final defense mechanism, these machines, standing several hundred feet tall, were known as WEAPON. Several had been destroyed by AVALANCHE, but three remained. They were dormant, and undisturbed, and posed no threat to the world.

All was still.

But then, for the fist time in millennia, a slight tremor was felt.

Barely noticeable, it lasted only a second.

Then another, slightly larger tremor followed.

Still barely noticeable and very short, but definitely there.

Then, every few seconds, another short, small tremor would follow.

A tiny crack formed in Mako wall…

And through it, a trickle of Lifestream bled through…

…and a strange air fell upon the Northern Crater…

A short while later, AVALANCHE was beginning to make preparations for their mission. They were slightly behind schedule thanks to Yuffie's arrival, but only by about ten minutes. Cid and Shera were warming up the Highwind, while James was finishing his explanation of the task at hand.

Yuffie's eyes were wide with shock. "Wow, this sounds so creepy! I wonder what could be causing it?"

"That's what we're here to find out," Cloud said as he sauntered into the room, sword in hand, "You up for a little exercise?"

"Sure! I could use some excitement!" Yuffie said eagerly.

"Then how about helping us out?"

Yuffie's face fell and she folded her arms. "OK, fine, you can borrow the materia. But you'd better give it all back!"

Cloud laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Yuffie stood and ran out of the room to grab her bag, but Cloud stopped her just before she went out the door. "Make sure you're ready for anything."

Yuffie winked and ran down the hall.

"Energetic, ain't she?" James asked, chuckling.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Too much sometimes. She's a good kid, she just needs someone to steer her in the right direction."

James nodded. Suddenly, the Highwind lurched, and Cloud heard the main engines throttle up.

"That's our cue."

James and Cloud left the kitchen, leaving it empty, and proceeded to the control room. Everyone was there waiting for him, save Yuffie, and already equipping their gear. Yuffie came in a few seconds later, dragging her bag of materia.

"There's not as much in here as it seems. I dumped some other stuff in here too." she said as she opened the bag. There was a large pile of materia, mixed with a few Potions and the like. Cloud helped Yuffie dump everything out, and everyone collected what they wanted. Yuffie got first pick at her insistence, and everyone else filled their materia slots completely, all with at least one summon, and one curative materia.

Just as everyone was finished making preparation, Cloud saw Bone Village appear in front of them. The landing process didn't take too long, and they set down a good one hundred and ten yards from the town.

Everyone watched as Cid and Shera slowly brought the Highwind down, the landing gears making a small thump on the ground. Cid fired a single anchor this time, and cu the main engines. The hover engines stayed running, as they always did, to ease the strain on the landing gear.

Content that all was well, Cid hopped out of his chair and ran over to grab what was left of the materia. Cloud once again helped Shera get ready, and by seven thirty, AVALANCHE assembled near the door of the Highwind.

"Button up your jackets." James said, "You won't believe how cold it is."

Everyone did so, and Cloud called for their attention. "Like I said, quick and painless. James, you got tour guide duty. And Shera?"

"Yes?"

"Please be careful. Stay close to us, and if there's a battle of any kind, get behind us, and keep your head down."

Shera nodded solemnly.

"Cid, watch out for her."

"Don't worry about it." Cid replied. "And listen, don't give me no shit like 'Let's mosey' or nothin'! Say it like a leader!"

Cloud grinned. "Move out, AVALANCHE!"

Reeve extended the exit ramp, and opened the main door.

As soon as the door opened, and the frigid northern air swept across them, they felt it. Stunned into silence, they stood there, senses alert, looking out across the land.

The trees swayed in the wind, the rustling noise sweeping over the land. In the distance, they heard the furious beating of the waves against the shore. The sky was cloudy, and a soft, gray light shone down through the abnormally freezing air. But as serene as this should have been, it was not.

The air carried something unknown to them. Faint, subtle, silent, but definitely there, it washed over them with the cold wind. Their cheeks colored as it reached them, and their breath was visible before them. But they took no immediate notice of the cold. Instead their thoughts focused on something within the cold. Something that made the cold colder, and penetrated them to the bone, making them all shudder.

Cloud remembered James' words.

Everywhere you go, you never feel like you're alone. It's like there's always something there, watching us.

Cloud left the thought unspoken. "Wow, it's cold."

Everyone button their coats, which they had brought at James' insistence, to the very top. Shera put on a pair of earmuffs, and Yuffie a hat. She had luckily brought heavy clothing on her trip.

Cloud was the first to venture outside, and set foot on the ground. He surveyed the area. There was no sign of life anywhere, save the trees. In the freezing cold, all that could be heard was rustling leaves, and pounding waves. "Yuffie, how long have you been on this continent?"

"Since early this morning. I took a boat from Wutai after I stopped back for supplies."

"Was it like this when you got here?"

Yuffie though a moment. "The waves were real bad, but it wasn't this cold. Even this morning when I found you guys."

"You're closer to the village now, that's why." James said, drawing everyone's attention. "I told you, it's coming from the forest."

Cloud eyes James for a moment, then turned toward the village. "We're not going to accomplish anything standing here. Let's check it out." With that, Cloud strode off, sword in hand, towards Bone Village, AVALANCHE only seconds behind him.

The walk was short, and uneventful. No monsters were around, and upon reaching the town, they found that not a soul was outside. Enormous skeletons lay about, as well as digging implements. Nearby, the town shop, a cave in the wall that divided the town, was closed. All was silent.

Cloud was surprised that no digging or mining activity was taking place. He asked James where everyone was.

"Everyone's inside, takin' shelter from the cold and monsters. You all better wait here, I'll get everyone."

Cloud nodded and James began to climb the ladder to the top of the cliff. He disappeared over the top, and left everyone with nothing to do but wait. Shera marveled at the skeletons, holding her nose which getting a close look. Cid warned her not to stray too far, and Barret knocked on the shop door.

"Anyone home?" Tifa asked.

Barret knocked again. "Nope. I guess they're all stayin' together."

Just then, James appeared over the cliff, and motioned for everyone to come up. Cloud led the way, and everyone followed, Shera going second to last, Barret close behind.

Once they reached the top, they found the workers of Bone Village looking nervous, and yet glad to see them. Cloud recognized a few people from his trip through here on his way to the Ancient City, but could not recall any names. The foreman introduced himself to Cloud as David Krepps, and explained that they had built a main tent, and were sticking together as much as they could, several of them armed.

"We had another one taken last night. He went to take a leak, and got dragged away. There was this gust of wind, and then we heard screamin'."

James shook his head. "Who?"

"George."

James shook his head again and cursed under his breath. "How's Larry?"

"Still barely conscious, but hurtin'."

Cloud turned to Krepps. "Is that the survivor from the first group?"

Krepps nodded. "Yeah. He can barely talk though. We ain't got no Potions or nothin', so he might not even be able to tell you want happened."

"That's OK, we have plenty of Potions. We'll see what we can do, and we need to get a look at the bodies."

Krepps looked at Cloud, startled. "Listen pal, I don't think you wanna see the bodies."

"They're not pretty." James said.

"You want us to find out what's going on, right? We need to get an idea of what we're up against." Cloud said.

Krepps shrugged. OK, but don't say I didn't warn you…" He turned and motioned for Cloud and the others to follow. "We're keepin' 'em in a storage box packed in ice, until the Icicle Inn coroner gets out here."

They followed Krepps into a small, musty tent, and found a large box inside. He unlatched the lid, and then stepped back. "You do the honors." he said to Cloud.

Cloud shrugged and reached for the lid. The second he cracked it open, a horrible stench filled the tent, and he turned away, covering his nose. Everyone groaned as the foul odor assaulted their nostrils, and Shera choked heavily.

Pulling his jacket up over his nose, Cloud opened the lid all the way. His mouth gaped in shock, as did everyone else's.

"Oh my God…" Shera squeaked, covering her mouth as she became dizzy.

"Come on, outside." Cid said, leading her out of the tent. She leaned against him, and they disappeared outside.

Cloud looked at the two dead bodies in absolute horror. They were twisted in unnatural positions, with several joints dislocated, yet no bones appeared to be broken. Cloud was not about to touch them, but he could tell they were stiff as a board. The flesh that remained on them was completely black, and extremely thin, just barely hiding the bones. Their faces had sank into their skulls, and their eyes were still intact, the pupils large, but not dilated. One of the mouths hung open, and the teeth, and even the tongue, were still there, yet completely black. There were no maggots or parasites of any kind on the bodies. Yet something even stranger occurred to Cloud. The overwhelming stench that emanated from them was not that of rotting or burnt flesh. Cloud couldn't identify it, but Cloud knew for sure that these bodies were not decomposed.

"Give me a stick or something." Cloud wheezed.

He heard someone step out of the tent, and after a moment, Reeve handed him a foot long, centimeter thick tree branch from the ground. Cloud took it, and delicately reached out with it. He poked the body with the stick. The flesh made a squishing noise, and as Cloud pushed harder, the stick penetrated the rubbery skin. Cloud withdrew the stick, and a tar-like black liquid seeped out.

He heard someone swear behind him, and guessed that Cid had returned. "Cid, come over here, and bring your lighter."

"What are you gonna do?"

Cloud took the stick and sopped up some of the black liquid that seeped from the wound he had created. When Cid brought his lighter over, he held the stick out and instructed Cid to hold the lighter under the liquid.

Cid flicked his lighter a few times before the flame came up. He held it under the slime, causing the smell to intensify and the flame to become very large. As it passed over the liquid, the flame turned black, something Cloud had never seen before in his life.

"Holy shit…" Barret said in amazement.

Cloud watched the black flame for a few seconds. It was thin and steady, and did not flicker. It was the most incredible thing Cloud had ever seen, and waited a few more seconds before telling Cid to turn off the lighter. Then he shut the lid and hurried them out of the tent.

Everyone was glad to escape the horrible smell, and removed whatever means they had used to cover their noses. Cloud began to pace outside, deep in thought, while Cid and Tifa tried to calm Shera down. She wasn't used to seeing things like that.

Barret approached Cloud. "What do you think?"

Cloud shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense. Not one damn bit."

"What happened to 'em? Were they burned?"

"No, definitely not. The skin is raw, and…just really messed up, but it's still moist somehow. If they were burned, it'd be dry and cracked."

Barret nodded. "I heard it squish when you poked it."

Reeve walked over and joined them. "Maybe some kinda poison? Maybe a really heavy dose of poison turned 'em black like that?"

Cloud shook his head. "That's what the lighter was for." he explained, "They would have to be so saturated with poison to turn black like that that just touching them could be deadly. But it you put a flame to most monster venom, or contaminated blood, it'll change the color of the flame. Usually to green or blue. But black…" Cloud shook his head. "I've never heard of a black flame before. No poison does that."

Barret scratched his chin. "But what was that stuff that dripped out?"

"No idea. It looked like tar, whatever it was, but that's just ridiculous."

"And it didn't smell like tar." Reeve said. "What the hell was that, anyway? I've never smelled anything like it."

"Me either," Cloud said, "and I've smelled rotten flesh before. It's pretty bad, but that was definitely not the smell of rotting flesh. I don't know what it was."

"An' you said the flesh wasn't rotten anyway." Barret said.

Cloud nodded. "No parasites. If the flesh was decomposed, there'd be parasites."

"Cloud, was that Rigor Mortis that did that to them?" Tifa asked, walking over.

"No. Rigor Mortis is stiff muscles. But it doesn't twist you up into a pretzel like that."

Tifa sighed nervously. "So they were bent up by whatever killed them."

"Yeah, but no bones looked like they was busted." Barret said.

Cloud looked at Barret. "You saw that. Yeah, no protruding broken bones. There might be some internal fractures, but to be twisted up like that I would think would break a lot of bones. Especially if they were struggling."

"Maybe they weren't." Reeve said. Cloud gave him a questioning look. "Maybe they were dead before they realized what was happening."

Cloud chewed on that. "It's a possibility, but then why twist them up like that?"

Reeve shrugged.

About then James walked over and asked what the situation was.

"A bad one." Cloud said. "Did anyone hear anything when those two were killed?"

"They screamed somthin' awful." said a man standing nearby.

"So why don't they have any broken bones? If they were screaming, they must have been struggling, and to twist them up like that would have broken several bones."

"So maybe they killed and then twisted." Cid said.

"But what would be the point then?"

"If you're a sick @#$%."

Cloud shook his head. "Only people are sick like that. Not monsters."

"So maybe it's not a monster." Yuffie said.

Everyone was silent. This situation might not be as easy as they thought it would be. The cold was unpleasant for all of them, and the possibility that a human could be cause of this was quite unsettling.

"Whatever it is," Cloud said, "I want it dead."

"So what do we do, leader?" Cid asked.

"We get our stuff together, grab some flashlights, and wait for noon, when the sun is at zenith. It'll be lightest then, so we can see through the fog." Cloud looked towards the entrance to the Forest for the first time since he got here. The fog inside was quite thick. "We move systematically through, find the problem, and kill it. In the meantime, Tifa and Reeve, you guys treat the survivor, see if you can get him to talk. Call me if he does."

Tifa nodded, and Cloud turned to Reeve. "While you're at it, get Red on the PHS. I want to know what happened to those bodies."

Reeve gave him a thumbs-up. "Mind if I bring a friend out here?" he asked, winking. "No problem, we might need him." Cloud turned to Yuffie. "Get us as many flashlights as you can find."

"Check!"

"And Barret and Cid, you guys come with me to the Highwind. We'll get some maps of the Forest, and plan our route through."

"The Forest is asleep. Can you get through?" James asked.

Cloud nodded. "I have the Lunar Harp. I don't know why, I just instinctively grabbed it when we left Kalm."

"What about me?" asked Shera. "I want to help." Cid glared at her, but she spoke before he could. "I mean, I could gather supplies or something."

Cloud thought about it for a moment. "OK, just gather information from everyone, and stay near everyone."

"Right!" Shera said.

"OK everyone, let's get to it. We've got about three hours and forty-five minutes. Plenty of time to get everything done."

With that, everyone hurried off to do their part.

Tifa and Reeve were shown to the main tent, where they found a man lying on the only bed in the room. Reeve was talking to Shinra HQ on his PHS, and hushed his voice when he saw the man.

The room was cluttered with sleeping bags and folding chairs. This was where the people of Bone Village had taken refuge in large numbers, and the room was a complete mess. Hopefully this would be over soon, and life could return to normal around here.

Tifa walked over for a closer inspection. He was covered in cuts and scratches, although none were bad enough to require stitches. His skin was pale, and his forehead was hot. Tifa listened to his breathing, and determined that he was not comatose, merely sleeping. She peeled back the sheets covering him, and found that he wore no shirt, and was bandaged about the ribs. His left leg was held in a splint, and the bandages around it were brown with dried blood.

"Is he going to need anything heavy?" Reeve asked, still on the PHS.

Tifa shrugged. "I'm no nurse, but we should get him to a hospital."

Reeve nodded and returned to his PHS conversation. "Bring a stretcher," he said, "We have an injured man."

Tifa took out her small medical kit, a must have for any traveler, and removed a Potion and a hypodermic needle. She had learned to administer medicine this way after Cloud was injured last year. Just before Aeris vanished, he had slipped into a coma after being manipulated by Sephiroth to give him the Black Materia, and beat Aeris to the ground. The shock to his system was overwhelming, and he was out for several days. With no means to give him medicine, Tifa had taken it upon herself to learn how to use a hypodermic needle to inject it. This skill had proven useful more than once in the past.

After injecting a medium dose of Potion, Tifa asked Reeve to get her a damp towel. When he returned, she placed the towel on the man's forehead. She would attempt to wake him as soon as his temperature went down.

Just about then, Reeve finished his conversation, and put away his PHS. "I told 'em to bring my 'counterpart', and they're also gonna take the bodies."

"What for?" Tifa asked.

"I already contacted Red, and he wants to see this for himself. He's gonna call as soon as he knows more."

Tifa nodded and sat down in a folding chair. Reeve did the same, and eyed the sleeping man. "He gonna live?"

Tifa nodded. "I think so. They told me they gave him an Antidote when he was awake, but he's been sleeping since yesterday."

"Think he'll be able to tell us anything?"

"I hope so. This is a really creepy situation."

Reeve nodded in utmost agreement. He thought about the events of last year. He had seen frightening things through Cait Sith, but had never actually been there for a single battle, or even met AVALANCHE in person until after everything was over. Actually being physically involved in what could be a dangerous situation made his hair stand on end. But he would not abandon his friends when they needed him. "Tifa, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you do it? How do you put yourself in the middle of situations like this, and still stay so cheerful and optimistic? I never seen you lose your cool."

Tifa thought for a moment. "Sometimes I don't always feel as cheerful as I seem."

"But you don't show it."

"What good does it do to be scared? It doesn't solve anything. If anything, it makes things worse."

"You mean you weren't scared when y'all went down into the crater?" "No, I was terrified!" Tifa laughed. "I get scared plenty, but I don't show it."

Reeve laughed in response. "I guess that's what they mean by never let them see you bleed."

"Exactly. Especially the people on your side. If you're strong for everyone, they'll be strong for you."

Reeve nodded. "I remember how y'all always stood up for each other, even though some of y'all knew almost nothing about each other. It's one of the things that impressed me."

"It's one of the things I learned from Cloud. Sometimes you think someone's supporting you, when it's really you supporting them."

"And the other way around."

Tifa nodded. "That's why I never give up hope. Sometimes, it's all that's keeping the world from crumbling around you."

"You're an inspiration to us all, Tifa."

Tifa blushed, giggling. "Thanks Reeve."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of a moan. Tifa leapt out of her chair and raced to the injured man's side. He was awake, and looked like he was trying to say something.

"It's OK. You're safe. Just relax." she said.

"Who…who are you?" the man asked weakly.

"My name's Tifa Lockhart. Me and my friends are here to help."

"Ti…Tifa…you're with…AVALANCHE, right?"

Tifa nodded.

"You guys...oh God, in the Forest…you gotta do something…"

"Just relax, we'll take care of everything." Tifa turned to Reeve, who was watching over her shoulder. "Get Cloud and the others."

Reeve turned and bolted out the door.

"It's gonna come back…"

Tifa turned back around. "What?"

"It's gonna kill us all…"

Tifa's eyes widened. "Sir, please try to relax. My friends will be here soon, and you can tell us all about it."

"It…it took Ricardo…" Suddenly, the man's bloodshot eyes opened and looked right into Tifa's. "We're all gonna die."

A short while later, Cloud and Barret arrived to see to the injured man, not far behind James and Krepps. Everyone else waited outside the tent, as they wanted to give him space. Tifa had calmed him down somewhat, and he had eaten a sandwich earlier. He was in slightly better condition, yet still barely conscious. His painkillers wouldn't kick in for a little while longer, so he was not very comfortable.

He had spoken a little bit, and they had learned that his name was Larry Benson. He had worked in Bone Village for six years, and remembered AVALANCHE from last year's epic, but was still unable to say much about it.

Tifa had asked Cloud and Barret not to question him yet. He was still in very fragile mental shape, and obviously terrified from what he had seen. He would be taken to a trauma unit most likely, and further treated there, but for now, Tifa wanted to put him at ease as much as possible. Any information they could get from him was valuable information.

"Are you feeling better Mr. Benson?" Tifa asked.

Benson looked at her through half open eyes. "Yeah, a little. Thanks."

"You're going to be fine. We're going to send you to a hospital for a while."

"But…what about…in the…" Benson's voice cracked slightly as he became nervous.

"Please try to stay calm." Tifa said. "We're going to help."

"Can you?"

"Well, if you could tell us what you saw, it'd help us a lot."

Benson shut his eyes and his brow furrowed. He weakly reached up and rubbed his forehead, then cleared his throat. "It was…oh, man. I barely saw it but…"

"Take it from the beginning." Cloud said as he walked over.

Benson cleared his throat again. "Ricardo told us all…we gotta go kill the thing making the noise. I was creeped out, so I went with him…instead of waiting in the cold. So seven of us went in…it was cold…and the wind was really strong.

"We didn't find anything…then this fog came…couldn't see anything. Then the groaning noise…it was so loud. We tried to get out, but we got lost. Then…then it got real cold. And…" Benson's face distorted in fear. "This…thing…I couldn't see it…it started killing us. There were these waves of light…"

"Waves of light?" Barret asked.

"I don't know what it was. It was cold, and there were…these flashes of hot light. I heard them getting killed. They were shooting…and bones crunching…"

Tifa and Cloud looked at each other, concern evident on their faces.

"I got knocked down…broke my ribs. Stayed there until the screaming stopped. I saw Ricardo…he got thrown into a tree…and he was standing there and…and this…" Benson became increasingly agitated as he spoke. "I saw this thing come out of the fog…couldn't make it out…it was big…"

"Can you tell us what it looked like?" Cloud asked.

"Really tall…bigger than Ricardo...and black…had arms I think. I couldn't tell. But I just had this…this feeling…that I had to get away. So I ran…I kept running. I heard screaming, but I kept running. It took…an hour maybe before I felt it coming after me."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Felt it coming after you?"

"I just knew it was there. I ran, and I stumbled and dislocated my knee. So I crawled. Then someone picked me up and dragged me out."

"Who was it?" Tifa asked.

"He's dead." James cut in. "He was one of the two bodies. He said he didn't see anything."

Tifa nodded.

Benson rubbed his head. "I couldn't tell what it was…but it was just…I felt it looking at me…oh God, it was horrible."

Tifa stood up and turned to Cloud. "What do you think?"

"I don't like this." he answered, "I really don't."

Tifa nodded and turned back to Benson. "Is there anything else?"

"No." Benson said weakly.

"Thank you, Mr. Benson. We'll do all we can." Tifa said, and then motioned for everyone to leave the room. "Get some rest. You need it."

Benson nodded as best he could, and then laid his head back.

Outside, Cloud explained as best he could what they had learned. Everyone was clearly unnerved, and the bitter cold wasn't helping.

Shera said that she had spoken to everyone in the Village, and nobody knew much of anything, and one man, whose mane she said was William, refused to talk.

"#@$% that guy." James said. "He's a crazy bastard."

Cloud looked at James and then shrugged. He surveyed his surroundings. Yuffie had gathered about ten flashlights, giving them plenty for everyone. Cid and Barret each had a map of their route through the Sleeping Forest. Cait Sith was on his way, and they were expecting a PHS call from Red. Up above, the sun was barely visible through the gray clouds, but it was as light as it was going to get. It looked like everything was ready. One problem lingered in Cloud's mind however.

"So what are we going to do with Shera?" Cloud asked. "I really don't want to take her in, I really don't want to leave her here, and none of us can afford to stay behind."

"If she stays with us, we can protect her." Yuffie volunteered.

"Yes, but we're walking right into what looks like a battle situation."

"I promise I'll do whatever you tell me. I won't get in your way." Shera said.

"It's not that, Shera." Cid said. "You're vulnerable for one thing, and battles ain't pretty."

"I can deal with it."

"But if this thing's been comin' out an' killin' people," Barret said, "How do we know it won't slip by us?"

Cloud chewed on that. "It might, but we can leave guards at the entrance. There are a few defense rifles here."

"But no one here has fighting skills like me…us." Yuffie said.

"True."

"I would personally rather go with you." Shera said. "I trust you all not to let me get hurt."

Just as Cid was about to say something, the wind picked up, and a loud noise filled the sky. The all looked about, and saw three helicopters approaching. One was Reeve's, and the other two were an escort and ambulance chopper. Reeve pulled out his PHS and put it in two-way mode. He told the choppers to land just outside the town.

"So I guess you're off then?" Cloud shouted over the noise.

"Not yet. I'm gonna stick around till y'all get back." Reeve said. Cait Sith'll go in with y'all, an' I have a mobile control unit in the chopper."

Cloud nodded.

"I'm gonna go and get 'em up and runnin'. I'll see y'all when ya get back." With that, Reeve turned and started towards the landing helicopters.

"OK, that's settled." Cloud said, and then looked at the ground. Quickly running through his options, he made a decision. "I think Yuffie's right. I'd feel better with Shera with us. We can keep her closely guarded, and one of us can take her out if things get ugly."

Everyone seemed to agree, but Cid was skeptical. "Are you sure about this?"

"As sure as I can be."

Cid turned to Shera. "Last chance to back out and go home with Reeve."

"Nothing doing." Shera said, shaking her head. "I'm going with you."

"Shera, you better watch your ass. I don't wanna have to take you out of here on a stretcher."

Shera smiled weakly. "I'd hate to inconvenience you as well, Captain."

Cid said nothing, just lit up a cigarette, and then turned to Cloud. "She stays with me."

Cloud nodded. "OK, listen up. Here's the way we do it. Barret and Cid each have a map through the forest, so we go in two teams. We take this," Cloud held up a small transmitter with a blinking light on it. "And Reeve can track us. Cait Sith has one built in. we follow the coordinates all the way through."

"What exactly are we doing?" Tifa asked.

"We're going to try to cover as much ground as we can. There's probably tracks to follow, and the idea is to find it, or flush it out."

"Then what?"

"Kill it."

"What if we don't find it?" Barret asked.

"We'll meet on the other side and take it from there. We either backtrack, or head all the way to the Forgotten Capital."

"You think it might have gone all that way?"

Cloud shrugged. "You never know. We'll see if we can find any tracks."

"I have a question." Shera said. "What do we do if we find it?"

"Get you to a safe place, and then bring the other team in to kill it. Hopefully we can ambush it."

Shera nodded.

"OK, now we need teams. It'll be Cid, Shera, Cait Sith, and Yuffie, you head east. I'll go with Tifa and Barret."

James stepped up to them. "I'm going in with you guys." he said as he loaded a rifle.

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"I need to. I need to see what killed my friends. I need to be sure it won't kill any of us again."

Cloud looked at James for a moment. He was considerably large, and strong. Cloud had learned that he had experience with guns in conversation, and seemed like a trustworthy guy. Cloud agreed. "OK, that's that. Krepps, get a team to guard the entrance. We don't know how long we'll be, so arrange for rotations."

"Gotcha." Krepps said.

Just then, Cait Sith came bounding up to them. "Heya guys! Long time no see!" Cait Sith may be Reeve's "counterpart", but had a robotic mind of his own.

"Hey, Cait. We'll do the formal stuff later." Cloud said. "Let's get equipped and get going."

Everyone hurried about putting their combat gear on, as well as heavy coats. Everyone was given a flashlight, and Cloud took the locator and put it on his inside coat pocket. Then he pulled out his PHS. "Everyone switch to two-way." he said. "Reeve, can you hear us?"

Reeve's voice crackled over the PHS. "Y'all are supposed to say 'do you read me, over?'"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Whatever. We're going in. Have you got us located?"

"Check. Head on out, just let me know if you're taking a route other than the one on the map y'all gave me."

"Right. We probably will if we find tracks."

"10-4!"

Cloud shook his head. "Strife to base, over and out!" Cloud took the PHS away from his mouth. "Let's go!"

"Cloud wait!" Shera called. Cloud turned to face her. "The materia you gave me, what do I use it for?"

"It's Cure and Heal. If anyone gets hurt or poisoned, use it. But be careful, it'll wear you out pretty quick."

"OK." Shera said. Cloud turned away and led everyone to the entrance. When everyone's back were turned, Shera reached into her pocket, and pulled out another materia. It was Cid's mastered Fire. She slipped it into her bangle, and hurried after her friends.

When she reached them, they were already in teams standing around the entrance. Cloud drew his sword, and peered inside. "Can't see a damn thing. Flashlights."

Everyone switched on their flashlights.

"If you see it, try not to attract it's attention, and turn your lights off. Cait Sith, no megaphone. We want to surprise it if possible." Cloud looked his team over. He had five skilled fighters, one rookie, and one damsel in distress.

This should be interesting.

"OK AVALANCHE, move out!"

With that, Cloud marched into the fog, his seven companions following cautiously behind.

Author's note:
Been a while since an update here! Well, this chapter was getting so painfully long, I decided to cut it in half, and make the second half chapter ten. (Watch now, I'll have exactly 100 chapters, and have to change all the numbers on my HTML files so they're all in order!)
Well...some clues to the killer's identity...whodunit, Holmes? Find out soon...
Next chapter: battle!
Thanks,
Chris

Chapter 8 - Message From Afar

Chapter 10 - Beast In The Dark

Index

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Into The Fog