Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

FORTY-THREE

Mt. Nibel was just as cold and ugly as I remembered. Cloud, Jessie, Yuffie, and I had made our way up the trail in the morning after Barret and the others had headed back south in the buggy. I had changed out of my skirt and into some long pants and had put on a light jacket, too. The others had also dressed more warmly with it being chillier here in the mountains. It was also late winter, although spring wasn't so far off, and I was startled to realize how long we'd been traveling. Nearly three months already since we'd left Midgar after the plate had fallen. But so much had happened that it felt longer than that.

Before long, we came to the bridge, pausing for a moment to look across the wide, rocky gorge. Cloud and I exchanged a knowing glance, both of us thinking about the last time we'd been here. After motioning for the rest of us to wait, he stepped carefully out onto the bridge. I was holding my breath, expecting it to come apart again like it had all those years ago, but it didn't. As Cloud made it about halfway across without incident and motioned for us to follow, I finally relaxed a bit, although I couldn't help feeling nervous as I crossed the bridge.

"Looks like Shinra reinforced this thing when they rebuilt it," I said as we slowly made our way across. "See the ropes, Cloud? They're a lot sturdier than I remember. And the wood isn't rotting."

He nodded. "Yeah, Tifa. About time."

Yuffie peered over the side. "That's a long way down..."

"And a long fall," Cloud added.

I shivered. "I remember..."

Yuffie gulped as she followed us. "Just, uh... don't swing this thing too much, okay? My stomach's nervous enough as it is."

"We won't," I promised.

"It'll be okay, Yuffie," Jessie assured her.

Soon we reached the other side, and I led the way, all the paths and trails familiar to me from my days as a guide. In the winding caves, we encountered a young green dragon that had made the place its lair, and a flicker of recognition passed across Cloud's face when he saw it. Was this the same kind of monster he'd seen Sephiroth kill so effortlessly all those years ago? It had to be. It was thirty feet long, with huge, leathery wings, a long neck, and sharp claws. With a loud roar and a blast of fire from its mouth, the dragon charged right at us.

We scattered, surrounding it on all sides, weapons ready. As Cloud slashed at the dragon head on with Buster and Force Stealer and Jessie sliced from behind at its long, lashing tail, I dodged a swipe of its claws and leaped onto its back in a forward somersault, then pounded on its spine again and again while Yuffie circled around it and cut at its wings with her shuriken. The dragon snarled in pain but didn't go down yet. I kept up the assault, driving the mythril claws of my gloves as deep into its body as I could and doing my best not to fall off.

The dragon was strong, though, beating its wings and snapping its teeth, and a sudden whip of its tail caught Jessie across the chest before she could get out of the way. She flew backward into the cave wall with a startled shout and collapsed. Cloud roared, redoubling his attacks as I did the same while Yuffie barely dodged another blast of flame as she imbued her shuriken with ice ninjitsu magic and swiped at the dragon again and again. Then, just as it nearly sliced her open with its claws, a sudden, deafening series of gunshots drove it back.

My eyes widened. "Vincent!"

"Seems I was needed," he said, darting around the massive dragon as he kept firing his triple-barreled shotgun.

"You can say that again..." Jessie winced as she stood up.

Yuffie grinned. "Thanks for the backup, Vince!"