The journey across the rocky badlands outside Midgar was, for the most part, uneventful. As the day slowly wore on, the rain I had clearly smelled for some time finally began to fall. One of the modifications to the truck, aside from the new paint job, had been a convertible top for the back. Once Barret and I, from our place there in the truck bed, had seen the gray clouds thickening high above us, he'd had Cloud stop for a moment so he could get the top in place.
The girls had taken the opportunity to step outside and stretch for a few minutes until Cloud and Barret had finished their work. It hadn't taken long, and we'd soon gotten underway again. We had only ridden a few miles before the rain had started coming down. It didn't look like this region ever saw much of it—the place was nothing but a sprawling maze of rocky hills, canyons, and ravines, and the vegetation was either sparse or nonexistent. Not that we could see much, however. There was only a single window in the convertible top.
Barret's snoring as he took a nap was the only other sound besides the tapping of the rain upon the roof and the humming of the engine. I lay curled up in one corner amidst the piles of camping gear and other supplies we'd picked up in the slums and did my best not to indulge the strong temptation to flick Barret with my tail's flaming tip to get him to roll over so he'd quit that infernal noise.
A few hours later, the rain finally stopped as we rounded the curve of Midgar and finally began heading northeast. Our path was anything but direct, however, with the way all the canyons and ravines ran in the badlands. And the road, which was little more than a flattened strip of rock winding through the region, often bent and turned aside one way or the other before finally coming back to its original direction. Suffice it to say, it was a long and dreary trip.
We had just stopped for a break about halfway there when a pair of large machines like sweepers trundled into view from behind a nearby ridge. These were bigger, with dual guns on their arms that appeared to be able fire several different kinds of projectiles. As we soon found out, they were all extremely dangerous.
The first was a high-powered stream of bullets that churned up the dirt and filled the air with puffs of dust as we took what cover we could before launching our own assault. Cloud and Tifa fought against one of the machines while Aerith, Barret, and I handled the other. They were strong but not fast, and so it wasn't all that hard to outmaneuver them. However, they did have another tactic that prolonged the battle. One of the customized sweepers suddenly shot a pair of heavy smoke canisters at Aerith that sent her stumbling backward.
Seeing the danger, Cloud quickly unleashed a flurry of slashes that cut first one mech and then the other while I hit the one who'd fired at Aerith with a blast of magical lightning and Barret poured bullets into it. The machine crumpled and exploded, but that still left its partner. I turned to face it just as its third attack sailed toward us. It was a hail of magical projectiles, almost like missiles, and they all struck unerringly despite our best efforts to avoid them.
I winced in pain but stayed on my feet, as did the others. Curiously enough, as soon as I was hit, there was a sudden, bright flash of yellow light from the materia in my mythril clip. It was the one I'd obtained in Hojo's lab from one of his aides. I felt a rush of power, as if a part of the orb had just awakened, and realized that not only did I understand the nature of the magic I'd just been struck by, I could actually use it myself now, just as the aide had explained to us.
"Matra Magic..." I murmured.
While the others quickly picked themselves up, I focused upon the Enemy Skill materia and called forth the Matra Magic. Just as it had to us, a flurry of magical projectiles suddenly burst forth, but they hit the mech this time, blowing it apart in an explosion of fire and steel. Bits of scorched metal flew in all directions.
"Nice shootin', Red," Barret chuckled. "Turned its own damn attack against it. I kinda like the sounda that."
I nodded. "Now we know that materia works."
Aerith smiled as she tended to us with a healing wind. "Sure does! That spell oughta come in pretty handy."
"No doubt," I agreed. "And from what I can sense, there's still room for the materia to hold more skills. I doubt every enemy we encounter will have one we can learn, however."
"But some will, so stay alert," Cloud told me.
We moved on, heading back to the truck and getting underway. As we drove off, I pondered the battle that we'd just fought. From my time in Hojo's lab, I knew that monsters possessed a variety of abilities, both offensive and defensive. Some for attack, others to heal or protect. The latter would be more difficult to acquire, as it was unlikely our enemies would willingly use such skills on us. However, there might be a way to force them to do so, if the rumors I'd heard circulating amongst the lab staff were true about another useful materia.
I had no idea where to find it, however, so I put the matter aside as we continued driving through the badlands. We encountered no other machines during the rest of our journey, fortunately. Shinra had mechs patrolling the region, and bandits were also said to lurk out here in the rocks as well, prowlers that fell upon solitary and unwary travelers. But with as well-armed as we were, they no doubt had decided we were not suitable targets and had left us alone.
We finally arrived in Kalm early in the afteroon. Although it wasn't nearly as large as Midgar, which loomed behind us in the distance even from here, it was still sizable in its own right. A bustling city full of the two-legged humans. The roads were all of patterned blue cobblestones, and the buildings were all white walls framed by thick, brown wooden beams under slanted, pointed roofs of blue shingles. A high stone wall surrounded the town on all sides as well.
Rows of modest homes and shops lined the many streets as people went to and fro about their business, and here and there a car or truck drove down the road, but it was still much quieter than in Midgar. For a human town, it wasn't so bad. And there was a real sky overhead, full of clouds. It felt good to be under it again.
We stopped next to a large inn near the edge of town. It was larger than most of the other buildings. Two stories tall, it featured a number of windows that looked out onto the street before us, and over the door hung a handcrafted wooden sign engraved with a detailed carving of a dragon with wide, outstretched wings. And above it, in thin, sweeping letters, was inn's name—the Silver Dragon.
"Awright, looks like we here," Barret said as we got out of the truck. "So what next? You got a plan, Spike?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah. We'll get a couple rooms here first. Two, one for us and one for the girls. Then we'll go somewhere and grab us some lunch—it was a long drive to get here, and we aren't gonna accomplish very much on an empty stomach."
"Sounds good to me," Tifa said. "I'm starving."
Aerith raised her hand. "Seconded!"
"We could all use a chance to refuel," Cloud agreed. "So we will. As soon as we're done, though, we'll get to work. We've gotta find out what we can about Sephiroth and which way he's heading. Somebody here in town might know, or they might've seen something. So we'll split up to gather as much information as we can."
It was a sensible and logical course of action. "Understood, Cloud. Are we to each go alone, then?"
He shook his head. "No. You and Barret go together, and the girls'll pair up. I'll stay by myself. We'll meet back here in about five hours and talk about what we've found over dinner. Assuming we get a lead, we'll leave early tomorrow morning to follow it."
"An' if we don't?" Barret asked.
"We'll keep asking around," I said. "Somebody around here's bound to know something. We just have to find it."
Tifa pumped her fist. "We will."
That settled, we headed inside the Silver Dragon. It was a modestly decorated place with a common area, plain wood floors, walls covered with photos of the town, a stand with a display full of brochures, an old grandfather clock, and a tall bookcase behind the main desk. The man working there looked up as we walked in.
"Hello!" he said. "Don't see many travelers these days."
Cloud walked over to the desk. "Obviously. We need two rooms for the night. You got any available?"
The innkeeper nodded. "Sure do. Fifty gil apiece."
"Done," he agreed.
"If you're gonna be out and about, especially in the market district, you might wanna keep a close eye on your wallets," the innkeeper said. "We've been having a bit of trouble lately."
Barret frowned. "Got a problem with thieves?"
"Well, just one," he explained. "But she's very fast. Hasn't been here long, only a few days, I think. Steals from richer folks, mostly. And the Shinra troops stationed here. They've tried to catch her, but like I said, she's so quick they barely even see her."
"Don't sound too bad to me if she's givin' Shinra a few headaches," Barret chuckled. "I like the sounda that."
Tifa laughed. "Maybe we oughta try to find her."
Cloud glanced at her. "You serious?"
"Why not?" she shrugged. "She might be useful."
The innkeeper went on. "People haven't seen very much of her, but what glimpses they've gotten say she's got almond eyes and short, dark hair. Sounds Wutaian to me. I wonder what she's doing way out here so far from home, though. She's also pretty young, or so I've heard. Seems to have a liking for materia, too. That's all I know."
Cloud paid him for our rooms. "Thanks for the tip."
I waited here in the lobby while the others brought a few things to our rooms, as there was little I could do to help with that. It didn't take long, and once they'd finished, we all headed back outside to search for a place to eat. There were many restaurants in town, and I didn't really care which one we went to. I was just about to pad down the road with the others when I suddenly noticed a small, slender shape crouching in the shadows of the rooftops across the street.
It was cloaked in something soft and white, but the sun was almost in my eyes, so it was difficult to make out much more than that. And I wondered then if that was why our unknown observer had chosen that particular vantage point—the sun at his or her back made seeing much more than a vague silhouette tricky at best. My eyes were better than a human's, but even they couldn't overcome such a bright glare. As soon as I moved to get a better look, the mysterious figure darted away, gone so fast I wondered if I hadn't just imagined it.
Putting it out of my mind for now, I followed Cloud and the others around the block to a restaurant where we could all sit down together. I smelled the aromas of cooking food, although most would be no good for me—as I'd told my friends, human cuisine didn't usually settle well with me, though the fault was not theirs. Simply a matter of me being a different species with different needs. However, I'd learned to eat a few human things here and there, and there'd been nothing for me to hunt back in the badlands only a few miles from town.
It was quite busy inside, with waiters going back and forth between the kitchen and the different tables where people sat, ate, and talked. A few were in line ahead of us, but not many, and we did get more than a few curious stares as we made ourselves comfortable. Me, in particular, I knew. I was used to it, however—outside my home village, I was not a very common sight. More an oddity.
"How may I help—" the host began. He stopped as soon as he saw me, however. "I'm sorry, but we don't allow, er... pets in here. The sign by the door was very clear on that."
I gazed pointedly at him. "I am no one's pet, sir. And I'll go where I please. Unless you'd care to try and stop me?"
"N-No, of course not!" he gulped. "M-My apologies, sir!"
"Accepted. This time," I said.
He motioned to us. "Um, right this way, please."
There were hushed murmurs and wondering looks as we followed him, but nobody said anything, at least not that we could hear. And the host, I was pleased to note, was quite deferential to us. I doubted he or anyone else would question me now.
"You enjoyed that," Aerith giggled as we walked.
"Maybe a little," I winked.
After the long drive from Midgar, it did feel good to finally have a seat and relax. We ordered, talked, and ate, forgetting for a while all the troubles and dangers that had brought us here. It was a chance for us to catch our breath and renew ourselves before taking the next step in our pursuit of Sephiroth, and so we took it gladly.
"Bit early in the day for steak, ain't it, Red?" Barret asked.
I didn't think so. "I prefer meat, Barret. Freshly caught, if possible. I am a predator, after all. Don't forget that."
He shivered. "Oh, I won't. You like it damn rare, don'tcha?"
"It's the next best thing to raw," I agreed.
"Well, do me a favor," Barret shuddered. "When we on the road, do your eatin' where I can't see it, awright? I'll probably lose my goddamn appetite—or even my lunch—if ya don't."
I dug in. "Fair enough."
Aerith laughed as she took a bite of her salad. "I never figured you for the squeamish type, Barret."
"Might make an exception for this guy," he said.
"All part of nature," she chuckled.
When we had finished, we headed back outside, ready now to do a bit of information gathering. As Cloud had instructed us earlier, we all split up, Aerith and Tifa heading over toward the town square while he made his way down another street. Barret and I had chosen the market district to begin our search, and so we made our way over there. Not in any rush, but we kept our eyes and ears open.
Crowds of people milled all around us as we neared the shops. The market district was certainly a busy place, and at times I found that the people passed quite close to us as they hurried on their way to the next sale or wherever it was they were going. There were times that I simply didn't understand two-legged things, and while there were a few shops and the like back home, it wasn't like this. It was quieter, more orderly, than the chaotic rambling I saw here in Kalm.
We decided to start our questioning with the various shopkeepers, beginning with the general store. It was directly ahead of us, and I took the lead and went inside, Barret just behind me. But while the clerk did have a lot of local gossip, he hadn't heard anything about Sephiroth. So we moved on, going down the row of shops one by one. But aside from complaints about almost all the mines in the region being closed, there was as yet still no word about our quarry.
We were just walking out of the weapon shop when someone from the crowd suddenly brushed up against us. A girl, young and slender in a white moogle-themed cloak, the hood made to look like its face with round ears, yellow buttons for eyes, and a bright red nose. She was fast, sliding in between Barret and I for just a moment before slipping away again to hurry down the road ahead of us.
"The hell's her deal?" Barret grumbled. "She in a rush?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. But perhaps... wait a minute! The innkeeper warned us about a thief, remember?"
"Sure do," he nodded. "But what—?"
"Barret! Your wallet!" I exclaimed, my good eye widening.
He patted his pocket and swore. "Shit! It's gone!"
Not waiting for Barret to follow, I sped off in the direction the girl had gone, weaving my way swiftly through the crowd as I did so. I saw her farther down the street. She glanced over her shoulder at me as she ran, smirking as if she actually wanted me to follow her. And of course, I did. I was on four legs while she only had two, so I was confident that I'd catch her. Or so I'd thought. But I'd underestimated her, and not for the last time, either. She was skilled and cunning, far more than we had yet discovered. And a magnet for trouble.
The girl darted into a side street off to the right, and moments later I charged in myself. There weren't as many people in here, which was a likely part of her plan. She was indeed young, just as the innkeeper had told us. In her late teens, by my guess. As we raced into another part of the road and found ourselves alone, she stopped for just a moment and looked back at me again, grinning mischievously.
"Hey, fuzzball!" she called. "Let's see ya keep up with me!"
Then, clearly enjoying herself, she did a graceful spin and threw off her hooded cloak. Underneath it, she wore a bright green sleeveless top with a high neck, skimpy beige shorts that were unbuttoned at the top, a pair of orange shoes with tall white socks that stretched almost to her knees, and a thick black headband with the ends hanging down behind her left ear. The girl also wore a brace of some kind over her left thigh, with some sort of netting covering it.
Her hands and forearms were sheathed in fingerless orange gloves and long bracers of black leather that went above her elbows. And over her left shoulder was a matching pauldron. That arm was also covered by a thick white gauntlet that fit it perfectly. And lastly, a bright yellow scarf hung down from the girl's neck. Her hair was dark, almost black, and very short, curving closely around her ears, and her dark, almond eyes glittered with excitement and amusement.
The girl held up Barret's faded leather wallet in one hand. "I'll give this back to ya if you really want it that bad."
"Hand it over!" I demanded.
"Sure..." she winked. "But ya gotta catch me first!"
With that, she bolted away again, moving a great deal faster than I had expected her to. Before I could even come within fifty yards of her, she darted into a nearby alley on the left, her feet making practically no sound as she moved. I sprinted after her, growling low in my throat as I went. I was bound and determined to beat her challenge and raced into the alley, prepared to corner the girl and force her to return that which she had so callously stolen from us.
But when I got there, she was gone.
"Up here!" she called.
I looked up instantly and saw the girl standing atop the roof of one of the buildings lining the alley, her legs spread apart and her hands on her hips. How had she gotten up there? She was extremely clever, I had to give her that. Grinning widely, she was clearly enjoying this chase of ours. And, oddly enough, so was I. It was fast becoming a competition between us. One that I intended to win. But I didn't yet know just how difficult that would ultimately prove to be.
I raised an eyebrow. "I suppose this is fun for you."
"Definitely! I was gettin' pretty bored what with all the easy marks around here. And then you and your friends came along to liven things up a bit. So I gotta say, I'm grateful!"
"Enough to give back what you stole?" I prodded.
The girl laughed. "Nope! But you know, I've never met a talking cat before. Maybe you'd like a big ball of string?"
"No," I snapped.
She laughed. "Nah, I guess not. Anyway, catch ya later!"
"We're not through yet, miss!" Now it was my turn to grin. I made sure to show off my sharp teeth as I did so.
The walls of the alley were very close to each other, only a dozen or so feet apart, and I'd devised a plan to utilize them while talking to the girl. Backing up a few steps, I flattened my ears and ran full out toward the wall opposite where was standing. A dumpster was also there, and I jumped atop it, spun around, and leaped back across the alley. As soon as I got to the wall under the girl, I instantly unsheathed my claws and dug them right into the painted plaster and siding. Then I climbed, my eye fixed on the brash young thief.
"Hey, not bad!" she quipped. "But you'll still have to do better than that to catch Wutai's finest ninja! See ya!"
With that, she ran away across the roof. I was still a few yards from the top of the wall at that point, so I finished climbing as fast as I could and pulled myself over the top just in time to see her jumping across to the next rooftop. Retracting my claws, I ran after her and easily cleared the gap myself when I came to it. But she was still ahead of me, moving from one slanted roof to another, and so I followed.
I found that I couldn't gain any ground on her, but I didn't lose any, either. The girl really was quite fast for a two-legged thing. But even so, I was determined to catch her, now more than ever. And not simply to reclaim what she had stolen, either. It had become a matter of pride for me. Skilled as she was, I had no intention of being beaten at a chase by some young human cub with an attitude.
Speeding across another rooftop, the young thief reached the edge of the building. There was a much larger gap ahead of her now, one she had no hope of clearing, and I charged across the slanted blue shingles, certain that I'd at last caught my elusive quarry. But as I neared her, she glanced over her shoulder, waved cheerfully at me, and simply dropped over the edge and out of sight. When I finally caught up to where she'd been standing, I looked down and growled.
A wide ledge ran along the side of the building, which formed part of a large courtyard with a fountain splashing in the middle of it. A few of the town's taller buildings rose up like towers in the distance, and at each of their corners was a small spire that made them look almost like parts of a castle from a child's fairy tale.
I tore my eyes away from them and saw that the thief was running along the ledge. It bent to the right at the end of the building, and there was another ledge lining the one on the opposite side of the courtyard. From both of them, a flight of stairs descended to the ground on either side of a wide, polished stone archway.
Seeing that the girl was heading straight for the stairs, I grinned in anticipation. I had found what I needed. Bunching my muscles, I took a few steps back, ran toward the edge of the building, and jumped over the edge and all the way down into the courtyard itself. I spread out my paws when I landed to absorb the impact, then darted over to the base of the stairs just as the young thief came flying down the steps. The girl skidded to a rather abrupt halt when she saw me.
"Going somewhere?" I asked.
At first, she just stood there, unable to hide her surprise. But then a moment later, that cocky grin of hers quickly reappeared. "So, ya think you've finally got me cornered, eh?"
"I believe I have, young lady," I answered.
"You're awfully sure of yourself," the girl snickered.
I nodded. "Indeed. You have nowhere left to run. Now return what you stole and I might not turn you in."
She winked at me and laughed. "I don't think so!"
Before I knew what was happening, the young thief ran right at me and jumped. She bounced off my back and did a forward somersault in midair. As I spun around, I saw her land on her feet and race across the courtyard toward another arch at the far end. With a growl at both her ingenuity and my own overconfidence, I sprinted after her, bound and determined not to underestimate her again.
She looked back at me. "Had enough yet, fuzzball?"
"Not a chance!" I retorted.
Just then, a squad of four Shinra soldiers suddenly rushed through the archway ahead of us, rifles ready as they attempted to block the exit and keep the girl from escaping. Although I also wanted to catch her, I knew she would get much worse from the soldiers than from me. Even as I considered helping her, however, she was already setting some plan of her own in motion, reaching behind her and taking hold of the large four-pointed shuriken strapped to her back.
"Freeze!" one of the soldiers ordered, pointing his rifle right at her. "You Wutai spy! You're under arrest!"
She smirked at them. "Not today, you Shinra punks!"
Then, without even slowing down, she expertly threw her shuriken in a tight arc that neatly severed a pair of large tapestries hanging from either side of the arch. They fell onto the startled troops, their size and weight quickly sending them sprawling to the ground. The girl caught her shuriken, did another front flip over the fallen soldiers before they knew what was happening, and sped off into town. Only a second later, I bounded over them myself and raced after her.
Now that we were on the ground again and had easily escaped the clumsy ambush set by those soldiers, I had a plan. We weren't far from the inn by now, and if I could somehow nudge the girl into running in that direction, then I was certain we'd find Cloud and the others. It was nearly time for us to meet to report on our findings, and I doubted the young thief could evade all of us. Could she?
I didn't know, but I had no choice but to go with my plan. She was, I had to admit, much too quick and resourceful for me to catch on my own. I needed help. So as I followed the girl left past the arch and onto another street, I took note of where I was and where we were going and carefully began herding her toward the inn.
— — — — — — —
"You're sure about this?" I asked.
The man nodded, shivering. "Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. I saw the guy you're talking about. No way I'd forget him."
Aerith and I exchanged a determined glance, knowing we'd finally found the lead we were looking for. We were in the town's main square, and we'd spent the past couple hours talking with people and trying to find out anything we could about Sephiroth and where he'd gone. Most of what we'd found out so far had only been rumors. Nobody we'd met had actually seen him. Until now, that is. There were other things we'd learned, though, that had to be connected.
"Where did you see him?" Aerith asked. "And when?"
The man shuddered. "Yesterday morning. I've got a farm just a few miles away, and I was outside working when it happened. It was pretty bright at the time, but when he went by, everything just kinda got dark for a moment. Cold and still, too. Once he'd left, everything went back to normal again like nothing happened."
It was Sephiroth. I knew it. "Which way did he go?"
"Southeast," the man answered. "Heading across the plains, I think. He was walking, but I got the feeling he could go faster if he wanted to. Like maybe he wanted me to see him. He was gone and outta sight in a flash once he'd passed by. Looked really scary and was carrying this big killer sword, long and thin. So be careful."
We thanked him again and rushed off to look for Cloud. We'd seen him entering a nearby pub to do his own investigation while we'd hung around the town square to glean information from whoever we could, so we went inside. It didn't take long for us to find him. He was nursing a drink at the bar as he listened to an older man in his fifties talk about his work in the mines. There were a lot of them nearby, from what we'd heard, and a really big one far to the east.
Cloud looked up when he saw us. "Hey, ladies. Find anything?"
"We did, Cloud," Aerith said. "Tifa and I just spoke with a guy over in the town square a minute ago. He saw him."
"You sure?" he asked, his bright blue eyes locked on us.
I nodded. "Positive. He's going southeast."
Cloud stood up. "Then so are we, soon as we can. There's also been some trouble in the mines all through the region. Monsters have killed or driven out most of the workers over the past few months, so a lot of those places are shut down as a result."
"Could Sephiroth be behind it?" Aerith wondered.
He shrugged. "Dunno. But he'd take advantage of it, for sure."
I agreed. "We should tell the others."
Cloud left some gil by his glass for the drink. "Right. Let's go. We'll meet them by the inn like we planned."
"There's something else," Aerith murmured, keeping her voice low as we headed outside. "Tifa and I also found out that there have been a few murders here in the last few days. All of them stabbed through the heart or slashed open, clean and quick and left where they could easily be found. According to rumors and the local news, they were all killed by the same person. A man in a black cloak."
"Sephiroth," Cloud spat.
I was sure it was him. "Has to be. The reports haven't confirmed it, but I doubt Shinra wants word of his return to spread yet. But it all fits, Cloud. The timing and everything else."
Aerith frowned. "Does he want us to follow him?"
"I'm sure of it," Cloud said.
"Then we'll have to be careful," I added.
We headed quickly back toward the inn, but we'd only gotten a few steps down the road when we heard a shout from behind us and to our left. When we all turned around, we saw Barret scowling as he hurried to catch up to us, nearly out of breath.
"Guys!" he said. "There ya are! Got us some trouble!"
"Where's Red?" I asked.
Barret grimaced. "Chasin' down that goddamn thief the innkeeper was warnin' us 'bout. Little runt swiped my wallet while we was makin' the rounds talkin' to people in the market. Red rushed off after her, an' I tried to keep up, but they both jus' too damn fast."
"Back to the inn!" Cloud ordered. "Red knows we're meeting there, and he'll surely try to nudge our thief in that direction if he's been able to keep up with her so far. So let's move."
"He ain't losin' her," Barret nodded. "Not a chance."
We hurried down the street together toward the inn. There was no sign of Red or the thief when we got there, but just a few minutes later, a slim, short-haired girl who looked to be about sixteen or so suddenly came pelting around the corner, her dark, almond eyes widening when she saw us. The other people in the area quickly scattered to get out of her way as she ran, and then Red was behind her, sprinting around the same corner she'd just emerged from.
He called to us. "Cloud! It's her! Don't let her escape!"
Cloud glanced at the three of us, his eyes blazing. "You heard him! Spread out! Now! Fence her in!"
Instantly, we scattered, each of us falling into position and forming a wide circle in the middle of the street as the girl sped right toward us. She saw exactly what we were doing and tried to turn around, but Red was right there behind her, keeping her moving ahead as he closed the circle. As the girl looked this way and that, the five of us moved in, and I knew we had her. By the time we were standing within a few yards of her, she sighed and dropped her head.
"Looks like ya caught me after all," the girl whimpered.
Cloud folded his arms in front of him. "Sure looks that way. You've got something that belongs to us."
"Yeah, yeah, I know..." she sighed.
"Hand it over," he ordered.
The girl slowly reached into the front pocket of her shorts. "I didn't think you'd catch me. You guys are really good."
Cloud narrowed eyes. "We did. And there's no way out."
"Is that so?" she asked.
Red stiffened. "Cloud, be careful!"
I heard the alarm in his voice but wasn't sure why he was suddenly so agitated. Cloud certainly seemed wary enough. And he was right in what he'd told the girl. Still, I couldn't help feeling like this wasn't quite as done and settled as it seemed. The girl looked defeated enough, with her shoulders slumped and her head hanging dejectedly, but even so, I stayed alert just in case Red was right.
"I will, Red," Cloud answered him. Then he turned back to the girl. "Damn right it is, miss. It's over."
She whipped her head up and grinned. "Guess again!"
Before any of us could stop her or even move, she yanked her hand out of her pocket, raised it high over her head, and smashed something small, round, and white onto the ground right in front of her. Instantly, clouds of gray smoke billowed all around us, and we all coughed on the thick fumes and tried not to choke.
My lungs burned as I tried to breathe, and I heard Barret swearing loudly in between coughs. Even Aerith was grumbling. By the time the smoke finally cleared away only a minute later, I knew exactly what we would find. But as I swept away the last of the fumes with one arm and looked in front of me, I felt my heart sink.
The girl was gone.
"Goddamn it!" Barret growled. "I'm gonna tan that girl's ass when I find her. Tryin' to steal from me? Hell no!"
"I'll help you," Red muttered.
Cloud bent close to the ground. "Wait a minute..."
"What is it?" I asked.
He pointed to where the girl had been standing. "You see that, Tif? Our little thief got away with that smoke bomb of hers, but she also left something behind as well. Check it out."
I gasped. "Barret's wallet!"
I could hardly believe it. But it was there, lying on the cobblestones where we'd cornered the girl. We hadn't caught her, but she had still left us what she owed us even though she could have easily kept it with her instead. And as I realized that, I thought that maybe this girl might not have been such a bad person after all. Troublesome, to be sure, and full of herself. But also decent in her own way.
Barret picked up his wallet and checked it. "Well, whaddya know... looks like it's all here, all three thousand gil. Guess that girl ain't as bad as I—wait, I'm a hundred short! Damn!"
"What?" I blinked.
"She could've easily cleaned you out, Barret," Cloud reminded him. "But she didn't. Consider yourself lucky."
He sighed and nodded. "S'pose you're right, Spike."
Red looked at him. "She seemed to be more interested in the chase and the excitement than in the money, from what I saw of her. And the fact that she left almost all of it when she didn't have to would seem to support that observation. She is... complex."
"Do you think we'll see her again?" Aerith wondered.
"I've got a feeling we will," Cloud said. "That wallet was a message. We'll run into her again sooner or later."
I had to agree. "And when we do? Then what?"
He went on. "You've seen how fast that girl is. And she outran Red all the way across town. Not an easy thing to do. That she stayed ahead of him for so long says a lot about her and her abilities. She had to have been able to think fast and improvise to do it."
"Indeed," Red agreed. "She's quite skilled, I must admit."
"So what are ya gettin' at?" Barret asked.
Cloud gazed thoughtfully at the place where the girl had been only a moment ago. "We've got a long, dangerous journey ahead of us, and I think we'll need all the help we can get. This girl, she could be useful to us, and I bet she's pretty good in a fight, too."
"Do you think she'll join us?" Aerith wondered.
"Dunno," he said. "But it's worth a try. I doubt she'll stay here after what went down today. Neither should we."
Cloud was right, of course. We had the information we needed, so there wasn't any reason for us to stay here. And I was curious about the girl. What had driven her to steal, and what was her issue with Shinra? I also wondered what had brought her so far from home—Wutai was a very long way from here. Was she some sort of agent, or was she acting alone? I found myself anticipating our next encounter with her, if only to understand her a little better. And I knew without a doubt that there would be a next encounter. She'd all but guaranteed it.
Only this time, we'd be ready for her.