Violet Shadows (FF7)

1) Avalanche

I grab my quiver of arrows and strap my vow over my back before leaving the cave I've been staying in for the past week. Shadow rests in the back of my mind, content from the nightmare run I allowed her to have last night. It's time for me to move on to my next location, maybe Midgar or Rocket Town. The Nibelheim mountains are devoid of people and the town on the other side is less civilized... Both sound appealing to me. I sigh and silently leave the place I never knew as a home. No place has been home since the incident thirty years ago, but that's just the way things are now. But if I must live like this forever... Never knowing if Lucretia is still alive, though what has become of her son is no secret. I wonder if Valentine ever managed to escape his deadly love for her and move on to a more professional Turk life.

Stepping out into the fresh air that surrounds the open plains, I inhale deeply and start toward Nibelheim. Maybe I should go around. The place seems to draw anyone who has been dragged under once back, their minds forcing them to relive memories that have been pushed down and hidden for years. I should know. I've passed through too many times to count, like metal drawn to magnet. There's something in that mansion, Shadow tries so hard make me see what it is. But everytime I pass the gate, I can't bring myself to step inside the source of my nightmares and torments. There's something in there though...

The low grumble of a vehicle catches my attention and I turn to see a red buggy heading in my direction. Go away. Then I just continue walking, pulling the hood of my black cloak further over my head. That is, until I feel the point of a sword in my back.

"Stop right there."

"Why should I?" I turn around, hands on my hips. "I haven't got all day."

"Whoops," a woman with long black hair says under her breath as a man with spiky blonde hair instantly puts his huge sword away.

"Sorry, you looked like a Sephiroth clone."

"Sephiroth clone?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Hojo's creations," he nods with a bitter frown.

"Hojo," I say aloud to myself. "So you're still alive."

"What?" The blonde kid blinks.

"Nothing," I shake my head, turning to go. "Sorry to have disturbed you."

"You have a score to settle with him," he notes out loud. I pause and look down at my boots. Am I really that easy to read. "We're going after Sephiroth. We'll probably wind up meeting Hojo along the way." Can I risk it?

No guarantees that I'll behave.

Shut up.

"Then I'll go with you," I nod, looking past him at his clown crew. A big man with a gun arm, a girl in a pink dress, an animal with a flaming tail, a cat on a moogle, and a ninja to join the small two weirdos in front of me.

"Good," their leader smiles. "I'm Cloud. This is Tifa, that's Aeris, Barret, Cait Sith, Nanaki, and Yuffie.

"Quite ambitious, aren't you?" I cross my arms. "Where are you headed?"

"Over the Nibelheim mountains," he says proudly. Sighing, I nod and follow them into the small vehicle. It seems I just can't avoid Nibelheim and that cursed mansion. The ride isn't exactly comfortable with everyone staring at me and whispering, but it's better than the terrible old Shinra jeeps I had to ride back in the day when I had a life.