Yuffie whirled around, facing her opponents.
 "What do you want?" she said angrily. Two men stood in front of her. One clutched, in trembling fingers, a handgun, that gleamed dully in the dim light.
 Red growled menacingly. "What are you two doing here?!" he questioned.
 The man with the gun smiled weakly. He had obviously never held a gun before.   "W-we're here to rescue you from that girl!"
 Yuffie glanced at Red. "You know these guys?" He nodded.
 "They're guards from Cosmo Canyon, Ricdeau and Faber. You nearly ran them over in the truck. Treya must have sent them." He took a few steps forward. "Listen, Faber, put that gun away before somebody gets hurt," he said calmly. A droplet of sweat ran down Faber's face.
 "We know that girl's forcing you to say those things......" replied Ricdeau, "but we'll deal with her and take you home." Yuffie took a step towards him, and he tightened his grip on the gun.
 "Don't come any closer!" he yelled. "I'll shoot!" Yuffie laughed.
 "You can't trick me, the safety's on." Faber glanced at the gun for a second, then frowned.
 "Shut the hell up!" he shouted. Yuffie took another step.
 "Put that blasted thing away and listen to me, Faber!" yelled Red.
 Yuffie took another step forward.
 Time seemed to slow down as Faber pulled the trigger.
 "No!" cried Red.

<Click-click!>

 "I told you the safety was on!" yelled Yuffie. Faber clumsily tried to flip the safety, but the gun slipped out of his sweaty fingers and clattered to the ground. He scrambled to pick it up, but it was too late. Yuffie dashed up to him and elbowed him in the face. A wet crunch was heard, then he started screaming and clutching at his nose.
 "By node! You broke by node!" he yelled. He began to stumble towards the entrance. He turned around and glared at Yuffie.
 "I swear I'll ged you!" he shouted, then he ran off. Ricdeau, who had been largely quiet while all this was occurring, ran as fast as he could towards the entrance after Faber. He wasn't fast enough, however, and Red quickly overtook him and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Ricdeau began to struggle, but the 200-plus-pound feline wouldn't budge.  "What are you doing!?" Ricdeau groaned.
 "Tell Treya that I'm not coming home until I've got the scroll back. I'm not a child and I know what I'm doing!" he said firmly.
 "But that girl abducted you!" he protested.
 "No she didn't! I....." he stopped. Oh well, it couldn't hurt......he thought. "I broke her out of jail!" Red got off him, and Ricdeau scrambled to his feet and ran off as fast as he could. Yuffie dusted off her hands and stared at him, dumbfounded.
 "So, I guess they've got their end of the story all screwed up?" she asked. "Elder Treya doesn't trust me at all. It's like he's forgotten about what we did last year....." He shook his head sadly.
 Yuffie put her hands on her hips. "We can feel sorry for you later, but now let's get outta here! We'll be safe at my dad's house." With that, she jogged out of the alley. Red paused and stared up at the sky, which was visible through a gap in the two building's roofs.
 I'm not a child, he thought, so why does he think I am?

 "Hello?"
 "Is your father home?" asked Red, as he padded up the front steps.
 "The door's open," replied Yuffie, The door opened and she stepped inside, kicking off her shoes. "Dad, I'm home!" There was no answer. She wandered down the hall. "Dad?" Suddenly, Red's ears twitched.
 "Did you feel that?" he asked. There was a loud pounding coming from the floor, and it was coming closer. Suddenly, the source of it came barreling around the corner in the hall.
 "YUFFIE!!!!!" roared Godo. "Just where the hell have you been these last two days?! I let you out of my sight for ONE moment, and you're wanted for breaking and entering AND kidnapping somebody named Nanaki!" He gestured wildly at Red. "And what is that thing?" Red reared back a bit, then a low growl came from his throat.
 "Dad, let me explain....." Yuffie sighed meekly.
 "Let me guess," Godo ranted, "it's 'Spike the Wonder Dog!' I'll bet you stole it from some circus!"
 Red glared harshly at him. "I'm not a dog!"
 Godo's eyes bulged, and his mouth dropped open. "D-did that dog just talk??"
 Red growled angrily. "I'm not a stupid dog!"
 "Dad, listen! This is Red....." said Yuffie.
 "........Otherwise known as Nanaki," finished Red. "Nice to meet you." Godo stared dumbly at him for a moment, then he shook his head.
 "Yuffie, where have you been? I've been worried sick....."
 "Let's all go to the living room," she replied. "It's a really long story."
 A few minutes later, they all sat amidst the plush surroundings of the living room. Godo sat cross-legged on a mat at the far side of the room. Red sat on his haunches on the floor, while Yuffie was perched on a cushion.
  Godo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, I've heard a little about Sho-Dai Enterprises. The president of the company, Sho-Dai, is very mysterious and powerful. They've been doing a lot of excavation around the Mt. Onasuke region, to the south of here."
 "Is that a just a coincidence?" said Red.
  "I highly doubt it," he replied. "I can't figure out what this Shoki fellow has to do with any of this." He paused for a second. "However, if Sho-Dai is trying to release the Onikage, then the entire world is in serious peril."
 "Maybe Shoki's trying to get the white stone?" piped in Yuffie.
 "Could be," replied Red. "Whatever the case, he's not on our side, nor is Sho-Dai."  "We should take the white stone with us, so Sho-Dai doesn't come after you," suggested Yuffie. Godo stood up and walked over to the bookshelf that covered an entire wall of the room. He pulled a book from the shelf, and a small panel slid away. Inside sat a small, white, faceted jewel. Yuffie grabbed it and stuffed it into her pocket.
 "So I guess it's decided, then. You're going to Mt. Onasuke to see what Sho-Dai's doing there." Godo stared at Yuffie's outlandish outfit. "Where on earth did you get that shirt?" he asked.
 "Oh, Dad! You're terrible!" she exclaimed, blushing. She ran out the door towards her room.
 "So......" said Godo, uncomfortably, "where are you from?"
 "Cosmo Canyon," he replied.
 "Nice place.......lived there long?"
 Red nodded. "All my life."
 "And that is......?"
 Red groaned. He could tell what was going to happen......
 "Forty-nine years," he sighed.
 "Whoa!.......You're not an ordinary.....whatever you are, are you?" Godo shook his head shamefully. "That was rude. I'm sorry."
 "It's okay. I get that a lot. My species has incredible longevity, and as far as I know, I'm the last one."
 Godo gave him a puzzled look. "Not necessarily......."
 Red raised his head. "Excuse me?"
 Godo continued. "I saw something that looked a lot like you up in the mountains about three weeks ago."
 Red's heart was pounding furiously as the realization dawned on him: I'm not alone.
He was filled with overwhelming joy. He had believed since he was small that he would grow up alone, and someday, he would die alone, and fade away into extinction like countless other creatures. Now, there was hope. Red recalled Bugenhagen's dying words: You may even find your life's mate......
  "Th-that's great!" he said, rather stupidly, as a smile crept across his face. "Where did you see her....." he trailed off, realizing Godo hadn't mentioned a gender.
 "I couldn't tell if it was a female, if that's what you're thinking. It had slightly lighter fur than you, and it had a less heavy build. But the thing that I'll remember were the eyes."
 "The eyes?" he asked.
 "Yeah." replied Godo. "While your eye is a sort of orange-yellow colour, her eyes were green."
 Red was taken aback by this. "Green? But....we all have the same eye colour. My mother's and father's eyes were this colour too."
 "Do you want to go and look for her?" inquired Godo.
 "Of course! After we've finished up here, I'll come right back!" Red exclaimed happily.
 Godo nodded. "Well, I saw her in the mountains to the south, not far from Mt. Onasuke, in fact. I was staying in the town of Kotts." Just then Yuffie returned, wearing her usual green sleeveless top and shorts. She had a knotted headband on her forehead, and her massive shuriken hefted on her shoulder. Materia were piled into a backpack slung across her other shoulder.
 "You ready.......? What were you two talking about?" she asked. "I'll tell you later," said Red in reply. "Do you have my 'Fire' Materia?"
 "Yeah," she said, slipping a glowing green orb from her pack. Then they headed for the front door.
 "Good luck, you two!" called Godo from the porch as they walked down the road.

Please, don't hurt me anymore........Nanaki thought. I can't take anymore........
He lay on a cold, hard operating table. Harsh lights burned above him, making him squint. A dull pain was eating away at his left shoulder. Two men in lab coats stood over him. One had wispy brown hair and beady, ratlike eyes behind a pair of glasses. He held a file and a tape recorder in his hands. The other man held a pen-like device that buzzed.
"Designation procedure complete," he announced. "Specimen 'Red XIII' is ready for experimentation, Professor Hojo."
 "Good," said Hojo. He held the tape recorder close to his mouth. He turned it on, and it began to whir gently.
 "Kochin truly was a genius," he said to no one in particular. "Just look at these reports! If they are true, then the key to near-immortality is nearly in our grasp......it's a shame that technology back then was so primitive, or else Kochin would have attempted the extraction of the chemicals from the original subjects already."
 The Professor leafed though several sheets of paper. "This might be the only chance at perfecting the extraction process. The first two specimens, Reds X and XI, both adults, died before receiving the procedure. Their offspring, Red XII, also did not receive the procedure, and escaped from his lab and is presumed dead.
 From what I've heard, this is the last of the entire species, but from the data we've collected, it will easily stand up to the tests. We'll still have to be careful, or else the R Project will end in failure, and that will be extremely costly."
 Nanaki moved his head slightly. R Project?
 "Hand me that syringe. I think this thing needs more sedatives. It already injured three of our guards during capture. I don't want to take any chances with the procedure."
"Yes, Professor," said the assistant. He handed Hojo a hypodermic needle. Hojo squirted it experimentally, then lowered it slowly towards Nanaki's underside, grinning maniacally. Nanaki shut his eye tight, expecting to feel its sting......
 "Professor! Professor!!"
 "What is it! How did you get access!"
 "The Ancient.......we've got her....!" Hojo grinned gleefully.
 "What are you waiting for??? Get her prepped for immediate tests!" Hojo turned to his assistant. "Put this specimen back into the holding pen. It can wait."
 Nanaki had a vague sense of movement after that. Then he was again still, inside a transparent tank. He could do nothing but try to breathe. After what seemed like hours passing, he heard a faint tapping on the side. He turned his head weakly to look.
 It was a girl, who looked to be in her early twenties. Her long black hair was forked much like a dolphin's tail. She tapped on the glass with a gloved hand.
 "Precious specimen......?" she said.
 Nanaki's vision faded to blackness as he lost consiousness......