Pollensalta

The trek down the Northern Crater was long and brutal, the place was swarming with monsters both powerful and hideous. Cloud was worn, his body ached from the numerous encounters, and his companions were none the better; their bodies covered in wounds, various areas of their clothing torn. They were tired, or rather exhausted, but there was still so far to go.

"Cloud... let's take a break..."

Yuffie spoke, her voice sounding worn. Cloud grunted, his energy too low to act like his normal self but he didn't stop; his desire to finish with Sephiroth was driving him to go on. Tifa, despite her desire for the same was in agreement with Yuffie, her body was just too battle worn to keep going much longer.

"Yes... we should... take a break. I'm not sure... how much further..."

"Enough... we're not stopping."

Cloud snapped as he walked, he wasn't in the mood for whining. Yuffie yelped slightly, but Tifa didn't make a sound; but that didn't mean she was anymore taken aback by his sudden show of annoyance and anger. She could tell he was at the end of his rope physically, but he didn't want to admit it to anybody. Even here, he had to be mister tough guy.

"Oh Gawd... my feet are gonna fall off..."

Yuffie whined more, she didn't seem to have a long attention span. That was all Cloud needed, though; he turned and walked right up to Yuffie, then grabbed her by the shirt and lifted her small frame up, off the ground. He was so very strong for his height and build, he had truly been given the "gift of Jenova".

"Listen, you little brat, if you don't want to go on, then fine; I'll leave your ass right here. Just don't come crying to me when some monsters come and decide to make a meal of you. If you want to come with us, then SHUT UP AND KEEP WALKING!"

He almost threw her down as he let go, then turned and began to walk, but stopped at Tifa. She was giving him that look, the look that told him she didn't approve of what he did. Any other time, it might have gotten to him, but now? No way in Hell.

"You have something to say?"

"... You didn't have to do that... if you had just listened an-"

"And if you'd just shut up, you wouldn't have encouraged her and then made us lose time. But that's something you can't do; you just can't shut up and mind your own damned business, now can you?"

His words cut deep, and for a moment she actually felt like crying. She looked down and he grunted, then walked past her.

"If you two want to rest, then stay here. I'll be at the bottom when you decide to come along; that is, if you're not dead."

He mumbled as he walked, not caring if they followed him or not. Yuffie walked up to Tifa and put a hand on her shoulder, but Tifa pulled away and followed behind Cloud; if she had a tail it would be between her legs. Yuffie sighed and followed as well, making sure to keep her mouth her mouth closed. The three walked in silence, their bodies aching, the air was even more heavy than it had been before.

In the distance they could see an immense skeleton, it looked like it belonged to a dragon. The ground was cracked and uneven, as though large pieces of land had been ripped up and just thrown about, creating jagged patches of rocks and small cliffs. It was the perfect place for an ambush, and indeed that's what was happening; they were being stalked by the creatures that have made this place their home. Three of them were long and purple, they looked akin to leeches, that is if leeches were five feet long and had numerous long, green extensions growing from the thicker "head" portion of their body.