Disclaimer: Final Fantasy and all of its goodness is property of Squaresoft/Square-enix, etc. I'm just having some fun here.

Prologue.

A sudden white flash sundered the peaceful space, hot on the eyes and loud on the ears. It could have been called lightning, except for the fact that there could possibly be no clouds on the domed cave to produce such a potent electrical discharge. Instead, there was magic involved in the creation of the effect.

Inside an apparently plain stone cave located in the barren fields north of Icicle Town, stood an imponent nacre crystal pillar. It was obviously a very ancient formation that had taken millennia to grow, if its size and elegance were to be of any indication. Geometrical materia crystals of all colours latched and grew from it, from top to ground, refracting the soft light from inside on all the different directions and creating a dreamy atmosphere where one colour smoothly gave way to another.

This pillar was the only light source in the cave, and also the emitter of the bright magic flash. Around it, multifaceted glassy surfaces of congealed mako reflected the light, activating their own magical properties to add a bit more intensity to the sudden flare.

Ultimately, but swiftly, the glare of the brightness was so strong that the girl standing next to the source had to bring up her arms to cover her eyes, lest she was blinded. A deep rumble was felt and heard, the mountain above groaning in response to the pillar’s wake up call, and something shifted.

The light was slow to fade and as the girl looked at her surroundings through cautiously narrowed eyes, it seemed like she was seeing double and the world was gradually coming into focus at the same rhythm as the magic dissipated.

When everything was finally back to how she had originally found it and the storm seemed to have passed, however, she felt like a needle so sharp that it was invisible was drilling behind her right ear with a faint, shrill sound. It was such unexpected piercing pain, that she fell unconscious upon the ice-covered floor of the cave.

The girl’s clothes were sparser than what one would think the weather of the northern continent required, and her short brown hair did little to conceal her foreign Wutainese heritage. The leather satchel she must have been carrying before the pillar had lit up lay open beside her, its contents, as well as little semi-opaque orbs glinting with the power of magic, scattered throughout the snow.

Anyone who walked into that chamber would have been able to recognise the unmistakable figure, despite the irregular conditions. After all, Yuffie Kisaragi, ninja extraordinaire, great materia hunter, world and Wutai saviour, was not one to go down on account of some puny little light show.

But whatever the magic that had been released from inside that pillar was, it had effectively incapacitated her. Her stillness and the puffs of condensed breath she exhaled were indication enough that freezing cold or not, she would not be waking any time soon. Which left her in a rather worrisome situation.

If the predators known to inhabit the area did not find her first, hypothermia was a sure fate. On top of that, Yuffie had been alone and no one knew where exactly to find her.

As if that weren’t enough, the seismic activity detonated by the central pillar had been so powerful, that most of the already fractured rocks above were fast and steadily shattering. The room shuddered a second time, before layers of greenish ice fell from the ceiling and walls, and then the rocks themselves, entrapping the young Wutainese.

A rush of escaping air erupted onto the surface, spraying powdery snow in all directions in slow motion as the cave entrance collapsed, and attracting the attention of more than just the monsters in the vicinity.

It drew the attention of a group of five unknown men, all of them carrying riffles and none of them appearing to be locals. Layers and layers of sophisticated clothing guarded them from the elements and, with steps from massive boots, the strangers made their way towards where Yuffie lay, alone and helpless.