She crept along the narrow wooded path, dark trees and shrubs lining each side. It was early, too early for any normal person to be awake. It was the perfect time to make her move.

She had watched the young man living in the cabin for a week, noting his daily activities and schedule. She had everything planned out, down to the smallest detail. She would quietly sneak into his house while he slept, steal all of his materia, then sneak back out before he ever knew what hit him. And even if he did awaken for some reason, she was confident enough in her ninja skills that she could knock him out and escape.

Creeping up to the cabin without making a single sound was easy enough for her. She was a trained thief after all. Sliding a heavy window open without allowing the wood to creak was only a small challenge. Climbing inside and landing silently on the dusty floor was child’s play. But being instantly caught in a thick roped net that lifted her into the air was definitely a problem.

The man threw back the covers on his bed, where he had been feigning sleep, and leapt to his feet. Up close, she was surprised by how handsome he was. Sun-colored hair shot straight up from his head and then dangled in sharp strands over his eyes. And what a body.

She snapped back to her senses when she realized he was holding a long black staff with a pointed end. He poked at her through the ropes, causing her to jerk in an attempt to get away from the sharp edge, though in her position the effort wasn’t doing much good. “Who are you?” he yelled, his steely eyes fixed on her.

“Let me down!” she screamed.

“Why are you in my house?”

“Get me out of this thing!”

“What do you want with me?”

“Stop poking me!”

The man stopped yelling and poked her again, hard. She screamed, trying desperately to jerk away from that damned staff, which only resulted in the point scraping across her thigh, drawing blood. “Yuffie!” she cried, “My name is Yuffie Kisaragi! Will you let me go now?!”

The man ceased his attack with the staff and stared at her. “Why are you in my house?” he asked again.

“I was... uh... I was lost in the woods. I was scared so I came here to ask for help.”

The man frowned. “You came in through the window. Did they send you? Are you an assassin?”

Yuffie flinched, sure he would use the staff again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m a thief, alright? I was trying to steal your materia! Geez, do you trap and stab everyone who comes to your house?!”

The man continued to stare, glaring dangerously. “They’ve sent others before you. But I took care of them all. You’re a little young, though. It’s a pity.”

Yuffie was struggling in the ropes, trying to break free. “I don’t know what you’re talking about! Let me go!”

The man grinned, his eyes becoming wild. “They all said the same thing. But I’m not stupid enough to believe your lies!”

Yuffie was becoming frightened. There was definitely something wrong with this man. “Look... I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m just a teenager from Wutai. I just wanted your materia. I’m sorry, okay? I’ll never try something like this again! Take me to the authorities!”

He laughed loudly and crazily, then suddenly stopped, lowered his head, and looked at her between strands of stray blonde hair. “Apologies don’t work on me either. Lie all you want, you’ll still end up like all the others.”

Yuffie swallowed uneasily. “All the others?”

He rushed over to a wooden door across the room and opened it. Hanging inside the narrow closet were several broken skeletons, the bones arranged in completely unnatural ways. “I kept these as souvenirs! But I forgot how to put them back together after I took the meat off. Say, do you know much about anatomy?”

Yuffie suddenly vomited, no longer able to hold back her fear and disgust. This was too much, way too much. “Oh God... you have to let me go! Please!” She was crying now, clawing wildly at the ropes.

The man walked back toward her, smiling. “I can’t let you go! You’ll just come back while I’m sleeping and kill me. You have to understand, this is for my own safety.”

“Please... mister... please let me go! I swear I’ll never come back! I won’t even tell anyone about you!”

He frowned again. “I told you, I won’t fall for your lies! Now be quiet or I’ll get angry!”

Yuffie tried to remain silent as her body shook with sobs. Her mind raced to think of something, anything, that would get her out of this mess. She was trapped within the ropes with no means of escaping, so her only chance was to convince him to set her free.

“Hey... mister... what’s your name?”

He looked at her suspiciously. “You know my name.”

“No... I really don’t! They... uh... didn’t tell me your name.”

“Cloud Strife.”

“Wow, that’s a cool name!”

Cloud still looked skeptical.

“You know... you’re really good-looking! What are you doing out here alone?”

“Trying to mind my own business! But you people keep coming after me!”

Yuffie bit her lip, suddenly aware that she had asked the wrong thing. “Oh... that’s... unfortunate. Uh, I was thinking of leaving, um, them. They don’t treat me right.”

Cloud was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching her. His hands were wrapped tight around the staff. “They don’t treat anyone right.”

“I agree!” she said suddenly, “They’re awful! They make me do slave-labor! And force me to go on these horrible missions! I don’t even want to do this!”

Cloud stood up quickly. “Exactly! They don’t care about the people! They just use everyone!”

“Oh, I know! They’re monsters! Hey... do you think I could stay here with you? We’ll fight them together!”

Cloud’s passionate expression faded. “You... want to leave them and stay with me?”

Yuffie’s face lit up. Her plan was working! “Yeah! Just let me down and I’ll tell you everything I know about them! We can be better prepared if we exchange information, right?”

Cloud walked over to her, still holding the staff. He looked up at her with a smile, then suddenly shoved the staff in through the ropes, stabbing her through the left leg. She screamed, violently thrashing in the ropes. He laughed. “See? I told you I wouldn’t fall for your lies!”

Yuffie was crying again. “You’re insane!”

“That’s what the others said! Isn’t it amazing how you all think alike?”

She looked at him between the ropes. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked through sobs.

“Well, first I’m going to make left leg stew tonight,” he told her cheerfully, “Then I’m going to make right arm soup tomorrow night. And the next night I might make right leg chilli.”

Yuffie’s eyes widened. “No... no no no no no! You can’t do this!”

Cloud reached under the bed and pulled out a large, rusty saw and a filthy bucket. He sat the bucket under Yuffie and reached through the ropes to grab hold of her injured left leg and force it through an opening in the trap.

Yuffie struggled and yelled at him, then paused and tearfully asked “What’s the bucket for?”

He smiled again. “They usually throw up when I do this. I thought I’d save myself the trouble of mopping it up.”

Yuffie screamed again and again, trying to pull her leg free. But as the day carried on, the clouds drifting through the sky and the moon eventually replacing the sun, the terrible truth finally sank in. She had picked the wrong person to rob.