They walked into the cave and looked around. The walls glittered with specks of bluish green and the floor looked especially carved as steps and such, showing evidence of human contact. The air smelled slightly of Mako and the caves were chilly.

Cloud: "An oddly colored cave..."

Tifa: "It's a lot like the one from Mount Nibel. I hope it isn't twisty and intertwined like the mountains..."

Aeris: "Well, let's go."

Vex: "The cave is strange, and pretty!" (Looks around and turns a corner and smiled as he ran down the path. Everyone followed him to a wall with some tree roots on the side. Vex was sitting up there smiling.) "Guess what I found?" (Tosses a purple crystal to Cloud who catches it deftly."

Cloud: (Examines the crystal.) "Materia...looks like a long range materia. Thanks!" (Gives it to Tifa.) "Here!"

Tifa: "Thanks!" (Puts it in her pocket and modestly struts passed Aeris.)

Aeris: "... ...?" (Looks past her and shrugged.) "I found an Ether here too. There seems to be a lot of stuff in this cave."

Vex: (Still sitting on the edge of the overhang and roots, looking down on everyone.) "It's probably the people who worked here who had this stuff. Monsters have taken over the mine, so we'd better watch our step." (Jumps off the overhang and accidentally lands on the tail of a sleeping Ark Dragon.)

 The Ark Dragon cries out and the sudden noise caused Vex to lose balance and fall onto the ground at Cloud's feet. Cloud and Aeris stepped back and drew their weapons as the dragon flew up and let out an angry shriek. Another awoke and flew out of the shadows and another and another. Vex got up and gulped nervously when they were face to face with six of them. They flew and darted at the group with their claws out and Cloud and Aeris ducked to avoid the claws. Vex leapt up and came down on one which crushed it to the ground. It gasped out and the other Ark Dragons looked on with hate. They took in a breath and let out a stream of flaming breath. Vex covered himself and ducked out of cover. The flames blasted him to the edge of the cliff but spun around, learning a new Enemy skill. "Let's see how YOU like it!!" Vex leaned forward and let out some fiery breath of his own, frying the dragons. Cloud and Aeris looked on, kind of shocked.

Vex: (Smiles proudly) "Now that's what I call a king size flamer!"

Cloud: (Groans.) "Boy, I'm glad I didn't have to say that line..."

Vex: "Hm? Let's go, Cloud..." (Runs back down the tunnel and everyone follows him back to the entrance.) "Where did everyone go?"

Aeris: "Well, they've probably gone off ahead. Let's get moving too!"

 Aeris, Cloud and Vex run into the next area of the cave which showed how awesome nature was. The chasm was large and had a river running through it. The sound of dripping could be heard and there was some stalactites and stalagmites around too. There was some tracks and steps made as well.

Vex: "This is what's known as weathering!"

Cloud: "That's great! Where did you learn that?"

Vex: "I watched the Magic School Bus when I popped my laundry in back at Kalm."

Cloud: "Maybe we should do our laundry when we get to the next town."

Vex: "MAYBE?! You guys are pungent!" (Holds his nose.)

Aeris: "How rude!"

Vex: "Well, you don't because you wear deodorant. Cloud on the other hand is Mr. Stinky."

Cloud: "You're pushing it buster."

Vex: "You should push the top up of a speed stick and apply to affected areas once in a while. It's strong enough for you, but made for a woman, on second thought, it's not strong enough for you."

Cloud: (Growls at him.) "That's enough Cloud bashing for one day."

Vex: "Okey dokey, it's all out of my system, Spike head."

 Cloud, Aeris and Vex went across the cave chasm and went through a mine shaft to the other side of the cave and they enter the area. They look on as they see an climbable root and two ways to go, man made through the glittering rock. They notice with surprise when they see Rude and Tseng standing above them.

Tseng: "Not so fast!"

Rude: "Remember us?"

Cloud: (Looks up at them and shrugs) "The turks, right?"

Tseng: "Good, then this won't take long. You know what turks do?"

Cloud: "Kidnapping, right?"

Tseang: "To put it negatively, you could say that."

Female Voice: "Here I am, sir. I know you you hate speeches so don't force it!" (Walks out, there was a cute looking girl wearing a neatly pressed Turk outfit and she had short hair. She bared a striking resemblance to a girl they saw in the shinra tower, only more Turk like.) "I'm Elena of the Turks. Thanks to what you did to Reno, we're short handed." (Smiles to herself.) "I'm the newest member and thanks to you, I've been promoted!"

Tseng: "Right, Reno wants to show his appreciation for what you did to him with a new weapon."

Elena: "Anyway...Our orders are to track Sephiroth and stop you every step of the way." (Suddenly gained a slightly confused look and looks up in thought.) "Wait a minute, aren't you the ones getting in OUR way?"

Tseng: "...You talk too much, Elena..."

Elena: "We've spotted Sephiroth near the Junon Harbor!" (Exits through a mine shaft.)

Tseng: "Elena, you talk to much... You just gave away the position. Well, you'd better go file a report."

Elena: "Uh, Yes Sir!"

Tseng: "Right, don't let Sephiroth get away."

Elena: "On it!" (Runs into the mine shaft out of site.)

Tseng: (Looks directly at Aeris.) "Well, hello Aeris...looks like we're not after you this time."

Aeris: (Glares at him slightly.) "Am I supposed to be thankful?"

Tseng: "Well everyone...stay out of shinra's way." (Leaves through the exit of the mine and Rude climbs the vines to where Tseng was and also leaves.)

Vex: (Walks up to Cloud.) "Who were they? They seem to know who you are!"

Cloud: "They're turks, a Shinra Spying Organization."

Vex: (Shrugs) "Well, I'm gonna get in their way if I WANT to!" (Gasps and blinks) "Hey! Wait! I saw that lady before, she was the one who helped us in the shinra elevator!"

Cloud: "Hey! You're right! Well, let's follow them to Junon."

 Everyone saw the vine wall and climbed it to the top of the viny cliff. They all exited the mine and looked around at what this region had to offer. Junon was nowhere in site, it was probably miles away. What did catch their eye was a giant condor on the top of a mako reactor in the middle of a small desert.

Vex: "Wow! What a huge bird!"

Tifa: "I've never seen one that big."

Cloud: "What is it?"

Tifa: "A condor, one of the very last ones alive. I'll bet it's nesting on the top of that Mako reactor."

Vex: "Why would it want to do something like that?"

Tifa: "Haven't got a clue."

Aeris: "Want to check it out?"

Vex: "Dunno, it means more walking..."

Cloud: "We'll check it out later, first we'd better be heading to Junon." (Cloud begins walking down the road and turns back.) "Come on, we've got to get to Sephiroth before the Turks do."

Vex: "Right!" (Smirks and nods and ran past Cloud, down the road, nearly at his top speed.)

Cloud: "God, I hate it when he does that!"

Aeris: "How is he able to run that fast? Some cars can't even go that fast."

Tifa: "Well, we've got a lot of catching up do..." (They walk after Vex who was by now, a mile away from them.)

 Vex continued running along the path and saw some forests and shrugged. "They won't be here for like, an hour so I'll play in those woods for awhile. Maybe I'll find another Moogle to be friends with, I hope this one stays alive though...poor Mog and Choco..." Tears formed in his eyes but he wiped them away and investigated the forest. He walked around, looking at the tall trees and the bushes that surrounded them. He examined the flowers and the birds in the trees. "Ahh, a land that hasn't been destroyed by human contact yet. He explored deep in the woods and saw a green tent among the bushes and he saw a pit where there were fires. "Looks like someone's camping here."
 Within some time, Cloud, Tifa and Aeris made it to the forests. They were a little tired and decided to sit down on a large rock to get off their feet for a few minutes. Aeris sighed and looked into her pack for something to eat.

Aeris: "Guess what? We can have a snack! Chole made us some sandwiches for the road!" (Gives a sandwich to Cloud and Tifa and they unwrapped the wrapping on them.)

Tifa: "They sure were nice people! I don't meet many nice people." (Eats half of the sandwich and smiles.) "But then again...we lived in Midgar, not too many people have the ability to be nice in a polluted place like that."

Aeris: "I'm finally glad I'm out on the open road."

Tifa: "Me too."

Cloud: "I thought you didn't like traveling...?"

Tifa: "Traveling's okay if you have friends to travel with."

 Suddenly Aeris sensed something out of the norm. She looked up and saw in fright as a cute, skinny girl jumped down. She was holding a four point Shiriken in her hand and a shield like gauntlet in the other. The mystery girl had the look of a thief and Ninja.
 
Mystery Ninja: "Hand me all your cash and no one gets hurt...throw in the materia too. Come on, I haven't got all day."

Cloud: "Go pound salt, We aren't scared of you."

Mystery Ninja: "Fine then!" (Takes out a materia and chants, summoning a bolt of lightning down on Cloud, knocking him to the ground.) "Guess we'll have to fight then!"

 Cloud jumped up and got out his sword and lunged at the Ninja and she dodges it effortlessly. Aeris took out a materia and chanted and summoned a winter wind that blew through and attacked the Ninja, freezing her. Tifa tripped her to the ground. The girl cried out.

Mystery Ninja: "Ugh, I can't believe I lost." (Jumps up and taunts.) "Okay, you spiky headed jerk! One more time!"

Cloud: "...not interested."

Mystery Ninja: "Thinkin' of runnin' away? Stay and FIGHT!!" (Cloud walks up to her) "You must be pretty scared of me."

Cloud: "...petrified."

Mystery Ninja: "Well...what do you expect? Ha ha ha... Well you guys are pretty tough too so good luck to you." (Walks away and turns back.) "I'm gonna leave! I mean it!"

Cloud: "Go ahead."

Mystery Ninja: "See you around!" (Leaves the area and enters the forest.) "Those guys aren't so bad. I only wish I had have swiped 100 or so gil from them. I'd better get something to eat though, I'm starved!" (Walks back to her camp to find Vex rooting through her stuff in her tent.) "HEY!!"

Vex: (Turns to her.) "Hey what? Oh, connichiwa miss."

Mystery Ninja: "What the hell do you think your doing in my stuff?!" (Glares at him.) "You're not going to find anything incriminating in there so git! Wait! Did the word incriminating slip out...I didn't mean it."

Vex: "Why do you have all this crap in your tent? I see plenty of Materia and clothes and other junk too. Anyone with money and materia shouldn't be hiding out in the woods." (Comes out of the tent.) "You a thief? Ninja?"

Mystery Ninja: "Yeah. How did you find my camp?"

Vex: "I was looking for trouble. My name's Vex!"

Mystery Ninja: "I'm sure you are. I'm Yuffie, anyone who found my tent can't return to the world though."

Vex: "First, have you seen two girls and a guy with spiky hair?"

Yuffie: "Yeah, I couldn't steal any money off of them. You part of them?"

Vex: "You're a thief and a Ninja so you'd be pretty cool to have along. You want to join my group?"

Yuffie: (Smirks) "I need convincing."

Vex: "Okay." (Smirks back.) "We're on the road because we're tracking a man in a black cape. Sephiroth is his name. I'm sure we're going to run into the Shinra too. There's lots of materia shops and plenty of things to steal. Stealing's fun, I stole these very clothes from a shinra soldier."

Yuffie: "You're only a kid though."

Vex: "I've got magical powers too. I've joined their group because I want to learn more about myself, my parents and whatever else comes along. So are you in?"

Yuffie: "I'm in! I'll pack up my stuff." (Goes into the tent and takes out her pack.) "Done!"

Vex: "Aren't you going to take your tent?"

Yuffie: "Naw, let some bum use it for awhile. Tent's stolen anyway."

Vex: "Well, let's go!"

Yuffie: "Right." (Walks with him out of the forest.) "So is there anyone cool in your group."

Vex: "There's me of course. The girl who dresses in skimpy, spy like clothes is Tifa. The lady in the pink dress is Aeris and sir Spiky hair is Cloud. The big black guy is Barret and the cat wolf thingie is Red 13. And there's you."

Yuffie: "Yuffie Kiasargi, Ninja and Materia hunter at your service...or...MY service!" (Smirks and then plots.) "I just have to do a little this and a little that...nyuk, nyuk, nyuk..."

Vex: "Make sure when you do a 'a little this and a little that' you'll cut me into the job okay?"

Yuffie: "I like you already."

 Cloud, Aeris and Tifa finally had to look on Junon. Junon had a huge gun that was pointing out to sea. The town was wrapped around it and there looked like there was something below the upper area. They all were about to check it out when Vex ran up to them.

Cloud: "Vex! Where have you been?"

Vex: "I went places and met people. You know someone named Yuffie Kiasargi?"

Tifa: "Doesn't ring a bell."

Aeris: "I can't say that I have."

Vex: (Smiles broadly) "Well now you've got a chance to. Meet Yuffie Kiasargi!"

Yuffie: (Runs up to them and shakes their hands quickly.) "Name's Yuffie, good to meetcha!"

Aeris: (Looks at her hand and gasped.) "HEY! My ring is gone!"

Yuffie: (Gives it back to her.) "Sorry! Force of habit!"

Vex: "Yuffie's a thief and a Ninja. I think she'll be great to have on the team." (Nods to her.) "I've got someone cool to talk to now."

Cloud: "Huh?"

Vex: "Well...what are we gonna do now?" (Looks over to the city in the distance.) "Is that thing a city? Looks like Shinra made it. If Shinra made it, then I hate it."

Yuffie: "That thing's Junon. There's plenty of good things to steal there." (Smiles and takes out some materia.) "Got these there, I've also been training with them, they're up to their second level. (Looks up to them.) "Yours?"

Cloud: "Don't know, they have to be by now." (Takes the materia out and looks at their level.) "Most of them are."

Barret: (Runs up to them, out of breath) "Damn, we ain't in no hurry so stop travelin' at such a hyper rate!"

Red 13: (Runs up to them after Barret, not out of breath at all.) "It's good that we're focused on our goal. I'll get home quicker this way."

Vex: "This big guy is Barret and the creature of red is Red 13." (Introduces them.) "I like the kitty."

Red 13: "I'm not a kitty!"

Vex: "Yes you are!"

Red 13: "No I'm not! I am what you see."

Vex: "A kitty."

Red 13: "Try a lion, kitty sounds so lame."

Vex: "You're cute when you're like this, kitty."

Yuffie: (Laughs) "This's getting better all the time!"

Vex: "It does, this journey is to save the world from the Shinra and from Sephiroth. Sephiroth is this super scary looking girl..."

Cloud: "He's not a girl."

Vex: "Well, he looks a little like one with his luscious head of silver hair. Well, he also wears a black cape and has a huge sword called masamune."

Cloud: "How did you know what kind of sword he has?"

Vex: "I don't know how I know." (Vex looks up in thought then shrugs and turns to Yuffie.) "Well, that's about it."

Yuffie: "Sound's kind of cool, It'll be okay so long as there's tons of materia to steal."

Cloud: "You can't steal things!"

Vex: (Leans over and whispers in her ear.) "Yes you can. Ignore the spiky one, his hair gel has leaked into his brain pan." (Turns to the rest.) "Well, shall we go?"

 They all nod and start down the hill and onto the the town on top and the town underneath. They saw it from away and thought at first that it was abandoned or something but to their surprise, they saw people around. Cloud stepped up to the town with a bit of wonder in his look as everyone else caught up to him.
 

That's the end of chapter 12, it wasn't as good as chapter 11 but this is one of those duller moments in the FF7 story.