Madain Sari, a night to plan!

The girls landed hard and tumbled to a stop against a big stone wall. They were all groaning and picking themselves up, when Eiko noticed where they were. She sprang up with a sudden energy that had the others startled. She knew this place! It had been her home for the first years of her life. There were so many memories here, both good and bad.

"This place! I know this place! Its my old home, Madain Sari!"

She took off, leaving the others to race after her. A short distance from where they had crashed, they came to a small dwelling. The interior was empty of occupants, but there was a small table, cooking area, and book shelves, as well with a stairwell leading downward. One wall was missing, so the group had a good view of the waterfall and surrounding area. Eiko called some names, but no one appeared. She then turned back to the others, looking a little sad.

"This place... Chaos must have taken it from after the Moogles left. When I was adopted, they all followed me."

"So this was your home? Its barely livable," Rosa said, her motherly instincts kicking in. Being the oldest of the group, and with Eiko being her son's age, She felt protective of the young woman.

"Its not so bad. Its sturdier than the tents we live on in Besaid," added Lulu as she picked up a dusty book from a shelf.

"Careful with that! Its one of my favorites. The play is called "I want to be your canary." They hold that play every year in Alexandria now."

Celes and and Lightning moved down the stairs and found that there was little there except for an old flute and a some spoiled food stores. Celes picked up the flute and they made their way back up the stairs.

"Bad news about your food Eiko, looks like its all gone to waste. Is this yours?"

Eiko gently took the flute from Celes and held it in her hands. Zidane's group had given her some better equipment when they met her, so she had left this old thing behind. It was her first weapon, and although weak, it was better than nothing. Cosmos had grabbed them without giving them time to prepare. Lulu, Rosa, and Eiko had been left weaponless because of it. Celes and Lightning had swords, but it would be difficult to fight without weapons.

"Thanks. This will come in handy. The food doesn't matter. I can find us some stuff to make from scratch, I'll just need help gathering the ingredients."

With Eiko giving directions, the girls fanned out in the surrounding area and found what they needed. Rosa got water for the pot and washed the plates and silverware. Lulu gathered some herbs and flowers for flavor, while Eiko dug up some potatoes that had been planted nearby. Celes found some mushrooms on the other side of the area with the all, and brought them back for Eiko. The only one that didn't work on cooking was Lightning. She had instead decided to do some scouting and found that outside of Madain Sari, there was a large expanse of desert and some odd building of some sort in the distance. She knew that the world was a collection of patches of different worlds, but even still, the placement seemed odd. She returned to the others to report what she had found and soon they were all eating and making plans.

"The building I saw in the distance seemed to be much more advanced than Eiko's civilization. I'm guessing that it is from another world."

"The desert is too. Outside of Madain Sari should have been the Iffa tree's roots. Thankfully we don't have to deal with that monstrosity again."

"So what do we do then," asked Rosa, looking back and forth between Eiko and Lightning.

"We head for the structures. Gather as much water as we can before we leave, and we should be able to set out across the desert and make it before nightfall."

"And how do we know that there will be friendly people there," chimed in Celes. Lightning answered with a shrug.

"We don't have much choice now, do we? We can't stay here forever. This meal is nice, but there isn't enough food for all of us if we stay more than a few days. And if we don't move out soon, Chaos will finish this world and Cosmos will run out of power."

"I'm afraid she's right. While caution is a good thing, sometimes you must act before you have time to think or prepare." Rosa nodded in agreement to Lulu's advice. With their plans made, the girls finished their meal and then gathered as much water as they could. Celes volunteered for first watch and soon the girls were all resting and preparing for the next day.