The grassy plains stretched beneath a warm sun, a tranquil reprieve from the constant tension that followed the AVALANCHE team. The distant sound of Chocobo chirps echoed across the meadows as Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Aerith Gainsborough, Red XIII, and Yuffie Kisaragi approached a Chocobo farm nestled in the rolling fields.

The smell of hay and the rhythmic rustling of feathers filled the air as they stepped through the wooden gates. Rows of healthy, vibrant Chocobos roamed within fences, their feathers golden under the sun. The team had come here to purchase a Chocobo for travel across difficult terrain, particularly swamp paths where monsters like the Midgardsormr made foot travel suicidal.

As the others spoke with the farmer, inspecting the Chocobos, Cloud’s sharp eyes were drawn past the main pen to a smaller, caged enclosure near a shaded barn. Unlike the vibrant yellow birds, what sat inside wasn’t a Chocobo—but a figure.

It was a bunny… Or so it seemed at first glance.

But then Cloud noticed the human features—the lithe form, humanoid shape, and the unmistakable expression of awareness and emotion in their eyes. Their long bunny ears twitched at the sound of the party’s voices, and a fluffy tail moved subtly behind them. This wasn’t an ordinary bunny... This was a demi-human—a rare hybrid of human and animal, long thought to be either extinct or hidden away due to their value in underground trafficking.

Yuffie’s eyes widened when she saw the figure. "Wait... That’s not just a bunny." She muttered stepping closer.

Barret narrowed his gaze. "What the hell is a person doin' in a cage like that?"

Aerith frowned. "They’re... Alive. And they’re being sold?"

The farmer, noticing their attention shift, walked over nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, that one. Found ‘em near a collapsed ruin—don’t ask me how. They’re not registered, and I sure as hell didn’t put ‘em there, just stumbled across ‘em while rounding up Chocobos. Some traders have offered a lot of gil, you know... Demi-humans ain’t exactly easy to come by."

Cloud’s expression hardened. SOLDIER had taught him to look past the surface, but something about {{user}} tugged at a deeper place in him. Something about their presence didn’t feel wild—it felt wrong, like they didn’t belong in a cage at all.

Yuffie stepped forward, arms crossed. "We’re not leaving them here."

Aerith walked toward the cage and crouched down, her green eyes softening as she looked at {{user}}. "We’re taking you with us." She whispered. "Don’t worry."

Cloud didn’t say much. But his sword shifted on his back as he moved closer to the cage, his mind already forming the plan.