She leaned there for a moment, simply concentrating on breathing. Her body ached with strain, and her fingers were bloodied from too many encounters with sharp edges. Yuffie could feel the heavy weight of her weapon, her boomerang, pulling at her back. She wondered absently if she could continue. The very thought of more climbing sent her stomach into queasy knots. There was no way, she couldn't go on, this was the end of the road...

 Of course, these were the same conclusions she had reached half an hour ago, when she had been noticably lower. She had forced herself to keep going then, and she knew that she would force herself to keep going now. She gritted her teeth, and continued to climb.

 It had been easy when she first started. She had clambered up easily, her limbs strong and untired. Then, gradually, the ache had set in, the constant dull agony that pervaded her muscles. Eventually her mind stopped noticing even that, and she concentrated only on climbing, moving hand over hand.

 It was, perhaps, stupid to do this. It was traditional for the young men of Wutai to climb the Da-Chao mountain, to test their strength and endurance by clambering up the sacred stones. It was a rite of passage generally accepted by the adults, who rolled their eyes at the foolishness of youth but remembered back to a time when they had tried to climb it. It was a rite of passage made harder by the difficulty of the climb, and the ever present threat of failure. One misplaced foot, and you would fall to the ground.

 Maybe it was the challenge that had made Yuffie determined to do it. She had seen all her childhood companions swagger around, slapping one another's back and boast that they would be one of the few to make it to the top. She had decided that she would show them all up by actually making it up there.

Or maybe what had made her so determined was the way the grandmothers, in their long robes and loose buns, had pursed their lips when she walked by and asked her exactly how old she was, and if she had seen that dress that the baker's daughter got and wouldn't it have looked well on her, since it was exactly her color. It was enough to make her want to scream. Since she had been four, they had been content to watch her run around with the boys, fighting with wooden swords and talking battle tactics. They had decided that since her mother had died, she deserved a special sort of pity and generous blindness. But ever since she had turned fifteen, they seemed to think that it was time to stop playing and start acting like a proper girl.

 Or, she was forced to admit as she climbed higher, it might have been nerves. Preparing to leave Wutai, she had been struck by the childishly superstitous urge to gain Da-Chao's approval. Yes, it had been that which had driven her to climb the carved mountain. That and anger at her father.

 Yuffie felt her jaw clench. For a moment, her boiling anger gave her a boost of energy, and she covered several feet. They were making another way up the mountain, a flat path that would lead all the way up to the hand on the top. Her father, Lord Godo, spoke gilded words that promised all would be allowed Da-Chao's splendor. The young ninja knew that it was only another ploy to make Wutai a cheap tourist location, a place for smugly stupid vacationers to gawk.

 I won't let that happen, she thought grimly, and felt a resurgence of pride in her purpose. She had a purpose now, and she would do everything to fufil it.

 Caught up in her thoughts, Yuffie absently reached out for a ledge...and missed it by three inches. She gasped silently as she overbalenced, her weight already shifted in preparation of the ledge. Time seemed to pause, and she felt the horrifying realization that at this height, her fall would be fatal. She felt herself open her mouth to scream and abrubtly her toppling fall stopped. Taking long, shallow breaths, she slowly looked down and saw her right ankle hooked around a narrow outcrop. That was all that had saved her from oblivion. Moving with the slow cautiousness of near death, she gripped the missed ledge and continued on her way.

 How much further? she wondered once the gut-clenching closeness of mortality had passed. She paused and risked a look upwards. Incredibly, she saw that it was only a few more feet. Her back ached as she closed those last few feet that seemed to stretch on forever. And abrubtly she was on top of the rock, collapsing on her back and taking great gulps of air.

 Yuffie sat up and looked around. She sat in the middle of a large palm, with long fingers that extended towards the setting sun. An enormous, solemn face was half obscured by the palm and wrist of the stone hand.

 The hand. The hand of Da-Chao. Somehow, she had made it all the way to the top of the mountain. She sprang to her feet and repressed the strong impulse to whoop and skip around. The ninja grinned exuberantly, her previous aches forgotten.

 She turned to look down, and saw the protruding noses and curves of cheeks. The great people carved by an unknown, possibly divine hand. Beyond those were Wutai, tinged dark gold by the setting sun. Yuffie saw the dusty road and broken down houses, the grandmothers walking in their stooped stride. A barefoot boy ran down the road, waving a stick and chasing a dog.

 Yuffie felt a wetness roll down her cheek, and angrily scrubbed it away. Sentimental idiot.

She felt the strength of her purpose inside her. Yuffie vividly remembered a time when she had been ten, when her father had first showed her his collection of materia. There were only three in the group, and their uses were obscure, but the young Yuffie hadn't paid attention to that. She had watched the glow that spread across her father's face, that way he stood up straighter and talked louder.

 It was then that she had realized what awe and respect materia commanded. Those that owned more materia were given more adoration. Thus, the young girl reasoned, if Wutai had many materia, they could regain their former greatness.

 Yuffie had felt her purpose then, felt the deep conviction swirling inside of her. She would go forth and gain materia. She would bring fame and respect back to Wutai, so badly humbled after the War.

She had refined it over the years, of course. But the ninja had never let herself forget what she would do, what she must do for the sake of Wutai.

 She turned towards the fading sun and reached behind her, snagging the metal boomerang. She closed her eyes, and wished. It couldn't really be called a prayer, because Yuffie scorned those divine creatures some fools put such trust in. But she wished, to her ancestors and her descendants and the universe in general, that when she went forth she would accomplish her mission.

 Suddenly, a feeling of almost religous ectasy swept through her. For a moment, she forgot how to breathe, how to think. The intense emotion faded, but she was left for a sense of exuberant joyfulness. She knew that this was Da-Chao's answer.

 The young ninja looked towards the mainland. She couldn't see it, but she knew from conversations with crippled soldiers that it was there. She would go there, and gain materia, through any means necessary. She would gain materia, and bring awe and respect and fame to Wutai.

 And woe to anyone who stood in her way.