Title: LEGACY UNDEAD
Pairings/Characters: Zack / Aerith & Cloud / Tifa
Genre: Romance / Adventure
Summary: Zack accompanies Cloud as they try to make a living out being the Jack of all Trades before the events leading up to FFVII. However, when time flows by the events of FFVII are faced with not just one hero, but two.
Warnings: This novel may be confusing to some people as it has two protagonists rather than one.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is owned by Square Enix. No copyright infringement intended.
Note: I am having a bit of trouble writing a story that has two protagonists. So I will take a bit of time finishing this, as it is a challenging piece of work to write about.
The scorching wasteland carried on endlessly.
The burning sun blazed all the life out of Zack's surroundings as far as his eyes could see.
He felt his throat plead for water from quenching thirst as his powerless feet dragged itself along the sandy pavement.
What made Zack even weaker to carry on in this devastating situation was that he had to also watch out for his junior man Cloud Strife.
But just as negative thoughts inched to emerge in Zack's head about how bothersome watching out for Cloud can be, he recalled back the earlier events which could have been the very last moments of his life.
It was not too long ago, when Zack was surrounded by countless Shinra soldiers in blue armor, fully equipped with machine guns ready to assassinate the First Class fugitive SOLDIER.
Zack was ready to fight to the death, to protect Angeal's honor and to embrace his own dreams of dying as a hero.
But just as Zack was about to charge in to the last battle of his life, a sudden voice disrupted his further moves.
It was Aerith's tender and gentle voice, reminding of him the twenty-three tiny wished she had.
She told him that all of them could be summed up into one wish: that she wanted to see him more.
It was as if Zack's whole life flashed before his eyes; the memories of Angeal telling him that he is a little more important than his Buster Sword, Aerith picking white and yellow lilies in the morning sunshine that dismantled his every senses, the sweet tingling sensation of the fruit Benora White on his tongue, Cloud's juvenile fragility as he lay deprived of energy…
Zack couldn't do it. He couldn't place his honor and dreams above the happiness of those he cared for and those he needed to protect.
His courage to sacrifice his life fighting to his last breath phased into a different determination: A much stronger will to survive at all costs.
He knew he didn't have the ability to summon Ifrit or Bahamut at his own will, but at least he could try…
He had no other way to survive…
Zack tried to focus his mind on summoning Bahamut.
He thought 'Bahamut has wings! Just let me ride the thing to get the hell outta here!'
Zack felt the pain of his arms being shot as fresh blood oozed out of his new punctured wounds.
The soldiers were firing at him without mercy once they realized what Zack was up to.
Zack couldn't give up, even as he shut his eyes through the immense pain of his body tearing apart through countless bullets, he still focused with all his strength and might on Bahamut.
A rush of tornado wind blew his hair and body backwards as quickly as the bullets themselves.
It was as if a fever of cold wind was all he could feel instead of the rage of gun fires.
Zack opened his eyes out of shock.
It was Bahamut.
Zack managed to summon the creature at his dying command.
"Now just let me ride on you like a Chocobo so we can get the hell out of here!" Zack pleaded as he half shouted at Bahamut in terror.
But Bahamut had other plans.
The Shinra troops were now menacingly switching their target focus on Bahamut and aggressively provoking its attention.
Bahamut conjured up outsources of energy to produce Mega Flare, and before Zack could shelter himself from the explosive site, Bahamut had already cleared the Shinra army with a single razor of abomination.
Zack blinked feverishly.
"It's over? Just like that?" blurted Zack.
'Well what was I expecting.' thought Zack.
'That Bahamut would negotiate a peaceful treaty with them when they were firing at it like a bulldozer?' he chuckled as he ridiculed himself in his own mind.
"Well thanks anyway. I'm glad that's over. Listen… uh… I know you don't normally do this… but uh... I have an unconscious friend out there… and we both need a ride…- I mean a flight to Midgar… could you lend us a hand, oops… I mean your wings?" stuttered Zack as he nervously approached the winged beast.
Bahamut ignored Zack's pleas to flap its giant wings, ready to take flight.
The dry sand in the desert flew into Zack's eyes as Bahamut disappeared in a flash towards the blinding sun in the sky.
Zack sighed a gasp of disappointment.
"Well, at least I'm alive…" he muttered.
Zack cured his wounds from the gunfire with a cure magic.
He remembered that Cloud was still lying unconscious and lifeless in a corner.
Zack hurried off to find Cloud still asleep behind the rock where he last left him.
He piggy backed the young infantry on his back to walk towards the city of Midgar.
It was a long, tiring and energy-consuming journey.
Cloud, although he was only eighteen, was a burden on even Zack's buff shoulders.
"This is why too much muscle training is bad for young soldiers" lectured Zack to Cloud.
"Just hang in there. We'll be in Midgar… one day…" Zack put on a smug smile as he contemplated on the thought of seeing Aerith again.
The clouds in the sky smudged into the color of dirty grey metal as the cold rain drenched the two SOLDIERS.
Zack continued on his journey even in the wet wild.
Two days later, the rain had long stopped and the desert plains were as barren as it used to be.
There was no water, no trees or animals to be seen.
Just cracked pavements of dehydrated sand and rock.
After what seemed like infinity, Cloud finally began to show signs of life on Zack's back.
"Cloud?" Zack's eyes were filled with the hopeful assertiveness of a puppy.
Zack laid Cloud on the ground as Cloud opened his eyes from his deep slumber.
"Zack?" whimpered Cloud.
"Cloud! You're alive! Well I knew you weren't dead, but boy... you've been in the dream world for waay too long man… I thought about undressing your armor to lay off the heavy load on my shoulders…" groaned Zack half-heartedly.
Cloud recollected his stance as he stood up for the first time since the near death incident in Nibelheim.
"I can walk now. Thanks Zack. Where are we headed to?" Cloud had so many more questions brewing up inside him to ask Zack.
Like what happened since Sephiroth killed him in the Mako Reactor?
Why is he still alive?
And where is Tifa?
Is she alright?
What happened to Nibelheim and its residents? Are they safe?
Where are they now?
But cloud knew from his instincts that right now, he and Zack were is a life threatening situation.
A First Class SOLDIER like Zack wouldn't carry an unconscious infantry SOLDIER like him on his back all alone in a dying desert.
Especially not since what happened with Sephiroth in the Mako Reactor…
He knew they were on the run, and that they had to reach a safe place as soon as possible.
His questions can wait.
"Midgar." affirmed Zack.
Cloud nodded in agreement.
The two SOLDIERS needed no further explanation from each other.
For the time being, that was all Cloud needed to know.
Right now, that was all he wanted to know.
The other facts, trivial or important, would only worsen Cloud's deep inner fear of the unknown.