Title: Birds of Prey
Author: LChan
Rating: NC17
Pairing: CloudxKadaj
Comments: Based off the AC poster with Cloud carrying Kadaj. Presumibly after the movie.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Final Fantasy VII are owned by Square Enix. None of these characters are mine.
Chapter One: A Sour Taste
Abruptly, the savage brawl ended.
Thick blood stained the sun kissed, parched earth, dense leathery knee's finally collapsing beneath him, after what felt like an eternity of a slow-drawn breathe and pained exhale. Souba, the double-bladed sword, sank deeply into the heavy soil beside its wielder, swaying to and fro with the force and weak puncture. Silence, after years of turmoil and anxiety, finally brought to an end with a sharp slice of the Buster sword, savage in its accuracy.
Cloud stumbled backwards, allowing his grip on the mighty sword to ease enough for the hilt to slip away, piercing the ground with a sharp puncture and resounding slice. All of a sudden, his heart ached, eyes burned with something other than the bright morning sunrise pouring into the Mako-shaded depths, and he feared looking about himself at his enemy.
The mutual attack had been swift with a silent agreement, and the Souba had glided smoothly beneath the heavy Buster. Cloud was sure he had missed horribly when the slice of his side yielded too blood pouring down his leg, in a slow even rate. The pain had yet to reach its full effect, and Cloud merely blinked, turning with his golden cheeks unusually pale and sullen.
Kadaj's bright fluorescent eyes were angled sharply in anger, fear and pain, jaw visibly clenched with a gloved hand lain protectively over an even deeper gash, uneven with Clouds last swipe upwards, that was quickly pulling the color away from his face. He swayed there, kneeling, opening his mouth twice as though about to speak, but words left him as he slanted to the side and fell softly.
All at once, Cloud regretted his entire life.
Pain built up over the years suddenly uprooted itself, the deaths of… practically everyone he cared for… even Sephiroth…Cloud ignored the searing fire racing through his veins and stumbled the few yards over to where Kadaj lay, his eyes still wide open and breathes gasping and heavy.
"Get away! " Kadaj seethed as he approached, "Let me die in peace, traitor! "
"You're not dying. " Cloud choked, swallowing back a lump gathering in his throat and replacing his cold façade, "I… I'm not killing anyone today. "
"What do you mean? " He was becoming breathless, the blood soaking in deeper and deeper, spreading. There wasn't very much time.
"After Sephiroth, "Cloud explained hastily, "I swore never to kill again, even for good. Too many were lost. "
Kadaj's eyes narrowed slightly, heavy in sudden sleepiness, choosing not to respond and simply allow his head to tip toward one side. Clouds heart instantly begun to thunder in his ears, a thousand different thoughts racing through his mind, stunning him for a moment. And then quickly, he rose up over Kadaj on his knee's and knocked his limp hands away, pressing down on the slice leather and slick blood hard, one hand feeling around in his pocket for a old SOLDIER handkerchief he'd kept, all these years.
This roused Kadaj a fraction, with a hiss of pain, "What are you doing to me, Strife? "
"Saving you. " His cobalt eyes flickered up, brighter with Mako and sunlight glowing in them. He couldn't pull himself away from the dazed, half-lidded compelling green eyes, fluctuating cat-pupil shriveling and widening as he observed him, occasional slanting downwards in pain. Clouds mouth parted when his fingertips finally caught onto the edge of the soft, green clothe, pulling it out and shaking it out.
"What are you doing? " Kadaj asked again, breaking the solid gaze to look at the cloth, rather distastefully, Cloud swallowed and reached up, none-too-gently yanking down the zipper holding the leather suit closed. Kadaj's eyes flew open impossibly wide.
"Stopping the bleeding. " Cloud said, strictly business-like, ignoring the pleasant tingling sensations echoing from his fingertips, where they brushed the slightly cooler skin just at Kadaj's side, near his ribcage, where an angry slice tore open the flesh. He stuffed the handkerchief there, pressing hard, "You've lost a lot of blood… maybe you can make it. "
"Something you learned in SOLDIER? " An honest, true question, possibly more of a statement than anything else. Cloud puzzled this for a moment, then remembered whom this man was meant to resemble. No doubt he knew of Clouds past as well, though never mentioned previously.
"You could say that. " Some tension emptied his features, "Survival methods are taught commonly in SOLDIER camp, just in case. Some guys even learned how to bring a fellow recruit back from the brink of death. "
"I see "Kadaj's voice had become rather quiet. Cloud extracted the clothe for a moment and sighed heavily in relief; at least the blood flow had slowed to a lazy trickle. He turned sides on it and eased it back inside the leather.
Cloud shifted into a crouch, looking down at the drying blood coating his hands, and then toward the Cathedral not far away. He could see Fenrir from here… He could make it there before the rest of them came. If he hurried.
Kadaj had closed his eyes again, drifting off into a blackened doze, slipping further and further than that, until motion disturbed him. It forced his eyes open, suddenly –very- close to Cloud, who was having a fairly difficult time hoisting him into his strong arms. Kadaj couldn't quite figure out why, "Where are you taking me? "
"You ask too many questions. " Cloud answered, having at last struggled to his feet. The angle that his elbow was jutting at, holding his enemy, was causing his elbow to dig achingly into his side. Regardless, he began to descend into the Cathedral.
Kadaj was limp in his arms, strength having been robbed of his quickly, hardly able to keep his head up for more than a couple of seconds, now and then. Mostly he let is fell back against Clouds forearm, where his silken silvery hair tickled the bare skin located there, speckled with red.
It seemed like another eternity before he reached Fernir, which had been tossed onto its side from Kadaj's previous attack. Placing the limp boy onto the debris-filled ground, Cloud heaved the bike back up onto its kickstand, begun the engine, and lifted Kadaj to sit before him.
Only a tired mumble followed this, Kadaj's head leaning forward for a moment, and then falling back into a convenient place between Clouds neck and shoulder when the bike begun its first initial movements over the uneven ground.
"Mmph… "Kadaj muttered, eyes flying open all of a sudden. So much so, that it startled Cloud and almost cost them Fenrir's balance. He was pulling away from Cloud, struggling, looking around so quickly that his hair fanned and whipped Cloud in the nose a couple of times, " Mother! "
"Huh? " Cloud answered daftly, seizing Kadaj about the waist with both arms while Fernir lay at jolting rest, for a moment.
"Let me go! " Kadaj turned and clawed at his face, "I forgot about Mother! How stupid could I have been? Where is she? "
"Jenova is gone. Get over it. "Cloud snapped, pulling Kadaj down and forcing him to sit. The young man winced visibly and let out a sharp cry, darting about on the seat of the bike and pummeling Cloud in the cheek with his open hand.
Cloud faltered with the hit, but reacted quickly, grabbing hold of Kadaj's wrist and holding it in a binding grip, nails digging into the soft leather. Kadaj's eyes, startled and glimmering, looked at him strangely. Another one of his mood swings.
"Let me go, please! I have to get her. "Cloud was unused to the helpless expression falling upon Kadaj's arrogant features. His lower lip was practically quivering, completely devoid of his exhaustion, only seconds before. Tears were even welling up, damn it. Cloud fought to ignore them as best he could, and pulled Kadaj close to him.
"Forget about her, alright? … Nothing you do can bring her back. "
"But… but she told me… that I could. " The sudden change in temperament was starting to wear away, with Kadaj leaning heavily on Cloud for support. His pale face was looming dauntingly close, eyelids visibly becoming heavier with each passing breathe.
"Ignore what she told you. " Cloud said, leaning back a tad bit, yet Kadaj continued to follow him, " She's gone; get used to it. "
Kadaj whined softly and fell upon Cloud, totally dependent on his strong body. His mouth had drifted narrowly close to Clouds own, only a hair away from each other, slipped down further so that his high cheekbone was settled firmly on Clouds collarbone.
Cloud released the limp limb, staring at the ground with his nose buried in the soft, natural and clean scent of Kadaj's hair.
Once far enough outside Midgar, lost somewhere in the blank wilderness littered with fiends, Fenrir's engine finally clicked to a stop. Kadaj, mildly warm and a reassuring weight against his chest, was something soothing that Cloud was hesitant to remove. During the day's long drive, he'd allowed one arm to ease about the narrow waist, mostly for balance, and half to press down on the handkerchief in the process. And yet… now and then, his hand drifted just before to encircle the broader part of the ribcage, relishing in the soft skin.
Kadaj stirred weakly, nothing more than the flutter of his eyelids, a few pieces of silvery moonlit hair sticking to his moist forehead. To the touch, it was blazingly warm.
"Damn. " Cloud swore, pulling Kadaj off the bike. He wasted no time in digging out the old medical kit Tifa had given him a couple of months ago, and some old, moth-eaten and dusty sheets from underneath the seat. Apparently, he was quite accustomed to sleeping outdoors, most of the time.
Something for the fever… Uh… right. He extracted the aspirin bottle, turning it around in his hands… Hm… it should do. Water though… he always kept a couple of bottles in the side pouch of Fernir, but he vaguely wondered if mixing the medicine with a potion would do any good. Might as well try.
Tipping Kadaj's head forwards, he shook him lightly to rouse him. The young mans mouth fell open limply, and no more response came from him. Great.
"Hey, wake up. " Cloud said, shaking him a little bit harder. Still, no response. Placing his fingers just underneath Kadaj's jaw, he struggled to find the weakly fluttering pulse there, dimmer than what would be considered normal.
"Wake up, you little brat. " Cloud jolted him again, and this seemed to have done the trick. Kadaj's sleepy, blurred eyes peered open slowly, at first confused, and then darted over to Cloud, hovering just above him.
"What do you want now. "? He inquired tiredly, only bothering to keep one eye open. Cloud pressed the small, orange pill to his enemy's lips, soundlessly. Kadaj finally got the hint after a minute or so and obediently opened his mouth a fraction to accept the medicine. Clouds warm fingers were replaced with the cool, smooth edge of the potion bottle, burning down his raw throat with each choking swallow. When he finished, Cloud placed the bottle somewhere non-obscuring.
"I'm going to need to give you more, soon. " Cloud said, tucking the rumpled blanket underneath the youth's head, and returning to the medical kit. He extracted a curved needle and piece of thick thread, and Kadaj's luminescent eyes flashed open, vividly.
"What are you going to do with that? " Kadaj asked, watching it warily.
"I'm going to close the gash, unless you want a deadly infection. " Cloud said simply, the corner of his mouth turning upward for a moment at the mortified expression ghosting over his enemies features, " It'll only take a moment. "
"Like hell it will. " Kadaj snapped, worming on the ground timidly to get away. Cloud grabbed him by his hip and pulled him back, coasting over him and straddling his legs, to keep him in place.
"Hold still or it'll hurt. " Cloud muttered, forcibly pulling Kadaj's arm out of the skin-tight leathery sleeve, then forcing the resilient leather down to access the wound fully. His eyes only lingered for a moment, then settling on Buster's swollen, angry red slice.
"J-just leave it! " Kadaj attempted sitting up, but Cloud pushed him back down, having a difficult time restraining the villain and threading the needle at the same time. He managed, and knotted the end, covered Kadaj's mouth just before sticking in the needle for the first stitch.
Kadaj arched his torso away violently away almost instantly, kicking wit his legs. His bright glaring eyes were staring, impossibly wide and venomously, heaving hard breathes out the top of Clouds hand.
After the sixth stitch, Cloud looked up to see how he was fairing, and was almost surprised to see unshed tears of pain welling up there, head having fallen back on the blanket and staring up at the hazy, steadily darker sky above them. He stills the hand holding the needle.
"We can take a little break, if it's too much. " Cloud offered. Many times in SOLDIER training, he'd needed to stitch himself up. He knew the amount of pain digging something pointed so close to a sore wound could be, and it often times required himself to take breaks between each stitch.
Kadaj looked at him, and bit his hand.
"Hey! " Cloud yelped and withdrew his hand, wincing. Thank lord he hadn't broken the skin, "I'm trying to help. "
"I didn't ask you too! " The teen snapped, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "Why are you doing this too me, anyway? "
"I have my reasons. " Cloud said, expression suddenly hardened by Kadaj's harsh words. He focused on the clean line of stitches, and added more until he was at the end. By this mouth, his enemy's left hand had come down and gripped his arm, digging into the skin without his glove on. Cloud ended the job with a short knot, and bent down close to bite the end of the string off.
"You see? " Cloud retrieved the potion bottle from before and poured the last of the contents onto the wound, watching Kadaj's face contort in pain, "Much better now. At least you don't die of infection, for now. "
"Tell me why you are doing this. " Kadaj pushed the subject again, sitting up stiffly. Cloud didn't answer; in fact, entirely ignored him while he cleaned the needle and replace it in the kit. He rose, and returned to Fernir in silence, "Answer me, Strife, or I'll slice you in half. "
"With what? " Cloud stooped to dig in a lower sack, removing some old water bottles and a selection of snack foods, some of which were smashed against the insides of their wrappers.
Kadaj blinked blankly, and reached out to the limp sheathe on his back, "You left Souba there? "
"Yes. " Cloud returned, sitting beside him and laying out the small bags, straightening them out with a note of scrutiny, " If I brought it, you would've killed me the moment you awoke. "
"Regardless. " Kadaj said meekly, eye twitching. "You left my Souba. Do you know how hard it is to find a Shadow Blade in the first place? That… and someone willing worth with it in the first place… "
"Some guy in the Second Sector'll do it. " Cloud smirked a tad bit, popping open a bag and offering some to Kadaj. The teen hardly even spared it a glance.
"Only you would know, scumbag. " Kadaj gloated, "I want my Souba back. "
"I doubt someone would steal it, brat. " Cloud answered, idly munching a couple of stale chips, " Only Cid would want a piece of scrap metal like that, and even he would have doubts. "
"Bastard. What about your weapon? You must have left it there as well. "
"Buster? That one's a replica. The real one is kept somewhere safe… it belonged to my friend. "Cloud looked up at the dim sky thoughtfully, snapping the bag away when Kadaj reached for it, "Anyway, I made seven. "
"You must have lots of free time then, freeloader. " Kadaj snarled and pouted, "Don't hog it all. "
"You didn't seem very interested a second ago. " Cloud relented the bag though, watching Kadaj dig his hand in, like watching a cat dip its paw in water, "I do work. Delivery business. "
"From Hero of the World to delivery boy. Who would've thought? "Kadaj sniffed the chip first, eyeing Cloud when he ate it, "Maybe if you weren't such a flunkies, you could have stayed in the SOLDIER program. "
"And be one of you? " Cloud placed the bag in Kadaj's lap and snapped open one of the water bottles, "I'll pass on that. "
"Whatever. " Kadaj tossed the empty bag back at Cloud once he finished, and winced with disgust when he peeked down at the wound. It hardly looked any better to him, but the potion had helped… a little bit. As much as he hated to admit. But that stupid little pill Cloud had popped him did nothing to ease his headache.
"I guess we should stay here for the night. " Cloud said, after a long silence. Kadaj had lay back down and pulled the awful blanket about him.
"You think, Einstein? " Kadaj sniffed, tiredly. He was constantly looking around, most likely in search of fiends, "Do you really think its safe out here? "
"Of coarse not. " Cloud answered simply, dusting off his hands a corner of the blanket and rising again, heading toward his trusty bike, "But it's the best place around. Fiends here are weak. "
"I wouldn't know. " Kadaj watched him retrieve the medical kit again, "Now what? "
"Another potion. " Cloud said, "It's been more than three hours. Recommended doses for bad injuries. And some anti-bacterial cream for that slice. "
"Like it'll help any. " Kadaj reached for the potion, yet Cloud was hesitant to giving it to him. Hmph… he knelt and nudged back the blanket, easing half an inch of cream onto his fingertips and spreading it along the length of the slice. It was sticky and horrible feeling, with the uneven skin beneath it… Cloud cringed, but added another layer of cream over the top of it.
"That's all your going to do for it? " Kadaj asked lazily, half of the potion gone with the rim lingering by his lips, the cool edge forming an indent on the bowed lower lip, " What about bandages? "
"If you insist, princess. " Cloud smeared the rest onto the blanket, and Kadaj grimaced at him, "There's only so much. I wasn't intending on wasting it on you. "
"Hmph. "
Cloud returned with the medical wrap, rather surprised at how obediently Kadaj had removed the rest of the upper portion of the outfit, the rest remained zip just below his belly button. He begun it at about the front of his stomach, and had to lean in fairly close to get it about his back a couple of times. He secured it with a safety pin.
"Better now? " Cloud asked. Kadaj shrugged a tad bit, his brighter than usual eyes meeting Clouds and locking.
"Yeah. Now I don't feel like a bug is going to crawl into it. "He couldn't help but shudder. Cloud said nothing and gave Kadaj personal space again. The villain eyed him suspiciously.
"You've been acting strange. "
"What? "
Kadaj narrowed his eyes, "I've seen you with the rest of you're… 'Group'. Your silent… you don't even answer their questions. All of a sudden… you're very talkative. Why? "
Cloud's eyes widened a tad bit. Oh… damn. He hadn't even noticed, "I… used to talk like this. To Sephiroth… I guess. You remind me of him. "
"I should. " Kadaj purred, "I'm the closest resemblance to Sephiroth. More so than Yazoo and Loz put together. "
"Obviously. " Cloud said, "Or I wouldn't have been talking to you nearly this much. "
Kadaj pouted a little bit, something Cloud was becoming increasingly accustomed too, and it hadn't even bothered him just yet.
"Whatever. " Kadaj murmured, and stretched out upon the blanket again, turning away from Cloud. Even in the dim of evening, his quicksilver hair still glimmered bright from the dim shine of the stars in the far distance.
Cloud watched, then snagged the end of the blanket and pulled a piece for himself out from underneath his Enemy. The teen sent him a rather piercing look over his shoulder and then turned onto his back again, watching as Cloud spread the small piece out neatly, then stretching out on it. Like a dog circling its spot.
"You're lying too close. " Kadaj whispered, a snide tone hinting in there somewhere. Cloud pillowed his cheek against his spread forearm and merely smirked at him.
"Get used to it. " He said, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh flowing through his momentarily flared nostrils.
"Whats that supposed to mean? " The teenager asked him, though it seemed presented more as a statement than anything else. Thusly, Cloud declined answering, and instead wavered off into an unsteady sleep, a comfortable peace between the Hero and the Enemy.
To be Continued.