A strange little one-shot written a few years back, that I thought I'd share now - a 'deleted scene' from the assault on Midgar. It gives voice to a personal little theory of mine, and aims to bring a little depth to the party's relationship.

Behemoth

The colossal beast finally fell, the maintenance scaffolds ringing like a gong as its obsidian horns slammed to the deck. The party, breathing heavily, began to relax.

Red XIII padded over to the beast, and looked into its glazed eye. It was only then that Cloud saw a kinship between the two, as if the strange behemoth were an image of Nanaki seen through warped glass. And such a connection, he realised in turn, was not impossible.

'Hojo,' Nanaki said slowly, as if handling a dangerous object, 'sometimes talked about turning his experiments loose on these platforms. Failed experiments. Ones he wished to dispose of.'

He leapt lightly onto the creature's flank, the better to see the trunk of its thigh.

'And here's the proof. IV. Number four.'

The party joined him, and saw on the beast a branded number. It was in the style of the ancient lettering Red XIII carried, unlike the modern numerals of the Sephiroth clones. A broad puzzle began to solve itself in Cloud's mind. The behemoth, the number, the kinship, Red's discovery in Hojo's lab, and…

Cloud glanced at Vincent out of the corner of his eye. The man was hanging back, staring intently at the creature's head – the black horns, red mane, its violet skin.

'I was not the first of my kind to disappear,' Red was saying, pulling Cloud's attention back. 'Towards the end, the Shinra kept coming.' He frowned. 'Grandfather told me once of monsters that resembled my species, but he said they were to be found in the far north, where the crisis from the sky fell. He said this was proof that my people had been there, fighting alongside the Cetra in the battle against Jenova.'

'We all know,' Vincent said, 'that Hojo has a strong interest in Jenova.'

There was a moment of grim silence.

'Come on,' Cloud muttered. Though he wished to linger here and sift through this new information, he was sharply aware of the threat Hojo still posed. And now, more than ever, he wanted to meet that threat head on. The party began to move off, one by one. Nanaki and Vincent met Cloud's eyes as they passed, and Cloud was struck suddenly with a sense of profound connection with them, running even deeper than it had done before.

Before turning away, Cloud glanced at the beast's tail, and recalled that no flame had burned there, even during the battle.

Vincent fell into step with him as he joined the others. There was silence between them, until Vincent spoke.

'The galian beast, the creature that lives within me. That creature. Nanaki. To think that he and I share such a connection…'

And Red's words came back unbidden to Cloud, spoken to him just mere hours ago, as they had readied themselves to leap from the Highwind to the city of Midgar below:

'People you meet, others you don't. Strange, isn't it?'