" Link! Hey! Link! Over here! Hey! Link! "
" Navi, for once in your life, will you shut up! I heard you! And no, I'm not going over there because we already went that way! "
" Linnnk! Over here! " Navi whined.
Link grumbled to himself, wishing he had a jar he could stuff the obnoxious fairy in.
Once again, they were lost.
Link could have sworn that they had passed that same tree three times already.
" Link, you're going the wrong way! Over! Here! "
" Navi! Do you remember what happened with the bug spray! I don't think you want to be sprayed with that again, now do you? "
That got her to shut up.
Surprisingly, it was quiet for a while.
Link was shocked, Navi was never quiet. But he wasn't one to complain; it was actually very nice not hearing that annoying voice.
He grinned but it faded when Navi started talking again.
" Link! Link! Hey! Don't ignore me! "
Link's eyes widened and he groaned.
" No! I thought you would be quiet! " He whined.
He smirked. He thought of a brilliant idea.
He stopped and waiting for his obnoxious blue companion to catch up.
She floated a few inches behind him, talking again.
Link wasn't paying any attention. He had grown accustomed to blocking out the noise.
He raised a branch that was in his way and ducked underneath it.
He held onto it a fraction longer, waiting for Navi to get close then released it.
It hit the fairy and sent her flying backwards.
" Oops! I'm sorry, what were you saying? " Link grinned.
He heard Navi grumble and curse at him.
He laughed and continued walking, whistling a tune of Saria's Song.
He froze though when suddenly the Triforce on his hand began to glow.
His eyes widened, what was going on?
A flaring pain racked his body and he bent double, hitting the mossy ground.
He clutched his head with his hand, groaning in agony.
Something was wrong, the only time something like this had happened is when he first was transformed into his wolf form.
Was that what was happening now?
He suspected it was. But why? Thanks to Midna, he could transform whenever he wanted…why would that suddenly change now?
He felt the world begin to spin and he fell the rest of the way to the ground, hitting his head hard enough to knock him unconscious.
….
Something nudged the side of his head.
He cracked his eyes opened to see a familiar face.
He smiled and patted Epona on the nose.
" Hey girl. " He whispered, his voice hoarse.
Link slowly propped himself up on one elbow, looking around.
He didn't recognize his surroundings.
It didn't look anything like Hyrule.
He was in a spring of some sort, though.
Water trickled down a small wall of rock and into the spring. Around the spring was thick, green grass and an occasional fern or flower.
Every flower in the meadow was a lily, it's colors either white or yellow.
There was no sign of Navi, thank the Gods, but his belongings were propped up against a rock a few feet away from where he was lying.
And Epona was here too.
But that seemed weird in itself. He had left her at his camp, tethered to a fallen tree to get some rest while he scouted the area with Navi.
He jumped to his feet and made his way over to the spring.
He cupped his hands and dipped them in the water, allowing the water to flow in. He raised his hands to his lips and gulped down the crisp, cold water liking the feeling of it going down his parched throat.
He licked his lips and looked from side to side, hoping to figure out where he was.
Nothing.
Only dense woods surrounded him.
Link sighed and sat down. He looked over at Epona who was happily chomping on the grass.
That's when he noticed that he wasn't the only one here.
A rolled up sleeping bag lay behind a fallen log next to the spring, a few feet away from where Link was kneeling.
And beside that lay the biggest sword Link had ever seen in his life.
His eyes widened and his curiosity got the better of him, he jumped to his feet and walked over to it.
Before he could get a closer view of the sword a voice interrupted him.
" You're awake. That's good. "
Link jumped and scrambled to his feet. He turned around to see someone come out of the darkness of the woods carrying a bundle of firewood in his arms.
Link didn't know what to say and stared dumbly at the man.
He didn't look very old. In his early twenties with short, blonde hair that spiked out in every possible direction.
" Are you alright? I found you, unconscious lying in the middle of this spring. You were out for the whole day. "
Link nodded.
The young man set down the pile of wood and walked over to Link. He extended a hand.
" My name's Cloud Strife. "
" Link. "
They shook hands, Link giving Cloud a small smile.
" I'll get a fire going…" Cloud mumbled, looking away from Link and going back to the discarded fire wood.
Link blinked in confusion.
That was odd…
He shrugged and walked over to Epona.
He unbuckled the saddle and allowed it to slip off and into his hands, he gently placed it the rock that his sword, shield and bag were kneeling against.
Link smiled as Epona came up to him and nudged him in the shoulder with her nose. He gave her a quick pat on the neck.
" That's a pretty horse. " He heard Cloud say.
Link nodded.
" She is…"
Link gave her one last pat before going to sit down next to Cloud.
They didn't speak for a while.
" Do you remember what happened? Why you were unconscious, I mean? "
Link shook his head.
" No, it was weird one minute I was fine then the next it was unbearable pain…then I woke up to find myself … here. "
Cloud nodded but didn't say anything.
" Where are we? " Link asked.
Cloud laughed a little.
" I was about to ask you the same thing. "
" What do you mean? Don't you…live here? "
" What, me? Huh. No. I live in Edge…"
" Edge…where's that? "
Cloud looked up at him like he was crazy.
" It's in Junon…."
" And where is that? "
" You seriously don't know what I'm talking about…do you? "
Link shook his head, a very confused look on his face.
" Maybe … I was right. This isn't Junon…it's…some other completely different world…"
" What? That doesn't make any sense…I know this isn't Hyrule…so where else could we be? "
" Hyrule…why does that sound familiar…? "
" So if we're not in Hyrule and Junon…what happened? How did we both get sent to different continents or worlds….or something!"
" I don't know…it's weird…"
" Maybe – " Link began to speak but Cloud quickly placed his hand over Link's mouth to stop him from speaking.
" Sssh. We're not alone…" Cloud whispered.
Link nodded, realizing that indeed something was wrong. Epona was staring off into the woods, her ears raised.
He crawled over to his sword and shield.
Cloud did the same, picking up his massive sword and getting into a fighting stance.
Link hurriedly strapped on his shield and held his sword out to his side, searching.
He saw Cloud tense from the corner of his eye and followed his gaze.
He gasped. It was the biggest monster he had ever seen in his life.
A large snake that looked like it could have eaten Epona, Cloud and himself all in one gulp.
Before his brain could really register that the monster was there, Cloud surged foreword with a cry jumping into the air and stabbing the creature on the top of its head.
The thing screamed – a mix between a roar and a screech – and threw Cloud off.
Cloud twirled in the air and landed safely, feet first on the ground next to Link.
Link charged the beast at a run, transforming himself into a wolf as he did so, and leaped with a growl on top of it's back.
Cloud stared at him in awe for a second before attempting to make another attack.
Link paused from his attack on the beast's nose to watch as Cloud's sword lit up in blue fire, surrounding both the sword and Cloud himself.
He was shocked that the fire wasn't burning Cloud.
Cloud jumped into the air again and rained blow after blow down on the beast.
Link bit it's nose and it screamed again trying to shake him off.
Even Epona tried to help with the assault by kicking it in the side.
Link's wolf eyes widened when he saw Cloud's sword fall into pieces – no…those were other swords – and attacked the snake numerous times, using each sword.
As the last sword hit it, it fell.
Link jumped off before it could crush him and turned himself back into a human.
He and Cloud looked at each other, shocked.
" Whoa. You're good. " Link smiled, amazed at Cloud's skill.
" You're not bad yourself. You…can turn into a wolf? "
Link nodded.
" That's cool. " Cloud grinned, meaning it.
Link chuckled.
" That last move you made…that was amazing. I didn't know that your sword was made up of other swords. "
Even as he spoke, Cloud walked over and retrieved his swords from the dirt, snapping them back into place around his main sword.
Once he had all his swords back together again, Cloud walked over to him and the two of them sat down in the grass.
" That move…it's called Omnislash. It's pretty cool. I defeated Sephiroth with it so I knew it would kill that snake. " Cloud looked over his shoulder at the monster, almost as if to reassure himself that it was dead.
" Sephiroth…who's that? "
" A former First-Class SOLDIER who learnt that he had been ShinRa's experiment and gone partially insane. He will stop at nothing now to take over the world and kill everyone in it…. especcialy me and anyone involved with ShinRa. "
Link nodded slowly.
" What are SOLDIER and ShinRa? "
" SOLDIER was an elite group of warriors that worked for ShinRa, a power company. They were infused with a substance known as Mako, making them stronger and faster than anyone else. A trademark feature is their eyes, they glow an aquamarine color. "
Link looked at Cloud.
" Were you in SOLDIER? " He asked seeing that his newfound friend had glowing blue-green eyes.
Cloud sadly shook his head.
" No. Not officially. I was infused with Mako, giving me their strength and skills, but I wasn't actually in SOLDIER. "
Link looked confused.
" But if…you were infused with Mako…then why weren't you in SOLDIER? "
Cloud sighed.
" It's…. a long story that would be wise to save for another day. For now we must get some sleep. I want to try and figure out where we are tomorrow; there might be a town nearby. "
Link crawled over to his bag and pulled out his sleeping bag, unrolling it and laying it on the ground.
He wiggled into his sleeping back, pulling out a blanket from his bag and wrapping that around him, using his bag as a pillow.
He whistled to Epona who walked over to him and gently nudged him with her nose. She snorted, blowing snot all over Link.
" Ugh! Gross! " Link cried, laughing. Epona bobbed her head up and down, whinnying with excitement.
Epona slowly lay down beside him, laying her head on his chest.
Link sighed and pet her nose again before pulling the blanket around him.
…
Cloud stared up at the stars, pondering what all had happened in the past few days.
Somehow, he was sent to another world. One minute he was in Edge, at Aerith's church, and then the next was unbearable pain, like Link had said.
At first he thought that it was Geostigma again, that's what it felt like.
The next thing he knew he was in some place he'd never seen in his life.
He had wandered around, trying to find a town to try and find out where he was, but he hadn't had any luck.
Then he found Link, which was odd too.
That's when he really knew that he was in a whole different world. Link's clothes were not something you saw often in Junon, neither were his ears. And his horse, you didn't see any of those in Junon either.
His eyes followed the trail of a shooting star and not for the first time, he wished Zack were here with him.
He remembered all the times he and Zack spent looking up at the stars, telling funny stories of their childhood.
" Goodnight … Zack. " Cloud whispered.
" Goodnight Cloud. " He heard Link say, probably thinking that Cloud was saying goodnight to him.
Cloud smiled.
" Goodnight Link. Sleep well. "