Chapter.1NE.AJIT

"CLOUD!" she screams. I hear her but I cannot help her. "CLOUDO!" she screams again, sending shivers down my spine. My blade is moving fast, blocking bullets and trying to get me on the offensive, but I cannot gain any ground against my enemy, Kadaj. His brothers are attacking my childhood friend Tifa but she can handle herself. She is not my main concern. It is Kanynrii. She is screaming my name because she is in trouble and I am closest to her. She is surrounded by the Death Hounds, the summons that Kadaj always uses in battle. Kadaj is a coward and as this though crosses my mind I grow angry.

"He cannot help you, Kanynrii Anawen," Kadaj laughs at her as he slices at my wrist, "for he will no longer be alive!" At these words, Kadaj ducks down, doubling back and as my blade slices through thin air he swings his gun-blade around to my head, stupidly leaving his back exposed. I take this chance to let my momentum swing me around and my Buster sword slams into his side and he flies forward, crashing into one of the magical glowing trees of Ajit, a dead city that is now a beautiful forest. Kadaj's eyes flutter shut and I pray that he is out for this battle.

I turn to find Tifa unconscious on the ground and Kadaj's brothers, Yazoo and Loz, closing in on Kanynrii. She is not like Tifa and I… she does not have our reflexes or our trained skills. She is slow and almost completely helpless in battle. That is why I am worried so much – she is not from our planet or even our solar system. She does not share any genetic makeup with my kind, though we are still the same species. She is a marvel… a rarity… and impossibility that is about to die before my very eyes. I cannot let her die. I must save her.

All of these thoughts cross my mind in quick succession as I leap towards the brothers. Yazoo, Loz and Kanynrii are so far away. They are chasing Kanynrii and closing in fast. I am running with every ounce of speed I can summon. I see Loz arm himself as Kanynrii surprises me and leaps with great ease onto one of the trees and climbs. I see Loz and Yazoo stop to smirk at each other and I realize that they are so certain of Kanynrii's death at their hands that they do not even know I am chasing them. They are taking their time in prolonging her death. Where do they think I am…?

I use their ignorance to my advantage and quicken my pursuit up in the trees. I jump from branch to branch and pull my sword apart so I now have two blades in my hand. Just as I expected, Loz rears back to slam his electric wrist mechanism in to the tree that Kanynrii is climbing laboriously. She is moving so slowly…

As Loz is about ready to slam his weapon in to the tree to knock Kanynrii down, I am so close… I am running out of time… I am in range! I flick my sword straight into his hand from up above and I hear him scream in agony. Yazoo wastes no time in pulling his gun-blade out and firing at me. Since I still hold the main section of the Buster sword I can easily block his bullets. I leap down at Loz and kick my feet in to his chest, knocking him down and out. I am standing on top of his chest and as I pull the separate part of my blade out of his arm I hear Yazoo turning around to fire at me from behind but I am so much quicker than him… he can barely blink before I turn around and duck, throwing the detached part of my sword at his legs. The blunt side connects with his knees and I can hear them crack. I get a sick sort of pleasure from this and when he falls to the ground I walk slowly to him. Staring at Yazoo in such pain and knowing that I caused that pain makes me so angry that I take the Buster sword and slash at his throat. I barely miss because I know I do not want to kill him. Yazoo screams in terror and I take the hilt of my sword and knock him over the head. He falls back unconscious and I am angry at him. He makes me feel pleasure in other people's pain and I do not want that. I am a delivery boy now. My days in Soldier and Avalanche are far behind.

"Cloudo?" I hear a soft voice from above me. I am knocked out of my self-pitying trance and look upward. Kanynrii seems unharmed but too afraid to come down from the tree. I stare back at Yazoo's still figure. His breathing is shallow.

"Kanyn…," I begin to say something but I do not know what. My mind is empty. Kanynrii leaps down from the tree and lands hard next to me. I think she hurt herself but she stands up easily and looks into my eyes.

"Cloud, can we go now?" she says. I stare into her brown eyes for so many hours I cannot remember and her hand is on my shoulder. She is closer to me than before and I'm not sure how she got there. I put my hand upon hers and I close my eyes. When I open them she is in front of me and I am holding her waist while her hands are at the back of my neck. I feel her cold fingers and she sends shivers down my spine. We stare into each other's eyes and I feel the familiar burn of tears. I blink and look up and away to stop them but one tear falls down my cheek. Kanyn takes one of her icy fingers and wipes my tear away and I look back at her. She puts her hands on the back of my head and pulls me down to her as she stands up on her toes. She kisses my forehead slowly and I can feel her cold lips against my skin.

"Kanyn, why are you so cold?" I ask her. I pull her closer and close my eyes as I hug her and her cheek is just as frigid as her lips and fingers. I feel her squeeze me tight and then she goes limp. I stand for a second, holding her still, and I no longer hear her soft breathing. Her chest is not moving with breath and her heart is no longer beating against my chest. I pull her away and her body starts to fall but I catch her and look at her. I see blood on my hands and I twist her towards me to look at her back. Blood is trickling from a gunshot wound. I suddenly realize now that it was I that was ignorant. Yazoo and Loz were not prolonging her death – they were waiting for it. My eyes burn again and I hear,

"Cloud." I turn my head in Tifa's direction in time to see Kadaj holding her up by her neck. She is trying to speak but can barely choke out my name. Rage fires within me and as I race to save her I hear the gunshot and watch my best friend's lifeless body fall to the ground. Kadaj grins wide and points theg gun at me. I go to pull my sword out but I realize I left it with Kanynrii's body… Kadaj's face flickers with another familiar face… his eyes shine and the gun fires. I see the bullet coming at me but I cannot block it, I cannot move out of the way fast enough…

Kadaj is standing over me and his wing… his wing?... spreads out and I can see that familiar face flicker within Kadaj's again. That face… I know it… it is the face of my brother. It is the face of Sephiroth.

Kadaj laughs at me and I scream in pain and horror and hatred and sorrow and I see guns flashing and blades colliding and I reach for my sword to murder Sephiroth once and for all but I cannot because I am dead.