Foreward, Author note, thing: This takes place 2 years after the game.
There are 3 characters…(well more than that but 3 that are important), that
I made up. Kali Zenobia is the first one. She's a girl in SOLDIER. In the
game it was all guys so…yeah, anyway. The second is Caleb Ainsley. Kali is
originally from Junon, and Caleb is a mercenary type guy, no one really
knows where the heck he came from and there's Orion, but you'll find out
about him while read. Anyway, I'll shut up now. ^-^
1 Chapter 1
"Tifa," a muffled voice cried out. "Tifa!" It sounded like it was underwater. "Hey, Tifa!" it got louder. Something shook her. Startled, she jumped out of bed screaming. "Hey, hey! Calm down!" The voice said. Now that she wasn't that groggy with sleep, she recognized it. She turned her head to see a young man with spiked blonde hair grinning at her from the corner of her room. She felt heat rise up to her face. "Well…don't I feel stupid." She thought to herself.
"Cloud, How did you get in here?" She asked sitting back down on her bed, suddenly feeling tired again.
"Through the door." He answered smiling. He had changed so much since…
"This better be important." She said gruffly. She didn't like to be woken up. The smiled faded off his face. It was like he had forgotten what he went there for until she said anything.
"It is." He said looking down.
"You didn't take another job again did you?" Cloud had been lending out his services. Slaying monsters, and that type of thing. Just because we had saved the world everyone thought that Cloud and his friends could fix every little problem. They were supposed to be relaxing.
"Well…" he began. But Tifa didn't let him finish.
"Oh Cloud! If you want to take another job, fine, but count me out!" She yelled.
"Hey! Would you just listen!?" Cloud shot back. "This one is important. It involves Red's home. Think of it like you're doing it for him." He walked out of the corner and sat on a chair next to her window.
"What's wrong in Cosmo?" It was strange to have problems there, of all places. It was normally very calm.
"This is a tough job…" he said looking out the window. She watched his eyes travel across the scenery of Nibelheim. "Everyone is coming back to help us with this one."
"What?" she asked getting off the bed. She walked over to him and put a hand on his knee. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Cid is getting in his flying thing, and picking everyone up, do you follow me so far?" He asked, teasing her, he spoke to her as if she were 2 years old, "Then he's coming here."
"That isn't what I meant and you know it." She said glaring at him.
"Alright, alright. Don't like, kill me or anything. I figured I'd wait 'til everyone got here and then explain everything."
"Fine." She yelled and stalked over to her dresser. "Go away, I want to get dressed."
"Fine…Meet me over at Vincent's." He left the room. Vincent's. She loved going there. He had redone the entire Shin-ra Mansion. It wasn't so gloomy anymore, though it wasn't bright and cheerful either. It is still where Vincent lives, and he's not one for bright colors or pastels.
She pulled a blue long-sleeved shirt and black pants out of her dresser and threw them on. She ran a brush through her hair and put it in a loose ponytail. Then she grabbed her PHS off her nightstand, and headed for Vincent's. She was almost to his door when a strong wind started to pick up. She heard a rumbling noise, close in range. Cloud and Vincent stepped outside.
"The cavalry arrives." Cloud said grinning. Vincent nodded stiffly. They watched as the huge airship landed outside of Nibelheim.
"C'mon we should go greet them, we haven't seen them in a long time." Tifa said walking toward where the ship landed. Cloud nodded and followed. Vincent stayed behind. They were about halfway to the ship when something tackled Tifa to the ground.
"Tifa! Tifa! Tifa!!!" it was screaming. Cloud grabbed it and pulled it off of her.
"Nice to see you again Yuffie." Tifa said, getting to her feet. Cloud scrunched up his eyebrows and squinted at her.
"That really Yuffie?" He said staring at her. "She looks so different…" he continued to squint at her, as if scrunching up his face would make him recognize her. Yuffie glared at him, and waited for him to let her go. When he didn't, she punched him in the stomach.
"It's called ageing! Get over it!" she yelled. Cloud wheezed trying to breathe. Tifa laughed.
"Very…" he began, but had to stop to take another huge gulp of air, "funny." That made her laugh even more.
"What the hell is she laughin' at?" A deep voice came from behind her. She turned and saw the large, dark-skinned, ill tempered, Barret standing behind her.
"Hey!" she yelled. She ran up and hugged him. "How's Marlene?"
"There will be time for that later." Someone said.
"Oh, hi Red." Tifa said. She didn't have to turn to know who it was. He walked passed her and up to Vincent's door. They all followed, no one saying a word.
"Cloud, does anyone else know what has happened?" Red said taking a seat in the corner of the large room. The room was painted a pale gray. There were large windows with white silk curtains drawn over them. There were 2 staircases in the very back of the room, both leading to the same open hallway, which led to separate rooms on the second floor.
"No. No one else knows." He looked down.
"Well, shall I tell them?" Red asked looking up to Cloud, who was leaning on the wall next to him.
"You're better at explaining than I am." He answered shrugging.
"Yes…I suppose. There were miners in Cosmo Canyon. They told us they wanted to take a small sample of a rare mineral found in our mountains, and then leave to do research with it." Red looked down at his paws and took a breath before continuing. "I left, early yesterday morning. Just out for a walk. And when I returned…it was gone."
"What was gone?" Yuffie asked.
"Cosmo Canyon. My home. It just...was no longer there."
"How can that be? How can a whole damned town, a whole damned mountain, just disappear?" Barret said from the opposite side of the room.
"That, I do not know. All I know, is that, my home, the people in my village, everything….is gone." Red looked away. "I am sorry." He added, and walked outside.
"This doesn't make one damned bit of sense!" Cid yelled. "A whole damned mountain can't just vanish!"
"It is rather odd." Vincent said.
"Odd? Damnit, it's well passed odd! It can't be true, it isn't possible. Maybe Ol' Red there is losing it. I mean….what's he 800 or somethin' like that? Alzheimer's! That's what it is! …or maybe he's just goin' senile!"
"Cid…You sound good when you use big words…." Yuffie began, "but make sure you know what they mean first."
"And, WHAT is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled into her face.
"It MEANS that your stupid!" she yelled back.
"WHAT?!" his nostrils flared, his eyes looked like they were going to pop right out, and there were veins sticking out all over his neck.
"You heard me." She said calmly.
"Grr……why you little-"
"Cid!" Tifa yelled. "Stop acting like a child!"
"But she-" he began, then he saw Yuffie mouth "Baby" at him. She stuck out her tongue. He blew a ring of smoke in her face from his cigarette. She coughed, and he laughed.
"Oh brother…" Cloud said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"So…what're we gonna do 'bout the cat's home?" Barret asked.
"I called in two mercenaries to help us." Cloud said. "They might know a little more than we do."
"There's still mercenaries around?" Yuffie asked him.
"Yeah. As long as there's monsters. There'll be mercenaries." He explained.
"Hmph." Barret said crossing his arms. "Bloodthirsty-"
"No." Cloud said, interrupting him before he could finish. "They aren't bloodthirsty at all…most of them hate to kill. A lot of them hate blood. But they need money. And being a mercenary is one of the fastest ways to get money."
"I understand." Yuffie said. Barret just frowned.
"So, when are these "mercenaries" going to get here?" Tifa asked.
"I think they're already here." Cid said looking out a window.
"Vincent, you want to go get them?" Cloud asked, turning toward him. Vincent nodded once, and then headed outside. Red came back into the room. Everyone tried not to look at him. They didn't know how to act around him, his home has just vanished. They wanted to act sympathetic, but they knew Red wouldn't like that.
Yuffie walked to the corner of the room, and slid down the wall so she was sitting on the floor. She watched Cid pace, and Barret stand, arms crossed over his chest, frowning at the floor. He always seemed mad. Then her gaze drifted to Tifa. She was watching Cloud. It was like she was mesmerized by him, her eyes never leaving him. They almost looked stuck. "She wants him sooo bad!" She thought to herself. She giggled.
"What the hells wrong with you?" Cid asked looking down at her.
"Nothing!" she yelled and stuck out her tongue. Cid opened his mouth to say something back but was interrupted.
"Hey!" Cloud said walking to the door. Cid turned to look. Vincent walked in, 2 people following behind him. Tifa looked over to them. To her surprise, one of them was a woman. She was short, about 5'3 at best, and very thin. She was wearing a purple uniform, very much like the one Cloud used to wear. "Is she a SOLDIER? A woman in SOLDIER?" Tifa thought. She looked young too. She had fair skin and beautiful bright green eyes. Her hair was a shining auburn, her lips coated in a shimmery gloss. She was very pretty. Tifa watched the girls' eyes focus on Cloud. It angered her, she didn't know why, but it did. Cloud shook her hand. "I'm Cloud," he was saying. "This is Yuffie, Cid…" Tifa didn't listen to the rest. She looked to the other person who had followed Vincent into the room. He was tall, about 5'10. He looked very muscular. His eyes were a startling shade of blue. Almost like Cloud's Mako eyes. a lot like them actually. Only mako made eyes look that color. It was definatly not natural. His hair was a light brown. He was really cute.
"I'm Kali, Kali Zenobia." The girl said. The man looked over all the people in the room, then said,
"My name is Caleb Ainsley." His eyes lingered on Tifa, and it made her blush. She quickly looked down, feeling the heat rush to her face. Yuffie ran into the room, Tifa hadn't even noticed she had left.
"Guys!" she screamed, panting. Everyone turned and looked at her. "I was making sure the rooms were ready for everyone, the extra ones in the basement like you told me, and…" she was talking so fast she had to stop to catch her breath, "I heard something. Something's down there."
"It was prolly a rat, little girl, nothing to worry about." Barret told her.
"I am NOT a little girl! And this was NOT a rat!" she yelled.
"Fine," Cloud said sighing. "Vincent, come with me to see what she's talking about, and the rest of you explain what's going on."
The trio walked down the spiral stairs. Even the stairs were touched up. Vincent had placed a red runner all the way down. "I know I'm special but you didn't need to roll out the red carpet for me!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Cloud…" Yuffie said shaking her head. He just laughed. Once they got down the stairs, they heard what Yuffie was talking about. It was a loud banging sound, coming from the ceiling. They could hear deep breathing echoing down to them.
"Whoa….that is definitely NOT a rat." Cloud said looking up toward the noise. He couldn't see a thing, it was all shadows, pitch black.
"Told ya!" Yuffie yelled. There was a loud growl that sent Yuffie clinging to the arm nearest her. It was Vincent. "What…the…heck…is…that?" she stammered. Normally she wouldn't be this close to Vincent, but she was scared. She was just glad she had grabbed his real arm.
"Okay…whatever it is, it's in the pipes…so… how do we get it down?" Cloud asked. Vincent shook his head.
"What the heck do you want it down for!?" Yuffie asked, again yelling, she couldn't control it. Another growl came from above. She tightened her grip on Vincent's arm. Strangely, she felt very safe near him, normally she was afraid of him. She had never really given him a chance, just because he was quiet, she had found him strange and scary.
"Why don't you try shooting up there? Maybe it'll scare him out." Cloud suggested.
"Hope I don't put a hole in the ceiling…it'll go through to upstairs." Vincent said frowning. He raised his gun anyway. Looking down to Yuffie he said, "You may want to cover your ears." She couldn't do that with only one hand…and she wasn't letting him go, she was to afraid. Then she had an idea, she put one ear to his chest, and her free hand to her other ear. He shot one bullet. It startled Yuffie and made her body jump. The bullet hit a pipe. They heard a growl, and a mouth full of sharp teeth emerged from the shadows.
1 Chapter 1
"Tifa," a muffled voice cried out. "Tifa!" It sounded like it was underwater. "Hey, Tifa!" it got louder. Something shook her. Startled, she jumped out of bed screaming. "Hey, hey! Calm down!" The voice said. Now that she wasn't that groggy with sleep, she recognized it. She turned her head to see a young man with spiked blonde hair grinning at her from the corner of her room. She felt heat rise up to her face. "Well…don't I feel stupid." She thought to herself.
"Cloud, How did you get in here?" She asked sitting back down on her bed, suddenly feeling tired again.
"Through the door." He answered smiling. He had changed so much since…
"This better be important." She said gruffly. She didn't like to be woken up. The smiled faded off his face. It was like he had forgotten what he went there for until she said anything.
"It is." He said looking down.
"You didn't take another job again did you?" Cloud had been lending out his services. Slaying monsters, and that type of thing. Just because we had saved the world everyone thought that Cloud and his friends could fix every little problem. They were supposed to be relaxing.
"Well…" he began. But Tifa didn't let him finish.
"Oh Cloud! If you want to take another job, fine, but count me out!" She yelled.
"Hey! Would you just listen!?" Cloud shot back. "This one is important. It involves Red's home. Think of it like you're doing it for him." He walked out of the corner and sat on a chair next to her window.
"What's wrong in Cosmo?" It was strange to have problems there, of all places. It was normally very calm.
"This is a tough job…" he said looking out the window. She watched his eyes travel across the scenery of Nibelheim. "Everyone is coming back to help us with this one."
"What?" she asked getting off the bed. She walked over to him and put a hand on his knee. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, Cid is getting in his flying thing, and picking everyone up, do you follow me so far?" He asked, teasing her, he spoke to her as if she were 2 years old, "Then he's coming here."
"That isn't what I meant and you know it." She said glaring at him.
"Alright, alright. Don't like, kill me or anything. I figured I'd wait 'til everyone got here and then explain everything."
"Fine." She yelled and stalked over to her dresser. "Go away, I want to get dressed."
"Fine…Meet me over at Vincent's." He left the room. Vincent's. She loved going there. He had redone the entire Shin-ra Mansion. It wasn't so gloomy anymore, though it wasn't bright and cheerful either. It is still where Vincent lives, and he's not one for bright colors or pastels.
She pulled a blue long-sleeved shirt and black pants out of her dresser and threw them on. She ran a brush through her hair and put it in a loose ponytail. Then she grabbed her PHS off her nightstand, and headed for Vincent's. She was almost to his door when a strong wind started to pick up. She heard a rumbling noise, close in range. Cloud and Vincent stepped outside.
"The cavalry arrives." Cloud said grinning. Vincent nodded stiffly. They watched as the huge airship landed outside of Nibelheim.
"C'mon we should go greet them, we haven't seen them in a long time." Tifa said walking toward where the ship landed. Cloud nodded and followed. Vincent stayed behind. They were about halfway to the ship when something tackled Tifa to the ground.
"Tifa! Tifa! Tifa!!!" it was screaming. Cloud grabbed it and pulled it off of her.
"Nice to see you again Yuffie." Tifa said, getting to her feet. Cloud scrunched up his eyebrows and squinted at her.
"That really Yuffie?" He said staring at her. "She looks so different…" he continued to squint at her, as if scrunching up his face would make him recognize her. Yuffie glared at him, and waited for him to let her go. When he didn't, she punched him in the stomach.
"It's called ageing! Get over it!" she yelled. Cloud wheezed trying to breathe. Tifa laughed.
"Very…" he began, but had to stop to take another huge gulp of air, "funny." That made her laugh even more.
"What the hell is she laughin' at?" A deep voice came from behind her. She turned and saw the large, dark-skinned, ill tempered, Barret standing behind her.
"Hey!" she yelled. She ran up and hugged him. "How's Marlene?"
"There will be time for that later." Someone said.
"Oh, hi Red." Tifa said. She didn't have to turn to know who it was. He walked passed her and up to Vincent's door. They all followed, no one saying a word.
"Cloud, does anyone else know what has happened?" Red said taking a seat in the corner of the large room. The room was painted a pale gray. There were large windows with white silk curtains drawn over them. There were 2 staircases in the very back of the room, both leading to the same open hallway, which led to separate rooms on the second floor.
"No. No one else knows." He looked down.
"Well, shall I tell them?" Red asked looking up to Cloud, who was leaning on the wall next to him.
"You're better at explaining than I am." He answered shrugging.
"Yes…I suppose. There were miners in Cosmo Canyon. They told us they wanted to take a small sample of a rare mineral found in our mountains, and then leave to do research with it." Red looked down at his paws and took a breath before continuing. "I left, early yesterday morning. Just out for a walk. And when I returned…it was gone."
"What was gone?" Yuffie asked.
"Cosmo Canyon. My home. It just...was no longer there."
"How can that be? How can a whole damned town, a whole damned mountain, just disappear?" Barret said from the opposite side of the room.
"That, I do not know. All I know, is that, my home, the people in my village, everything….is gone." Red looked away. "I am sorry." He added, and walked outside.
"This doesn't make one damned bit of sense!" Cid yelled. "A whole damned mountain can't just vanish!"
"It is rather odd." Vincent said.
"Odd? Damnit, it's well passed odd! It can't be true, it isn't possible. Maybe Ol' Red there is losing it. I mean….what's he 800 or somethin' like that? Alzheimer's! That's what it is! …or maybe he's just goin' senile!"
"Cid…You sound good when you use big words…." Yuffie began, "but make sure you know what they mean first."
"And, WHAT is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled into her face.
"It MEANS that your stupid!" she yelled back.
"WHAT?!" his nostrils flared, his eyes looked like they were going to pop right out, and there were veins sticking out all over his neck.
"You heard me." She said calmly.
"Grr……why you little-"
"Cid!" Tifa yelled. "Stop acting like a child!"
"But she-" he began, then he saw Yuffie mouth "Baby" at him. She stuck out her tongue. He blew a ring of smoke in her face from his cigarette. She coughed, and he laughed.
"Oh brother…" Cloud said, putting a hand to his forehead.
"So…what're we gonna do 'bout the cat's home?" Barret asked.
"I called in two mercenaries to help us." Cloud said. "They might know a little more than we do."
"There's still mercenaries around?" Yuffie asked him.
"Yeah. As long as there's monsters. There'll be mercenaries." He explained.
"Hmph." Barret said crossing his arms. "Bloodthirsty-"
"No." Cloud said, interrupting him before he could finish. "They aren't bloodthirsty at all…most of them hate to kill. A lot of them hate blood. But they need money. And being a mercenary is one of the fastest ways to get money."
"I understand." Yuffie said. Barret just frowned.
"So, when are these "mercenaries" going to get here?" Tifa asked.
"I think they're already here." Cid said looking out a window.
"Vincent, you want to go get them?" Cloud asked, turning toward him. Vincent nodded once, and then headed outside. Red came back into the room. Everyone tried not to look at him. They didn't know how to act around him, his home has just vanished. They wanted to act sympathetic, but they knew Red wouldn't like that.
Yuffie walked to the corner of the room, and slid down the wall so she was sitting on the floor. She watched Cid pace, and Barret stand, arms crossed over his chest, frowning at the floor. He always seemed mad. Then her gaze drifted to Tifa. She was watching Cloud. It was like she was mesmerized by him, her eyes never leaving him. They almost looked stuck. "She wants him sooo bad!" She thought to herself. She giggled.
"What the hells wrong with you?" Cid asked looking down at her.
"Nothing!" she yelled and stuck out her tongue. Cid opened his mouth to say something back but was interrupted.
"Hey!" Cloud said walking to the door. Cid turned to look. Vincent walked in, 2 people following behind him. Tifa looked over to them. To her surprise, one of them was a woman. She was short, about 5'3 at best, and very thin. She was wearing a purple uniform, very much like the one Cloud used to wear. "Is she a SOLDIER? A woman in SOLDIER?" Tifa thought. She looked young too. She had fair skin and beautiful bright green eyes. Her hair was a shining auburn, her lips coated in a shimmery gloss. She was very pretty. Tifa watched the girls' eyes focus on Cloud. It angered her, she didn't know why, but it did. Cloud shook her hand. "I'm Cloud," he was saying. "This is Yuffie, Cid…" Tifa didn't listen to the rest. She looked to the other person who had followed Vincent into the room. He was tall, about 5'10. He looked very muscular. His eyes were a startling shade of blue. Almost like Cloud's Mako eyes. a lot like them actually. Only mako made eyes look that color. It was definatly not natural. His hair was a light brown. He was really cute.
"I'm Kali, Kali Zenobia." The girl said. The man looked over all the people in the room, then said,
"My name is Caleb Ainsley." His eyes lingered on Tifa, and it made her blush. She quickly looked down, feeling the heat rush to her face. Yuffie ran into the room, Tifa hadn't even noticed she had left.
"Guys!" she screamed, panting. Everyone turned and looked at her. "I was making sure the rooms were ready for everyone, the extra ones in the basement like you told me, and…" she was talking so fast she had to stop to catch her breath, "I heard something. Something's down there."
"It was prolly a rat, little girl, nothing to worry about." Barret told her.
"I am NOT a little girl! And this was NOT a rat!" she yelled.
"Fine," Cloud said sighing. "Vincent, come with me to see what she's talking about, and the rest of you explain what's going on."
The trio walked down the spiral stairs. Even the stairs were touched up. Vincent had placed a red runner all the way down. "I know I'm special but you didn't need to roll out the red carpet for me!" Cloud exclaimed.
"Cloud…" Yuffie said shaking her head. He just laughed. Once they got down the stairs, they heard what Yuffie was talking about. It was a loud banging sound, coming from the ceiling. They could hear deep breathing echoing down to them.
"Whoa….that is definitely NOT a rat." Cloud said looking up toward the noise. He couldn't see a thing, it was all shadows, pitch black.
"Told ya!" Yuffie yelled. There was a loud growl that sent Yuffie clinging to the arm nearest her. It was Vincent. "What…the…heck…is…that?" she stammered. Normally she wouldn't be this close to Vincent, but she was scared. She was just glad she had grabbed his real arm.
"Okay…whatever it is, it's in the pipes…so… how do we get it down?" Cloud asked. Vincent shook his head.
"What the heck do you want it down for!?" Yuffie asked, again yelling, she couldn't control it. Another growl came from above. She tightened her grip on Vincent's arm. Strangely, she felt very safe near him, normally she was afraid of him. She had never really given him a chance, just because he was quiet, she had found him strange and scary.
"Why don't you try shooting up there? Maybe it'll scare him out." Cloud suggested.
"Hope I don't put a hole in the ceiling…it'll go through to upstairs." Vincent said frowning. He raised his gun anyway. Looking down to Yuffie he said, "You may want to cover your ears." She couldn't do that with only one hand…and she wasn't letting him go, she was to afraid. Then she had an idea, she put one ear to his chest, and her free hand to her other ear. He shot one bullet. It startled Yuffie and made her body jump. The bullet hit a pipe. They heard a growl, and a mouth full of sharp teeth emerged from the shadows.