"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

– St. Augustine

The sound of belt buckles striking each other rang out over the dry silence in the barren wastelands. Heavy breathing and cloth rubbing together followed quickly on its heel. A sword in its harness creaked and sun reflected blindingly off of metal accessories. A man with gravity-defying ebony hair struggled along a path only he could see, heading towards the city that would lead to his salvation. His cheeks were hollow and he had dark bags under his eyes accenting the glow in his purple eyes. Carrying with him was a pale faced blonde with vacant blue eyes. Pausing briefly and leaning against one of the rust red walls that the wasteland sported, the man set his precious burden down. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out a water skin, pulled the cork out with his teeth and drank thirstily.

"Man, Cloud, we're only an hour into this place and it's way too hot. We'll probably have to chance a ride." Looking down at the silent blonde, the man quirked his lips. Capping his drink with a sigh he reached down and scooped the other man up with a groan.

"Almost there buddy, almost there." Turning determinedly down the road the man walked on.

Almost twenty minutes later he reached what looked like the road, though with how bumpy and filled with holes it was he couldn't be sure. Following the way the road wound around and down multiple levels of cliffs directly below where he was standing, before veering off to his right a few hundred feet down. It would definitely be easier to just jump straight down, though it would probably hurt much more. Taking a deep breath, he walked to the edge of the first cliff. He peered over the edge for a moment before taking another deep breath, gripping his precious burden tightly, he jumped. He landed in a crouch before staggering up again.

"S-see! Not so bad. I can do this. Hold on tight Spike!" He walked to the next edge and jumped. Even taking a break after some of the longer falls, he reached the last cliff much faster than if he had walked the road.

"Last one, here we go!" Jumping down, he landed feet first. CRUNCCCHHHHH. He staggered

"Woah! What was that!" Standing slowly, he swayed. Shaking his head he turned around, testing his ankle. Looking down at where he landed he saw something glint in the sand. Setting Cloud down a little ways away, where he slumped back against the wall, the man turned back towards the glint. Spikes swayed as he walked over to the glint. Crouching down, he brushed away some of the grit that covered what looked like it was a materia. Reaching down he scooped up the sand around the object, letting it filter through his fingers to fall back onto the sand. Concentrating he was able to make out the faint signature of a Time Materia. Weird. He didn't even think Materia could break. Chuckling he stood again bringing the broken pieces with him. A steady thrumming noise came from up on the cliffs.

"Great Spikey, a ride, and a free materia! Though it's kind of broken. Who leaves their Materia just laying around anyways? Mine now, let's see if this puppy works." Smiling he concentrated on the Materia forcing just enough energy into it to get it to glow. Nothing happened. Frowning slightly he concentrated harder he forced more of his MP into the shattered orb. Still nothing. Glaring at the glittering pieces, Zack forced as much MP as he could into it, forgetting how weakened he was for a moment. Suddenly the orb flashed a deep purple, and began to shake. Yelping, Zack dropped the pieces, scurrying back away from them, nearly tripping over his own feet in exhaustion. He really shouldn't have tried to activate the Materia.

"Oh man, that doesn't look good. Let's get out of here Cloud!" Walking backwards towards his friend, he kept his eyes on the still flashing orb, which seemed to be emitting a sphere of energy around it that pulse with a beat of its own choosing. The next pulse seemed to expand the sphere even more. Crouching down he grabbed up his friend, making to rise, only for his vision to blur when he stood again. Shaking his head didn't seem to help. He really shouldn't have used up his MP on a broken Materia. He staggered away from the sphere, which had grown rapidly in size and strength. It seemed to be creating its own vortex, sucking in sand and particle's of rock from nearby. The pull was growing just as rapidly as the Materia's sphere. They weren't going to make it. They had come so far, survived so much, and now because of his stupidity, they were going to die, only a few short miles away from Midgar. Zack blacked out as his feet left the ground, clutching desperately to his burden.

"Sorry Spike…"

εγλ 1998

Green eyes snapped open, feline-like irises narrowed, then expanded. Sitting up, silver hair draped over his naked upper chest, moonlight glinting through the uncovered window, the General of Shinra looked around. Something had changed. Something was different. He could feel it. This strange buzzing in the back of his head alerting him that whatever it was would change everything he knew. He closed his eyes concentrating on that feeling. Tugging on the thread a little he felt a wary response. Close, whatever it was, was close. To the East. Turning he looked that way. Smiling tightly he climbed out of his bed, walking to his balcony, opening the window he walked out. Closing his eyes one more time, facing East he reached, grabbed, and followed...

So this is my first FF7 fic, and I want to get some feedback from you guys. Is this idea worth pursuing? I don't want to write more if noone else is interested, so let me know if you are. So leave a review