This story is in the process of both being updated and re-hasshed. The main plot hasn't changed, I'm just making it flow better and changing the odd thing here and there.

-_- -_- -_- Dreams of the Morrow -_- -_- -_-

-_- -_- -_- Prologue – The War of the Beasts -_- -_- -_-

When the war of the beasts brings about the worlds end, the goddess descends from the sky.

Red splattered everywhere, coating the earth in it's gelatinous gore. Nothing escaped the defilement, not the trees, the decaying ground, nor the magnitude of newly rotting corpses that littered the area. The scent of the substance hung thick and heavy in the air, clinging to all that were unfortunate enough to be in close enough, staining clothes and souls, tainting them with the death that had been so swiftly dealt. The scent of decay was strong, blocking out all traces of the natural scene it had been before. There was not a spot of ground that had been left innocent of the battle; each and every inch of grass, dirt and stone had some sort of vandalism, be it blood, bodies or fallen weaponry, and the sheer mass of destruction left all in its wake dead to the world.

All except for one person. Her body lay on the ground, barely making any movements in effort to blend in with those that had fallen around her. She was playing dead, her dark uniform splattered with blood that was not her own and coated in a fine layer of dust from the sodden ground below. The once silver shoulder pads were stained a multitude of colours, red and brown being the more prominent, but there were some green and orange too, from the odd plant that had managed to find its way into the battle. Dark hair covered her eyes, allowing the odd movement here and there to go undetected by those who may perchance look at her, the lids closed to prevent the mako glow of her green eyes to give away her position.

This was Emerald. SOLDIER third class, on her first and final mission. Infiltrate Wutai.

The sun was rising, casting reds and pinks into the sky, throwing a serene glow over the ruin that had been cast upon the outpost, making it seem almost surreal. The reality of what had happened that night wouldn't settle into anyone's mind – there was nobody left to do so, and the eerie silence caused it to be almost peaceful.

Slowly, the young woman opened her eyes - only a little at first, moving those glowing orbs around and extending her senses - just to be sure that she was truly the last survivor, and that there were no spies to tell of her deceit. Once she was sure she was clear, the eyes were opened fully and their owner brought herself up to a sitting position, once again looking around to be sure she was alone.

The ground upon which she had been laying began to quietly fizzle and pop as the newly uncovered dirt strived to soak up what little blood-less moisture there was left in the morning's dew. Only her keen senses could hear the faint gasps of life from this otherwise decollate wasteland. More dirt was uncovered as she slowly got to her feet, careful to make no more noise than necessary, as to not alert any sentries that may have been nearby.

Those almost-unique eyes scanned the area, seeking out the sword which she had unwittingly dropped during her night time encounter, and finding nothing but the destruction which she had wrought, the blooded remains of those that were once proud Wutai soldiers, most of the bodies having been cut so badly that they would remain unidentified, even should they be discovered, the blood soaked ground which would only recover given time, and trees bent out of shape, even they did not escape the fiery blades of war.

A gleam of silver caught her eyes, causing her to shift instantly in that direction, ready for a fight should there be need, but it was just the glint of metal reflecting the early morning sunlight. Posture relaxing only slightly, the woman continued her increasingly tedious search, rifling through the mess she herself had been a part of making, looking for her beloved blade.

The sound of a soft wind reached her ears only seconds before her hair was blown around, carrying the scent of the decaying battlefield. Her nose flinched slightly as her heightened sense of smell caused her reflexes to kick in, her stomach churning until she felt the intense need to gag, to remove whatever was left from her normally strong stomach. But she managed to put the urge at bay, to keep herself from reacting in any other way than a slight flinch.

Her eyes widened very slightly as she finally found her blade, imbedded in one of the broken trees, its five foot length standing horizontally from the bark. A soft sigh escaped the young woman as she stepped forward, her lithe form stepping easily between bodies, lightly trampling on the dirt, leaving no more than a slight dent as she swiftly made her way to her blade. Her hands clasped around the hilt firmly, giving a single tug to remove the inch of the blade that was wedged within the tropical tree.

A small smirk formed on her face as she flicked off the droplets of blood that were still there, noting that she was going to have to clean the masamune before the blade was ruined with the coppery substance. In her left hand, the massive sword hung almost limp, hovering only inches above the ground as she held it loosely, her thin form easily hiding the strength within her.

"Ahh." She turned her head quickly as she sensed someone nearing her position, her enhanced senses telling her that it was just two people. She looked around, trying to spy a place to hide, to remove her from this picture, in order to remain unfound. Bending her legs slightly, she jumped – up, landing quietly on the branch above her, looking down from the remains of the tree she was in. This cover wasn't the best, if the stranger was to simply look up, she would be found, and would have to deal with it.

She would rather that not happen, enough blood had been shed that night.

But she needn't have worried. The man that was approaching was wearing a similar uniform to her own, blue rather than her deep purple, complete with sword on his back. This man was a second class SOLDIER, the same military as her, her boss even.

"Geeze! Someone really went to town here!" The newcomer announced, bending down beside one of the fallen SOLDEIRs, checking his pulse and sighing sadly when he found none. "I bet nobody's left…" His voice was quiet, but Emerald found it easy to hear as she watched him, wondering why her superior hadn't noticed her presence yet. Surely he should be better at this sort of thing than her?

The young man below her continued to check on people, SOLDIER and Wutaii alike, looking for someone, anyone who would still be alive. "Damn." He cussed as he stood finally, reaching into his military issue slacks and producing a company cell phone. "I found something." He told whoever he had called, completing his duty as a SOLDEIR to call the scene before him in, so that the SOLDIERs could be returned to Midgar and receive the burial they deserved.

Once the official conversation had ended, he closed the phone, pausing for a second before turning around. This seemed to go in slow motion for Emerald, him turning slowly, almost as if waiting to find her, and she knew he would. Her kneeling on the barren branch wasn't exactly a perfect hiding spot, even with her crouched as small as she could get, her blade held directly in front of her. If this second class was to see her, there would be a great many questions she'd rather not answer… but not if it seemed she was a new comer herself…

Jumping down from the tree seemed to be her only option, the only way she could get away from being found out, and so, she did it, landing silently on the ground and placing a shocked expression on her face. "S-sir…" She managed to stutter a little as she wide-eyedly looked around, silently dropping the blade on the ground to hide the fact that she was able to wield the massive samurai sword.

The male turned around and saw her, offering a small, reassuring smile as he stepped forward, slowly and clumsily avoiding the bodies on the floor. "SOLDIER," He said quietly, not looking back behind him as he shook his head. "C'mon, there's nothing else we can do here."

Making sure to nod shakily, Emerald looked around at the carnage that she'd only just herself created, as if in awe and fear, pretending to try and imagine what kind of a person would've been able to do this. "W-what happened here?" She asked, proud of herself for causing her body to shake, completing the image she was giving out.

The second shook his head sadly, glancing at the still weeping ground. "I don't know." His tone spoke of defeat, perhaps this was the first time that he'd seen such destruction. Finally, he looked up, staring directly at Emerald.

"What's your name?" He asked, gesturing for her to move with him as he headed back towards the camp. She found herself falling into step with the man.

"SOLDIER, third class, Emerald." She introduced herself dutifully, thankful that the rules of SOLDIER allowed for hiding of the family name if it was desirable. The last thing she needed was for him to find out her heritage. Silver green eyes glanced at the male beside her before she looked forward again, trying hard to remember the basic training she'd had in SOLDIER conduct.

"I'm Zack." The male said, offering her his hand, which more than confused the third. This man outranked her, yet he was treating her like…. Like she was really there, a person rather than something which he could order to do his bidding. Her eyes narrowed slightly on that hand that had been offered, studying the tight leather glove before reaching out to take the hand in her own and give it a slight shake. Retracting her hand quickly, she brushed it against her leg, not in hopes of offense, but rather to care for her own obsessive compulsive personality.

"You've not been in Wutai long, have you?" Zack asked her. Emerald had to hold back a smirk, if only he knew.

"No sir." She answered, once again shaking her head. "I was assigned here with the latest battalion…" She looked behind her. "I got separated from the group and…" The men that had died on that battlefield had been her battalion, the men she was supposed to fight with, who were supposed to protect her and her them. Some protector she turned out to be.

"Oh…" the sad word spoke understanding, as if Zack had been through that himself, but she knew better, having read his file many, many times, she was quite aware of what had happened in his short life. "Well… you'll just have to stick by me then." He offered, "I'll make sure you get out of this alive." Even to her ears, that sounded like a promise. A small smile graced her lips as she remembered what she'd been told about this man, about what he'd done, about how he'd…

Well… she was here to prevent that.

"Thank you sir." She said quietly, looking down at the ground as she continued to follow this male. The battle scene behind her was quickly fading as they walked steadily away, the scent dissipating, removing all but the memory of its happening. "Sir… why are we fighting?" She knew too well how the Wutai-Shin-Ra war had begun, but to her, "It just…seems kind of a waste…" She told him, frowning slightly and looking down at her hands, trying so very hard to fit in with what she'd been instructed.

Follow their orders. Respect and revere them, just like you used to do with me.

Cloud's words stuck in her head, and she bit her lip, trying to act both respectful and full of awe at the same time, it wasn't a hard fact, considering this was Zack Fair… After everything that he'd done for Cloud… But, Emerald could tell, Zack hadn't met Cloud yet, he was still second class, so things hadn't progressed that far… right?

Zack was quiet for a short while before he shook his head, looking up at the slowly brightening sky. "I don't know. It's not our place to ask." He then turned his blue eyes to Emerald and she felt her breath hitch. He had such beautiful eyes.

Cloud had been right, Zack was just… indescribable.

He smiled at her then, moving his hand to gently place it on her shoulder, giving a soft squeeze. "But you're right. It's a waste… But it can't be helped. We're SOLDIER, we do as we're told, kill who we're told to kill, fight where we're sent. It's kinda sad, but that's just the way things are."

Feeling quite uncomfortable with him touching her, Emerald just nodded. If she was right, the war would be over soon, there would be very little fighting, just the odd renegade here and there which Zack would be dispatched to neutralise. The end of the war was in sight, and Emerald couldn't help but be glad, even though she'd only been there for a few hours.

-_- -_- -_- Dreams of the Morrow -_- -_- -_-

-_- -_- -_- Chapter End -_- -_- -_-

AN: No, this is NOT a Zack/AU. This IS a Sephiroth/Genesis and probably Zack/Cloud. I'm not sure about the last one yet, I haven't finished writing it. I'm writing this…slowly. I'm putting a lot of effort into this, and I would LOVE some feedback, even if you're just pointing out some mistake in my un-bata'd work. Yeah, I can't even spell that lol.

Oh, and the disclaimer thingie (I'm hopeless for remembering to put this on, so I'll say it here, and it applies for the entirety of the story); -clears throat- Okay, it's not mine. I mean, Wutai, Midgar, SOLDIER, Zack, the Final Fantasy plot, Chocobos, Genesis, Loveless, I own none of it. Not a single bit. Nadda. The only thing I own is the actual disks the game is on, and only coz I bought them… So yeah. Not mine.

But in saying that, Emerald is mine. While I can't use her in any original fictions (not as she is now, it'll come clear later on), I would appreciate it if you didn't use her, without first asking me. But I'd probably let you use her if you really want to –shrugs-, just ask first yeah?

THANK YOU

for reading XD

Any feedback is appreciated. And I'm on the look out for a talented beta who can put up with inconsistent chapter updates...

Latest update done on 13th November 2011 (Happy birthday mom)

Lastly, I would like to profusely thank aardy for the amazing review they left when I first started writing this story. I have just put those changes into effect. Seriously awesome review. I could only hope for more like that.