Part I

This is my first FFVII fic, written about a year ago, although not finished yet. There's about seven chapter of this story so far and they will all be posted after a bit of revision.

Part I

 

The lights of Midgar became a blur before his eyes, his grip of the railing grew

firmer. A soft breeze touched his face and slowly he allowed himself to breath

again. He knew his young apprentice was standing behind him, hidden in the

shadows, watching him. He silently cursed the boy for his concern, he wasnït

happy with the fact that someone had seen him in this condition. But the mako

treatment always did this to him. It made the world fade away, it made him lose

control of himself, of his feelings, and his actions. He hated those moments, he

hated not being in total control, it made him feel like, like...just anyone. 

    "Don't sneak around like that Cloud," he said as he turned around. He could

hear the boy flinch in the darkness. 

"I'm...I'm sorry master, I saw you and I thought that...that...that...," Cloud

desperately sought the right words. 

"What did you think?" 

"I just wanted to see if you had some new information regarding our departure

tomorrow." That was a lie. The boy had followed his mentor out on the rooftop of

the Shin-Ra building because he was worried for him. He had seen him exit Hojo's

laboratory with pain and suffering reflecting in his eyes, somehow he had

thought he would be able to help. He wanted so badly to ask the legendary

SOLDIER if he was alright, if there was anything he could do for him, even

wanted to comfort him. But now, as he was standing before Sephiroth, everything

he wanted to do for the silver-haired man seemed like impossible deeds. All the

stories he had heard about the warrior rouse in him and became fresh to his

memory. They made him realize there was nothing he could do. The Great Sephiroth

didn't need him, he didn't need anyone. How could he have been so stupid to

believe that he could acctually be of any help to the young general. Cloud

sighed and looked up at his master again. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and

studied him quickly before he once more turned his back to him. The glance set

of a stream of shivers to run down Cloud's spine. 

    "We will set out as planned, "Cloud snapped out of his thoughts and for a

moment he couldn't remember what his question had been. 

"Yes sir," he answered, it was always a good answer. 

"Now leave me. Get some sleep, it's late," Sepiroth continued. 

"Yes sir," Cloud replied again. He looked at his master trying to catch his

masterïs eyes before he left. But it was useless, Sephiroth did not move. His

stare was locked to the lights of Midgar that lay beneath him. 

 

//Chaos, destruction, annihilation. A force racing through the Planet, or maybe

towards the Planet. Everyting that crossed it's path came to a sudden end.

Darkness, then small dots of lights glowing. Glowing like...like...the lights of

Midgar. But they grew stronger, brighter, until they where blended together to

an insufferable shade of white. Suddenly the emptiness is filled with screams,

cries of terror and death. Then, silence, darkness, a short moment of relief,

reaching for salvation. Serenity fills the air. But then, the world explodes

into flames and screams even more horrible than before, and there, in the middle

of it all is...is...//

 

Sephiroth woke up in fear, barely able to keep a scream back in his guts from

where it has been slowly rising during his hours of sleep. He sat up in the bed

and reached for Masamune. His whole body was shaking uncontrolably. He rested

his forhead against the handle of the sword and closed his eyes. How long did he

hold that position? Minutes, maybe hours, time had never seemed more realtive to

him than now. 

    A knock on the door ripped him out of the trance he had slipped in to. 

"Sir, are you there?" he heard Cloud's insecure voice from the other side of the

door, although it seemed more distant. Sephiroth swallowed hard before

answering, making sure his own voice was steady. 

"I'm on my way, meet me out front." Sephiroth got up, still not in full control

of his body and mind. 

    'Damn Hojo,' he thought, 'these mako treatments will be the end of me.' 

He lifted his hand to his face, covering his eyes. This was something he would

never allow himself to do in the presence of any other human being, it was a

gesture of weakness. 

 'No, I can't blame Hojo. Or the treatments, without them I would

be nothing.' He let his hand fall and sighed. Within the next minutes he had

left the room. 

   Some young SOLDIERs greeted him as he passed them by in the hallway. 

"Have a safe journey sir," one of them said and got a simple nod in return from

the mysterious war hero. The young SOLDIER would remember this day for the rest

of his life with pride. 

 

Cloud was anxiously waiting outside the Shin-Ra building for his teacher, his

face lit up as he saw him come out through the main entrance. From where Cloud

was standing you would not be able to distinguish one specific person that

stepped through the doors to Shin-Ra. Everyone seemed to blend into a big mess

of heads, arms and legs. But Sephiroth was easy to spot even from that distance.

With his long silver-hair and exceptional heigt he could not be mistaken for

someone else. He didn't halt as he reached Cloud's side, he just gestured to his

student to follow him. 

    "I have arrenged for a truck to take us to Junon, from there we will

continue to Costa del Sol. We will spend the night there and from there on...

Well, we just have to wait and see," he explained to Cloud who was half running,

half walking to keep up with Sephiroth. 

    Sephiroth glanced at the boy and a smile split his face for a brief moment. 

"We all have to live in our own pace," he said. 

"Yes sir," Cloud said, pretending to understand. 

 

The way to Junon had been long but now they were finally on the boat heading for

Costa del Sol. They were in their cabine. Sephiroth sitting in the middle of his

small bed, his legs crossed, bent over a book with his hair falling into his

face. Cloud silently studied his mentor, this peaceful side of him had never

been revealed for him until now and he was quite surprised to see Sephiroth so

relaxed. Still Cloud was pretty sure Masamune would be out of it's shield within

the blink of the eye if an unwelcomed person stepped through the door. He

quiverred. The strenghts and powers of the man infront of him where truly

unbelievable, even the stories told about the famous SOLDIER and his powers

didn't come close to what was reality. Suddenly Sephiroth looked up, obviously

disturbed by the boy's questioning stare. 

"Why don't you go out and look around," it was not a question Cloud could tell.

"Be back in an hour and we will practice." 

"Yes sir." Cloud disappeared out the door but reappeared before the door even

had closed. He grabbed his Buster Sword from the bed, silently cursing himself

for almost forgetting it and then he was gone. Sephiroth sighed. He knew Cloud

was a sharp-minded boy but he seemed to be nervouse whenever they where in the

same room. But then again, Sephiroth knew his presence usually made people's

blood run faster through their veins, so why should Cloud feel any differently.

He was still staring at the door through which his student had disappeared. He

was glad the committee at Shin-Ra had approved of his suggestion to take on a

student. They hadn't cared to much of who he chose, they just liked the idea of

having another SOLDIER with Sephiroth's skills. However, Sephiroth had always

had his heart set on training Cloud, he had notice a lot of potential in the boy

the very first time they met. What had surprised him more about the committee

was that they didn't object when he told them he wanted to take his student with

him on a journey for six months in order for him to devvelope and train in

differentenviorments. His own reasons was to get out of Midgar for a while, and

away from Hojo and his experiments. Since the war ended there wasn't much for

him to do in Midgar. That was why he had been given this opportunity and he had

greatfully seized it. 

 

An hour had nearly passed, Sephiroth rose from the bed and left the cabine to

search for Cloud. He found him almost right away, hanging over the railing of

the ship. 

"Sea sick?" Sephiroth asked. 

"No sir, never," Cloud smiled vaguely even though he seemed a bit green in the

face. "I was just watching the waves." 

Sephiroth raised a brow quizzically but reminded himself that Cloud was still a

boy, barely fifthteen. 

"I found a room for us to practice in," he said and Cloud followed him

immediatly.  

 

"We will only use our swords, no magic, we donït want to accidentally sink the

ship," Sephiroth said, trying to make a joke to get Cloud to relax a bit. He

sighed as he saw it had only had the opposite effect. 

"Ready?" he asked. 

"Yes," Cloud tried to hold his voice steady, seeking comfort in the fact that

Sephiroth knew what he was doing and the chance of him accidentally injuring him

were highly unlikely. 

    They both drew their swords, taking their positions. Cloud holding his

Buster sword infront of him in a defensive manner. Sephiroth let the edge of

Masamune point at his opponent as usually, ready to attack at any moment. Cloud

stared at the sharp point of the mighty sword which was almost as famous as it's

owner. Then Sepiroth lunged towards him.

©Starla 2001

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