A/N: I thought I'd just write something because I know there are a lot of fans of FFVII out there and a lot of Vincent and Cloud lovers as well. [Including me. I hope you enjoy the first chapter of this and I hope someone reviews. I don't know how good at this I'm going to be, but I really hope that you like it. I also want you to know that I vaguely know some of the locations descriptions in the world of FFVII. If something is really wrong about a place, tell me and I'll fix it to the best of my abilities. (Also, Matthew was made up in my mind, If he's in the game, i don't own him either xD.) Thank you, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Characters or Places of FFVII, they all belong to Square Enix.
This is Rated M for foul language, violence, and slight yaoi or (aka Lemon) that will appear later on in the story.
Slipping Into Tragedy –
Chapter 1:
The blonde stood up slowly from his motorcycle that he had parked on the outskirts of Kalm. From here, he could barely see the glistening from the ocean from the town casting its shadow upon it. It was noon in the hottest part of the day out in the middle of the wasteland that seemed to swallow up the entire region for miles and miles, hardly seeing the top plate of Midgar from the highest peak in the lower regions of this area. He only came here to check some of the rumors the town of Midgar had created and distributed, and had finally reached his ears in Sector seven in Tifa's bar. He had heard that a few monsters were coming into the city and causing chaos and destruction within the town's limits. The blonde, formally known as Cloud Strife, would wait until he could see any movement from the monsters invading the town, but until then he would sit and wait in the blistering sun.
Cloud drank greedily from his canteen he had brought with him on his journey to Kalm, nearly drinking half of it. He decided that it was just too hot to just stand out in the sun all day. He mounted his motorcycle, glad he parked in a small shady part of a tiny plateau. He revved Fenrir's engine and peeled out on the cracked ground that the wasteland had to offer him, turning his sight on the town of Kalm.
It only took the blonde a few minutes to get to the small town that seemed to be even more isolated every time he wandered upon it. Not much was known about how the town had been put here, but he didn't mind it. He found a small bar that seemed to have the entire town in it since so very few people wandered the streets. 'Maybe I can find out exactly where these monsters are..' Cloud thought as he parked his bike of the corner of the bar, grabbing his sword from his bike and slipped it into place in its holder before walking casually into the bar.
The bar looked to have at least five people in it, one being the bartender and one as a waitress. The rest looked to be regular customers. They all stared at the blonde as he entered into the bar, and as if on cue, the bartender motioned him over to the counter. Cloud looked closely at the tag on the bartender's apron that read 'Matthew' and followed Matthew's directions and sat down in the designated stool that he had pointed at.
"So, what brings you here?" The bartender questioned the blonde, leaning close to him. Cloud tried not to show the small discomfort that this action had instilled in him.
"I heard that there were some monsters were running into town and causing havoc…maybe you might know where there at..?"Cloud suggested as he played with one of the straps on his attire. It seemed to grab the bartender's attention, but he seemed to ignore it.
"Yeah, there usually out in the evening when everyone's asleep on the western side of town. Why do ask?" Matthew asked Cloud, but before Cloud could answer, the bartender asked another question. "…by the way, what's your name kid. I think I've seen you somewhere before, but I just can't place it.."
"To answer your first question, it's kinda my job in a way, and for your second question. Cloud." Said the blonde, not mentioning his last name for fear of getting tackled, but Matthew the bartender gave a smile in return.
"Cloud Strife! The kid who saved the town of Midgar about a year ago, I thought I recognized you!" This caused a reaction of the other three people in the bar and seemed to lighten up the mood a little. Please, don't ask for an autograph… Cloud thought with a painful expression that he hid from the bartender, and quickly relaxed when no one asked him for anything. The bartender just reached under the counter and pulled out a shot glass and filled it with some vodka and simply pushed it toward him. "On the house kid..." Matthew said as he finally left Cloud to his business as he walked to the back of the bar to finish the day's dishes. Cloud gave a small smile and stared at the glass for a second, and after a little while, he decided that it wouldn't hurt and drank down the shot. The alcohol gave him a burning yet refreshing feeling as it raced down his throat. He sat there for a few moments before the waitress appeared beside him, politely taking his glass and walking into the back of the bar before returning to Cloud. The blonde pulled out a few coins and tipped her before glancing at the clock, which read a slow nine-thirty. Time for me to go and see how badly I can get wounded… He thought with a grimace as he walked out of the bar, getting on his bike, but this time he was going to leave his sword on his back. Through experience, fighting in the dark was extremely dangerous, but he thought he could take it. He turned the key and the motorcycle roared to life. He crept quietly in the streets, trying not to wake anyone who was sleeping, and heading west through the small alley's just outside of the town's limits…
…
He sat on the edge of his motorcycle waiting for any signs of movement, barely seeing five feet in front of him. It was a full moon and he was glad to have it above him illuminating the wastelands basking in its eerie glow. Everything grew quiet and he would have to rely on his hearing to get him through the night safely if he planned to live. He waited quietly, barely hearing a sound, only to find those sounds to be small gusts of wind and the rasping of the ocean in the distance. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered how the monsters were getting smarter in battles and dreading what he may have to face.
The blonde heard a slight movement behind him and pulled out his sword just in time to slice the monster that was flying at him, in half. He then heard another movement on the other side of him, and that's when he realized it had been a set-up to make the monsters have an easy meal on their part. He couldn't flee for they had all gathered around him and he knew it. Damn, I should've known... Cloud thought as he held his buster sword in defense, listening for any scuffs on the dirt that would signal one of the monsters jumping. Then something he wouldn't have planned on, happened. They had communicated with each other somehow and the monsters in front of him jumped high in the air, while the ones behind him joined seconds after. He flung his sword out in front of him, deciding it would be better to take them first to give him room to move. His sword made contact with one of the monsters, stabbing it through the heart, and slinging it to his left, throwing off the others to the side. He figured it was a group of seven, that he knew he had killed two of them, leaving five left to attack him again. He jumped off of his bike just in time to sling his sword around to catch a couple more across their throats, but one had slipped past his guard and chomped down on the side of his waist. Cloud winced in pain, and stabbed the monster through the head, getting a massive amount of blood across his blue sweater vest and black baggy pants, which now reeked of purple blood and red blood pouring out from his side that mingled along with the monster's own, turning it a lighter purple. He had to think of how many more were left, but was quickly answered when two massive bodies showed themselves in front of the blonde. Their menacing fangs glistened in the moons shadow as they both approached at full force toward him. He knew he was in trouble now and that he would probably be sore for the next couple weeks. He quickly used a Healing spell to stop the bleeding from his previous wound, and turned his sword out to the side of him, ready to slice in a moments notice. One of the monsters jumped while the other ran toward him still. Shit.. He thought as he faced the sword up toward the incoming body. The sword pieced the beast and he quickly swung it to his side with all of his strength, struggling over the monsters massive weight. He knew he had to get his sword out of the monster quickly because he could hear the sound of the other monster coming closer to him with every heartbeat. He pulled his sword out of the corpse, quickly bringing it back to his chest just in time to be hit full force by the last monster. He closed his eyes as he felt the ground hit his back with no mercy. He could feel his leg snap as the monster landed in a dead heap on top of him. Cloud pushed with all of his might against the monster, wanting to get it off of him and tend to his wounds. After about five minutes, with one last shove, he was free to get out from underneath the corpse.
He tried to get up, but found himself back on the ground screaming in pain. After a few more minutes, he cast a powerful enough healing spell to get his leg so that he could walk on it without wincing. His leg and side were extremely sore, but he was glad to be out of there alive. He slightly limped back over to his motorcycle, letting the mako inside of him start its own healing process. He got onto his motorcycle and turned on the machine, peeling out into the darkness toward Midgar, hoping that he wouldn't run into anymore monsters on his trip. His mako blue eyes glowed faintly as he used his enhanced senses to find his way better though the dark, finding the town of Midgar coming closer and closer into his sights. He knew that Tifa would be shocked at his appearance, but he was used to it. Soon his was under the city lights of Midgar as he slowed down as to not kill anyone who happened to be roaming in the streets at this time of night. He could see that the lights of the Seventh Heaven Bar were still on. The blonde sighed as he knew he looked horrible and that people from Costa del Sol could probably smell the stench of blood on him. He sat on his motorcycle for a little bit, preparing for the wrath of Tifa once he stepped inside.
Hesitantly, he got up from his bike and stood in front of the door, before finally heading inside of it. He could hear the clicking of a clock on the wall as it was past midnight, and he looked down at his shirt and finally found how horrid he actually he looked. It was actually ten times worse then he had imagined. He looked back up and hesitantly looked around, only to find Tifa at the bar giving a stare that could kill. Cloud averted his gaze as he walked over to the stairs up to his room, only to be stopped by a cold hand on his shoulder.
"Cloud, What Happ-" Was all Tifa said before she was interrupted by Cloud. "Tifa…Can I talk to you after I have a shower and a change of clothes?" The blonde asked as he turned around and nodded toward his clothes. "I'll explain everything when I come back down, okay?" He said quietly, getting a hesitant nod from the brunette. With that he turned and walked quietly up the stairs, making sure he wouldn't wake Marlene or Denzel as they slept.
He reached the top landing of the stairs, finally relived he was safe inside his own confinements. He quickly took off his shirt and threw it in a laundry basket on the far side of the room, and went to his dresser to pick out a pair of black boxers and some plaid sweatpants and headed off into the bathroom to himself a long shower.
The hot shower water hit his back and he instantly relaxed into it, washing off any blood he still had on him and used an entire bar of soap to get the stench of the monsters off of him. He hated to have blood on him, and remembered his side. All you could see from his wound were the two distinct fangs that had scarred him. His leg finally felt normal, but it was still bruised.
He stepped out of the shower and ruffled his hair dry with a towel, leaving thousands of spikes of blonde hair on his head and slipped on his boxers and his sweatpants, then drying his hair the rest of the way. He felt much better after taking a shower and just wanted to crawl into his bed, but he knew he had to go back downstairs for his usual lecture. He sighed as he walked out of his room and walked silently, barefoot down the cold wooden stairs until his reached the bottom of the landing.
Tifa was staring at him because she had never seen him without a shirt on. She blushed and averted her eyes as Cloud turned and caught her looking. He smiled and gave a small chuckle before sitting down. Tifa still doesn't get that I don't like her the way she likes me… Cloud thought sadly as he could feel the aura of her seem to want him. He frowned in somewhat disgust. It wasn't that he found her unappealing, it's just he thought it was wrong to love a best friend more then just, well, a best friend.
Cloud sat down in front of Tifa as he awaited the fury of the kick-boxer. "Cloud, you know it's dangerous to be out in the dark fighting monsters…right?" Tifa said with a bit of concern. She could tell by what she saw when he walked in with blood covering almost every inch of his body.
"Tifa, I know…I had to stop the attacks on Kalm before they got out of hand. I just didn't know how many there were…"Cloud responded before a concerned Tifa became wide-eyed. "Exactly how many were they!" Tifa yelled, but scolded herself and was a afraid she may have woken the kids. Cloud waited and heard nothing from the upper rooms, and hesitantly answered her question. "Umm...I'm fairly sure there were seven..." And this response about made Tifa jump out of her seat, but quickly sat back down with an angry expression on her face. "You could have been killed!" She yelled as loud as she dared to make sure the kids kept sleeping. "I know, I thought there would be three maximum…but this was a large group, considering their size." Cloud stated blankly trying to remember exactly what went down back in the badlands. Tifa thought for a moment before turning back to Cloud. "Maybe we should get the gang back together here to explain what's happening with the monsters…" Tifa suggested, trying not to fray Cloud's nerves more then what they already were. Cloud thought for a second, giving a disapproving glance toward Tifa, but thought about it further. How long has it been? Cloud thought as his expression softened. "Maybe your right…It couldn't hurt." He said, agreeing on what Tifa said. Tifa smiled and nodded. "I can call them up tonight, and tell them to be over here at the bar tomorrow afternoon…sound like a plan to you?" Tifa questioned with a smile. "Yeah, I want some sleep before they get here later today…"Cloud said with a smile as he nodded over to the clock on the wall. Tifa just laughed, noticing her mistake, before retiring back into her room and started dialing.
Cloud waited before he heard Cid's cussing before he headed back up the stairs, with a wide smile on his face. He could only imagine what he was saying, but quickly forgot about it as he fell back onto the bed, turning onto his side staring at the bright red letters of his alarm clock on the nightstand beside him, watching the red numbers fade as his eyes shut ever so slowly, drifting into a deep and peaceful sleep. Tifa was still downstairs calling everyone for at least an hour before she finally went to bed.
…
The sun shown brightly through the curtains of Cloud's bedroom, waking the blonde up from his sleep. He didn't hear the being on his other side come near him as he rubbed his eyes groggily, trying to wipe the fog that remained in his eyes from his sleep. He turned over and sat up. "Surprise!!!" Said the being in front of him. Cloud about fell on the floor from shock, but quickly steadied himself as he soon realized exactly who it was. "Morning, Yuffie…" The blonde said as his arm was seized and he was pulled forward toward the door. "Come on, Cloud! Everyone's waiting!" Yuffie screamed as she pushed him down the stairs toward the bottom landing. That's when Cloud realized he didn't have a shirt on and found it was too late because everyone was staring at him. He could feel his face start to burn, and tried to retreat back to his bedroom to grab a shirt, but Yuffie insisted he sit down. This is just great… Cloud thought as he was pushed onto a couch between Vincent and Cid. He tried to shrink into the couch and become invisible, but he knew it wouldn't work, so he gave up and laid out on the couch, and smiled casually while glaring at Yuffie, who simply giggled and hopped over next to Tifa. By the looks of it, everyone was there except for Cait Sith.
"So, where's Cait Sith?" Cloud asked Tifa, giving a pained look in her direction. She only laughed at him and continued. "Well, He said that he had some business that was urgent and he couldn't make it…"
"Figures" said Cid as he took a drag from his cigar. Barret had decided to get up and spend some time with Marlene before he would leave.
"So what's the big news, Cloud?" Yuffie asked, somehow she had shifted from beside Tifa, to sitting beside Nanaki, who had an embarrassed expression on his face as Yuffie attempted to braid his mane. "Yes, I'd like to know myself" Said Cid, who was obviously staring at Cloud's abs. Cloud could feel his gaze and glared at him. Cid looked up and saw Cloud and Vincent both glaring at him, and that made Cid turn away. Cloud relaxed for a second before finally speaking up.
"Well, I was out on the outskirts of Kalm checking out some of the things I've been hearing about monsters that sneak into the town and cause a massive amount of damage…You know, just to make sure that everything was safe. I only expected around three monsters if there were monsters hanging around the area. So I went out in the wastelands and waited for any sign of something coming toward the down. There were more then three when they attacked…they have gotten much smarter since the last time a fought a few." Cloud explained, but stopped and waited to see if any questions were going to be asked.
"How many were there?" Nanaki questioned, his mane getting knotted from Yuffie's braiding. Cloud couldn't help but smile, but quickly responded. "There were at least seven…maybe more." At this, Cid chocked on his cigar and had the same reaction that Tifa had when he had first told her. Vincent shifted slightly and Yuffie flipped out.
"Cloud! You know you could've been seriously wounded!!" Yuffie screamed as she jumped up from the floor and stood with her arms crossed over her chest while staring at him and her mouth dropped when she saw two fresh scars on his left side.
"Look at that! What were you thinking?!" Yuffie screamed as she pointed accusing at his side. Cloud sank further back into the couch trying to hide it within the upholstery. He decided to sink behind part of Vincent's cape without drawing attention from Vincent. Tifa hadn't noticed from the night before and was now glaring at Cloud. She didn't say anything because she knew Yuffie had already taken care of it. Yuffie still fumed but went back over to where Tifa was and sat down. Nanaki decided to come over and sit down in front of Cloud, and Cloud gazed at him warily.
"You know I'll have to go back if there are anymore reports of damage within the town, right?" Cloud stated toward Nanaki, who nodded but spoke up. "Not alone though…just in case you have to that is." Cloud thought for moment and nodded.
Nanaki turned and walked over on the other side of the coffee table and laid down on the other couch. "Everyone's busy though Nanaki…I don't want to interrupt anyone in what they're doing…" Cloud stated, thinking over who would be free. Tifa could probably help, but she'd end up hurt. Nanaki, maybe he'd help if he wasn't always guarding Cosmo Canyon. Who knows what the hell Vincent was up to. Yuffie would steal my materia and I'd be left with nothing. I'm not even going to start with Cid… Cloud's thought was interrupted when Nanaki had said something. "I could come with you, just so you don't get killed." He had saidand looked to everyone else expectedly.
"I could go! Please!?" Yuffie said, jumping up and smiling her toothiest smile. "I promise I won't steal your materia.." She said before Cloud could ask her. The blonde gazed at her warily. "Only if you hold to that promise...and get me a shirt." Cloud said, and with that, Yuffie ran upstairs. "Well, I guess that's everyone." Cloud said, getting up from the couch as Yuffie bounded down the stairs with a black t-shirt. Cloud went to grab it but Yuffie pulled away at the last second. "Yuffie.." Cloud said threateningly. "Aw, come on. I was just playing!" She said in defense as she threw it toward the couch, in which Vincent caught it and held it out for Cloud. The blonde walked over to the raven-haired man and took the shirt. "Thanks" He muttered to Vincent as he slipped it over his head and pulled it over his stomach.
He turned to sit down, but was knocked back when the ground started to shake beneath him. The shots on the counter shook and broke on the floor as the ground had a spasm. Tifa fell back off the barstool even though she tried to grab the counter, and landed in the broken glass from the shots falling. Cloud ended up falling backwards onto Vincent. Yuffie grabbed the banister for balance. Cid was screaming obscenities, which wasn't helping anything.
The ground stopped shaking and Tifa was on the floor crying while Yuffie ran over to her and helped her up. Nanaki had jumped off the other couch and went over to Tifa as well. Cid was still yelling.
"Who the fuck is tryin' to kill us this fucking time?!!!" Cid screamed and stopped as he looked over at what Cloud had landed on. Cloud blushed fiercely and whispered a 'sorry' when he slid back over into the middle of the couch. Cid was cracking up laughing hysterically. Cloud's face was already red as a cherry and he was becoming angry.
"Cid, It's not that funny…besides it was an accident." Cloud reasoned, but Cid didn't seem to hear him, and Tifa could sense that Cloud's nerves were wearing thin. She left him alone though and watched helplessly. Cid was rolling on the floor, holding his stomach and laughing. That was the last straw for the blonde, as he got up from his seat and picked the older blonde up by the neck, and swung a punch into the pilot's face. That shut him up… Cloud thought as he pushed Cid back down on the couch, who was then holding his face. "I told you it wasn't that funny…"Cloud said coldly, as he turned and walked up the steps. He paid no mind as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs at a rapid pace. Once he reached the top of the stairs landing, he turned around as Cid struck him in the side of the neck with the back of his lance. The blonde lost consciousness at the blow and fell to his knees as he plummeted down the stairs to the bottom landing…
A/N: Okay, I know you weren't expecting the Cid thing. Also, there wasn't much of Vincent in this chapter. That's what the next chapter is for. It's a good one too, including the greatest prank of all time. Also, I love cliffhangers, and what kind of person would I be if I didn't put one in? Don't you just love me?
Cloud:..No..
Me: Why?
Cloud: Because I'm at the bottom of a landing unconscious after getting hit with a lance!!
Me: . '..good point
Cloud: That's what I thought.
Me: It'll get better though, you watch.
Cloud: It better.
Vincent:…
Me: Soon enough Vincent, soon enough –plots-
Also, I thought I'd build the relationship slowly, instead of quickly, because it's better that way. Please review ! I'll post the next chapter if you do. Also, this is my first fanfic, so I would like constructive criticism. Thanks!