Cloud Strife's Unfortunate Encounter
By Jon Betz
Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Cid gathered together for the last time near Nibleheim. They had held a memorial service for Aeris the day before and they were about to leave one another and fulfill their own destinies. They said their last good-byes and parted. Cloud decided that he was going to travel east to Costa Del Sol and take the ship across the ocean to Junon.
He began his journey to the coastal town. He had left his friends in the early morning, around 7:00, and walked east until around noon when he stopped to eat the lunch he had packed. He thought of Aeris as he ate and the wonderful service that was held the day before. He would never forget her. When he had finished eating, he began walking once more. When he reached the edge of the mountain rage that marked the half-way point of his journey to Costa Del Sol, he decided to rest. As Cloud rested on a rock, he heard a noise in the bushes around him. This startled him. He stood up and drew his large sword. He stood in combat stance for a second, and looked around him. Suddenly, a small man came out of the bushes to the left of Cloud. Cloud spun around so that he was facing the man.
"Who are you?" asked Cloud to the man.
"That's what I should be asking you!" the man yelled back. "This is my land and you are trespassing!"
"I am just resting here and I will be departing over the mountains in a minute, so back off little man!" Cloud demanded.
"Nobody talks to me like that! You will leave now!" The man ordered back.
"Why should I listen to you? I take orders from nobody but me!" Cloud was mad now.
"Fine, I have had enough of you. If you will not listen to me, maybe you will listen to my dragon.
At that moment a large green dragon flew over head. It made a U-turn over the trees and flew back to where the two men were standing. The short man jumped backwards into the bushes and the dragon landed where he was standing.
Cloud, stunned, got ready to battle. The dragon lashed at him with his tale. Cloud jumped out of the way to avoid the attack. Cloud dashed foreword and slashed at the dragon with his sword. The dragon hit Cloud hard with his wing and sent him flying backward. When Cloud stood up, he ducked to avoid another of the dragon's attacks. Cloud struck again and severed the dragon's scaly skin under its right wing. The dragon roared, and as it did, some small flames sprouted from its mouth. Cloud did not want the dragon to use his fire breath to finish him off so he spoke some ancient saying and crouched down. As Cloud did this, there was a flash of bright light and a red sphere of energy surged around him. The red sphere turned to blue. The energy sphere turned into a ball of ice and then shattered, making Cloud immune to the dragon's fire. Cloud then stood up strait. The dragon, not knowing what Cloud had done, shot a huge fireball at him. When the fire hit him it just disappeared and did nothing. Cloud then ran up to the dragon and used his best attack, Omnislash. The dragon fell to the ground defeated. Cloud made sure he was dead, and picked up the potion that the dragon dropped and used it. Cloud then ran away from that place into the mountains. He didn't want the short man to follow him so he used a small, shallow stream as his path. Cloud traveled up the mountain. When he reached its peak he looked down at the land below. He could see the town of Costa Del Sol and he knew he would make it there that day. He started to sit down on a rock on the edge of the stream for a rest, but said to himself, "Nah, it's really not worth it." And kept moving.