co-write with the lovely kira sakura x3 how lucky i am to be doing a cowrite with such a wonderful author. okay, here's some basics. i've never done anything quite like this so it's something new for me. the whole plot idea. anyhow, it's a cowrite so yes, as expected, there will be variation in the writing styles and such. so far, i must say, i adore this and the entire plot x3 please leave us a review, we'd both love to hear how you like it so far. yes, the setting is australia :D
prologue
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to inform you all that your flight has arrived at Cairns International Airport. If you could, set your watches an hour ahead, and I hope you enjoyed your flight with Qantas, and we hope to see you again."
Sora blinked slowly, being drawn from his state of drowsiness by the intercom and the sound of murmuring voices and stampeding feet. He sat up, hissing when his back cracked in what seemed to be three different places, and shifted around on the hard seat. People were shuffling down the aisles of the plane, carrying bags and boxes. Realizing that they had landed, Sora undid his seat belt and stood up, stretching. He then grabbed his own carry-on bag from the empty seat next to him, and slipped into the line. The airhostess smiled warmly at him, and he in turn smiled back. He then climbed down the stairs that led from the plane's door, and onto the runway. He followed the mass to the awaiting buildings, all the while marvelling at how humid it was. He felt like he was walking through jelly.
As soon as he entered he noticed a series of coloured lines. He took the red one, and soon enough he was going through customs, before stepping out into the air-conditioned area. It was all blue carpet and felt, and he watched as families ran to greet each other and businessmen chatted away on their phones. He looked about and tried to spot the person who was supposed to pick him up. He saw neither hair nor hind of him, and sighing, Sora trekked off to collect his luggage.
He elbowed his way through to the conveyer belt, and grabbed his suitcase when it circled round. He then headed over to the small clump of café's that sat near by. He ordered two muffins and a vanilla milkshake, and taking his food and luggage to a small table, he settled down to wait. He was half way through his second muffin when a questioning voice asked, "Hey, are you Sora Kayaki?"
Sora looked up, and smiled warmly. Standing there, leaning slightly to the side dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a dusty khaki shirt was Cloud Strife, his future co-worker. Swallowing his food, Sora nodded, and stood up.
"Yeah, that's me," he said, his voice laced with a slight Victorian accent. Cloud nodded, and held out his calloused hand. "Nice to meet ya. And have you on the team and all theat shit." Cloud smiled slightly. Sora shook Cloud's hand, and then turned around and grabbed his bags. The two then headed out, Cloud scowling.
"I hate these places. Stinks of disinfectant," Cloud muttered under his breath, breathing a sigh of relief when they stepped out into the warm air. Sora chuckled, and followed the tall spiky haired blonde to the parking lot, where upon entry Cloud showed him to a worn out looking Ute. Grabbing his keys, Cloud motioned for Sora to throw his things in the tray, before climbing into the dusty vehicle. He leant across and unlocked Sora's door and the smaller brunette hopped in. Cloud then started up the Ute, and after paying the parking fee they were off.
Cloud glanced over to Sora, and asked, "So, what made a fancy-pants Victorian come to little ol' Queensland? "
Sora snorted, and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed, and muttered, "Cause I wanted to, that's why. And your homestead was the only place offering to take in trainee's so late in the year"
"Ah" Cloud nodded, and he started to head up the Kuranda range. Sora yawned sleepily, making Cloud snicker softly. "You try to get some sleep. We'll be stopping in at Mareeba for a while so I'll wake you up then, yeah?"
Sora nodded, and let his head fall back against the window.
Considering he only had one muffin and a half to eat, Sora's stomach began to gurgle on the slightly bumpy ride towards Mareeba. The brunet didn't bother looking out the window as they drove—he wasn't interested in sight-seeing, and he knew from the travel magazines his 'friends' had shown him that it was nothing but rainforest. All he wanted to do was arrive to his destination, sleep, and get his job done. Of course, some things were better left unrushed, and Sora Kayaki knew that better than anyone.
The plan was simple. He'd go through a few years of programs down at the homestead, dapple in a few different professions there, and hopefully achieve enough knowledge to get a good ranking somewhere else, somewhere larger than the small station he would be working at. Once he learned the necessary skills...he'd be golden. Besides, not knowing the basics about ranches and herding and whatnot was almost like not knowing your abcs around here. It was mandatory in high school for your first year, and if you continued it up until twelfth grade it proved just how hard of a worker you were.
"You seem really thin to be taking on a task like this," Cloud stated, cutting through Sora's thoughts as they drove over a bump. Those bumps were becoming exceedingly larger by the moment and Sora felt his body jerking occasionally. Sora blamed it on the vehicle they were riding in. It needed new tires—desperately. Cloud didn't seem to mind.
"So?" Sora answered apathetically, glancing up wearily to the driver. His head hurt and he wasn't really in the mood for arguing. He wasn't one for arguing in the first place, but lately people had been getting under the seventeen year old's skin. They kept telling him what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. Frankly, it was bothering the brunet beyond comprehension. Hopefully this job would take his mind off his family life.
"Just saying," answered Cloud with a shrug and he continued driving. "Didn't mean to disrupt you."
Sora shrugged as well and rested his head back against the window, closing his eyes this time, indicating to the blond haired driver that he was going to sleep. And surprisingly, he did. His mind drifted into incoherent dreams as the skin of his forehead rested against the cold, rain-spotted window of the vehicle that drove him to his destiny. A philosophical way of looking at things, yes, but what other way could he possibly look at them? He had to be optimistic.
After all, he did have a bright future ahead of him. Right...?
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Sora awoke to a low, growling noise. The brunet stirred awake, blue eyes blinking open. Sora glanced about the vehicle, watching as they pulled in to a long, twisting driveway of some sorts. It seemed to be a rest-stop. Sora could only assume they were in that place Cloud had mentioned before. Sora didn't really want to exit the vehicle. No, he wanted to stay put and curl up and go back to sleep and await the true arrival. With a yawn, Sora nestled closer against the door, clinging to it, seeking comfort that really never could be given. It had been a long, long, day and all Sora wanted was some sleep and relaxation. He probably wouldn't be getting that much more of it when he finally did arrive, so why not savour it now?
"Would you like to stretch your legs a bit before we head up to Ravenshoe?" asked Cloud as he parked the Ute. The driver's blond head turned around to stare at Sora for a long moment, half expectantly and half tiredly. It seemed he was as exhausted as Sora, despite Sora having slept a good hour prior to this moment of conversation.
"Sure, why not," Sora grumbled, hoping to seem polite. "Thanks," he added on as he opened the door a moment later, nodding to Cloud. The blonde gave him a weak smile, and followed Sora's example. Sora then climbed out, and looked about. He had expected to see lush greenery because it had been raining on the way, but all he got was dried up plants and clouds of dirt. A small hut sat near by, built of corrugated iron and covered in scribble. Stretching, and he wobbled over to the railing that lined one side of the area, and looked over. A small, muddy stream was flowing under the large bridge they had just crossed. He wrinkled up his nose, and turned to his companion. Cloud was leaning against the car, looking up at the sky tiredly.
"What's wrong with this place?" Sora asked, referring to the lush rainforest they had driven through earlier.
Cloud snorted, and replied, "Mareeba doesn't get much rain. Wait till we get to Tolga and Atherton. Then you'll see the rain"
Sora nodded, and yawned. He blinked his eyes blearily, and trotted over to where Cloud stood. "How long do you think it'll take to get to the homestead?" Sora muttered, taking a swipe at a lone fly.
Cloud shrugged, and said, "Depends. From here? About four hours"
Sora let out a groan, and replied, shocked, "Four hours?"
Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. It was why the boss wanted you to catch the 4am plane"
Sora just sighed again, and muttered, "Can we get food or something?", his stomach growling. Cloud simply grunted in reply, and soon they were driving into a rather large town. The buildings were all quite old, but the rest of the place was blindingly new. People waddled down the streets as they passed another strip of pointless shops, and then Cloud was pulling up in front of a KFC.
Sora blinked, and decided he would never be hungry enough to eat at one of these places. He turned and shot Cloud a look, to which the blonde replied, "… fine, what do you suggest?"
Sora shrugged, and muttered, "Aren't there any decent café's around here? And Red Rooster doesn't count because it's just a cheap rip-off of KFC"
Cloud sighed, and spat out, irritated, "Fine. We'll go to one of those stupid little fish 'n' chips places" before backing out of the parking lot.
Sora poked his tongue out childishly at Cloud, causing the blue-eyed blonde to twitch slightly and resist the urge to smash the brunette's side of the car into a pole. He remembered how last night the group of instructors had huddled around the kitchen table and drawn straws as to who would be picking the new apprentice up. He had been very unlucky and drawn the shortest one, and thus had been forced to wake at 1am in the morning and head off. He had managed to grab a half hours sleep in the airport parking lot, before being woken by his mobile phone. Stupid Axel and his stupid pranks. Cloud was tired, cranky, and about ready to keelhaul somebody. Preferrably that silver haired asshole who had been sniggering at him for the rest of the night.
A dreamy smile floated across Cloud's lips at the thought of tying the little bastard up and then cutting off his limbs and covering the bloody stumps in honey and sicking some fireants on them danced through his mind. He would laugh his happy blonde head off at his pained screams.
"Oh, purple!" Sora exclaimed happily as they passed a small purple store. Cloud blinked, torn from his daydream of mass murder and pain and whatnot, and looked to his younger charge with an eyebrow raised. He flushed bright red as he squirmed in his seat, muttering, "I like purple… is that a problem?"
Cloud simply snorted, and replied, "Kairi is going to have a fucking field day with you. Aerith probably will, too"
Sora blinked, and asked, "Kairi… Aerith?"
"Kairi is a trainee chef working under Aerith, our head cook," Cloud explained, and he retreated back to his mind, where he was slowly breaking every bone in the silver haired devil who lived with him.
A few minutes later both he and Sora were standing in a dodgy little café, complete with flimsy, plastic chairs and tables and fat, sweat covered old women. Sora hurried up to the counter, and happily ordered himself a cheeseburger, chips, a piece of battered fish and a large vanilla milkshake. Cloud twitched again, and wondered briefly if all that food was for Sora's imaginary friend. He seemed like the type of person to have one.
"Cloud, you getting anything?" Sora broke through his thoughts, both he and the tired looking woman who awaited his order looking at him.
Cloud sighed, and running a hand through his hair said, "Yeah, I'll just get a steak sandwich and a coffee"
The old woman nodded, and scribbling down the order padded off to the deep fryer, all the while calling out in a crow-like voice, "Gail! Got some orders in!"
Both spiky haired males then took a seat at one of the tables, Sora grimacing at the feeling of hot plastic against his jean-clad legs. Cloud shot the smaller boy and glare, and then muttered, "KFC was air-conditioned, you know."
"Oh, shut up, will you?" Sora grumbled, perking up a bit when the woman, who Cloud had named 'Old-Lady-With-Acne', came over and placed their drinks in front of them. Cloud quietly thanked her, and took a graceful sip of his coffee. He winced slightly at the extremely bitter taste it left in his mouth, and he wondered if the crazy old coot had dumped half a damn bag of the stuff in his drink. Sora seemed happy with his drink though.
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Sora sighed as they drove through yet another town, this one considerably wetter and less colourful. Teenage girls dressed in skimpy clothing and teenage males dressed in baggy clothes carting skateboards around were walking down the streets, flipping off random cars and generally looking like idiots.
"Um…" Sora started, eyebrows rising when a particularly scruffy male let out a whoop as he groped an unsuspecting female.
"Is something wrong?" Cloud asked, peering up and back at Sora through the small driver's mirror. His icy blue eyes settled upon Sora's fidgety form and he couldn't resist a deep chortle that escaped his lips. "Not used to the city like life of a North Queensland town?"
"Not really," Sora murmured and peeled his eyes off the bustling streets. It was a bit disappointing to see how this town worked and the way people acted. He wasn't used to this kind of life. It was a bit despicable and yet exciting in some odd, perverse way. He watched, eyes wide, as a larger girl was laughed at by some thinner ones, his heart going out to her.
"We'll be out of this area soon," Cloud explained, setting his gaze back onto the wet road ahead. "Where we're going is nothing like this, don't worry, kid." It may not have hooker-wannabes, bitches, sluts and skaters, but it has just as perverted men...they're as perverted as they are attractive, and that's saying something.
"That's good," Sora answered softly, setting his head back against the window. "At least I get to experience this...er, way of life for a few moments?" He didn't really believe his statement.
"I see," Cloud answered dismally, not really paying attention. The faster they returned the better. He was getting tired and wanted to sleep goddamnit. And he'd be glad to get this new-comer off his back for awhile. Cloud really did detest the new novices that wandered down his way.
"How much longer?" Sora asked after a moment silence. Although he wasn't that anxious to leave behind his old life, he was glad to be starting anew. Plus, he wanted to inspect his new home and become acquainted with everyone. That was if they wanted to be his acquaintance. If they didn't, well, Sora considered it no loss.
"Why are you all so anxious to get there, anyway?" the blond wondered, tapping his fingers idly against the steering wheel as he waited for the stop light to turn green. "The moment you get there you get bored and want to go home. So why waste your last few minutes of freedom waiting? Why not enjoy them? When you get there, you'll wish you were someplace else, kid." A snort of amusement followed from Cloud.
"Whatever...I doubt I'll be like that," Sora sighed, shaking his head in dismay. He wasn't like most people, he knew that right away. But still...it couldn't be that bad, right? No, of course not. It was foolish to think such a thing.
"Sure thing," Cloud murmured and remained silent for the remainder of the ride.
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"Riku, Axel said he could see Cloud and the new kid coming up the driveway"
A tall, lean brunette male with storm grey eyes and shaggy hair stood leaning against the wall, watching as one of his younger instructers typed away at his laptop furiously. The brunette sighed, and ran a hand down his forehead, wincing slightly at the feeling of bumpy roughness that came with having a scar across one's forehead. Bloody skin cancer…
"Mmm hmm," the one he had addressed suddenly piped up, fingers still dancing across the keyboard. The brunette shook his head, before muttering, "I wouldn't mind it if you went and met him…?"
"OK… in a sec, Leon…" was his reply, and rolling hs eyes Leon said, "And 'A Sec' in Riku Time means 'Three Hours' in Leon Time. I still don't know why the Hell I hired you."
"Because you owe my older brother a favour?" Riku grinned cheekily as he pressed enter. Leon's right eye twitched slightly at the mention of Riku's dear, sweet, oh so evil older brother, and he hissed, "I'm going to kill him one day. I hope you're OK with that"
"Eh. Whatever. Is the newbie cute?"
"Kinda. More of a browner Roxas," Leon said, listening as the sound of pounding foot steps were heard thumping against the wooden flooring. A loud whoop of, "Newbie, Roxie!" was heard, and then a scream of, "Axel, I'm gonna kill you!" that was accompanied with a heavy crash. Leon winced, and groaning he growled, "Just don't go screwing around with him too much, Riku. We may be isolated, but that doesn't mean we aren't seen"
Riku looked up from his computer, and stared at the white wall that sat in front of his 'desk'.
"Yeah. I know"
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It was two hours later that they finally arrived to their destination. Sora's stomach was already churning and knotting from anticipation and hunger. When Cloud began driving up a somewhat curvy and mostly dirt and gravel road, Sora perked up in his seat.
I'm finally here, he thought lamely as he rested his forehead against the window. I'm finally away from my family, out on my own. I'm finally here. It feels like the first day of school or something...all the nerves and how anxious I am and stuff... I don't really know what to expect. I mean, I've heard stories and everything. Perhaps I'm just rambling. I don't know. I don't know what to think at all. I just sort of want to see what happens. Is that selfish? To allow whatever will be to be? I don't know that either.
"You zoning out, kid?" Cloud asked as he drove closer to a large building that was growing in the distance. "Now would be a good time to wake up. Wouldn't want to be groggy and made a horrible first impression, huh?" teased the blond as he continued driving, sniggering to himself.
"Sorry," Sora responded sheepishly and raked his tanned hand nervously through his brown hair. Deep breaths. Okay, he could do this. In and out. In and out. The brunet flexed his hands nervously by his side, ready to embrace whatever was thrown his way.
It was raining and it was hard to see out the windows so when Cloud finally parked the car somewhere, Sora waited eagerly for his door to be opened so he could behold what was going to be his new home. Any second now, Sora thought anxiously, shifting in his seat as he undid his seatbelt and listened to Cloud turn off the engine and get out. The sound of boots crunching over gravel, and then the door was yanked open; Cloud appeared, clutching a weather worn umbrella. Three dogs, border collies and a kelpie were barking and rolling about in the mud, tails wagging happily as Sora grabbed his things and climbed out, clutching his suit case to his chest in an attempt to keep it dry and mud-free.
He then huddled close to Cloud as they walked towards a large double story house surrounded by smaller blocks. Two large iron sheds sat near by, and a twin pair of huge water tanks sat behind them. Sora knew from the brochure that this place was dry and dusty most of the year, although the summer bought the rains in torrents.
The grass and trees that grew in the front lawn seemed to like the rain though, as did the small clump of flowers that sat near by.
"Oh, oh! The newbie is here!!"
Cloud swore and Sora blinked, both looking up to the front verandah. Two teenage boys, perhaps a little older than Sora, were standing there and grinning in what seemed to be perhaps the most evil manner Sora had ever seen. And he had been the prime target for Seifer, the neighbourhood bully and fear-inducer of all, back home.
Cloud then hissed, "The one with the redhair is Axel. He is the son of the devil. The blonde one with the mullet is Demyx, Axel's minion. Do not give them your email address, phone number or home address lest you wish sleep. Do you understand?"
Sora let out a squeak, and nodded. Just as they were ascending the three stairs that led to what Cloud was making out to be Sora's doom, the blonde added, "And Leonhart is mine. Touch him and I maim. As for anyone else...I'll leave them up to your judgment..."
And here he was hoping for nice people. As if life ever went according to plan and one's wishes. Psh.