The hall was lively and full of loud chatter as a multitude of young boys excitedly introduced themselves to each other. There were a few dotted around the horde that kept to themselves, either talking on their PHS or simply trying to remain unnoticed in the background. One such recruit remained off to the side of the room, the shadows masking the few blonde spikes the framed their young face as narrowed blue eyes glanced around.

All the others were only seen as pathetic in his eyes, and a look of scorn filled their blue depths as he sized them up against himself. Many of them were larger, but even despite that, Cloud just iknew/i that he was much better. He'd proved that much back in Nibelheim against those fools who'd ignored him – showed them just exactly who they were dealing with before finding their challenge not worthy of his attention. Size wasn't everything, and he made damn certain that those who thought it did were corrected.

It was one of the reasons why he'd left Nibelheim to begin with. There was no real challenge remaining in that small strangling town, and he'd found himself wanting to become stronger and prove himself capable, to be a hero and recognised as much as General Sephiroth himself. Oh how he wanted strength like that. To be admired and loved by the people in such a way, and have ieverybody/i recognising your power.

The room fell into a quiet murmur as the high ranking SOLDIERs walked out onto the stage. Cloud found it almost amusing to see the wave of silence that rippled over the other recruits before his attention too was drawn over to the SOLDIERs. The recruitment SOLDIER stepped forward and away from the others – their appearance easily spotted by their smaller and less muscular frame from the more capable fighting warriors. It was obvious by hushed excited chatter around him to how the other recruits felt, but he thought they were nothing but fools. Cloud was more than well aware that those few up on the stage were only third and second class SOLDIERs. It wasn't the level he wanted to achieve, and so he saw them as nothing important. He was aiming only at becoming a SOLDIER First Class – nothing less.

"First off I'd like to welcome you all to the recruitment ceremony for the great Shin-Ra army. For the next week, you'll not only under go group assignments and the buddy program but you'll all need to have a further medical examination and introductory classes before your real training begins." The SOLDIER's voice easily cut through the hall as the remaining recruits focused their attention onto the speech. He took a pause during his speech – his actions almost as if he was trying to access their worthiness – before the sound of a small intake of breath could be heard over the microphone and the SOLDIER continued speaking. "To introduce you to the various job prospects within the company, Shin-Ra has been generous to invite the greatest general of all time to come and speak on their behalf. Listen to his words well, for some of you might be fortunate enough to work alongside General Sephiroth in the future to come."

The reaction was immediate all throughout the large hall, and just as quickly as the excited hushed murmurs broke through the recruits, they fell deadly silent in awe as the sight of the General stepped out onto the stage. Everyone's attention was focused solely on Sephiroth's figure, and as the General moved gracefully along the stage, even those untrained could feel the sheer amount of power emanating from Shin-Ra's greatest. The SOLDIER at the podium took a step back and away as General Sephiroth approached, and after taking the lower ranking SOLDIER's position, Sephiroth cast his gaze over the new recruits stretched out in front of him.

"Those of you who train and dedicate themselves will be in the position to obtain the rank of SOLDIER, while others might find their path in Shin-Ra diverting off to other departments such as the Turks, scientific departments or perhaps even find themselves in the area of medicine." Sephiroth said as his smooth voice filled the silent hall. Everybody's attention was fixated solely on the General, and Cloud would have laughed if his attention wasn't just as intensely on Sephiroth as well.

That was his goal. That man up there was all that he hoped and desired. He would become just as powerful and famous as General Sephiroth. Then, then he would return to Nibelheim and show them all that he was more than worthy of their stupid attention.

The entire hall broke out into excited whispers the moment Sephiroth's speech had finished and the General had left the stage. It was rare that he had time to attend the opening ceremonies since he often had missions to lead, but this had been the first year in a while that he had been free.

------

Zack had been waiting on the sidelines throughout the entire speech his commanding officer gave. He stood there quietly watching the older man for any signs of his earlier sickness. Not that Sephiroth had showed any such signs. No, Sephiroth was too 'perfect' to ever get sick, and Zack knew that it would be a cold day in hell before the dear General would openly show weakness.

He moved to join Sephiroth's side after the General had left the stage. "Looks like you made quite the impact in there, sir," Flashing a wide grin at his commander, Zack kept his voice cheerful as he noted. "You'll probably be even more of an inspiration for the little tykes."

Sephiroth didn't even bother to roll his eyes at Zack's useless blabber. What the President decided to do in his spare time wasn't any of his concern – even if it did end up showing him around like some little show chocobo. While he didn't like it, Sephiroth would tolerate it if it was only done on the very odd occasion. He had better things to do with his time than babysit a horde of untrained children. He'd give them attention, if and when they made it into the SOLDIER program. Not before.

"I hear that you've put your name down for the buddy system this year," Sephiroth observed as he walked out of the hall and into the corridor. He wasn't entirely surprised with that fact, if he was to be honest with himself, but he did admit there was a slight case of annoyance within him. Now he'd have to pick out another SOLDIER to accompanying him on his missions, and while they were all good in their own way, Sephiroth found it such an inconvenience.

"You bet'cha!" Zack announced brightly as he stepped up to walk alongside Sephiroth, "I figured that since I was taking so much from this wonderful company, that I should give a little back."

Sephiroth wasn't fooled by Zack's words. He held no doubt that the second class wanted nothing more than a little protégée under his well muscled wing – since only the first and second classes were assigned such duties. "I do hope that you don't plan on leading him too far astray, Zack. It wouldn't do well on his record to stain it so early in his career."

Sephiroth's words were met with a knowing smirk as Zack glanced up towards his friend. "I would never dream of doing such a thing, General." The expression disappeared as it was replaced with a rare look of seriousness. "You'll be fine, right?"

It didn't slip by Sephiroth's notice what Zack was trying to say. He'd been holed up in the bathroom not long before the opening ceremony, and while he still felt the remnants of Hojo's treatment, Sephiroth hardly needed all of this 'babying'. He was more than capable of taking care of himself. "There is hardly any need to be concerned, SOLDIER. I would suggest, though, that if you want someone half decent, that you head back to the hall before they're all snapped up."

Zack didn't leave at first. Instead he took the moment to inspect Sephiroth thoughtfully to see if it was all just for show, or if the worst was over and done with. Although, knowing his friend, Sephiroth wouldn't show signs of it either way. "Aa, I get it. You better go and do some paperwork before I see you doing any missions. I'll kick your ass if I hear you've done otherwise, 'kay?"

Zack knew that he would never be able to 'kick Sephiroth's ass', but that didn't mean that he couldn't threaten the dear General's backside a little. He didn't wait for a reply before leaving Sephiroth to his own devices and heading back towards the hall. Zack hardly wanted to get stuck with a dud-recruit after all.

------

Zack had made it back just in time to look through the list of recruits and handpick out the one he wanted from the bunch. Sure, he had to elbow his way and pull rank on a few of the other SOLDIERs, but none of them gave him too much trouble. Glancing down the list, Zack's gaze slid over the name and hometown each recruit was born in.

Midgar, Junon, Kalm, Costa, Corel, Nibelheim.

Nibelheim?

Glancing over to the names listed beneath that town, Zack had to admit surprise when he saw a total of three recruits named. They hadn't had anyone from Nibelheim ever since he'd arrived. It was so much more of a backwater town that it was only because of the reactor stationed there that anyone knew of it. Gongaga wasn't that much better, but at least it had the convenience of being closer to the major towns and cities than Nibelheim did.

How could he ignore another 'country bumpkin' like himself? They needed to stick together, after all, but the question was, which one did he pick?

Studying the names thoughtfully, Zack ignored the calls from behind him to 'hurry the hell up and pick one' as he considered his options. "Just a minute," He grumbled as an impatient SOLDIER tapped on his shoulder. Geez, didn't people know how to wait these days?

There was only one way to decide who was lucky enough to be his little protégé. Slipping his eyes closed, Zack twirled his finger around in the air a few times before nose-diving it right down onto the list of names. Opening his eyes to peer down at which one he picked, blue eyes twinkled mischievously as he grinned.

"Cloud Strife, today is your lucky day." He announced before informing the recruitment SOLDIER behind the desk. "I'll take this one." Flashing his best grin, Zack watched as the name was crossed out.

"Here is the information on your recruit. Have fun Zack."

Flashing the recruitment SOLDIER his finest grin, Zack took the folder and thanked the man before spinning around and disappearing off to read about his new little protégé.