Yes, this story is going to be filled with OCs. Sorry.
"Oy,
Nim, wake up! It's time to go." The blonde felt himself being
shaken by the shoulders, and groaned. His muscles ached. He was so
tired...
"Nimbus!"
Gods, how he hated his name.
Nimbus Orion Altostratus. Basically? Cloud Orion Cloud. Except
written by someone with a really retarded vocabulary. His mom.
His
mom was a historian, a big fan of AVALANCHE and stuff. Seeing as that
was, like, more than a hundred years ago, it was pretty stupid to
name him after Cloud Strife. I mean, wasn't the last name enough?
It
was actually his mom's birthday tonight, and he was about to sneak
out of the SOLDIER camps to go home for a day. Permission had been
denied (it would hurt to lose both first and second class SOLDIERs if
they got lost or disbanded, not to mention the fact that they knew
about the JENOVA cells being used...), but that wasn't about to stop
Nimbus and his brother Lumos.
Yeah, Lumos. His mom had a thing
for weird-ass names, alright?
"Nimbus Orion Altostratus, get
out of your bed NOW." Lumos had always been able to imitate
their mother's voice really well, and Nimbus practically jumped out
of bed.
"Not cool, Lulu." Nimbus growled, using Lumos'
most hated nickname. He was rewarded by a scowl and a shove.
"Come
on, Puffhead, we've got to get going. If they catch us, we're
screwed." It was true. If they were caught, they might be
killed.
Normally, it really wouldn't be worth the risk, but...
His
mother was dying. She'd been burned in an explosion on Mt. Nibel the
day before. No one knew who or what had caused it, but she'd been
moved to Midgar (which wasn't too far from where they were camped)
for hospitalization, because Nibelheim had lost all power.
They
wanted to say happy birthday to her- or, if it came to it,
goodbye.
Nimbus had a bad feeling and was reluctant to go, but
Lumos swore that he had a feeling this night would be important for
them.
Important how?
Nimbus had muttered, but he'd agreed. He was a believer in
destiny.
"I still don't think Ma would approve if we were
slaughtered just 'cause we wanted to go say happy birthday." He
mumbled, but Lumos shook his head.
"Look, she's dying,
Nimbus. We have to go." Lumos looked him in the eyes, and Nimbus
felt himself relax. "Oh, fine. Let's
go."
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Son,
there are SOLDIERS escaping. What if they were to tell what we've
been injecting them with? It would ruin everything, my sweet. You
must stop them... take Horace with you. He's a good shot. Shall
I kill them all, mother? No, Seth dearest. There are only two-
kill the older one, the first class soldier. His younger brother will
obviously learn obediance from the experience... Then I'll
bring him back? Yes. That I cannot stress enough. You MUST
bring the second class soldier back. He is...one of my sons, as you
are. Your wish is my will, Mother
dearest.
Nimbus
and Lumos moved quickly through the trees, moving towards the lights
at the end of the forest. They still had a few miles to go, but it
was dark and late, and their mako-enhanced eyes could see the faint
glimmering of street lights in the distance.
Both were tense,
moving silently as ghosts in the dark.
Suddenly, a shot went
off.
"Get down!" Lumos hissed, and Nimbus dropped
obediantly to the forest floor.
Lumos did so as well, hand on his
sword. "If anything happens to me, you take the sword and
run."
"I have my own."
"Take mine anyways."
Nimbus nodded, hand on his own sword.
And then the General and the
Scientist stepped forward.
"It's a pleasure, boys,"
Horace slimed, gun in hand. "Even though you've been
misbehaving."
"Sir, we were just going to visit our
mom," Nimbus blurted out, feeling butterflies dancing in his
stomach.
"A likely excuse." Seth replied, eyes cold.
"We're going to have to punish you."
At that moment,
three things happened.
The first thing was that Lumos jumped
forward at the general, sword gleaming, and yelled for Nimbus to help
him.
The second thing was that Nimbus drew his sword, ready to
help.
The third thing was that a voice sounded in his mind.
NO!
DROP YOUR SWORD, CHILD.
Then
two things happened.
Nimbus dropped his sword, and the General
slashed Lumos across the throat with his.
Nimbus snapped out of it
at the sight of his fallen brother. "Lumos! NO!" He rushed
to his brother's side.
Lumos was trying to breathe, but couldn't.
With the last bit of his energy, he nudged the sword to
Nimbus.
Nimbus understood.
He picked it up and ran.
The
sword!
His own
sword was left behind, unlucky and now ownerless.
STOP
HIM, HORACE! STOP HIM, SETH! DO NOT HARM HIM, BUT GO NOW!
The
two rushed after Nimbus, but the man was too speedy. it was the only
thing he was best at- running. When it came to swordfighting, he
wasn't quite as good as Seth or Lumos- not that the latter would ever
spar with him again.
The former, he suspected, still had a chance
yet.
Lumos, He
thought, blood boiling in his veins, I'm
going to make sure those bastards die for killing you.
I'm going
to find out what that voice was, and I'm going to kill it. I promise
you on my very soul I
will.
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They did not catch him.
Fools!
Fools! You have set things in motion that cannot be undone. You may
have RUINED the plan. Idiots! Unworthy of my lineage! No sons of mine
would be that stupid! Sephiroth did a much
better job than
you.
And so,
basking in remorse and anger, they returned to the
camp.
Nimbus
spent a week in the forest, avoiding hikers and footsteps like the
plague. He stayed out of the way, eating nothing but berries,
tubers, and the rations he'd kept in a bag. He sulked, he pondered,
he plotted. He knew one thing for sure; he was going to take down the
General and Horace. he didn't know how he would, but he would.
Oh,
he would.
Over those days, his resentment grew into an incredible
anger at ShinRa. How could they allow such cruelties? How could they
punish so harshly? All the complaints of the poor and dirty now made
sense to him, and he remembered the slums and the corruption with a
transformed mind. Things seemed worse.
Now, all the things he
didn't want to think about as a younger man forced themselves upon
him, and the beginnings of a rebellion formed in his brain.
On the
seventh night, he left the forest.
Nimbus walked quietly to the
city, sword now in the sheath on his shoulders. It was a large sword,
thick-bladed and flat. Lumos had found it as a young boy, in the
wastelands. He'd kept it ever since.
Until his death, that was.
Now, it was Nimbus' sword. Never again would it belong to
Lumos.
"You should get a different outfit, kid." The
speaker's voice sounded slightly hoarse, but very young, like a
teenager. When Nimbus turned, he saw exactly that- a
fifteen-year-old, judging by looks. A tall fifteen-year-old with
dirty-blonde hair and orange eyes.
And this girl was adressing
him, a twenty-year-old, as kid?
Maybe
she was older than she looked. If anyone had the motivation to look
younger than they actually were, it was people with her job- she was
a prostitute, by the looks of it. She showed off her curves in a
tight, low-cut red top and a short black skirt, some fishnets,
typical whore clothing really. She towed along a ratty-looking bag
that looked heavy, like it was carrying a few big objects, maybe some
coins.
He looked down at himself, noticing that he still had his
SOLDIER outfit on. She was right, it would be suspicious-looking if
he kept it.
"Thanks, I'll find something."
"No
need." She looked him over once, eyes calculating, and rummaged
through her bag for a minute or so before tossing out a clean t-shirt
and a pair of track pants.
"Thanks. Here, I'll pay you for
them." He was about to pull out his wallet when she shook her
head.
"I don't need it."
"Everyone needs to eat
and have clothes."
"Not me." There was something
strained in her grim smile, and he suddenly got the impression that
she was much older than she looked. Her eyes met his, and he looked
away, unable to face something in those orange eyes.
"You
should go to the public bathrooms over there. They're empty. Then you
can get rid of the SOLDIER getup. Or just give it to me."
He
did so, and tossed her the worn suit.
"Here." After a
moment, he looked at her, frowning. "Why'd you help me?"
"You
looked lost...and I've got a lot to make up for." She turned her
back to him, stuffing the uniform into her bag. "You should get
going, find a place for the night."
"I will."
"You
could blend in with the Nibelheim refugees. They're in the plaza over
there, with some tents." She waved a hand in the vague direction
of the plaza.
He nodded. "Thanks. "
He left, and when
he looked back she was still there, waiting.
Waiting
for what? He wondered,
and then turned back to the
camp.
"Gods,
is that you, Nimbus?"
He turned, finding himself face-to-face
with a green-eyed, redheaded girl. It took him a moment to recognize
her, but when he did, he smiled. Or attempted to,
anyways.
"Ruby."
She could tell something was wrong-
from his air of deep sadness. She had a certain intuition for these
things, and her gentle spirit was deeply affected by his troubled
appearance.
"Nimbus! Oh, it is you. But where's Lumos?"
She looked frantically around, trying to tell if her lover was hidden
somewhere behind Nimbus.
"He's..." He couldn't finish,
couldn't bring himself to say the awful word. "Dead." he
blurted out, after a good two minutes of agony.
She looked at him,
blankly, as if he was speaking a foreign language, and then turned
away.
"I'm sorry." She breathed, and he didn't see the
tears that rolled silently down her whitened cheeks.
"You
didn't kill him." He replied, sounding angry. "The general
did. He did it."
She stared, her historian's brain
disbelieving. She'd majored in history at school, and suddenly the
situation seemed all too clear to her...
Oh,
leviathan, sweet leviathan, don't let it be true. No, no, no! Jenova
is gone. Jenova is gone...
But the mako
eyes... and
the...strength... the General...the
burning reactors.
No! No! Oh god,
oh god.
Nimbus...the- oh my god. The sword.
And...Nimbus.
Losing a loved one...it can't be. How does no one know?
She
whirled around, facing him instead of looking over her
shoulder.
"Nimbus, have you been hearing voices?"
He
flinched, then his eyes flashed. "Ruby, who makes the voices?"
He growled, and she nearly fainted.
It..is
happening.
"Cl-...
Nimbus, I know you didn't care much for history-"
"Look,
Ruby, I know you love that boring stuff, but just get to the damn
point."
"Jenova, Nimbus. Jenova made voices. Now...we
need to get you somewhere. We need to hide you and you need to meet
someone."
"Jenova? But she's gone, Rube! She doesn't
exist!" He sounded frustrated. However, deep inside him, he
remembered the contract he'd signed as a recruit- I,
Nimbus A., agree to refrain from disclosing, encouraging the
disclosure of, or in any way informing public or private
investigators, persons, agencies... of the materials with which I am
being injected.
"Look,
Nimbus, I'll explain later. But we have to go."