All legal information is in the first chapter, as I do not wish to type it over and over again. Look there, lawyers. And please, I realize this is an odd idea, but some reviews would be much appreciated.

---

Chapter Two- New Acquaintances and Old Rivalries

Cloud had taken the reins of the papaomus, and was leading it on the well-worn road to the old River Belle Path, wherein they could collect their first drop of myrrh. Vincent rode in the wagon, poring over some scrolls his father had sent with him. Aerith sat on the open back of the wagon, holding the crystal chalice and attempting to converse quietly with Sephiroth, who was walking behind the wagon. They continued as such until they got about a mile out of town, where they heard a commanding voice yell, "Hail, fellow caravanners!"

Cloud brought the caravan to a halt, and jumped down from his seat to get a better look at who had accosted them. Vincent and Aerith exchanged a glance, and clambered out of the wagon, following behind Sephiroth as he crossed to the front, where Cloud was waiting for them.

They had been hailed by a group of armor-clad, pretentious-looking Lilties, who had, presumably, hailed from Alfitaria.

"You are the caravan from Tipa, are you not?" the apparent leader asked, scanning over the group.

Three Clavats and a Selkie. Interesting. he thought to himself.

Cloud nodded the affirmative. "Yeah. I'm Cloud. This is Vincent. This is-"

"I'm Aerith." the lone Clavat maiden introduced softly.

"And this-" Cloud finished contemptuously, indicating the lone Selkie of the group, "is Sephiroth."

"You seem quite capable." the lead Lilty commented. "I am Sol Racht of Alfitaria. Our caravan has a history that reaches back for thousands of-" he could already see their eyes glazing over at the reminiscence. "But that's a story for another time."

Sol Racht studied Sephiroth for a minute, and asked,"Forgive me for prying, but that Selkie- Sephiroth, is it? Forgive me.- You seem very familiar. You wouldn't happen to know one Nae Li, would you?"

Sephiroth's eyes widened, silver eyebrows arching in surprise. "Yes. He was my grandfather."

So that's how you were able to get in. Cloud thought bitterly. You 'grandfathered' your way into the caravan.

Sol smiled behind his helmet. "Ah yes. My father once met him on a journey to the Selepation Cave. He was a master tactician. Good man. Good caravanner."

At this, Sol shot a pointed glance at Cloud. The Lilties had never had the highest opinion in the world of Selkies, but nonetheless, there was no reason to be treating him with such contempt. However, he brushed off the slight, and said, "Well, you ought to know how to fight well enough, but a few reminders could never hurt."

Cloud opened his mouth to accept the offer gratefully, but was cut off by Sephiroth saying, "We appreciate the offer, but we can fight well enough for ourselves."

Cloud shot Sephiroth a death glare. There he goes again, taking charge. Some of us- his thoughts drifted to sweet, peaceful Aerith- might have needed that training.

When they moved to continue down the road, after bidding farewell to the Alfitarian caravan, their positions changed slightly. Vincent was still in the wagon, studying scrolls, Cloud was still leading the papaomus, and Aerith still sat in the back with the crystal chalice, but now Sephiroth had joined them, and was reclining against the wall, trying to think of a plan for when they arrived at the River Belle.

Cloud, still concerned about the brush off Sephiroth had given to the Lilties, decided to voice his worries. "You know, Sephiroth, some of us might have needed that training the Alfitarians were offering back there."

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, and some of us realize that dealing with meaningless tutorials would slow us down on our first journey. We have a mission to accomplish, and a very finite amount of time in which to accomplish it, so the sooner we get done collecting myrrh, the sooner we can ensure the town remains safe."

"And the sooner we'll have to journey back out again to replenish the crystal." Cloud shot back. "You need to stop making these snap decisions for us, and consult with us before you act. You shouldn't have said something without asking if it was okay with us."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "This is a battlefield, Cloud. In a place like this, you don't have time for every decision to be made diplomatically. You didn't speak up back there, so I assumed you were fine with my decision. If you had a problem, why didn't you say anything?"

Cloud yanked on the reins of the papaomus, forcing the creature to stop abruptly. "Because you didn't give me the chance to say anything. Allowing other people's opinions to be heard is part of a little something called respect, not that I'd expect someone like you to understand what that term means-"

Aerith's emerald eyes widened, and Vincent looked up from his studies. Sephiroth's earlier remark had been somewhat condescending, but at least it didn't have the racist undertone Cloud's remark possessed. The implicit bias did not slip past the Selkie, as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde Clavat.

"And what, exactly, do you mean by that?" Sephiroth queried defensively, his voice lowered to a dangerous hiss.

Cloud merely shrugged. "Figure it out yourself. It shouldn't be too hard, given the gift your kind has for cunning."

Sephiroth's fists clenched, and Aerith let out a tiny gasp. Vincent started rolling up his scrolls, saying, "Let's not fight, children."

The raven haired Clavat's words were completely lost in the void of hatred hanging between Cloud and Sephiroth. Aerith looked back and forth between the two, frightened of what was happening within her own caravan. If they kept up like this, the monsters wouldn't even need to destroy the group. They could destroy themselves.

Sephiroth grabbed the young Clavat by the neck of his shirt, and said, "Now you listen to me, you little puppet. I admit that there are those of my kind who take pride in their thieving skills, but not all of us are like that, and I certainly am not like that. And if I hear one more word out of your mouth to the contrary, so help me, I will make you pay. Are we clear?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes at the silver-haired teen. "So you'll hold me helpless, and then hurt me, right? So typical of you-"

Cloud barely got the word out of his mouth before he found himself flung to the ground outside the wagon. He struggled to get to his feet, and found Sephiroth already standing over him, racket drawn and ready for an attack. Sephiroth raised it, and was about to strike when Aerith jumped out of the wagon, yelling, "Please! No more fighting!"

The two combatants looked quizically at the intruder upon their fight. What on earth was Aerith thinking, trying to stop them?

Aerith blinked back a few tears that were trying to form in her eyes. "Look. Sephiroth said that we have a mission. He was right. We do have a mission that we have to accomplish. And we can't do that if we're at each other's throats all the time! Most of us have hung out since we were children, so can't we just try to be civil to one another? If we can't trust each other, then we're going to be helpless against any monsters that attack. So please… no more fighting…"

The two boys looked at one another, and sighed. Aerith was right. This was inane. They had a job to do, so they needed to, for the moment, put their differences behind them.

Sephiroth cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sorry. I suppose I was being a bit presumptuous earlier in thinking none of us needed the training."

Cloud shook his head. "Don't worry. I should have said something back there. And I definitely crossed the line with that racist comment. You know… you're the only one of us who is a direct descendant of a caravanner, so you should know what you're doing. So… you can do the decision making, but please, try to talk with us first. Truce?"

Cloud held out his hand. Sephiroth took it, and replied, "For the moment."

Vincent, now back to studying his scrolls, rolled his eyes, and muttered, "So much childishness…"

Aerith climbed back into the wagon with a bruised and dirty Cloud in tow. Sephiroth had now taken the reins of the papaomus, and with a 'hyah!' and a sharp snap of the reins, they were back on course for the River Belle path.

---

Okay. Next time will be the River Belle Path. We just had our first big fight, so I hope I'm keeping the people in character decently well. It's difficult to write them believeably at a younger age…