Chapter 3 - The Terrorist and The Murderer
Cloud and Sarah had been driving for three hours now and they were getting close to the Calm Lands, it may have been four years since Cloud had been on Spira but he remembered the details of the world vividly and he knew where they were.
"So, there's going to be one stop at Bevelle and then it's straight to Luca from there. If I was you I would stay on the train, Bevelle's got a lot of crime nowadays." The two had been chatting away for the entire drive, they hadn't even acknowledged the kiss it's was almost as if it never happened.
"I'll keep that in mind." Cloud had no intention on staying put, if there was crime he was going to do his best to stop it. Also he wouldn't mind walking around for a bit, the journey was going to be 12 hours, he needed all the movement he could get.
Just around the corner Cloud saw the end of the tarmac road and a train station to the side of it. He didn't expect any machina in the Calm Lands, it was a sacred place that shouldn't be tampered with. Fortunately Cloud's expectations were met, in the distance he could see the same Calm Land as he had once seen before.
"I guess this is goodbye, Zack. Maybe we'll see each other again someday?" Cloud had just taken out his duffel bag when Sarah started to give him her farewells. He was sad to be leaving her, and to think they met because she hit him with her car. It's strange how things work out.
"Yeah, maybe." Cloud returned his farewells to Sarah and headed off to the train, which had just pulled up. There was an announcement from the overhead speakers saying that the train would set off in ten minutes which was enough time for Cloud to buy a ticket. The ticket may have gotten him on the train but it took all of his remaining gil to get it. It looked like he would be sneaking onto the ferry to Besaid.
When Cloud showed his ticket to the conductor he told Cloud to go to room 18. This was the first time Cloud had ever had a room on a train before, the idea of being able to sleep in a bed and not be disturbed by other passengers was like heaven to Cloud.
As he walked through the metal detector with his duffel bag, Cloud was worried for a moment that it would go off until he remembered that Rikku had tampered with the fusion sword so that it wouldn't set off metal detectors. Thank the gods for her skills in engineering and her lust for thievery, well maybe the thievery part wasn't so good.
One single bed, an old school TV and a small desk made up his room. There was also a window with curtains, which Cloud pulled shut straight away. He put his duffel bag on the bed and crashed out in the chair provided with the desk.
One hour to get to Bevelle, then eleven hours straight to Luca. At least Cloud would be riding in luxury and not on some uncomfortable seats like the ones on the Midgar train.
"We are currently five minutes away from Bevelle. Once we get there we will be back on the tracks after one hours."
Cloud didn't see the point in waiting at Bevelle for a whole hour. Why did people need so much time to get themselves organised? Regardless, this gave him a chance to take in the changes Bevelle had undergone. Sarah had told him there was a lot of crime these days, maybe he could do some right by the city.
After fifteen minutes of walking through the streets of the packed city, Cloud had finally found something to help with. Not to far away from him he heard gunfire and there was a man running away with the gun in his hand as well as a bag full of money.
Cloud had only brought the main blade of the fusion sword in his duffel bag, he left the rest of the swords behind to make things easier. Swiftly, Cloud ran after the armed man, taking the fusion sword out of the duffel bag as he did. He had to be careful though, he only had the hoodie he had bought on, his shoulder pad was back with his swords.
The gunner must've seen Cloud coming as a few bullets were shot in his direction which were blocked easily due to Cloud's mako enhancements as well as the girth of his sword. Sirens were also coming from behind Cloud now, the police maybe?
They were now in a quiet section of the city where there were hardly any civilians, this guy obviously wasn't intending on using his gun on anyone. Just then, the gunner made a sharp turn which beat the police, but not Cloud. One, two, three bullets were shot at Cloud which he was able to block.Again Cloud's enemy tried to fire a spray of bullets, however he had ran out of ammo. With one swing of his fusion sword he cut the gun in half leaving the criminal defenceless.
"Freeze! Drop your weapon," The police mustn't have seen that it was Cloud so he turned around and took a step forward to try and show them "I said drop it!"
"Don't worry it's-" Before Cloud could even finish his sentence, the police started firing bullets at him. All Cloud did was block them, but if this kept up the real criminal would get away. When the police went to reload, Cloud pounced. One strike to the head with the hilt of his sword and the first was down, the other had taken cover behind the car. Cloud slid along the bonnet and repeated the same attack.
Gone. The real criminal had escaped. Why did the police try to shoot Cloud? He was trying to help them. Perhaps they thought he and the criminal were partners. Normally Cloud would try and track down the criminal, but he had wasted half an hour chasing down the criminal and fending off the police. If he wasn't careful the train would leave without him.
Cloud lied down on his bed and turned on the TV, which was on the news channel. There was a
caption at the bottom, 'breaking news'.
"The murderer and terrorist Cloud Strife has been sighted," Murderer? Terrorist? Cloud jerked up onto his feet. What the hell were they talking about? "Footage recovered from the dash camera of a police car, combined with facial recognition has confirmed that the ex-guardian is indeed alive."
What was going on? Why would Cloud be a murderer, a terrorist? He saved Spira from Sin did he not? He was going to get answers as soon as he made it to Besaid, but right now he had to lay low.
There were murmurs coming from outside of Cloud's room. He heard his name being thrown about, there was fear in their voices. Cloud began to wonder, was that the reason Sarah and her kids went so quiet when he mentioned his own name while he was undercover?
Immediately, Cloud shut the blind on the window and locked his door. More than ever now he needed to get to Besaid to explain his situation before the authorities caught him. They might already know his location, after all there was no reason for Sarah to not tell them where he was heading and how.
"We can only hope that the heroes of Spira will prevail and put down this menace." Cloud assumed that the reporter was talking about Yuna and the others. Hopefully they would hear him out and come to know the truth that Cloud was set up. Being set up was the only solution Cloud could come up with, he hadn't been here for two years that must've been it.
"Thirty minutes, until we arrive at Luca. Please make sure you have all of your belongings with you before you get off the train." Cloud had already gathered his things anyway. His swords were in his scabbard on his back and his shoulder pad was securely on his shoulder. During the chase he had to ditch his duffel bag which was inconvenient and it also meant he had to stay hidden along the mi'ihen highroad as well as in Luca.
He couldn't very well walk straight off the train with all of his swords on view, so he would have to get off a different way. When he was sure that the hallway was clear he made his way to the emergency hatch on the roof of the train and climbed through it. The wind was stronger than he first anticipated which caused him to nearly lose his balance, but he managed to stay on his feet and adjust to the strong gale that blew against him.
Up ahead Cloud could see the train station coming up, it was now or never. Cloud leaped down from the train and onto the train tracks. Hastily he made his way into the highroad and took in his surroundings. After taking a moment to adjust himself Cloud knew exactly where he was. If he took a right turn he would be on his way to Luca, he wasn't actually that far away either. While the train would've taken him straight to Luca it wouldn't have been the wisest choice trying to sneak out of a train with several weapons on your back.
The road had changed since last Cloud had seen it, not much but it had changed. There were houses lined down the road on either side, it wasn't like in Zanarkand or Bevelle where they were in blocks this time they were just scattered about. The houses themselves weren't as nice either and many of them were actually empty, Cloud wasn't surprised. Why would you want to live on a road full of fiends?
Speaking of fiends, a few of them had popped up while Cloud was walking down the road. They were low level and easy to deal with whilst also trying to stay hidden. The number of them had started dying down though which was a good sign, he must've been getting close to Luca. He started to hear the sound of people and the smell of manure had started to fade away as well. At last the gate was just ahead, he had arrived. Cloud noticed there were guards at the entrance which meant he would have to take a side entrance.
After entering the city, Cloud recognised everything. Nothing had changed about the city, not the blitzball stadium, not the abstract designs of buildings, nothing. This was the Spira Cloud knew. Although he couldn't walk around in plane sight he could tell it was all the same just from the atmosphere. Luca was always full of excitement.
A sudden cheer could be heard from the blitzball stadium and the name Tidus could be heard. Maybe he should try to convince Tidus that he had been framed? The thought definitely crossed his mind but he decided against it. What if Tidus didn't believe Cloud? He would have to end up fighting his way through Luca and possibly ruin his chances of getting to Besaid as well as making his image even worse than it already wrongly was.
A name Cloud didn't hear was Wakka's. Perhaps he had followed through with his word and retired from blitzball, or maybe he needs to stay in Besaid and look after Vidina, his son. How old would he be now? They spent a few months on Gaea and then Cloud was in the realm of the dead for two years, so he must've been getting close to three years old. As for Cloud, he was twenty six now and Yuna was twenty two. What about Denzel and Marlene? They must be thirteen, fourteen this year. He wondered whether Denzel had been practicing his swordplay, maybe Tidus had been teaching him, maybe he had a teacher, maybe he had quit. Cloud didn't know the answer. Denzel always wanted to be like Cloud, maybe that had changed since this terrorist thing happened and maybe that caused him to stop training.
Cloud started poking around in the docks trying to see if he could hear any whispers of a ship to Besaid and luckily he heard one straight away, it was leaving in half an hour and it was only a cargo ship. It looked like Cloud wasn't going to be riding in the same style he had during his train journey, he wasn't complaining though, he had been in worse conditions than this.
Thanks to his military training and a few tips he picked up from Vincent, Cloud was able to sneak into the loading area. With one leap and a stealth roll to get back on his feet, he was in. The cargo bay was full of boxes with various things in them, ranging from food to metal pipes. It was dark too, but he could hear the workers moving around on deck above him. Cloud needed to avoid them, the last thing he wanted or needed was to get into a massive fight with an entire crew.
The twelve hour journey to Luca on the train didn't seem like twelve hours because he had a TV that he could use to pass the time. This two hour journey seemed like forever, there was nothing for Cloud to do other than wait for it to be over. To pass the time he had started looking in the boxes, he thought that maybe there was something interesting in them, but of course he was wrong. Nothing but a bunch of scrap metal. He was literally wasting away from boredom, but a sudden loud noise Cloud identified as the horn of the ship quickly changed that.
They had finally arrived. Cloud made sure that he got off first to avoid the confrontation with the crew members and because he was desperate to see Yuna's face once again. He knew that he was deemed as a terrorist and a murderer but all he cared about at the moment was seeing Yuna. Cloud was still wearing his necklace that matched Yuna's, he grasped it tightly and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing down the path to the village.
Cloud found himself at the entrance to Besaid and there she was with her back faced to him. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. After coming to his senses, Cloud smiled and approached her slowly. "Yuna," Cloud reached out to touch her, but his hand went straight through her "huh?"
"Now!" Cloud heard a voice and in his peripheral vision he saw something coming towards him, a grenade? Swiftly, he rolled to the side to avoid the explosion, however immediately after it a spray of bullets were shot his way. He had already drawn the main blade of the fusion sword and started blocking the bullets. Cloud recognised the shooters, Vincent and Barret were firing at rapid speeds.
"Wait! Let me expla-" They weren't giving him any room to talk or breathe, the bullets kept coming. Eventually they had to reload and Cloud was going to deal with them but all of a sudden Cid and Kimahri came from out of nowhere. Cid came from the left and Kimahri came from the right, they were both lunging in with their spears. Cloud stepped back causing both of their spears to impale the ground and form an x. Kimahri's face was one of pure anger, his fangs were bared and the growl coming from him was ferocious. One of the spears was driven upwards which Cloud had to block. Attacks came in at high speeds from both of them causing Cloud to block them in very quick succession. The pair crossed their spears and simultaneously struck them downwards at Cloud who lodged his sword in between the spears. With one forceful push and a battle cry from Cloud the two spear masters were launched backwards a few centimetres. Thankfully for Cloud he saw Paine running at him in the reflection on his sword and managed to turn on his heels fast enough to block her sneak attack. She came in again and Cloud was able to parry and counter her strike with an upwards diagonal swing. Cloud knew she would dodge it and so he followed up with an unexpected kick to the chest knocking her down on the floor.
Even though they were trying to hurt him, he didn't want to hurt them. The bullets started coming in again causing Cloud to move his attention away from Paine. This time he had to take them out otherwise he would eventually let a bullet through. Just then in the corner of his eye Cloud saw two objects coming straight at him, Wakka's ball and Yuffie's shiruken. Cloud jumped in the air and spiralled in order to dodge the two weapons. While he was spinning, he grabbed Wakka's ball and launched it straight at Cid who was hit to the floor and knocked out. Just as he fell the rest of the bullets flew over his body. If Cloud hadn't thrown Wakka's ball then Cid would be seriously hurt right now. As Cloud landed the bullets stopped and he lunged at Vincent and Barret. He dealt with Vincent first, knocking him out cold with the hilt of his blade. Barret tried to punch Cloud in the face however he ducked underneath the punch and repeated his last attack putting both shooters out of commission. Kimahri came in again and this time it was one on one. Cloud was able to deal with the attacks a lot more comfortably and eventually got the better of Kimahri, kicking him out as well. Only Paine remained. The parry and counter game continued for a while and they were at a stalemate. Neither one could penetrate the others defence and their fight ended up taking them right into the centre of the village. Unexpectedly Paine pushes Cloud away and then retreated. By the time Cloud figured out what was happening it had already happened.
A smoke bomb had been set off and the smoke had some kind of toxin in it causing Cloud to become dizzy. He couldn't keep his eyes open and his legs were struggling to keep him upright. Eventually Cloud couldn't take anymore and he fell to the ground. His vision was blurry and he saw a pair of legs walking up to him. "You're quite the trouble maker." That was the last thing he heard before he passed out completely.