Cloud

Zack Fair didn't strike me as the type to perform inspections. I didn't believe that I had ever known a SOLDIER first class who might spend their time passing judgment on other peoples' socks. However, he had been there. It seemed strange that he was sent on a mission with nothing to do, but I wasn't about to start complaining. First off, I hadn't been on a mission with a high ranking SOLDIER for a while now. Secondly, when we found him in our home, he didn't have anything to reprimand us about, which was a rare thing when it came to our superior officers.

Regardless of Zack's approval, our mobile home was rather messy. There was a sort of rushed organization to my room, but most of the men had simply dumped their bags or hadn't unpacked at all. They figured they'd organize when we returned from our first assignment. That's usually what we'd do, but that was only because we'd usually have some left over adrenaline when we returned. Instead, we were all assigned short-lived guard duty hours, and the majority of us were about ready to fall asleep by the time we'd gotten back. Some of us did go to sleep after making sure that Zack was gone, and the rest of us occupied the scattered fold chairs around the room.

"That was odd, huh?" Said a man I hadn't yet learned the name of, as he tossed darts against a hand drawn target he taped to the wall a moment earlier.

"Yeah it was." Dallert replied, dropping down into the chair directly across from me. I had chosen a chair next to the window, partially because it was one of the only windows in the entire place, and it smelled like hot metal inside, and partially because it was by the only table. I had a thought or two about writing again in my journal, which now sat open in front of me, waiting for the pencil in my hand to start moving. After adjusting himself in the chair, Dallert continued, "Zack's a little odd anyway. I guess you have to be a little odd to be a SOLDIER."

"I guess so." Said the man I hadn't yet learned the name of. I considered this for a moment or two. I wondered if they'd promote me if I were a bit more odd. How did one go about being a bit more odd in the infantry? As far as I had witnessed, if you managed something crazy and out of the ordinary on the battlefield and still kept your head, you were most likely to lose it to your superior afterward. There must have been some kind of line in between. Some rare opportunity during which a little bit of craziness might impress one of the higher Shinra staff who just happened to be there to see it. Maybe a Turk, or maybe even the President. Then, there would be no way that any superior could yell at you for it. My pencil touched down on my journal as I daydreamed about a recommendation to SOLDIER. Something embarrassed inside of me kept me from writing about it in front of Dallert, and I turned my pencil over, rubbing the eraser against the small mark I had made.

"Do you think Zack knows what's going on here?" I asked, turning my eyes up from my paper.

"Hell yeah, he knows." Dallert shook his head like the question was stupid, "I don't know a first class who would go blindly into a mission." The man I hadn't yet learned the name of gave a shrug, just missing the bull's-eye. I wasn't sure that was entirely true. The way I figured it, if Shinra had a mission they needed someone to go blindly into, the first classes would be their first choice. That must be difficult. That must be a whole lot more exciting than what I was currently doing.

"Well... I hope we get filled in pretty soon." I said, deciding not to challenge Dallert's statement. He just nodded without looking at me, and for a few minutes, the room went silent. It was one of those silences that happened when everyone was just thinking to themselves. Turning one train of thought into another, and sorting things out in their brains. I did a lot of thinking like that. Usually, I would appreciate my opinion about something a lot more than anyone else would, so I found little reason to share my thoughts. Everyone thought something different about everything, and I guess I just thought that that was their own business. I didn't usually like it when someone would try and force their opinions on me, so I tried to avoid doing that myself.

"You still trying to get into SOLDIER?" Dallert asked after a moment. I supposed that was where his train of thought had led him, however, I did not appreciate it. That was one of the problems with having a fellow infantryman you socialized with; you end up sharing things with him. I had told him before that getting into SOLDIER was the whole reason I had joined Shinra in the first place. A lot of people just joined because they lived in bad conditions in Midgar, and the job would help them out a bit. Dallert knew I was still trying. I supposed he was just trying to make small talk. It wasn't his fault, but I didn't appreciate the subject.

"Yeah..." I said, my tone making it obvious that I didn't feel like talking about it.

"Hmmm." He responded, taking note of my displeasure, "Well I just wanted to say that the best time to make an impression is when you're on a mission with a first." He paused again, "Even when it's a dull old mission like this. You never know what might happen."

I stayed silent, but I appreciated the gesture. I really didn't have any clue what might happen, so I had to make sure not to let the darkness we were being kept in get to me. I let down my pencil on the fold of the open journal, and picked up my rifle I had set down next to my chair. Having had no use, it wasn't in need of cleaning, so I just turned it over in my hands, checking the safety and the ammo. Honestly, my hands just needed something to do as I thought. I thought about all the things I hadn't told Dallert. About the little girl I used to hang out with back home around seven years ago. Tifa and I were best friends from an early age. I made her promises one night. Promises about being a SOLDIER. She was the reason I was so reluctant to go back home to Nibelheim, and also one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to. I set the gun down and leaned back in my chair, catching a glimpse of the sun out the window.

"We've got another assignment in a bit, right?" I said, still looking outside.

"Mmmhmm..." Replied the man I hadn't yet learned the name of.

"More guard duty." Dallert elaborated for me. I sighed, leaving a stain of breath fogged on the window. A few moments later, I picked up my pencil and began to write, leaning my head where I had just left my breath.

X day/X month/X year - Time: 12:16pm,

Mobile home near Coral. I'm still just about as uninformed as I was before about my

current mission. Zack told us that Shinra is working on something important inside the

reactor, and that we need to guard it. The men seem to think that Zack knows what's

going on, but I'm not that sure. He didn't look like he knew what was going on. Dallert says that this mission might be my opportunity to get a recommendation for SOLDIER. He thinks that impressing Zack might do the trick. For all I know, he could be right. Shinra only has a couple first classes nowadays, and the numbers of other SOLDIERs have been dwindling as well. I can only hope that that means they might be trying to find new guys.

I need to get my motion sickness under control, because I think that's really holding me back. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do to impress someone while I'm on guard duty, but I'm sure that I can think of something. After all, they sent so many men over here that they must be expecting some kind of an attack. As frightening as that might be in our current lack of information, it would both be an opportunity for me, AND a welcome change of pace. I'll have to stay on my toes no matter how boring things get. No matter what happens, give it more than your best (and impress Zack), and maybe you'll see a promotion.

I laughed a little to myself at the last part. Impressing Zack didn't really seem too likely. I had once been on a mission that was just me and another guy, and Zack and Tseng. Even in such low numbers and in such close quarters to Zack, I couldn't manage to impress him much. I guessed that was largely affected by the fact that I had gotten wounded and lost my grip on one of the highest priority men on Shinra's list. Since I was still working for Shinra after that, it's obvious that Zack left my part out of his report, but he was definitely aware of it.

I stretched my arms, closed my journal and leaned back in my chair. Realizing how tired I had gotten listening to the sound of darts hitting the wall, I slowly rose to my feet and collected my things.

"I'm going to sleep for a while." I said in a tired voice, "If you let me sleep when it comes time for the next assignment, I'll kill you."

"If you were only so lucky to sleep through the next assignment!" Dallert laughed, louder than I would've liked in my tired state, "Don't worry. I'll wake you."

I gave a little wave of goodbye and gratitude and received a 'G'night' from the man I hadn't yet learned the name of. I hadn't yet gotten used to my room at the mobile home. I could have sworn that my journals were not quite where I had left them. However, one thing that I had learned to get into my mind as an infantryman was; a bed is a bed. The wheels in my head turned a bit longer as I contemplated how I might be impressive, but before I knew it, I was out cold. I was sure to feel a bit more refreshed before my next assignment.