Dark Embrace

IV. Home

Cloud was making something he called sandwiches. I don't know exactly what was in them, but I know he said it was called baloney and cheese and that they smelled good. Especially the baloney.

I was sitting on the counter, swinging my legs back and forth and staring at the ceiling. I'd changed out of my pack uniform into some of Cloud's old clothing, since all of Aeris' stuff was a dress, pink, or all of the above. So, Cloud's ratty green sweater and old gray sweatpants for me.

Yes, I am aware that they clash. I didn't know that at the time, and besides that, I liked them. They were comfy.

So, back to the point. I was currently reveling in Cloud's clothes and Cloud's cooking. We'd been here for three days and Aeris still hadn't returned, but Cloud didn't seem too worried.

He was pretty good at staying occupied. He started teaching me this game he called Gamuku. It was basically a complicated version of tic-tac-toe- that's what he told me before realizing I didn't know what tic-tac-toe was- and you had to get more five-in-a-rows of your little x's than your partner did of his o's. We weren't even keeping score anymore, since the game had been running on and off for over twenty-four hours. I liked to think I was winning, but really I had no idea.

And of course, we talked a lot. That was strange for me. I like to talk, I talk to myself all the time, but I'd never had anyone to talk to before. The pack wasn't big on discussions with the human, y'know? So we talked a lot, and I was really enjoying myself.

"So how's the pack hierarchies at the Citadel now? Are Sephiroth's SOLDIERS still the best?"

"Yeah, and then Rufus' Turks are pretty good, too. I'd say either they're second, or my- Tifa's pack."

"Tifa's pack is AVALANCHE, right?"

"Yeah, always has been. How'd you know?"

"I knew her, years ago, when she was still a human."

"Human?"

"Yeah. Hey, the wolves all came from somewhere, right? And the vampires, too. The Turks all used to be human."

"Heh, I can't picture him human..."

"Him?"

"Reno. A... friend of mine, I guess. He's one of the Turks, but I liked him. He was nicer to me than any of my pack, anyway. Well, 'cept maybe Jesse."

"Who's Jesse? Come to think of it, who's in AVALANCHE, now? It's been a while."

"Um, Barret, Jesse, Biggs and Wedge. I know there's others but, Tifa trades a lot and I don't know anyone else's names. Those four have been there as long as I have or longer, so she must really like them."

"Tifa trades a lot? That doesn't seem like her."

"She didn't used to, but after I won my first few fights she got really obsessed with becoming the best in the Citadel. So she wanted the best possible group for the pack fights."

"All wolves, though?"

"Yeah, we had this kitsune, Reeve, for a while but it didn't work out well. Since AVALANCHE fights by the Midgar rules."

"Yeah, the Turks and SOLDIER and AVALANCHE are all part of the Midgar set, right? So it's solo fights only unless you're a wolf pack. Actually, wasn't there another pack in Midgar?"

"Yeah, there's the ShinRa pack as well. They're ranked dead last, though, and even ShinRa's son-"

"He would be the only one to name a pack after himself..."

"Yeah, Rufus is his son, but he left and became Alpha of the Turks instead. The old Alpha, Tseng, doesn't seem to mind playing second."

"Hey, you said you were friends with a Turk. How'd that happen?"

"Heh, I beat the shit out of him in a fight. There was a power outage during it, though, this strange one that took out the whole Citadel- you know how the Arena locks down when the power's out? Well, we both got stuck together for almost a week. I ended up giving him blood cuz he wasn't doing so well going without it for that long. Reno's the only one I ever talked to as long as I have you. He's a jerk, but I like him anyway. We even fought as partners in the cross-fights."

"I caused that power outage, actually. Aeris and I were pulling off a rescue that week, Barret's adopted daughter, actually. She's with Nanaki's pack now- Barret doesn't want to leave yet."

"Nanaki?...Yeah, I can see Barret wanting to stay. He likes the fighting. He didn't speak to me much, but he wasn't cruel, either."

"Nanaki's the Alpha for the main pack in the city; our rescued wolves go to him. And Barret's basically a good guy."

Like I said, it was nice to talk to Cloud. He was eager to hear about the Citadel, too; I guess even after you leave, something about the place just stays with you.

It had been six days now.

I think Cloud was starting to get kind of worried, but I wasn't sure. I was having a problem with my spikes shredding blankets, so we were trying to come up with a way to fix that, (my blanket was just one gaping hole after another by now) when Cloud started acting weird.

He fell forward suddenly, bracing himself against the bed with one hand and then bringing his other hand up to his forehead as if to warn off danger. I knelt beside him.

"Cloud?"

"..." He didn't answer me. Worse, he started convulsing.

"Cloud! Cloud, are you okay?" Stupid question, yes, I know. "What's going on?" I caught his wrists, careful to keep my spikes away, and turned him towards me. His eyes were wide.

"Aeris," he gasped. "I- I need Aeris. A-aeris..."

I couldn't hold him still with just my hands on his wrists anymore, so I managed to wrap my arms around his chest instead, holding him with his back to me. "Aeris!" I yelled, hoping to god that she'd answer. "Aeris, help!" No response. Cloud jerked against me, slamming his head back into me. "AERIS!"

In a flash, she was kneeling in front of me, white feathers engulfing me and Cloud. She took one look at him, grabbed my hand, and slashed across my other hand with the spikes. I yelped.

"Hey-!"

She slashed Cloud's hand with the spikes, too, across the original cut, and quickly held my hand to his.

It's a damn good thing none of us are werewolves, with all this slashing of silver going on.

Cloud stopped thrashing, though, and went limp against me as our blood ran together. I stared at him as his eyes flared to glowing life briefly, then faded and turned dull. It was the first time I ever saw them stop glowing. I turned to Aeris to ask what was wrong with him when I started feeling like my head had been stuffed with fuzz. My vision grayed, then went entirely black.

The last thing I saw was Cloud's dull eyes.

Then I had a flash of memory, of when I had first been presented to Tifa as a member of her pack and she had me swear to her as my Alpha. There hadn't been a blood exchange then. In fact, I couldn't think of anything that would bring up that memory right now.

I woke up on the bedroom floor.

Aeris was seated on the floor at my side, Cloud's head in her lap. He was still unconscious and she still had her wings spread wide over us both; an angel reaction, I guess.

"Yuffie," she said softly. "You're awake."

I sat up, slowly, groaning as the blood loss let itself be felt in my rushing head. "Yeah. Yeah I am."

She reached an arm out and hooked it around me and I realized she was fighting back tears. "Yuffie, I know you must be confused. Cloud is...Cloud does this sometimes. When he, when he asked about Hojo...Hojo had him for a long time." Her hand, which had been brushing lightly through Cloud's hair, stilled for a moment. "A very long time..."

I didn't say anything. In all honesty, I was scared to say anything. I've met Hojo. I wasn't keen to ever spend so much as ten seconds around him. After all, the one time I did meet him, he welded a collar to my neck.

...Bastard.

Aeris started stroking Cloud's hair again. I stared at his closed eyes, hoping to never see them go dull like that again. I like Cloud. He's the only person, besides maybe Reno, that I could call a friend. And I'm not sure my vampire companion counted as a friend. Vampires tend to have a different idea of friendship. It freaks me out when Cloud's hurting like this and there's nothing I can do but scream for Aeris.

"Hojo... I don't know the details, unfortunately, or he might be better by now. I know that Hojo basically shattered his mind and reconstructed it."

I gaped at her. "What!"

Aeris smiled faintly at my reaction. After a moment I realized I'd ended up clutching Cloud's arm somehow and I let go.

"I don't know how he did it...but he got Cloud and his friend Zack, as ...gifts from Sephiroth, I think?" She sounded slightly unsure.

"Sephiroth does give his fighters as gifts sometimes," I said softly. "And, I think he has some sort of deal with Hojo. I know Hojo gets special fighters from somewhere, and he isn't trading them."

Aeris looked distinctly uncomfortable now. I only knew why this was because Cloud had discussed with me that outside the Citadel, people are not generally considered something that can be traded or given away. Inside the Citadel, it's fairly common, though I never changed Alphas personally.

"Yeah...So Hojo shattered their minds, then, before repairing any damage, he did...something...he did something to their bodies. Again, I don't know what exactly he did."

"So what is Cloud?" I asked, even more quietly than my earlier statements. I wasn't really all that sure I wanted to know.

Wait, no, I did want to know. I guess curiosity is a dragon aspect. Or maybe it's just a Yuffie aspect.

"He was human, a long time ago. Now, I don't know." I blinked.

"'Cloud is human?"

"Was human," she corrected gently. "Hojo did some kind of experiments on him and Zack. I don't know what he could be called now; his eyes glow and he's stronger than a human could be. He hasn't aged at all since I rescued him, and I mean his hair won't even change. If he cuts it, it grows back within seconds; new wounds heal at a normal human rate but he has cuts on his back that have been fresh since he woke in Hojo's room with Zack."

"What happened to Zack?"

"Well, whatever Hojo was trying to do worked on Zack and not Cloud. Hojo wasn't aiming for immortality- Zack has been dead a long time."

I stayed silent.

"Cloud didn't take his death well...When I first found them, Cloud wasn't even able to form words. He was so weak and out of it, it was unbelievable. Zack helped for a while, but he died in a fight...He was protecting us from a pack war. His body was still human enough to be destroyed by the wolves."

"So what happened..." I stopped and gestured vaguely at Cloud. "Earlier?"

"It didn't start until after Zack died. Sometimes, Cloud just has these spells..." She shrugged. "He can't breathe, he can't see, and he starts losing control over his body. I can't stop them, I can only make him fall unconscious a little faster so that he's past one of the bad stages."

"One of?"

"For a couple of hours after he snaps out of it, he's back like he was right after I- well, right after we rescued him and Zack from Hojo. Cid helped. For those few hours, Cloud can hardly speak or move. At first I thought he didn't remember what goes on when that happens, and at first he didn't, but now he's aware of what's going on. He just can't respond to it."

"Is he awake now?" Because that would make me feel so horribly awkward. Hi, Cloud. Don't mind us, we're just discussing your complete helplessness, here. Nothing terribly important.

"No, he isn't awake yet," Aeris replied immediately. "But this is why the apartment has no doors, and why Cloud doesn't stay out by himself too long."

"The staying here I can understand now," I said slowly. "But there not being a door, that still doesn't make sense to me."

"When I don't get him calmed down right away, he tries to head back to the Citadel," Aeris explained. "He'd never go there on his own while he's thinking straight, but after one of these episodes he always wants to go back to the Citadel and," she faltered a minute, " And see Zack."

"But Zack's dead," I said, confused.

Aeris nodded. "But for the next several hours Cloud won't know that. For some reason his sense of time is horribly skewed long after every other symptom of the attack is gone."

"And the thing with my blood?" I asked, feeling somewhat possessive of my hand.

"That," she said wearily, "is because you were both literally raised by wolves, and I can't deal with being Alpha to anyone besides Cloud. He is more than enough for me."

"But we're not really wolves," I said flatly. I may have thought I was human, but I have always known that I am no wolf. It would have...simplified things. I like to think it would have, anyway.

Every little kid wants to fit in, right?

"I know, but for some reason the pack instincts become ingrained in anyone who is brought up by werewolves. I had to get you to accept Cloud as Alpha, because I can't deal with you challenging me for the position."

"I wouldn't have-" I started to protest, but she cut me off.

"Yes, you would have," she said flatly. "Probably without realizing it. But I don't want to be stuck fighting you for a position I don't want."

Cloud groaned and moved slightly. We cut off our conversation and both looked at him.

To my surprise, now that I thought about it, I had grown deeply connected to Cloud. It was even similar to what Reno had described feeling for his Master, although a vampire seethe isn't the same as a wolf pack. Since the pack hadn't been inclined to have friendly chats with me, I'd go with what I had learned from Reno.

At any rate, I really did not like seeing Cloud in this state. It made something in my mind that had been a vague idea begin to harden into a goal.

Cloud made a pained sound that might have been an attempt to speak and the fingers of his right hand twitched, very slightly. Aeris looked up at me anxiously, finally drawing her wings back from around Cloud.

"Yuffie, I need you to keep an eye on him for me, all right? I left Nanaki in a hurry and it's important that I talk to him." She looked back at Cloud again. He was looking at her and he managed to curl the fingers of his left hand around her right. She gathered him into her arms and, signaling to me to help her, got him into the bottom bunk.

"I'll be back as soon as possible, Cloud. Look after Yuffie for me, all right?" And with that, she stood and vanished, leaving me with Cloud. I sat down beside him on the bed, draping the comforter over us both, and put my back to the headboard as I drew my knees to my chest. I kept my spikes away from Cloud and listened to his breathing. The sound relaxed me and I couldn't tell if it was because he was my friend or because he was my Alpha.

It was going to be a long night.