THE ZIRATCHI

Chapter 4

And now i must tell you all something of grand importance, well, actually this has absolutely no bearing on my story. I just thought you would like to know that i hate Barney the purple dinosaur. Now back to the story. I was sitting in my room

aboard the Shera, a few hours after the battle in Mideel. I was looking at my sword, the non-perverted one mind you. I hadn't even noticed at the time, but it had been damaged during our recent scrap with the Ziratchi. There was a crack running down a third of the blade, i reckoned one good impact would break it. So i sat there, not knowing a thing about sword repair.

It was then that Zack came through the door shoving it open, and bringing with him a duffle bag. "Theres a thing called knocking." I informed him dryly.

"Sorry about that, but i have something for you." Zack replied with an apologetic grin on his face.

"A gift? I love gifts! What is it?" I asked looking at the duffle bag.

Zack chuckled and said "Whhats in the duffle bag is mine, i came to give you this." With that he pulled the Buster Sword off his back and extended it towards me.

I was silent for a moment before i said "Your joking!"

"Nah, i figure you could use this baby more than me. After all, you have something like a nemesis now. Besides, i don't deserve it." Zack said.

"Don't deserve it?" I asked.

"You see, i got it from my mentor Angeal, who said that it represented its bearers pride and dreams, and that as long as i wielded it i must not lose sight of these things. But i did lose sight of them, when we first met i had lost my dreams,

and given up my pride. You on the other hand have not, and beside your sword looks like it'll snap any moment." He said, then to make his point he lightly smacked my blade with his, and mine snapped in two.

"I see your point." I admitted as i slowly took the offered weapon, which was very heavy causing me to grab at it with my second hand.

Zack laughed and said "Don't worry, you'll get used to the weight."

"Thanks man, this means a lot to me." I said with a smile, and it was true.

"No problem, besides i got this old thing." Zack said as he pulled a Shinra sword from his duffle bag. "First sword i ever had, got it when i joined SOLDIER, i'll just use it from now on." He said. Then he said "Were almost to Midgar, lets go."

And so we went to the bridge.

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About fifteen minutes later i stood in the ruins of zmidgar with the rest of AVALANCHE, with the Buster Sword on my back. It was really goddamn heavy.

"Ok, lets get moving. Remember, Ziratchi could be anywhere around here, so keep your guard up, split up." Cloud said, and we went on seperate paths. Stupid you say? Moving alone through Midgar's ruins. Yeah, i have to agree with you on

that. Anyhow, i walked for almost an hour, nothing really caught my eye.

That is until i came upon him. I was walking along when i heard a chuckle off the side of the road. "Whose there!" I demanded drawing my new sword into a two-handed stance.

"I see Zack gave you his weapon. Even so, its not smart to travel alone." A familiar voice said.

I grimaced as i recognized it and snarled "Sephiroth."

Sephiroth stepped out of the shadows with Masamune in hand, a sinister smirk on his face. "I see you haven't forgotten me." He said

"Kinda hard to forget the man who takes you hostage, then tries to kill you." I retorted dryly.

"So true, so true." He agreed.

"What do you want!?" I demanded, keeping my sword up.

"A partnership, of sorts. You see, neither of us has the power to fight the Ziratchi on our own. But, together we could kill him." Sephiroth said.

"An why should i do that when i have AVALANCHE?" I demanded.

He laughed, then said "Yes, we all know how wonderfuly that went last time, what makes you think you'd be any more succesful next time. Think about it, i have the power and skill, and you know more about the Ziratchi's abilities than anybody

else, mix these things together and he stands no chance!"

I growled, seeing the truth in his words. "How do i know you won't just kill me once we win?" I asked.

His smile widened as he said "You don't. But then, i could easily kill you here couldn't i?"

I siged and sheathed my blade. "Fine, i'll do it." I said, feeling dirty inside for agreeing to work with this maniac.

"Excellent, he is not here though, he is moving for the Forgotten City, if we hurry we can catch him there." Sephiroth said, then he turned an began walking away, i followed.