Author: Silverhair Theory
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.
Chapter 4: Are You Excited?
Cloud raced home. He burst through the door and raced up the stairs again. When he got to his room he sat down on the bed and looked at the picture of Sephiroth, as he had many times before.
Then he looked down at his hands. They were still faintly green. He remembered only too clearly the rush of energy that had come from tasting just a little of the stuff. It seemed to have worn off now. Perhaps it wasn't very long lasting.
He didn't have an endless supply of the stuff either,most of it was probably contaminated by the dirt and grime that was on his hands. He wiped them on his trousers and something in his pocket rustled.
He took out a piece of paper, and saw that it was the letter that Miss Shira had given to him after Thracer had denied him going to SOLDIER.
He couldn't go to SOLDIER. The fact sunk in and Cloud's energy flowed away. His lifelong dream. Over. He looked at the letter in his hand and really, really felt like tearing it up.
Throwing himself backwards on the bed, he opened the letter. He might as well see what it said. Just in case.
Dear Cloud The letter said.
I heard that you want to join SOLDIER. I know Mr Thracer doesn't think it's a good idea, and I know that the children think that you cant do it either. I know that Rex will probably tease you about it.
I am a great beliver in the view that if you want something hard enough you can make it come true. Somehow, I got the feeling that joining SOLDIER was not something decided recently. If you have wanted to join up for so long, it must be a powerful desire andI am willing to help you, Cloud, if you let me.
I have a contact in Midgar. They know someone who has connections in SOLDIER and, if you are really serious, it could be arranged for you to take the entrance test. If you fail that, which you must not discount, then you will have proved to yourself that your dream is unrealistic.
I believe in you Cloud. If you come and see me tomorrow and ask me,I will contact my associate in Midgar and you can be transported there as soon as you turn 15.
Don't give up hope, Cloud. You can still join SOLDIER, no matter what Mr Thracer says.
I hope you will let me help you follow your dream.
Miss Shira
Cloud stared at the letter. Was this what he thought it was? A way to join SOLDIER? Could he possibly have found a way to follow his dream, as Miss Shira said?
Cloud felt a fluttery feeling in his stomach. Was it possible that suddenly everything was going right?
That night, for the first time in a very long while, Cloud strife went to sleep with a smile on his face and hope in his heart.
The next morning Cloud woke up and wondered why he felt so happy. Then it hit him like a shock of fresh air. Today he would see Miss Shira and she would contact the SOLDIER people... And he would get the chance to join up.
To be like Sephiroth.
He jumped out of bed and donned his clothes, brushing his teeth extra hard and eventrying to make his spiky hair look a bit more respectable than usual, but to no avail, before runningdownstairs and giving his mom a big hug. She seemed more than a little a little surprised and looked quite flustered as she plonked down another huge breakfast. Cloud ate happily and drank his sugary black tea. When he had finished he packed his bag and left the house, giving his mum another hug before he left.
He raced to school and arrived ten minutes early, hurrying to the classroom where he found Miss Shira sitting at her desk, reading. She looked up when he entrered and smiled at him. He grinned back.
"Welcome, Cloud. I take it you read my letter then." She said, still smiling.
"Yeah. Thanks. I would really appriciate it."
She smiled and looked a bit embarassed. "Actually I thought you would come and see me. I called up my contact last night and got the number of the person you need to talk to to arrange you going there. You're 15 in a couple of weeks arent you?"
"Yeah. So I can just talk to them right now?"
"If you like." She smiled again and fished a PHS out of her bag. She took a piece of paper from her pocket and dialled the number.
"Hello? Yes, my name is Miss Rayne Shira. I called you yesterday about a potential SOLDIER candidate? Yes, I have him here." She handed the PHS to Cloud, who put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello. My name is Mr Vault. I understand that you wish to take the entrance exam for the SOLDIER training?" The man on the phone had a clipped, businesslike voice.
"Yes, Sir. I do."
"That's fine. Now, I shall need your name, town of origin and age."
"My name is Cloud Strife, I come from Nibelheim and I will be fifteen in two weeks."
"Right..." There was the sound of someone scribbling something. "Okay. There is an entrance exam scheduled for next weekend. You will have two days basic training beforehand and we will pick you up by airplane on...wednesday."
"Right Sir. What do I need to bring?"
"You are allowed to bring one change of clothes and all basic living necessities with you on the entrance course. Anything inappropriate will be removed from you."
"I understand Sir."
"Understood. Well, farewell, I hope to see you next wednesday. Hand me back to Miss Shira now."
Cloud passed the PHS back to Miss Shira, and sat, zombie-like. He was going to join SOLDIER. He was going to do it!
Miss Shira put the PHS down. "Well Cloud, I don't think you'll be able to contain yourself for a week or so. Il'll take that into account when I mark your homework." Her eyes were twinkling and she was smiling.
Cloud grinned back at her and went to sit as his desk just as the first of the other students started arriving.
The next few days were very pleasant for Cloud. Everyone had heardhow he had supposedly beat Tsara in a fight and punched both Mokuba and Rex. Some of the parents of the children had been giving him suspicious andwarylooks around the village but the three troublemakers were well known amongst most of the townsfolk and Cloud figured most of the parents were secretsly happy they had been taken down a notch.
The guys themselves ignored Cloud and pretended not to see him, but this was way better that being teased and constantly beaten up anyway. Cloud had been worried Tsara might make a big fuss over her white judo outfit but it seemed she had decided he was worth something after all because she grinned at him in passing sometimes and apparently had a whole closet full of white outfits because she simply wore an identical, clean one the next day.
Miss Shira and him shared silent smiles as he anticipated the coming exam. His work went downhill as his thoughts were focused on the exam, but Miss Shira carried on giving him the same marks, knowing that something Mr Thacer would suspect something if Cloud started getting bad marks, not to mention his mother wouldn't be pleased.
On the tuesday evening, before Shinra corp. were due to collect him, Cloud could hardly contain his exitement. He sat on his bed, looking at the poster of Sephiroth.
This was it. Finally. Tomorrow he would be gone. gone away, hopefully forever. Or at least long enough to become strong, so that he was never bullied again.
He heard a knock on his door and his mom came in, wearingher pyjamas. "Hello, honey. Are you excited?" She was smiling.
"Are you kidding?" Cloud said, grinning. "I've never been more hyped up in my entire life!"
She laughed. "Are you packed?"
"Yes." Cloud thought his mom looked sad for a second. "Mom? Are you gonna be okay while I'm gone?"
Cloud's mother looked up. She was smiling, but there was pain in her eyes. "This is what you have wanted to do for at least five years. Thats more than a third of your life. Far be it from me to stop you doing this."
"Mom. You didnt answer the question."
She was silent for a few seconds. "It's been a long time since I was alone in the house. The last time I was alone was before you were born." She was shaking slightly. Cloud put his arms around her.
"Don't worry." He said. "I'm coming back. Then you'll never have to be alone again."
She hugged him and they sat there, embracing until the sky outside the window darkened and Cloud's mother gave a huge yawn.
"Come on mom." Cloud said. "It's bedtime."
He picked her up and carried her in his arms across the hallway to her room. He laid her down on the bed and tucked her up.
"Good night mom." He said, kissing her nose. "Sleep tight."
She murmered and smiled. Cloud turned the light off and closed the door behind him.
A whirring, throbbing sound woke Cloud up. He opened bleary eyes and saw that the light outside the window was white and cold, early morning light. He looked at his bedside clock. Six thirty. Cloud groaned. Who was up at this gaia-forsaken hour? No-one in Nibelheim got up until at least half seven. He climbed out of bed and walked over to the window, looking out.
The village looked normal,Cloud saw a couple of curtains twitching on the other side of the square. The whirring noise wasn't coming from anything that he could see. He went back over to the bed and lay down, pulling the covers over his head, trying to block the sound out, but it was impossible. Eventually he got up again and, throwing a coat around himself, went downstairs and opened the door to see what was going on.
Outside there was a terrific wind which blew the trees around and made windows shake. It was obvious now where the sound was coming from, andCloud looked up.
There, hovering in the sky, was a helicopter. It turned, trying to find a place to land. Cloud saw it had writing on the side of it, and squinted to make out the words. SHINRA-CORP it said in big letters. For a few moments his sleep-dulled brain wondered vaguely what a Shinra copter was doing in Nibelheim. Then he realised. It was the SOLDIER people! They had come to take him, at last! He rushed inside again and, closing the door to keep the house warm, rushed up to his room. Cloud dressed in his usual clothes and picked up his backpack. He did a quick visual check through all the rooms in the house, then stopped to write a note to his mom.
Dear Mom, He wrote.
The SOLDIER guys came for me at half-six. I knew you wouldn't want to get up so I let you sleep.
Don't worry, I'm safe
Love you.
Cloud
He took it up to his moms room and placed it on her bedside table. He gave her a quick kiss and she smiled, still asleep
He went downstairs again and took the spare key from its place on the dresser, slipping it into his pocket as he opened the door.
The wind hit him fullin the face. The helicopter had found a place to land and was just touching down as he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.
Walking quickly across the sqaure he saw other doors opening and faces peereing out. Rex was watching wide-eyed from his doorway as Cloud passed his house.
"Hey, Rex! I'ts off to SOLDIER camp for me!" Cloud shouted and Rex looked stunned. Tsara was leaning out of her bedroom window in another house and she waved as Cloud went past.
"See ya when you get back, Chocobo Head!" She called and Cloud smiled inwardly.
He approached the helicopter and out of it jumped a suited guy with long hair, grey with age, and another, younger man with shoulder length black hair and a strange round scar in the centre of his forehead.
"You there!" The older man said. "Do you know anyone by the name of Cloud Strife?"
"I'm Cloud Strife." Cloud said and the older man nodded.
"Okay, come here and speak into this comm. unit to assert that you are the one that Miss Shira told us about." He held out a black plastic box, abnout the size of a matchbox, and pressed a button on the side.
"I'm Cloud Strife." Cloud said again into the box. The man took it away and inserted it into his PHS.
"Yep, you're the one." He said after a pause. "Are you ready to go?"
Cloud looked around the village that had been his home for fourteen years. He saw the faces at the windows and doors, the old schoolhouse, Miss Shira's house and finally his own.
Was he ready?
"Yes." Cloud said. "I'm ready to go." The man nodded and opened the door of the helicopter, motioning for him to get in. Cloud clambered up and sat on the padded chair. The man slammed the door behind him.
There was some talking and then the man climbed into the helicopter from the other side, then finally the black haired man got in and closed the door.
"Here." The older man said and handed Cloud a set of earphones that covered his ears. The sounds of takeoff became muffled.
The black haired man took the helicopter controls and started to lift off.
Cloud looked out of the window. He could see the houses, no-one was moving except for one person,running towards the helicopter. They wore green and had short red hair.
Miss Shira approached the helicopter, battling against the strong winds. She gave up and stood by the well, smiling at Cloud in the passenger seat and waving. Cloud waved back.
Slowly the helicopter rose and Miss Shira became a stick figure, then an ant, then a dot, then finally a pinpoint of colour that blurred as they started to fly forwards.
Across the sea to Midgar.
Author's Notes: Yessss! Finally out of Nibelheim. Go Cloud, go Cloud... It should get slightly more interesting now, thankyou everyone who reviewed, I love you all! Im going away for the week and if there are lots of lovely reviews waiting for me when I get back then I'll put up another chapter as soon as I can. Review!