Chapter 7 - Nibelheim
"You ok back there buddy?" Thanks to Seifer's advanced technology the group were able to amplify the effects of the enemy away materia which meant it was safe for Denzel to ride with Cloud. "Yeah!" Denzel had to shout over the roar of Fenrir's engine as well as the wind that whipped past them.
It occurred to Cloud that he and the boy hadn't really had the chance to talk one on one since Yuna had arrived and that talk was well overdue. "So how's your swordplay coming along?" While Cloud was against Denzel actually going out into the field at this age he did think it was important that he learned the basics. "It's ok, I guess. I do the drills you showed me everyday, or at least I did. After we left Midgar I haven't had the chance to practice." he didn't sound very confident about his skills as a swordsman.
Cloud blamed himself for not being around to help his son, but rather then beat himself up about it he was going to make it right. "Listen, I'm sorry for leaving you and Marlene and Tifa like that. I want to make it right, how about we train at least once a day? Just you and me?" Cloud took a glance behind him and saw Denzel's face beaming. It was clear that he was in agreement with Cloud's proposal.
!~!
"That's the Gold Saucer!?" Rikku cried out in awe and excitment. She was sat in the middle of Tidus and Yuna, both just as excited as her. "You think Cloud'll let us go on the rides?" Tidus questioned in eagarness and anticipation. Yuna took a glance out of her window and saw Denzel making a face at her. She made one back causing them both to giggle and the smirk that Cloud was trying to hide answered Tidus's question.
"I wonder if the chocobo races are really as good as Cloud says they are." Rikku brought up interested in the holograms of the race track. Yuna smiled "I wonder if Cloud will do a race for us." the three of them laughed at the statement and she could see Paine, who sat just in front of them, smirking as well.
Paine was very much like Cloud. They both had minds for battle strategy, they were both very skilled in battle and they both tried to hide their smirks or laughs. Paine had mentioned something about wanting a sparring session before they left Gongaga, which entrigued Yuna, Rikku and Tidus, the others not so much. AVALANCHE hadn't really seen Paine in action, but I guess when you're up against Cloud Strife sometimes you don't need to see the other person in action.
"Last one to the stations pays for the tickets!" Yuna heard from outside of the truck. Cloud was betting with Barret, who was driving their truck, and Cid driving the other. "Oh it's on Chocoboy! Everyone buckel up!" Barret exclaimed as he slammed his foot on the gas, however the truck was no match for Fenrir's extreme speed and they were left in the dust.
!~!
In spite of everything that had gone wrong for North Corel, it seemed as though the town was finally bouncing back. Ever since Barret had launched his oil company the town had found a new fire at it's core. When Cloud walked through the town with Denzel he saw the happy faces of the citizens who were walking around enjoying their new revolution rather than the depressed ones he had seen previously.
"I hope you have enough gil for those tickets." Cloud teased as he saw the others finally arriving. A few of them giggled, Barret looked like he was about to punch him but what was new there? "Jus' hurry up and get our viechles loaded on the tram Chocoboy." Barret grumbled before heading to the tickets office.
Everyone had split up into different groups socialising with one another while Cloud had stored away Fenrir along with their two trucks into a seperate carriage which was being sent directly to the station near Nibelheim. There it was again. Cloud flinched even at the thought of the town's name. It triggered so many memories which in turn triggered his geostigma. Luckily it hadn't been too bad that time, but what if it got worse when they arrived at Nibelheim?
"You ok?" Yuna's words pulled him back into reality and her voice soothed his mind allowing him to relax. Cloud nodded "I'm fine. It's just been a while since I was last at my hometown." he was trying not to say the name in fear it might trigger the geostigma again.
"I know how you feel. When I became a sphere hunter I left Besaid without telling anyone. A few months later I had to return there to find another sphere and I was really nervous. I expect everyone to freak out, but they all just greeted me with a smile and welcomed me back." Cloud was confused by Yuna's statement and she could evidently see that by the look on his face. "What I'm trying to say is that it might not be as bad as you think it will be." "Maybe you're right."
"Hurry up you two!" Rikku called out as the rest of the group were getting on the tram. "C'mon, how about I take you on the gondola when we get there?" Cloud said as he put his hand on the small of Yuna's back and started walking towards the rest of the group. Yuna smiled "I'd like that."
!~!
"This place is huge!" Rikku, Tidus, Marlene and Denzel had ran straight into the place with out hesitation. Everyone else soon filtered in, most were in a pretty good mood. "Alright everyone. The tram to Nibelheim leaves at 6pm. Make sure you're all here by 5:50 so we can get on in time." Cloud informed everyone.
"Denzel, Marlene. Why don't you go with Rikku and Tidus on some of the rides." Tifa said as she handed the two of them some gil to spend at the arcade. Once again without any hesitation the four of them slid down the first tunnel they saw.
Cloud and Yuna made eye contact and she made her way over with a smile on her face, a smile that was about to be ripped away. "Come on Cloud! Let's go to the haunted mansion!" Priscilla had taken a hold of Cloud's arm and pulled him down the tunnel before he could even say a word.
Yuna must've been visibly angry, which was very rare indeed, as she got a few looks from Paine and Tifa. "Want me to take care of her?" Paine's suggestion wasn't off the table completely, but Yuna was better than that. "Leave it to me. I'll get him back for you." Tifa chuckled, Yuna guessed Tifa had become an expert in getting Cloud back from girls who had 'kidnapped' him.
"Yo, Paine! We're headin' over to the battle square, you wanna join us?" Barret called over who waited with Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, Seifer and Red. She glanced at Yuna who nodded telling her to go with them. "I'll join you after Cloud gets here."
"Sorry about that." Cloud had just jumped up from the tunnel a few minutes after everyone had left for the battle square. Yuna had her arms crossed and looked away from him. Again, a smirk crept onto his face. "I could always go back you know." Cloud teased as he walked closer to Yuna. "You wouldn't." she was trying her best not to crack a smile now. "You're right, I wouldn't. I guess I'm just too loyal for that."
Yuna couldn't hold back her smile any longer. She leaped into his arms and exchanged a kiss with him. "How about we go on that gondola ride?" "I'd like that."
!~!
Paine wasn't one for attracting big crowds, but it seemed like she had unintentionallycaused one after her performance in the battle square.
"That was amazing!"
"I've never seen someone clear all 8 battles in person!"
When Paine exited the arena and made her way into the lobby a screen was projected onto the wall. Her name appeared in huge letters closely followed by the number 2. Paine didn't like being beaten in anything, who could've possibly beaten her score of 11,000 points?
The screen changed again and reveal the list of the top 10 participants that had ever taken on the challenge. Paine instantly looked at the number 1 place, the name read 'Chocoboy Strife' with a score of 12,500 points.
"He's never forgiven us for that." Cid told her as he exchanged a laugh with Barret. "Don't worry about it too much, Paine. Cloud is an exceptionally skill warrior who has had a lot of time to refine said skills." Red could see that Paine was a little annoyed that she hadn't beaten Cloud as did Tifa apparently "I'm sure if you keep practicing you'll beat his score eventually."
"Hey guys! Yuna's about to compete in her very first chocobo race! We have to go and watch her!" Rikku had popped up from somewhere informing them of the news and just as quickly as she appeared she was gone again. Everyone was ready to head over to the Chocobo Square apart from Barret and Cid who wanted to stay and laugh at newbie fighters. Tifa and Yuffie sorted the two boys out by pulling them along by their ears.
!~!
"So, how's she doing?" Cloud heard from behind him. Everyone had gathered to watch Yuna's race, she would be thankful they turned up while she was racing. Cloud knew she would've gotten to nervous too focus if she knew everyone was here. "Not bad, she's in 4th place at the moment."
"Hey, Chocoboy! How about you race next an' show everyone why that's your nickname?" Barret was trying to get Cloud to race just so he, Cid and possibly Yuffie could win an easy bet. Despite Cloud knowing this he decided to play along, after all the extra money would help on the road. "Alright, I will. Then maybe after you win your bet you'll be able to replace that money you lost on the tram tickets." Cloud smirked as Barret held back a curse.
During their conversation Yuna had managed to force her way into 3rd place as the chocobos crossed the laser finish line and had made her way back up to the main lobby of the chocobo square. "How did you find it?" Cloud asked her as she approached the group, a smile present on her face. "It was really fun! Not as easy as riding casually though."
"Yo Cloud! Hurry yo' ass up and register for the next race!" Barret really wanted that gil back didn't he? "I'll do this race then why don't we head to the tram and spend some alone time together?" Cloud had turned to face Yuna again who nodded in agreement with his proposal.
Cloud made his way over to the registration office and was greeted by a woman wearing a pink dress and a lot of make up. "Hey Cloud! You here to race?" Ester always was enthusiastic about Cloud's chocobo racing skills. "Yeah I am, Ester. When's the next race?" "10 minutes, want me to put you in?" before Cloud could even respond she was all ready writing his name down and his chocobo's name. "All done! Go right ahead to the waiting room and show 'em who's boss!" Cloud couldn't help but smile "Thanks Ester."
!~!
"That's my chocoboy!"
"Get in there Strife!"
"Is gambling the only thing you two care about?" Tifa sighed as she shook her head in disappointment. Cid and Barret were too busy drooling over their winnings to even notice Tifa's question. "Now I get why you call him chocoboy." Tidus said as his other three companions from Spira also began to understand the reasoning behind Cloud's nickname. "I hate that name." Cloud muttered before continuing on with "We should head to the station, the tram will be here any minute." as he made his way to the exit.
!~!
"You're late." Reeve said as the group got off the tram. Small flakes of snow had started to fall from the clouds above and drop onto Cloud's pale skin. "I've been freezing my ass off out here waiting for you!" He continues which put a smirk on the faces of most in the group.
"The tram was late. Did you get our transportation?" Cloud didn't care that he was late, Nibelheim was only half an hour away from here after all. "It's all in the parking bay." Reeve replied causing everyone to run for the trucks to get away from the cold air and the numbing snow. Cloud on the other hand made his way to Fenrir at a moderate pace, it didn't matter whether he got to his motorbike quickly or not as he would still have to endure the sharp contact of the winter wind.
It wasn't a surprise to Cloud when no one asked to ride with him. To be honest Cloud didn't mind, he needed this time alone to clear his mind. If he went into his hometown with all these negative thoughts from the past then his geostigma would indefinitely be triggered, if he cleared those thoughts out of his mind then perhaps there may be a chance that it wouldn't be triggered.
As Cloud rode along the wind felt like a thousand knives plunging themselves into his arms, cutting and stabbing him into exhaustion. He took a glance at the two trucks, inside everyone was laughing and singing Christmas carols. Cloud wasn't one for singing the carols but he did enjoy the holiday and its traditions. AVALANCHE loved the holiday and we're the type of people to listen to Christmas songs in November under normal circumstances. It seemed not even the threat of Jenova could stop them from releasing their Christmas spirit. It's strange how one holiday could keep many people from being depressed and serious.
"5 chocobooooys!" Barret shouted as he rolled down to mock Cloud before rolling it back up once again. When Cloud was sure Denzel and Marlene weren't looking he made a rude gesture at Barret by sticking up his middle finger which just seemed to cause him to laugh even more.
The snow didn't seem to be letting up, rather it was coming down thicker and faster which wasn't good for Cloud but after being in the Great Glacier for so long he was able to deal with the cold pretty well. It helped with the fiends though, most of them were hiding away in caves or a makeshift shelter so there wasn't much work to be done by Cloud. With another glance at the trucks the group were still singing away. Cloud wasn't sure whether they celebrated Christmas on Spira but from the sights of Yuna Rikku and Tidus singing along as well, they evidently did.
Nibelheim was finally in sight, the white sheet of snow covering up the red rooftops of the houses and engulfing the cobblestone walkway. From what Cloud could see the well had icicles hanging from the edges and the only truck the town had was now accompanied by a few others. While many towns had expanded after the Meteor crisis Nibelheim had remained the same as it always had been. It wasn't until recently that the town had begun to expand and grow like the others. The reason for this was unclear, perhaps the Sephiroth incident was still affecting the town even after Meteor and the people had only just gotten over it. Either way it was still the same town Cooud had grown up in and had come to know.
It didn't surprise Cloud when his arm flinched upon pulling up to the entrance. The stigma would react to him being here no matter what, the question was how bad it would be and at the moment Cloud was able to stay composed. Not long after he arrived the others began to pull up as well. "I always loved it when it snowed when we were kids." Tifa stood next to Cloud as the two looked into the town. "Yeah, I know. I remember you were always happy around this time. Do you still have the key to your house?" After Sephiroth's return a few months ago Tifa had bought her old house in Nibelheim just in case they ever found themselves returning to the town. Her precaution paid off it seemed.
"Alright, we'll spend the night here then continued to Rocket Town." "But what about Christmas?" Cloud was puzzled by Rikku's question at first, he then realise that the holiday was only 2 days away. Had he lost track of time that much? He thought Christmas was 2 weeks away not 2 days. "I don't want to spend Christmas travelling on a road, I want to stay here and open presents and eat Christmas dinner." Riki continued on.
It seemed as though most of the group were agreeing with her and the thought of having a break away from everything that was going on did appeal to Cloud. He knew it wasn't the wisest choice but he had to agree with Rikku. Everyone looked at Cloud waiting for him to make a decision "We'll stay for Christmas then. But don't let your guard down SOLDIER could come at any moment."
"YES! Come on guys, let's decorate the house!" Rikku exclaimed before running into the town towards Tifa's house followed by most of the group. "You coming?" Yuna asked Cloud, taking his hand at the same time. Cloud nodded "I'll catch up, you start without me." As Yuna ran to catch up with the others Cloud was left alone at the entrance with Vincent and Paine. "It's must be difficult for you to contain the stigma, given our current situation." Vincent seemed to know a lot about the stigma, not many knew that it reacted when traumatic memories were thought about.
"Mm. I just hope I can keep it up, I don't want it to be triggered during a fight." The possibility of an attack at the moment was low, they had gained a lot of distance on the SOLDIER members but after two days they could catch up which is why this stay was so risky. "Why don't you leave the fighting to us?" Paine questioned "I can't just sit out of a fight, I need to protect everyone."
Paine seemed rather annoyed by Cloud's comment and proceeded to argue that everyone could handle themselves and didn't need protecting. Cloud knew this but he always had to be sure. He thought Zack could handle himself and look what happened, he thought Aerith could handle herself and look what happened. There's no way he would let anyone get hurt.
!~!
Cloud stood outside of his old house. Would the décor still be the same? He didn't know, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. All he was trying to do at the moment was to block out the images or the devastating waves of fire that haunted him for all these years. "Is this it?" Yuna stood beside Cloud, she seemed to be pulling him away from the traumatic moment that he was so desperately trying to avoid. "Yeah, it' bigger than I remember."
He wasn't sure why but Cloud found himself compelled to enter the house of his past, of course Yuna followed suit. The house was empty, not a soul in sight. Cloud didn't see a difference within the interior, it was the same open floor plan as it always had been with the kitchen in front, dining room to the left and the 'bedroom' to the right if you could even call it that.
Once again Cloud felt himself compelled to move towards the bed, like something was calling out to him. Upon making contact with the bed a vision flashed before him. The images were too fast to comprehend, all but one. It was the sight of himself in a stand off with Jenova, the green streams of the lifestream were surrounding them and the others were no where to be seen.
The images continued to flash in Cloud's mind until all that was visible was a white light that shone so brightly that it hurt his eyes. When Cloud was pulled back into reality by Yuna's voice all of the memories came flooding in. The fire, the destruction, the fear, the anguish and anger, the cold steel voice of Sephiroth, everything. Every last memory.
Cloud's arm tensed up and his pupils narrowed into black slits. The black ichor from the stigma oozed down his arm and dripped down onto the floor. Cloud soon followed the ichor and fell down onto the ground. All Cloud could hear was Yuna shouting for help, but as he lay there suffering from the pain of the stigma all he could think about was the images shown before him. Who showed them to him? Why did they do this? What were they trying to tell him? Cloud grew weaker by the second and soon enough all of his strength faded and his eyes closed sending him into a deep sleep, one that would be filled with horrors and memories and mistakes.
This was such a struggle to finish XD. I've been so busy with college assignments so I've only been able to work on this for like 10 minutes a day, but recently I've found a few slots in my day where I can focus on RTTNW. Expect updates soon!
