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Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates.
Seven…
"Which one do you want to ride?" Chocobo Billy asked Cloud when he told him he needed a chocobo to ride across the marshes. Chole was rustling around in the back of the barn, pulling greens out of a pile and tossing them into the stalls, and Cloud relaxed in the familiar atmosphere surrounded by the smell of the great riding birds, greens, wood, and water. They were comforting after his experience in Kalm Town. The dreams were coming too frequently and seemed much too real to be mere nightmares. He couldn't shake off a feeling of uneasiness about them, like they were a warning somehow.
"I'll take Kisari," he answered, chasing away the morbid thoughts. Of all the chocobos he'd raised and raced, he had ridden her the most and felt they got along pretty well.
Billy nodded and went to the tack room to collect the special bridle and saddlebags. He took them into Kisari's stall and began to strap them on. While he did that, Cloud walked over to greet each of the other chocobos by name and give them a vigorous scratching around the neck and chest. There were five gold chocobos in all, plus three blacks, a blue, and a green chocobo that he had left to the ranch when he successfully bred the golds. They chortled and warbled with pleasure when he approached them, reaching over the stall doors to get his attention, and he felt a bit guilty for not visiting them sooner. He had just finished renewing old friendships when Billy brought Kisari from her stall. At Cloud's request, he had filled one of the saddlebags with straw so that Cloud could safely transport the crystal for his enigmatic customer.
They'd already stowed the motorcycle in the back of the barn under a tarp to keep the dust off. The trip shouldn't last more than a day, depending on how long it took him to find the crystal described in the letter, so he didn't need any other supplies save some food for himself and greens for Kisari. He also left the swords inside the bike save for Zack's Buster Sword, which he slipped into the sheath on his back. Even though Cloud had collected better, more powerful swords during their long search for Sephiroth, he still favored his old friend's sword. It had been his first and carried a great deal of sentimental value.
Cloud hopped onto Kisari's back. It felt a bit strange after such a long time and he took a moment to find a comfortable position. He stroked the chocobo's feathers, feeling the soft down beneath the gold colored quills even through his gloves. It wasn't hard to balance on the broad back of the bird, as he and his friends had learned the first time they captured wild chocobos to travel across the marshes, but there was a little more to riding them than just hanging on to their neck feathers or bridles and letting them run.
"Let's go, girl."
Cloud twitched the reins lightly and whistled. Kisari didn't need any further urging. She shot forward as if she was in a race at the Gold Saucer and Cloud leaned over her back, saddlebags bumping against his knees as he let her run. Kisari fairly flew toward the Zolom marshes and a brief glance over his shoulder showed the Chocobo Ranch already vanishing rapidly into the distance. Cloud mentally cut the time he expected to take on this errand by half.
As they sped through meadows of tall grass and yellow flowers, broken only by the occasional dirt track, Cloud kept an eye out for monsters. Kisari could outrun almost every monster around, but because of the large numbers he'd been seeing, he decided to play it safe just in case. The gold chocobo's broad back rocked gently beneath him as he turned her toward the marshlands and the musty smell of the bird brought back memories of the time when he and the others traveled the same path for the first time. Even though they had never ridden chocobos before, Tifa and Aeris had taken to riding with surprising ease. Barret on the other hand was anything but thrilled and, though the chocobo was easily large enough to carry him, had complained volubly about falling off, cursing the feathers in his face and generally making a ruckus. Red XIII finally had enough and growled at him to shut up from where he rode behind Cloud, teeth firmly locked onto his belt to keep from sliding off.
Cloud's lips quirked up. Sometimes he missed the old days, fighting beside his friends as they crossed continents and islands in search of Sephiroth. He'd had a purpose then, even though it turned out to be a false one, and now… well now he felt a bit lost. Cleaning monsters out of Midgar for Reeve was a temporary fix for the loneliness that clouded his feelings and thoughts most of the time. It acted as a salve for his guilty conscience too, making him feel he was doing something useful. He found that he needed to feel useful for some reason. Before, when he was a child, his entire being had been so wrapped up in the idea of becoming famous like the great General Sephiroth that he had never actually considered what he would do if he accomplished his goal. It had all been so simple then. Go to Midgar and be a SOLDIER just like his idol and everything else would fall into place like magic. But it hadn't happened that way. Nothing went the way it was supposed to right from the very start.
When he reached Midgar after a long nauseating boat ride, he joined up with the Shinra military and figured it would take no time at all before he became a SOLDIER. Wrong! He didn't even make it past the first hurdle. They scrubbed him. He never found out why, though he thought he knew now. He was too unstable. Hojo's attempts to make him into a Sephiroth clone had proven that. The treatments were much the same as the ones SOLDIERS went through, but they'd been used on normal humans like him and the surviving villagers, not pre-screened SOLDIER candidates, and in much greater doses. And look what it had done to them. The villagers became mindless zombies, shuffling about until their master focused his attention on them and used their bodies like puppets. Then when Sephiroth was finished with them, they burned into piles of ash or obediently jumped off the cliffs in the Northern Crater and died. The treatments nearly killed Cloud as well and he didn't doubt that, but for Zack's constant banter during those five interminable years of captivity, he would have succumbed like the other clones or worse, remained in a comatose state for the rest of his life; much like the one he was in when he was found drifting near the southern island of Mideel after giving the Black Materia to Sephiroth. Zack had regaled him with stories of how he became a SOLDIER and how he first heard of the fabled boy General, Sephiroth, who ended the Wutai War by defeating its leader, Godo, in single combat.
"You got a girlfriend?" Zack sat on his backside, leaning against the glass tank that was his prison. He peered expectantly at Cloud.
"…"
Cloud stared dully at him and Zack waited. His brown eyes, which were tinged with the familiar Mako green, sparkled encouragingly. It took a long time for Cloud to form the word.
"Tifa…" he said despondently. It didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered except the pain and the voices. He wished it would all just go away.
"Tifa, huh? Cute name. Say, that sounds familiar!" Zack rubbed his chin, thinking. "Not that girl guide?" He looked up suddenly, brows raised in surprise. "That would explain a few things."
Zack changed position, cursing the hard floor. "Might as well be concrete made of ice! I'm getting cramps! So, is that why you put your trooper helmet on? You shy or something?"
The vivid memory hit Cloud so suddenly that his fingers dug convulsively into Kisari's feathers. She gave a startled, "Wark!" and her stride shifted slightly before she continued running. He remembered now! Zack's face peering at him from the tank next to his. Zack's voice calling him back from the sea of nightmares which tried to smother him. The ache in his chest was immediate and powerful.
"Motion sick?" The famous SOLDIER First Class leaned over Cloud as the truck rumbled disconcertingly beneath him. Actually he felt like he was going to throw up any minute but he tried to put a good face on it and shook his head.
"I'm okay," he mumbled. He did NOT want to embarrass himself in front of this man. And on top of that General Sephiroth, the idol of every young trooper in the Shinra military, was sitting right next to him in the back of the truck! If he tossed his cookies here, he'd never live it down!
Zack chuckled. "Don't think about it. That's the best remedy. Believe me, I know. Oh! And it helps to move around." He did a couple of squats, moved to glance out the back window, then went to check on the other trooper. The rain was pinging off the roof of the truck, echoing in an ear battering cacophony of mind numbing sound. Zack came back. "Best thing to do when you're motion sick is move around, take deep breaths, don't go to sleep and whatever you do, DON'T READ!"
Cloud grabbed his head, dropping the reins onto Kisari's neck. Time was displaced for a moment and once again he felt the jolting motion of the long truck ride to the mountains of Nibelheim. Nausea roiled in the pit of his stomach and the drumming of the rain assaulted his ears. He was suffocating. He closed his eyes tight, squeezing out the images and took a deep breath like Zack had told him to do so long ago. It helped. He wondered if Zack got motion sick too. He seemed to be quite knowledgeable about the subject.
Kisari's stride abruptly changed and he opened his eyes, grabbing the reins, and looked around. They had reached the marshes. He sat up and shook his head to free it of the last clinging traces of memory. There was no time for that now. He was a delivery man with a commission to perform. The sand shifted beneath Kisari's feet but she was too quick to get caught in it. Hopping from tuft to tuft, she sailed across the marshes, avoiding the ripples that warned of Zoloms moving beneath the surface. Cloud hung on, guiding her with a light touch of the reins or a tap of his heel toward a path that led to the foot of the mountains where the entrance to the Mythril Mines was. He hurried past the skinned Zolom still suspended from a dead tree courtesy of Sephiroth. He didn't want to think about Sephiroth right now.
When they reached the cave entrance, Cloud slipped off of Kisari's back, leaving the reins looped over her neck, and walked cautiously inside. The gold chocobo followed him, head bobbing slightly as she ducked protrusions that hung from the low ceiling. Cloud kept a wary eye out for monsters as they moved through the winding system of caves. The miners from Kalm had worked in these mines a few years ago for the metals it provided, but when the Zoloms mysteriously appeared, cutting off easy access, all mining had come to a halt. Kisari tapped his shoulder with her beak when they reached a particularly narrow passageway, as if to say she wasn't thrilled by the idea of trying to squeeze through there. He reached back and patted her neck reassuringly.
"Don't worry, girl," he said. "It gets better from here on out."
"Wark! Warkk!" was her response.
Cloud chuckled. Kisari might be just an oversized bird, maybe even a monster if you ran into her kind in the wild, but the gold chocobo really seemed to understand what he said. She was extremely intelligent, as he had learned when he was racing her at the Gold Saucer, and she had helped out in more than one battle.
"I know. But we'll be finished pretty soon and after I get the crystal, we can have lunch. How does that sound?"
She cocked her head like she thought he was trying to pull her leg and he batted playfully at her. Flapping her stubby wings at him, Kisari clicked her beak a few centimeters from his arm as if to say she wasn't about to let him get away with that, though he knew it was merely a playful gesture. They had done this many times before and both of them enjoyed the mock fight. Sometimes Cloud could swear she was actually speaking to him in her own way.
They stepped from the narrow passage into a cavern with beautiful fluted shapes dangling from the ceiling like the pipes of an ornate organ. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. The place looked familiar but… Pulling out the map, he checked to make sure he was heading in the right direction then pursed his lips, frowning as he realized he had passed the cave he wanted. He sighed and turned to go back, bumping into Kisari. She planted her feet, thinking he was playing with her again and he reached out to stroke her neck, soothing the ruffled feathers.
"Wrong room," he explained. She warbled in a questioning tone and he shook his head. "Sorry," he mumbled, "my mistake."
They went back through the tight passage -to her obvious disgust -turned right and followed a long slippery path to another set of chambers. At one point he actually had to grab the chocobo's neck to keep from slipping and she squawked at him in annoyance before scrabbling with her own claws as the floor dipped unnoticed beneath her. Cloud was squashed against the wall, sharp edged rocks gouging into his back as he tried to keep them both from going down. He hung on a moment, gritting his teeth, until Kisari righted herself. She ducked her head, chagrined at being caught off guard like that and he laughed, rubbing his back. Luckily the sheath had taken most of the impact and he only felt a little bruised. It wasn't until they emerged from the passage that he heard the sound of wings flapping above his head and looked up. Bats! Cloud's response was instantaneous. He jumped forward to clear himself from the confines of the passageway and drew the Buster Sword from the sheath at his back. Kisari had also heard them and took up a position two meters behind him. She stretched out her neck and squawked angrily at the flying nuisances, but she had been with Cloud long enough to know how much room he needed to swing his sword and she made sure to keep her distance.
Cloud didn't like fighting bats. They were small and quick, making them hard to hit. Barret cursed up a storm every time they ran into the little pests because they sapped a person's strength with every bite, but hitting them proved to be nearly impossible! It was difficult enough to strike at the beasts with a sword let alone bullets, although for some strange reason Vincent's shots seemed to take them down more effectively than anyone else's attacks. He thought the quiet man might've put something special into his bullets, like explosive charges or something, but he couldn't be sure. Vincent never said. Of course, Cloud had never actually asked him either.
There were only four bats; not an unusual number this time. Cloud watched them cautiously as they flapped about, sword raised and balanced in his right hand while he kept his left out in case he needed to change position quickly. When two swooped toward him, he stepped aside automatically, grabbed the hilt with the other hand and used the momentum to sweep the blade around in a cross-slash. He jumped back as soon as the blade finished its arc and glanced up quickly to see where the others were. Kisari squawked a warning and he turned immediately, whipping the sword up without thinking. Two more bats flew toward him from the passageway he and Kisari had just left. Cloud growled. This was ridiculous! He concentrated on the single Materia in his sword, watched as it began to glow faintly then glanced up as the bats suddenly fluttered around his head. One dove at him while he was distracted and bit him in the neck, making him jump. Enraged, Kisari flashed past him and snapped at the little beast. She caught it in midair and shook it with all her might, finally tossing it hard into the nearest wall. Cloud staggered as two more bats bit him in the neck and shoulder, draining him of energy and magic. He straightened, gritting his teeth, and focused all his attention on the Materia. It brightened instantly and he felt the magic surge through him. He slipped the sword into its sheath, gathered the energy into his hands, and threw it at the bats. The Bolt 3 spell hit them all a once, not doing as much damage as it would have if there'd been fewer to hit since it had a tendency to distribute itself evenly in an attack. But it had the required affect, dropping two out of the air instantly, while crippling the other three and slowing them down. Cloud grabbed his sword and swung it as they tried to gather themselves for another attack. Beside him Kisari snatched another one with her beak and snapped down hard until he heard the crunching sound that announced it wouldn't be moving again. Cloud's sword finished the last two and he looked around, checking to make sure the bats were all dead before he shook his sword clean and re-sheathed it. Kisari rushed up to peck gently at his head and shoulders like a mother hen making sure her chicks were alright and he batted her gently away.
"I'm okay, Kisari," he said after a quick check. The bites would heal and a little rest would take care of the effects. He shrugged, kicked one of the bats out of the way and pulled out the map again.
The mines weren't too difficult once he knew which passage to take and he easily found the room described in the letter. The crystal wasn't so easy to locate however. It took him almost an hour before he came across it in a tiny crack in the floor at the back of the chamber. Leaving Kisari to guard the entrance, he knelt beside the crack and studied the crystal, figuring out the best way of removing it without breaking any of the delicate flame-like protrusions. Finally he took out a leather bag, turned it inside-out, stuck his hand into it and reached down into the crack. He felt the base of the crystal flame, squeezing gently to test its brittleness. It felt pretty solid so he exerted a little more force and broke it off at the stem, then gently drew it out of the crack and wrapped the bag around it. Tying off the bag, he carried it over to Kisari. He used the straw inside the saddlebag to act as a cushioning agent, spreading it carefully around the crystal, then tied the saddlebag shut and shifted it a bit further up the chocobo's neck. Cloud secured the straps, making sure they were comfortable and not pinching Kisari in any way before he headed back toward the entrance to the Mines. When they reached a familiar chamber of natural stepping stones, he stopped for a brief rest and some lunch. Kisari warbled her satisfaction as he reached into the other saddlebag and pulled out a bundle of greens for her. She greedily gobbled them up, finishing the entire bundle before he'd even taken a bite of his own sandwich. Then she started nosing him, looking for more. He sighed and reached into the bag for another bundle.
"Greedy guts," he accused her as he set the second bundle of greens on the stone floor. "Now let me eat, okay?"
He looked around the cave as he took a bite and chewed, listening as she munched her greens. His ears told him the cave was empty at the moment, though he could hear the breeze as it whistled through the rock formations and there was the dripping of water from somewhere deeper inside the Mines. He knew of several places where water was present and didn't even try to guess which one it was. His ability to hear might be enhanced, but it was still difficult to focus on an echo. Both bird and man finished their respective meals without interruption from the local monster population and Cloud headed down the steps again, followed closely by Kisari.
The trip back to the Chocobo Ranch took almost no time at all and when he finally turned the gold chocobo into her stall after stripping off her bridle and saddlebags, she gave him a look that clearly told him she was not pleased. He smiled and slapped her gently on the neck.
"I promise I'll come back and take you for a longer ride next time," he told her as he followed her into the stall. She lowered her head so he could rub it, stretching her stubby wings with pleasure as he obediently did so. Finally he left the stall, closed the door, and latched it. Bending down, he opened the saddlebags to remove the crystal and Kisari stretched her head over the stall door to pull playfully at his hair. The other chocobos all hung their heads out as well and chortled at him. He grinned as he carried the leather bag to his motorcycle. He would definitely have to return and take them out for a ride. He didn't think any of his friends would be up to a casual ride just to stretch chocobo legs, especially not Barret, but it was the least he could do. He'd raised them to run and they'd been cooped up for a very long time. A short while later he drove out of the barn on the Fenrir and headed for the place on the map called Healin Lodge.
The place was located in the mountains west of Midgar and Cloud looked up at the series of waterfalls and cliffs in amazement. It was beautiful and he wondered why he'd never heard of it before. He kicked the bike into gear and started slowly up the winding dirt road, gazing around at the peaceful scenery. He noticed what looked like a small round building nestled amid the cliffs above him as he came around a turn in the road. Then he saw the sign mentioned in the letter. Cloud stopped the motorcycle as he drew even with it. Removing the bag with the crystal from the courier compartment, he carried it across to the side of the road. The bag of gil was below the sign as the letter had said it would be and he hefted it, gauging by the weight that the amount was approximately thirty thousand gil. Cloud wondered what the crystal would be used for and why it was worth so much. Then he shrugged. It was, after all, none of his business. He took the money, leaving the crystal in its place, and glanced up at the building. He stared at it a long moment, curious who had hired him. He thought he saw movement inside one of the darkened windows and tried to make out the hazy figure within. Then he remembered the warning in the letter. He didn't know if staring would count as a perceived attack, but there was no reason to wait and find out, so he turned away, mounted the bike and drove away.
Inside the building, a man shrouded in a white blanket sat propped up in a high-backed wheelchair. He looked out the window, watching as Cloud stared almost straight at him. When Cloud finally drove away down the mountain, he sighed and shifted slightly.
"Tseng," he said in a hoarse voice. A shadowy figure moved up beside him.
"Sir."
Tseng, the leader of the Turks, leaned down so he could hear the President better. Rufus' injuries had been so massive after the attack by Diamond Weapon that the Turks had spent days using every potion and elixir they could find just to keep him alive. He could barely move on his own, but his power over the Turks was absolute and their loyalty remained unquestioned.
"Bring it. Then I have another errand for you," the President rasped.
"Yes sir."
The trip to Midgar took less time than from it. The road that led from Healin Lodge to the city of Midgar was actually well maintained and it made Cloud wonder. Why would President Shinra bother to keep such a place connected to Midgar? Who lived there? He bit his lip, irritated by this sudden interest in something that probably would never cross his path again. Tapping the accelerator, he pushed the motorcycle to full speed and let the wind tear away his feelings of doubt. It was good to feel the wind in his face and not have to think, or act, or hurt.
Cloud didn't remember the toys until he entered Midgar. Thank goodness it was early in the evening so the shops were still open. He turned right, after passing through the gates, and circled the short apron to where a single highway led up to the Sector Plates. There was a network of highways and roads connecting the Sector Plates to each other, but only one which descended to the area below where one could reach either the gates or the slums. This highway opened into Sector 3 and Cloud didn't have to go very far before he spotted a toy store. Pulling over, he parked the bike outside a gaily lit establishment and walked cautiously inside. The moment he entered, his eyes were assaulted by bright colors; stuffed bears, rabbits and things he couldn't even begin to describe or name. He walked along the aisles, totally at a loss as to what a six or seven year old child might want. He'd never had any toys to speak of when he was a child and what he remembered didn't even come close to what he was seeing here! Half an hour later he was still trying to decide. This was taking longer than fighting a battle!
"May I help you?"
Cloud jumped, startled. He hadn't heard anyone come up beside him. He turned to see the salesman standing at his elbow and his lips twitched. If he ever found himself trying to buy toys again, he'd better make sure there were no monsters nearby or he'd be dead before he noticed!
"Um… yes," he stumbled over the words, heart still pounding. He turned to look at the shelves. "I want to buy some toys but I haven't got the slightest idea what kids want."
"New father?" the salesman enquired with a smile.
Cloud lowered his head and shook it slowly, hiding the stricken look that flashed across his face. Keep it under control, he told himself. The salesman didn't know the circumstances. He was only guessing from what he saw; one man alone, trying to pick out a toy. To anyone else he might well have looked like a new father. When he managed to school his features appropriately, Cloud looked up.
"Sort of," he admitted softly. He gestured at the shelves. "Actually, I was hoping to find something for a few children I know. Two girls and a boy?"
"How old?" the salesman asked.
Cloud was caught off guard. "About… six to eight years old, I think." The salesman cast him a questioning glance to which he merely shrugged.
"Well," the man turned and led the way to the back of the store. He pointed to a row of shelves. "For the girls I would suggest stuffed toys… The moogle is a favorite right now." He indicated a stuffed white thing with a ball poking up out of its head on a long springy stalk. Cloud looked askance at it. He couldn't even tell what a 'moogle' was! The salesman saw his disbelief and grinned reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I don't know what it's supposed to be either. But I can assure you that the girls love it."
"What about the boy?" Cloud stared at the 'moogle', trying to decide whether he really wanted to buy the thing, and the salesman moved to another shelf and took down a wooden train. Cloud instantly recognized it as a small copy of a Shinra engine. He smiled as the salesman handed him the wooden toy. The details were astonishing.
"So!" the salesman sounded triumphant. "The train, a moogle and…"
Cloud scanned the shelves. The moogle would be more appropriate for Natali but Krysta seemed more delicate for some reason. Then he spotted a doll in a purple kimono and knew what he was getting for the little girl. When he reached for it, the salesman chuckled knowingly. With his arms stuffed with toys, Cloud followed him back to the front of the shop and paid for them. The salesman wrapped each one individually then placed them carefully in a large shopping bag. He waved as Cloud left the store.
"Come back anytime!" he called out.
Cloud nodded, thinking 'Not in my lifetime' as he gently shut the shop door behind him.
It took even more time to carefully arrange the oversized shopping bag inside the courier compartment. When he was finished, the sun had already dipped below the horizon and Cloud decided to return to Tifa's first. He would get an early start tomorrow morning and drop off the toys at Elmyra's. He might even be lucky enough to find Denzel on the way. Of course, that would entail another trip to the toy store. Cloud shuddered. He sealed the compartment lid and straddled the bike. The engine gave a throaty growl ashe started it up and he tapped the accelerator, tucking his legs into the footrests as the motorcycle leaped forward. One thing at a time, he told himself.
