I honestly don't know if any of you would believe what all has happened in the last few weeks to delay this chapter, but despite all of that there is finally a chapter here for you now! To make a really long story short I've been working almost every day, or I'm being called in to work on my days off, I somehow got put on a committee to brainstorm ideas for a new Anime/Gaming convention in my area (still don't know how I got in this position), and more working. I've been selfish this week and I was somehow given a 3 day weekend and I've refused to go in despite being called up every day because I need the time off. And now you all get a new chapter out of it!
Now I have good news and bad news for my wonderful readers. The good news is that I'm going to pull everything I've got to get out at least a chapter a week until school starts, two a week if I can manage since I'm much farther behind than I would like. And the bad news is that school starts in two weeks, but I'll have about two weeks after that to squeeze out a couple more chapters before the papers and projects start again.
I would like to note that in this chapter two characters are in here that I did not think that I would use since I'm not as familiar with their game(s), but I really needed to believable characters that I do not plan to already use in the future. So you get these two (read to find out who)!
Well I think that is enough from me for now, I'm sure that you are all eager to jump in to this delayed chapter. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Warning: None for this chapter
Chapter 9
The rest of the night flew by in a blur for Cloud. Between multiple introductions to new people and being kept on the sidelines once again as new traveling plans are discussed between the others in the room, the blond neko eventually stops trying to pay attention to all of the new information.
By the time Leon and Queen Ashe finally settle their plans for the next day all Cloud has really retained from their discussions is that there will be one more stop before they finally leave directly for Hallow Bastion, and that at this stop they are supposed to be meeting up with two more of Leon's old friends. Two individuals by the names of Demyx and Zexion, who apparently had left Rabanastre earlier that same day.
Anything beyond that is a mystery to Cloud. He can only hope that they will be leaving this city soon. The heat that seems to radiate from every stone of the palace puts extra strain and stress on Cloud. And that only adds to his desire to leave not only Rabanastre, but to leave Leon as soon as it seems safe enough to do so.
Cloud is tired of having to follow Leon blindly while being pushed to the side whenever something his happening. He knows that he and Leon are very different, Leon seeming more educated and knowledgeable about the world and its workings, and himself having only his limited knowledge gleaned from his life in the kennels and from his time with Sephiroth and Genesis.
He figures that he will continue to follow Leon to Hallow Bastion, and as soon as he is comfortable enough with his surroundings, he will simply leave Leon and find his own way from there on. He wants to not have to rely on anyone except himself after everything that has happened, and especially not on someone who keeps him in the dark all of the time.
As the night gives way to the early rays of morning, thoughts very similar to those that have come about during the night still plague Cloud. A part of him wants to hold back, to remain with the similar pattern of following after Leon just as he as followed after every other master in the past, but another part of him still calls for the freedom that can only come by striking out on his own and leaving his past behind.
Whatever Cloud has to decide, he knows that he still has some time; after all they still have one more stop before the final leg of the journey to Hallow Bastion.
….
In what seems to less than an hour, Vaan is leading Cloud and Leon to the airship that will take them to their last stop before Hallow Bastion. As they reach the airship Vaan leads Leon to go talk to the captain, Balthier, while Fran leads Cloud into the large ship.
As Fran leads him through the ship, Cloud takes note of the other nekos and humans that are also aboard for this part of the journey. Many of them sport the natural tan that comes from living in a place like Rabanastre, but others are paler and still have clothing similar to what Cloud himself has been wearing since leaving Midgar.
While he supposes that this should bring some sort of relief or a greater sense of ease about this part of the trip, it does nothing but make his unease with the situation grow even stronger. The last time he was in a situation similar to this was when he was back in the kennels, an experience that he wishes with every fiber of his being to not repeat.
Cloud is forced out of his musings as he runs into Fran, not noticing that she had stopped and has been waiting for him to catch up. She says noting but opens a service door into a small cargo hold.
"You will be traveling here for the remainder of the flight. Since everywhere else in the ship will become much warmer during the flight, you and your cooler climate kinds will be in this storage bay which is the coolest place on the ship during flight." She gestures to the two figures that have already found a spot on the floor to claim as their own for the flight. "These two will be your traveling companions until we land in just a few hours."
When she sees that Cloud is not going to give any outward response, she turns and leaves, making sure to close the service door behind her.
Unsure of what to do with himself, Cloud takes a seat on the floor across from his traveling companions. He talks a moment to look them over, and allows himself to relax a bit with what he finds.
His two companions are both nekos, a mother and her cub. The mother has straight blond hair that hangs around her neck and small golden ears poking out of her hair. She has more layers on than the cub, indicating that the cub is most likely the neko built for cooler climates and she just wants to make sure that they are together for the duration of the flight.
The cub is still much smaller than Cloud, and has most likely just hit the first major growth spurt recently. His short whitish-silver hair makes him seem older than he most likely is. Two round white ears with black tips lay almost flat against his head in uncertainty.
Cloud is a bit taken aback to see that the cub is holding his rather thick and fluffy tail in a very similar fashion to what Cloud used to do before his collar was removed. And while it might be a trivial fact, it lets Cloud allow himself to relax a bit more, especially since both of them are wearing clothing that indicates that they are both from Midgar and would be able to understand each other more than most others.
Even with all of this information, Cloud does not make a move to join them, or even to make contact with them. Instead, he leans back against the wall and tries to not let the jarring motions of the airship upset his stomach too much as they finally take off and begin their journey.
After the flight begins to even out a hand enters his field of vision. Cloud looks up to see the mother of the neko pair holding out her hand to him. Not knowing exactly what she wants from him, Cloud stays where he is and simply stares at the offered hand.
After a minute the hand is replaced at the woman's side. "My name is Mrs. Estheim. I was wondering if you would like to join my son and I for the rest of the trip. No need to stay in the corner by yourself if there is company."
Cloud considers what she says for a moment before deciding that she means no harm to him. He slowly rises to his feet and crosses the small room with her to sit next to her while her son is on the other side. Once settled, he feels Mrs. Estheim nudge her cub, encouraging him to say something.
Shakily, the cub offers out a gloved hand to Cloud. "I'm Hope, Hope Estheim."
"Cloud."
"So Cloud," Mrs. Estheim begins, "Where are you going?" Seeing Cloud's look of confusion, she tries to elaborate. "Practically everyone on this ship is going in different directions, and since I'm guessing that you are like us and are from Midgar, you are probably heading to one of the refugee camps. Am I right?"
"Actually I'm traveling with someone, he says that we're going to Hallow Bastion." Cloud shakes his head. "Well if we ever actually get there, that is." He adds under his breath.
"Why Hallow Bastion of all places?" Hope pipes up. "They've been just about as stable as Midgar has the last few years. Between their political unrest and the fact that they blame Midgar for the death of several members of their royal family, I'm not sure that it's the safest place to go right now."
Cloud's brow furrows in confusion. Why would Leon take them to such a place if it is truly as unstable as the Estheim's say it is? Wouldn't it be better for them to go elsewhere?
Somewhere, Cloud feels that there is a piece of information missing from what Leon is telling him. Why is it that he would lead them to such a dangerous place without a good reason for it? And why isn't Leon telling him that reason?
Cloud tried to distract himself. "What about you? Where are you going?"
Mrs. Estheim hesitates for a moment. "We still have quite a long journey. My mate is waiting for us far into the area of Grand Pulse. He left before us to make sure that we would be able to make it out and have somewhere to stay once we got out of Midgar." She pauses. "You could come with us if you want. If you don't want to risk going to Hallow Bastion that is. I'm sure that my mate wouldn't mind us helping you out until you can get back on your feet. The area we're settling in is called Cocoon, it's one of the largest and oldest neko settlements still in existence."
To Cloud, Mrs. Estheim could not have asked him anything more tempting.
Even though he has only known the two for a few minutes, he feels more at ease around them than around anyone else he has met so far on this trip. He wants to take her up on her offer, to go somewhere that is supposed to be safe and to live his own life. It is more than he could have ever dreamed for.
And yet something deep inside is telling him not to take the offer, that something even more important will be waiting for him in Hallow Bastion.
"Your offer is far to generous, and as much as I would like to take you up on it, something is telling me to go to Hallow Bastion. It's almost like something is calling me to finish this trip with Leon and continue to follow him there."
"Well, it sounds like that is what you should do then." Cloud looks up to her in surprise. "When it comes to something like this, it's better to trust your instincts and let them lead you to where you're supposed to be. Besides," she pokes him in the arm. "It almost sounds like you're being led to someone very special that must in Hallow Bastion."
Cloud's face heats up at that comment, and he remains silent, hoping that she'll drop the subject.
Thankfully, Hope comes to his aid. "Hey Mom, since we still have some time left, do you still have that tablet you took from back home?"
Mrs. Estheim flinches at the term 'home', but she digs in her thick coat and pulls out a slim black glass tablet and pen. "What do you need it for, Hope?"
Hope gives her a shy smile. "I want to practice writing the letters you showed me. I want to try to be as far along as I can when we reach Cocoon."
Mrs. Estheim smiles. "I have a better idea. Cloud, do you want to help Hope with his letters for now? It'll give you something to do besides sitting there red as a tomato."
Cloud stills. His heart begins to pick up as a sense of shame washes over him.
"Cloud?"
"I can't Ma'am."
"Why not Cloud? I'm sure that you'll be a great teacher."
"I – I don't know my letters Ma'am." The shame is thick in his throat as chokes out the words. He closes his eyes and turns away from the pair, hoping that they will move on so that he can suffer his shame on his own.
He hears some silent scuffling as one of them stands up and makes their way to sit next to him. He can feel soft eyes on him as the cool glass tablet is placed in his hands. "Well if you don't know them, then why don't I teach you? That way we can both learn to get them right."
Cloud slowly opens his eyes and stares in to Hope's sincere ones. Somehow Cloud knows that this cub thinks nothing less of him even though Cloud does not know this basic skill that he does. Cloud slowly nods his head in acceptance.
Hope proceeds to show him how to hold the pen for the tablet, as well as how to best hold the tablet. Then he guides Cloud's hand in a series of rough strokes before he stops and pulls his hand away.
"This is the best way to start. If you can learn to spell you name than anything after that just seems easier. Or at least it does to me" He points at each letter. "C – L – O – U – D, that's your name written out, Cloud."
Cloud traces a hand over the letters, a sense of ease and importance dawns on him as stares at what the letters make. Slowly and very unevenly, he tries to copy Hope's movements beneath the first set of letters.
When he is finished he can clearly see that his writing is very bad compared to Hope's, but the fact that he can still tell that the letters are similar brings a spark of pride to his heart.
While he would never admit it to anyone, he's always wanted to learn to write his own name, but that is something that unless your master lets you learn, a neko would never learn to do. But yet here he is, a neko that has just spelled out his name for the first time, and one without a master to his even greater realization.
To Cloud, it is almost as though he as obtained a small sense of that freedom that he so desperately wants.
A small smile manages to come out at this.
….
Learning how to write his own name gives Cloud a strong determination to learn as much as he can from the Estheim's. Hope guides him through the alphabet, and his mother corrects him if anything is out of order or shaped incorrectly.
Through the remaining time of the flight, Cloud practices his letter to where he can almost make them as well as Hope can. He can recite most of his alphabet in the correct order, and he can start to see how the sound of each letter can connect to others to make written words.
He remains so caught up in learning, that when the door to the cargo area opens and Fran comes in to collect them, he is surprised by how much time has passed in such a seemingly short period of time.
The three of them follow her out of the ship and into the bright world outside.
People and nekos move about quickly as they depart from the airship and search for acquaintances and loved ones that may have wandered off on the flight. But eventually they all seem to find one another and set off in their own directions, most often to other loading areas of more airships.
When nearly all of the other nekos and humans have left, Leon walks up to Cloud and the Estheim's. He takes a moment to give Mrs. Estheim a slight nod before gesturing for Cloud to follow him.
Before he follows Leon, Cloud turns back to the Estheim's. "I can't thank you enough for all you have done for me in the last few hours. I've only met one other person who would have gone out of their way to do something like that for a total stranger, so I still have a hard time believing that you would have done something like that for someone like me."
Mrs. Estheim takes one of Cloud's hands tightly. "You have nothing to worry about or to thank us for. It's just what anyone who's been through a similar situation would do. Though I am happy that you enjoyed it so much. Maybe, when you get to Hallow Bastion you can learn how to write even better, and then you can tell us all about what you are learning."
Cloud smiles shyly. "I think that I would enjoy that."
Mrs. Estheim smiles at him before taking Hope's hand. "Well come on Kiddo, it's time for us to hit the road before we make you father worry too much." She gives Cloud a small nod and a smile before heading off towards one of the other waiting airships.
As Cloud watches them leave, he is surprised when Hope runs from his mom and runs up to Cloud only to hug him around the waist. "Thank you for showing me that there are others out there that still have hope left."
With that he turns and runs back to his mother, leaving a very confused Cloud behind.
As Cloud wanders over to Leon, he cannot help but notice the smug smile that the older neko is trying to hide.
"What?"
"Seems that maybe this trip hasn't been all bad, now has it?"
Cloud doesn't respond, instead he simply walks off in the same direction that Leon was originally heading.
He head the older neko give a deep chuckle before Leon is at his side once more. However, they do not get too far before they hear two squabbling voices drifting from in front of them.
After a moment Leon calls out, "Demyx! Zexion!"
Two nekos turn to look at him; their mouths open in shock and disbelief at the sight before them. A moment passes before the blond one of the two leaps forward and attacks Leon is a large hug.
"Squally!"
Well there you have it, the chapter that has once again been delayed for far too long. This is the last chapter that I really have not had completely planned out until it was written, so the updates should be much more frequent after this.
I wish you all the best of luck with whatever you do this week and I hope to hear from you all soon!
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