First Iteration

Cloud Strife knew very well that he didn't look like much; he was short for his age and skinny with big blue eyes in a slender, delicate face topped by a shock of golden hair like a Chocobo's crest. But he was more than just a pretty country boy with dreams bigger than his body could handle: He was almost fourteen years old, had been wandering the planet with his mentor for the past three years and knew more about weapons, Materia, death, survival and ShinRa than most people three times his age.

The young teen sat patiently on the high cliffs above the city of Midgar, going through his possessions as his and Vincent's Chocobos grazed and warked quietly behind him. Since leaving Nibelhein his life had been a mess of ups and downs, exciting adventures and hard lessons but he refused to regret a single minute of it. As his hands automatically went about their work Cloud let his mind drift, remembering the whens and wheres of his most valuable tools and treasures.

This red orb was the Odin summon Vincent had given him in the truck on the way to Rocket town, less than a day after they left Nibelhein. Cloud had been miserably drowsy from the motion sickness medication Vincent insisted he take, but that brief conversation had stuck in his mind.

"For emergencies," the red-eyed former Turk had said quietly, tucking the Materia into a pouch on Cloud's belt. "Everyone needs an ace up their sleeve."

Cloud had only used Odin a few times, but by Gaia he'd needed it then.

This purple one was Chocobo Lure he had pickpocketed from a traveller in Rocket Town six weeks into their stay there. It had been new and barely used then and as a reward for his successful theft Vincent had taken him out into the wilderness to find a Chocobo. They had eventually found two good birds and Cloud had spent the next three days learning how to care for, ride and breed Chocobos while Vincent told him stories about Grimoire Valentine's Chocobo racing stable. It was one of the few times the blond had ever heard his stoic mentor ramble about the past so he had engraved the entire conversation in his memory and treasured every single word. The purple Materia was mastered now and the original Chocobos were the grandparents of their current black-feathered mounts.

This pair of green spheres were his Heal and Restore Materia, both only recently mastered. They were the ones Vincent had got for him and used to teach Cloud how to cast spells. He'd had them longer than any of his Materia other than Odin. He didn't use them all that much, which said a lot about how protective Vincent was of him and how awesome the former Turk was as a teacher.

This yellow Materia was the Sense he'd bought in Junon while Vincent was hacking into the Turk database again and was part of the reason the blond didn't need to use Heal or Restore very often. He had mastered it ages ago, since he kept it equipped almost constantly in one weapon or another.

Loose Materia sorted, Cloud took off his Dragon Armlet -which had been a trophy from a massive red dragon Vincent had gone Chaos on- and got on with checking and cleaning the three pairs of linked Materia in their slots. Three blue support Materia, two paired with green and one with yellow. Counter linked with Steal to prevent enemies from making off with his stuff, Added Effect linked with Seal to protect from Sleep and Silence spells and a second Added Effect linked to a Time Materia. Those last two pairs protected him from most status-affecting attacks and the Dragon Armlet itself halved fire, lightening and ice damage so Cloud was very well-protected.

Armour dealt with, Cloud moved onto his weapons.

First his switchblades and stiletto, each with a single Materia slot. The stiletto held a Poison that was more for distraction than actually killing people, another Materia he'd pickpocketed rather than bought, found or been given. The switchblades held Fire and Ice respectively, both bought in Costa del Sol last year when a very odd Turk with strawberry blond hair and sunglasses took him shopping and spent most of three hours explaining in detail how to make bombs from household items and scavenged bits and pieces. He had mentioned in passing that he was in Costa del Sol under house arrest for failing an important mission, but that the beach wasn't all that bad considering. At the end of their afternoon together the man had ruffled Cloud's hair, slipped him a level two Earth Materia and told him to 'Shake the world, kid'. Cloud had learned later that Vincent had set up a series of distractions so the disgraced Turk could get away from his watchers for a few hours. That the odd man had used the time to take Cloud shopping, chat about explosives, politics and Chocobo racing was just one of life's mysteries.

The Earth Materia was equipped in his cleaver-like knife, linked to a Sneak Attack he'd won racing Chocobos in Gold Saucer when he was twelve. Being small for his age was a real advantage for a Chocobo jockey; he'd been invited to come back anytime and race professionally by several different people.

His next weapon was the beautiful Yoshiyuki katana he'd got in Rocket town on his last visit, far too big for him yet still ineffably perfect in his hands. While they were in Gonaga six months ago Vincent had somehow persuaded a quiet, bespectacled Turk to teach Cloud the basics of how to wield a sword for eight weeks before the man vanished again. All the blond had as a memento of that encounter was three dozen kata to practice, the Turk's name -Seto- and a promise that the serious, lightning-quick fighter would be dropping in again sometime to gauge his progress.

Yoshiyuki had two separate Materia slots and was equipped with a Lightning and a Counter Attack, both fairly old, mastered and much loved. The Counter Attack had been a reward for successfully breaking into the ShinRa security centre last time they were in Midgar and fiddling the security cameras so Vincent could get in and out of the Science Department to steal a bunch of data without leaving any evidence behind. Cloud hadn't needed to succeed, but it had made Vincent's part a whole lot easier. That his infiltration had gone off without a hitch had won him an independent Materia and a quiet 'Well done' that had made his heart swell with delight; Vincent was not generous with praise.

His favourite blades, the pair of thirteen-inch knives, he saved until last. Each had a set of paired Materia equipped and the option for a single and he had run most of his Materia through them at least once. Vincent insisted that versatility was important so Cloud had tried all sorts of combinations on them. Currently one blade held All and Contain while the other had Gravity and Elemental. The empty slots would be equipped with his loose Odin and Sense if it ever came to a fight.

Blades cleaned and hidden on his person, Cloud pulled his only gun out of its holster and set about the tedious process of taking it apart, cleaning every single piece and slotting it back together again. He had no talent for guns but Vincent had made sure the blond could take the recoil and hit what he shot at; not inspired by any means, but capable. The former Turk had given him a Peacemaker, which Cloud had equipped with a Destruct linked to an Added Effect -he had three of that useful little blue orb- and a Reflect just for the hell of it.

Cloud only had one more Materia, an Enemy Away that was almost as heavily used as his Sense and was knotted into a pendant around his neck.

Weapons cleaned, ordered and properly put away, Cloud lay back to stare at the early morning sky as he was lulled into a doze by the rustling of leaves and occasional Chocobo wark.

Cloud, aged thirteen and eight months. This is a sort-of interlude just to give an idea of what he and Vincent have been up to.