Title: Mako Blood
Author: Garnet Eyes
Archived: fanfiction. net, garnetmoon. livejournal. com, y-gallery. net
Summary: A series of unrelated shorts from freehand writing. Each chapter is intended to be based on a different "theme."
Rating: K
Characters/Pairings: Cloud, Sephiroth, Zack
Author Notes: As a challenge to myself, I am trying to limit these to be between one and three pages of text in Open Office. It may be noted that some of the short fictions involve snippets that are identical to longer pieces. This is due to those particular short fictions originally being written intentionally as part of the longer works but then discarded as unsuitable and later edited and revised to be separate entities.
Disclaimers: Final Fantasy VII is owned by Squaresoft and I in no way, shape, or form profit off of my writing. This is simply for my own pleasure, and may at any time be removed and/or modified as I see fit.
~~ 010 Hidden
"You wish to be an instructor, then?"
Amused sapphire eyes twinkled as the SOLDIER canted his head to the side, splayed out in an undignified fashion on one of the chairs in the General's office.
"Only if I get to form my own class."
Blinking once, Sephiroth returned to his work from his careful examination of the young brunette. Zackary was never completely predictable, no matter how long the General had observed him.
"Special training would not be a wholly unwelcome idea. Perhaps I shall see if other SOLDIERs would be interested."
Zackary shifted in his seat, resituating himself as he spoke.
"Competition, eh? I thought the mentor program was enough for most SOLDIERs."
Allowing a slight smirk, the silver warrior neatly signed off on the report as he replied.
"That system is unofficial as far as any Shin-Ra employee outside of the army is concerned. Shinra, in accordance with Heidegger's wishes and undoubtedly Professor Hojo's concerns, will not permit the formalization of such a practice. While SOLDIER is tightly knit, the rest of the army is vast and in general the faces are forgettable."
The frown marring Zackary's face was wholly expected. Sephiroth himself was not fond of how the other groups were treated. He had yet to be able to prove anything, but the General found it suspect that soldiers going MIA while stationed in Midgar only disappeared on dates that corresponded to Hojo leaving to check on projects in other research facilities.
"I feel a more formalized class might pass criteria, seeing as it would be more like giving useful training to those individuals earmarked by various offices."
Still frowning, the brunette sighed and nodded.
"Alright. You can see, but I still claim rights to final call of who's in my class."
Keeping his amusement from surfacing, the silver warrior inclined his head in a blankly curious gesture.
"You have someone in mind, I take it?"
The frown vanished in an instant, replaced by a brilliant grin.
"Spike, of course."
Of course. Sephiroth had already expected that. The silver warrior had already done his research on the little anomaly, taking great pains to make certain that he remained undetected in the system so that there would be no potential risk for the boy from sources inside the company. The short blonde was an impressive creature, the General had to admit: he was fast and agile, with untapped potential in utilizing materia and none of his instructors were wise to his skill with a blade. Young Strife Cloud had a surprisingly sturdy body for an unenhanced human but was not particularly skilled with a gun, the weapon which all recruits were required to use unless picked up by another outfit, according to every instructor review tacked to his profile. Nor did he seem very quick-witted in classroom environments based on his testing scores. It was shear chance that the silver warrior had come across the blonde practicing a phenomenally difficult kata with a broken and only somewhat moulded tree branch as a counter-balance in place of a sword. Uncertain as to why the child remained obviously unmentored when the maneuvers he readily performed with his makeshift sword were generally taught to SOLDIER thirds and mastered by SOLDIER seconds, Sephiroth held back and studied the tiny form. Actions that required great flexibility and balance were accomplished without strain multiple times, proving that it was not simply blind luck, and so Sephiroth made his unceremonious approach.
The little blonde fumbled when he spotted the SOLDIER and saluted sharply, looking much like a beaten puppy when the elite stopped at his side. It was only through subtle tactics that the General realized that the little soldier expected to be reprimanded for his actions, which were outside of normal military conduct. Far more curious about the youth's abilities, Sephiroth hinted at apathy toward writing the soldier up and instead queried about his weapon's teacher, clarifying when the teen replied with the name of the general rifle instructor. The answer that the elite received was startling; this little blonde child had taught himself by studying the moves of the SOLDIERs warming up and sparring during his free periods. That type of mimicry was beyond the normal, especially when the General confirmed from further observation that the teen was completely incapable of doing the most basic katas, which he had no knowledge of and obviously had not seen yet. It was a truly fascinating puzzle that he unfortunately did not have the time nor the resources to go about solving himself. However, he was not about to allow such talent to go to waste and expertly manipulated his young brunette friend into being in the correct place at the correct time to witness exactly what talent the military was ignoring. As predicted, Zackary latched on to the little soldier immediately and began working with him daily. The youth was completely unaware of Zackary's relationship to Sephiroth, or perhaps simply did not believe it prudent to mention their previous encounter, for the brunette remained fully under the impression that he had found the boy entirely on his own and Sephiroth allowed the belief with no particular urge to correct it.
"That would be your blonde soldier, if I recall. What would make him worthy of being in your class?"
Puffing up as if personally offended by the implication that the young soldier was nothing special, Zackary locked Mako-tainted sapphire eyes on the head SOLDIER.
"Kid's a lot better than he thinks he is. He's got real talent but he suffers from too much humility, if you ask me. I bet he'd make a great SOLDIER. Might even kick my ass one day and then kick yours."
Raising one fine silver brow, more amused than anything else, the elite suppressed a smirk and leaned back in his seat. There was no possible way that the brunette was unaware of the laughter in jade eyes, sapphire eyes alight in equal mirth as the younger SOLDIER stretched his arms over his head and winked as he lowered them back to the armrests.
"My money's on the kid, old timer."
Snorting, the silver warrior returned his focus to the stack of reports on his desk and fondly thought that young Zackary was far too impudent for his skills. After all, the little blonde was going to beat him first according to the brunette's own prediction.