Chapter 10: We're in!
Vincent stood by the bed, Cloud had been lying there for a few hours now, his face was drawn and pale, Vincent could see his eyes moving rapidly behind the lids as though having a nightmare, something that he knew a lot about. The nurse had said that he had had some broken ribs, and they had been slowly grating on his organs. It would have been life threatening if the Gnat hadn't have hit him and caused Cloud some serious pain that he just couldn't ignore anymore having caused a rib to puncture one of his organs. Vincent wasn't sure which one; he was too worried about Cloud to listen to the technicalities. The doctor and a dark haired girl, called Rinoa, had healed Cloud, it seemed that the cure and other healing materia (or whatever it was that they used here) were more powerful than their materia or potions. Even though Cloud was Sephiroth's puppet, he had travelled with the man for months, and after Cloud had awaken him from his nightmares in the coffin, Vincent was indebted to him, whether the blonde man/boy knew it or not. He wouldn't let Cloud die; he'd just have to sort out the matter of the mission later, but he would protect Cloud and make sure that he healed properly, he owed him that at least. He hoped that away from Sephiroth's influence the real Cloud would return, it hadn't even been a day yet, there was still time.
Squall walked into the Infirmary, Vincent was still there, looking over his blonde brother. "You okay?"
Vincent yawned and nodded his head
"When's he coming 'round?"
The raven haired boy shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, the Doctor says that he should be awake by tomorrow morning, but I'd say its more likely he'll wake up in a hour or so." Vincent tried to suppress a shiver, as he thought of the women in the white coat, doctors and other people in white coats freaked in out, properly because Hojo and the other scientists that had worked on him had worn them.
"Why do you think that?"
He shrugged again.
'What's his problem? He's really stuck up; maybe he thinks he's better than the rest of us, we're not good enough for him to talk to. Then again maybe he's just worried, I'm sure I'd be if I had a brother who had just been healed from such an injury'
Squall looked at the boy, he was only a few years younger than him according to the paper's he had filled in; he looked younger, but acted older and colder than was normal for a kid his age. Life was strange, the boy acted just like he did only a year or so ago. Squall left the room, deciding to tell Vincent that they were both welcome to join Garden whenever they wanted to later. He'd left them rest for now and tell the brothers in the morning, and he'd ask them about their real training, because no one could get that strong without help. He walked out of the Infirmary, and decided to find Rinoa.
The next morning:
Vincent woke up, his head had been resting awkwardly on the bed and a blanket covered his body, he rubbed his neck trying to work a crick out of it, Cloud had gone. He jumped up out of the chair, and quickly searched the Infirmary…he wasn't there. Vincent ran out of the room, starting to panic slightly, but kept his face calm, as he got to the end of the corridor he started to walk, trying to keep to an even pace, not wanting to seem to be worried or in a rush. A few bandages were still clinging to his left arm, he tied them round his arm and put in hand in his pocket to hide to golden claw from anyone looking, it was lucky that only the bits around where his hand would be had been damaged. He quickly inspected it, it looked good enough for now; he hoped no one had noticed it while he had slept. He walked around the fountain anticlockwise, ignoring those who called out to him in his haste. Cloud wasn't in the entrance, Library, Training Centre or Garage, he walked down the corridor to the Cafeteria, 'I should really have looked here first knowing Cloud' he saw Cloud sitting at a table at the back of the room, with Zell and Squall, each eating a hot dog.
"Cloud!" Vincent said louder than he intended to, causing a few startled glances in his direction. Cloud looked up at the sound of his name, Vincent noticed that Cloud had remembered to wear the sunglasses he had given him. He was mildly surprised, sometimes Cloud had a memory like a sieve when it came to things like that.
"What?" Cloud glared, as Vincent got nearer to the table
"You feeling better?"
"Obviously"
"Erm…well…good. What happened with that Gnat?"
"That's none of your business."
"Cloud, you shouldn't be so rude to your brother" A voice behind Vincent said, it was Instructor Trepe his nose told him, having recognised her scent. To others Cloud's expression was blank, but to Vincent's keen eyes he was frowning slightly in rage, probably because he had never liked people giving him orders, well apart from Sephiroth that was. Vincent never figured out why Cloud had joined SOLDIER and then become a mercenary if he hated authority so much.
"Quistis, you alright?" Asked Zell
"Yes, you?"
"I'm okay." He said, he got up and started to shadow box to prove it, with half a hot dog hanging out of his mouth
"Are you eating hot dogs for breakfast?"
"Yep"
"You guys are sick" Zell and Squall smiled at her "Which, remind me, you okay Cloud? Are you sure you should be up?"
"I'm fine, healed completely." He rapped his ribs with his fists in an ape-like manner, 'good old Mako and its brilliant healing properties'
"I'm not surprised, Rinoa used Curaga on you, and she's the most powerful magic user in any Garden. Zell, stop it and sit down, your spraying us all with hotdog."
"Well, now that we're all here, we've got something to tell you two." Squall said to Cloud and Vincent, as Zell grudgingly sat down "We have decided to accepted you both into Garden. Depending on you both working hard, we'd be proud to have you." Squall held out his hand formally for them to shake, and thus seal the deal.
"Great, thanks." Cloud said, taking his hand
'What? That's it?' thought Squall, 'I would've thought they'd have had more enthusiasm than that, if anything Vincent looks nervous, but that's not shocking a lot of people are nervous when they first join.'
"Yes, thank you for letting us join." Vincent shook Squall's hand next, Squall was more than a little confused, each of their words showed one emotion, while their gestures and faces showed another, he couldn't tell if the brothers were really pleased or not about joining.
"Now that you're in Garden, you both have rooms here, though they are double rooms, so you will have to share, but not with each other. We've found that when we put family members together it can lead to a mini war." The three SeeDs chuckled as they remembered two sisters who had been put together a few years ago, they had to be separated after it was discovered some of the pranks they had 'played' on each other, ranging from monster slime in boots to chunks of hair being shaved off in their sleep. "So you'll both be put with other cadets, and have a SeeD assigned to you both to help train you."
Vincent finally sat down on a chair between Miss Trepe and Zell, and looked at Cloud out of the corner of his eye, to find that Cloud was looking back at him too.
"Which brings me to the matter of Zell, seeing as his previous two charges eloped a few days ago, he will be your new trainer."
"OH YEAH!" Zell shouted, banging back his chair as he jumped up, wildly punching the air.
"I didn't know you loved us that much," Cloud calmly said, "should we be scared?"
Zell sat back down blushing, "Sorry"
Everyone, bar Vincent who did so on the inside, started to laugh as though they had all been friends for years rather than less than a day. Somewhere deep inside Cloud a voice quietly told him that this group was like AVALANCHE, friends and family in one, and silently wept.
The next dayCloud woke up with a start in his new room, as a person sat heavily on his newly mended chest.
"Oy, get the heck off me, Tifa, I'm trying to sleep here!"
"Hmm…who's Tifa then?"
Cloud opened an eye and looked at the person making a seat out of him, he was about 15, short, with gelled up black hair and specialised in magic, or so he said, Cloud hadn't seen any materia on him, then again he'd only met the guy the night before "Erm…no one, Douse."
"…fine then, be like that."
Cloud sat up as the boy left the room in a huff and went into his own with a slammed door, as if Cloud had taken away some sort of great privilege of his, 'What's his problem? I don't even know the guy.' Faint morning light shone in through the window. The room was much better than the one he had shared while training in SOLDIER. It had a bed, wardrobe, shelves, desk, chair and bedside cabinet, it even had a carpet, it was a soft person's room all in all, not the hardened, white washed room that he had grown up in.
Cloud looked at his watch, it was 5.15 am, he sighed 'Might as well get dressed and get something to eat seeing as I'm up'. He got out of bed and got dressed; being careful to make sure that the ever-present bandage on his arm was tied up tightly before putting on his gloves and Escort Guard. Cloud looked at himself in the mirror before putting on the Turk sunglasses, his hair looked like it normally did; spiky, but his clothes were getting a bit tatty…and smelly, he needed to get some more. Cloud touched his face, he hadn't really seen it since Sephiroth used that faulty Time materia on him, he looked so young, Cloud hadn't seen his face between the ages of 16 to 21, it was going to take some getting used to. Cloud quickly turned away and put on his shoulder pad and Ultima Weapon, with the hilt sticking up over his shoulder like normal, he didn't like what he had seen in that mirror.
Cloud left the double room while equipping his material, more out of habit than out of need, and made his way to the Cafeteria, but it was closed. He wandered around the building for a bit before realising that he was the only one up and that the Training Centre was the only thing still open, so he headed out for a bit of a work out.
Vincent woke up when the little patch of sunlight in his room moved to across his face. 'What time is it?' Vincent looked at the clock on his desk; it was a little after 6.20 am, he sighed and decided to get up. He had always been an early riser, but this was later than he normally woke up. He, as a rule, saw the sun rise each morning, something that he and Lucrecia had done together every morning, that was before Hojo had shot him so long ago and she had left his life forever. The boy in the room next to his had wanted to talk all night, wanting to get to know the ex-Turk, Vincent had finally thrown him out at about 2 am when he couldn't take it anymore. His body ached for more sleep, he had forgotten how much sleep 16 year-old body needed, but routine made him get up. He quietly got dressed and brushed his hair, then made his way out of the dorms and walked around for a while, having remembering Turk rule number 3; 'Always know your terrain'. There were a few people about, each wearing a uniform or some of those strange clothes he had never seen before. Vincent touched his white shirt absently, he really needed more clothes, he felt exposed wearing it, with its short sleeves and flimsily material. He didn't like wearing the same clothes every day, but then again he had worn the same burgundy clothes almost every day since Cloud had woken him up from his nightmares in the Shinra mansion's basement.
A young man walked up to Vincent, he was wearing light brown clothes and a cowboy hat. He was idly swinging a rifle in his hand; the man walked up to Vincent and swung the weapon onto his shoulder. Vincent looked up to him, hating the fact that he was now so much shorter than most people, the man smiled, "Hi, I'm Irvine, I've been told you use sniper rifles."
Vincent wasn't sure if he liked the blunt attitude of this guy, but Sephiroth had ordered him to act like a 16 year old novice, so he would, "Yes sir, but I'm not very good at it, I've had some practice with one or two rifles."
"What sort?"
Vincent knew enough about guns to tell him absolutely everything about any type of handgun, rifle or shot gun ever made, ranging from the speed of rounds each gun shot out to what all the components were and how to put them together, but the cowboy wasn't supposed to know that. "I don't know, but it was long, made of wood, and you had to put in one bullet at a time. It was kind of heavy too and had a funny eye piece to look through." Vincent stopped himself from cringing with the completely stupid childlike explanation of the rifle.
"Hmmm…was it called the Sniper CR?"
"It was" Vincent was amazed, maybe Irvine wasn't as stupid as he looked in that outfit
Both walked towards a low wall by the entrance and sat down, talking excitedly about their chosen weapon type and how great it was.
Rinoa was stood outside, her knight by her side, trying to focus her internal magic into casting Thundaga onto a small pebble about 300 meters away. She couldn't see the pebble, but her power could find it, making it so that she could see it in her mind's eye, Squall's voice floated through her concentration, talking her through what she had to do.
"…concentrate, feel the stone, imagine it, every colour, every flaw, feel the pebble…"
She felt the energy building up inside her, she flicked a hand towards the grey pebble, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky a stuck about 20 cm away from the pebble, causing the pebble and surrounding ground to explode. The pebble shattered by the energy, 'does that count?'
"Well done Rinoa, that's the closest you've been all day!"
Rinoa through her arms around Squalls neck and kissed him on the cheek, Squall blushed furiously and started to stammer as he moved back a couple of steps, he was so cute when he did that.
"Erm…s-s-so Rinoa, want t-to try again?"
"The pebble or the kiss?"
"The pebble!"
Rinoa sighed; the guy was so shy when it came to things like this.
"I'd rather just sit here for a bit and look at the sea, it looks so pretty with the sun just risen."
"Erm…okay"
The sat down side-by-side gazing at the sea, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Rinoa got tired of the silence and tried to strike up conversation with him, it wasn't as hard as it once had been to get Squall to talk, but it was sometimes a bit of a challenge, but was one that she didn't mind doing.
"I heard that we've finally got some new cadets."
"Yeah, its about time too. We couldn't have gone on for long without new cadets."
"They're a bit strange aren't they?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know, they're both a bit odd, with their hair and clothes. I've seen a lot of people from a lot of places, growing up in Galbadia, moving to Timber and then travelling with you and the others, and I don't recognise where they could come from, I've never heard their accents either."
"On their forms, they said that they're from a small island called…What was it now?…oh yeah the Isle of Nibelheim."
"The Isle of Nibelheim? I've never heard of it."
"Me neither, but I don't claim to know of every island, village and town in the world."
"Well you should, you've visited every one."
"Except the Isle of Nibelheim." Squall pointed out to her
"Well yeah, apart from this so called 'island' that probably doesn't even exist."
"And I thought it was me that doesn't trust other people." Squall muttered thinking that Rinoa wouldn't hear
"It's not that I don't trust other people, Squall, I just don't trust people who magically appear out of thin air and say they're from a place I've never heard of before. Don't you think that it's strange that two SeeDs disappear and then two potential cadets appear the next day?"
"I know what you mean. I saw the blonde one, Cloud, training the other day, just before that Gnat broke his ribs, he's really strong, probably stronger than some of the SeeDs, Vincent too, he took down the Gant by punching it."
"Is Cloud doing ok?"
"Yeah, you healed him as good as new."
Rinoa hesitated a second before carrying on "There's something about that I should tell you about that, I'm not sure if its important or not, but it was strange."
"What?"
"Well, those ribs had been broken for a while, only me, Dr Kadowaki, Cloud and his brother know that. We asked him how it had happened, and if he'd been taken any painkillers, because he would have been in a lot of pain, and I mean a lot. He told us that he hadn't taken anything, but refused to say how it happened."
"He seemed fine when I interviewed him earlier that day. Maybe he has a really high pain threshold."
Rinoa looked sceptical "I don't know, but there is something odd about him, and I'm gonna keep an eye on them both."
"Don't worry, Zell can keep an eye on them, and yesterday Irvine said that he was going to talk to Vincent about learning how to be a sniper like him, so he can ask Vincent about them both. He can be careful when he wants to be."
"Come on, let's go back, the Cafeteria will be open in a bit."
"Okay"
Authors note:
In case anyone has never noticed, Cloud has a bandage tied around his left arm, you can see it on most pictures of him, although its never been explained why its there in the game.
And I'm sorry for the wait for this chapter, but my computers been broken and in the shop for about two weeks now, and I've been having to do this chapter at school. So it's taken me a while between coursework and lessons and stuff. ^_^ but this is kinda a boring chapter so it took a while to write, but hey you gotta have them now again to make it all connect.
Thanks to all the reviews -sob- you make it all worth while.