Ahaha, a little late again, but then, also a little long. Wow, 12 pages 0_0; Where'd they come from?
Considering all the fuss it had created when he had fought Zack that first time, he really should be used to the attention he got whenever he managed a new apparently all but impossible achievement. The difference now was that the cadets from previous years were also interested.
Completing a level 18 mission, simulated or not, was a lot more reliable than having newer cadets admit jealousy of their peers. When level 15 was the level you let cadets who were all but already in SOLDIER train in, or so the unofficial rules stated, the fact that a new recruit, the youngest even in his own year and only not quite scrawny to boot, had not only been offered a mission of a higher level but completed it too, caused quite a bit of jostling in the hallways. It's not like it had exactly been easy either. He hadn't had the strength to just plough through; the damn things had been armoured, impossible to beat with speed alone, and when he was done with the supposed small fries, he had been given a boss fight.
Luckily, Zack had been ready with a potion once he got out.
He did his best to ignore the shoving and general jealousy, ate his meals fast and disappeared into a training room or the library whenever he could.
He was removed entirely from his year mates in both martial arts and fencing. There was no real graduating from firearms class, since they had long since stopped being introduced to new firearms. Now it was all just a question of practising aim, and there were only a few that were better than Cloud there.
Adulio tried to diffuse the situation some, but Cloud's stubborn refusal to realise the consequences of other people being so seriously jealous was all but negating his efforts and he stopped when he realised that there would be no gratefulness for his efforts.
- - -
"The kid's even more talented than Zack was when he was raised."
"Apparently not as good at defusing the situation, though." A quiet chuckle.
"As long as he's not getting into fights left and right. He seems to just keep to himself when that other cadet, Fuentes, isn't engaging him."
"Indeed, but he's been recommended though?"
"By almost every single teacher he's currently working with and a couple of his previous ones too, including General Lieutenant Angeal. The general consensus is that Strife's hard-working and respectful if not courteous, exceedingly bright, talented and never complains."
"I see. We'll let him try, then."
"Thank you, Director."
- - -
Winter came with icy cold squalls and a wind that got through any crack or fissure, causing cold drafts in the most unlikely of places. Their morning runs, however, wasn't stopped of course, and running at the time the sky lightened meant running in the coldest temperatures when the wind was the most unforgiving. As a result, they bundled up more than usual. No one was wearing coats, of course, that was just ridiculous, but light scarves, thin gloves and a shirt that covered both arms and midriff was an absolute must.
Cloud, however, was no longer in Midgar.
He had been dumped with four other cadets, all of them from earlier recruitments, at the edge of some mountain range. The other cadets, the youngest was at least sixteen, the oldest eighteen and just on the verge of no longer being eligible for the SOLDIER program, were all from Cloud's classes now, and among the better in most of them.
Five cadets. And two SOLDIER Thirds, standing a little ways off, conferring with the pilot of the helicopter that had dropped them there. Five cadets, confused, sleepy and still reeling slightly from the fact that they had been abducted and chloroformed. Well, Cloud was still reeling, at least, and feeling queasy after the flight in the transporter, the others were beginning to gain some very, very smug airs.
Cloud eyed the two SOLDIERs as they turned and walked over, while the craft lifted and turned north. Obviously, the enemy didn't have them so maybe there was some... regularity to this? When the two masked figures, SOLDIERs Cloud realised now they must have been, had apprehended him alone while he was training with one of the blunt training swords he had honestly thought Wutai ninjas had infiltrated. Needless to say, he had not gone down without a fight, but he hadn't reached his limit break before they had had him pinned and put the soaked handkerchief over his mouth. A firm punch to the stomach had ensured that he inhaled the stuff.
And now he was here, in the wilderness, having woken up in the helicopter feeling sick from the chemical and motion sickness both, a bulging backpack, a sword and a rifle at his feet and absolutely no clue what was going on.
The two SOLDIERs stopped in front of their group, lounging confidently on their feet and surveying the cadets as they swiftly came to attention.
"There's no reason to tell you why you're here, so I'll just tell you what you're gonna do. You're currently well south of Midgar, near the Mythril Mountains. Your mission is to get back to Midgar. You've each been given a pack of everything you should need, including weapons. Me and my buddy here will only supervise, I'm Omdahl, my buddy's Jaeger. We'll walk in the middle of your group to avoid attracting monsters away from you, but we won't help with anything except guard duty, we'll only interfere with monsters if you have all already been defeated and I hope you realise that unless you're defeated by something spectacular, like five cactuars popping out of the air, you'll fail. Ralph Jones has been assigned as your commander, you have seven days worth of march ahead of you. Have fun." And with that they both turned and went over to their own packs, talking quietly.
Jones, a tall guy, as tall as Zack at least, with dull, strawberry blond hair, turned immediately to Cloud, grey eyes narrowed menacingly. "Listen, hotshot, I know yer supposed t' be all genius'n stuff, but I don' give a rat's ass. Yer SOLDIER friend ain't here ter hold yer hand, an' you better pull yer own weight."
Refraining from rolling his eyes or protest that he had gotten to where he was all on his own, he simply answered with a simple "Yes, sir". Jones had been given command for a reason, hopefully, and in any case, he intended to prove his worth, not relying on reputation.
Jones nodded, mollified by the deference. "Get yer gear, we're setting out. There should be at least four hours worth a sunlight left."
They set out, walking in a single file with Cloud in the back, checking to make sure both his rifle and sword were easily available should a situation arise before he followed.
They had only walked for a few hours before the first howl sounded and three Kalm fangs rose out of the tall grass to the front. Cloud had his sword in hand before he had even fully realised what was happening, but stayed put, keeping an eye on their surroundings in case more monsters had been attracted by the howl. The three Kalm fangs didn't stand much of a chance against four well-trained cadets in any case, as the shower of green light soon after testified to.
Jones ordered one of them to see if the monsters had dropped anything, before confronting Cloud. "Why didn't you help?" He asked brusquely.
Blue eyes widened in slight shock at the implied accusation. "I was making sure no monster would attack you from behind. Sir." The suffix was added after just the smallest pause, not enough to be disrespectful, but enough to point out that Cloud had forgotten that Jones currently worked as his superior.
Jones mulled the answer over, realising there wasn't anything he could really fault with that. He nodded and ordered them to move out again.
The two SOLDIERs, true to their words, hadn't done a thing except unslinging their swords, ready in case the situation had gone sour.
They were attacked twice more, once by two prowlers and another time by a single Kalm fang, both times from the front, before the sun had set far enough that Jones thought it prudent to make camp. Their ration bars tasted like once-soggy cardboard with the faintest hint of mako waste if you didn't chew and swallow fast enough, but no one complained.
"I guess we have about two days worth of rations," Abbing, a guy who looked almost chubby until your realised it was all muscle. He wasn't much taller than Cloud either, despite being almost three years his senior.
"That just means we've got two days before we need to forage," Jones decided, swallowing the last lump of mako dipped cardboard.
Cloud looked around, wondering why no one was protesting, then realised that the possibility that these people were all city bred was remarkably high. They kept shooting surreptitious glances at the SOLDIERs resting nearby as well. They're looking for approval, Cloud realised, and couldn't help an annoyed snort.
"What, hotshot? Got something ter say?" They had all turned to him, resentment more or less veiled in their eyes.
Well, now that he had gotten their attention anyway, he might as well say what he was thinking. "We won't find a lot of food in the wastelands around Midgar. Shouldn't we save our rations until then?"
"An' log 'em around fer another five days? You stupid or somethin'?"
"I just figured that dried protein bars would be easier to carry than whatever we might find round these parts. Rabbit, roots, mushrooms. It's all gonna be a great deal heavier."
"Kid's got a point, yanno, Ralph," Abbing conceded, before Jones could say anything.
"I suppose. Guess we're gonna forage first chance tomorrow, then. Right. Gotta figure out a schedule fer night watch too."
They agreed on a rotating schedule, so no one would be stuck with the same shitty watch every night. The SOLDIERs didn't comment, of course, and simply accepted their duty, which made Jones pull the funniest grimace of awe and disbelief. Cloud obviously wasn't the only one with the lightest case of hero worship for those who had made it through the program, even if his friendship with Zack had tempered it somewhat. It was no longer entirely unconditional.
The night was blessedly uneventful.
They ate another ration bar for breakfast, before packing up and heading out again, Cloud still walking behind the rest. They had barely left before a group of five prowlers attacked the front. Pausing to contemplate if maybe this time he better help the front, the idea was promptly pushed out of his mind as three Kalm fangs came sprinting down one of the rolling hills they had been walking between. Either this was an ambush, and well-coordinated, or the Kalm fangs had heard the commotion and just decided to take the opportunity. Not that it mattered any more.
Cloud dropped his sword and unslung the rifle, quickly disabling the safety and aiming for the foremost lupine monster. It went down with a loud yip, barely audible over the echoes of the gunshot. Swooping down to pick up his sword, Cloud barely got into a ready stance before the other two was on him. He was faintly aware that the fighting behind him had stopped as he chopped off the head of one Kalm fang and kicked it aside in the same movement he used to bury his sword in between the ribs of the second, right in its heart, before it could even manage to scratch him.
He wiped the sword on some grass, grimacing as he obviously couldn't get all the blood off that easily. Monsters' bodies might disappear as they returned to the lifestream, but everything that wasn't part of their bodies when they died got left behind. Cloud picked up the two potions, turning briefly to throw both to Jones before heading up the hill to the still whining Kalm fang he had taken down with his shot. He had hit it in a lung and it was very obviously dying. He put it out of its misery but it didn't leave any potions. Cloud made a mental shrug and returned to the others.
They were all staring at him, he realised and shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Uh, the third didn't leave anything," he said, wondering why they were suddenly looking at him like that. Even the two SOLDIERs were looking at him in a way he couldn't quite decipher and it made him feel selfconscious.
Ralph Jones was slowly realising that despite his shock, his jaw had not actually hit the ground. By the Planet, the blond was fast. He had turned once the prowlers were all gone to tell the idiot kid that shooting into the fray of a fight was unacceptable, had wondered what had possessed the runt to take part in a fight today instead of hanging back like he had done the previous day, but the sight of the two oversized lupines boring down on him, big enough to bowl the kid over with sheer weight, surely, had stopped him in his tracks. Spotting dark blueish fur further up the hill he realised that he had misjudged where the shot had been going.
Then the kid had loped off the head of one and stuck his sword in the other, killing both with moves he hadn't even been able to see with his backpack still on, then swooping down to pick up potions, calm as you please. Jones had almost fumbled the two potions thrown to him. And here he had thought the kid was hanging back to avoid fighting, here he had been planning on letting the kid get a proper scare when their first back attack had arrived. Well, so much for that, Cloud Strife acted like hunting monsters was an everyday occurrence.
Now it seemed like the other cadet was noticing their stares for the first time, and his gaze shifted between them before he ventured to open his mouth. "Uh, the third didn't leave anything."
His quiet unassuming statement jolted Ralph out of his stupor and he nodded, pocketing both of the two potions, since Kron had already downed one of the three the prowlers had left. The rest of them had only minor scratches and bruising, not enough to bother with a potion. The kid cadet didn't have a scratch.
As they moved out, he was forced to admit to himself that the smallest of them had to be the better too. It made him scowl. He had thought that getting the command of their little squad meant that he was the best, surely that had to be the case, and all the rumours circling about the little cadet had to have been grossly exaggerated. He had been prepared to deal with airs from a kid, who had been announced a prodigy in almost everything he touched. The kid had been moved into the sword class of the upper students, but while he had won any mock sparring they participated in, Ralph and he had never been set up against each other. And since Zack Fair had graduated ahead of him, he had been the best in his class, surely the blond couldn't be pronounced that good when he hadn't even tried going up against the best.
But the blond hadn't tried for airs. Had been mutinously respectful, doing as he was told, not complaining, giving perfectly reasonable explanations whenever he wasn't doing what Ralph expected of him, not setting himself up for a proper taking down even once.
And now the tiny misfit had the audacity to prove that he was just better. And he didn't even seem smug about it either, there was nothing to call him on.
"Uh, Jones, sir." He almost growled as the subject of his musings interrupted his brooding.
"What?"
Taken aback a little at the clipped off response, Cloud tensed slightly before answering. "You said we were going to forage today. We just passed a well used rabbit trail. Sir." There it was again. The cool polite tone that told more expressly than anything that Cloud found it too bothersome not to show him the necessary respect.
That was when he realised what Cloud had actually said. "Rabbits? You sure?"
"Yes."
Great, now he was a tracker as well as a prodigy. "Lead the way. We're gonna see 'f yer tracking skills are any good. The resta you, check the water over there an' see 'f it's worth anything." He waved in the general direction of where he had seen the sun glittering off of water. Cloud turned in the opposite direction, eyes mostly on the ground, but checking his surroundings often enough that he wouldn't be surprised by a monster. The SOLDIER, Jaeger, who had yet to speak a word to anyone but his companion followed. Ralph huffed and took the rear guard.
It didn't take long to find the warren, or rather, they topped a crest and suddenly there were rabbits everywhere. Brown and grey, they hopped around all over this side of the hill, keeping well away from where the three humans had just appeared, but otherwise not allowing the sight to disturb them much.
Ralph all but whooped, scaring a few more rabbits to seek cover in the burrows, before he ran down the hill, trying to catch the nimble little critters, not noticing the exasperated glance he was thrown by both of his companions.
"Can I trust you to keep perfectly still?" Cloud asked, eyeing the SOLDIER, who nodded, a faint light of amusement in his eyes. Luckily, the wind was blowing towards them from the direction of the burrows dotting this side of the hill, which meant Cloud could perch above one of the holes without his scent warning the rabbits that would be coming out any moment, now that the threat supposedly had moved further down hill.
Just as predicted, a moment later a brown nose poked out, testing the air. The second the ears had cleared the opening, however, Cloud's hand shot down, fingers tightening around its neck and pulling it out, kicking, trying to scratch him with it's hind claws to no avail. Another second and Cloud had twisted its neck and thrown it to where Jaeger was standing, a few steps above, surveying their surroundings.
The SOLDIER eyed the petite blond who was crouching above another burrow, now waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their superiors had been grossly understating when they told Jaeger and him that they'd survey a kid with 'potential' on the mission. He grinned. They hadn't known who, but the struggle to overpower the little squirt had shown it with all possible clearness. That, and the fact that the kid didn't listen to gossip. It was a well-known secret, usually, that the SOLDIER potentials was spirited away with no warning before returning as Thirds, but the blonde had definitely fought like he hadn't known that. If they really had been ninja and not mako-enhanced super-humans the kid would have won too. Possibly.
He was reminded of Fair, who had been raised the same time he had, who had also only been in the program half a year before being taken. They had made this trip together, Fair effortlessly taking command from the one who had been assigned, although no one had truly taken notice that every time Fair suggested something, it had had the same effect as an order. Zack just had that effect on people, reassuring, making them trust him and his judgement. It helped, of course, that his judgement was usually good, but even so. Jaeger wondered if it would have made any difference.
Fair was well on his way to making First, or so the rumours went.
This kid had the same air of someone who knew what he was doing but unlike Zack Fair, he didn't have the people skills to diffuse the situation and make Jones lower his guard. He didn't even seem aware of his unconscious gestures ad bearing that told everyone around him that he was in perfect control of the situation. Not that the other cadets did that exactly either, but they reacted to them, feeling threatened.
No wonder, he grinned again, noticing that Cloud had thrown another dead rabbit at his feet while he had been lost in thought and was no approaching with a third dangling limb from its hind legs.
"We shouldn't stay here. A warren as big as this is bound to attract monsters like flies to honey." They had been lucky none were there when they arrived, but better to put as much distance between them and such a trap as possible.
Right on cue, Ralph Jones lumbered up the hill a still-bleeding rabbit hanging from his fist. "We gotta stay here all afternoon 'f we're gonna catch anything worthwhile," he huffed, winded from trying to run up rabbits and then ascending the hill. "We should call the others."
"Jones," Cloud hedged. "If we don't get away from here, we're gonna have a lot of monsters to deal with." Especially after the idiot had spread blood all over the place. Life! They would find themselves in another ambush if they didn't scram soon, and they risked it being even worse than the one they had dealt with earlier, every monster within ten miles would be able to smell the blood.
And they also had to clean out the three he had caught.
"No way. We can't know 'f we'll ever get a chance like this again. We're staying."
"Jones." Cloud said, trying for patience. "Every predator for miles is going to come this way, looking for why this place smells of blood." He looked imploringly at Jones. Or well, he tried to.
Jones was the one to look away first, which caused him to notice the three rabbits lying dead Jaeger's feet. His eyes went to Jaeger's, but when the SOLDIER gave a slight nod in the direction of the slighter cadet, he turned his eyes back to Cloud's, who hadn't flinched in the least, still expecting an answer. "You could've just said you caught three, dimwit," he grumbled, hoping for a reaction, but there wasn't even a spark of resentment for his name calling. By all the gods that had ever inhabited the Planet, did nothing ruffle this kid?
Cloud nodded, satisfied. Then went to pick up his rabbits. "We should clean these out, soon, too," he commented.
City bred, Jones had never been acquainted with the less hygienic aspects of eating meat, however, there was no way he would be admitting ignorance of anything in front of Cloud. "We'll do 't later, you wanted ter get outta here, right?" They returned to the others, who confirmed the water drinkable, and after filling their own water bottles they continued their journey.
After the first hour of walking and no sign from Jones that they would stop long enough for Cloud to do any sort of cleaning of the animals, the blond sighed pointedly and opened the throat of the three rabbits he had caught, holding them away from himself as he let them bleed out. It didn't take long, true, but he still hated to leave a trail like this, but if the blood clotted in the veins, the meat would taste... weird. Besides, it was better that he left the blood here, rather than near their camp.
He tried to remind their commander that he still had to clean them out, but was met with a flat out no.
Ten minutes after he had deemed the corpses bled out and hefted them to his belt, two prowlers tried sneaking up on them. Cloud took care of both, once again before anyone else could react. They had probably seen or smelled the blood and had then followed their tracks. Cloud cautioned that they could expect other monsters to do the same. Jones contemplated, then told Abbing to walk in the back with Cloud, who asked, again, if it wasn't an idea to clean out the rabbits before they continued and, again, was met with a definite no.
Cloud took out his ire on the monsters stupid enough to attack during their march, but as nightfall neared and it became increasingly obvious that Jones did not intend to stop so Cloud could clean out their prey a good distance from where they'd eventually put up camp, the blond just became increasingly antsy. He tried persuading Jones to make a short halt, but once again with no result. It was like the bigger cadet had simply put up a wall against all his advice.
They made camp in a hollow, a few hundred feet from where a small stream gave nourishment to some trees and shrubbery in a long line going west. "Gather some firewood. Abbing, you can go help Strife clean his precious rabbits, but don't contaminate the water."
Cloud growled and dropped his backpack, taking only his sword and a knife with him as he pointedly went downstream, stalking as far away as he dared, not turning to see if Abbing followed.
He stopped in another valley between two rolling hills, out of sight of the camp, but not out of earshot. If the rabbits' bowels attracted anything unpleasant, he didn't want it to be able to see the camp after it finished with the scraps. Hopefully a fox or marten or something like it would find it before the monsters got a whiff of it, because if monsters were attracted here in the middle of the night, things could turn ugly.
Sighing, he went about cleaning the animals, first chopping off the head and feet, as they weren't quite desperate enough to eat those, then cut a line from tail to neck and viciously ripped off the fur, scarred from fights with other rabbits or close encounters with predators. An old rabbit. It didn't matter, it wasn't like they needed the fur for anything... then again. He put it aside. They could use it to clean their weapons. He then opened the stomach with a deeper incision from tail to ribs, letting the bowels spill out. He dug his fingers inside to dig out everything, heart and lungs too. His mum had liked putting the heart aside, but they hardly had the ingredients not to mention capabilities to go gourmet. He placed the meat on the fur and picked up another rabbit.
"That was scarily fast, kid," a voice from his back said, sounding impressed. Abbing. Cloud shrugged and cut off feet and head of the second rabbit.
Abbing reached over and took a third one and copied. "How'd you skin 'em? Just yank?"
"Well," Cloud hesitated, he would really have preferred to be alone but apparently that wasn't supposed to be. His shoulders slumped. "Yeah, but you gotta yank in the right direction, or you'll just pull the fur apart." He proceeded to skin his own rabbit. Not so much showing how to do it as just doing it. It was no business of his if Abbing couldn't follow.
By the time Abbing had skinned his rabbit, Cloud had already skinned the last one and was cutting its stomach open.
"Ugh, warn a guy before you start flingin' bowels around, will you?"
Cloud looked up, an eyebrow raised pointedly. He had not been flinging bowels around.
"Okay, okay, just sayin'. That's seriously gross though, good thin' I'm not weak stomached, though, don't you think? Ugh, and it smells horrible! Yuck."
"If you can't clean your rabbit, let me do it for you."
"Testy, testy." Abbing grinned, that had almost sounded like teasing from the blond's side. Almost. A little more smirk and it would have been. And was he wrong? Nope, there it was, the smirk that definitely meant Cloud had been teasing, which meant the diminutive cadet wasn't just an annoying, pestering prodigy. Maybe they had been a little hard on him, all four of them had known each other well even before this and Cloud had felt like a sort of intrusion and as a result, they had all pretty much done their best to ignore him.
He did his best to ignore the smell of intestines as he cleaned out the bowels of his own rabbit.
They then went to the stream, washed the blood off the carcasses and their hands and returned to camp. Abbing noted that Cloud seemed distracted as they followed the stream most of the way. He was staring at the lush greenery, far more varied than on the bare plains, and frowning.
"Somethin' wrong?" He asked, when the other didn't say anything.
"Uh, no, it's just... I think some of this is edible."
"Edible?"
"I can't really be sure. It looks a lot like some of the stuff I used to collect for my mum back home, but it's a bit different. And bigger."
"Where'd you live?"
"Nibelheim. In the Nibel mountains... I guess the difference in size could be because it's not so cold here, but I don't really wanna risk your lives on a hunch."
"I guess not. Well, we'll think about that when we've delivered the rabbits to the cookin' pot. Not likely any of the others'll know though, we're all city bred. And I, fer one, think a proper stew sounds delicious."
Cloud's stomach agreed with a loud rumble, causing Abbing to laugh and Cloud to blush slightly.
"Look at it this way! Would you risk yer own life on this huncha yers?"
Thinking it over, Cloud nodded. "I guess."
"Then you've got my vote," Abbing pronounced just as they arrived at the camp.
Water had already been set to boil as they dumped the cleaned carcasses next to the fire. Ralph walked up to them, shooting a pointed glance Cloud's way before asking Abbing. "He's got yer vote fer what?"
"Cloud says he might recognize some veggies that grows aroun' here, though he thinks they look a little differen' than from where he's from. I told 'im if he's willing to eat it, so'm I."
Jones raised an eyebrow, then looked around at the last two cadets, who were in the process making sure their tent wouldn't fly away over their heads that night, before shooting a look at the two SOLDIERs, who both looked back with neutral expressions. His glance ended on Cloud, resentful and mistrusting. "Find yer veggies," he growled and stalked away to sulk.
Cloud sighed, annoyed at Jones' ridiculous hang ups, whatever they were. He turned towards the stream hearing Abbing's footsteps fall in behind him. "Need help carryin' anythin'?"
Contemplating the offer a little, Cloud shrugged. He might.
- - -
Jones grit his teeth and turned his back to the brightly glowing full moon, ignoring the chill night air. He had been on sentry for only half an hour, meaning he had little less than an hour left.
Life, but he was really beginning to hate the blond little hotshot they had been saddled with. Cloud Strife was everything a prodigy was supposed to be; smart, brave, skilled, virtuous. He grimaced at the thought. If only the blond had carried airs, had been a little snob or as stupid as his hair or scared shitless over all the older, better cadets he was with. But no, nothing fazed the blond, he was just continuously, teeth-achingly, heart-warmingly perfect.
And he was indispensable on a trip like this, Ralph had to admit. The four other cadets could easily do without him, but Cloud knew his way around the wilderness, knew how to hunt and find food, knew fucking everything. Had just butted in and effortlessly one-upped him in everything. He had looked forward to the time he would be spirited away for his initiation mission. No one had known what happened on these missions and possibly they changed, depending on the group, but he had been looking forward to it, to showing his stuff ever since Fair had zipped through the program way ahead of him.
And now a tiny little cadet was stealing his thunder.
So preoccupied was he, that Ralph Jones didn't take note of the quiet sound of paws hitting soil behind him.
- - -
Cloud's watch wasn't until well after the witching hour, and he thought he might use the time until then to get some proper rest, but despite being reasonably well-fed and having spent the entire day on his feet, his sleep was light at best. He woke every time someone rustled a little too loudly in their sleeping bag and he woke when Curly (it was a nickname, but people no longer even bothered with his real name) came in to wake Jones for his watch. Cloud fell back into the fitful half-asleep state again until the sound of a blood-curdling scream piercing the air and then stopped too soon woke him completely with a start.
"We're under attack!" He exclaimed, as he disappeared out the tent opening, sword already in hand. He met a Kalm fang two metres from their tent and did away with it, spinning to meet another one before it could attack his companions, as they were coming out of the tent.
"Get your weapons, damnit!" He yelled and sprinted up the hill to the south, knowing that that was where their sentry was, where Jones was supposed to be, where the scream and a continuous sound of snarling and... something he'd really rather not think about came from.
He jumped right into the middle of half a dozen Kalm fangs, scattering them in all directions. He desperately tried not to think about why the ground seemed wet, muddy, and why the scream had stopped so suddenly. He sliced one Kalm fang straight through the jaw, and it's lower set of teeth landed on the ground even as he decapitated another and turned to bury his sword to the hilt under the jaws of a third.
He faintly registered the fact that another one had his shin between its teeth, but the pain was distant as he beheaded that one too. The last two were more cautious, stalking around him, looking for an opening. A few potions were lying on the ground, ignored for now. He didn't wait for the two lupine monsters to find an opening in his guard, he jumped at one, which jumped away just in time to get away with a clipped paw, then swirled around in a low stance and had to roll back as the other Kalm fang had jumped for his throat in just that moment. It tried to twist in mid-air, but it was too late and Cloud got showered in blood as he opened its belly from under it.
He ignored the already drying spray of monster blood covering him and turned to the last monster alive on the crest, the one he had nicked in the paw. It was limping as much as he was, which is to say not at all, and was regarding him with brightly glowing eyes. Cloud snarled in feral challenge, running more on instinct at that moment than real thought. They charged at the same time, claws and teeth again sword and skill.
The sword was buried in the monster's throat and yet, it still continued to claw at him, creating deep gashes down his arms, snarling even as blood bubbled out of the hole and ran down over Cloud's hands mingling with the human's. Cloud removed the weapon quickly, watching dispassionately as the last monster died.
He turned abruptly, searching the ground. Now that all the monsters were gone, disappeared in those clouds of lifestream, he should be able to find Jones. He spotted a shadowed form, highlighted by the moonlight, lying not too far away and scooping up a potion he quickly went over there.
It was a mess.
The potion fell from numb fingers as he surveyed the carnage. He knew lupine monsters didn't waste time in consuming their prey, he knew it could be messy. Swallowing thickly, he gripped his sword tighter before he even registered that he was still holding it, then the sound of fighting from down hill reached him. The others were still fighting.
He raced down, faster than he thought he had ever been before, the bite to his shin all but forgotten, the scratches and blood ignored, as a blue light enveloped him. He hefted the sword high overhead and hit the ground so hard it sent a shock wave out through the soil, over-topping Kalm fangs and making them disappear in a shower of green.
He wasn't entirely sure how the shock wave had distinguished between friend and foe, but the rest of his team seemed relatively unscathed. Abbing had even had the presence of mind to 'protect' the two SOLDIERs, ensuring that they didn't fail this mission, whatever it was.
All five, the three cadets and two SOLDIERs was staring at him, the same way they had been staring that time when he had first killed those three Kalm fangs.
"We... we should bury Jones," he said quietly. The air was cold against his blood spattered chest and it was first now he remembered that he hadn't bothered with putting on a shirt to sleep. The nights were cold, true, but they were sleeping four people in a cramped thermal tent.
"What?!"
"He didn't make it," Cloud tried to explain. "We should bury him."
"Uh." This was Abbing. "Shouldn't we... I mean, couldn't we carry him with us? Shouldn't he be buried in Midgar?"
Cloud shook his head. "We can't carry him."
"Well, sure it's far but... surely we can, I dunno, surely we can."
"Abbing. I'm sorry, but we really can't carry him, the... the Kalm fangs didn't leave enough and... even if they had, we just can't risk another group attack like this one because they smelled his blood. We'll bury him so far the monsters can't dig him up again."
"They didn't leave enough? What the fuck do you mean?" Kron, this time.
Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, Cloud prepared to explain the jungle law for the uninitiated. "Kalm fangs are carnivores, they eat meat. As it is, Jones was lucky to be dead when they started." That had come out with a little more snap than intended, Kron could be in shock or just not quite comprehending, but there was nothing he could do to change it now. He did his best to modulate his tone though, as he continued. "As it is, the only reason I'm not having us pack up and flee right this second is because while this place possibly reeks of blood, most of it is from monsters and that's gonna hold the rest off for a little while at least. Enough that we can clean our gear and bury Jones at least."
Jaeger looked on as Cloud effortlessly took command of the group. They had all had quite a scare and death was never pretty, especially not when it was a comrade (and considering the type of missions they send cadets on, this was probably their first time witnessing that), but as the only one, Cloud still seemed collected and entirely rational. Did he have previous experience with such situations? Maybe, but more likely it was just ingrained. To Jaeger's mako enhanced vision, the moonlit night was more than bright enough to show him the way Strife's eyes were flickering, the way he was hunched over slightly and not supporting his weight on his right leg, just as shocked and hurt as his comrades but forcing through it to get everyone to safety.
Jaeger opened his mouth and for the first time actually addressed the cadets. "We'll bury Jones. You guys clean your gear. Strife is in charge for the rest of the march." He gestured for Omdahl and they began trudging up the hill. "Oh, and someone get a potion into Strife," he called back.
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