Hi I'm back and I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially with the fight scene at the end. We're really getting into the part where important stuff is happening so yeah. Look forward to that. Of course, being me, I have no idea how long that will take.

I also had an idea that since I have this huge headcanoned past about Reno that does actually become relevent in this fic a little later (at least somewhat) but the problem is it will be pretty OC heavy since, well he's in the slums before the games ever happened, and I didn't know if anyone really wanted to read that. Well, Lee isn't an OC but i dont think anyone got that reference.

Anyway, I still really love hearing all the feedback from people so please keep it up because its great motivation and i love hurting i mean having people enjoy my writing. That's all for now

~Xar

Cosmo Canyon was a beautiful place. Vincent could not remember what it looked like from his time, but he suspected in the 20 years he was asleep, the place had not changed at all. The red rocks and sand, coupled by the buildings almost fused to the mountain, connected by wooden bridges and illuminated by the rising sun always made for a perfect picture.

Vincent had continued to disregard Cait Sith's warnings and run through the days and nights without stop. His body did not need rest; what he did need was answers and sleep would not provide those.

"Never thought I'd see th' place with me own eyes!" The stuffed cat exclaimed, bouncing up and down with joy. "The forefront of environmental studies an' research on the Lifestream!"

He had to admit, the place was pretty impressive, made atmospheric by the distant flute music being played by one of the residents near the cliff-side. Vincent strode forward, intent on asking just exactly where this person Aerith spoke of was, but a strange figure loping out in front of him made him stop.

It was strange in the fact that it was not human, but rather seemed to be a red lion with short fur and feathers decorating its mane. A little flame was lit on the lion's tail, which waved around as intelligent eyes peered up at him.

"Dear Minerva, I thought yer kind were extinct!" The stuffed cat gasped upon laying his eyes on the beast. To Vincent's surprise, it-no, he-responded.

"I see you know of me, though I'm wondering why a doll is speaking," The lion said in a rough voice.

"He is a robot. I am looking for someone here who is a researcher of the Lifestream," Vincent said curtly, not wanting to deal with the odd introductions.

"Really, none of us have th' right t' talk about who's weirdest lookin'!" Cait Sith said, hopping down from his moogle steed.

The lion looked questioningly at the doll for a moment and then up to Vincent, who did not move a muscle. He'd dealt with many strange things in his life as a Turk, but he did not know what to make of this creature. He seemed friendly enough though, in the way he stared at the two of them with intense curiosity.

"You probably mean my grandfather. He is the best and oldest sage of our village." The lion's tail swished again and his voice carried a note of pride.

His grandfather? Then the person I was sent to see is a lion? Vincent did not mind as long as they answered his questions. Had he been younger, he would've been fascinated by this one's species, as his father was a scientist, but right now he had priorities.

"Then take us to your grandfather," he said again, his cape flapping in the breeze.

"Me name's Cait Sith!" The stuffed cat said, bowing deeply, seemingly unfazed by being ignored. "Tall, dark an' grim over here is Vincent Valentine."

"I am Nanaki." The lion introduced himself, bowing his head. "I am pleased to meet fellow warriors for the Planet."

Vincent did not know why he assumed that of them, but it was a better title then ones he'd given to himself. Besides, they were far enough from Shinra that his name did not matter. He nodded slightly.

"I will take you to my grandfather. He'll love to meet you." Nanaki turned around, his tail waving at them to follow him.

"Everything is snow out here!" Rin complained as they kept traipsing through huge piles of the stuff.

"It's the Nibel Mountains, what did you expect?" Cloud said, tired of the constant complaining. "This is nothing, you should see it in blizzard season."

"Noo, don't even mention blizzards!" The older brother pleaded, trying to imitate Zack's puppy look, but failing miserably.

Seth, slightly behind both of them, laughed. "Well, we're from Costa del Sol. We're not used to winter."

"Explains it," Cloud muttered. City people never knew how weather worked. Zack was from a tropical area and even he was great with Modeoheim conditions. And from what he could tell, so was Angeal.

They had been trekking for the past few hours down the side of a cliff on a narrow path that had finally widened enough so they didn't have to worry about falling over the side. Cloud was actually proud of the fact that they had only fallen once down it, though he'd had to rely on Rin and Seth's strength more than once to get past rockfalls and dealing with a couple of the nastier monsters.

The instructor had told them the final base they were to find was hidden somewhere in the mountains and the cadets were to not only survive the conditions, but find it within an undetermined time limit. Cloud, being used to the mountains, knew the best places to hide camps from the hunters that frequented their village and subsequently had to teach Rin and Seth everything he knew. They were doing fairly well, in his opinion, for two kids who'd never stepped outside of a city before.

"So you can determine direction just by looking at the sun?" Rin asked, staring up at the sky.

"Yeah. And at night you can use stars, but I wouldn't suggest being out in these mountains at night. The camp will probably be in an isolated valley in the middle of a few ranges and can either of you tell me why that is?" Cloud asked, suddenly feeling like an instructor.

The two brothers stared at each other for a minute before Seth answered him. "Shielded from the winds?"

"And?"

"Monsters uh, don't go there?" Rin added.

"Bingo. Monsters like the peaks of the mountains for their dens. So making camps in valleys is the best idea, and I know the perfect area around here," Cloud said, smiling slightly.

"Hahah, I knew it was a good idea to team up with this kid!" Seth chortled, shoving Cloud, making him slip on a random patch of ice.

"Yeah, that's why I'm not letting you get off scotch free on me, you jerks," he retorted, though the venom was lost with his grin.

"Come on, lets carry the victor home!" Rin yelled, scooping Cloud up, despite his protests, and running off down the path.

They somehow managed to find the camp in record time, despite falling off a short cliff.

Angeal felt lighter now, and it wasn't just because he wasn't carrying his Buster Sword anymore. It felt refreshing to put his future into the hands of someone he completely trusted. He'd handed off his legacy as a SOLDIER to Zack and knew with all confidence he would pull through and become the hero he always dreamed of being. Angeal, degrading and dying as he was, did not know how much longer he would last, or if he'd be able to solve the mystery of Genesis and what exactly he was up to.

You have changed so much, Genesis. So much so that I feared you were lost forever. But when I saw you there at Nibelheim, and how you didn't kill Cloud outright, I knew a little bit of you remained.

Cloud had said he didn't like seeing friends fighting; well, neither did Angeal.

"You're with the nasty Shinra, aren't you?" A loud voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked down to see Yuffie glaring at him, hands on her hips.

"I saw you with that black-haired guy, and you were talking to him! That's means you're Shinra!" She continued before Angeal had a chance to speak. The ex-SOLDIER breathed out heavily. Yuffie had seen his conversation with Zack, then. He was hoping he had distracted her enough…

"I'm not with Shinra. I used to be, but I grew to hate them and now I defected—I left the company, and I am on my own here," he said, in terms he hoped the 8-year-old could understand.

"Then why were you talking to him? He's in Shinra!"

"He used to be a student of mine. I gave him my sword because he deserves it more than I do. Also, he may be with Shinra, but he's a good guy and he's helping me." To his surprise, the girl seemed to be taking it pretty well.

"He's an okay guy, because he helps me find treasure since I defeated him once before." Yuffie held up a fist in demonstration. "He's not terrible but you still lied to me!"

Angeal was shocked. Zack knew this girl already? Just who was she? He knew his student was involved in the war on Wutai but…he would have to ask him later. Especially about the treasure hunting thing.

"I lied to you because I didn't think you would understand, I'm not with Shinra anymore. I hate them as much as you do," Angeal said calmly. "They are the ones who—they are the ones who shunned me when I was no longer useful."

Yuffie had a reflective moment. "Well, I don't know what shunned means but I'll have to keep an eye on you from now on! I, the great Wutaiin ninja, will conquer all of Shinra!"

He shook his head, almost smiling. She reminded him too much of a younger Zack. "Of course, I understand."

A jolt of pain shook through him and he shuddered, a few grey hairs falling from his head. Yuffie, in the throes of her victory march did not notice as he stumbled and had to lean on his broadsword.

My body is falling apart. I do not have much time left. I need to hurry to Genesis if I am to accomplish anything at all.

Shouldering his pain as he did his sword, he called out to the little ninja. "Come. We must continue."

"Reno, that is the third time today! What is wrong with you?" Tseng asked, as the red-head once again slammed into the door-frame. He had been making Reno run errands all over Shinra in an effort to keep the boy busy and out of trouble—with Rude tailing him whenever he could—and so far it seemed to be fairly effective. The only problem was Reno had been constantly tripping over things and running into objects all day.

"Man, dunno why but the vision's all shot in my left eye. I can't see much, it's just a blur," he grumbled, holding up a hand in front of himself and trying to focus both of his eyes on it. His right eye was fine; his left eye, however, made everything a blur.

"Come over here," Tseng ordered and Reno complied. The Turk leader stared into his eyes for a minute before declaring he could see nothing wrong with either of them.

"Well, I certainly ain't imaginin' it, yo!" The red-head shot back, causing his boss to roll his eyes.

"I certainly got that. Not even you are that clumsy. Did you injure yourself?"

"Nope. I just woke up today and I couldn't see shit. Nearly gave Rude a heart attack when I knocked everything over in the bathroom." Okay, the look on his partner's face would've been hilarious if he hadn't been so panicked at the time.

"Curious. I don't suppose you've had it checked out," Tseng said, glancing back at his computer.

"With Professor Creep-show on my tail, I ain't going NEAR that place. For all I know, this is something he did to me!" The question still remained is how he'd get past Rude, because as far as he knew, except for last night when he was sleeping, his partner was always by his side.

When Tseng didn't answer, Reno looked up, confused. He thought that his boss cared a bit more then that, but apparently whatever was on his computer was more important than him. About to leave in a huff, Tseng finally looked up and called him back.

"I just got an email that the cadets are on their way back to finish their SOLDIER tests. Why don't you go and cheer your friend on and stay out of trouble?" The older Turk emphasized the last line.

"Jeez, you make it sound like I'm gonna set fire to the bathrooms again. I'll behave," Reno said lazily, waving him off before he left the office, careful not to run into the door again. Tseng was acting weird. After he went to give Cloud some 'encouragement', he'd go and find out what exactly was happening.

"Come oooon, let me see, Sephiroth. Let me see!" For once the General was glad that he was possibly the only person in Shinra left with a height advantage over Zack Fair. It came in handy when he received the reports for the cadets scores and an overeager puppy was desperate to see how his hand-picked student was doing.

The rest of the SOLDIERs in the observation room were laughing uproariously, for the normally stoic General playing keep-away with an zealous Zack was not a common sight. He, of course, was none too pleased with the attention, but there was no way he was letting the other first-class get his hold on the papers.

Luckily the rest of the room was distracted by the cadets finally filing into the room below. Normally there weren't this many SOLDIERs here at this sort of thing, but it had been an especially good year for recruits and more importantly, they wanted to observe a special blonde-haired cadet.

The entire program had been surprised when Zack Fair not only returned from Nibelheim unscathed, but declared that the trooper he'd taken with him had so much skill he'd immediately inducted him into the SOLDIER program again. It had aroused an air of confusion, as many of the instructors had remembered the cadet from last year having terrible scores, being too weak to keep up with the rest of the classes. And yet, remarkably, the famous first class had taken him on to be a student.

But perhaps that's all what he needed for not only did this blonde enter the SOLDIER program again, but excelled in it. His physical scores were still on the weak side, but he more than made up for that in ingenuity, materia use, and swordplay. It had been rumored that he was even being trained by the Turks, for he demonstrated an almost unprecedented improvement in martial arts classes, his style eerily similar to what Turks used.

Some of the SOLDIERs joked that Zack had replaced the kid with a clone, while a few others spread the rumor that he and his mentor were engaging in rather 'illicit' activities, which Sephiroth immediately put a squash to. He would not have anyone thinking of Zack that way.

Said first class was still attempting to get the papers, but after seeing he would not win this fight, gave up.

"You will have to observe him like everyone else," he said smoothly, inwardly smirking at the scrunched look on the puppy's face.

"It's fine, Zack. I heard Cloud did really well on the survival test. He'll be fine with what you've been teaching him." Kunsel came up next to his friend.

"Really? He did good?" Zack asked, whirling and the second class just laughed.

"Shiva, dude, you need to calm down. Yes. Now have faith in your student and stop annoying the General." Kunsel pushed Zack over to the window, Sephiroth was secretly grateful at the intervention, for now he could look at the papers without a distraction.

The instructor noted that not only had Cloud found the hidden base in record time, he had taught his two teammates, who were ignorant of living in the wild all they needed to survive, and the three of them worked together to reach camp. The same could not be said of many of the other cadets, three of whom got lost and never even finished the test.

Perhaps he simply had home-field advantage. We'll see in these upcoming tests.

Sephiroth had locked himself in his office these past weeks not because of this debacle with Hojo and his friends, but because he had been obsessing over this blonde cadet and why he was suddenly so important. Why did everyone like him? Why was he so unique that even Hojo was interested?

He couldn't say he was jealous of the attention in that regard, but even Angeal held a fondness for Cloud Strife.

The boy had slowly taken over his life and Sephiroth didn't notice until it was too late. Truly, he should be so far beneath his notice that the General didn't even acknowledge him, but for some reason, he couldn't ignore it. Instead a burning desire to know more, see more, learn more consumed him and he took the boy under his protection. Somewhere in those eyes was that same spirit that had saved him from the encroaching voices of Jenova; the same will that had stood up to Genesis and lived.

And now here he was to see what type of SOLDIER he made.

I'm not obsessed. I'm just…interested, he reassured himself.

"Gil for your thoughts?" Someone said right behind him, but being the General, he did not show a visible reaction. Lost in his thoughts as he was, the person had snuck up behind him without even a warning. A vulnerability on the battlefield, and one he would need to correct.

He turned only to be greeted by Reno, the red-haired Turk who had been 'helping' them in their endeavor. His entrance had make several of the other SOLDIERs nervously jump, not having noticed his present despite their enhanced senses.

Impressive.

"Reno, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were banned from the SOLDIER section," Zack said cheerfully. The Turk merely strolled over, leaning against the observation windows.

"Only the kitchens, yo. I'm jus' here to observe my friend Cloudy because Tseng thinks I'll be outta trouble here," Reno said, leaning his head back.

Already a whisper was going through the crowd. This blonde boy was friends with a Turk as well? It all but confirmed the rumors he was trained by them and a couple even whispered that maybe he was a plant.

Sephiroth nearly snorted. Despite Cloud's penchant for being very quiet and getting things done, he was not Turk material, at least in his opinion.

"Out of trouble. That's a good one. Anyway, you're just in time. They're doing the physical tests." Zack pointed out the window and they finally all shut up and started observing like they were supposed to.

The physical tests were made up of several strength exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, running, stretches, and at the end of it all, hand-to-hand combat.

Cloud managed his way through all of them, though he seemed to still struggle most through ones that required pure arm strength. He still had improved significantly from last year; Sephiroth could tell from the muscles that coiled under the cadet's skin as he moved through the exercises.

The running test was where things got interesting, for as soon as the bell sounded, Cloud shot off like a rocket, having to skid to a stop when he finished his laps.

"Hey, that's no fair! He almost beat my record!" Reno protested, earning a few laughs from the other SOLDIERs, who were impressed with the cadet's score as well.

Zack, being friendlier to the Turk than normal, clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Well, looks like you'll have to get back to training then, if you wanna keep your 'fastest in Shinra' title."

"Fastest un-enhanced, you mean," Reno grumbled, but otherwise he took it well. Sephiroth did not tell the red-head he was actually faster then some of the third-classes. The boy's ego did not need to be swelled anymore.

His hand-to-hand test wend similarly. Sephiroth was almost worried when he was paired up with someone twice his size, but Cloud proved effective in taking advantage of his weaknesses and even managed to flip his opponent onto his back, effectively finishing the duel.

"Where the hell did he learn a move like that?!" Zack exclaimed, turning an accusing eye again at the Turk, who merely shrugged.

"That's classified." And he wouldn't say anymore.

All in all, Cloud showed enormous improvement from last year, thanks to his tutelage from Zack Fair and his determination to succeed, but the next test would be one to determine his fate. The sword fight against a SOLDIER first or second class.

Cloud had a little secret he'd been keeping from both Reno and Zack; his desire to dual-wield swords had grown so strong he actually hunted down Kunsel, Zack's friend and an expert on fighting with multiple blades and begged the second class to teach him how to fight. Kunsel had been surprisingly okay with it, even when Cloud told him not to tell Zack, who was still iffy with the idea of him dual-wielding broadswords.

And so, the second class entered him into a mighty crash course on how to use multiple blades in a fight. It was really hard learning how to fight with his left hand, but Kunsel forced him by tying his right hand up behind him. Many bruises later, Zack's friend declared him reasonably good at this, though he wished he had more time to teach Cloud the nuances of double blades.

That wasn't all that Cloud was keeping secret. Ever since getting his first double blades, he entertained the idea of using more, like four or six, during a battle. Fighting with Reno, he'd seen how effective pulling weapons out of nowhere was on opponents, no matter what their size, and at Cloud's height, he needed every advantage he could get.

Of course, it all came down to the fight against a SOLDIER first or second, the final test for the cadets. Cloud was suddenly nervous, not knowing who he was going to fight and getting cold feet on his secret plan. They were obviously more skilled than he was, and Cloud was probably going to fuck up and injure himself instead of look cool.

The nervousness only grew as he watched the other cadets square off against their opponents and he slowly slunk away into the back so he'd be the last picked. All the other students were amazing with their swords; going blow to blow with the enhanced SOLDIERs, weaving a dance around the room; they had really learned their stuff and there was no way that Cloud could measure up.

Glancing around at the stands—since this was a big event in the SOLDIER program and there was always a live audience—the blonde cadet spotted a familiar head of black spikes frantically waving at him. Zack was there! And there was Reno next to him…he could almost hear his first class friend yelling at him to show him his stuff and Cloud couldn't help but smile at that. Right, he had Zack and Reno's support so the only thing he could do was show them his best. That didn't help with the butterflies in his stomach but at least it calmed his trembling limbs.

Of course, his turn came around far too fast and Cloud finally stepped out, waiting for the fight of his life.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. Zack had somehow convinced him to show up for the SOLDIER sword-fights by mentioning Cloud, though he hung back to not draw attention. He was bored with the other cadets, as the fighters were all normal and boring. He wanted to see Cloud fight, but he was so nervous he was the last picked.

Which led him to his current issue: Cloud's opponent. It was a SOLDIER second, per norm, since Zack unfortunately couldn't be his opponent due to being a mentor. But Sephiroth knew about this one; he wasn't particularly skilled in anything but beating up his opponents with sheer force. Certainly not a good opponent for the blonde cadet, since the SOLDIER's face read that he was looking forward to beating up on a seemingly helpless cadet.

As General of SOLDIER, this would not do at all. With a slight glance at Zack, he strode out onto the field, causing the low murmuring in the room to completely stop. A flick of his wrist was enough to send the second class running as he took his place, drawing out Masamune.

"I am you opponent, Strife," he said, leveling his gaze at the small blonde cadet who looked ready to melt into the floor.

What. The. HELL WAS GOING ON? One moment he was steeling himself to fight the mean-looking second class, and then the next he was standing against the General himself in all of his glory. It took a few moments for Cloud's jaw to even work and even the referee for the matches looked shocked.

"What?" He said dumbly, glancing around. Everyone else looked as shocked as him, meaning this wasn't planned at all. Could the General even do that?

He's Sephiroth, he probably can.

"You heard me, Strife. I am your opponent. Prepare yourself accordingly." The exceedingly tall man stared him down, and Cloud felt his knees threatening to give away. He'd been hopeful that he might actually pass the test this year with how well he'd done comparatively, but with THE Sephiroth as his final opponent, there was no way he was probably going to survive this fight.

But he remembered; the moment in the Shinra manor, he'd shared a moment with the General where he seemed almost human. And he'd even protected Cloud not only from Genesis, but from Hojo as well. He'd explicitly stated Cloud was under his care.

Gazing up again, he saw the challenge still in the General's eyes, but it wasn't lethal. It was a challenge that wanted to see just how the small blonde could measure up to everything he'd promised. And it wasn't like him to just back away from something like that.

"One second, sir," he answered back, his voice steady for once and ran over to the weapons rack. He had his normal standard issue broadsword, but he drew out three others and attached them to his back with the last-minute additions he made to his harness.

Coming back, Sephiroth raised an eye at his ensemble but said nothing otherwise. Good. He'd love to prove to everyone just how wrong they were. "Are you ready, Strife?"

"Go for it," he answered, sliding himself into a fighting stance.

Sephiroth didn't hesitate but flew straight at him, Masamune flashing in the light. He barely had any time to dodge to the left, before the giant sword swept around and came at him again.

Oh god, I'm so glad Reno is left handed, he muttered wildly in his head as he countered Sephiroth's blade, causing him to bounce backwards onto his hands and flip upwards again. Most people were unused to left-handed swordsman, but he'd gotten his Turk friend to help him out on that aspect though he clearly wasn't enhanced-

Cloud ducked, and swiped out sideways at the General, his sword missing by a good foot as he backed away. Cloud had the disadvantage of terrible reach in comparision to Masamune's six-foot blade, so his blows were constantly falling short.

He needed to get closer. What was it Rude and Reno had said? When fighting opponents taller than yourself, your advantage is using their momentum against them.

Cloud suddenly backed away, and Sephiroth, thinking he was perhaps trying to get out of reach, rushed forward. He suddenly reversed directions, spinning around and launching a kick at Sephiroth's torso. He came much closer than ever before, but the General's excellent reflexes easily saved him by sidestepping and hitting him with the flat of his sword against his back. Cloud stumbled forward, rolling into a defensive position as the sword came flashing down again.

Their blades clashed for a moment, sparks flying and he was close enough to see the details on the hilt of his sword and the gleaming look in Sephiroth's eyes. He knew this was not the General's full strength; the blows barely hurt and didn't even make his sword vibrate like Zack did, and he knew that look. Sephiroth was toying with him. Cloud had a sudden flash of all the bullies that had tormented him and gritted his teeth. He was angry now, not even the General got to make fun of him like this.

With an inarticulate yell, he put his legs behind his sword and pushed Masamune back, releasing his two handed grip and drawing out another sword. He didn't even wait but struck out and Sephiroth's exposed right side, failing to see the flash of surprise as the blonde was suddenly wielding two blades at once.

If he'd been paying attention, he'd have heard the gasps and exclamations from around the room as Cloud actually put the General on the defensive for a moment with his double broadswords, but the General quickly regained himself.

Cloud was a lot faster light this; with his two swords, he could rain out a constant barrage of blows, dodging in and around Masamune's reach to strike at two places at once, causing Sephiroth to actually jump around rather than just block his sword. The deadly dance continued for a minute until Cloud slipped up and accidentally hit two of his blades together, causing Masamune to wave by and cut a line across his left shoulder.

He stumbled back, breathing heavily. Cloud could feel the burning in his legs and especially arms already, and his endurance was almost shot. Fuck it all…I can't keep this up any longer…He needed to do something extraordinarily stupid to get a one-up on Sephiroth, and so a last-second plan formed in Cloud's head as Sephiroth again rushed towards him.

He backed up, hoping to cause the General to lunge his sword at him, and thankfully he did, Masamune piercing straight at his shoulder. Cloud sidestepped and reversed his swords so they were pointing at the ground and drove them home crossing the twin blades so they trapped Masamune underneath them. Without missing a beat, he flipped over the sword hilt, drew out another one from his back and struck at Sephiroth's face.

Time seemed to slow down as his blow came down on the General's head, a look of shock and rage growing in his cat-slit eyes. Sephiroth of course side-stepped at the last minute, but Cloud's blow was so close it sheared off a lock of his silver hair, the strands flying up into the sky as the sword came down through them.

Cloud's feet hit the ground and both of them froze for a minute. Sephiroth's hand slowly went up to the side of his head, which was now missing a few hairs, a growing look of horror on his face. Cloud merely kept breathing, sword in hand, not believing he actually did that to the Silver General himself. Didn't Sephiroth really like his hair?

Time only stood still for a second longer, until Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and his boot lashed out, catching Cloud on his chest and slamming him hard into the wall behind him. He heard something crack and he didn't know whether it was him or the wall, but he had no time to think before Sephiroth was right in front of him, and desperately dived to the side.

He landed on the floor, exhausted from the fight, but he knew he couldn't stop now. He flipped over, throwing his sword at the General in hopes of distracting him so he could pull out the other. His chest was hurting him, but he had so much adrenaline flowing through his system it felt like he could lift a truck. The other two swords from earlier were now behind him, having been flung there when Sephiroth ripped Masamune out and he stumbled backwards hoping to reach them, but somehow, the General got there before him. Cloud turned around, blocking blows from every angle, his arms reacting before his mind ever did.

HE'S NOT HOLDING BACK! was his only panicked thought as he could feel the force of every single blow from Masamune, jolting his tired muscles and knocking him back a few steps.

I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die…The look in Sephiroth's eyes wasn't nearly as friendly anymore; rather, he looked like a predator, ready to kill.

He had several cuts all over his body now from slipping in his guard of Masamune's singing blade, and sweat kept getting into his eyes. Sephiroth however, wasn't stopping in his relentless assault, so he never had any time to pull out another blade, just keep himself from being completely injured. Cloud's muscles finally gave in and Masamune swung down and impaled itself in his left leg causing him to stumble backwards and hit the wall, only staying up through sheer force of will. The blade slid out of his leg and instead rested its tip on his throat. He looked down the shaft up at the cold eyes on the General, who was glaring down at him.

"Yield." he said, emotionless, not a single flicker of an expression giving away his current thoughts. Cloud had no qualms about dropping his sword to the floor, making a clattering noise that echoed throughout the room.

There was a slight smile to Sephiroth's lips as he pulled his sword away, and Cloud slid down the wall until he was sitting, his vision going blurry. All around him, the room erupted in noise, but the only thing he could think of as his vision faded was the General's cold, cold eyes.

Cosmo Canyon is a wondrous place and I had the fortune of visiting it once in my travels. They have so much knowledge of the Planet and Lifestream there, it's unbelievable. It helped me so much in my studies of the Cetra and their connection to the readings I keep finding in these various books, though many questions still remain.

After all, I have one passage to this day I still have not figured out; they speak of WEAPONS of the Planet, gigantic creatures born of the Lifestream to protect it from any that wishes it harm, but they're all described as monstrous.

This one describes a WEAPON borne as a human. I did not know this was possible, but the Cetra obviously believed in it. This book, this storybook always referenced them as the Golden People, and that this WEAPON, the Golden WEAPON, was their own. One borne of hope and salvation as it is so put.

'The Golden Weapon, borne on the wings of his Crimson herald, will one day reveal himself to the world and save it from the Calamity's wrath. Or at least we hope this is true.'

-from the files of Uther Strife

Regarding The Golden Weapon