Just run...Just run...Recover...' Cloud stumbled on his hind legs, warring with a vengeful side that wanted to mutilate the hunters and make absolutely certain they were dead. The only reason he did not cave into those depraved desires was because of the agony his body was in; what sick, fleeting enjoyment he'd get out of the petty actions could ruin his escape if they had alerted anyone as it was. He may have already killed them, with the amount of force he used to stop them. One was slammed into the rocks hard enough to break bones, the other one slapped hard enough into the hardened earth to leave an imprint. The final one he had only thrown the dead dog at, and he was the one most likely still alive.

Staggering, he left the area with jagged breaths huffing from his maul. He wondered if he would die out here before he made it back to the cave. He tentatively tried to walk on all fours, but pain shot through his injured arm and chest wound, making him snarl and wince. Back to his hind feet he continued his slow travel, sniffing his way back while limping and bleeding. It felt like an eternity, a painful walk through a lifeless land of dust and stone that seemed to never end. The dust stuck to his tongue as he panted, drying it and causing him to sneeze once in a while. It hurt the injury to his abdomen.

Occasionally he would turn around, watching for anyone possibly following him, or sniffing the wind as it came from his former position. Were they alone, or were they part of a sweep Yuffie didn't hear about? Cloud shakily kicked at the dirt, trying to cover a dark splotch of blood moistening the dead soil. Will he have enough time to escape in the morning? Would they notice the blood trail too soon for him to leave?

After what felt like hours, Cloud finally made it back to his small hideout, annoyed that this special spot would no longer be safe for the foreseeable future. He collapsed as he limped into the cave, breathing heavily as fresh blood seeped from his injuries. Curling up next to Fenrir he watched the entrance in case of any trouble; willing himself to stay up no matter how badly he wanted to sleep.

As the night pressed on, he would think he had heard or seen something in the distance, lifting his head to observe. What to do, if he was followed? Kill the hunter? Maybe it would be best if he did. Is that what he wanted to do? He shook his head of the thoughts. Cloud looked over his injuries, their smoking ceased. He licked at the arm injury, tasting his blood and burnt flesh; silver on skin was horrible enough, but entering his body it was a new level of excruciating pain that burned like acid.

The more worrisome injury was in his abdomen; it had ceased smoking but still seeped blood and a tiny piece of flesh here and there. He had certainly gone through worse attacks on his torso in his life, but it wasn't closing as fast as it should be. Cloud worried if it had hit one of his organs, not merely grazed them; if the shot had been closer to the center of his torso the bullet probably would have caused much more damage. 'Wait until morning...'

"Unh..." The hunter stirred, wiping his face of some sticky fluid. Merle was confused, he did not remembering what happened; what coated his face, where were his friends? He sat up and tasted something coppery on his lips and he finally realized what was smeared on his face, making him panic. Merle looked around quickly, soon noticing the disemboweled dog laying to his side, then looking to his other side he heard soft groans from a dark mass that startled him.

Crawling over, he cautiously touched the groaning mass. It was one of his friends, and his arm was in a strange position that sent a chill down Merle's spine. He remembered...They were chasing after a werewolf, and he came to meet the tracking dog as it rounded the corner, it must have flung the dog's body at him and knocked him out.

It looked like his friends hadn't been as fortunate as he had been. Merle picked himself up, planning on assisting his friend after he looked for the other hunter. He didn't have far to go, the remains of his comrade smashed into the rock face, lifeless. Touching the neck gingerly to make sure he was dead and not just severely injured, he sighed sadly. 'If I hadn't done this hunting expedition...' Merle turned his attention to the one who killed his friend; the werewolf. It was still out there.

He went back to his still living friend, the blond haired man moving around more and grunting. Merle took out his WRO communicator, but paused a moment; he was in big trouble for using supplies and armor to go on his little hunt. Maybe he thought it would be easier, after all, Barret had easily killed that one on the beach with a single silver bullet. This one had proven more intelligent, as if it had planned the ambush. It must have, why would something like that not plan ahead? He looked up, the sky was starting to lighten with hues of pink as the sun came ever closer to the horizon. How long had he been out?

"WRO, this is 041 Merle. Requesting assistance."

A crackle from the other side. Roger, 041 Merle. Situation?"

Merle sighed, his black eyes looking about the area. What was that on the ground? "Werewolf attack. One death, two survivors including me. Need medical attention for second survivor."

There was a pause. "Werewolf status?"

"Escaped." Sounded silly considering he wasn't dead. He walked over to a black splotch on the ground.

The voice sounded mildly surprised. "Escaped? Roger. I have a medical contingency coming to your location."

"Thanks. I'll be waiting." Merle put the communicator back, studying the dark mark. He looked up and noticed that it was a trail that lead into the wastes, back the way they had come from. He followed the trail for a short time, the path moving this way and that. How badly was it injured? His friends must have hit it good. Merle looked back and decided it was best to stay next to his still living friend instead of looking for a rematch, even if it was severely injured.

"...Merle..." The hunter struggled on the ground, his shoulder burning. Merle approached him and put a gloved hand on his friend's good shoulder. The man lifted his head, deep indigo eyes looking up at Merle; his nose was busted and covered in clotting and fresh blood, his eyes bloodshot. "Did it get away?"

Merle sighed heavily and nodded. "Yeah, Ichi. Got Harry, too." He felt guilty.

Ichi nodded, groaning in pain when he moved his dislocated arm. He saw that last night. "Wonder why it didn't finish the job..."

"Probably in too much pain. Looks like one of you guys shot it."

Ichi gave a humorless laugh. "We both did. I shot it in the torso... I don't remember what happened afterwards."

Merle nodded, then looked towards the dark trail. "We'll follow its blood trail after we get you some help." Maybe they'll find a body, he mused. He hoped.

Cloud groaned as the pain from his injuries woke him up. He winced and then blinked as he looked at the cave's entrance. The sky was lighter, and he thought he heard the distant sound of a vehicle. 'Fell asleep after all...' He grunted as he picked himself up, recovering his clothing and attempting to cover himself; his injuries still weeped blood, but he had to leave the area before someone showed up. Desperation built as the pain hindered his dressing. He hissed as the fabric of his shirt touched the raw flesh of his wounds.

Finally dressed after some difficulty he looked outside the cave, noticing what appeared to be a helicopter in the distance; it was about where he left those hunters...Cloud pushed the thoughts away and went back to retrieve Fenrir, and he rolled the bike out of the cave with some difficulty before starting it up. He needed to get home, get to Tifa...

Cloud took a final look around the area, one of his hands over his largest injury as he began to accelerate his bike towards home. This wouldn't do at all, he thought. He pushed closer towards the road into Edge, trying to focus on his driving and not his injuries or the dizzy feeling welling in his head. Did some silver remain in his body, eating away at him? It hurt like hell still, and the injuries had barely healed at all; it worried him. Maybe he'd die after all, he thought.

He sped closer to the small metropolis, damning himself. 'I should have stayed at home one more month...' Just one more, but he felt he had gotten greedy. Would it have been so bad to ask Penelope if he could have stayed in her woods for the night? Maybe he didn't want to intrude on her territory. Still, it wouldn't have hurt to ask. But the Wastes should have been safe!

As he entered the city, his mind returned to the three hunters. What were they doing out there, if the WRO didn't send them? Yuffie wouldn't lie to him about that of all things. Where his materia was, sure, but nothing life threatening. Were they just out there on their own? Did he kill them? He had to do what he had to do, self preservation was a powerful urge. Cloud sighed, trying not to think about them yet again. He took a turn off the nearly empty central plaza towards the bar, then deftly moved the bike into the garage as the door opened up.

Cloud shut off the bike while the door churned closed behind him. He was breathing heavily and holding onto the handlebars as he struggled to remain upright as his morning adrenaline wore off. He sat there for a minute, focusing on clearing his now fuzzy vision, the dark room blurring in and out. Out of confidence or desperation or both, he took a breath and swung himself off the bike, stumbling to the ground in a heap as he did so. Cloud gasped, holding the side of his abdomen as a sharp pain traveled through it. He let out a harsh cough and tasted a little blood. If he didn't get help soon...

His senses were dulled and he couldn't tell if any of the others were awake. Regardless he decided to crawl towards the door, slowly making progress and growling whenever the pain shot through the injury; he hoped if the children were in the bar, they didn't hear him. As Cloud approached the concrete step that lead to the door it quietly opened, the light burning his eyes and causing him to wince. He heard a gasp.

"...Cloud? What's wrong?" It was Tifa. Her strong arms lifted him up gently and he found his footing as he leaned into her, panting. He felt her support his weight, her body almost pressing onto his wound.

"I...Hunters...Silver..." he whispered into her ear. His eyes were to the ground, focusing on his steps as she slowly took him upstairs. He felt her nod to his answer, Tifa's hair rubbing softly on his face.

They took another step. "Almost there, Cloud..." He felt her lurch him toward the office, the bed closer by then the bedroom. He slowly took his steps, occasionally gasping or letting out a soft growl if the pain spiked. Tifa stopped, and he listened to her steady breaths. "Okay, Cloud...this might hurt a bit. I'm going to put you on the bed."

He nodded and braced himself as she positioned him to sit on the bed, then lay down. He panted hard, and the pain made him cry out once. Finally he was laying down, the pain easing a little as he laid still. Tifa tugged his shirt zipper, revealing the strange injury of blackened flesh and sticky red blood. Tifa looked over him, her face full of concern. She gently rubbed his head, the sensation relaxing him a little after his ordeal. He weakly grabbed her forearm with a worried look on his face that matched her own, though she spoke up before he could whimper words to her.

"I'm going to go get some materia, okay?" She dipped down and kissed his forehead to give him some form of reassurance that everything would be alright, then left for the materia box left in the garage. Tifa swiftly made her way down the stairs, then turned on the light as she passed through the open door, looking about. The box was hidden behind a toolbox, and some cardboard boxes filled with papers and the like; someplace the children wouldn't immediately look for the potentially dangerous baubles.

Moving a box she uncovered the trove, opening the chest and reveling silently at the rainbow light hidden inside. Tifa tentatively touched a piece here and there, identifying the spell contained within the orb by a whisper that called out in her ears. Fire, Ice, Esuna...She took that one just in case. A few more moments of searching and she finally came across one of the more powerful Cure materias not given to Yuffie after Meteorfall.

Tifa closed the box and quickly hid it away again, then exited the garage, double stepping her way up the stairs; she felt she had taken long enough already. As she reached the top of the stairs she heard the voices of the children, all three coming into view as she entered the office. Cloud took in labored breaths on the bed, and his face was paler than when she had left. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Cloud, what happened?" Marlene didn't get a response.

"Guys..." The children turned to Tifa, the woman holding a green, glowing orb in either hand. "Cloud had a fight last night while making his overnight delivery. I need to heal him so he can tell me everything." She placed one of the orbs on the wooden desk, then held the other in her right hand, palm downward.

"Oh. I almost forgot we had materia..." Denzel said in an off hand manner. Zeph looked back at him and blinked.

"Materia...I've never seen anyone use it before." He looked up at Tifa, watching her.

Tifa took a deep breath and focused on the knowledge contained within the slightly elastic orb. It had been so long since she used materia, not since that day they came back to Midgar to help the survivors...Her eyes focused on her target, and Cloud looked back at her with a pained expression on his face. Then it happened, the mental "snap" of the materia being triggered went through her mind, and Cloud sighed noisily as the injury to his arm and abdomen closed some with a gentle green glow. The most grievous parts of the wound had knitted up, and the bleeding had mostly ceased.

Tifa put her hands on her knees, the mental fatigue from using such a spell after a long time hitting her immediately. "S-sorry...It's a bit too much right now. I'll go out and purchase some potions, but...I don't know how much it'll help. I think you're stuck in bed until you get better, Cloud." Tifa gave him a sympathetic look, knowing how he hated to be bed ridden. He grunted in response, nodding that he understood. Tifa came over and rubbed his head affectionately once more for a few moments before turning to exit, ushering the children out as well.

"Cloud needs to rest."

The next day was much the same for Cloud, though the pain had become more manageable with Tifa and Marlene's care. The two boys would come in on occasion to play a card game with the warrior, keeping him company throughout the day or sending up a meal. He would occasionally shuffle out of bed to use the bathroom, and Tifa would gently scold him for not asking for her help to get to one room or the other. He would just shake his head and say that he didn't want to be any more of a burden than he already was at this point. Besides, she had healed the worst of it, hadn't she?

While his injuries were healing the blackened skin on his arm was starting to flake off, the injury the consistency of a burn. Tifa had bandaged the arm, soaking the fabric in a potion in a bid to dull the pain of the raw, pink flesh. She would have used the materia again, but Cloud didn't want her to possibly deal with a headache while she worked the bar. Tifa told him she would start using the bauble more often to acclimate to their use again.

His abdomen was slower to heal. The burns as the silver grazed his insides slowed down what should be rapidly healing. Cloud was grateful it wasn't infected, but even with both sides properly dressed the pain would make him wonder. The second night he was stuck in the office bed Tifa had come to replace his dressings after sending the children to bed, a worried look on her face as she began work on the entry hole.

Cloud frowned. "What's wrong, Teef?"

She sighed as she worked on cleaning the injury and dabbing it with a strong potion, the hole knitted together more strongly as the fluid did its work. "They have those dogs now," she said lowly in Nibelese. Zeph could still be up, and she didn't want to take the chance that he would overhear them.

He snorted, then grunted as the action shot pain through his injury. "Tell me something I don't know..." Cloud had already told her the whole story, some of it confirmed in a radio news bulletin. He hadn't felt much knowing he had killed one of the hunters, but he certainly wasn't proud of it, either. He either fought back or he died; he was already in poor shape as it was because of them.

"No, I mean...They're searching around the city again, now during the day and night. I saw a hunter this morning outside the garage's door. I guess they trailed your scent..." she whispered.

He groaned, hand to his face. Yuffie had texted him, telling him to hang tight for now, and that she'd try and get a hold of Reeve; the man had been exceedingly busy as of late with either paperwork on the oil fields Barret discovered or attempting to bring back some form of normalcy to the world after the Deepground incident. Junon was still not quite back to business as usual. "Damn."

"I don't know if they knew why or not, they didn't enter the bar."

Tifa finished with the entry hole, then helped him shift to his back side. This one had a little more drainage, and she had put a towel down so it wouldn't soak into the mattress. She slowly peeled it off, tossing the dirtied bandages into the trashcan. "It's just another thing to get through, I guess. We've made it this far, right?"

"...Yeah. It's just...I guess I didn't think this through." He bit his lip as the potion stung his deep wound, Tifa dousing it slowly.

"Just let me be with you from now on..." Tifa whispered. Cloud looked back, his eye finding hers. "If you need to go out...I don't want you alone, Cloud."

He looked towards the wall as she begun packing bandages. "It was just a freak incident, Teef."

"It almost killed you, too," she retorted. "Silver...It's like acid and fire," Tifa said in a barely audible whisper, taping gauze on her work. Cloud slowly flipped back over, sighing as he came to rest his bare back on the mattress again. Tifa slowly went over his legs and then laid between him and the wall, snuggling his side with her head on his shoulder. They laid there like that in silence for a long while before Cloud spoke up in a whisper.

"You really do put up with too much..." Cloud looked over at Tifa; she had fallen asleep. He decided that perhaps he should too, and held her hand before drifting off to sleep with her.

"Hey Cloud, are you gonna come with us to get some ice cream?" Zeph asked the swordsman as the boy sat on the bed. It had been about a week since the ill fated night when Cloud got to enjoy silver through his body for the first time. He looked over at the boy, a suspicious glint to his green eyes as he looked over at Cloud. He was sitting at his desk, leaning into the chair.

"Sorry, Zeph...Not today. I'm still recovering." That was a lie. Tifa and Marlene had healed him up completely several days ago, the only thing left were slowly disappearing white scars. Cloud felt bad about missing some family time with the children, but he promised to make it up to them when everything calmed down. Right now it was far too dangerous. What was taking Yuffie so long? Was Reeve that swamped?

The boy sighed. "What hurt you so bad, anyway? It must have been fast, like you."

'Just dumb luck on the hunters' part,' Cloud thought. "...Magic."

"Oh." Well, that made sense. The wounds had looked like burns to Zeph. "Tifa used magic on you, to heal you...Are you gonna show us how to use it?" Zeph sounded hopeful, excited even.

Cloud gawked. "What? No! Not until you're much older." He ran a hand through his hair, then sighed. "It takes a lot of energy, and you have to train your mind. So, if you want me to show you some day, show me you can clear your mind of thought first."

The child looked thoughtful, then nodded. "I'll try, Cloud."

Cloud nodded. "You better hurry, before they leave without you." He gave Zeph a small smile, the child leaving the bed and charging down the steps. Cloud sighed, frustrated with his situation. He heard the front door shut, and he peeked out the blinds to watch his family walking down the street. Maybe next time. For now he was a prisoner in his own home.

"Papa said Cloud's gotta watch over us until he can come down here to catch that werewolf," Marlene said offhandedly.

Tifa tsked. "He said he would come by very soon." That was a potential powder keg right there. The questions he asked had her on edge; has Cloud been acting normal, has he been doing anything funnier than usual, why did he and Evan lie about slaying that werewolf...Things she didn't want to lie about but had to right now. Cloud was acting as normal as Cloud could pretend to act, he always acted a little funny so what did you mean exactly, and it might have been a similar werewolf. Eventually Barret would have to know, but right now all he would think about was Marlene living with a meat eating monster if she told him.

"It'll be nice to see Mr. Barret again," Zeph said with a small smile. He liked Barret, he was certain on his course of action when it came to protecting those around him.

"...Hey, those guys've been following us since we made it to the plaza, Tifa." Denzel looked back again, and Tifa did so as well. There were two of them, and a hound. They were dressed in blue WRO uniforms.

Tifa sighed, continuing towards the ice cream shop. "It'll be okay." The group continued on, occasionally eyeing the duo that, after a turn this way and that way, were obviously tracking them. Tifa mentally shrugged; the dog could smell Cloud on her, most likely.

Finally the group made it to the ice cream shop, the group waiting in a short line for the cool treat on a hot afternoon. The WRO hunters came closer but seemed to wait on the corner of a brick building, as if to not harass the business with their prying. 'At least they're kind of polite...' Tifa thought. "C'mon, guys. It's our turn!"

The children picked up their favorite flavors; Denzel choosing strawberry, Marlene picking chocolate, and Zeph choosing mint. Tifa requested a cookies and cream. She felt bad Cloud wasn't there despite his usual dislike of sweets, he'd still enjoy the time together and said ice cream was alright once in a while. As soon as the last cone was given to her she paid, then they made their way towards home.

Soon enough a low growl made its way to her ears, and she paused and turned to face the hunters that had been stalking them.

"Hey there, ma'am." One of the WRO hunters said in an artificially warm tone, his tan face giving a polite smile.

"Um, good afternoon...Can I help you?" She licked her cone. The children had worried looks on their faces as they looked up at the adults.

The second hunter spoke up, his brown eyes staring into her red ones. "Well, I'm sure you've heard of the attack last week, and we've been looking for the...troublemaker." He glanced at the children, then back at Tifa. He obviously didn't want to scare them too much, and motioned towards a quiet alley. "Do you mind speaking to me, over there? My comrade will keep the children safe, I promise."

Tifa looked back at the children and then back at the hunter. She wasn't a werewolf, so any tests they did would be useless. "As long as the children are safe. I'll hold you to it."

He gave a genuine smile, nodding. He took hold of the dog's leash as it let out a small growl after it had sniffed Zeph, and firmly tugged it towards the alley with him. He took Tifa towards an alley, surprised at her confidence as she continued to eat her ice cream in a casual manner. The dog sniffed her, then growled.

"So...This dog is trained to sniff out werewolves, you know? Recent development, this is the first batch." He was pointing at the hound, a serious look on his face. His other hand was near his gun.

"Do you think we're a family of werewolves, then?" Tifa raised a brow before licking more of the softening ice cream.

The hunter let out a laugh. "I don't know about that. But-" He squinted at her raised hand for a few moments. "No...You aren't. But the dog..." His hand near his gun relaxed, and he looked at the hound.

"I run a bar, you know! It could have been one of the customers...The children help during the summer too, and we had a customer we had to pamper a bit today." Tifa shrugged. "Some people are just temperamental, but that guy..." She studied the hunter as he looked back at her, hanging on her every word. "He had a big thing for meat, I noticed."

"Anyone else live with you?" The hunter raised a brow.

"...Yeah. My husband."

"Where is he?"

"At home, working on...the shower."

The hunter grunted. "I see. Does he work at your bar?"

"Lately. The last two weeks he's been stuck in the bar, actually. Needed the help." Tifa sighed, wondering when the grilling would be over.

The hunter frowned, but seemed to relax further. "Two weeks? Hmph. Just be careful ma'am, there's a werewolf hanging around the city. Sorry to bother you."

'Don't I know it, and he's an absolute handful.' Tifa gave a kind smile towards the man. "It's alright. Thanks for looking out for everyone!" She walked back towards the children, nodding at them to continue on. The hunter behind her shook his head at his partner and they walked the opposite way, the dog giving a final growl towards the group before being tugged away.

"What was that all about?" Denzel asked.

Tifa chomped into her cone, thinking on the little conversation. "He thought I was a werewolf. Isn't that silly?" She remembered her ring. "He must've thought my ring was made of silver, that's why he didn't detain me longer..." She thought some more.

"...So that dog, it's one of the new ones that can sniff out werewolves, right?" Marlene asked.

Tifa nodded. "That's what he said. Guess it was mistaken, huh? A family of werewolves..." She let out a small laugh.

Denzel and Marlene giggled knowingly. Zeph frowned worriedly, licking his ice cream in silence.

Zeph heard a scratching at his bedroom door. He sat up in bed, holding his covers as if they would protect him from whatever could possibly be on the other side; soft light and moving shadows were playing in the space between the floor and the door. The sound grew, and the boy held his breath, paralyzed with fear...

The door burst open and four shadowy figures quickly surrounded his bed. He recognized them all; it was his adoptive family, silhouettes and feral faces smiling at him with yellow eyes except for a single pair that shone blue in the dark. Denzel and Marlene's giggles sounded almost like chuckling hyenas, the children pointing at him with clawed fingers as pointy teeth gleamed at him. "You found out our secret!" They taunted in a twisted singsong voice.

A female voice, Tifa, called out to him. "Now you'll have to be one of us, Zeph." Her normally friendly smile was warped into some twisted visage of woman and wolf.

The boy moaned. "I don't wanna!" He backed himself towards the headboard, looking for a way out, his head swinging this way and that way as he breathed quickly. Where was his silver sword?

"Maybe we'll eat him instead?" Marlene said cruelly.

"But I like him just enough," Denzel said, his teeth gleaming from the hallway light.

"Sorry, kiddo. Unlike staying with us, you don't have a choice in this." Cloud's voice was barely apologetic, and his glowing blue eyes seemed almost amused. "It won't hurt too much..." The other family members grasped his limbs, holding him down as he struggled. They laughed as Cloud's clawed hand came to scratch Zeph's arm

"Zeph! Hey!" The child jumped and shouted, looking around his dark room as a strong, gentle hand held his shoulder. "Shhh...You're gonna wake up the whole neighborhood at this rate, kiddo." Cloud was whispering softly to him. Zeph whimpered at the sound of his voice.

The boy looked up fearfully into Cloud's softly glowing eyes, and was given concerned frown back. Zeph said nothing, but took deep breaths as he was taught while holding tightly to his blanket.

"You were having another nightmare...Wanna talk about it?" Cloud asked in a whisper. He rubbed the child's shoulder softly, trying to calm him down.

Zeph looked around him, his room the way it was before he fell asleep; his silver sword was right where he left it, in arm's reach. Cloud crouched down at the side of his bed as Tifa's face peeked from the dark hallway. He squeaked, and Cloud looked back, whispering something to her that Zeph couldn't make out. She nodded, then her head disappeared. As he turned back to look at Zeph they made eye contact, and the boy nodded.

After explaining his nightmare, Cloud had an uncomfortable look on his face. He didn't like that the child's dreams were now making the paranoid child fearful of the family.

"I-I think it was because of those hunters," Zeph said.

Cloud nodded slowly, Tifa had told him the story earlier as they laid in bed. He hoped Reeve or even Yuffie would contact him soon. "So...It has you worried."

"Is Tifa a werewolf? Did that Penelope girl change her?" His face was full of worry. "She said the hunter mistook her ring for silver, but the dog was growling at her..."

Cloud let out a sigh. "Tifa's no werewolf. Look, the dog was growling at you kids too, right?" The boy nodded. "So, maybe it wasn't trained right...You're obviously not a werewolf, right?" He gave a small smile to the boy as he shook his head. Zeph's eyes moved side to side as if contemplating if he should ask something of Cloud. He took a deep breath and landed the blond warrior with a dour, serious expression on his face. Cloud didn't appreciate the look he was being given. He got up as he usually did before leaving, and he stretched his back, before looking back down at Zeph. He opened his mouth to say a few parting words.

"Cloud? Is everything okay in here? Y-You need your sleep, you're still healing..." It was Tifa, her head was poking through the darkness again.

"I think so...Hey, just remember, we're all here for you, alright?" Cloud let out a soft laugh. "Even if we were a family of werewolves." He patted the child on the shoulder and tucked him back in. "See you in the morning, Zeph."

"N-night..." He had wanted to ask Cloud the dreaded question, too. There was something so very off about his guardian, but usually he could deny them because of one reason or another. 'But what would I do if he's one of them?'

The next several days were another mixture of boredom and anxiety for Cloud, still waiting to hear from Reeve. Yuffie promised that he was burning through his workload as hard as he could, and then he could catch up on what the ninja thought was so important that didn't involve someone's death or serious injury. He sighed as he finished his work on Fenrir. Denzel had come in earlier, hoping to spar with the warrior some before lunch. Cloud might not be the biggest fan of the rod, but the child was a natural; he even blocked Cloud twice in a row before getting the dreaded death tap. It was almost just play to the two, and Cloud was proud of Denzel's advancement in his chosen weapon. "Maybe you'll teach me something, someday," Cloud had said to him with a smile.

Zeph appeared from the bar, approaching the wooden practice swords. Cloud stood up, walking towards him as he took one of the weapons after placing his silver sword on the shelf. Zeph carried it almost everywhere he could. "Practicing?"

Zeph held the sword firmly in his hand, nodding at the question.

"Alright." Cloud took another wooden sword, then they both walked to the more open area of the garage. Zeph stood in front of him, and Cloud smelled fear mixed with his determination; he frowned. "If you want to fight people or monsters, you're going to need to stop being led by your fear."

Zeph gave a stern look. "I'm not led by fear..."

Cloud snorted. "That nightmare a few nights ago says otherwise. If you came across a real monster, or a real werewolf in the dark, if you aren't just sparring...I bet you'd freeze up." He was challenging the child now.

"...No I wouldn't!" He swiped in front of him. Cloud almost wanted to test him, but not quite yet.

Knocking the blade from the child, he went to poke him in the chest. Cloud was surprised when Zeph did the roll he was taught, picking up his sword and putting it in a defensive position. "...Good. But, this isn't like a real battle." He tested Zeph, seeing if he'd dodge or block properly; trying to hit him at a normal rate of speed.

"You have to be able to strike your opponent, too. Not just defend. C'mon, try and hit me." Zeph lunged, Cloud now doing the blocking and dodging. "Anticipate my attacks, and my movements." He tried for a few minutes, frustrated when he couldn't hit his tutor. "Calm down..." Cloud dodged another attack.

Zeph became increasingly frustrated, blocked and dodged at every corner, until in a moment of rage and clarity he swung the wooden sword straight into the side of Cloud's kneecap. The warrior grunted in surprise as he fell onto one knee before blocking the next attack. "That was a little dirty, but I'm not here to teach you to fight fair." Cloud used his sword to swipe behind the child's knees and then held him in his arms as he fell. "You have a ways to go, but I think you'll make it...If you stop being so scared." He chuckled.

Zeph was about to lightly protest when they both heard someone on the other side of the garage door that led to the outside. Footsteps and the growling of a dog came up to the metal door. Cloud's face noticeably paled, and he silently sniffed the air as he held Zeph by his chest.

"It keeps comin' here. I don't think a werewolf is gonna live in a bar, you know."

"Could be a patron, but the strongest track seems to be back here. Maybe it just uses this alley."

"Eh, the trail is the same one Merle tracked that night, almost two weeks ago. Maybe it left?"

"Who knows. I might go in for a drink later, do the silver gil trick."

"That bagged a werewolf in Under Junon, I heard." The voices began to grow distant, the dog's growling ceasing as they left the back of the bar.

Cloud relaxed, and blinked a few times as he looked down at Zeph. "Sorry. Old habit."

Zeph wasn't relaxing. Was Cloud sniffing? He remembered Valdt doing the same action once, a silent but noticeable action if you were close to him. He'd use it to smell fear coming off him as he sat in his filthy cell..."Why were you sniffing the air like that?" Zeph's face was full of terror as the conversation outside the garage played in his head over and over.