Again, full apologies this is so late. I've been really distracted as of late, and been losing motivation to write this at all. I don't know why, since I did hash out ideas with my friend and I have a clear idea of where this is heading, I just can't seem to get there from here. I feel like the quality has dropped or something of that nature, but yeah. Either way, enjoy this next chapter. I'll try to get more within timely manners, but I can't guarantee anything. ~Xar

Reno didn't like it, but he was scared.

He didn't tell Cloud, he didn't tell Cid, he didn't even tell Rude-hell, he didn't tell himself, but he was very, very scared. Ever since the first time the old man had crashed the plane and he had puked up black blood everywhere, he was scared. Him having his stupid magical transformation only went so far and finally hearing Nanaki's reasoning behind his constant pain didn't really help his state of mind.

He was being destroyed from the inside out. Some deal the Goddess cut with him.

Cloud didn't know any of that. To him, it just looked like Reno was being an ass as usual-or at least, that's what he hoped. The red-head had never exactly prepared for a situation where he would become a warrior of the Planet.

Enough was bothering his friend. He'd woken up shouting from a terrible dream a couple days ago, saying they needed to go south to the Temple of the Ancients and get some sort of materia before Sephiroth did. He wasn't very clear on what exactly needed to happen or how this pertained to Jenova, but there was little Reno could do other than trust him.

He was glad Rude was back and with them. He had been somewhat afraid they'd forgotten about him; after all, that's what happened to Turks that died. But Rude's soft voice filled him in on everything that had happened, and he didn't know what to think. They had defected because of him. Well, there were probably a lotta stupid political reasons they split off too but, Tseng…

They'd drawn it close before with the whole fiasco with Veld, but life had returned to normal. If there was one thing he could say about Tseng, is that he always looked out for his fellow Turks, and taking them all with him was a bold move. Of course, there weren't that many left, but it was the thought that counted.

Enough. He wasn't one to brood, and he was missing out on glorious arguments with the old man. Arguments and tree stumps which kept him stumbling because his depth perception was still shot.

"Well at least one of us is laughing," Reno sneered in Cid's direction, after than man tripped over a hole himself laughing at the Turk. "You really sure its wise to teach me how to use a goddamn spear if I'm gonna shove it up your ass?"

"Jus' you try, kid, and the Goddess'll hafta drag you back out of hell again!" Cid chortled, choking a bit on his cigarette.

"I can't take any more a' this. Cloud! When are we gonna get there?!" Reno suddenly asked, only slightly worried with how quiet his friend was. Cloud started, not realizing he was being talked to.

"What? Uh, I don't know. It's gonna be awhile, unless we can like fly or something."

"I got ya kids covered there! Shera called and she's sendin' us a plane I can use," Cid growled, a smile on his face.

"How does she even know where you are?" Reno questioned.

"You Turk should know, a tracker fitted into my PHS. Isn't that how you guys do it?"

Cloud shot Reno a glare, telling him to silently not get into any more fights, but hey, that was a lost cause. At least maybe they wouldn't have to walk as far and risk tripping over more tree branches and throwing up more blood. He fell back so he was finally walking next to his partner, just like in the old days. "I kinda miss when it wasn't so crazy, yo."

Rude merely shrugged. "Can't say it wasn't like that then."

Angeal had managed to snag a phone and send through a very scratchy phone call to his student, telling him where they were headed before the signal cut out and was lost. In truth, it had been wonderful to hear his voice again, to reassure himself that his former student was doing fine without his help. He had heard about the murder of Hollander-the wounds suspiciously close to a Buster Sword. On one hand, the man had been his father, but on the other…he had twisted his ideals and turned him into a monster, causing his mother to take her own life.

It wasn't relevant anymore and whatever happened in the past had to stay there. What was important was the breathing presence under the red coat that was sitting next to him. He'd gone so far without seeing any sign of Genesis, not knowing if his friend were okay or if he'd lost him forever, but waking up to find him there…he had hope again.

Perhaps Cloud and Zack was right. Perhaps there was enough of his friend worth saving. He hadn't harmed Yuffie and Claudia, after all. In fact, ever since that night he spent in the car with Cloud's mother, he was more proactive about protecting the group. Angeal didn't question it, though…it was Genesis. He didn't want his friend slipping through his fingers again.

Yuffie was the same as always, though they had stopped in a nearby town to tell her parents she hadn't been kidnapped, though she refused to return no matter how stern Angeal was with her. It reminded him a bit of his puppy when he was younger-it hurt his heart to think about that.

As for Tifa, he still didn't know what to make of her. Once she'd gotten the ground beneath her, the girl was surprisingly helpful, and he'd been teaching her more of the martial arts she loved so much. There was a way her face transformed every time Cloud was mentioned and he wondered what exactly happened between them. Was this the reason she was coming along? Was this the person Cloud had said he made a promise to?

It wasn't his place to ask, so he didn't, but he knew what childhood friendship was like. The dusty truck drove on, pounding the vibrations into his skull, as he remembered the scent of dumb apples and the sound of Genesis' laughter. If only it could be that way again…

Cid had left the party not long after he announced that Shera was sending a plane, zooming back overhead soon after with a roar of laughter. Reno had complained he didn't trust his piloting skills, to which Cid told him to sit down and shut up. Rude and Cloud just entered the plane quietly, this one being a bit bigger, and they were off to the Temple of the Ancients.

It was horribly quiet in the back, without Cid there to argue, and any quiet question he proposed to Reno was shut down instantly. Cloud was getting frustrated-he thought that falling through the Lifestream together would bring them together, not….this. Hell, he'd even…no, Cloud promised himself not to think about the thing that happened in Cid's house.

The red-head himself was pale, so Cloud had a feeling he was masking all the pain he was in and it was frustrating. He wasn't coughing up blood, but when he finally keeled over to sleep, the blonde rested his hand on Reno's side, and he immediately relaxed. At the very least, he could do this for him, even if he refused to talk.

The plane had shook, Cid suddenly swearing about 'damn birds' or something along those lines and took a sharp dive downwards. Cloud crashed into Rude, who was about as immovable as a brick wall and scrambled upwards.

"What the hell was that?! Please tell me we aren't gonna crash again!" Cloud yelled, stumbling his way to the cockpit. Peering out with Cid, he saw strange flying contraptions circling around and swarming the plane.

"Fuckin' hell, we were almost at the Temple!" Cid shouted over the roar of engines as he swerved to the right again. He was doing a good job avoiding them all, but the pilot could only do so much. Besides, to even land the plane, they had to get through a full nest of the strange flying things that were hovering below them.

"Shit, that's not good…" Cloud muttered, looking at them. Was this the Deepground thing Cait Sith was talking about?

"You tellin' me! Can't your weird magical powers do something' about that?"

"I just got them like three days ago! How would I know?!" Cloud said angrily back, holding onto the frame to steady himself. Reno and Rude were behind him, wondering what the hell was going on, and he backed up to show them.

Reno merely whistled in amazement, shifting his cape around over his shoulder. "Yo, so we need to get around that to land by the Temple?"

Cloud had a sinking feeling something insane was about to happen, and he was perfectly correct. Apparently they were more connected than the blonde thought, because Reno grinned at the exact same moment Cloud's stomach dropped.

'Hey, you know that wing I have?"

"No."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun-"

"NO."

And of course, three seconds later, they were stood by an open door, ready to jump out without a parachute, the only person he had to trust was Reno and his weird monster form. Truthfully, he should've been grateful the red-head was showing his usual spirit and that maybe things could go back to normal, but the time for normal was all past. He needed to get his head out of the sand and stop dragging everyone down.

"Okay fine. But if we die again, I'm not dragging you back out," Cloud said, grinning just slightly.

That got Reno to open up fully. "Of course, my boy, why would I be thinking that? Rude, the hatch!"

The other Turk shoved the door open. "See you on the flip side."

It was so silent, so beautifully quiet for a minute, with just the sound of the engine and wind ripping at his clothing and hair, before the panic set in. It had just hit him that he was falling, falling without a lifeline and he was gonna die-

The sun flashed and a beautiful red wing opened up above him, spreading its feathers into the sky. There was a sharp jerk around Cloud's arms and knees as Reno suddenly grabbed onto him and halted their descent.

He looked up at Reno, only too see the face covered in a helmet, looking much like Vincent did when he turned into Chaos. A deep hum resonated through him-he was in the arms of his Herald, and with him by his side, he could conquer the world.

"You know, I'm surprised that Rude and Cid didn't question what we were doing," Cloud said, unable to really form anything else coherent to say.

"I think they're just used to our idiocy by now," Reno said, his voice sounding strange, but still playful. "Shall we?"

With some difficulty, Cloud drew the sword he kept on his back. "I haven't had some fun for awhile."

Reno beat his upside down wings and shot off towards the strange monsters in the sky. The two of them working in complete tandem, set upon the Deepground creations from above, so fast they never saw what was coming.

Reno immediately dropped Cloud, who stabbed one creature through the head and leapt to another one before it could fall completely. Slashing that ones wings he fell until a flash of crimson flew by and hauled him upwards again, enough to catch onto one of the monsters legs and fly.

It was exhilarating. He could feel the mako and the blood rushing through his veins, combining into a unstoppable fountain of power every time he rushed through the air. It was as if the wind itself was giving him wings, and it was the greatest freedom he'd ever felt.

If this is what it meant to be a WEAPON, he could deal with it.

He fell quickly back to earth, accidentally taking out a couple that had swarmed beneath him, trying to catch him in a pincer attack. It was hard concentrating on a 3d plane like this to fight-Reno was having one hell of a time, but he had been trained to fly choppers. Out of the corner of his eye, he could always see a flash of crimson or a streak of lightning fly across the sky and soon after an enemy would fall. He just knew the red-head was loving it, rejoicing in being alive. He was in the sky he so longed for, after all.

There was a close call with a few of them, but the plane had flown by and all Cloud had seen was a burst of flame-he'd have to thank Rude later. The SOLDIER couldn't even tell how many were left, but he fell towards the ground again catching Reno and the last minute, balancing on his spear and jumping directly into a snarling monster's face.

The aerial battle had taken them way down, close enough to the ground that he could see the individual trees, and the plane was nowhere in sight. Taking that as a good sign, he and Reno finished of the last. With a final burst from Cloud's materia, Reno charged up his spear and called forth the biggest electrical storm he could muster, both of them hitting the ground, floating with the burning feathers that fell around them.

There were crashing of bodies and tree limbs, but other than that, it had quieted down around them, not a single monster call to be heard. Cloud took a minute to catch his breath before looking over at Reno, and the crimson angel he'd become. The wings were already bleeding away into his cape and he collapsed, the SOLDIER rushing forward to catch him. A bit of black blood dribbled out of the red-head's mouth, and Cloud worriedly wiped it away. Had him transforming caused this? Was that why Reno was so silent this whole trip over?

He didn't have much more time to think about anything before he heard more rustling in the forest and the click of at least a dozen guns. Cloud looked up, nearly growling. How had they snuck up on him? He had mako senses-

A small fragment of sunlight glinted off a pair of glasses as Professor Hojo of all people stepped into view. "I see you haven't changed at all, Cloud. You're a very hard person to find."

His blue eyes darted back and forth. His chances of escape were next to none, since he refused to leave Reno behind, but he had to try. As if they read his mind, a couple of the soldiers sprang forward with inhuman speed-shit, they were enhanced!-and all he saw was the hard barrel of a gun flying straight towards his face.

When he finally fell, he dreamed of a simpler time, when all he had worried about was passing the SOLDIER test. Too much had changed, and I don't know if it's worth it.

The Planet wished to answer, but it was sick with its own problems. It could only rely on Cloud becoming strong enough to answer on his own.

Rude and Cid stared in shock, the plane making slow circles around the site that once used to be the Temple of the Ancients. It not longer existed, but was a giant pile of broken rock and structures cracked asunder, and in the middle, a vortex of wind.

The destruction had been enough, but there was something in the middle that had caused even Rude to break his facade and pray to whoever was listening that he was just hallucinating.

In the middle was Sephiroth, Black Materia in hand.

And soon, He shall become Mine.