Chapter 37 - Searching
Little else needed to be discussed within Odin's pocket realm. They returned to Gongaga to rest and decide their next move.
Kunsel and Nanaki headed out on foot the next day for Cosmo Canyon to research possible materia locations.
Reeve and Cait Sith set up a meeting with the Turks in Costa del Sol to negotiate for information on possible surviving members of SOLDIER and ShinRa materia stashes.
Cid returned to the oil fields with Shera.
Vincent simply disappeared, though not before certain people badgered him into getting a phone.
Yuffie wandered off to look for materia that wasn't guarded by diseased Jenova spawn.
Barret took a job with Cid on the condition that Cloud, Zack, Tifa, and Aerith would look after Marlene.
Everyone else headed back to Midgar with the children. Cloud and Tifa in particular wanted to help build Edge.
Zack tried to keep his idea for a house away from Aerith, but eventually caved when he realized he hadn't a clue where the start. She laughed.
Aerith suspected the cure she found wouldn't hold for long while Sephiroth's consciousness remained. If nothing else, those who were cured would probably be at risk of reinfection.
The people of Gongaga cleared a path to the spring Aerith had prayed at. Bottles of healing water spread by foot, cart, and chocobo-back.
Weeks turned to months. The spring's power lasted until the first storm of the rainy season. People still came and Aerith built a new spring in her church. Zack and Cloud started making deliveries of water and spread word of the new location of the cure.
The Turks proved suspiciously helpful, at least where information on SOLDIER locations was concerned. Most turned out to be dead or had left for parts unknown as soon as they realized ShinRa couldn't track them anymore.
Annoying, especially since they could all sympathize.
"Maybe we should just put out an ad." Kunsel leaned his head back against one of the sturdier pews in Aerith's church. He and Nanaki had stopped by after failing to find another SOLDIER near Icicle Inn.
Zack chuckled. "Yeah. 'Cure for alien parasite you didn't know you had available. Results may be fatal.' That'll bring them in."
Kunsel glared at him. "You have a better idea?"
"Hey." Zack brought his hands up as a shield. "It's not a bad idea, I'm just saying... I dunno, they're hiding from ShinRa and we're... this cleansing thing kinda sounds like an experiment."
"Oh."
Zack rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Cloud and I were talking about maybe going through whatever this cleansing is ourselves before we try to convince anyone else."
Kunsel shivered. "Yeah. That's an option." He took a deep breath as he rubbed his face. "I really don't want to do this."
"No kidding." Zack sat down next to him. "But it's..."
Crash! Zack and Kunsel jumped up ready for a monster attack.
Amy threw herself at Zack. "Denzel pushed me!"
"You were in the way!" Denzel rushed in after her carrying a toy sword.
"YOU PUSHED ME! IT HURT!"
"Woah!" Zack knelt down between the squabbling children. He noted that a small crowd had gathered just inside the door to the church. "I can't do anything about anything if you two are screaming at each other. So, Amy, you said Denzel pushed you? Fine. Denzel, why did you push Amy?"
Denzel did his best to look menacing at Amy before dropping into a pout. "We were playing, me and some of the other kids. I was Cloud. Ran was on the ShinRa team and I saw him run toward Amy."
"I didn't know she was there!"
Zack snapped his head up toward the crowd. "Hey! Don't interrupt!"
"I thought Ran was gonna take her hostage! So I protected her!"
"You hurt me! And I wasn't playing your stupid game!"
"I didn't mean to!"
Zack pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh man." He lightly gripped Denzel's shoulder. "Look, I'm not going to say you did anything wrong. You meant well. Just, uh, attacking someone you're trying to protect is usually a bad idea."
"But I didn't attack..."
Amy stomped her foot. "Did so!"
"Did not!"
"Uh, you kinda did."
"SEE?"
Denzel pouted fiercely at Zack.
Zack sighed. "You were playing a game and you pushed her, so yeah, it counts as an attack. So be more careful next time." Zack raised his voice so the kids in the back could hear. "And don't involve people who aren't playing!"
"I said I didn't see her!"
"Anyway!" Zack pinched his nose again. "Just try to get along, okay?"
Kunsel watched the kids run off, another game already in the making. "You better survive this."
Zack brushed off his pants as he stood. "Well, it's not like I'm planning to die."
"I mean it. Those kids, Aerith, everyone depends on you. So you better come back alive."
"Uh, sure." Zack rubbed the back of his neck. "Anyway, Cloud should be back in a couple days."
"Yeah? Where is he?"
Zack grinned.
*7*7*
Water dripped from the walls of the ice cavern. Deep shadows wavered and split before the huge mass of a gigas.
Cloud stood firm as its heavy booted feet shook the ground.
The gigas raised a single hand to squash the intruder.
A blur of movement ended with Cloud returning his sword to its sheath. Behind him, the gigas toppled to the floor with an echoing boom.
"That was awesome!" Yuffie dropped from the ceiling. "You're really going all out breaking in your new sword."
Cloud adjusted a strap on the oddly complicated harness that included the sword's sheath. "I thought you said you were in trouble."
Yuffie waved a hand in dismissal. "Oh that. I just needed you get here quickly. It always worked with Zack."
"Hm. I guess I owe him, then."
Yuffie didn't notice, or perhaps didn't care enough to ask. She simply dashed down the shadowed passageway until Cloud yanked her back.
"Hey! What's the big..."
The cave rumbled up through the soles of their shoes moments before ice and rock crashed down into a wall of rubble blocking their path.
"Oh. Uh, thanks."
"What were you looking for?"
"Materia, duh." Yuffie skipped along the edge of the cave in, examining every crack. "There's supposed to be a summon on the inside slope of the crater. AAHHH!" She kicked uselessly against one of the larger rocks. "It's so close! Finding a way around will take forever!"
Cloud stepped next to her so he could get a closer look at the barrier. He pulled her back by the shoulder.
"Stand back a minute."
"Huh?" Yuffie watched perplexed as Cloud climbed halfway up the rough wall.
He jumped down a moment later. "Maybe you should stand a little further away."
Yuffie shuffled a couple feet away. "What're you doing?"
"I'm not quite sure." Cloud grabbed one of the larger boulders and braced his feet.
"Whoa! Whoa! Hang on!" Yuffie sprinted back the way they came. She slid to a halt several yards away. "Okay! Go ahead!"
Cloud only nodded before readjusting his stance. His fingers dug into the rock as his muscles tensed. Stone scraped against stone. Dust and pebbles trickled down the wall. Then larger pieces broke free. The wall groaned.
"Hey! Watch-"
The groan rose to a rumbling roar as tons of rock and ice crashed onto Cloud.
"Cloud!" Yuffie didn't bother waiting for the debris to stop moving before rushing forward.
The pile still shifted as she clawed at the rubble. She barely paid attention until Cloud's hand punched a rock out of the way inches from her face.
The moment Cloud's head broke the surface, Yuffie punched him straight down.
"YOU JERK! What am I supposed to say to Tifa if you get yourself killed, huh?"
"I... Are you crying?"
She hugged her fist close to her chest. "I hurt my hand punching your thick skull!"
Cloud slotted a materia into bracer and held it out toward Yuffie. A faint glow grew and dimmed around her hand, taking the pain with it.
"Idiot." She pushed past him as she scrambled up the rubble. "At least you made a hole we can crawl through. When I find the summon materia I'll give you... some of the credit. Like, a third."
Not seeing any point in arguing, Cloud just followed her while keeping an eye and ear out for any more surprises.
Sorry for the wait. Summer colds, loud roofers, even louder toddlers... It's been an interesting summer. Hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint. I'm hoping next chapter will be better. It'll probably be darker, anything. Or just trippier.