Sorry for the late update.

But I decided to rewrite some stuff. The original chapters would have been from Clouds POV. I changed it into third person and decided to include Sephiroths perspective too.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Dry leaves crunched underneath his worn boots and he had quickly folded up his blanket and placed it in his bag. The full moon had offered enough light for him to maybe find his way through the forest and up the mountains. He had hoped to reach the top before sunrise.

One of the other boys had woken up before Cloud was offered the opportunity to sneak away from their camp. "Need to take a piss?"

"Yeah." Cloud heaved the bag over his shoulder and squatted down to tie his shoelaces.

"Are you being a coward? You know that Roche had a bet on you quitting. Or maybe dying."

"Tell the shit he will be disappointed." He had placed a handful more twigs in the fire then moved to the edge of their encampment. "You can keep watch now. I'm doing this on my own."

"We need to stay together. As a team. You know the rules."

Cloud shrugged. "Not interested."

The woods had been unnervingly quiet that night. No birds. No insects. Nothing could be heard. There had been little wind so Cloud couldn't rely on his sense of smell to alert him to potential dangers. He had begun to wonder if his solo attempt had been a mistake. Not that he would ever in his life have returned with his tail between his legs. Not only would it have invited more ridicule, but he could never have faced his mother as a wimp. Or Tifa.

The dagger strapped to his thigh would have had to suffice as protection.

How dangerous could it have been? This whole mountain had belonged to Shrina for a long time.

Tifa,

They had used to sneak up here as kids.

Tifa screamed as the thing stood up on his hind legs to its full height and howled. Radiant blue eyes glared down at her before the monster pounced and buried its teeth in her leg.

Cloud stretch out his hand as he tried to crawl over to her side. But his chest hurt too much. He couldn't get enough air in his lungs. The creature had already struck him and sent him flying into a thick tree. A couple ribs had probably been broken from the impact.

His vision dimmed and the last thing he heard was Tifa calling his name as the full moon shined above them.

Cloud had still been relatively close to their camp when he had spotted something glistening on the ground. He had picked up the item and it had given him a tingling sensation on his fingertips. It had been silver. A necklace with a name inscribed on it.

Behind a broken tree, something red had poked out. Closer inspection had revealed the body of a man and the red had been the colour of his hair. Considering his choice in jewelry, the guy had been a hunter.

Cloud had reached down to test his pulse. For a moment he had been convinced that the strangers' shoulders had tensed, but it had been too dark to be sure. And for better or worse the hunter had still been alive.

Without turning his back to the unconscious man, Cloud had raced back to his companions. Trevor had still been awake and had been ready to beat him with a hefty tree branch.

"Dear Minerva. Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Cloud had ignored him and approached Roche who still rested on the ground. All he had done was touch the brutes' shoulder and then got placed in a headlock. Then Roche had screamed as the silver had swept across his skin.

"Goddess that burns!" Roche had pulled out his own dagger and advanced on Cloud who had been left sprawled on the ground. One of the other boys had gotten between them. "Cheater! You think you can get the jump on me like this?! I swear to you weakling-"

"Shut up." Cloud had hissed at him as he stood up. And got shoved back to the ground again. "We're not alone! You idiot!"

"Listen. If you need a fight with me weakling, then man up and face me. I will burn you, runt."

Cloud jumped up again, but that time had kept his distance. "Shut up or keep your voice down. We. Are not. Alone. There is a hunter in the woods not far from here. There could be more them."

"Yeah right." Roche had leaned down and to shake out his blanket. "If there were hunters out gallivanting then they would have sent someone to warn us. This is Shinra property. We are Shinra property, technically. No way would he let them mess around here. Even runts like you are protected."

"I saw him." Cloud had insisted. "He was hurt. Bad. And that's where I got this, you oaf."

He had become frustrated with not earning the response he wanted, and not being taken seriously. So, Cloud had tossed the necklace at Roche, who dodged. "Read it. The engravings. Read them."

Roche had been clever enough to use his blanket as a barrier when he had picked up the thin chain. "Reno. Who?"

"The hunter."

"And he's still alive?"

"Yes."

"Alright." Roche had given him back the silver jewelry. "Lead me to the body and I will kill him."

Cloud hadn't wanted that. "No."

"See! I knew you were a liar."

"The real problem is why the hunter is there. What hurt him and why we weren't warned about any of this."

Roche had stridden up to him until his nose almost brushed against Cloud's forehead and he growled. The blond was younger and had been weaker than him, but he hadn't been scared. "I don't believe you."

"Fine." Cloud had decided to lead them to where the body was. He walked past Roche and hadn't bothered to see how many would follow him. "Keep up."

"Just don't use anymore silver on me, weakling." Roche had ordered the others in their group to pack up and tag after them.

They had found nothing. The body wasn't there anymore. Reno, or whoever, had disappeared. There had been blood on the ground but nothing else.

Roche had shoved him out of the way and crouched down. First, he had sniffed the area, then pressed two fingers against the wet earth and brought it up to his lips. "Yeah, that's human. But where is he, runt?"

Cloud hadn't answered.

"You should have killed him. We're not safe because of you."

The warning bells from their village were heard in the distance.

Sephiroth had stood silent next to his friend as they had listened to the bells chime from the bottom of the mountains. Something had happened. And soon a message would have arrived to inform them of the crisis. The previous times hadn't been anything serious, but perhaps they had gotten lucky that moment. The silver champion had desperately yearned for a new challenge.

They had gathered with the rest of the pack as they observed a young protégé complete his transformation. Everyone had assembled in a circle with the man of the witching hour at the center. He laid naked on a wolf pelt with glyphs drawn on his skin in blood and the skull of their founder nestled on his abdomen. The skull of Vincent Valentine, and their connection to their creator Minerva.