Hmm boy we are back at it! The fight continues in this chapter! HUGE thanks to my co-author tmart.x13 for writing out this great fight!

Ch. 43

Locked in the battle with the beast, Cloud still tried to figure a way out. Suddenly, he had an idea, which would have sounded crazy to anyone else. He let go of his sword and ducked quickly forward. The momentum of the monster pushing against him caused it to lunge forward into the dirt, though barely missing Cloud's head. Cloud had just enough time to grab his sword and ready himself again before the monster recovered himself and turned swiftly to face its blond-haired foe.

A yell of frustration emanated from the beast, causing Cloud to wince in pain as the loudness was almost deafening. His eyes stayed fixated on his opponent though as it barreled forward and swiped again, but all it connected with was thin air as Cloud sidestepped out of the way into a roll. Now he was just out of view of the creature, partially being to its side.

He saw the opportunity to strike as he leap from his kneeling position and charged forward towards the side of the monster. Cloud angled his sword down to the right and brought it up sharply against the outer hide of the creature, eliciting a reaction from the beast. After hitting it that first time, Cloud turned his sword up and to the left and carried it downward next before repeating a similar striking pattern a few times.

After those few hits, the monster yelled in frustration and tried a counterattack. It whipped its large, spiky tail around and landed right where Cloud would have been had he not been able to dodge roll under the behemoth. Coming out on the other side, the blond prepared his sword and swiped upward and then performed a few cross slashes as well, eventually cutting through the thick skin.

The creature reacted in stride with a slight movement from its hips that caught Cloud off guard as he was in mid-swing. It connected with Cloud and knocked him backwards onto the hard, sandy ground, dust rising from his landing spot. He nursed his side as he rubbed it with his hands and tried to regain his bearings so he could stand back up.

As he looked back in the direction of the monster, it was much closer than he had expected as it bared its large mouth down upon where he was. Cloud was somehow able to roll out of the way slightly before the land where he had been suddenly became nothing more than monster food. When Cloud rolled, he didn't notice that he was close to an embankment of the mountain and happened to roll slightly off of it and tumbled down onto a level below. The drop jarred him as he landed on his back, pain searing through his back and sides from the impact.

"Ow!"

The yelp was all that he could let out, sounds of pain and frustration in the cry. Cloud was trying to regain his composure when he felt the tremors on the ground, which he assumed was the monster. Sure enough, it had found him and tried to swipe down at him. Luckily, he had his sword ready and swung it hard against the giant claw of the beast, slicing through its palm cleanly with blood splattering slightly on the ground and even on his uniform.

The beast let out a bellow of what Cloud could only assume would have been pain. Cloud hesitated for a moment, allowing himself to breathe as he tried to process what was happening. "Okay, I need to try to do something to beat this thing but I'm not really sure what. I've beaten other monsters before, but they were just practice runs. This one is bigger than any I've fought before…"

Finally, he put his mind back to focus and took advantage of the creature's lapse in moving. He sprinted forward and lunged with his sword directly at the side of the creature, piercing its thick armored skin finally with enough force. The monster gaped in pain and stumbled backwards a bit as saliva poured from its mouth. It looked slightly dazed for a moment as if trying to cope with the additional pain.

Unfortunately, the tip of Cloud's blade had been sheared off, most likely from the toughness of the monster's skin. He just hoped that it would not impede his ability to fight it off. As the monster stood their dazed, Cloud took a few seconds to catch his breath and wipe sweat from his brow. His stamina was draining the longer he fought since he was not used to something like this, so he knew that if he did not try to finish it soon that he would be in trouble.

Soon though, the monster started to stumble away, seeming to be limping on the foot that Cloud had cut open. Each step of that foot left a bloody print with it, as well as the blood dripping from the wound in the side. It was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Cloud readied himself and charged towards the beast at an angle away from it. Once he finally caught up to it, he darted towards it sharply. Once he was close enough, he slid on his knees through the sandy ground and raised his sword upward. It connected with the large neck of the monster as he slid across, making a jagged slice in its neck. His sword sheared off halfway through, the tough hide being too much for the simple steel to endure. More blood spilled out from that wound as the monster attempted to yell, but it could no longer do so.

Before Cloud had a chance to get up, the beast started to flail its arms wildly. The arm closest to Cloud connected with him before he had a chance to do anything, knocking him to the ground and stunning him for a bit. He could feel that his shoulder was going to be bruised from the hit. He turned his head back to the monster to see it stumble a few steps and then collapse to the ground finally.

It was over.

Cloud made his way back at the fastest he could go. His legs were burning, and he was sure covered in cuts and bruises, making the walk a little more painful with each step. But he kept pushing on, not letting himself give in to the pain.

Eventually he made it to where the others had regrouped. Upon coming into their sights, he saw Marucs and Wei running towards him, with potions in their hands. When they got close enough, Cloud thought that he could be all right if he let himself relax a little. All his muscles and joints were screaming for him to stop and rest anyways. Just as he was about to drop to the ground, Marcus and Wei caught him and held him up.

"Whoa, Cloud! You okay there?" Marcus asked before holding up a potion for Cloud to drink.

"What happened? Where's the mother monster?" Wei asked.

Cloud tried to speak, but his exhaustion was still far stronger than that. He only gave a slight nod as he continued to drink the potion. Half way through, Wei raised his weapon and cast a cure spell over Cloud, which did help heal up most the other wounds that he as feeling.

"Thanks," Cloud managed to muster out after the healing started to take effect.

They all stood there and allowed him to catch his breath, waiting patiently. "The monster is dead. Took a bit, but I did it."

They were all surprised at hearing that Cloud had been able to fend off the monster on his own. They stood there with mouths agape, looking at the blood-covered blond. Before too long, Wei and Marcus turned their surprise into a smile.

"Wow way to go Cloud! That's amazing. You really saved our butts back there though," Marcus replied in elation.

"Yeah, that's for sure," Wei added in, the tone of his voice indicative of his gratitude.

Cloud just stared at them and nodded. Then, his attention shifted to the two infantrymen that were still out cold. "Um… are those two okay?"

"Well th-" Wei started, but was cut off as the captain of their troupe outstretched his arm in front of the 2nd Class, causing him to stop talking.

"To answer your question. They will be okay at some point. But that should never have happened in the first place. You failed at your job as team leader in protecting those under you," the captain announced sternly as he eyed Cloud, seriousness hinted in his eyes.

"What?" Cloud questions.

He had just defeated a monster and he was met with hostility and disappointment from the captain? It was a bit surprising to hear… he wasn;t exactly sure what he was expecting from the captain, but he was not expecting for him to be upset.

"You heard me. But we are going to give you your proper reprimand back at HQ," the captain huffed before turning to the other men. He looked to some of the other Infantrymen. "You two go and gather information on the monster that was defeated. The others, gather up the injured and we head back… now!"

Cloud flinched as he watched the captain walk off. Some of the other SOLDIERS picked up the unconscious Infantrymen and started to carry them off. Cloud almost couldn't move. It felt like ice was starting to in case him. He couldn't bring himself to take a step forward.

He had failed. He had done something wrong. What was Sephiroth going to think? Cloud couldn't help but worry about what would be coming once they were back at Shinra Headquarters.

Suddenly he felt the hands on his shoulder giving him a quick shake. He focused himself back into reality to see Marcus and Wei still standing next to him. They both were giving him the same consoling look. They may not have known what to say, but they wanted to let Cloud know that they were going to stay by his side.

The three of them soon walked again, picking up speed to catch up with the others. The walk back was long and quiet. It felt even longer than Cloud had remembered, but maybe that was because he couldn't stop thinking about what the captain had said. It still worried him deeply, and he knew that the captain said there would be more…. And he was afraid of what that was going to be.

It was just as quiet as they rode up the elevators up to the SOLDIER floor. But as soon as they were all there, the captain glared at Cloud. "Now, 2nd Class SOLDIER; Cloud Fair. You know what you did, correct?"

Cloud looked around, but all of the other SOLDIER has gone off somewhere. But thankfully he could see Marcus and Wei off in the corner. They were still sticking around it seemed, and it brought only a little relief to the major tension Cloud had.

"Y-Yes," Cloud answered. "I took care of the monster, and I-"

"And you let your entire team get injured. I may not have been there, but I saw the injuries on the infantrymen and the other two SOLIDERs."

"But!" Cloud tried to quickly interject. "We didn't know that-"

"A good SOLDIER is always prepared," the captain responded strictly. "Or have you failed to remember that? I would think one who is trained by Sephiroth would remember such a simple task."

Cloud felt his entire body tense up. The ice felt like it was completely encasing him now, and he had no way to break through it. He lowered his head and let the captain continue on. He saw no point and trying to prove himself. The captain was probably right anyways.

"I shouldn't have trusted a 14-year-old to manage his own team on a mission like this, regardless of who your mentor is. You were irresponsible, and cocky enough to think you could take it on your own, now look at the results. You've got two incapacitated infantrymen and two injured SOLIDERs. Not to mention your own injuries. I expected too much from you. You are still just a reckless child."

Cloud tried his best to hold it in, but a small whimper escaped from his throat.

"I will have to report this failure to Sephiroth, and I am sure he will deal with you accordingly."

"There will be no need to report anything," a cold voice said.

Cloud's head shot up to see Sephiroth walking towards them, a stern and cold look etched all over his face. The ice was now starting to tighten around Cloud. He almost felt like he couldn't breathe. Sephiroth was here now.

"How much did he hear? Does he know everything?" Cloud thought to himself, without once taking his eyes off his mentor.

"Sephiroth," the captain greeted. "It is good timing that you are here. I was just finishing with your student and-"

"And who gives you the right to chastise my student?"

The captain gulped slightly. "Ah well, it was because of what happened out on his mission. He completely failed at-"

"I would not say what he did was a failure," Sephiroth replied.

"But he let his team get injured and-"

"And I advise you should stop talking before you get on my nerves," Sephiroth said, sending a near-death glare to the captain.

Once he saw that the captain wasn't going to speak up again, he looked to Cloud. "I know what happened on the mission, but I would not call what Cloud did a failure. In my personal opinion, he handled it just right and handled it how he saw fit."

Sephiroth then looked back to the captain. "You expected Cloud and his team to be prepared for an attack that they had no idea would be coming?"

Sephiroth paused for a moment, keeping his steady, cold gaze. "A good SOLDIER should always be prepared, that is correct, but you cannot prepare for everything. Preemptive attacks are something that we cannot predict and recover easily from."

This time Sephiroth waited to see what the captain had to say, but it seemed he knew his place currently and was staying quiet.

"You also expected that Cloud would lead his team to a battle and return unharmed. You can't have a group of men go to battle and expect them to return without a scratch. We may be SOLIDERs, but we are not inhuman. Injures are part of the job when we go out to war."

"I know Sephiroth, but he allowed enough time to pass to let it get out of hand," the captain said, slightly surprised that Sephiroth had not cut him off this time.

"And what? You assumed that he would do exactly as I do? He may be my student, but he still has a lot to learn. You've already acknowledged that Cloud is still 14, but you are putting him down far too much. He did stop the monster, didn't he?"

Sephroth turned his attention back to Cloud. "I saw what happened, though you hesitated from the initial shock of the attack, you did go fight the monster after making sure your team was safe and out of the way, right?"

Cloud nodded quickly, knowing that he shouldn't hesitate answering to Sephiroth. "Yeah, that's right. None of us expected a mother monster to show up, and the size was a bit more than I thought. But then… after it tried to hurt my friends, I wanted to make it pay for that. I wanted to do it alone and make sure that no one else got hurt."

Sephrith's cold and serious glare changed slightly. It was hard to tell, but it almost looked like he had the slightest smile. "And taking charge of the situation to make sure that no one else gets hurt is what I believe the right call was."

"And what would you have done in that situation had you suddenly encountered the monster?" Sephiroth questioned the man.

"Well, I uh, I think there was-"

"You don't really know do you? Would you have run away like a coward? Leading it back to all the others thus endangering more people? Or would you have stayed to fight with the small group you had, keeping damage and casualties to a minimum? Maybe we should put you up against something like that to find out," Sephiroth replied with an ominous smirk.

The man looked stunned, not really knowing what to say. "I uh, suppose that the latter would be the most tactical option... sir."

"Exactly. So before you criticize someone again, consider your situation and remember your proper training. And furthermore, you do not get to reprimand my student, that is my job to do so."

Cloud felt a nervous knot tightness in his stomach. "Does this mean he is going to reprimand me afterwards? He probably is still upset with me that I didn't react soon enough…"

The captain nodded slowly. "Yes, I understand."

"You can leave now, but if I hear any more of you scolding Cloud, then I will see to it that your ranking is removed," Sephiroth stated coldly.

With another quick nod from the captain, he took off. Now that he was out of the way, Sephiroth put all his focus and attention towards Cloud. "Now, Cloud. Follow me so we may discuss the results of your endeavor today."

Cloud found himself only able to nod as he followed behind Sephiroth. He could only imagine what the man was going to say to him, and he wasn't sure if it was good or bad.

Sephiroth came and dishes it out to that captain! Haha! But now what is he going to talk about with Cloud? The mystery continues!