I take her dripping boots and walk back to the campfire without saying a word to her. I don't know if it's because the adrenaline had worn off and I was freezing, or her not listening had really bothered me subconsciously. There was no denying that she was incredibly smart, but that intelligence stopped her from taking advice. She had never told me where she was from, but I was from the country. I knew all about the dangers of the outdoors and the cold living at the foot of an often frigid mountain range.
I think about my hometown as I prepare a ration for Farron when it hits me. I was annoyed because she did something reckless like Tifa did on the bridge and now I'm going to be punished for it. My hopes of being close to Tifa were taken from me by her father, who blamed me for the fall that almost killed her, and now Farron had no doubt snatched my chance of joining SOLDIER away from me. Still.. as the pink haired girl sat beside me with icy, white skin and nearly purple lips, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
"Here," I say to the pinkette, offering her the ration pack I'd heated up.
She takes it and says nothing, leaving the four of us to sit in silence, staring at the fire. With the foil blankets reflecting the heat so well, steam poured off our wet clothes. I'm sure in an hour or so we'd all be bone dry again. The hope of coming first was now just a fantasy, but I wonder to myself if it was still possible to finish within the time limit.
"I'm sorry," Farron sighs. "I-We should have listened to you."
"Don't worry about it, Farron," I tell her as I stare into the fire and poke the embers into life.
"Call me Light," the pinkette says softly. "You seem in your element outdoors. Did your father teach you all of this?"
Father? What's one of those? I think bitterly before answering.
"I'm from Nibelheim. It's cold for most of the year and freezing in winter. The kids in town used to annoy me, so I used to venture out on my own a lot. The rest I just researched in the hopes it would get me into SOLDIER," I answer truthfully, but avoiding the topic of my father. "What about you? Where are you from?"
"Costa Del Sol," she tells me.
"No way! Why the hell would anybody want to leave there?!" Alex questions as if she must have been mad.
"I have my reasons…."
Light's face dropped with the innocent enough question and it told me everything I needed to know. She didn't leave by choice and joining Shinra really was all about the money for her. I consider pressing her, but decide against it, knowing I wouldn't have liked the interrogation. Turning back to the welcoming heat of the camp fire, I hear Chris mumbling to himself as he looks over the laminated map.
"I think we can pull this back," Chris finally says aloud, never taking his eyes off the map. "What if we climb down here, past where the river starts?"
"Light's just nearly drown and you want us to climb down a cliff in the middle of the night?" Alex frowns, thinking the same as me.
"No, look. This is a topographical map. Those 'cliffs' are more of a steep slope than a sheer drop," Chris continues. "Just think.. We either have to walk all of the way around and risk all getting thrown off the course or climb down and maybe even win."
He made a compelling argument, and I really didn't want my dream to die in this miserable place. I hold my hand out and take the map from him to study it carefully. It certainly seemed doable, but could we risk any more setbacks or injury? Unsure what to do I hand the map to Light, much to everyone's surprise.
"Haven't I caused enough trouble?" She scoffs, surprised I'd ask her opinion.
"I figured nearly dying would make you more cautious than us three. If you feel that it's still the way to go, then that's what we'll do," I tell her.
"Far be it from me to deprive SOLDIER of the next Sephiroth," She replies, handing the map back to me. I can't tell from her expression if she's mocking me or being sincere.
"Okay, let's pack up while Light gets changed," I tell the group.
Light rounds up her uniform with one hand, keeping a tight grip on the thermal blanket around her. She heads behind the bush to get changed while we pack up the packs and douse the remains of the fire. The only thing I leave out was the survival knife and green cloth that I fashion into a shemegh to keep the chill from my lower face.
"Okay, I'm ready," Light tells us as she appears from the bush adjusting her shoulder guards.
The four of us march up the slow but relentless hill, following the river bank. Somewhere up here was a series of slopes we could climb down and with a bit of luck stop me from getting kicked out. It seemed a simple task, but as we make the walk I wonder how many of the other groups would have been more efficient than us. Chris takes point, giving me the opportunity to trail behind and study the map some more, in the hopes I could figure out our chances.
"Having second thoughts?" I hear Light ask as she catches up to pace beside me.
"Just wondering where they'd have dropped the others off. We seem to have the most obstacles to deal with within a similar radius."
"Probably punishment for me trying to kill Baker," she replies bluntly, and I can't help but laugh.
"What was that about, anyway?" I ask, eager to know what can make someone snap so violently.
"it's a long story..."
"We've got at nearly two days hiking ahead of us," I gently press her.
"If we make it back in time and don't get kicked out, I'll tell you," she promises, so I drop the subject.
My legs burn fiercely by the time we make it to the top of the hill. The four of us move slowly towards the edge, careful not to end up tumbling down it. Alex was right about how steep it was and it gave the four of us a nice boost in confidence that even in the moonlit night it looked doable. Maybe there really was a chance to pull things back. Fifty foot down a small ledge marks the half way point of the steep slope. I peer over the edge to try and find a route that looked safest. If we lost our footing we'd end up with some cuts and bruises, but nothing that I wasn't willing to receive in order to get closer to my dream.
"What's the plan?" Light says aloud, but turns to me.
"That depends. What do you think the rules about bringing all of our kit back are?" I ask her.
"You mean the ropes?" She guesses correctly.
"If we stake them into the ground we can walk ourselves down. It'll be the safest option, but if we get back and get our arses kicked by the Captain about loosing equipment..."
"Yeah, I'm not getting punished on some damn technicality. I'd rather throw myself down," Alex laughs.
"Shouldn't we have been trained on all of this equipment before hand?" Chris states, rather than asks.
"There's a war on. They're gonna want to have people figure it out for themselves. Then the ones that remain after basic training will be thrown to the wolves," Light explains with a bluntness I've come to expect off her.
"Little ray of sunshine, aren't ya? Aren't you looking forward to do some real fighting?"
"Unlike you three 'hero's' I have every intention of living a long life," Light scoffs.
"Can we argue at the bottom?" I growl, turning my back to the edge and lowering myself down carefully.
Loose stone and mud moves around under my boots, making my stomach turn with every little slip. I take out my knife carefully and try to carve small handholds in the slithers of clay for the others as I descend cautiously. The weight of my pack either wanted to push my face into the cliff side or pull me from it depending on how I leaned, but eventually my feet find the welcoming flatness of the ledge. Being first down, I look up and watch the trio descend. Light made it first, followed closely by Alex. With Chris just a few feet away I turn my attention to the next part of the cliff.
"Made it! That wasn't so b-"
The small ledge that offered a checkpoint to the daunting cliff side gave way under our combined weight, and my stomach turned as I fell. The weight of my bergen pulls me head first as I tumble down the slope. Large stones stuck out of the clay surface pummel my body with every impact and by the time I hit the grassy bottom I feel like I've been trampled on by a battalion of wild chocobo's. I quickly try to get to my feet, but I only make it to my knees where my vision starts to blur and I collapse onto my back. It takes a few deep breaths to get me somewhat functioning when I notice a warm sensation running down my arm.
"Cloud!" Light's voice shouts as her dirt covered face blocks out the starry night sky.
"Is everyone okay? Are you okay?" I cough, painfully, holding my ribs.
"Crossing that river doesn't seem like such a bad idea now, does it?" She teases. "We're all fine by the looks of it."
"Don't make me laugh," I wince suppressing a chuckle.
"You just keep still. You've got some blood on you. I need to find out where it's coming from before you move."
I nod in agreement and try to work out if slow, deep breathes or shallow ones would hurt less. If I hadn't at least fractured a few ribs I'd be amazed. I feel her warm hands softly feeling around my torso with clinical precision. I watch her concentrating intently, occasionally making eye contact with me to see if I reacted to her prodding. The moonlight made the pinkette's already pale complexion snow white, contrasting the deep brown clay that was smeared across her cheek. I couldn't look away from her icy blue eyes that had hints of green and grey around the edge.
"Found it," Light says as she grips the top of my arm lightly, but it still stung. "You must have caught your arm with the knife as we fell. It's just a cut so I think you'll be okay."
"Think you can stand?" Chris asks, coming into my view from the right and offering me a hand.
I grab his arm and he pulls me to my feet with an agonising tug. My ribcage felt like it was lined with daggers, stabbing me in the lungs with every breath as I try to compose myself. I look around to the others, finding them all covered in dirt but mostly unscathed, with exception of a small cut on Alex's forehead.
"This just isn't going our way, is it?" Alex laughs.
"At least it's just a walk back now. If we keep a reasonable pace we should be back within the time limit," Light tells us with hope in her voice.
"Then let's mosey," I tell them, setting off into the night.
With compass in hand I take the lead, making slight corrections every now and then to make sure we were still heading west. I knew at some point we'd come across a road and it would be smooth sailing from there on. Shinra's vast highways stretched across most of the continent, although the main highways were to Kalm and over the mountains to Junon. I hope I get sent there on assignment at some point to see if the cannon is as big as people claim.
We must have been walking for a couple of hours when Chris suggests a breather. In truth my body was begging to stop, but I refused to be the one to suggest it first. It was still dark, but I see the faintest sign of light from the east, telling me it would soon be sunrise. The four of us take our bergens off and remove our canteens to enjoy a well deserved drink. I begin to remove the lid when Light breaks into a sprint, nearly knocking me over as she passes.
"Farron, what gives?!" Alex shouts, but when we turn it soon becomes clear.
A few hundred yards in the distance I spot a moving, bright light that I eventually realise was headlights. We all watch as Light sprinted to where she thought the vehicle was going to end up to intercept it. The vehicle gets closer and it's lights illuminate the road we were previously unable to see, just as Lightning gets to the barrier that separates the road from the grass. She waves her hand just as the truck passes, and we all let out a sigh of disappointment.
"Look! Brake lights!" Chris shouts in excitement, pointing to the now slowing vehicle.
"Come on!" I shout, racing towards the vehicle.
As I get closer I see that the vehicle is a yellow farm truck. Light is already at the driver's window., presumably asking the driver for a lift back to Midgar. In the back of my mind I'm praying she doesn't do anything rash, but she just turns around to point to us before returning her attention to the driver. We're all still too far away to hear what she's saying, but the pinkette eventually turns around to wave us over.
"You kid's look like you've been to Wutai," the old man in the truck chuckles. "Climb in the back and I'll take you as far as the sector 6 gates. Just don't step on the goods!"
We all offer the man our utmost gratitude and climb into the bed of the truck, careful not to stand on the sacks of goods he had in the back. I look to Light and give her a grateful nod, but my body could have hugged her it was so relieved. The pair of us rest our weary backs on the back of the cab and watch the sun try to break over the horizon.
"Looks like we're gonna make it after all, Light,"
Another one done. Thanks again for all of the reviews! Reddevil47, that made me laugh. it's so true though. Poor Cloud.. There's going to be more characters (some that you'll recognise) added next chapter which I think everyone will like.
My take on Light and Cloud for this story is this: Light is just a normal kid living in a nice place when her world is turned upside down. she's very clever and adaptive, but she's doing this as a means to an end. There's currently no real interest in the job itself, but she strives to do everything she's tasked with well. Sometimes her stubbornness gets in the way and hurts other people though. Cloud on the other hand has put so much thought into being a member of SOLDIER. He lives and breathes everything military.
Ordered my first class edition and im so excited. There's so much I could talk about I could write just a chapter. I really like the little details on Tifa's design. The little skulls on her skirt and the chocobo and bomb charm bracelets and the norse runes on her gloves. I noticed a load of banora apple posters everywhere so I assume they're not completely scrubbing the compilation cannon. I will put money on it theres going to be a load of CloudxJessie fan fics on here soon lol. A shame they've replaced all of the AC voice actors though.