The trek to Icicle Inn was rather uneventful. They kept a standard pace in order to get there before nightfall, and the walk was a pretty quiet affair, save for Zack's constant amiable chatting, but, hey, Zack's Zack. The conversations did allow for Cloud to focus on something other than his nerves, so for that, at least, he was grateful.

When they did finally arrive at the small town, it was to the relief of the entire group. Commander Hewley sent Zack ahead of them to handle setting up rooms for the group, so for the moment everyone else was left to their own devices. Cloud. . . wasn't really sure what to do with the downtime. Sure, he could wait for Zack, but how to pass the time until then? It wasn't like he could just casually hang with the other SOLDIERs, even if a little part of him suggested that Zack was probably going to do that anyway.

Cloud frowned, still standing outside the entrance to the Inn itself. Usually, whenever he had free time at HQ, a novel concept in and of itself, he'd spend it with Zack, and if not, then he'd be studying or training. It really wasn't wrong that he needed as much experience as he could get, seeing as he wasn't exactly the best in his class. His friend wouldn't admit it, probably to avoid hurting his feelings, but he really needed as much help as he could get.

Maybe he should use this time to train, then? Or study, perhaps. He was missing class after all, and for all of Zack's offers to help him make up for it, it probably wouldn't hurt to start now. Oh, but he didn't bring any books with him, did he. . .?

"Strife."

Cloud jumped and whipped around. Upon seeing the Commander standing in the doorway he quickly snapped to a salute.

"Sir!"

Hewley looked at him for a moment, then turned to walk away, with a quick motion of his hand to follow. Cloud gulped nervously, but followed anyways. He couldn't have already done something wrong, could he? He shook his head once to clear his head.

They continued walking through the town for a few minutes, before turning down into a wide alleyway between two houses. Cloud stood tensely even as Hewley leaned against one of the walls. The Commander studied him for a moment, eyes looking him over, before he lifted a hand and finally spoke. "At ease."

Cloud relaxed, a little. That at least meant he wasn't in trouble, right? But then, what was this about?

Something must have shown on his face because then the Commander shook his head and chuckled. "Zack must be complaining about me too much if you're this nervous around me." He said, and Cloud started, but was stopped when he held up a hand. "No, it's alright. Zack told me you tend to be a bit anxious, don't worry. You're not in trouble," He smiled.

Well, to actually hear it was quite a relief. Cloud felt himself relax. He was a bit embarrassed by Zack, but, well, it's not like he was wrong. Still, though. . .

"Um, sir," He started, still a bit apprehensive, " If you don't mind. . . If I'm not in trouble, then, why. . .?" He trailed off when an oddly exasperated look came across the Commander's face.

Hewley sighed and Cloud felt his nerves kick back up.

"Look," the Commander began, "I think we both know you aren't qualified for this mission. Zack seems convinced otherwise, Goddess bless his heart, but that doesn't change the fact that you're just a cadet, and in no way skilled enough to handle this."

Ouch. It's not like Cloud didn't already know that, he's not stupid, but wow. The bluntness still stung like hell. He shifted in place and gave a belated nod in agreement. The statement might've hurt, but it wasn't wrong.

The Commander at least seemed glad enough he was willing to admit it. "I pulled you aside today to let you know that you don't have to try to be any better than you are. We all know you're just a cadet, and that you didn't ask to be here, so no one will hold it against you if you're not much help. No one expects anything of you. Well, except for maybe Zack, but I think he's just happy enough to have you here at all." Hewley gave him another smile, no doubt to try and further reassure him.

Cloud gave a fake smile in return."I understand, sir. I'll do my best."

If the Commander noticed anything strained in his face or voice, he didn't show it. Instead, he nodded, and turned to walk back to the Inn, only stopping to pat his shoulder on the way. Cloud waited until he could no longer see his figure, and then a few minutes after. When he was finally certain that he was out of the SOLDIER's earshot, Cloud let his face fall into a scowl. He slid down the wall of the building until he sat on the cold ground.

"Damnit!" He half-yelled to himself and slammed a fist into the ground. It hurt like hell, but he didn't care. He was pissed. They really thought he was useless, huh? At first, the thought made him feel small, and a wave a self-deprecation flooded over him. But it was soon drowned out in the anger and indignation he felt at being talked down to so casually. Cloud's pride wasn't a large thing, but it was a stubborn thing.

So what if he was just a cadet?! He knew that! He knew he wasn't going to be anywhere near as good as the SOLDIERs! But to be dismissed so easily. . . Zack was dead-certain that he was going to be useful on this mission, and while Cloud couldn't claim to know what goes on inside his friend's head, he at least knew to trust him, even if he didn't trust himself. If Zack said that he would be a good addition, then he'd do his best to live up to that. Would the others really write Zack's idea off as baseless so easily? Even his own mentor, with whom Zack looked up to and trusted more than he trusted himself?

Now that got Cloud's blood boiling.

With a hardening resolve, he got up from where he had been fuming and dusted the snow off his clothes. He decided he'd go check up on what's happening at the Inn before doing anything, but then after, he'd go train, and brush up on what he learned about tracking in Nibelheim.

He would show them. He would go beyond even Zack's expectations of him, if just to defend his friend's judgement. No one insulted both him and his friends and got away with it, no matter how roundabout of an insult it was.

Not even one of the Top Three.


Well, this is easy. Cloud found himself thinking the next day. The contingent of SOLDIERs (plus one cadet) was currently trudging around the snowy forests north of Icicle Inn, and though they valiantly hid it, no one was really quite happy to be in the knee deep snow.

Well, no one except Cloud.

Truth be told, despite how much he abhorred his hometown, Cloud missed the chilly mountain climate. It was never really cold enough in Midgar to call for snow, and even if it was, precipitation of any kind wasn't exactly the norm there. So, the glistening snow and biting chill of the Northern Continent was actually a pretty welcome change of scenery.

Of course, it didn't hurt that he seemed to be handling it better than the rest of the SOLDIERs.

Cloud fought to keep a grin off his face and instead took a deep breath of the cool, fresh air. It snowed last night, leaving the snow on the ground still a bit loose, and with it came a certain crispness to the air that you just couldn't get in Midgar's polluted gloom. It felt nice.

Not everyone quite appreciated the environment here, though. And by that, he of course meant Zack. The man in question was alternating between complaining about the cold, the snow, the lack of action, and sometimes all three in the same sentence. At some point, the others seemed to get tired of it.

"Oh, quit whinin'. Even the kid's handlin' it better than you!" One of the SOLDIER's shot off, head tilted in Cloud's direction. Cloud, for his part, barely twitched at being called a kid.

"But he's from Nibelheim! He doesn't count, he's used to it!" Zack whined back.

"An' he doesn't even have mako in 'im! You do, you big baby!"

The group continued shooting off good-natured jabs at each other. Mostly Zack, to his dismay and Cloud's amusement. He glanced at the Commander briefly and saw him sporting a fond smile at their antics as well.

He tuned back into the conversation at hand, which mostly involved teasing Zack about dealing with the weather worse than a cadet. Cloud tried not to get caught up in the pleasure of acknowledgement, reminding himself that he was only being indirectly complimented as a means to insult someone else. He had yet to prove himself to anyone here, but it was only a matter of time. Better to save his pride for when he actually accomplishes something.

He broke out of his thoughts when he found Zack had thrown himself around his shoulders.

"Well, at least Cloudy here won't be mean to me. Right, Spike?" He said with an exaggeratingly miserable tone. Cloud raised a brow, and he looked back with huge puppy dog eyes. "Right?!"

Cloud gave him a decidedly unimpressed look and shoved him off, ignoring the high-pitched whine that came from the older man.

Conversation dwindled down after that, and they continued on in comfortable silence.

Eventually, though, the sun began to set, and it was time to find a place to camp. As the resident survivalist-person, Cloud took it upon himself to find the best place to settle down for the night. It was technically his job, now, after all.

While Commander Hewley divvied up the jobs for setting up camp, Cloud wandered the surrounding area looking for a good place. Whether the Commander let him go because he remembered his role, or simply thought he'd be no use, Cloud didn't know, but didn't care either way. Eventually, he came across an outcropping of rock among a small bunch of trees, and grinned. He marked the spot in the snow so he could find it again and returned to the group.

He walked up to the Commander and saluted. "Sir," he began, "I've found an area that can provide cover from winds at night. We should set up camp there."

The Commander raised an eyebrow, but nodded nonetheless. "Lead the way." He gestured with his hand. Cloud nodded, dropping his salute, and making his way back to the rock outcropping he'd found earlier. He stopped and watched the Commander scan the area, and fought the urge to smile at the clear approval on his face. "Alright. Good work."

Cloud nodded, dismissing himself, and went to help the other SOLDIERs that were already setting up camp. All of it, from clearing the loose snow to allow set up, finding suitable firewood and storing it, pitching the tents to better hold up against the wind, to even building the fire so that it lasted for as long as possible with minimum fuel, were things he could do in his sleep, having spent more than a few nights camping by himself in the Nibel wilderness. Truthfully, he didn't find it very dazzling, but the grateful and somewhat impressed faces of the other SOLDIERs begged to differ.

He couldn't tell if their expectations of him were that low, or if they really were just that clueless about surviving in the wilderness. On one hand, he's a bit insulted. On the other hand, though, it's not very reassuring that ShinRa's elite don't even know the basics of camping.

After all was said and done setting up the camp, came the issue of finding food. They had army rations, of course, but no one was really all that enthusiastic about eating them. So, Cloud, still focused on going as above their expectations as possible, volunteered to go hunting. No one wanted to eat rations bad enough to bar him from going, though there were a few skeptical looks tossed his way.

All the better, he supposed. Cloud was taught how to hunt almost as soon as he could walk, so it'd be a walk in the park getting dinner. He smirked, imagining their faces when they see him enter camp with enough kill to feed them all twice over.

Yeah, this'll be easy.