"...oud..."
"C...oud!"
"CLOUD?!"
A loud, frenzied voice broke through the darkness, and Cloud was acutely aware that he was being smothered.
He thrashed, trying to break his way out of the snow suffocating him. If he managed to hear the others, then he can't be too far from the surface, right? Then again, Zack could be almost unnaturally loud at times. . .
Wait, Zack! Cloud froze momentarily, remembering why he was trapped in the snow in the first place. He growled, then, and renewed his struggle with a quite literal vengeance. As soon as he gets out of here, he's going to kick Zack's ass, or Gaia help him -!
"There you are!"
Speak of the devil and he shall appear, looking rather worse for the wear at that. Not that Cloud managed to get a good look at him. If fact, he only managed to get a deep breath into his screaming lungs before he got a face full of a very worried looking puppy.
"Oh Gaia, I was so worried about you! I mean, I was worried about the other guys too, still am, but they're enhanced and you're not, and - and - I'm so sorry! That was so stupid and I'm so stupid and you're not saying anything, wait are you dead?! Oh no, please don't tell me I just killed my best friend -"
Unfortunately for Cloud's revenge fantasy, it was extremely hard to stay mad at Zack, especially when he's like this. Sighing internally, Cloud patted Zack on the bicep and tried to pry him off. Immediately, he was dropped, and he landed with an oof. Nearby, Zack hovered over him, looking him up and down as he picked himself up. Cloud allowed himself to be examined for injuries with only mild annoyance. He knew better than to try and prevent Zack's protective tendencies.
"See? I'm fine, save for you trying to crush me earlier." He tried to joke and lighten the mood, but Zack just frowned instead.
"You're really banged up." He proved his point by poking Cloud in a rather sore spot on his ribs. He slapped the hand away.
"Well, yeah, you did just drop an avalanche on me. I'd say I'm pretty well off for that." Wrong thing to say, again, apparently. Zack frowned deeper and he took on a distinctly guilty expression. As he opened his mouth to apologize again, Cloud picked up a handful of snow and threw it at him. "Ah, shut it. It's my fault, anyway. You idiots wouldn't tell the difference between a dragon print and a marlboro print if it bit you on your ass, I should've told you about staying quiet."
That successfully got Zack to laugh, but now Cloud had to reconsider. Should he have told them? With them being SOLDIERs and all, he'd figured that they all would've been in a snowy area at one point or another, and they'd be warned there. Or maybe even learned it in training; He had specific lessons on outdoor environments. Maybe it's a new thing, and they never actually knew? Maybe he should've said something. It wouldn't earn him any good in the Commander's eyes if he forgot something as basic as avalanches.
Cloud blinked.
"Hey, where'd the others go?" He asked. It definitely wouldn't make him better in the Commander's eyes if he forgot to look for them. He looked up at Zack, who shrugged.
"Dunno. I looked for them a little, but, I, uh, was kinda focused on finding you. " He chuckled, embarrassed, and ran his hand through his bangs. " I might've wandered a bit farther off than I should've. Oops?"
Cloud facepalmed and groaned. Oh, Zack. Sweet, lovable Zack. Are you real right now?
"Hey, cheer up!" Zack through his arm around his shoulders, and ruffled his hair. "We're SOLDIERS! We can take a few hits, yanno? Besides, Angeal's First Class, so he'll be more than fine. They're probably already at the mission place!" Cloud pushed him off, and Zack grinned.
Well, Cloud had to hand it to him there. Hewley was First Class, and he took very good care of his SOLDIERs. They probably were fine. It was the unenhanced cadet they were all worrying about more than themselves, most likely, and wasn't that grating? Then again, he probably should be worse off than he was, so why complain?
There really was no need to worry about them, but the two of them being alone raised another problem:
"So, what do we do now?"
After some debate on where to go, ("No, Zack, moss does not actually grow on just the northside of rocks. Where did you even find moss, anyways?") they decided on a random direction and set off. The general agreement was that they couldn't be that far from everyone else, so they should just find some sign of the others, and then go from there.
And off they went, trekking through the loose snow and hoping to find something. Zack very deliberately did not consider what would happen if they found nothing, and instead focused on Cloud, who also seemed to deliberately not consider what would happen. Forced optimism was contagious, it seemed.
It wasn't very easy to maintain, though. As seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned to hours, hope was starting to wane. Cloud nervously breathed out onto his hands and rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself up. He was unenhanced and therefore dressed in thermal wear, of course, but even that had its limits (being buried by snow, for instance).
Zack watched as his friend sent out another small shiver with a frown. Now, Zack may be notorious for his. . . lack of foresight, but even he could admit when he's messed up. And right now? He can damn well say that he's messed up, big time. Why didn't anyone try and stop him?!
. . . Oh, yeah, they did. Multiple times. Damn it all, Zack, why don't you ever listen?!
"Zack?"
He blinked, looked down, and winced. Cloud, even in his half-frozen, five-foot five inched glory, was the only person he knew that could probably out-glare Sephiroth, and the one he was giving now was rather accusatory.
Aw hell, he must've been thinking with his face again.
"Yeah, buddy?" He replied nervously. Cloud narrowed his eyes.
"You're not trying to take the blame for this again, are you?"
"Wha-at?" He feigned offense at the statement, holding a hand over his heart. "Nuh-uh, I was just thinking 'bout, uh . . ."
Cloud raised an eyebrow. "About. . . what?" Oh, no, suspicious levels are rising! Quick, Fair, think of something!
"Tonberries!" was what he finally decided on, and Cloud's expression changed from accusing to skeptical. Well, progress is progress, and when given an inch, Zack Fair aims for a mile! " Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. But, like, we were sent here to find a monster, right? Well, what if it's just a li'l mako-dunked Tonberry! All those hours of snow and flying and more snow just to find this."
And then he did his very best impression of a Tonberry, even going so far as to try (and fail) and pull the back of his turtleneck over his head to pose as a hood. Cloud laughed out loud at that one, and Zack grinned. Success!
"Okay, okay, you win, I believe you." Cloud said after recovering from his laughing fit, then added, more seriously, "For now. But I better not catch you feeling guilty again, got it?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" Zack said and gave a salute, causing them both to laugh. Soon, though, the mood dissolved and they went back to marching in silence.
Zack's mind was not so silent, though. Internally (and very carefully not showing it on his face), he scolded himself. Now was not the time to get caught up in his head, dangit! He could feel as guilty as he wanted after they got back to Midgar, but that all depended on them actually getting back to Midgar! Right now, he needed to keep a clear mind and focus in case something else goes wrong. . .
Deep breaths, Zack. Remember your training, and what Angeal taught you. You're a SOLDIER, don't forget it.
Zack would later be very proud of himself for being the one to find the tracks in the snow, and even prouder that he recognized it as the same kind Cloud had pointed out earlier without any help.
Cloud kneeled down next to the print and looked at it for a moment. "It looks like it was headed that way," He said, and gestured in a direction over his shoulder. "The snow's still kind of fresh, too, so it couldn't have been too long ago." He got back up, brushing the snow off his pants, and Zack clapped him on the shoulder.
"Great! That means we know where we're going, then!" He said and grinned, internally relieved at finding something. Cloud just looked at him like he was crazy.
"Did you hit your head during the avalanche, or something?"
"Okay, okay, look, hear me out," Zack waved his hands around, and Cloud crossed his arms. "That dragon's, like, the most likely thing we're looking for, right? So that means, at some point or another, Angeal's gonna get there, too! So if we get there around the same time, then we'll have to run into each other!"
Cloud was still looking at him skeptically, and Zack didn't blame him. After his last bright idea. . . No, no, this one was actually decently thought out, he was sure of it. He held his hands in front of him in a begging motion and used the biggest, brightest puppy dog eyes he could muster. He hated his nickname sometimes, but it did have its perks.
Cloud sighed and shook his head, but conceded. " Alright, it'll be this way. Come one." Zack grinned, and dragged him along, ignoring the grumbling that followed. They would be fine, he would make sure of it. Besides, even if this did turn out to be one of his trashy ideas, a bad idea is worse than no idea, right?
(Somewhere else, Angeal Hewley felt the sudden urge to lecture his student on tact. This is not a new feeling, and he wonders what the hell he's done this time.)
Again they walked on, following whatever snowtracks they may find, and occasionally having to change direction. Zack noticed that, strangely enough, nothing ever came out to attack them. He had noticed it earlier, too, and the day before, but he really had to wonder why. It's not like he knew much about monsters in the Northern Continent, anyways. He made it a point to take missions as far away from the cold as possible, but now it seems to be coming back to bite him. Maybe they only came out at night. . .?
Looking up at the sky, Zack frowned. It was cloudy, so it was a bit hard to tell, but it was doubtlessly getting dark. Nightfall would be soon, and they don't have that much time. He looked back down at Cloud to find him wearing a small frown, and knew they were thinking the same thing. They needed shelter, and soon.
They agreed to split up to look for something to use as shelter, with Zack stressing that they remain within earshot so that no one has to yell too loud. He knows how to learn his lessons. As luck would have it, it thankfully didn't take long before Cloud was calling his name.
The cave they had found was more than enough to suit their needs. Stepping in, they were both extremely thankful to be out of the way of the elements. Looking around, Zack found himself impressed at the place. It was. . . well, big. And deep. Very, very, deep. He found himself less in awe and more on guard as he looked around. Now, he didn't know the Northern Continent very well, but he did know how caves worked. A good rule of thumb was that if it was deep enough where you couldn't see the mouth, then there was a good chance of some sort of monster nest hiding in it.
"Hey, Cloud, you got your sword?" He asked calmly. Cloud frowned and shook his head. It must've been lost in the snow during the avalanche. "Alright, stick close then. I'm just gonna check if there's anything down here, 'kay?"
With a nod in affirmation, they both started their cautious descent into the cave. They walked with bated breath, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. Zack felt a little bad at having Cloud come with him, seeing as he's unarmed and unenhanced, but he'd prefer to keep an eye on him rather than leaving him vulnerable all by himself. Of course, he'd probably get an earful if he actually said that out loud.
They slowly made their way through, going deeper and deeper. Zack was struck once more by just how big it was; He was half afraid that they'd get lost somewhere down here. But, he had to admit he was a little curious. Caves were normally one of two things in his experience: Musty and unsettling, or stunningly beautiful. So far, this one seemed to fall in the latter category. There was an odd lack of stalagmites and stalactites, instead the cave seemed almost carved out of the ground. Though, there were small croppings of rock every so often that kind of reminded him of stairs, and wasn't that cool? It's not often you find a cave that's actually easy to walk through, and it was definitely made easier by the faint glow that seemed to stem from wherever they were going.
Wait. Glow?
Zack quickened his pace to reach the apparent bottom, and his breath caught at the sight.
Before him was a pool of some of the brightest mako he had ever seen. The light reflected off the surfaces of rock and crystal surrounding it, illuminating everything in a familiar shade of green. Lying at the edges of the pool were materia shards, twinkling and winking at him. The walls of the cavern were crystalized, telling just how long this pool has been here.
But that's not what caught his attention, and from the small gasp beside him he could tell he wasn't the only one. Standing smack in the middle of the pool, with it's reflection cast on near every reflective surface, and reflecting the twinkling lights of mako and materia, was a sword. A beautiful, lustrous sword, around the same size as the Buster Sword that he was familiar with. It had a blockier handle, but Zack could tell just by looking at it that it was just as powerful as the Buster. Strangely enough, he almost felt at ease by the sight. Almost as if something in the mako, or something in the dazzling lights was whispering, singing to them. He didn't look away, but he had a feeling Cloud was just as affected.
But. . . what was it doing here? Who in their right mind would just. . . leave something like that?
"You think. . . that's the disturbance, maybe?" Cloud's voice rose barely above a whisper, and portrayed exactly how awe-stricken he was. Zack just nodded dumbly. The blade just had an aura of magic that couldn't be described, though he knew it wasn't normal. It just had to be related to whatever sent them on the mission. Maybe they weren't even looking for a monster like a dragon. They never did find it, actually, did they?
Zack's eyes widened at the realization, and his heart dropped.
Throughout the cave, and far too dangerously close for comfort, a bone-rattling roar rang out.
