(Set during the brief time Cloud separated from the group in Chapter 33, if you haven't read that yet, read it first)
For want of a lever...
The long tunnel curved down and back towards the east, the way lit by the ghostly blue luminescence in the ice and faint gleams of mako. It opened into a lower path in the room with the mako crevasse. Cloud looked up into the darkness again and then dashed across the narrow bridge well ahead of the others. Large claws skittered on the path blocked by icicles above them and a Stilva jumped from above, nearly squashing Cloud.
Heavily resembling the Materia Keeper back in the Nibel Mountains, the twin-tailed, long nosed, crimson beast ignored Cloud in the tunnel behind it and launched itself on the party. "Try and get its Enemy Skill!" Cloud called and then slipped inside the tunnel to the sounds of Barret, Zack, and Aerith's groans of dismay. He felt a twinge of guilt for leaving them to face the monster without him, but he trusted they would be okay with their remaining numbers. In the narrow, upward spiraling pathway he fended off dozens of Evilhead bats before finally emerging on a platform high in the chamber. Dabbing gingerly at the bleeding scratches below his right eye with the back of his wrist he surveyed his surroundings.
A frost-encrusted boulder balanced near the edge of the path. For all appearances, only a rime of frost and luck kept it from rolling down the minor slope to the winding paths below. Barret, Zack, and Aeirth's cries of pain reverberated in the icy fissure and Cloud winced, peering over the ledge to calculate his angle of attack. Despite the inherent mako glow in the caverns and his own enhanced sight, he had to squint to make out the razor edged ledge below and only the intermittent flashes of attacks further down hinted at his allies' location.
Unbeknownst to Cloud, his blue eyes blazed momentarily brighter before he plotted his angle and threw his weight against the stone.
It didn't move, instead he rebounded off the chilly surface, coughing slightly from the impact. Perhaps the ice holding it in place was stronger than he anticipated. He supposed if creatures like the Stilva were in the cave system it would have fallen long ago if it were as carefully balanced as it looked.
Cupping his chin, Cloud frowned and tapped one foot impatiently. His gaze landed on a gap between the boulder and a nearby stone, the perfect location for a lever. He pulled his Organics blade off his back and grimaced, it was too strange of a shape to make a trustworthy lever. Slinging it back into place, he dug in his pouch for a moment, finally pulling out Zack's Buster Sword.
He pursed his lips, Zack would kill him if he used his precious sword for something so mundane as a lever. Fraught with indecision, his gaze switched from the boulder to the blade and back.
The sounds from the battle below grew more intense. Cloud's hand trembled.
Tifa cried out in pain from one of the Stilva's blows. Gaze sharpening, Cloud thrust the tip of the Buster sword in the gap and shoved. With a distinct crack, the rime of ice holding the boulder in place shattered, the massive stone rolling with ever increasing momentum off the ledge.
With the sound of shattering glass, it crashed through the crystal obstructions. Cloud looked at the buster sword and murmured, "I won't tell Zack if you won't." before stowing it guiltily back in his pouch.
