Disclaimer:
I do not own Final Fantasy VII or Sekiro: shadows die twice.
Western Continent, Nibelheim
Dawn came upon the town of Nibelheim. A mountain town situated west of Mount Nibel. The small settlement was home to just over a few hundred people. A place where everybody knew everybody. In the center of town was a small water tower surrounded by several houses, and a handful of other buildings scattered around the land.
As the Sun begins to shine brighter over the mountain, a young child is roused from his sleep. A child who dreamed of one day joining the ranks SOLDIER, the most elite swordsmen on the planet. This childs name is Cloud Strife.
Claudia Strife walked into her son's room and found him still asleep. She was a woman with light blue eyes and a rather youthful appearance. Her light blond hair was tied into a loose pony tail with a few bangs framing her face, one of them sticking up slightly. She smiled as she looked a him sleeping on his side without a single blanket on him. They had been thrown on the floor.
"He always manages to throw them off the bed." she thought while picking them up and placed them at the foot of the bed.
Taking a seat at the edge, she ran her hand through his unruly blond hair.
"Time to wake up honey." she whispers in a gentle tone. Giggling as he started to shift around.
"Mhm, not yet mom. Five more min...hours." he mumbles out. Correcting himself at the end.
"Hehehe, quit being a silly goose. I already made breakfast and unless you want to eat your scrambled eggs and homemade pancakes cold, then you should probably get up now." she said in an amused tone.
He shot up as if struck by Ramuhs lightning. "I'm up!" he said, quickly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked up at his mother and saw her smiling at him.
"Happy Birthday." she said as she brought him into a loving hug.
"Huh?" he said, not entirely caught up just yet. He looked over at the calendar in his room and saw that it was indeed the eleventh of August. He was ten years old today.
After finishing their breakfast, both mother and son cleaned up in the kitchen. Cloud went to get ready for school, sighing, as he wondered why today had to be a school day. He shrugged in indifference as he walked into the bathroom to wash up.
"Whatever, at least it's friday." he thought to himself with a little optimism. It's not that he didn't like school, on the contrary, he enjoyed learning and challenging himself. His real issue was that he didn't get on with any of the other kids. Especially after he was abruptly blamed for an incident last year at the mountain.
Thinking about it still angered him but he let it go. If they wanted live in falsehoods and lies then that was their problem. His mother was the only one who believed his side of the story. That was all he needed.
After brushing his teeth, he pooled some water in his hands and splashed it on his face. He took a small towel from the rack and dried himself. Taking a look at his image in the mirror, Cloud saw that his shoulder length hair was, as usual, sticking out in every possible direction. He sighed and just tied it back loosely.
Making his way out of the bathroom he found his mother also getting ready to go to work. She had a nice job at a small garden shop on the southern edge of town near the forest. She walked over to him with a smile on her face, and in her hands, a small but thick package wrapped in colorful paper.
"You didn't think I would forget to give a present did you?" she asked in amusement. He took the gift and gave her a small smile, she was the only person to recieve those anymore.
Cloud peeled the paper off and his eyes shined with excitement. It was a book he had wanted to get his hands on for a while now.
Sword Craft
He looked up at his mother with excitement still in his eyes. "Where...how did you get your hands on this? I've never seen it in the library or in any of the stores." he asked, still holding the book as if it were a precious artufact. "How much did she spend on it?" he thought to himself. They weren't homeless, but they also weren't flowing with gil.
"About a month ago, a merchant came through town. He opened his wares for the townsfolk, and I happened to see this little treasure in his stock." she said with a grin. "Mind you, I haggled the price with him for an hour at least, but we came to a mutual agreement. Do you like it?" she asked.
He nodded absentmindedly, looking over the cover once more. This wasn't just any book on swords, no this was a complete compendium of swords from every culture on the face of the planet. How to forge them, what materials worked best, even various disciplines on how to wield them. The author was anonymous and there were only a handful of copies printed in the entire world. For a kid who dreamed of one day becoming a SOLDIER, this was a goldmine.
Cloud set the book down on the table next to him and rushed forward to embrace his mother in a crushing hug. "I love it. Thanks mom." he said with his faced buried in her stomach.
"You never have to thank me for anything. Now come on, grab your lunch and head out before you run late." she said while hugging him back.
Cloud tucked the book in his backpack and left after grabbing his lunch bag.
Cloud walked through the town towards the school. It wasn't far, nothing was far in Nibelheim really. He noticed many of the other kids in town also walking to the same destination. All of them walked in small groups and talked about this and that. Not him though, he always walked alone. Cloud has never been much of a people person, and his outward attitude was of a quiet and serious nature. Because of this, the kids around town distanced themselves from him, thinking him weird. There was only one kid in the entire town that treated him like a normal person and not a leper. His next door neighbor, Tifa Lockhart.
Cloud would be honest with himself and admit that he had a small crush on her. How could he not? Tifa was always nice to him and she was, in his opinion, the prettiest girl in the entire town. It was impossible to be anything but polite to her. For everyone else however, cold indifference.
A short walk later he arrived at the school. It was a single two story building with several wooden tables and benches off to the side that the students would occupy during lunch hour. He could see a few kids already hanging around in the lunch area. Cloud just walked inside the building and went straight to his class. The room was empty and the teacher had yet to arrive. Shrugging he made his way to a desk in the back of the room by a corner. He pulled his new book out and began to read.
Lunch time had come and Cloud sat at the base of a small oak tree just outside the school building that was isolated from the main lunch area. The teacher, a woman he knew only as Mrs. Davison, had not taken long to arrive after Cloud. When class had begun he was still immersed in his book. He was called out a couple of times for not paying attention, but after correctly answering any questions, he was left alone.
Cloud opened up his lunch bag to find a roast beef sandwich with cheese and lettuce, and some orange juice that his mother had probably squeezed this morning.
"She's the best." Cloud thought with a tiny smile, as he dug in.
After finishing his lunch he noticed he still had over half an hour until class began once more. He normally would just take a short nap, but since he had his new book today he decided to pull it out and read some more.
So far, he had read through most of the introductory chapter; which was mostly composed of a short history of the origins of the sword and how it became one of the most functional weapons in battle throughout history. There was even a short excerpt that talked about how in the past, many warriors believed that the sword was first given to humans by the great dragon Bahamut. The old legend said that when a calamity that fell from the sky brought death and destruction to the Cetra, Bahamut chose a single warrior and bestowed him a blade made from his own scales and burnished with his fiery breath. He didn't know if that was true or not but it sounded cool. He also has no idea what it means by a calamity from the sky. A meteor? What good would a sword be against that?
"Hello?! Gaia to Cloud?!" called out soft voice loudly
"Huh?" Cloud looked up in cofusion. His deep blue eyes met a pair of ruby colored ones. "Tifa?" he asked in surprise.
Tifa Lockhart was walking around the lunch area absentmindedly. She had finished eating a few minutes ago and decided to get up and stretch her legs. Her friends stayed at the table assuming she would return shortly.
As she walked around, she noticed a mop of blond hair by an oak tree away from everone else. She recognized him immediatly as her enigmatic neighbor Cloud Strife. He was a year older than her and also a grade ahead of her to. Tifa didn't really know him that well, but considering that he wasn't a very social person, it wasn't too surprising. She was always surrounded by her friends whenever she was in town or at school, but he was always alone, either taking a nap or reading one of his books. Come to think of it she never really saw him in town all that often. Unless he was sitting on top of the water tower gazing at the sky. "He does that a lot."
Tifa had noticed that all the other kids never bothered to be friends with him. She didn't know why though, because what few interactions she had with him, however brief, he was always polite. She also thought he looked kind of cute when he was taking a nap and his face wasn't so...cold. Maybe the other kids thought he looked scary?
Figuring it wouldn't hurt to say hello, she walked over to him.
"Heya." she said softly.
No response.
"Hey Cloud." she said a little louder.
Still nothing. She frowned and thought he must be really into his book. "Still rude though." she thought.
"Hello!? Gaia to Cloud!?" she said a lot louder. Cupping her hands around her mouth.
"Huh?" he looked up at her finally. "Tifa?" he asked.
"Heya." she said with a smile.
"Uh...hi?" he said, still not sure why she was here.
"He's kinda cute when he looks all confused." she thought to herself before asking "Reading anything interesting?"
"Um...yeah...kinda. Do you uh...need something?" he tried to say politely.
She shook her head and said "Nope just wanted to say hi." She smiled at him.
"Pretty." he thought, before composing himself. "So...how's your day been?" he asked slowly.
"Pretty good so far." she smiled at him again. He willed himself not to blush. Her eyes shined suddenly and she asked excitedly "Hey, I'm having some friends come over to play today. Do you wanna come?"
His first instinct was to say yes, but he caught himself. Truth be told, he would love to spend time with Tifa. Her friends...not so much.
"Stay away from my daughter!" he heard in his own head.
Sighing, he looked up at her. "Sorry Tifa, I have to help my mom with some chores today after school. Maybe next time." he said, keeping his voice neutral as much as he could.
"Oh...okay." she looked down dejectedly.
He wanted to jump off a cliff right then and there.
"Maybe next time." she said, and walked away.
"I'm such an ass." he said to himself.
School was out and that meant all the kids in town were getting ready to hang out all weekend. Everyone was making plans to go out, sleep over, and other such things.
And then there was Cloud, who went straight home to finish all his homework a soon as possible. The sooner he was done, the sooner he could continue reading his book. His mom would always be pleased when he took priority of his school work before anything. Thats why he always made sure to get the best grades in class. His mother was the last person on the planet that he wanted to disappoint.
It took around two hours to finish all his work. Mrs. Davison had a bit of a sadistic streak when it came to homework over the weekend. He left all his work on the dinner table for his mother to check over when she got home.
Grabbing the book from his backpack he exited the house and headed to his favorite spot in town. The water tower. It was just outside of his house to, so his mother wouldn't need to worry about where he was.
He thought back to his conversation with Tifa earlier. He felt like such a jerk when she deflated like that. Cloud didn't know what else to do though. Tifa's father, "Mayor Asshole" he thought, blamed him for an incident last year on Mount Nibel. Tifa had suffered head trauma and was comatose for a week. He had explicitly told him to stay away from her. Nevernind his own injuries, or that he never got to say word in his defence.
Tifa didn't remember a thing, and Cloud didn't want to remind her of that day and what led her to go to the mountain. Instead he just took the scorn and let the past be. The problem was that Tifa almost always invited him to hangout with her. Since he didn't want to bring up painful memories for her, he just made up lame excuses for not being able to.
Shaking his head free of gloomy thoughts, Cloud decided to dive into his book again. He was finished with the introductory chapter and was now reading on the traditions of swordsmithing and its many intricacies. As he read through this chapter he wondered what type of sword would suit him best. A Wutaian style sword like General Sephiroths Masamune? Maybe a more elegant weapon like Commander Genesis' rapier? How about the huge behemoth of a sword that Commander Angeal carried on his back? What if he could wield more than just one sword? "Hm? There's an interesting idea." he thought.
He was snapped from his thoughts when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure walking through the town. The man was tall, a little over six feet. He wore a light orange cloak lined with grey fur around his shoulders, and a tan scarf around his neck. The rest of his attire was very reminiscent of what he had seen in books about Wutai. He wore dark brown robes and a hand guard that was held by bandages running up his right forearm. His pants or robes were tucked into his shinguards and he wore a pair of simple Wutaian waraji sandals. Looking back up at his head, he saw that his hair was long and tied back. Not that it did much other than hold it back since whatever hair was tied, spiked up in every direction. His bangs however, were loose and shadowed his eyes. He could also make out the short stubble of a beard under his scarf. The man had two swords on him a black katana blade strapped to his left hip, and a red odachi blade strapped to his back. All in all, Cloud thought the guy looked like a total badass.
He blinked however, when he saw his left arm. If you could call it an arm. From the elbow down the guy had what looked like a prosthetic arm made out of a bone.
Yes...a bone.
Looking further down the arm he saw that he was holding the severed head of a drake. "How is he holding it?" he thought. He saw the townsfolk part way as he walked through town and heard them muttering.
"Is he some kind of mercenary?"
"He has a bone for an arm."
"Some sort of Wutai reject?"
"Hmph, got enough weirdos in town."
If the man heard them, he paid them no attention. He simply walked to the town bounty office, slapped a poster on the counter, and then dropped the severed drake head next to it. The clerk was so frightened that they didn't even check the price for the bounty. Grabbing the first bag of gil they saw and quickly putting it on the counter. Without so much as a word the mysterious man took the bag and walked away. Heading into the forest southeast of the town.
Cloud was still looking in the direction the man had left in long after he disappeared from sight. Who was that guy?
Deciding that he should head back inside, he place a bookmark where he left of and made his way down the water tower. He went back inside. It was only few minutes later that his mother came home from work.
"Hey honey, sorry I took so long you know fridays are usually a little chaotic." Claudia said as she walked through the door with her hands full of grocery bags.
Cloud, who had been sitting at the dinner table with his book open looked up. Seeing his mother coming in with her hands full, he got up to relieve her of a few bags.
"No worries mom. How was your day?" he asked while taking a few bags from her.
"Thanks sweetheart, it was fine no different than any other day. How was yours at school." she asked with a smile as they both sorted all the groceries.
"Same as always...I guess." he replied neutrally.
Claudia looked at her son with small smile. She knew her son was the very definition of introverted. It was very hard for him to make friends his age since most of the kids in town were put off by his serious nature. "Then there was that scandal at the mountain last year." she thought bitterly. He could hide his loneliness from everyone, but not her.
Claudia walked over to him and gave him a reassuring hug. "Oh honey, pay no mind to those people. Nobody needs to have a town full of friends. Just a few good ones is enough. Even just one is enough. One day you will have a friend who you can truly count on to have your back." she said as she pulled back.
He gave her a tiny smile "Sure mom."
"Well enough of that." Claudia said suddenly. Standing up and putting her hands on her hips she continued "We still need to do one last thing before the day is over. Have you forgotten that it's your birthday. I'm gonna whip up your favorite skirt steak and mashed potatoes, and after that..." she turned around and walked to the fridge. Opening it she reached in and pulled out a white bakery box and turned to him "...we'll have ourselves some red velvet birthday cake."
Clouds tiny smile widened. "You're the best, mom."
Cloud woke up the next morning to find his mom already in the kitchen, drinking her morning coffee at the table. He tried it before and really liked it, but his mother said he was too young to be drinking caffeine on a daily basis. Thus she only allowed him a cup once a week on saturday. He loved the weekend. No school, no annoying kids, no having to turn down Tifa all the time, and a nice cup of fresh brewed coffee.
"Good morning mom." Cloud said as he walked over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Good morning honey. Did you sleep well?" she asked with a smile.
"Yeah. After that dinner and desert yesterday, I was out as soon as I hit the bed." He said while pouring himself the extra coffee she makes for him.
"Good, I'm glad you liked it. Listen honey, I'm going to be working later than usual today. Mrs. Nora was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday," and at her age I don't think she should be putting too much on herself. I told her I would cover her shift so she could stay home today." she said.
Mrs. Nora was the elderly woman who owned the gardening store his mom worked at. She was one of the few adults in town that Cloud could say he liked. She used to run the shop by herself, but had to hire someone when she grew to old to handle the workload on her own. His mom has been helping her run the store for around a year now.
Cloud knew that his mother was having trouble with finances before the kind old lady offered her the job. He had noticed that for a time his mom would forgo eating just so she could keep him fed. They had been in a very desparate position. For that reason they would forever be grateful to Mrs. Nora.
"Oh...okay then. Should I prep anything for dinner then?" he said, before taking a sip of his coffee. "So good."
"Nope you just relax and enjoy your day. I'll buy us something to eat today when I come home." she said while getting up. Taking her last sip of coffee as she walked to the sink to wash her mug.
"Works for me." Cloud said with a tiny smirk.
"Oh I'm sure." Claudia said in an amused tone, with a smirk of her own.
Cloud was now home alone. His mother had left for work and wouldn't be back until later in the evening. While he did plan on reading his book some more, he did not want to spend the entire day cooped up in the house. Especially since he didn't have anything to do. With his mind made up he went for the door. He could spend some time atop the water tower.
As he reached for the door he heard a couple of voices come from outside. Pulling his arm away from the knob, he walked over to the window and peaked through the curtain.
"Come on Tifa, we're all ready to go!" yelled a girl from the front door patio next door. Emily if he remembered correctly.
"Yeah come on, todays gonna be so much fun." said a boy this time. His eyes narrowed in disdain. Jason, he recognized him easily.
The front door opened and Tifa ran out wearing a white sundress. "Okay, I'm ready. what are we playing?" she asked.
Emily answered. "How about...TAG!" she said, while slapping Jason on the arm and bolting away. The other kids immediatly followed Emily's example and ran like hell.
Jason wasted no time and started running after all of them.
Tifa giggled and was about to join them but stopped. She looked in the direction of his house and smiled as she walked over. "oh no." he thought quietly.
knock knock knock
"Hellooooo." came her muffled voice. "Mrs. Strife? Cloud? Hello?"
Jason noticed Tifa hasn't joined them and looked around. He saw her knocking on somones door. "Hey guys wait up." he called out and the other kids also noticed Tifa.
Emily called out to her first. "Tifa? What are you doing?"
Tifa turned around from knocking and smiled. "I wanna see if Cloud wants to play." she said happily.
Jason frowned. "Why do you want that weirdo to play with us?"
"Yeah Tifa, forget about him. Come on lets play." Emily said.
"But..." Tifa looked back at the door and sighed. "...ok. He probably wouldn't want to anyway." she said to herself quietly and went to join them.
Cloud kept quiet in the house. He chanced another look out the window and saw Tifa running around with a smile on her face. He smiled sadly. "At least she's enjoying herself." he thought to himself. Trying to make himself feel better.
"Well, can't go to the water tower now. They'll probably be there most of the day."
Thinking for a minute, he decided maybe he would take a walk through the forest. The area near the southern part of town was not inhabited by anything dangerous, and he knew of a clearing with a large pond that was close to where the town barrier was. The place was actually very peaceful and secluded, now that he thought about it. The only reason Cloud did not go there often, was because it was farther away than the water tower that stood outside his home.
He went out the back of his house and head south to where his destination was. He was glad he didn't have to lie to Tifa again. Lying, genrally, left a bad taste in his mouth. Lying to Tifa even more so, since she was always nice to him.
Cloud walked through the the forest at a leisurely pace. There was a nice breeze blowing through the surrounding trees, and the sounds of the leaves rustling gave off a calming sensation. "I should come here more often." he said to himself, taking a deep breath of the fresh forest air.
The clearing was just ahead, past some of the vegetation that kept it hidden from view. As he pushed through the foliage, his foot was suddenly caught by a rope and pulled upwards.
"What?!" he yelled in alarm. As he hung upside down, his eyes were wide as he twisted his body to look around. He noticed his book was on the ground, out of his reach, dropped during his shock. His heart was pounding in his chest. He could feel his blood rushing to his head and began feeling nauseous.
"I was hoping to catch a rabbit." he heard a deep, hoarse voice behind him.
Twisting his body quickly, Cloud looked behind him. It was him! The mysterious mercenary that had passed through town yesterday.
Cloud just stared at him fearfully with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. He saw the man look to the ground torwards his book.
"No!" Cloud thought in dismay. The man was looking at the book in what looked like mild surprise. He looked back up to Clouds eyes, they were starting to turn red. He held an inquisitive gaze on him for just a second, before he reached for his sword. As he unsheathed the black hilted weapon on his hip, Cloud barely noticed the exquisite midnight blade.
"He...he's gonna kill me!" he thought. Cloud shut his eyes in fear. He heard the sword cut through the air.
The rope holding his leg up snapped loudly. He was caught before he fell and righted with his feet on the ground once more.
"Are you hurt?" The man asked.
Cloud opened his eyes and looked up. The stranger was waiting for him to respond.
"Um...no. I don't think so." Cloud said after a moment. His eyes never left the mans gaze.
"What are you doing in the forest child? Shouldn't you be in town?" He asked.
"Well...I wanted to find somewhere quiet to read." Cloud said. His eyes widened as he remembered he dropped his book. He looked down to the ground and saw it by his feet. He picked it up and held it to his chest, letting a deep breathe escape his lips.
"An interesting read?" he asked.
Cloud nodded, "Yeah. I only finished the first section though. My mom gave it to me yesterday."
"You wish to become a swordsman one day?"
Cloud nodded again, this time with a smile. "Ever since I read about General Sephiroth in the papers. I wanna join SOLDIER and be a hero."
"That is a commendable aspiration." the man said to him.
Cloud smiled a small smile and nodded, his initial fear of the mysterious stranger fading.
"Come, we can continue talking at my camp. Its just over there by the large oak." he said. Pointing his left...hand to the camp.
Cloud looked into the clearing and saw a tent by a large oak tree and a campfire off to the side, with a large tree trunk acting as a bench. "Sure." he said.
They walked over and sat down on the trunk in front of the fire. The man reached beside the campfire and picked up a clay teapot, and two small cups.
"Tea?" he asked.
Cloud nodded. "Thank you." he said, as the man poured him some tea in the small cup.
"It's Jasmine." he said. While pouring another for himself.
Cloud took a small sip. It was a delicate and subtle flavor that he found he liked. He looked back at the man.
"It's really good." he said
"I'm glad." he smirked, before asking "What is your name?"
"Cloud Strife. And you?" he answred, then asked.
The man frowned and spoke. "I have not gone by my birth name for...a long time now. You may call me Wolf."
Cloud blinked. "Wolf?" he asked.
"A name earned through a reputation. In Wutai they call me Sekiro, in your tongue that means one armed wolf."
Cloud looked at the prosthetic arm again. Now that he was closer he noticed that the bone was actually made out of wood. Taking a closer look he noticed it had an intricate system of thin ropes along with what looked like a hook attached to a separate thicker rope.
"How did you loose your arm?" he asked.
"In a battle many years ago." he answered. "How did your mother come across that book?" Wolf asked.
"She said a traveling merchant had it. He came through town a month ago and she bought it off him." Cloud said.
"You said she gave it to you yesterday." said Wolf.
"It was my birthday." Cloud said with a smile.
"Congratulations then." he said.
"Thank you." said Cloud. They fell into a peaceful silence.
"How interesting." Wolf muttered under his breath. Cloud heard him.
"Hmm?"
"I find it interesting that I found this book here with you." said Wolf.
"Why?" asked Cloud.
"Because I wrote it." he said.
Cloud took a moment to realize what he said. His eyes went wide as he looked at Wolf.
"You wrote this book?!" he asked in shock.
"I did. It is one of a kind. A collection of all the knowledge I have gathered in my journeys. I have been a master swordsman since before Sephiroth himself was in diapers. Destiny has a funny way of making people meet in such circumstances." said Wolf with a smirk.
Cloud was stunned. "How old is this guy?" he thought. He frowned however when he noticed something Wolf said.
"One of a kind? But there are a handful of copies." Cloud said.
"Attempts to plagiarize my work, or make more money, I'm sure. I only wrote one, then gave it to the first merchant I ran into. I made no copies." said Wolf.
"You just gave it away?!" Cloud asked.
"My intention was not to make money. As it stands, I have not earned a single Gil from that book." said Wolf.
"What was your intention?" asked Cloud. Still confused.
"To find someone who values the knowledge I have to impart." said Wolf.
"But, how did you know you would ever see it again?" Cloud asked.
"Like I said." Wolf looked at him in the eyes. "Destiny has a funny way of connecting peoples lives. I wrote this book many years ago, and gave it away the first chance I got. Now, years later I find it in the hands of a young child with the goal of becoming a powerful swordsman."
Cloud didn't know what to say to that.
"Tell me Cloud. Why have you decided to be a SOLDIER?" Wolf inquired.
Cloud looked down at his hands. Clenching his fists tightly he took a deep breath.
"You do not have to tell me if the memory pains you." Wolf assured him.
Cloud shook his head. "It's fine. I want to." he said softly. He began to speak.
"It was almost a year ago now. Just a few weeks after I turned nine...
Cloud was sitting atop the water tower quietly. He and his mother had just come home from the funeral but he needed some fresh air. Thea Lockhart had passed away two days ago. She had contracted an illness that the doctors in town couldn't figure out.
Tifa had been crying the entire time, not responding to anyone. He wished he knew how to make her feel better. He didn't know what it felt like to loose a parent. His father had died when he was just a few months old, so he didn't remember him at all. His mom showed him a few pictures of him and spoke of him only in rare moments. He had been a Shinra infantry commander who died in battle, ensuring his company's retreat.
CRASH!!!
Cloud snapped his gaze to Tifa's house. The door had been thrown open, and Tifa came running out.
"I don't care! I'm going!" she yelled. Her eyes were red from crying. She sped off to who knows where.
"Going where?" he thought.
Three other kids that he recognized as Tifas friends came running out after her.
"Tifa wait!" one of them said. A girl. "Come on guys! We can't let her go alone, the mountain is too dangerous!"
Cloud went stiff. "The mountain?" he thought. Why would she go there? There were wolves on the mountain. If she didn't fall she would get eaten. He tried to think of any reason she would go there. He shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. I need to go help her." he said.
He made his way down the water tower and sped off after her. "I need to hurry." he thought frantically, running as fast as he could.
The other kids were still far ahead of him when he reached the beginning of the mountain trail. He didn't stop running for a second.
As he made his way up the path he saw one of the kids running back. The girl. Cloud stopped as she neared.
"Where's Tifa?!" he asked.
She ran past him without even acknowledging him.
He shook his head and started running again. He was starting to get tired. The mountain path was angle upwards and he had been running since he got off the water tower. He tried to control his breathing.
It was when he passed under an archway that he saw the two other kids also running back. Boys.
As they got closer he yelled "Where is Tifa?!".
They kept running but said "Up ahead by the rope bridge. We're getting out of here."
"You left her alone?!" Cloud yelled in anger.
They kept running without another word.
Cloud started running once more until he reached where the trail ended on a cliff. A rope bridge connecting to the otherside. He figured he was at least a hundred feet above ground level.
He spotted Tifa just ahead of him with her hands on her knees catching her breath. She straightned, and was about to continue.
"TIFA!"
She stopped before the bridge and turned around.
"Cloud?" she said. her eyes still red from crying.
"Tifa you can't stay here, it's dangerous!" he said desperately.
She shook her head.
"I don't care! I'm gonna go see my mom!".
"What?!"
"She's on the other side of the mountain. I'm gonna go see her." she said. She was crying again.
"Tifa...your mom isn't there." he said sadly. "Shes gone."
"But..." she kept crying.
"I'm sorry Tifa. Please come back with me." he said sadly.
Tifa didn't respond and kept sobbing
quietly.
"...okay." she said softly after a moment.
Cloud held his hand out for her when she started walking away from the bridge.
It was then that they both heard a sickening growl. Cloud looked to his right and froze. A huge Nibel Wolf had come from a small cave opening on the mountainside. It was easily five times his size.
An alpha.
The wolf, if it had seen Cloud, ignored him. It growled viciously and went for Tifa.
Tifa, who had been looking at the wolf fearfully, stumbled back towards the cliffside as it ran at her. She tripped over her own feet and fell back. Her head hit a large rock when she fell. She lay still as the wolf was almost upon her.
Time had stopped for Cloud. Tifa was on the ground unmoving. Her head was bleeding profusely. And the wolf was almost on her.
He felt something snap inside of him. A burning rage erupted within him, as if Ifrit himself was bursting from inside.
A shockwave of power exploded from his body, making the ground under him crack. His body gained a blue aura that radiated from him as if he was on fire.
He moved.
Fast.
Faster than he ever had before. The wolf pounce to land on Tifa's downed form when Cloud reached it.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!!!" Cloud yelled in fury. He threw a punch while the wolf was still in the air.
A sound like thunder came when his fist made contact. A shockwave of force exploded from the impact. So powerful that it shook and cracked the ground. The wolf, that was several times larger than Cloud, went flying off the cliffside. Long dead before it hit the ground.
The aura around cloud dispersed and he stumbled in exhaustion. "What was that?" he thought. He looked up and saw Tifa still on the ground. Dangerously close to the cliffside. He walked over to her and saw that her head wound was still bleeding.
He took hold of her hand and gently nudged her. "Tifa? Are you okay?" he asked. The only answer he recieved were groans of pain. Her eyes were half lidded and unfocused.
"I need to get you to a doctor fast." he said to himself. He went to pick her up when the ground started shaking again.
The Shockwave from when he hit the wolf had weakened the ground near the cliffside. The edge started to give way under them.
Cloud did the only thing he could thing of. He wrapped Tifa in his arms protectively. Then they fell.
"...I woke up with Tifa on top of me. She was unconcious. Other than a few scrapes and scrathes she had no other injuries. I had a dislocated shoulder and several fractured ribs, from breaking her fall. Better than being dead...I guess.
The adults found us like that not long after. Her father blamed me for the entire thing. Apparently, one of the kids that had abadoned her said that I led her up the mountain. He told me to never go near her ever again. Tifa was comatose for a week before she woke. She didn't remember a thing." Cloud finished.
Wolf was sitting quietly. "That was some story." he thought. The boy was not lying either. He would have known if he was. "This kid reached Limit Break at the age of nine? And to be able to overpower a beast several times his size...if he were trained properly..." his thoughts trailed off when he heard Cloud speak again. He was holding back tears.
"If I was faster...If I wasn't so scared of that stupid wolf...then maybe..." he didn't finish. His eyes shut and he tried desperately not to cry.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. His head came up to see that Wolf had his right hand on his shoulder. He looked to his eyes to see an intense but reassuring gaze.
"We can only be brave when we are afraid." he said wisely.
Cloud forced his tears back and took a deep breathe. "Yeah...your right. Sorry." he said.
"Do not apologize. You did nothing wrong." he said. Then he spoke "Cloud, if you are serious about joining SOLDIER, about being a swordsman, then, should you accept, I will train you, until the day you leave for Midgar."
Cloud looked at Wolf in surprise. "You will?" he asked in shock.
Wolf nodded. "I will train you here, everyday after finishing school and any course work. On the weekend you will come first thing in the morning after breaking fast." he looked at Cloud. "If you accept."
"I accept!" he said without even thinking about it. The he realized he would have to ask his mother. "I'll have to ask my mom though. Is that okay?" he asked hesitantly.
Wolf nodded again "That is fine. Bring her here tomorrow. It will soon dusk and you should head back home."
Cloud nodded, getting up instantly. "Tomorrow then. She doesn't work sundays so we'll come early in the morning. Thank you Wo...um should I call you Master now?" he asked.
"If you wish." said Wolf with a smirk.
"I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Goodbye Master Wolf." He said, before running back home as fast as he could. More excited than he has ever been.
Claudia arrived home just as it was starting to dusk. She had bought dinner at the town deli for tonight. She opened the door and walked in, closing it behind her. Walking over to the kitchen, she set the their dinner on the table.
"Cloud honey, I'm home. Come on, lets eat." She said loudly.
A blond streak came running to the kitchen. Cloud hugged his mother tightly. "Your home!" he said loudly.
Claudia was surprised to say the least. Her usually quiet son was very excited about something apparently.
"Well, what has you all excited now?" she asked in amusement. Hugging him back.
Cloud let go of his mother and stepped back. He looked up at her with a smile, his blue eyes shining like sapphires. "Mom, you have to listen to what happened today." he said in excitement.
Claudia was very curious now. Her son, who was normally very reserved, was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement.
"Alright then, lets sit down and eat, while you tell me all about it." she said with a smile.
He nodded. They sat down to eat, and Cloud began recounting his day to her.
A/N:
My profile pic is Sekiro in this story. I found a drawing of him styled as Owl and ran with it.
Fixed a bunch of typos and grammar errors. Let me know if you guys catch any others.
Also added some more detail into a couple of scenes. I've been thinking of adding some soundtracks to the story, since most of these scenes come to me while I'm listening to music.
Edit 5/10/22: There was a mention of Rocket Town in this chapter that I removed. It doesn't exist yet in the timeline.