Hello, AnimeFan0216 here, I am finally back on writing fanfictions only to start a new story again. Haha… sorry about that, well I have been playing Mihoyo games; Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3 and boy are these games so addictive. I will also like to apologize to all readers that are waiting for me to update my other fanfictions but ideas tend to fluctuate within my mind so I am now saying this right now that I might have a tendency to start another story depends on the ideas that will come to my brain. Right now, I am giving shot to another crossover between Final Fantasy 7 and RWBY, I got inspired on the story called 'Cloudy Arc over Remnant'. That story is about Cloud Strife who is actually Jaune Arc starts a new journey in Remnant to find his true family, well I recommend you to read it to understand the plot there but I doubt the author would update it soon. This story is actually based to that fanfic with the permission of the author but I will have my own version of events here.
I don't own Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children and RWBY.
(Cue FF7 O.S.T.- Aerith's theme)
Floating into the white void, the Ex- SOLDIER, Cloud Strife had finally found peace within himself.
After all he had been through… all the things he had done. The things he had lost in his journey, and things that he eventually found. After finally confronting the ghosts from his past, Cloud had finally defeated and surpassed his greatest enemy… Himself.
He can finally forgive his past and live on and yet, there were still memories that the Ex- SOLDIER wished to go back to. Memories that he lost and eventually found upon recovering his true memories, the reason he wanted to become a SOLDIER, the origin of his desire to become a hero. He continued to dwell on to his desire to find his reason until he felt a familiar warmth touched him.
"Mother?" Cloud muttered softly.
"Again, why is everyone calling me their mother lately?" He recognized the voice. Although it was said in exasperation, Cloud can still feel the warmth and compassion that person radiated. The voice of someone that he cannot be forgotten as long as he lives.
"I guess they might be fond of you." Another familiar voice commented light heartedly.
"This one is too big to adopt." The female voice replied as Cloud felt her gaze on him, looking over with joy and sadness.
"But you already had a mother… or you still have."
Those words made bits of his memory resurfaced that he was certain wasn't tainted. Cloud had many secrets that came to light from his journey but this one was only known by few people closest to him. Even though Claudia took care of him to the best of her ability, she wasn't his mother, not the one who gave life and brought him to the world. He had a vaguely remember that with her mother, there was a man beside her that he assumes his father and maybe he has a sister or two. Cloud remembered the unadulterated happiness of the child with his family. But then he felt fear and loss as that memory was plagued by dark clouds and thunder. After that, the clearest memory he has was another woman taking care of him. In time it was revealed that Claudia found him clinging to a piece of debris washed up on the shore. From there, most of the images of his past were blurred, his name forgotten. But he never gave up on the sensation… thus it became his goal.
The other memory was how even at a young age he wanted to be a hero. This became the boy's inspiration to join SOLDIER. But the real reason was that seeing how Sephiroth and those like him were able to travel, this became the boy's mean to search for his first family. But after all that happened, that hope slowly died as the burden of Geostigma and his guilt grew in each day of his life. However, the love and faith his friends had for him and the reassurance of two more finally broke through his depression and allowed himself to see the light.
And yet… his only regret was that he wasn't able to accomplish his first dream, to find his family again.
"Tough luck, friend. Sounds like you don't have a place here… but your journey has not ended yet. You are needed somewhere in need of a hero." The voice of his friend said.
"You have saved Gaia twice… even though you were not born from this world. And now, the planet will return you to your rightful place, the world where your home is. This is… the reward that the planet has given you for saving it twice and the moment that you return to your world… there is no going back to Gaia." The female voice said, sadness radiated on her tone.
"I see… Can I say goodbye first?" Cloud knew they deserve this as much after being a jerk for all these years. He was concerned on how they will feel, how would Marlene, Denzel, and Tifa take this. But that is what a farewell is for, at least his final message will be sent to his loved ones. Cloud has faith that they can handle things from here on out without him.
"Of course."
"Everyone… I'm sorry for not coming back and breaking my promise… but thank you for everything. I will never forget all of the memories that we share and take care of yourselves." After saying his farewell, Cloud Strife disappeared from the lifestream… and gone to the world where he belongs.
The taller figure shook his head at his friend's parting.
"Still not much for words huh. Well, we better go tell them."
She nods in approval as light envelops their spirit.
"Yes, he may have become a memory but he will be a good one."
(O.S.T. end)
World of Remnant- Unknown forest
In a peaceful forest in a world called Remnant, separate bands of green-white light converge together on a clearing near the lake. As the bands of light subsided, an unconscious body of Cloud Strife appears on its place with no sign of wounds and injuries. Surrounding him are six swords embedded on the ground encircling his unconscious form, these swords can also combine into a single large sword resembling the buster sword. These blades are Cloud's weapon of choice, the Fusion swords. The unconscious Ex- SOLDIER began to stir and eyes flutter open, with a grunt, he raises his body and assess his surroundings and then himself.
"Hmm… no lasting injuries, good as new." Was Cloud's assessment as he looks over the places where he was wounded courtesy by Sephiroth.
Cloud begins to stand up and walks toward the main blade of his fusion sword called First Tsurugi, which was embedded in front of him. The sword has a long hilt wrapped in a red material, a large handguard, and a wide double-edged blade with a thinner section. After picking up the blade, he looks around the forest then to the night sky only to find a single shattered moon which made him slightly shock but immediately composed himself.
"I guess I'm not in Gaia anymore… this world is where I came from… my home." The Ex- SOLDIER muttered sadly as he thinks about his friends back in Gaia… about Denzel… about Marlene… and especially about Tifa.
Before he could wallow on his depression, he noticed something that shocked him when he looked at his reflection on the lake. In the reflection facing him is a younger looking Cloud Strife in his teenage years and by his estimation, he aged back to his 16-year-old self.
"What the- I'm back to my younger self!? But I feel the same, I can still carry my sword normally though." Before Cloud could ponder further about his apparent de-aging, he heard a growl coming from the bushes. He raises First Tsurugi as he awaits the reveal of his assailant, moving out of the bushes are a pack of wolves but these are no ordinary wolves. Their fur is as black as an endless darkness with a body that looks more of a werewolf than an ordinary wolf, they possess sharp claws and bone armor plating on some parts of their body and behind their bony mask are red beady eyes that glows eerily in the dark. These creatures are called Grimm but this specie is the weakest strain of Grimm, the Beowolves.
(Cue FF7 Remake O.S.T.- Those who fight)
"I guess I should test this younger body of mine and whatever you monsters are; you are going to be my training dummies." The Ex- SOLDIER said as he falls into his battle stance, going in to a crouching position while he raises the main blade by his side pointing forward, parallel to his line of sight.
One beowolf impatiently charge towards Cloud swinging its claw but the blonde teen dodges the attack by leaping back then he parries a follow up swing before he acrobatically jumps over the Grimm while he twists his body mid-air to swing his massive sword decapitating the beowolf before he lands to the ground. After killing the first beowolf, Cloud notices the sudden pause on the pack of monsters.
"What's wrong? Having cold feet?" Cloud taunted as he assumes his battle stance.
The remaining beowolves roar in fury as they charge towards the Ex- SOLDIER together, some of them leap in order to pounce on their prey. Cloud calmly awaits his chance to counterattack as he blocks a claw before bisecting the beowolf vertically in retaliation, then he ducks another swipe before he immediately cut another beowolf with speed and precision, he instantly decapitates one beowolf that attempted to bite him before he slashes towards another Grimm that is swinging its claw at him severing the said limb then finally cutting it in two. With his acrobatic moves, Cloud somersaults near one of his blades which has an unusual design and construction. This blade is called the hollow blade. The Ex- SOLDIER quickly picks the sword from the ground and starts dual-wielding against the wave of angry beowolves that continuously charging at him. Like the game king of the hill, Cloud single-handedly fend off the wave of the Grimm holding his ground as every swing of his swords, over two to three beowolves fall. This exchange continues for several seconds until Cloud decides to wipe them out by trying some of his limit skills as he pours his aura into the main sword before swinging it unleashing a glowing blue wave that decimates all the Grimm within its range. This limit skill is called the blade beam or blade burst.
The limit skill managed to kill most of the pack of beowolves but there is still few remaining charging at him, he crouches down to gain some momentum as his body shimmers in blue light. The Ex- SOLDIER dashes towards the beowolves with great speed to the point that he can only be seen as a streak of light zipping through every beowolves on the way leaving bisected Grimms on his trail. He made his way until he reaches the alpha of the pack which is a more armored version of the beowolf, before the Alpha beowolf could react Cloud has already landed multiple slashes slicing and dicing the alpha easily.
"Hmph. I still got it." Cloud scoffed as he sheathes his fusion blades in his custom-made holsters on his back. He also proceeds to pick up the other fusion blades before leaving the place to search for any civilization.
(O.S.T. end)
After half an hour of non-stop walking, the Ex- SOLDIER finally found signs of civilization but he suddenly heard clashes of steel and sounds of gunfire. Cloud stumbled on a massive camp currently under attack by the same monsters that he encountered earlier. The group of Grimm that are currently attacking were Beowolves but he also notices some different strains in the group; some of them are bear-like creatures with the same color schemes as the beowolves and being led by a rather large armored bear. These new creatures are the Ursa and the armored variant is an Ursa major. While on the other side were composed of adults that are fighting the same type of monsters he encountered earlier.
Not wasting any time, Cloud gathers power to his legs before dashing towards the campsite to shorten the distance. Despite walking for thirty minutes in the forest, the blonde teen did not feel any exhaustion and felt that he could fight a battle for hours. Perhaps this is the benefits of fighting Sephiroth and survived or even won twice. He reaches the camp within a few seconds and joins the fray, he dashes towards the Ursa who was about to attack a blonde haired man on the back while he was still busy fighting three beowolves at once. Swift as a wind, Cloud slices the Ursa in two before the Grimm could attack then he immediately moves towards the beowolves quickly killing two in a flash while the last one was dealt with by the blonde man caving the beowolf's skull with his fist armed with metal gauntlet.
"I'm here to help." Cloud said as he surveys the whole battlefield.
This finally got the attention of the blond man, he has blond hair that has two small strands sticking out from the top and blue eyes. The man has a tanned complexion, facial hair consists of soul patch and small stubble along his jawline. He wears brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off. For armor, he wears a metal spaulder, leather vambraces and a brown fingerless glove all on his right arm. Another notable feature on him is that he has a tattoo of his emblem on his right arm, which resembles a heart. This man is Taiyang Xiao-Long, once a member of the best huntsman group in their generation team STRQ before their unfortunate disbanding and currently a teacher of a huntsman school in Patch which is the Signal Academy.
"Yeah, thanks you're a lifesaver." Taiyang replied gratefully.
(Cue FF7 Remake O.S.T.- Those who fight)
It was supposed to be a simple search and destroy mission to cull the increasing numbers of Grimm, but things have gone wrong because one of their comrades got cocky and provoked a very large horde of Grimm that the Huntsmen in Patch did not expect hiding deep in the forest. Without saying a word, Cloud dashes to through the battlefield assisting the Huntsmen and the students with the same blue glow coating his body. He cuts down Grimm left and right, all the Huntsmen can only see a blur shimmering in light only leaving afterimages and corpse of the Grimm.
After cutting down an Ursa, he sensed danger behind him and immediately raise his main sword blocking a claw attack from another Ursa with the flat of his blade. The force of the attack only made him skid back by a meter and then he raises his hollow blade, while the blade of his main sword closes shut transforming it from battle mode to standard mode, he inserted the hollow blade into the main sword as the sound of mechanical attachments can be heard. Now, his sword has transformed into a larger blade adding the cleaving power on his attacks. Cloud assumes a battle stance where he slings his sword on his shoulder and about to use another limit skill, he leaps into the air and strikes the Ursa with a heavy downward slash leaving behind a trail of light. This limit skill is called Braver, one of his basic limit skills. The attack bisected the Ursa in two while creating a small crater to the ground from the impact, and produces an area of effect damage that throw the surrounding Grimms back.
The Ex-SOLDIER looks around the camp only to see another wave of Beowolves charging his direction, he reared back his sword preparing for a swing and with application of a little bit of power or aura. He swings his sword so hard that it creates a gust of wind forming a mini-tornado that tear apart the Beowolves. Once again, he is on the move to find the alpha or the leader of the pack. It took him a few seconds spotting the biggest Grimm among the crowd of monsters, Cloud dashes towards the direction of the Ursa major, his movement seems to defy gravity and unimpeded by the Ursas surrounding the leader. The blond swordsman increases his speed moving faster than before as he was phasing through the Grimm horde warping from place to place as he close the distance with the Ursa major. By the time the Ex-SOLDIER warps next to the alpha Grimm rearing his large blade back, the Ursa major swings its claw to Cloud's direction only to hit air as the blond teen made a faint and was actually going to swing on its blind side. Cloud swings the fusion sword cleaving the alpha Grimm through the torso as it fell dead to the ground and starts disintegrating.
(O.S.T. end)
Seeing their alpha dead, the remaining Grimms retreat to the forest running away from the one that killed their leader. The Huntsmen cheered at their victory and fortunately no one were accounted dead and just wounded at worst. Cloud sheathes the fusion sword in his customized holster and sighs in relief for another job done, then he felt stares in his direction and the cheers stopped.
"Hey kid, thanks for the assist… you save our asses back there. Aren't you too young for that skill level? Where did you learn how to fight?" One of the Huntsmen thanked him and asked.
"Uh… I am self-taught. Learned how to fight along the way." Cloud replied. It was technically the truth.
"Oh… so you were living outside the kingdom then, what are you doing here in the island of Patch? I'm not suspecting your presence here and we're thankful you came to our aid but you could have gone to Vale if you want to go big." Taiyang asked carefully to not sounding so suspicious.
"I don't have money with me, and I was hoping to find a settlement to apply in any jobs. Preferably some mercenary work." The Ex-SOLDIER stated truthfully.
"I see. You can come with us back to town if you want, there you could find any odd jobs or if you are lucky some Huntsmen that wants some assistance in Grimm extermination." The former STRQ member offered which Cloud nodded in agreement.
"By the way, I almost forgot to take the name of the one who saved our asses." Taiyang said in realization.
"Oh… I'm Cloud. Cloud Strife." Cloud answered.
World of Gaia- Aerith's church
The situation in a certain location in Midgar can only be described as a miracle. It can never be anything less even to those who knew who sent it. Lives were freed from the curse when the heavens poured out their blessings. And yet, what cured the body of the many hid the hurt that the few are feeling within their hearts.
They searched everywhere but even with help, there wasn't a trace of the Ex- SOLDIER. They came to a grim conclusion.
Rain continuously pour throughout Edge as if the skies joined in their sadness, though some hid it better. This was the case for Vincent Valentine as he closed his eyes making a silent prayer while he silently consoles the openly bawling Yuffie. Barret was also being a strong shoulder for his daughter to cry on. Some of them are both praising and cursing the 'heroic numbskull.'
For all of those gathered, nothing else is more hurtful than a loss of a childhood friend and significant other. Tifa Lockheart wept but stood strong for her family… and for him. Her tears continue to fall despite of her efforts to wipe them off, she looked at the memorial that they made for him. After finding and polishing the Buster sword to its former glory, they set it in Aerith's church to remind them that Cloud is now with the people who are meant to him.
They do not know how but they heard Cloud's final words reverberating through the wind. Although with the hint of sadness, he sounded so peaceful but she wished that there is another way. Where he was home, here with them… with her.
"Nice work with the sword! Maybe now Angeal can stop nagging me on how his sword was treated." Came a jolly voice as the group turned towards the voice only to be blinded by light. It took them a few seconds before their sight adjust to the intense light. By the time the light subsided, they finally see the figures of their guests.
"Oh… Zack and… Aerith!?" They were shocked still and in disbelief as they are seeing with their eyes are their long deceased friends.
"Yo!"
"Hello." Zack replied with a finger salute while Aerith waves her hand to the group.
While the adults watched disbelievingly, the children were the first to react. They all cried happily as she welcomed them. But they also bore tears of sadness when Marlene told her their loss.
"He's gone… Cloud's gone."
Even in death, her warmth reached their troubled hearts as Aerith spoke in a comforting tone.
"Yes dear. He might be gone and not able to be with you but it was not his time yet. He went on a journey to find himself… to find his home."
"Yeah, yeah, we already know that he's… in a better place." Cid took a second to correct his words when all eyes were on him.
"Well… Not sure if the world of Remnant is better, but he will be fine he's my Living Legacy after all." Zack emphasized which brought confusion to the group.
"Eh? Wait… he's alive?" Tifa asked in confusion.
"Like I said, he's on a journey to find himself." Aerith nodded in approval.
"Aerith, you're a good friend to us and we love you but… ENOUGH WITH THE ANCIENT TALKS AND RIDDLES!" Yuffie exclaimed as she is close to tearing off her hair in frustration.
"I see. So he's gone home." The group look at Tifa upon hearing those words, despite having tears flowing on her eyes she still had a smile on her face.
"B-But I thought this was his home… with us. He promised." Denzel sadly argued.
Tifa knelt down in front of the boy and place her hands on his shoulders, prompting the boy to listen to her carefully.
"Even if he does not say it, he truly felt at home here with us. But he wanted to find his first one."
"Back then when we were kids, I did not believe Cloud at first when he said that he did not belong here. I thought that he was just being full of himself back then, but after he left to join SOLDIER, Aunt Claudia told me that she wasn't Cloud's true mother. She also said that she found him washed ashore and without any memories of who he was, so she named him after her late son and cared of him like her own. Ever since then, he dreamed to find his family again."
"When we finally met again, I was shocked and sad that he forgot about his dream. But I was also glad when he remembered. Though… that dream almost died again, and this time he was about to give up." Tifa explained to everyone until her voiced cracked in the end.
"He was losing his will to live due to the Geostigma with the additional burden from his depression and guilt." Vincent caught the hidden meaning on Tifa's words.
"But he continued living for all of you, his new family." Zack solemnly said.
"That doesn't change the fact that he's gone and probably forever!" Cait Sith, a small cat creature chastised Yuffie's outburst but Tifa did not deny it.
"I'm happy that he can now fulfill his dream but…" They didn't need her to continue to know that she was still hurting. Aerith could only embrace her for comfort which made Tifa surprised.
"I know that it is hard to accept, but Cloud has full of faith to all of you to continue living your lives without him… he knows how strong you all are especially you Tifa. We all miss him but you should all keep moving forward and wish for Cloud to find his happiness from wherever he is." Aerith said leaving these words as she and Zack vanished.
Tifa was silent before she wiped her eyes and while still being teary, they shone with determination. She stood and looked up to see the sun peeking from clouds, indicating the beginning of the new chapter of their lives even though Cloud would not be a part of it anymore.
"We should keep moving forward, guys. We must become strong and our lives fully for Cloud."
She smiled when she saw everyone's agreement nodding with determination.
"So Cloud, wherever you are, I hope you find your happiness in your new life. No giving up and good luck." Tifa says her final message to her childhood friend and lover, the others also said their own wishing Cloud well on his journey.
"Thank you for all the good memories that we shared… and I will forever engrave it in my heart."
Author's Note:
And that's our first chapter, this a first time for me to write a FF7 and RWBY story so do forgive me if there is a lack of context or confusion but I'll be sure to search for references in order to write this right. This is actually a post-Advent Children story where Cloud died in the suicide attacks of both Loz and Yazoo, and as a reward for saving Gaia against the threat from Sephiroth for the second time, the planet has deemed that Cloud deserves to have his true wish granted which is to find his biological family and thus he was restored and sent to Remnant and got deaged too as a bonus.
If you are all asking if Cloud has aura upon arriving Remnant, then the answer is yes though he is not aware of it. Also Cloud's or Jaune's semblance here is already unlocked since it is 'Limit Break' after all but it will be registered as 'Aura Amplification' which will act as a watered down version of Limit Break. Limit Break here is actually the evolved semblance for Aura Amplification in my opinion, Cloud Strife and Jaune Arc has so many similarities if all noticed and others might have pointed it on some websites and I actually agree when I compared their characters, they both have the same motivations when they set out on their journey but their differences is that how their experiences affects their character.
When it comes to Cloud's limit skills, I will be getting it to all the games he's been. I will get from both the original and remake, also including his skills in all of the Dissidia games. Here are the Limit skills that he used in this chapter:
BLADE BEAM/ BLADE BURST (from Dissidia and Dissidia NT)
BRAVER (from Remake, Dissidia and Dissidia NT)
TERMINAL VORTEX (Dissidia NT)