Zack entered the arena carrying the sword of his choice. It was a decent sword, or at least he thought. Cloud sat on the railing waiting for the battle to begin. After what seemed to be years, Seph finally came. He walked in,took out his sword, and stretched it behind his back. Zack, wanting to look good, imitated him, and when they were done stretching, they both took their ready stance.
They looked like statues just
standing there, no one wanted to make the first move. This continued
for a minute or so, just long enough for Zack to wonder if he should do
something. As soon as Sephiroth noticed his guard was down
the slightest, he dashed in there swiftly. Zack managed to block
it, but it was a clumsy one. The black haired recruit tried his best to
be good against the master who was only halfheartedly fighting him.
Cloud looked at the two with
eagerness and envy. He wanted to duel, and wished he had the guts
to ask. It was torture to watch his friend doing what he wanted to
do so badly. This agony only lasted about fifteen minutes. Seph managed
again to knock the sword out of his opponents hands. Zack realized
his defeat, and picked up is sword.
"Good try," Seph said as he shook Zack's hand.
"Thank you Sir," he replied. They chit-chatted for a while, but Cloud couldn't hear them. He tried to read their lips, but he couldn't. He did realize after Zack had pointed to him that they were talking about him. Seph stared at him with his green eyes, causing Cloud to get nervous and fall of the railing. He hit the ground with a thud. He just lay there in embarrassment.
Next thing he saw besides all the cloud's in the sky were Zack and Sephiroth looking down at him.
" You all right?" Zack asked.
"Yeah," Cloud mumbled as he sat up. " I just lost my balance..."
Seph grabbed the boy's head and was rummaging through his hair.
"Hey!! What are you doing?" Cloud said in a whiny voice.
" I am making sure you didn't crack your skull open." He said sternly. After his inspection, he declared that he was fine. He glanced at his watch. " You better head for the meeting, it is going to begin soon." With that said, Seph got up and waled away.
"Wow!! That was so cool!"
"No it wasn't,i made an ass out of myself"
"No,not you falling," Zack
said. " Fighting against Sephiroth!" Zack put his sword away and
beckoned Cloud to follow him to the meeting.
The meeting hall was packed
with the newcomers. The chairs were filling up fast. Zack and Cloud sat
down close to the back. Cloud shifted uncomfortably in the metal
chairs. Soon a fat rolly-polly guy came in who announced himself
as President Shinra. This man babbled on about the history of Shinra
Inc and what was expected of them in SOLDIER. Cloud started to drift
off in sleep,but he desperatly tried to fight it. As soon as his head would
start to fall,he tried to keep it up. This continued until he was
waken up by an officer, who took him to a room. In there were other
people sitting in chairs. Cloud plopped down into one next to a blue haired kid, who turned and spoke to Cloud.
" You fell asleep too?"
"Yeah," he replied, trying
to wipe the sleep from his eyes. " Can't help it, that monotone voice and
the boringness of the speech does it to ya."
Both remained in silence
wondering what would come of them. Half an hour passed. President
Shinra walked in, glanced at the youngins, and walked into the office. Five minutes later, the training officers were called in. Lots of
the trainee's were nervous as they saw their commanders walk by giving
them glares. Cloud noticed that he was the only one there from his group,
which only made him sink into his seat more when he saw Seph.
Another ten minutes passed, which seemed forever since cloud couldn't keep his eyes off the clock. One by one, the commanders came out, taking their groups with them. Cloud was left for the last, and got up when Sephiroth called for him. Cloud followed the tall man, who lead him down many hallways. he soon got lost, since he glared down at his feet. He wondered what was gong to happen to him. He hoped it was;t corporate punishment. Seph suddenly stopped, almost causing Cloud to run into him. He opened the door and let Cloud in. The room was an office of some sort, with giant window. He looked on the walls that were covered with placks and metals. They were metals of bravery and that sort of stuff. All awarded to Sephiroth.
Seph broke the silence by closing the door, causing Cloud to spin around with wide eyes. Seph gave him an irratated look as he made his way to the window. Time passed, and all he did was glare out the window. Cloud grew ever curious of what was so interesting out the window. He slowly crepped forward to get a peek. To his surprise, the window did not lead to the outside,but rather on the inside of another section of the building. People were hassling around like a bunch of ants on a mission. Cloud looked over to glance at his commander.
" So busy, aren't they?" Seph spoke.
"..."
" They just walk around. Doing what they are told. Everyday. Going bout it the same way that it becomes a routine."
Cloud remained silent, but e turned his gaze upon the people. He didn't really know what he meant.
"I don't understand how they can do that. Don't they ever wonder?"
" W-wonderwhat?" the younger boy managed to ask.
" Never mind, " Seph replied. " I guess I am different then they are." He turned away from the window and sat at his desk. He pointed to the chair across from him for Cloud to sit in. Cloud obeyed.
" Do you know why you are here?"
Cloud didn't really want to answer this. Seph glared at him even harder and raised an eyebrow waiting for his answer. " I must have dozed off during the speech."
" And because of that, you missed what he said. DO you know what he said?"
" No."
" He said the same thing he says every year. It is rather boring. But you shouldn't have fallen asleep."
" I couldn't really help it." Cloud muttered.
" You got to learn to disguise your boredom better." Seph said as he looked at the wall clock. "Man, this is going to take forever."
" What?" Cloud said.
" I have a half an hour to reprimand you for your actions, of falling asleep." Cloud could only widen his eyes in what as to come.
** Author's Note: Feedback please!!
let me know how this is going!!! edf