Part III

The world was spinning at a crazy speed as Cloud flew through the air, his feet
above his head. His body slammed hard against the grass covered ground, his face
digging in to the dirt.
He moaned and rolled over to his back, but didn't make any effort to get up.
He shaded his eyes from the sun's dazzling rays with his bruised arm. He could
see Sephiroth walking around in a small circle not far from where he himself
laid. The silver haired man let Masamune cut through the high grass, swinging
the sword back and forth in one gracefull movement. Then suddenly, he stopped
and moved towards his young student. The Buster sword was lying next to Cloud
but still he did not try to reach it. Just the thought of it's weight in his
hands made him feel weak. The sparring was over for him, he did not have the
strenghts to continue it, physically or mentally. Sephiroth's last blow had made
him fly through the air and completely knocked him out of breath. Every single
part of his body were now aching and he doubted he would be able to stand on his
own two feet even if he wanted to. But the pain was nothing compared to the fear
that quickly had risen within him. He was afraid for what he had seen in his
mentor's eyes just before his long sword had struck him. A glimpse of rage and
madness had reflected in the mako green color for a briefsecond but it had been
enough to stir up a terrible fright in Cloud.

They had left Costa del Sol early that morning, Sephiroth had been anxious to
get on with their journey. They had walked for hours before they reached an
endless grass field just as the sun had climbed the sky to it's zenith.
Sephiroth thought it was a good place for them for their sparring. Cloud had not
objected, he was greatful for all the practice he could get. Besides, he liked
being outside for this sort of training. It gave them the chance to put more
force into their strikes, to take the sparring to the fullest, and also, it
eliminated the chances of being cornered. Of course, Cloud could take it fully
out, Sephiroth still had to hold back.
But today it had been different.Sephiroth had pushed Cloud harder than he
had done before. The light blows he usually distributed had early on in the
fight developed in to harder and faster ones, knocking Cloud to the ground
several times before the last one. Sephiroth had fiercly thrusted Masamune down
on Cloud who saw the shining steel of the sword and imagined it cut through his
limbs just before it struck him and threw him through the air.

Now, in retrospect, he realized he hadn't seen the sharp edge ofMasamune racing
towards him but the flat side of the sword. He slowly convinced himself that
what he had seen in Sephiroth's eyes were nothing more than adrenaline surfacing
in the rush of the battle, stressed by his own natural fears for the warrior's
great powers.
"Get up," Sephiroth demanded casting a shadow over Cloud who sighed.
"No more," he begged. "I yield."
"You can't just give up when things get rough, keep your mind focused. It's that
girl from last night, isn't it? Forget her, she will only be a distraction for
you," Sephiroth stated this calmly but Cloud could tell he was annoyed and tried
to get up, somewhat surprised he had mentioned the girl since Cloud himself
hadn't given her a second thought since the night before. He pushed himself up
but fell back to the ground almost immediatly, his legs unable to carry him.
Sephiroth swiftly fell to his knees and carefully examined a cut in Cloudïs
forehead. Blood was trickling from the wound, coloring the blond hair red.
Cloud could feel Sephiroth's breath against his face while the SOLDIER's fingers
gently were moving in his hair, trying to get a good look at the cut.
"It's not deep," he said. "Are you feeling dizzy?"
"Just a little, I'll be alright soon," Cloud said, trying to act strong. "Good
thing it was just my head." He saw a quick smile split the general's face as he
said this and he smiled to, his recent fears forgotten.
"We need to get it looked at anyway," Sephiroth said, "I don't want to risk you
becoming even more stupid." He smiled again and put Cloud's arm over his own
shoulders and helped the boy up.
"I'm alright, I can walk by myself now," Cloud said as he noticed Sephiroth
wouldn't let go of him.
"Cloud, if you don't have anything good to say then don't say it. If I let go of
you now you would just fall to the ground again and then I would have to pull
you by your legs to the closest village."
Cloud laughed as Sephiroth said this and then they slowly began their walk
towards a small nameless town which still was just a spot on the horizon.