Clouderella,

Fly away…

It was a cold winter evening, and already getting dark. The village was pretty quiet at this time of day, and dressed in only a tattered pair of cut-off jeans and a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of his all-time second favourite heavy metal group. (His favourite shirt, indeed, the only other one he owned being currently restitched and liberated of bloodstains.) He set off up the path toward Mt. Nibel.

The road was slippery with rain, the gravel shifting even beneath his light footsteps, and clattering from the edge of the path. The drop to his left was sheer, and so deep now that he couldn't hope to see the ground. Silvery mist was pooled down there, and drifted upwards slowly, twisting around his ankles and coating his skin in a layer of cool droplets. Cloud climbed on, regardless of the snaking trails that almost begged him to return, coaxing him to the edge of the path where he could leap and float on silvergreen tendrils, back to the village, and away from his goal. He fought the urge to leap, although it was always playing at his mind. It would be so easy, just to see if it were possible that flying wasn't only left to dreams, and so inviting, up here among the clouds and brittle shards of stone.

His hair was plastered to his head by this time, and quickly losing it's wild abandon, he felt it sticking to the skin at the back of his neck in tangled waves, and his shirt was not much better off. One delicate hand trailed lovingly along the slick blue slate of the rockface, and seemed to read every small crevice, until, about an hour into his semi-blind walk, he stopped and turned to rest both hands upon the slab.

Pausing here, he laid his head against the dying stone, and felt a shiver crawling down his arms. A mewling cry from deep within the earth as it's once majestic crown was siphoned slowly of it's life. His hands crept slowly upwards, to curl into tiny indentations in the surface. Small beads of condensation ran like tears beneath his fingers, and down his face alike.

He did not know why or how it was possible that nobody else could feel such sorrow, it radiated from the earth in soul consuming waves, were they were all so blind and stupid? Or was it just him, again… How cruel it seemed, that as the only person who could feel this way it was the same thing that kept the others from listening to him. Nobody wanted to be caught with the weirdo.

His hands stayed firmly against the mist soaked surface as he began to climb. He closed his eyes, and felt his way from hold to hold as if he were a spider on a picture frame. It mattered little that his boots were a size too large, or that the bag that swung between his shoulder blades threatened to loose itself whenever his arm descended lower than his waist; he climbed as easily as walked. Uncertain where this unknown route would end, he followed the rock and swirling silver threads which trailed around him, caressing, encouraging the boy to greater heights. Fingers slick with dew were slowly staining crimson, and leaving a train of rubies down the slate. Still, he climbed.

The sounds of voices echoed lightly from a point above his insubstantial resting place, they were in an unfamiliar dialect, one that he barely understood in words; but the meaning made itself known in his head anyway.

"We should be heading back to the town shortly… goddamn weather, why does shinra insist on sticking these things in the middle of nowhere?"

"You know why. Those stupid backwater villagers have some stupid idea about spirits living up here or something."

"The gateway to hell, yeah, I heard 'em all. But I suppose it keeps them well outta trouble. Hey, tell me if you see any ghosts, huh Hojo?" A dry laugh rattled around some hollow chamber, and remained long after, it contained no note of humour and just a little mockery.

The voices were not pleasant at all to Cloud's ears, and as he eased his soggy frame toward the cavern entrance he was glad that they were all but shadows on his memory. Shaking slightly from exertion, the climb had been a little nerve wracking at such a height, and panting clouds of icy breath, he crawled a little way inside before pulling himself onto his feet.

The cave he saw, when he turned his eyes to gaze around in something akin to wonderment, was more than twice the size of any he'd previously explored. A soft, lulling sound of pooling water filled the chamber with a gentle music, and ripples of light were painted across the high ceiling. Cloud had never been inside a cathedral, although had he the opportunity he would have likened the experience to this, yet it was far more beautiful due to it's natural formation. Tiny crystals winked and glittered around the boy, as he stepped cautiously down the centre of the cave, stalagmites lined his path, and illuminated it with opalescent fire. He had all but forgotten the voices now, and stepped more confidently between the lines of shining energy. Here, the planet and the stars both sang in ethereal harmony, and petrified roots made vaulted ceilings with beams and alcoves.

What he didn't see, was the way the path behind him seemed to darken, while his fingers lightly brushing every line of verdant crystal caused them to flare with sudden light. Quietly, he started to sing the melody that filled his spirit, nervous that he might disturb the symphony in some way, but reluctant to stop.

"Kaze, Kaze utau.

Hana, kusa, yureru.

Watashi ni shitagau,

Hakobu toku ni"

He knew the language as his father's, but was sure the song belonged to him, and he alone would have a chorus nobody could hear. The words were from the air and from his soul in equal measure, and as he sang he moved toward a pool of shimmering light at the far end of the cave.

"Yurei no kanashimi,

Watashi to Odori

Watashi ni shitagau

Eien ni, hateshinai.

Watashi to Odori

Yami no Naka e"

He saw the light coalesce around a tall pillar of stone, which seemed to grow staight from a pool of warm phosphorescence. At the top of a pillar, clear crystals had grown around the stone, and sent rainbows scattering across the dark walls. Still singing, his attention firmly on the fantastical fountain barely metres away, he didn't feel another presence until it was too late.

Startled, even though the hand had barely brushed his shoulder, he faced his assailant with a dagger already in hand. His song forgotten, and with it the unnatural beauty of his surroundings, he stared with unmasked annoyance directly into the shining silver eyes of a second class Shinra Soldier.

Authors notes: Heh Heh, am I evil or what ^_^ Leaving it on a cliffhanger!

1: When did this suddenly become so serious? Oh well, I guess that's what happens if a story takes on a life of it's own. ;P

2: Yeah, the lyrics…

Wind, wind, sing.

Flower, grass, sway.

Follow me,

Take me far away.

Ghosts of sadness,

Dance with me.

Follow me.

For eternity, endless.

Dance with me,

Into the darkness.

I wrote it, so if it's shit… you know who to blame.

3: R&R peeps! If I get a few reviews, I might just be tempted to share the rest!

4: Hi Dina, Tir – Synni, Kleptomaniac can Opener, NemesisStrife, anyone from the SephiLovesCloud ML and anyone else who reviewed, I haven't forgotten you, I just can't remember all the names right now ^_^. I'll update KSY real soon, and maybe write another part to Sparring.

5: As always, check the piccies people, I update whenever I'm not drawing or writing.

Sayonara, for now.