Chapter 2

On the edge of entropy...

The base was a little further from the bridge than Cloud remembered, either that or they had stumbled upon another, closer road. Because the old compound was still completely hidden as they crossed, there was no way to find out what it was used for now unless they took an unnecessary detour. The road from there was kept in relatively good condition, unusual for a disused facility, and a slightly worn sign indicated it could be followed all the way to Cosmo city, there was no mention of the base at all. Cloud was almost curious enough to try the unmarked road, but the sun was beginning to drop further through the gathering clouds and would soon be consumed by the dark mass over the Wutai sea.

"It looks like the day is soon to take a turn for the worse." Vincent pointed out, turning in the saddle to better gauge the speed of the approaching storm. Tenchi would appear to agree, pulling the way she did, cooing for Cloud's attention.

"We'd better try for the outskirts of Cosmo then," Cloud suggested, slightly less than comfortable with the idea of exploration. He was as eager to leave this place as the others, but for different reasons. "Can you hear that?"

turning back toward Vincent and the bridge, Cloud froze. Vincent shook his head, and closed his eyes.

The roar of the river faded into his peripheral hearing, then the scratching of the chocobos' talons. Cloud was a silent figure on his right, slow heartbeat, light breathing, that too he tuned out, as well as his own. The rustle of the trees, thinner on the edge of the forest. The breeze, the birds, the insects, all of it he noted and discounted.

Then, above the muted music of nature, first signs of discord marred the sonata, about a half-mile away, or closer if they were being careful.

"Now I hear... Voices?" He whispered, keeping his eyes firmly shut but still, he knew that Cloud was nodding and sitting, motionless, calm.

"Two, a man and a woman." Confirmed the mercenary, his own eyes wide open and watching the road ahead for signs of the pair. "I'm sure the base was long abandoned..."

"How do you mean?" Vincent countered, at last letting his vision return to the painful glare of sunlight through a sparse canopy.

"I mean exactly that, it was abandoned after the Junon war. Reeve disbanded what was left of Soldier when I... left. They gutted the building, and last I heard it was a plain old storage facility."

"How long ago was that?"

"Too long. It should barely be standing anymore, but I hear soldiers." Cloud insisted, preparing to wait for the approaching footsteps. He was certain they were military, he heard the clatter of rifles upon their backs, and the steel grips moulded into the soles of tough boots. "I think we should wait, they'll be here in a few minutes anyway."

Vincent accepted his judgement, after all, he'd seen through worse. The boy might be slightly psychotic, a lot more dangerous than he appeared, and prone to jumping into trouble for the sake of a challenge. But he would do what was best, in the end, hopefully.

They only had a few minutes to wait before the troopers appeared over the rise ahead, for troopers they were, clothed from head to toe in skin-tight sky blue uniforms. The helmets were reminiscent of the one Cloud had worn in his army days. Black visors, like the beak of a prey bird, covered their faces, and they both had loose black jackets over the waterproof, insulating, armoured bodysuits. It was also the uniform that proved his theory about their gender.

Strolling along the unmarked road, obviously unconcerned with their patrol routes, the woman spotted the travellers first. Tapping her partner on the shoulder, he followed her gesture toward the warbirds and their burden. A blond boy carrying a sword and a dark man wrapped in crimson. They seemed to be waiting patiently enough.

"Do you think we should get their papers?" She asked him, slightly unsure since this was only her first week of patrol. Her supervising officer, who'd previously gone to amazing lengths to stress the importance of checking ID papers, nodded and nudged her forward. He hoped they hadn't been spotted slacking off.

Vincent saw the way they suddenly fell into step, and took it as a sign of acknowledgement.

"Are you sure about this?" He hissed, dropping one hand to the rifle at his side and covering his claw. Cloud, he noticed, was hovering inches away from one of many concealed blades. Cloud glanced over his shoulder with a grin, a fixed rictus of humour, then turned back to the rapidly closing troopers. "Nope." The blond whispered back, sensing that Vincent had just rolled his narrowed scarlet eyes at his back, and mentally, groaned.

"North Cosmo Defence Force, Please may I see your ID?" Requested the Female officer, gaining what she took to be a friendly smile from the boy. (Really the same one of mixed nervousness and amusement, as Cloud realized she was probably terrified of looking unprofessional before a superior.) Which soon disappeared when he realized they didn't have any ID, and even if they had it wouldn't do them much good anyway. His last few ID cards made him, respectively, a student at Nibelheim primary school, Shinra trooper Strife, dead, Commander of Soldier, and dead, again.

"Um, I must have forgotten it..." It was pathetic, but all he could think of as the other trooper began to approach Vincent. Who had quickly decided to become his usual sociable self, and was currently waiting with baited breath for Cloud to extricate them from the situation.

"You both forgot your ID?" Muttered the male trooper, his voice was rather rough, old. "How the hell did you both forget your ID?" He walked around to face Cloud, but didn't seem that threatening. "Off the bird, kid." He ordered, pointing to the ground beside his feet. Cloud slipped from his mount, the only sound a crunch of gravel as his boots hit the floor. Vincent also dismounted, but remained on the edge of the group, only Cloud noticing the way in which he blended nicely with the shadows.

"And what on Earth are you doing with this bloody monstrosity?" Continued the officer, tapping the hilt of Cloud's sword. The boy recoiled from the man's hand, putting the weapon neatly out of reach. "Please, don't touch that." He advised, the hint of a growl entering his voice. It seemed the officer was not impressed by his attitude nearly as much as with the blade. "It was my father's, an heirloom."

"My granddad used to tell stories of when swords were used, sir." The girl informed rather cheerily. "But even he never saw one outside of a museum. He said they were only used by the elite... and crazies, since monsters get pretty nasty." Cloud frowned at the remark, hoping it was not a personal dig. But before he had a chance to inquire as to the nature of said theory, the officer felt obliged to add his own two gil.

"Mmmm, Like the two generals." He said, nodding to himself. "Sephiroth and Strife, from what I learned at school they fit both descriptions well enough. Apparently went a little too far off the deep end, and with some of the stories, I'm not surprised. There'll never be anyone that good again, thank god, a couple of freakin' mental cases."

"Really?" Cloud's frown turned up at the corners, curiosity taking the hand of his sense of mischief and tugging. "I dunno, perhaps they were just caught up in something we mere mortals couldn't understand. I mean, I like the idea that they wouldn't use guns, adds a personal touch y'know? Not to mention a little extra risk on their part."

Vincent raised an eyebrow at the gun statement, but refrained from commenting lest it reveal his possession of such an object. Distantly the rumble of imminent weather, thunder, announced the arrival of dark brooding clouds. Shadows chilled the air, and as he followed the increasingly peculiar debate a speck of rain alighted his shoulder to leave a dark stain and was quickly joined in multiple.

"Oh great." Grumbled the officer as drops began to thud against his helmet, beating upon his ears like an entire percussion section with a grudge. "You two are going to have to accompany us to the outpost. I'm afraid we can't allow anyone to wander around without ID, and it's only a mile or so to our station."

"We have to get to Cosmo tonight." Vincent interrupted, gaining instant gratitude from both his friend, and the young trooper.

"He's right, it's very important that we arrive in time for our... concert, we're musicians, you see." Cloud ad-libbed quickly, wondering whether it was his destiny to get wet whatever happened. He loved the rain, really, but not without a change of clothes somewhere in the future. "Surely you can do whatever you need to do there? We'll even give you a lift."

The officer was about to put his foot down when the other pulled on his arm. "Sir, perhaps we should. I mean, I don't want to spend tonight in the outpost again, and we could double up, make sure they don't run off?" She added, secretly pleased that there might be a way to get out of walking back. Saturday was a bad night on the staff bus, with all those students and scientists, it was bad enough having to babysit them. She usually opted to spend weekends training, and had hated when they transferred her duties to nerd patrol in the forest.

Quickly, Cloud glanced to Vincent, who mouthed "Musicians?" rather pointedly, and then back at the troopers who finally seemed convinced. The girl stepped forward and announced their decision.

"You can go to Cosmo, since there's a station just on the outskirts where we can process you guys." She said, wiping the drops from her visor. "Sir, I think it would be better if I go with... what's your name anyway?" She asked, looking up at the soggy blond.

"Cloud."

"I'll go with Cloud, since, no offence sir, I'm a better rider." She explained, and when the officer gave no indication to the contrary, followed Cloud to his chocobo. He mounted the bird in one swift movement, offering a hand to the small trooper. She peered awhile at the proffered palm, which carried a scar across its surface, and admired the three antique-looking rings that ornamented the delicate fingers. Gingerly putting her gloved hand in his she found herself lifted effortlessly in front of the boy, and wondered then just what to do with herself.

"Just sit as still as you can, and try not to kick Tenshi, okay." He instructed, taking the rifle from her back where it was in the way, and passing it forward. She inhaled sharply as a pale, bandaged arm pinned her in place, and as Cloud noticed this he almost let go.

"It's alright." She reassured, glancing away from where her superior was sitting rather primly behind the dark silent form of Vincent, and putting one hand on Cloud's. "I don't wanna fall off, and I'm not sensitive or anything."

"Yeah, well you're safe enough with me anyway." He replied with a grin, as Vincent and his passenger moved off. "You can take the helmet off too... if you want." He eventually hinted, since it was pretty difficult seeing around it. Muttering agreement, she waited until she was comfortable with moving and then began to unclip her hot, stifling helmet. The padding stuck to her skin as she peeled it off, and the feeling of rain on her face was welcome.

"Oh, that feels better."

She breathed deeply, free of the helmet Cloud knew to be constricting, letting her hair fall loosely around her face. It was a startling red, jaw length and wavy until the heavy precipitation stuck it to firmly her head. She held her helmet in her lap with her rifle, and was beginning to enjoy the ride.

"It looks as though your partner isn't keen on chocobos." Cloud observed, making conversation. She laughed as she saw her boss trying very hard not to fall off or hold on to anything he shouldn't.

"Jonah's okay really," she defended, "you can see why I volunteered to come with you... Why do you ride like this anyway?"

"Because I can," he replied. They were nearly at the edge of the storm, nearing the desert. There was no sign of civilisation on the horizon, sand stretching between red rock pillars as far as he could see. The girl giggled, and shook her head.

"What's so funny?" He asked, slightly confused at the sudden outburst. She put one hand over her mouth and pointed at the others, who were just slightly ahead. Vincent was stoically avoiding speech at all, having already ignored every question directed toward him, while her partner rattled on about his bad luck, and having to ride pillion with a punk kid, a silent, gothy punk kid.

"You two are rather odd, you know that."

"Huh, oh, well. Yeah I suppose we are." Cloud admitted, "How do you mean, odd?"

She ran a finger over the visor of her helmet; friction between the leather glove and the wet surface causing it to squeak nastily, both Cloud and Vincent winced. "Well, most people would have just avoided us like Mako sickness if they had no ID." She started, "You carry a sword, that is pretty strange, and you both dress like Goths. Which is cool... different, but cool." She added quickly.

"So? Maybe we're just a little unorthodox. But we're from Nibelheim, so..."

"Aaah, that would probably explain the accent as well. I just thought you were kinda posh, you know?" She nodded sagely, wiping the raindrops from her nose. "You're musicians huh, what do you play?"

"A little of everything, but mostly I sing. Vincent has a voice more suited to the church organ, so he sticks to violin, and if you can get him to, he writes beautiful poetry." He smiled, at least he could tell the truth about some things.

"So you aren't a heavy metal group, `cause you really look like you would be, are there any other members?" She chirped on, becoming almost as verbose as her constantly complaining superior. It reminded Cloud very much of someone he once knew. Somebody who'd sent her own children to Cosmo after the war.

"Not yet, we only started recently." Like about half an hour ago... "I guess we're recruiting at the moment."

"Ahhh, I might come see a performance sometime, huh. Since we're going back to the city, I might take a weekend off."

"If you can find us. You're welcome to try, I suppose."

"Oh, I'll find you easy enough. How old are you?" She added, changing the subject rather unexpectedly, on a rather complicated and delicate tangent. It would seem his hunch was right.

"Why?" Cloud countered, noting Vincent's attention on their conversation. "Can't you interrogate us when you're sorting our ID out?" He tried to keep annoyance out of his voice.

He had never been confident enough to question anything, leaving the world to settle it's own problems while he ran away from his.

"Well, yeah." She answered, "But you don't act like other boys your age, really. I just wondered."

"How old do you think I am?"

Having already judged the girl to be around sixteen and that she was getting at something, he decided to play her little game to its conclusion. She sat in thought for a while, glancing occasionally toward Vincent. "Nineteen, Twenty at the most." She announced, "and your friend's about twenty five I'd guess. Am I right?" She turned around with an expectant grin, seeming pretty pleased with herself. But instead he leant forward to whisper in her ear.

"Not even close, but I just wanna ask something first. Can I trust you?"

"What?" She exclaimed, but kept quite calm, not revealing anything to her superior. "You are him, aren't you." She affirmed, "I knew it. You're Strife."

"Yeah, yeah... not so loud, you're pretty sharp, but not exactly subtle with those questions you know." He whispered, flicking a lock of hair from his eyes. "Can I trust you?" He repeated earnestly.

"No trouble!" She gasped, shooting a nervous glance toward the other chocobo and meeting an unfathomable look from Vincent as they passed. "You're like, a hero. The old guy over there is from Upper Junon, so...yeah, well. But I'm from Cosmo, and I had a really good teacher. By the way, you ain't exactly fabulous at subterfuge yourself."

She had to be, at least distantly...

"Was one of your ancestors called Reno by any chance," muttered Cloud, reassured for the time being that he'd found an ally, no matter how annoying.

"Yeah, great grandpa. I'm from an ancient line of mikado, so mama said. But there was a war and so we escaped to Cosmo. That's how come I leaned so much about you. How'd you guess?" She asked, surprised.

"You just remind me a little of him, and Kisaragi-chan..."

Silently, he cursed the fact that of all the people he could run into, it would be one of their misbegotten brood. Though it was quite funny how they'd managed to stop arguing long enough to start anything, let alone a family. "So what's your name then?" He asked, seeing as how she was practically related.

"Carmine Alexandria Kisaragi, though everyone calls me Carrie. You know, I always thought you were...I dunno,"

"Dead?" Cloud suggested.

"No... taller." She giggled, looking to the horizon; the first few signs of the city came into view. It would be evening before they reached the main outpost, which only meant they would have a little time to formulate a plan. "You really do need some ID, huh... I know a thing or two about how it all works, the computer system's a doddle if you know how. Pretty lucky you ran into me when you did."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Vincent, meanwhile, had been listening most avidly to the subdued communication, and was beginning to relax. The old trooper behind him had finally run out of breath and, or complaints, and it seemed they would arrive relatively unhindered and with the added bonus of false documents to fall back on. Even in his Turk days the identification system had been easy enough to crack, which was how he'd managed to avoid some serious questions for a time, and he was certain the girl would have little trouble pulling off whatever she was planning.

Though they had dried out a little, he was still more sodden than not, and as the evening closed around the travellers so the temperature dropped. The result was less than comfortable, even after a long, hot ride they were barely into the desert.

Twilight brought them to the city limits, once a small community dedicated to the study of planet life, Cosmo canyon had expanded to encompass three universities, and was rapidly becoming less of a sanctuary and more of a sprawl. Bugenhagen's observatory still dominated the beautiful city, which was carved into the sandstone walls of the canyon. A few groups of buildings and covered stalls lined the road, and torches lit their way through to the small facility on the edge of town that served as a barracks. Windmills bloomed around the rosee walls, and from the hanging wooden balconies like steel flowers, humming softly in the evening breeze.

They rode down mostly quiet streets, meeting few people that gave them barely a second glance. Vincent and Jonah led, and with the aid of a few frantic directions they soon arrived at the plain white walled building which functioned as Cosmo defence force, fifth precinct headquarters.

The birds were led to a temporary stable as they headed toward the building. Cloud watched apologetically as Tenshi was led away, but could do nothing to help. Walking away from the despondent creature, he allowed his body to be led by an arm toward the station.

"What is the matter with you, kid?"

The whiny quality in this new voice set Cloud's teeth on edge. "It's only a damn chicken, and it's not like you're never gonna see him again."

"Well, he's my `damn chicken', and if you damage so much as a feather he'll claw your eyes so swiftly from their sockets, you'll be blind or dead before you can scream." Cloud replied quietly, and gave the man a shark smile. The warning was enough to silence his company, though as they stepped into the building he received more of a shove than was necessary, causing Vincent to wince. He knew this was merely an administrative procedure, and would be carried out with the minimum of fuss as long as Carrie could pull off her task. But what would ensue if his friend was suitably provoked was anyone's guess. All logic picked a window and jumped, that much had not changed over the years. One minute quiet and almost painfully, religiously sober, he could change in an instant. Then there would be hell to pay.

They were quickly shepherded through the office, Carrie disappearing behind an unremarkable door as they were shown another, opening into a room with a small cell, computer terminal and table. It looked a little like the sherrif's office from an old western film, where the incumbents would, without fail, find a way out. Luckily there was no motion to enter the cell, for Cloud had his own little reaction to imprisonment that could be entertaining were it not for the consequences. Those were solid steel bars, but there was no saying the officers would get that far. There were some scars best left bandaged, and some claws that couldn't be explained.

What would happen, he wondered, if they realised just what they were dealing with. They could run, or just disappear into the night. But it would mean the same problems in the next town, having nothing to distract their captors with, no ID and no transport.

He was pretty certain it wouldn't come to that.

A million escape routes leapt at once into his willingly receptive mind, each one more unlikely than the last, while he saw Cloud glancing back every so often toward the door. He was probably more worried about his chocobo though, and even if they got away, would it mean leaving them behind?

"Okay, weapons on the table boys... and we'll see what we can find, huh." The trooper waved toward the table before sitting behind the computer screen and flicking a switch. The ancient unit groaned into life, and, they hoped, began its lengthy boot-up procedure. All the better to add a little data from a remote terminal, surely?

Cloud, for once, removed his sword without altercation, laying it reverently across the battered wooden surface. The five-foot long blade easily spanned the tabletop, but was unusually slim, claymore style. Vincent had seen it once before, when it was found buried beneath the floorboards in Cloud's childhood home. Shinra had obviously overlooked the well-concealed hiding place while rebuilding. Vincent wasn't exactly sure how the swordsman had known of it's presence, and hadn't even thought to ask when they raided Shinra headquarters straight after meteor to regain that which was confiscated. Cloud kept his secrets, and Vincent could respect that. The sword was joined by two daggers, black blades with handles of bone and ivory. A gift, apparently, though when and where and from whom exactly, was never disclosed, recovered in that raid. The hilts were decorated beautifully, until one got a closer look, which the officer seemed quite keen to try as he waited for the correct set of files to materialise.

Vincent was loath to add his Death Penalty to the growing pile, which had just received a boot knife, and one of those little camping knives with more useless sharp implements than would ever be necessary. He kept his claw hidden well beneath his cape, even though it was only delaying the inevitable. He might even have to take it off. Over his dead body.

"Shit, boy... You some kind of maverick or somethin'?" Exclaimed the officer as the small blond extricated a handful of throwing knives from yet another pocket in his coat, finally indicating that he was unarmed.

"Hmph, there's enough there to keep us in paperwork for a month." He grumbled, still inspecting the daggers.

The door opened carefully behind them to admit another trooper, masked and silent. Vincent thought he caught an Okay sign flashed behind her back as she approached the table and her superior.

"I explained our situation, sir." She said, emotionless as when they'd first met. Nodding, the officer finally pulled up the necessary files.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Yelled Cloud as he stuffed a fistful of documents into his back pocket. He was running toward another unmarked cavern, following a swiftly tiring teenage redhead, Vincent close on his heels.

"Of course I'm sure! I live around here... when dad's not home anyway." She panted; leading them up the candle lit tunnel. "Why the hell didn't you mention your friend was a former member of the guild of overrealistic horror actors?"

"It slipped my mind." Vincent stated sarcastically, joining the conversation for once. At this Cloud laughed, the sound echoing eerily within the confined passageway. Carrie shuddered, turning up a flight of steps. "A god damned Vampire. Vincent the bloody Nosferatou. You got me fired for sure now, aiding and abetting the escape of Mr. Tooth and fucking claw!"

"Save your breath for running," Cloud advised, "I still hear them outside."

They'd managed to get some ID and reclaim their armoury, though the chocobos were a lost cause he feared. If the patrol thought he was touchy, they'd had a nice shock when they asked Vincent to `remove the cape please, it's necessary we check for concealed weapons'.

"I can't hear anyone." She argued, stopping beside a doorway behind which could be heard the sound of a lot of people and alcohol being introduced. The sign, in fading neon blue, proclaimed the establishment to be `The Moonlight Bar,' though the name seemed altogether too pretentious to Cloud, for such a dump at any rate.

"I've seen nicer looking dives in the Midgar slums." He complained, pushing open the door anyway, which had a layer of stains thick enough to render the glass bulletproof. Immediately the noise hit him, offending his, and Vincent's overdeveloped hearing. Not to mention taste.

"Yeah, well some of us weren't around in the Middle Ages." She countered, leading them straight through the throng toward a quiet corner. The barman gave them a funny look, but went back to peacefully polishing glasses when Carrie gave him a cheerful smile. "I come here quite a lot." She explained, "The law isn't usually too welcome, but I'm kind of a special case."

Glancing around the bar Cloud took a quick itinerary of the clientele, a habit borne of military training. For once it seemed they weren't the strangest people in a room. Groups skulked in corners with eyes like black pebbles, half human, though fully mortal, and men much bigger than any in their company. Weaponry was not nearly as rare in here either, the only reason Cloud had for concealing most of his was to prevent it from walking out in another's possession.

"Aren't you a little young to be hanging out in a place like this?" He muttered, remembering his own teenage years as a blur of blood and vomit. It had had its bad points too.

"You don't look any older than me, and anyway, I'm doing you a favour alright." She muttered, waving the waitress over. The flustered girl waved back and left her group of rowdy customers to argue amongst themselves.

"Hi Carrie!" She grinned, running a hand through long dark hair. "And who are the cuties?" She flirted with a wink towards Vincent. Who surprised nobody by remaining entirely unresponsive.

"Hi Karin, he's Vincent, don't mind him, he just has a constant stick up the ass." Carrie replied as Karin sat beside her on the bench. "The pretty one's Cloud, he's just too funny for words."

"You guys want something to drink?" Asked Karin, giving Carrie a stern `Not-until-you're-a-good-bit-older' look. Vincent pulled himself out of his thoughts long enough to mumble "Wine... red," and Cloud tried his best to smile apologetically, his new favourite expression, and ask for "Just a glass of water please." Before she disappeared into the crowd around the bar.

"So, what was Midgar like?" Carrie asked, seemingly less bothered about her loss of job than would have been expected. Cloud ran a fingernail along a groove in the wood, scraping off a layer of black grime. "It was mostly a dump." He answered eventually, "But it wasn't too bad on the plate. There were even fairs and zoos, museums, that kinda thing you know, it was a real fancy place on the surface."

Vincent grunted his agreement, but listened more intently than the others realized. It was not often that Cloud told stories of before Avalanche.

"Yeah? `Cause in class they always taught us that it was bad on the plate too."

"It was, everything was rotten underneath, but there are good places and people everywhere. Even in the serpent's lair." He explained, not even that bothered when the waitress returned with their drinks and sat down again.

"What are you talking about guys?" She inquired with a smile. Carrie turned to Cloud, who shrugged. "Midgar. I think I might have some business there soon." He said, which was the first Vincent had heard of the plan.

"Oh?" She asked, tilting her head. "Why are you going to the garden?"

"They're musicians." Carrie hoped it would be enough explaination. Karin nodded; musicians could be a funny lot. "So, what about Midgar?"

"It was a city once, everybody knows that." Cloud began, "Just like Cosmo is now, only built from metal and concrete. Below the surface, it was rotten enough. But not all that bad, really. Even in a place like that there were people who would give anything to get out into the real world, even though they rarely got to see it."

"Geeze, you sound like you lived there or something." Karin laughed, her shift was technically over and she'd apparently attached herself to the little group as customers were hauled out more frequently.

"It's a story, if you would like to hear it, by all means remain. But I also would like to hear." Vincent smiled, just enough to flash a pointed tooth before returning to the quiet contemplation of his untouched drink.

"Sorry."

"I did live there, for a while." He ran a finger around the edge of his glass, "I was a Soldier candidate in Shinra. It's funny, but if I'd passed, I might never have met Him."

"Just a sec... Midgar's uninhabited, I mean, it's a jungle out there." Karin giggled, earning herself another of Vincent's crimson stares.

"Oh, hell. Look, I'm not exactly human, okay, happy?" Cloud groaned quietly. "I'm one hundred and eighteen years old. I lived in Midgar when it was still a city, and I worked for Shinra. Tell the whole fucking world for all I care."

She gaped for a while, trying to work out whether it was the truth or a weird kind of joke. "Serious?" She whispered.

"Serious." Carrie replied for him, "But don't tell everyone okay, they're just a couple of really useless musicians as far as you heard, I know you won't blab, right Sis?"

"No... that's okay, just a bit, weird. But then, Nanaki's a hundred and forty. He never told us about Midgar though..."

"Sis?" Cloud asked, regaining a little of his sense along with his temper. "You don't look like sisters, or smell like it either."

"You can smell something like that? Ick, you really do sound like Nanaki. You don't know him, do you?" Carrie asked as an afterthought, "We're not really sisters. Just grew up real close is all, just finish the story. Please?"

"Okay... I was pretty miserable when I failed, and I might have taken it out on one or two other cadets when they teased me about it, anyway, after that one of the older Soldiers decided to help train me up for the exams. He figured if I could hold my own against a whole dorm then I'd make Soldier someday..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Why did you have me moved here?" Questioned the little blond boy shyly as he nursed a cut lip. He sat curled up on his new bunk, watching as the dark haired Soldier polished a huge, heavy looking sword. The older boy looked up from his task. "Don't you want to be here?" He asked, concern written across his features, but it faded as the blond shook his cropped, spiky head. "No, I mean yeah, I'd rather be here than there. But why me, you heard what they say. I'm too weak to be a Soldier, I'm too weak to do anything but get beat up." He muttered, wincing as the torn skin on his knuckles brushed against the rough grey bedsheet.

"Don't come that crap with me kid." Grinned the Soldier, "I saw you fight, hell, you nearly killed two of them. If I hadn't turned up when I did..." He stopped at the sound of renewed sobbing, "Oh shit, Cloud... I'm sorry."

"That's... that's just it..." Sniffed the boy, who was trying very hard not to cry. The salt tears in his wounds made them sting all the more. "I'm too weak to stop myself. It's always been that way, usually I just take the beating, but sometimes it's too much and I snap. I... I'm sorry Zack. I don't usually cry like this, I don't usually have anyone to cry to."

"That's okay, even I run off and cry to my girlfriend sometimes." Smiled Zack, "She sells flowers in the slums... I'll have to take you to meet her one day."

Cloud stopped crying and gave his friend a `look'. "You cry to your girlfriend," he teased. "Maaa, even I'm not that wussy."

"Don't knock it `till you've tried it, kid." Zack laughed; glad his young trainee was feeling a little better. "Do you even have a girlfriend, Cloud-kun?" He asked. Silence returned as the young cadet thought for a while. "Not really. There was this one girl back in Nibelheim, but she had a whole bunch of friends used to pick on me. Plus, her dad hated my guts; he beat me worse'n anyone. We made a promise before I left, but that was really the only time we ever talked properly. Even that was in secret." He sighed, remembering the night at the well. "She probably forgot me already."

"Wow, heavy." Grinned Zack, "Well, there's plenty of time, and you're a cute kid. If I didn't have me a girl already..."

"Zack!" Cloud yelled, too late to stop the blush that was threatening to turn his ears red. "I did not want to hear that from a guy I share a room with!"

"Only Kidding! I'm straight, man. ...What about a guy you don't share with?" Zack prodded, finding an immense amount of amusement in the current line of conversation. Cloud kept his mouth shut and turned away; Zack was becoming really annoying.

"Okay, I'll shut up." Zack acceded. "You know, there's someone I'd like you to talk with tomorrow in training."

The next day, Cloud spent most of the training sessions even less concentrated on practice than usual. He was just about to take an earbashing for daydreaming, and nearly taking the instructor's ear off in the process, when he saw them from the corner of his eye.

Up on the viewing balcony, Zack waved, grinning from ear to ear as he shook his long black mane in answer to an unheard question.

"Strife! Wake up!"

He mumbled an apology, quickly finishing his sparring round with a hurried victory. It was inelegant, true, but that wouldn't have bothered him nearly so much if it weren't for what he saw next. A long black coat, delicate silver hair trailing down his back. Cloud quickly dropped the rapier he was holding far too tightly into a rack on the wall.

The boy was mad, and elated just the same that his friend really did know `The General' himself. Was on speaking terms with the silver haired warrior. Worse still, he had to leave the gym sooner or later.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Is Zack the one you mentioned before? You know, the one you'd never have met otherwise?" Asked Carrie as they finished their drinks. The bar was all but empty now, and quiet with it. Cloud shook his head "not Zack, It didn't matter how much he talked, he was way too hung up on Aerith to be a real threat."

"Aerith... not the Aerith from all those history classes Aerith...?"

Cloud sighed. "It was just a story... look, I'm tired."

Vincent agreed, and Karin, who'd already started locking up for the night seemed to acquiesce. "You guys'll be alright out there, right?" She directed the comment to Carrie more than the others, which Cloud did not miss. "We'll be fine." He assured, "Would you be okay with the kid, or should we take her home?"

Karin's face darkened, and she turned away.

"I'm not going home with anyone." Carrie said quietly, "not now, not ever. There was a reason I joined the defence force you know. There's a reason I spend so much time in here, and I'm old enough not to have to live with it. I'm not a kid."

"Carrie," Vincent began, but was silenced by Cloud.

"She's right... She shouldn't have to deal with anything if she doesn't want to." He said softly, the girl's expression turned to one of mild surprise. "You mean that?" She asked. He nodded, pushing the door. "I think I understand. If you really want you can do whatever you please, I'm in no position to tell anyone what to do."

They walked along the row of underground shops in silence, a few other early morning shoppers were around but for the most part it was quiet. Just like it had been so long ago.

"Do you know any half decent hotels around here." Asked Cloud as they passed, slowly, an expensive sweet shop. Reflecting on a particularly sickly display, she nodded. "Yeah, there's one about two passages along." Cloud stopped and stood beside her, his reflection looking back with a child's eyes. "You wanna have a look inside?" He suggested, hearing Vincent's low groan as the dark man realised they'd end up in there anyway.

Cloud had an irrepressible sweet tooth, which could be a result of an unusual childhood. He was in the shop before Carrie had time to answer.

"Shouldn't we be keeping out of sight?" Vincent murmured as the bell above the door alerted the shopkeeper of their arrival. Cloud turned, with a smile. "Yeah, and do you think anyone's going to expect us in here?" He drawled, watching the girl already picking out chocolates. "Just join in or something, I dunno."

Just as he said that, a group of uniformed men trampled past the door, the sound of their boots magnified in echoes. "I'm not entirely crazy. Remember that, Valentine."

Vincent had to admit; even he'd neglected to consider routine patrols. He'd been a Turk, and could easily blend with the shadows. But he'd also worked alone.

"This is kinda cool..." Giggled the small redhead as she gazed through a glass plate at a hundred types of toffee. "You aren't as stuffy as the old guy over there anyway."

"Hmmm, you'd be right there." Vincent admitted, watching the two like a couple of children. They looked like it, just picking out favourites from the display. Cloud would never grow up entirely, that was his best and worst characteristic.

"You know, I had a daughter once." Cloud whispered, while taking full advantage of the `try before you buy' policy. Carrie, who'd progressed onto the large paper bag stage and was hovering between peanut brittle and cinder toffee, nearly choked on a bon-bon. "Wha?" She mumbled around a mouthful of toffee. "You're kidding me!" Still, her mind was torn between the two, but part of it was now distracted and it made choosing, and chewing, a whole lot more complicated.

"You know, there's nowhere says you can't like both." He said, watching Carrie's grin as she promptly dropped a large piece of each into the bag, stuffing a lump into her mouth. "I was even married, to the girl I left in Nibelheim."

She recovered from her coughing fit as Vincent patted her back, having noticed the agitation on the face of the woman behind the counter. She was a little old lady with a face reminiscent of walnut whirl, which seemed prerequisite in any sweet shop owner, and her expression could have given even Cloud toothache. Especially when Vincent waved a wad of gil in her face.

Cloud meanwhile, was hunkered down on the floor with the girl, and was showing her his rings. It was amazing; the man who'd barely been able to tell his closest friends about himself was chatting to a teenage girl he'd barely met over Turkish Delight.

"Tifa gave me this one, she said that if she had to wear a ring then I should too." He grinned, "She was always very determined about things like that."

"Yeah? Well it's pretty." She said, turning the gold band so the light played in the engraving. "I suppose she was too huh."

Cloud watched the patterns as well, "Yeah, she was. But she was killed in a war; my daughter was there too..." The subject was a painful one, and he had no idea why he'd mentioned it at all. Especially to a stranger, though in a world where everyone came and left so quickly it didn't matter so much. At least he could talk about it, unlike the girl, whose problems he could begin to understand even without asking. He'd seen it before, and it hurt.

"So, what are the other two?" She asked, trying to take the conversation away from such things as they laid their selections on the counter. Vincent, who'd elected to handle the money for obvious reasons, paid the lady, and they left quietly. There would probably be a twenty-minute window between patrols if Cloud and Carrie's joint predictions could be trusted, and they only had a short walk to the inn.

"Those, well, the other gold one was my mothers. That's why it only fits that finger." He explained, walking a little faster than before with his coat and hair streaming behind. It reminded Vincent terribly of...

"And this one was a gift from my true love." He said softly, his voice almost getting lost in the night air as they emerged on the cliff side walkway. The stone path was carved into the strata, and only a handrail separated them from a nasty drop.

"Tifa?" Carrie asked, taking her first good look at the ornament. Two bands, gold and silver intertwined with two stones, a sapphire and an emerald. "No... Not her." She shook her head. "What about the Cetra, Aerith?"

Cloud said nothing, even as the girl began going over her history lessons in an attempt to guess. It felt strange, being a history lesson, and he was glad the others weren't around to experience it. After a while though, she'd given up and led them to the promised inn. Which was a stupid name for an inn, but that was hardly important as they finally and gratefully retired to the room.

Well, Cloud was grateful anyway.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"And could you explain, again, why I'm in here with you two?" Whined a young female voice from the bedroom as Cloud stepped out of the shower.

"Because." Replied a voice that could only have originated in the seventh circle of boredom, and rather agitated at that.

"Because what, Vampire-San? Because you got me fired?"

"Because it's cheaper, and easier to keep an eye on you if anything goes wrong." clarified a soft, musical lilt as the bathroom door clicked shut. "Besides which, I don't want to have to pay for a second mini-bar and room service."

"Oh, you mean I can't be trusted? That's pretty unfair considering you keep telling people you're a singer." She muttered, then the bathroom door closed a little less quietly.

"Maybe you should sing for us." Suggested the deepest of the trio, with what perhaps could be labelled a chuckle. There was a creak of springs, such as might be made by a small blond boy flopping bonelessly onto a bed.

"One day perhaps..." He yawned.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

===============

Author's Note: Yaaaay, Yippee. (Dances around the room with little Cloud beanie baby to the dulcet tones of Muse.) It took like FOREVER to do this. (A week anyhow...) The first couple of chapters here are very closely based around something I wrote for A-Level, which got me a B, so...

Anyway, this is like a really rough version, so any comments I will take into consideration. Also, there's a bunch of illustrations to go with it. But you can't see `em, sorry. Unless I get my own site running, and with everything, time is of the essence. Actually, if you really wanna see them, just write a constructive review and I'll attatch them to my thankyous. I love my fans!

Has anyone noticed that Dante out of Devil may cry is like a cross of Cloud and Vinnie-sama? I love that game too! I've totally worn out the demo DVD.

Anyway, If you like this, Review it for me so's I know if it's a monumental waste of time continuing.

Ta muchly!

~Stormy~

(Yes, the one from Icy brian's. Do not read the fic there, it's SHITE.)

Oh, and If I get lost along the way, it's because I'm trying to remember the heirarchy of heaven and hell, and figure out just how Palmer fits in.