Start Date: October 24, 2022

Windwillow

Final Fantasy VII Gaiden

Bound for Midgar

AVALANCHE's insurgency against Shinra Inc. has been told and retold countless times. In some cases, they created a whole new story to tell the same story over again in another continuity, not to name names of course. What hasn't been popularly addressed are the trials of Tifa Lockhart and her mentor Zangan as they escaped the destruction of Nibelheim and traveled to Midgar for her to receive desperately needed medical treatment.

If it was so desperately needed, how did Tifa end up on the other side of the world in time for her not to die? I'm about to give my version of what happened. We can forget canon more or less completely, but I intend to follow the original timeline as closely as I can. The story itself takes place two years after the Wutai War, which I've simplified as A.W. 0002 (After War) based on the Wiki timeline. I'm a big Gundam Wing fan and had to add it in. So sue me. -_- Final Fantasy VII takes place five years after the Wutai War, just for reference. Cloud and Zack were Hojo's toys for about three years before the end of Crisis Core, I think. I might be wrong. If I am, please don't yell at me. I believe the war started in the year 2000, maybe? With no concrete info on how long it lasts, this is what it is. Or at least that's what I got from the wiki. Again, if I'm wrong? Won't be the first time, nor the last. -_-

The format here is the same as the main fic. Anything italicized is the last character referenced speaking internally. Because it's a complete flashback I won't be bolding large swaths of the story, but the words in bold are meant to be emphasized and perhaps even exaggerated. Consider it capitalizing words without making them all huge and kind of unsightly. If this is too complicated, you don't have to read it, so it isn't my problem at that point.

Enjoy, I hope.

Chapter One: The Incident in Nibelheim

Scene One

Zangan had trained hundreds of aspiring martial artists, boys and girls, young and old, across both the western continent and the east. His signature style, taught to him by his mentor Duncan, incorporated boxing and grappling with a major focus on centering one's mind to draw out one's full potential. Across the world he had a hundred and twenty eight students, several of whom he'd had graduated, yet there was a fifteen year old in a far flung village that had won his heart. Perhaps her name, Lockhart, was more apt than he'd thought at first, for she had captured his.

She always wore a brown cowboy hat, even to practice, despite his admonishing her for it. When the young girl was asked why she wore it, she gave a sheepish smile and said that someone important to her had made a promise while she was wearing it, and would say no more. Though gently chided for putting too much emphasis on romance than training, the young girl was resolute in saying that it wasn't romance. If so, what was it, he asked? Her only response was to blush, plop her hat on her head, and assume the same fighting stance he had taught her.

In her training he had found her to be determined, if perhaps a bit too stubborn, too eager to learn fancy techniques rather than master the fundamentals. Still, her boundless optimism and an amusing dedication to becoming stronger had caused Tifa to grow on him. He'd been training her for two years, ever since her thirteenth birthday, a class given as a gift by her father. It seemed like it'd been longer; he became unable to remember a day she didn't smile at him and eagerly lift her fists to meet his own.

Tifa's body had grown considerably in strength and endurance. When Zangan had first started training her, she'd been a skinny young thing who looked more like a string bean than a martial artist to be. Still, her determination to improve was perhaps her greatest strength, and each session brought her closer and closer to changing the color of her belt. As the years passed she shed her baby fat and developed a tone body, lithe and agile yet sturdy enough to withstand his training sessions. Even if she had only reached the level of "amateur" in Zangan's training, frustrated at not being taught his secret moves, Tifa improved day by day and seemed determined to become a powerful martial artist.

She'd had her fifteenth birthday in May, a rainy day where her cowboy hat protected her head as well as her heart. Zangan had given her a pair of fighter's gloves, a gift she prized highly as she practiced with them day after day until in late September Tifa was given the job as guide for a group of Shinra soldiers, when she was on such a high that she decided she'd finally become good enough to spar with him for real when the operation was over. With a chuckle he'd agreed to give her ten minutes to make him use both hands.

The Shinra operatives, two infantrymen and the famous SOLDIER Sephiroth, arrived on September 22. For the longest time, Tifa had been excited that a SOLDIER was coming to visit, but when Sephiroth arrived she was clearly disappointed. Zangan jokingly asked if a war hero wasn't good enough for her, but Tifa clammed up immediately and indignantly refused to say anything more. He took that to be the end of the discussion, and retreated to his own home to meditate.

On the first of October of that year, Nibelheim burned to the ground. Zangan managed to evade the slaughter and had hidden in a secret chamber in his home when the crazed Sephiroth set fire to Nibelheim, murdered its citizens, and set about razing the town and everyone in it into cinders. The searing heat of the flames and the mournful wails of the massacred pierced his senses and broke his heart in two, and his thoughts turned only to Tifa.

Scene Two

What had previously been Zangan's home was in flames, as were the homes of the townspeople, down to the last house. It was perhaps an hour into the incident that he felt encouraged enough to leave his house, and as he attempted to he was met with a flaming mess that had blocked off his meditation chamber from the rest of the building. The need was great and the hour dire, and with a snarl and a roar he flung his hands forward wrist to wrist. From his spirit and body energy surged, every blood vein in his body focusing on supplying power to a single point. Zangan's Aura Bolt burst from his fingers and blasted open the way outside. Before the warmth left his digits he had already darted past the damage and charged outside.

The spectacle horrified him: Friends, fellow townspeople, both adult and child had been sliced to pieces. Some had been mercifully slaughtered in a single swing, but on others Sephiroth had taken more care to inflict pain upon them. He desperately fought his way through the flames into the blazing heat that was laced with the smell of blood and the scent of torn flesh. Finally he found a single survivor, a Shinra infantryman whose mask had been cut open to reveal his spiky blond hair. Somehow he'd escaped the worst of it and had apparently played dead after having his body cut multiple times.

"Stay with me, boy!" pleaded Zangan, cradling the soldier in his arms and closing his eyes to concentrate. From the bracelet he wore on his left wrist a tiny blue materia began to shimmer, and pulses of healing energy surged through his fingers and into the body of the soldier. Because he'd played possum he'd escaped with superficial injuries, injuries that were mended by Zangan's Cure materia. Before the healing could finish, the soldier grabbed Zangan by the arm and desperately shook his head at him.

"Not me!" croaked the young man, a desperation in his eyes. He took in a deep breath and managed to point towards the mansion in the back of the town. "Save Tifa!" the youth begged, shocking Zangan. "I promised her... So please! Please-" The soldier hacked up a bit of blood, yet as it dribbled from his mouth he turned his crying eyes to Zangan. "Go get her... please..." As the soldier's head dropped to the ground in exhaustion, he defiantly wiped the blood from his mouth before slowly shutting his eyes to rest.

Wait for me... I'll keep the promise, Tifa...

Zangan honored the soldier's wish and laid his body gently to the ground, rising quickly and charging from the village square up the stairs towards the Shinra mansion. To his shock, horror, and amazement, he was greeted by a sea of flames that had somehow avoided the mansion. All across the ground lay the maimed and deceased, sliced open as if they were science experiments. Zangan, trembling with rage, prepared to ascend the stairs but the sight of the SOLDIER himself made his blood run cold.

Whatever traces of humanity he'd had, the legacy of a hero had left the man a gnarled husk of hatred. Sephiroth's eyes were wide with insanity, like a demonic cat had left the bowels of hell and ascended to Nibelheim to wreak havoc. Eyes slitted and glowing a sinister yellow, the SOLDIER's intimidating aura forced Zangan to his knees when their eyes met. When Sephiroth stared down at him, Zangan felt the full weight of his hatred, and it immediately caused him to sweat profusely. Through the pain and the fire, a single thought echoed through his head as his knees hit the earth.

That thing... It isn't human.

Scene Three

Nibelheim had been set aflame, with only a few stragglers (lucky or unlucky) that were left clinging to life. Those who had survived were only moderately maimed by Sephiroth. With the town being razed to the ground and death surrounding him, Zangan attempted to muster his determination and confront Sephiroth. What he saw as he staggered to his feet, however, was another man whose burden was no less than his own. Dressed in the uniform of a SHINRA operative, an elite SOLDIER, the dark haired man carried a sword almost his own size. His wounds were light, mostly burns from attempting to save the villagers.

"Sephiroth!" Zack Fair called out, his fists clenched as he turned to the blazing inferno. Eyes shut and trembling with rage he tried to call out again but was halted as his eyes met Sephiroth's and the inhumanity pierced his own soul as it had Zangan's. Sweat began to pour from his brow, and the body that had been quaking of rage had turned to a form burdened by the innate fear of survival all beings hold. He could speak no longer.

Amidst the sea of flames a lone figure loomed. His long silver hair, a deeper silver than the blood coated sword he carried, had been speckled with blood from his victims' final death throes. He wore a long, black coat that stretched from his neck to his ankles, and Zangan could see blood stains all across the garment. As the fire raged and became more intense a deranged smile crossed Sephiroth's face and he vanished into the fire. Zack's rage returned to him and he took his sword in his hands and swung, cutting through the fire to reveal... nothing. Sephiroth had already gone.

"Damn it... Damn it!" cursed Zack, returning the massive sword to his back. His eyes once again burning, this time not only with rage but resolution, the SOLDIER's teeth gnashed against each other so hard that Zangan could hear them grind. "That monster... What has it done to you?!" he screamed. A few moments later, something occurred to him. "God damn it... The reactor! He's after the-" As Zack's eyes widened, he began to run towards the inferno. "Sephiroth! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he cried as he ran through the sea of fire.

Zangan's determination briefly wavered. He turned his eyes to the wounded soldier, who began to struggle to his feet. The young man had enough will in him to fight; so too, he had to as well. The master martial artist dashed towards the Mako reactor, following at a safe distance from Zack. While he refused to admit it, Zangan's reluctance and fear kept him at arm's length of the warrior. Slowly, he tried to remember what had happened, and a chilling thought filled him.

She wasn't anywhere in town! Is she at the... Oh, my God...

Scene Four

The village wasn't all that Sephiroth had decimated. All along the mountains a number of corpses followed a macabre road towards the Shinra Mako reactor. Some, apparently, had fled to avoid being killed. Others had been travelers unlucky enough to visit during Sephiroth's insane episode. Regardless, blood streaked across the mountain like a sinister version of the old tale of young children leaving breadcrumbs on the path to mark their way back home.

And it wasn't just human beings than he'd killed. Along the path through the winding mountains, Zangan discovered the bodies of monsters as well. Several Twin Brains had been cut to ribbons, others beheaded and still others mutilated when they were apparently still alive. More disturbing were the dragons, the mightiest beasts of Mt. Nibel. The road towards the reactor was littered with monstrous corpses, but the beheaded and dissected dragons troubled Zangan the most. Apparently, Sephiroth had ripped his way through the mountains while killing as many living things as he could.

As Zangan navigated the pathways, past the rope ladder and into the caves, the carnage only intensified. His disgust turned to shock as a group of six Twin Brains slithered from behind the stalagmites inside one of the caves. These monsters had a particularly vile ability: meeting their gaze would paralyze you, not only your muscles but your lungs as well. Travelers had been found with gashes across their bodies, their mouths and eyes opened wide.

I just don't have time for this!

Well aware of the Twin Brains' ability, Zangan was forced to close his eyes tight. Any battling he would be able to do would have to rely on smell, sound, and the sensation of his fists colliding with the monsters. And they did have a distinct stench, so that at least made that part easier. But because they were airborne and had no feet, sensing their presence by means of listening for footsteps was impossible.

The six Twin Brains launched themselves forward with claws extended. Using the vile smell of their breath and the sound of their twisted flesh piercing the air, Zangan deftly evaded the six claws that struck in quick succession. Subsequent strikes narrowly missed the master's muscular frame as he turned on his heel and slammed his fist into one the monsters' faces and broke it open. With the splatter of blood, he followed up with a turning backhand that also broke a Twin Brain's neck, using the sound of the blood striking the monster as an indication of where to strike.

Next came the other four. As he darted and weaved Zangan carefully listened to the sound of the air being rent apart by the monsters' claws. With each swing their intentions and locations were slowly deduced, and with a hard chop Zangan broke the neck of one of the remaining before delivering a kick that shattered another's body into shreds. With two remaining there were more open gaps in the air to account for, hardening the difficulty of locating them because the fewer there were the fewer targets he could track in groups.

Zangan's senses, focused on even the slightest sound, locked on to the two Brains and he attempted to dodge, but was raked in the belly by one of the pair and then the other. Even as his blood left his body, however, Zangan seized the opportunity, grabbed onto the heads of the monsters and slammed them together, shattering their skulls. He opened his eyes despite the pain and laid his hands over the injury, quickly mending it with his magic. It was only first aid, but it would have to do. Any real medical treatment would have to wait until he'd made certain that Tifa was safe.

Scene Five

Only a short ways a way through the mountain was the Mako reactor, the source of Shinra's sinister machinations and seemingly the catalyst to Sephiroth's slaughter. While the reactor itself was intact the same couldn't be said of the people littered on the ground that had been essentially dissected and carved open by Sephiroth's monstrous sword. Blood had been streaked not only across the ground but also the stairs, the door, and a lone bloody hand print was streaked on the entrance to the reactor.

When Zangan arrived he was appalled at the scene. Passing by the score of dead he said a silent prayer before passing through the door and entering the reactor. The structure of the reactor was that of a huge factory, with maintenance chambers and storage rooms all throughout the reactor. Zangan navigated through the winding corridors, finally entering a room that he assumed led to the reactor. But as he ran through the catwalks, he saw a horrible sight.

Tifa's father had been the headman of the village. He'd directed the affairs of Nibelheim for nearly a decade, a task made difficult by his rebellious daughter causing all sorts of trouble from one end of the village to the next, along with a certain incident where she'd nearly died. Right now his greatest crisis was his dead, carved open corpse laying in a pool of blood on the ground, his daughter desperately cradling her father. As she did his blood stained her clothing, but she took no notice. Zangan's eyes opened wide and he muttered an obscene word as he watched Tifa sob and sob.

Also present was a sharp, seven foot long sword that had been embedded in the ground next to the headman. It was a blade only Sephiroth could use, its size and weight making it impossible for mortal men to wield. The Masamune, his signature weapon, was covered in blood from the tip of the blade down to its grip.

"Who did this?!" she gasped as she laid her head on her dead father's chest and wept. "Father, who..." Tifa's eyes snapped open, tears dripping down her face as she realized the truth. "Sephiroth... It was Sephiroth, right?!" Staggering to her feet, she stared at the blood stained Masamune and took it in both hands. For all her struggles, however, she was unable to remove the sword from its resting place. Still, she tried her hardest. "Sephiroth!" she snarled. "Sephiroth, SOLDIER, Mako reactors, Shinra... I HATE THEM ALL!"

With all her might she finally dragged the sword from the ground, almost buckling from its weight, before staggering towards the chamber ahead. Close behind her was the black haired SOLDIER Zack, his mighty blade on his back as he dashed into the chamber behind her. Determined to save her, Zangan placed his hand on the hand rails and prepared to jump, but the injury he'd sustained staggered him and he found himself unable to continue.

G-God dammit... Tifa! Wait for-

From behind him the Shinra infantryman from before shoved him aside and climbed down the stairway, desperately following Tifa and Zack into Sephiroth's final destination. Zangan put all of his effort into rising, forcing himself to move but finding himself still wounded. He furiously pounded his hand into the injury, flowing as much mana as he could muster until finally restoring himself. By the time he did so, however, he heard a piercing cry...

"Tifa..." it huffed as the sound of breaking glass shattered the air. "My home town..." the voice continued as if he were taking his final breath. "Give it... BACK!" roared the voice with a monstrous breath, until finally the reactor fell silent. Still injured, Zangan struggled to reach the catwalk's ladder but was preempted by the sight of a wounded Sephiroth exited the chamber. Holding the Masamune in one hand, he carried what looked like a severed human head in the other. Stunned, Zangan found himself frozen as the Shinra infantryman - now without his helmet and wielding the titanic sword the SOLDIER used - staggered into the reactor chamber.

Scene Six

The scene unfolded as Zangan was powerless to interrupt. He heard the cries of hatred and the sound of flesh being pierced, saw the infantryman grip the Masamune in both hands, and watched as he slung Sephiroth against the wall. As Sephiroth fell into the Mako below, the infantryman hacked up blood and fell to the ground, still impaled by the Masamune. With his strength returned Zangan vaulted down onto the catwalk and landed just before the infantryman lay.

"She's back there!" gasped Cloud desperately, trying in vain to remove the sword stuck in his belly. He attempted to use the same strength that had defeated Sephiroth, but failed. "Please help Tifa!" Cloud rasped as blood dripped from his mouth and his eyes began to flutter. "I... I kept the promise... Tifa... I-" With that the young man's eyes closed entirely and he fell inert.

At first Zangan was aghast and unsure of what to do. This young man, a soldier of Shinra, had somehow defeated its most powerful warrior. As he lay dying, Zangan took the Masamune in both hands and, with all his strength, ripped it from the boy's body and hurled it into the Mako below. He applied his magic as best he could to heal Cloud's wound, and when he finally made sure the youth would survive he dashed into the next room.

What he found chilled his soul and swelled his heart with fury. Countless pods littered the room, filled with God-knows-what, and on top of one of them Zack lay motionless, alive but heavily wounded. At the bottom of the stairs he found his student and turned her over, and what he found nearly gave him a heart attack. Tifa had been cut from shoulder to belly, a long cut nearly dividing her in half. How she'd survived the strike he couldn't tell, but all that mattered is that she was still alive.

Zangan immediately poured as much mana as he could into the youth's body, attempting to mend the wound. Even with all his efforts it only barely closed, as if she'd been struck by a weapon that was not of this world and that had strength sharper than steel. While he attempted this, however, he could hear the sounds of boots clacking on the catwalks outside. They were coming, and there was no way to escape.

Damn... There's only one way!

He laid down his student gingerly, took hold of one of the pods, and tore it open, shoving the unholy monster it held to the ground. Zangan seized Tifa, held her to his chest, grabbed the pod and slammed the hatch shut, sealing it by freezing it with incredible amounts of ice from his Cold materia that nearly sent them into shock from the chill. Still, he gripped hard onto Tifa and refused to let go, even as frost formed around his body and icicles dripped from his nose.

"What of Jenova?!" called a sinister, high pitched voice, the sound of boots clacking against the steps. With a voice trembling with rage, it called out an obscenity and the sound of broken glass could be heard. "Dammit! But, there may be a way to salvage this disaster..." it snarled. "Take these two with the others. I want them in the Jenova Project! As for these wretched Makonoids..." The voice, referring to the creature he'd thrown out, instilled terror in Zangan. If he opened the seal, they were defenseless. "Leave them be!" growled the voice, to Zangan's relief. "We can dispose of that trash later!"

Zangan, his temperature - and Tifa's - steadily lowering, closed his eyes tight and used his Fire materia to warm the two of them as best he could without melting the ice. Even so the danger was there that the seal would break, but he poured all the mana he had left into the icy seal and prayed it would hold. It simply had to. It was as simple as that. He would wait however long it took for those wretched beasts to leave them in peace...

Author's Notes

Well, that was actually sort of relaxing. I had to stretch things out given that there was so little dialogue, which felt strange after having all of the party characters bickering in the main piece. Not having Yuffie in particular actually weirded me out a bit, as she was the most animated, and without her causing trouble it was actually sort of difficult to put together. Whatever... I'm hoping that the descriptions and action scenes made up for it.

The first draft had a glaring mistake. I originally read the wiki wrong and thought she was fifteen during the game, so the first draft had her as a ten year old. Rookie mistake, caught it, I guess that's all that matters. Even so I'm a little embarrassed to actually tell you guys about it outright. However, I intend to be as candid as possible in the Author's Notes, including the stupid mistakes and crazy ideas.

Tifa's dialogue is, as you may have noticed, a precise match for her speech in Chapter 15 of the main piece, just altered a bit so that it was a little shorter. Same with Cloud's dialogue, when he attacked Sephiroth. My original idea was to cut and paste the actual scene from Chapter 15 into this one, but I figured that would be a real cop out and so I took all of two minutes to recreate it. In retrospect, since it took so little effort I should have done it at the start...

Lastly is Zangan's "escape" from the Shinra soldiers. While at first I thought he would hide out in the catwalks, it didn't make much sense to me that he'd be able to take Tifa up without them noticing, and hiding from the bastards in such an enclosed space. Thus the ice capsule thing. I have no idea if the science is actually there to back up the whole thing, but... Whatever. I've never claimed to be a scientist or a professional at this.

The next chapter will consist of their escape from Nibelheim and the travelling they do in order to get to Midgar. One of the basic ideas of this whole thing is that Tifa desperately needed medical treatment in Midgar. So, given that it's on the other side of the world, how did she get there in time? My answer was that the damage was bad enough that it could only be fully repaired in Midgar.

I've shown in my fic that Cure materia can stitch wounds together, but I thought that the Masamune doing some sort of funky magical damage as well would account for why Zangan couldn't just heal her there. In retrospect, uh... I sort of forgot the Cure materia did all that, so I needed an excuse to make the damage that bad. In the main fic it's stitched together wounds before, but maybe this injury was a bit too much for first aid to handle and that further medical attention was needed. Let's go with that. I had him give Cloud first aid as well, since going very long with a huge hole in your gut lessens the chances of you surviving until the bastards give you medical treatment...