Castle in the Sky

A Ranma ½/Final Fantasy VII Crossover (With mentions of Sailor Moon)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Brave New World

The sun shone brightly in the cerulean sky. The gentlest breeze teased his face, running its airy fingers through his hair. It felt… nice.

Cloud smiled unconsciously as he breathed in the clear air, then immediately scowled. It was getting harder, harder for him to maintain his mask of calm indifference, of cool collection, of arrogant apathy. He had been feeling… peculiar, ever since…

A headless body, skinless, pink flesh exposed, blue veins, red arteries like a web of grotesque network patterned all over, twisting tubes of flesh sticking out unnaturally, eyes growing where they should not be. Staring…

Dream… darkness. Calling of… crooning… Mother?

Silver hair. Green eyes, cruelty reflecting in them. Madness… and the choking heat… Fire. Burning, everything's burning.

Burning… the needle digging deeply into his arm… scream from the pain, burning. Fire, his body is on fire, burning him to a crisp. Green… a sea of green. Can't fight… too weak… spiky, long black hair… laughing blue eyes, warm smile… but who…?!

Cloud choked back a gasp in his throat, sweating profusely. He rubbed his hands together; the skin felt clammy and cold. Swallowing softly, he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, while continuing to maintain an outward calmness, his eyes scanning the horizons. "I d-don't," He cursed himself softly at the involuntary stutter, and commented again, "I don't see anything."

Aeris flashed him a brilliant smile, standing by his side, her cheeks flushed with excitement, eyes sparkling with happiness, evidently just as pleased as he is with their unpolluted surroundings. The flower girl had been more cheerful than usual after their hasty departure from the city, fitting in with the wilderness like a bird taking flight in the sky; she tugged on Tifa's arm to get the brunette's attention. "Me either, I guess we lost them."

"Yeah…" Tifa nodded, her eyes darting from one hill to another, scanning for movements.

It's a bit annoying, Cloud noted, to travel in a large plain/hill grounds like this, as you never knew what might be hiding behind the next patch of tall grass or low hills until you're right in front of them. And as luck would have it, not only would they have to avoid confrontations with the wild life, but also with the Shinra scouting squads crawling all over the place, Locate and detain, he thought with a wry smile, the momentary unpleasantness from before gone from his mind, buried once again deep within his subconscious, A good choice to split up.

The six of them had split up immediately after the highway chase, and met up again at the edge of Midgar. After a short argument, it was decided that since he and Barret were the two most familiar with the plains-- him who had done some scouting of his own, back when he was in SOLDIER, and Barret, whom as the leader of AVALANCHE, had used Kalm as a secondary meeting ground and hideout-- that they will take charge for the flee to Kalm.

When questioned about the choice of members in the two groups, Cloud had immediately looked to Aeris. He was, is still, he noted to himself, her bodyguard. Not by the initial promise of payment, but rather the strange and rapidly developing feeling of familiarity, and his desire to protect her.

And Tifa, whom he trusted and felt such mixed emotions for, had simply walked up to him silently, leaving Barret with the two new members of their little group. The black man had grumbled at Cloud half-heartedly for sticking him with the 'talking cat' and 'Shinra experiment' and made a comment on him taking the girls, although he did not attempt to protest Tifa's decision, then left for a head start while Cloud and his group lay down a false trail for the scouting squads.

Cloud frowned a bit. He would have liked to keep an eye on one of their recent team members, Barret he can trust, kind of, because Tifa trusts him, plus he had worked with the man, knew about his positions and ideals, but Red XIII and Ranma were both unknown factors. The gunman might get a real handful if the two were spies planted by Shinra. Shaking his head, he turned to Tifa. "Well?"

Shading her eyes against the sun with a hand, Tifa brushed away a stray strand of coffee curl, "I think we're clear from the Shinra for now, we can get to Kalm by sunset tomorrow if we don't meet up with too much trouble."

Just then, a soft, yet dangerous in its presence growling alerted the three as two adult Kalm Fangs leaped into the opening from behind a small mount of dirt hill, previously hidden from the trio's view by a tall patch of ferns. The beasts snarled again loudly at the humans, baring their teeth and pawing the ground for attack. Evidently, they were not pleased with the intrusion into their territory.

Cloud sighed and shifted the large, flat-ended sword on his back, unsheathing it from the leather straps he uses to hold the Buster Sword in place. He savored the feeling of security it brought as he gripped the handle tightly, holding it in the trademark SOLDIER defense stance, the weight of the weapon resting comfortably in his hands.

Aeris stepped to his left, twirling the staff in an almost casual fashion in front of her, her dainty fingers brushing the Fire and Cure materia unconsciously as she took a defensive position, her feet spread apart slightly. While Tifa took a step to the right, giving her gloves a last minute adjustment, her ruby eyes shining with anticipation.

"Speaking of trouble…" She trailed off suggestively, not taking her eyes off of the two beasts.

Cloud grinned despite the situation---facing one kind of the rather dangerous wildlife outside of the city, not to mention Shinra squads sweeping the plains looking for them---still, it's kind of nice… to have someone watching your back, almost like that time when…

Cloud, you and I, we're friends, aren't we?

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Ranma plucked at his tunic with a frown; the blood-soaked spot was really starting to annoy him. It felt wrinkly against his skin, the half-dried blood flakes rubbing his torso, and itched uncomfortably whenever he shifts his body. Grumbling internally, he plucked at the fabric again, grimacing at the red stain as if by merely staring at it, it would go away.

Tilting his head, he looked back to the metallic, floating city, now a fading speck, a black dot on the otherwise lush green horizons. Midgar, the city was called. A place where the rich prosper above in the sky, and the poor dredging a living down beneath those 'plates'. Fitting, in a strange, twisted kind of way.

They had, after a small argument, decided to split up the party. Safer to travel in smaller numbers to avoid the search and detain units, as all of them were tired from the highway chase, conflict not something any of them needed, at least, not until they have a good rest first.

The wind whispered in his ears, bringing him another wave of soft, indistinguishable murmurs of unidentifiable words, in a language half-forgotten to the martial artist. It would be a while, he decided, before he can re-learn the knowledge to 'speak' to the Planet again. He was never very good at it since he, not being a Cetra, had none of the inborn ability gifted to communicate with the living world like the natural inhabitants, but rather an empathetic aptitude, diverted from his own studies of ki. Although the Cetra had taught him as much as they were able, and he had learned as much as he can, he was competent with understanding the Planet, but he was far from being expert enough to make the communication two-way.

Clearing his throat, Ranma examined the small village some distance before him, for in truth, it is quite small, comparing to Midgar, or the crystal cities Neo-Serenity had constructed. Kalm was barely five-miles in radius, and most of it filled with houses that are no taller than three-stories in height, built in a way that they surrounded a circular plaza, probably the village center. Ranma muttered to himself, "So this is Kalm."

"Yes." The word came in the form of a deep voice, with a hint of growl, followed by a soft wave of feline rumbling. Red XIII looked into Ranma's eyes as he padded up to the martial artist silently, the flame on his tail burning an intense crimson as the appendage flickered around slowly in the air. "It is."

Ranma suppressed the involuntary shudder, and took a step back; he was beginning to sweat again. "Oh?!" He commented in a rather high-pitched voice, "That's great… ahaha… ahaha…" Laughing nervously, the martial artist rubbed the back of his head, tugging on the pigtail in agitation.

The two were taking a short rest near the outskirts of Kalm, waiting for Barret while he went on ahead to scout the village for Shinra activities; 'undercover', the black man had called it, because Ranma and Red XIII would stand out too much in a quiet little place like Kalm.

Ranma had taken one look at Barret, with his bulging muscles and huge gun arm, the rough look that literally screams of Trouble! Trouble! Lots of trouble! and just nodded dumbly, feeling too bemused  to make any comments, and glad for a chance to rest. Conveniently forgetting the fact that a being who can evoke his worst nightmare by his mere presence will be alone with him, until now, that is.

Red XIII grumbled deeply down his throat, causing Ranma to jump again. The giant red feline looked puzzled, as confusion can be seen evident in its single left eye. Slowly the beast sat down on its haunches, and gestured with its head for Ranma to follow suit.

Gulping nervously, Ranma sat stiffly, careful to keep his eyes on the empty air above the feline's head, he could feel the sweat beginning to gather on his forehead, his skin crawling as shivers begins to run down his spine.

"You are afraid of me." It was a simple statement.

"Well… what made you say th…"

Red XIII merely gave him a look, and Ranma nodded quickly, his head bobbing up and down. "Y-e-es."

Red XIII's eyes narrowed, if he was human, the red beast would be frowning; looking down, he examined his paws, choosing the words carefully. "I understand," The beast rumbled, "That my appearance can be… alarming to humans. And there is a reasonable amount of… distrust because of what I am. But you simply reek of fear around me, it is…" He placed a great emphasis on the word 'reek' and paused for a moment before speaking again, a hint of agitation in his voice, "It is most… disconcerting."

Ranma closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then another, Calm, calm. He muttered softly, invoking the calming coolness as it enveloped him. Slowly at first, but gradually spreading from his solar plexus outwards, reaching the tips of his fingers and toes. After a few minutes of silence, Ranma released his pigtail as his shoulders hunched down to a more relaxed position, lacing his fingers together in his lap. "It's a… personal reason."

Opening his eyes, Ranma looked at the beast in front of him, his eyes unintentionally piercing, the colors darkening to a grayish-blue. He was feeling pleasantly tranquil; the coolness tingling along his body, spreading small shivers all over. "But…" Ranma tried to frown, but found that he couldn't, as the muscles on his face felt stiff, for reasons that currently escaped him, he then tried to shrug, or at least, his shoulders tensed for a moment in an imitation of movement, "I shouldn't be."

Red XIII grumbled something deeply, his tail whipping back and forth in agitation. "This is unexpected," he muttered, getting up to four feet again to pace. The red beast took a step forward, and sniffed the air tentatively, "You even smell different," he accused.

Ranma dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement, finding his entire body somewhat stiff, unyielding to his commands; a flash of panic was quickly suppressed beneath the feeling of overwhelming coolness that has now engulfed his entire body. "It's a… meditation technique of sorts," His lips twitched for a moment, "Comes in handy at times."

"I… see." Red XIII begins to pace back and forth anew; a deep rumble bubbling up his throat, while Ranma merely followed his feline companion's movement with an unfazed gaze.

"Grandpa told me stories while I was young," Red XIII stopped his pacing, sitting down again in front of Ranma, "Myths, legends of old times, and things when life on the Planet was new, I was merely a cub then, and couldn't sleep at night." Embarrassed, Red XIII flexed a paw, "He told me…"

"He told you…?" Ranma prompted, hope welling up within him.

"He…" Red XIII shook his head, the Mythril Clip he wore tinkering musically with the movement, "Grandpa would explain this better… I… My name is Nanaki." He spoke the word with finality, eyeing Ranma cautiously.

"Ranma Saotome, Nanaki." Ranma paused, his face thoughtful. "There are many questions I have, far outweighs the answers, but I think those will have to be addressed another time."

"Another time," Red XIII echoed, a moment of understanding passed between the two. The human was strange, he smelt of an ancient, exotic scent that reminded him faintly of Cosmos Canyon, but mixed with something else, not menacing, but not very pleasant to his senses either. Pondering this new turn of event, and the promise of answers, the feline beast proceeded to examine the human in silence.

A movement behind Ranma distracted him from the feline's thoughts. Looking up, he scanned the area, his sharp feline eye locking on the black figure waving at the two's resting place from the main road to Kalm, and the loud hollers made by the black man, "I believe Barret has finished his investigation of the village, and found the place satisfactory for our purpose." Getting up to his feet, Red XIII hopped a few steps over to said village before realizing something, and turned back to the still seated Ranma.

"Coming?" The red beast questioned.

"Umm… yeah…" Ranma replied, feeling the beginning of panic clutching his psyche again as the coolness departs, as well as the feeling of profound embarrassment as his face begins to take on a shade of crimson, "Just one problem…"

"And that is…" Red XIII asked again, genuinely curious.

"I can't move." With that, Ranma toppled over to his back with a notable 'clank' sound as he hit the ground, his body still frozen in the sitting position, Indian-style, with his hands in his lap.

Behind him, a giant sweatdrop rolled down Nanaki's head.

A.N. Meh, it's shorter than I originally planned it to be, and turned out to be another filler, dammit, I really wanted Ranma to start doing something. _

Much thanks to my editor, whose name is right below here, and SPYDERXIII, who shown me the correct way to spell 'Solar Plexus', Serafita, who made the last present-to-past-tense adjustments for me, I doubt the story would be very readable without all their help. ^_^

C & C Welcome at: yanslana@yahoo.com

Editor: The 17th Immortal

www.geocities.com/yanslana