Chapter 5: Regroup
Cloud sat alone in the dark room. It was an unusual darkness, in the fact that it felt dark. The gloominess Cloud seemed to eminate, the utter hopelessness. Another tear escaped for only the second time since Aeris had died, and both happened with the same set of 24 hours.
He searched his heart for something other than dispair. Midgar was gone. Hundreds. Thousands of lives had disappeared in one massive explosion of evil and hatred, poured into pure energy. Cloud shuddered at the thought of Sephiroth enjoying the mass destruction and devastation he was inflicting upon the Planet and Its people. Midgar had changed after all, the use of Mako energy had been replaced by other more efficient, and more environmentally good for the Planet.
The people had changed, the lines between Upper and Below Plate people had begun to blur, soon to be erased forever. All the giving he could give to the city was for nothing. Nothing. The exact same feeling that seemed to fill the bottom of his stomach. Like some void, expanding its nothingness.
A slight rap on the door was followed by a slight creak as the door swung slowly open. Cloud dully noted to oil the hinge sometime in the future. Tifa's slender hand preceeded her body as she slipped in the door. Light filtered through the crack she had created, and as Tifa looked into Cloud's eyes, horror filled her heart.
The man she had once known was devastated beyond anything she had seen. The last time his face resembled anything close to that visage which starred emptily out at her was when Aeris had gasped for her last few breaths of air.
With a swift movement she quickly and quietly closed the door. If only to escape from the horrid expression of hopelessness.
"Cloud," The whisper was barely audible, even in the complete silence of the room.
And yet, the reply came back even quieter. Perhaps not. Tifa thought to herself. Perhaps its just the helplessness giving less volume to his voice.
"Cloud, you have to eat sometime." The two, or rather Tifa, continued to talk in the mist of darkness in the second story building of Kalm's hotel. "It's been over three days now."
No response.
"Cloud, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it. None of us could have." She starred into the abyss, feeling as if she was talking into a vacuum, the sound leaving her lips, but getting no farther. "We're all worried you know. Me most of all." She starred at her feet, trying to pierce the darkness and get a glimpse of something tangible.
"Cloud, you're our leader. You're the one we look up to for strength and courage. The one who never breaks down. The one who stands up to the face of evil and spits in its eye. You're the one we need for support, for guidance. We work as a team, but a team without a leader is useless."
Her words became choked at the end as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"I failed."
The whisper was nearly inaudible.
"What?" Tifa perked up at finally getting a response.
"I FAILED!" He screamed back at her. Tifa took a couple steps back, stumbling and almost falling on her back. It felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, and her heart seemed to skip a beat. "You shouldn't look up to a failure. I'm no leader, I'm nothing but a loser, a failure even at that..." His voice returned to a more normal level, and again dropped off to a whisper at the end.
Tifa stepped forward, grabbing Cloud's shoulders as gruffly as she could. She stooped down to Cloud's sitting level and brought her face so close she could feel his breath, and she thought she felt his tears as well, but she made no other contact than the shoulders.
"Now Cloud Strife, you listen to me, and you listen to me good." She shook him slightly to make sure she had his attention. "The city is gone, and what's happened has happened and there's not a damn thing you can do to undue what's been done."
She pressed her cheek against his, engulfing him in a giant hug. She felt the shuddering of his body, the quiver from the lack of food.
The door suddenly burst open, and the two separated instantly, Tifa on her feet, Cloud sitting in his pool of his dispair. Yuffie's silhoutte stood panting in the door, the bright light behind her blinding the pair inside the room.
"Monsters, all kinds of monsters are infesting Midgar!" She, had to pause for breath. "We went on a salvage mission, but- and, its not just normal monsters! It's like an army! They have organization to them!"
Tifa instantly knew what was going on, and she was well aware that Cloud knew also. "He's doing it. He's organizing them."
Then, Yuffie caught on. "He's going to try and take over the world?" Tifa's grim nod was her only reply.
With a quick movement Tifa reeled on Cloud. "Damnit Cloud! Snap out of, this is where we need you the most. None of us know what to do from here!"
Cloud looked up at her, his eyes still bleak. "What makes you think I do?" His voice sounded brittle.
She growled, grabbing him and picking him off his thrown of self-drowning. She carried him out of the room, Yuffie following behind. With a thud, Cloud was set down on a chair that was one of many surrounding a table large enough to account for both parties staying at the house.
Cloud, deciding to forgo further humiliation ate what food was presented to him, and soon was feeling much better. Yet, he was alone now in the room, Tifa had gone to the other room to help Yuffie brief the others.
And with sudden resolve, Cloud decided to join them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two soldiers of low rank within the recently organized Wutain Resistance Force sat behind what little cover they had.
"My GOD! There's so many!" The trepidation filling the soldier's voice was causing a slight shake to it.
The other sat in baffled silence, his mouth hanging slightly open, his eyes peeled wide.
"They're too fast! Who knew they could organize such numbers so quickly. We have to report!"
The one speaking dragged the second to his feet. That's when he found his vocal chords again and let out a piercing scream.
A few patrolling monsters had spotted the two lone soldiers and were bearing down on them. Their speed was a little slow, for one of the soldiers was able to let out a scream before falling lifeless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cloud sat, starring at the map in front of him. They had moved their base of operations from Kalm to Wutai, and evacuated all Kalm citizens to cities of their choice around the world. The WRF was the first force organized against Sephiroth's army, and thus, all other resistances were asked to join, and soon the acronym stood for Wutain Resistance Force as well as World Resistance Force. Cloud simply used WRF.
The map showed what little they knew of the Midgar rubble. Planning to go on the offensive was a risky move, but of the five teams sent to survey the forces Sephiroth had built up, none had returned. Cloud figured this as a move to either hide their weakness, or the amassed strength. Either way an offensive would be the opportune plan. No need to let them become any stronger.
His head drifted from the map, and gazed out a nearby window into a field where training new recruits was still taking place. The WRF was no army of SOLDIERs, but it was the best they could build up now, Sephiroth had already destroyed Midgar, and was likely to attack again soon.
The door creaked slightly and Cloud jerked around to see Tifa leaning against it. "Zidane's getting anxious."
Cloud nodded, the guy hadn't seen his princess in quite some time now. "How bad?"
"He's picked four fights this afternoon, and tried to make a break for the airship yard."
Cloud nodded again. "How's the rest of his team holding up?" By team, Cloud meant a sort of special operatives team. He had grouped those from the other dimension into one team, and the group that had stopped Meteor and defeated Sephiroth once before into another. They were the ones that would be leading the assault, and also the ones that were to find and kill Sephiroth.
The intense training that the past few weeks had held was not only for the army recruits, but for Cloud and the rest as well. The two teams had trained ferocisly against one another, and it always seemed to come down to Cloud and Zidane facing off one on one.
Cloud was almost always the victor, but his opponent fought with amazing emotional energy. Zidane was learning to channel his emotion from the lessons Cloud taught to him every fight. He was becoming better, and what he didn't know, was that he was bettering Cloud at the same time.
Tifa tapped her fingers quietly, enough to regain Cloud's attention. "Ah, Zidane, find him and tell him that we leave for the attack tomarrow."
Cloud sat alone in the dark room. It was an unusual darkness, in the fact that it felt dark. The gloominess Cloud seemed to eminate, the utter hopelessness. Another tear escaped for only the second time since Aeris had died, and both happened with the same set of 24 hours.
He searched his heart for something other than dispair. Midgar was gone. Hundreds. Thousands of lives had disappeared in one massive explosion of evil and hatred, poured into pure energy. Cloud shuddered at the thought of Sephiroth enjoying the mass destruction and devastation he was inflicting upon the Planet and Its people. Midgar had changed after all, the use of Mako energy had been replaced by other more efficient, and more environmentally good for the Planet.
The people had changed, the lines between Upper and Below Plate people had begun to blur, soon to be erased forever. All the giving he could give to the city was for nothing. Nothing. The exact same feeling that seemed to fill the bottom of his stomach. Like some void, expanding its nothingness.
A slight rap on the door was followed by a slight creak as the door swung slowly open. Cloud dully noted to oil the hinge sometime in the future. Tifa's slender hand preceeded her body as she slipped in the door. Light filtered through the crack she had created, and as Tifa looked into Cloud's eyes, horror filled her heart.
The man she had once known was devastated beyond anything she had seen. The last time his face resembled anything close to that visage which starred emptily out at her was when Aeris had gasped for her last few breaths of air.
With a swift movement she quickly and quietly closed the door. If only to escape from the horrid expression of hopelessness.
"Cloud," The whisper was barely audible, even in the complete silence of the room.
And yet, the reply came back even quieter. Perhaps not. Tifa thought to herself. Perhaps its just the helplessness giving less volume to his voice.
"Cloud, you have to eat sometime." The two, or rather Tifa, continued to talk in the mist of darkness in the second story building of Kalm's hotel. "It's been over three days now."
No response.
"Cloud, it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped it. None of us could have." She starred into the abyss, feeling as if she was talking into a vacuum, the sound leaving her lips, but getting no farther. "We're all worried you know. Me most of all." She starred at her feet, trying to pierce the darkness and get a glimpse of something tangible.
"Cloud, you're our leader. You're the one we look up to for strength and courage. The one who never breaks down. The one who stands up to the face of evil and spits in its eye. You're the one we need for support, for guidance. We work as a team, but a team without a leader is useless."
Her words became choked at the end as tears began to well up in her eyes.
"I failed."
The whisper was nearly inaudible.
"What?" Tifa perked up at finally getting a response.
"I FAILED!" He screamed back at her. Tifa took a couple steps back, stumbling and almost falling on her back. It felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs, and her heart seemed to skip a beat. "You shouldn't look up to a failure. I'm no leader, I'm nothing but a loser, a failure even at that..." His voice returned to a more normal level, and again dropped off to a whisper at the end.
Tifa stepped forward, grabbing Cloud's shoulders as gruffly as she could. She stooped down to Cloud's sitting level and brought her face so close she could feel his breath, and she thought she felt his tears as well, but she made no other contact than the shoulders.
"Now Cloud Strife, you listen to me, and you listen to me good." She shook him slightly to make sure she had his attention. "The city is gone, and what's happened has happened and there's not a damn thing you can do to undue what's been done."
She pressed her cheek against his, engulfing him in a giant hug. She felt the shuddering of his body, the quiver from the lack of food.
The door suddenly burst open, and the two separated instantly, Tifa on her feet, Cloud sitting in his pool of his dispair. Yuffie's silhoutte stood panting in the door, the bright light behind her blinding the pair inside the room.
"Monsters, all kinds of monsters are infesting Midgar!" She, had to pause for breath. "We went on a salvage mission, but- and, its not just normal monsters! It's like an army! They have organization to them!"
Tifa instantly knew what was going on, and she was well aware that Cloud knew also. "He's doing it. He's organizing them."
Then, Yuffie caught on. "He's going to try and take over the world?" Tifa's grim nod was her only reply.
With a quick movement Tifa reeled on Cloud. "Damnit Cloud! Snap out of, this is where we need you the most. None of us know what to do from here!"
Cloud looked up at her, his eyes still bleak. "What makes you think I do?" His voice sounded brittle.
She growled, grabbing him and picking him off his thrown of self-drowning. She carried him out of the room, Yuffie following behind. With a thud, Cloud was set down on a chair that was one of many surrounding a table large enough to account for both parties staying at the house.
Cloud, deciding to forgo further humiliation ate what food was presented to him, and soon was feeling much better. Yet, he was alone now in the room, Tifa had gone to the other room to help Yuffie brief the others.
And with sudden resolve, Cloud decided to join them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Two soldiers of low rank within the recently organized Wutain Resistance Force sat behind what little cover they had.
"My GOD! There's so many!" The trepidation filling the soldier's voice was causing a slight shake to it.
The other sat in baffled silence, his mouth hanging slightly open, his eyes peeled wide.
"They're too fast! Who knew they could organize such numbers so quickly. We have to report!"
The one speaking dragged the second to his feet. That's when he found his vocal chords again and let out a piercing scream.
A few patrolling monsters had spotted the two lone soldiers and were bearing down on them. Their speed was a little slow, for one of the soldiers was able to let out a scream before falling lifeless.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cloud sat, starring at the map in front of him. They had moved their base of operations from Kalm to Wutai, and evacuated all Kalm citizens to cities of their choice around the world. The WRF was the first force organized against Sephiroth's army, and thus, all other resistances were asked to join, and soon the acronym stood for Wutain Resistance Force as well as World Resistance Force. Cloud simply used WRF.
The map showed what little they knew of the Midgar rubble. Planning to go on the offensive was a risky move, but of the five teams sent to survey the forces Sephiroth had built up, none had returned. Cloud figured this as a move to either hide their weakness, or the amassed strength. Either way an offensive would be the opportune plan. No need to let them become any stronger.
His head drifted from the map, and gazed out a nearby window into a field where training new recruits was still taking place. The WRF was no army of SOLDIERs, but it was the best they could build up now, Sephiroth had already destroyed Midgar, and was likely to attack again soon.
The door creaked slightly and Cloud jerked around to see Tifa leaning against it. "Zidane's getting anxious."
Cloud nodded, the guy hadn't seen his princess in quite some time now. "How bad?"
"He's picked four fights this afternoon, and tried to make a break for the airship yard."
Cloud nodded again. "How's the rest of his team holding up?" By team, Cloud meant a sort of special operatives team. He had grouped those from the other dimension into one team, and the group that had stopped Meteor and defeated Sephiroth once before into another. They were the ones that would be leading the assault, and also the ones that were to find and kill Sephiroth.
The intense training that the past few weeks had held was not only for the army recruits, but for Cloud and the rest as well. The two teams had trained ferocisly against one another, and it always seemed to come down to Cloud and Zidane facing off one on one.
Cloud was almost always the victor, but his opponent fought with amazing emotional energy. Zidane was learning to channel his emotion from the lessons Cloud taught to him every fight. He was becoming better, and what he didn't know, was that he was bettering Cloud at the same time.
Tifa tapped her fingers quietly, enough to regain Cloud's attention. "Ah, Zidane, find him and tell him that we leave for the attack tomarrow."
