Of Thorns and Roses
By Lost Mercenary

Previously on Of Thorns and Roses.

There was a presence of some kind, stirring in the depths of the old ruins. Whatever it, or they was, it was moving slowly, quietly, hoping not to be noticed. Whatever it was, it gave off a sensation, a sensation unlike any person has sensed before.

It was...evil...

"What the hell's wrong?"

"We don't know Captain. The engine just won't start up." Said one of the Highwind engineers.

Then he felt and saw something wet drip onto the barrel of his gun from above. He slowly looked above, fear now beginning to rise within his soul, and saw something crawling on the wall above him, a monster of some sorts but none like he had ever seen before. Before Vincent could even flinch the creature fell and attacked with amazing speed.

Vincent didn't get off a single shot when the creature begun to attack. Pain swept through Vincent's body and his screams echoed through the empty cave where no man could hear them.

(Crescendo)

And now the continuation...


"Where did he go?"

Tifa sat just outside of Kalm town on a small hill staring into the horizon. It was already nightfall and the sky was full of stars brightening up the whole landscape in a pale blue light. There was no noise, only silence, but at least it was peaceful. It was just like the same night 12 years ago, when Cloud and Tifa talked at the Well in Nibelhiem and made their promise together.

She remembered the light blue clothes that she wore that night, the cool gentle breeze of the wind on her face and the starry night that made everything seem so calm and tranquil. And young Cloud who she didn't know that well back then but felt quite close to him after her fall at Mount Nibel and how he got blamed for it. Tifa remembered how special she felt after the two had made their promise and how she didn't want that feeling to go away.

This was one of Tifa's most cherished memories of her past. She knew that she would never lose them but there was on thing that she was terrified of losing... Cloud.

He had told her that he had to go to Midgar in order to see an old friend and that he had to go alone. She asked him not to leave, but all he had said before he went was that he had to go, with no real explanation of why. That was 2 days ago. It sure as hell didn't take 2 whole days to walk to Midgar and back again, it was quite a short journey, and now Tifa began to worry that something had happened to him. The one person who she cared about the most could be dead and he would have died without knowing how she truly felt about him. That was the most terrifying prospect of the whole thing.

Just then, in the distance, Tifa caught a small sight of movement coming over the horizon. She couldn't make it out that well at first but as it got closer she could see that it was a human figure and as it got even closer she could begin to make out it's features. Tall, well-built, spiky-blonde hair and a gigantic-sized Buster Sword. It could only have been...

It was Cloud! He was O.K.

An overwhelming relief overtook Tifa as she saw Cloud walk towards her. It was a good feeling but this was soon taken over by a mixture of other emotions too. Excitement, joy, love, anger and an assortment of others, but no matter what she felt Cloud was alive and well and that meant more than anything else to her.

Tifa jumped to her feet and immediately ran towards Cloud as fast as she could. Despite how all that sitting and waiting for him had left her legs feeling a bit numb she did her best to ignore it. It was irrelevant to her.

"Cloud!" She yelled in delight as she ran towards him waving.

Cloud had seen her waving and running towards him, so he waved back to her. A smile then spread on his face, as the thought of being home again with Tifa was very pleasant. He and Tifa had lived in Kalm Town now for nearly 4 years now and had become very attached to the place and it's residents. Both their other homes Midgar and Nibelheim were either destroyed or they contained too many bad memories for them to handle. Despite the fact that Cloud had now put his past behind him, it didn't mean that he could just forget it; so going to Nibelheim was more or less out of the question. His memories of the village burning into ashes, Sephiroth killing the townspeople like lambs for the slaughter, and how he had nearly killed Tifa.

Stop it, Cloud. He thought to himself. You're thinking too much again.

Cloud pushed the thought back and focused on what was happening now. He almost didn't notice Tifa because he had been so lost in his memories but when she hugged him so suddenly all he could do was focus on her. Then she spoke up, almost as if she was crying.

"God, Cloud. Don't do that to me again!"

"Don't do what?" he replied with some confusion.

"Don't do what!?! It took you 2 days to go to Midgar and back, when it would take a normal person only a few hours. I was so worried that something had happened to you."

Cloud could almost feel the worry that had been inside Tifa. While he was at Midgar he hadn't even thought about Tifa, or how she would feel about him being gone for so long. He knew that her biggest fear was to be alone and he didn't even take that into account. How could he have been so selfish?

Cloud, you idiot.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm sorry I left you hear like that. But I had to go, it couldn't have waited. I had to settle something."

Tifa let go of him from her hug and looked him in his eyes, while trying to hide her tears. They weren't tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy. Cloud was home, and that was all that mattered.

"It's Ok." She muttered. "Come on. I'll fix you up a drink."

They both walked towards Kalm town almost gracefully, taking their time, getting one last look at the starry night that reminded them of their promise.

Little did they both know though, that something was watching them...
The creature swung at Vincent with great speed and agility, almost grazing his head. Just as well it missed or he wouldn't have had a head left. The attack caused Vincent to lose his footing; he tripped, and fell about 14 feet before hitting the next rough ledge on the mountain, with great force and discomfort.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled.

The mountain was no problem for the monster. It crawled along it like it was a normal floor and it was still heading towards Vincent with such determination. Any other monster would have lost interest by now, but this one wasn't going to give up. Most of them acted on instinct but this thing was almost showing signs of intelligence.

Whatever this thing is it's no ordinary monster, thought Vincent.

He pulled out the Death Penalty and fired at the creature in what little time he had to do so, but it had already moved to another vantage point and was still closing on him with no loss of speed whatsoever. The ledge beneath him crumbled away and Vincent began to fall with the remains of it. Pain shot through his body as he continuously smashed into rocks while continuing his rough descent. Blood oozed out of his wounds as sharp pieces of rock penetrated his skin causing deep cuts and incredible amounts of anguish for him to endure. It didn't last long though seeing as that Vincent was no longer on the actual mountain. He had been flung off the edge completely and now began to plummet.

The creature lunged over the edge following Vincent. Wanting to make sure that it's prey had been taken care of. It remained focused on the goal it was given, not even caring for it's own survival.

Kill...

Both Vincent and the creature were falling through the air now. There were no more ledges or bits of mountain for him to land on, it was just him and the monster, and it was closing on him. There wasn't much time left before the creature would finally reach Vincent and finish him off but he'd be damned if that thing didn't die with him. Whether it was the fall or the monster he would surly not survive and neither would it at that. But he wanted to make sure that it would die first.

It was only a few feet away now. Vincent cocked his Death Penalty, took aim...

"Say, ah!"

...and fired! The shrapnel from the gun cartridge soared through the air and headed straight for the monster. This time though it didn't miss. It caught it straight in the chest, and a deafening scream came from the creature as it began to die from the fatal wound it had suffered. Some of its blood caught Vincent in the face, despite the fact that he was also falling at an almost equal speed. It stank. It was repulsive, and this would be the final thing that he would smell before he died. Not flowers, not oiled machinery, not even normal air. It would be the remains of this stinking creature.

Before he hit the bottom of the mountain, one final thought ran through his head.

Lucrucia...

And then, he hit bottom.
Well that's that Chapter. If your wondering "Where the Hell is this war that you promised in your summary!?!" you must be patient. You can't just have a war when you feel like it. Something small like this always leads up to it. But I promise when the war heats up finally, you'll be shitting yourself with excitement and anticipation.

Oh, and please R&R this Chapter.