Chapter 5

He knew it was a dream, he'd been having the same dream for years, ever since his mother had first told him the story of how AVALANCHE had taken on the worlds strongest person and saved the planet from destruction.

hands reaching up and caressing tense and heated skin

Everything about the dream was the same, except now he had a face for the body that touched him in his dream.

whispered moaning and ragged breaths against his skin

Piercing azure eyes set in seemingly delicate pale skin, skin that for some reason you thought would shattered if it were touched.

intense sapphire gaze that pined him to the spot as his hands, lips and tongue worked

A slightly wiry but deceptively strong body that required hours of training to maintain the secret strength hidden within.

a sudden motion that brought a scream from his lips, his body arched in pleasure

Feather soft golden hair that reminded one more often then not of a chocobo, so stubborn that it would not do as you willed no matter how much you tried, hair that refused to stay down completely.

feather soft touches to ease his tension, a hand raised to push sweaty strands of hair from his face

It was impossible to say no, to turn away from that piercing gaze, that ever so slightly feminine face, those deceptively powerful arms that you would embrace you and shelter you from harm.

stroke after stroke, pressure building, arching into his caress...release

A man born to be great, to protect others, to defeat all odds...Cloud Strife.

Tide woke somewhat groggily and pushed himself into a sitting position. Moving one hand to his forehead he tried to push the heated dream from his mind as he looked around.

There was a slight whimper next to him and he looked down to see the pale face of the planet's savior scrunched up in pain, haunted by whatever lay inside his own dream.

/Looks like I'm not the only one dreaming tonight./ He thought absently then moved one hand as if to rouse the blond from his nightmare.

"Don't."

Tide started and his eyes darted around the small camp only to see a pair of glowing red eyes watching him from the other side of the camp, their owner was hidden in shadows, making it impossible to tell who it was.

"What...?"

The eyes moved, obviously their owner was standing and soon the small amount of light from the glowing fire materia illuminated the figure. It was Shiina.

"Let him sleep, sometimes nightmares are necessary to help fight your inner demons and from what I've heard he must have more than his fair share by now." The SOLDIER general informed him quietly.

Tide merely nodded then looked around again. "Where's Vincent?" He asked in a whisper so as not to disturb Cloud.

She turned slightly to look into the forest. "Scouting." She replied simply then looked at Tide with a slightly wicked gleam in her eyes. "Wanna play a game?"

"Huh?"

Before she could say anything else there was a rustling from the bushes behind Tide and Cloud and Shiina's hands shot behind her back to where her blade were secured, drawing them both she moved and in a few quick strides she was standing between Tide and the bushes.

Tide watched her in confusion. "What's wrong? You said Vincent went out to scout, it's probably just him."

"Wrong, I doubt very much that Mr. Valentine would make so much noise and even if it was him he would have shown himself by now...something doesn't feel right..." Suddenly she visibly started and turned sharply to look the brunette in the eye. "Wake him up...Wake up Cloud now." She said in an urgent whisper.

Sensing the urgency in her words he quickly nodded and turned quickly to shake the slumbering form awake. There was a moments hesitation before the blonds eyes fluttered open then focused on Tide. "What?" He asked groggily. "Trouble." The teen said simply and pointed to where Shiina stood just behind him and slightly to the right, weapons drawn and crouched in one of many Wutaian fighting stances.

What is it?He asked, calling forth the Ultima Weapon's awareness.

Tonberry's, many of them.

Cloud moved to a sitting position and reached for the weapon, grabbing hold of the hilt he moved to stand but just as he did so a figure moved out of the bushes in front of the white haired woman. A hiss escaped both Shiina and Cloud in perfect unison and Cloud reached out with one hand to tap Tide on the shoulder.

"Get behind me and get ready, this is probably going to get messy." The blond ex-SOLDIER instructed quickly then ran his free hand over Ultima Weapons materia slots to make sure they were all there.

The brunette nodded curtly even though he knew the older man could see and slowly moved backwards to where his things were neatly piled. As he secured his Premium Heart gloves he hear a rustling from the other side of the camp and looked up just in time to see two more Tonberry's appear from the bushes.

"Cloud." He warned quietly.

The blond turned his head to look over his shoulder then swore quietly.

Another rustle to the side announced the appearance of yet another Tonberry, followed by another and then another until they were surrounded.

"Any ideas boss?" Shiina asked wryly her eyes darting across the Tonberry's in front of her.

"Don't attack until they do, if we're lucky they'll move along."

Tide frowned as he watched the short green monsters. "They're just Tonberry's right? They shouldn't be that hard to get rid of."

The boy has much to learn

Shiina looked over her shoulder at Cloud and gave him a quick grin as if to say that she had heard the Ultima Weapons opinion. "They're Master Tonberry's kiddo, stronger, faster and meaner then your normal garden variety Tonberry so watch your back."

He's still young, he has time to learn.

Does he?

He ignored the last comment as he watched the Tonberry. How many are there?

Can you not sense them?

I count twelve

You count poorly, count again

Frowning he swept the area again this time letting his focus relax so it would not settle on just the foes he could see. /Twenty/

Twenty...will they attack?

Almost certainly, be wary these creatures are not normal, the 'mako' as you humans call it has altered them

The blond grimaced. "There's twenty of them out there, somehow they were altered by mako so be careful both of you."

"What about Vincent?" Tide asked then crouched into a ready position as the Tonberry started to move as one towards them.

Cloud tightened his grip on Ultima Weapon. "He can look after himself, I suggest you do the same. Attack if they get in range otherwise just watch."

They stood there for a tense moment backs to each other before one of the Master Tonberry launched itself at them with surprising speed and was quickly followed by the others...

He raised his drink and took mouthful before just as he heard someone ran past the pub door shouting.

"Have you found him yet?!"

"No, you?!"

"Not yet, we've gotta keep looking, we have to find him before she gets out of control!"

He sighed and hunched his shoulders even further only to feel someone tap him on the shoulder. "What?"

"Ahhh...shouldn't you..."

"Don't be stupid."

"But she's your...."

"I know..."

"Then why..."

"No deathwish."

The barkeep moved over toward him and grabbed his empty mug before replacing it with a fresh one. "How long do you think it will be?" He asked casually.

He looked up then tilted his head to the side. "Not sure...a few hours." He felt the tap on his shoulder again and sighed. "What?"

"Umm..."

"No."

"I didn't say anything."

"Don't need to."

"But..."

"No." He said with a note of finality, there was no way he was going to 'calm' her down, not when she was like this, it didn't matter how much bigger he was than her.

The barkeep looked over his shoulder at the other man. "There are some things you just don't do, especially when they involve an angry woman." He said sagely.

"Amen." He said and swallowed the remains of his mug.

A well aimed stone brought the bird soaring out of the sky to collide into the stony ground.

He'd been hunting for an hour now but there wasn't much to show for it, a few fish and a couple of birds. Regardless, it would be enough to keep him going until he came to another place where there was more. He'd acquired quite a large amount of money from ripping apart the monsters that had tried to make a meal out of him, hopefully enough to buy some more clothes then some proper food, maybe even a real bed if he was lucky.

With a sigh he moved over to where the bird had crashed into the ground and picked up its carcass, he wasn't sure whether it was his stone or the crash that had killed it but it was dead now.

"Lucky, you don't have to live in this hell hole any more, wonder where you went, bird heaven?" He snorted a laugh as he made his way back to his makeshift camp and added the bird to the rest of his catch before taking a seat on the ground and resting against a large boulder.

He eyed his small bounty for a moment before sighing and reaching for one of the fish that he'd cleaned earlier with the aid of a stone. He bit into it with a slight grimace, it wasn't the best food but it would do until he found something else.

Until he found the green and blue eyed men.

Vincent glided into the fray Peacemaker firing again and again in rapid succession directly aimed at one of the Master Tonberry a few direct hits to its head and it fell, he wasted no time in moving onto the next one. "Cloud!"

"Vincent, what took you so long?" Cloud asked as he cleaved one in half then quickly piveted to one side to avoid being hit.

"Ran into some trouble," He said as he took aim and fired again making another drop to the ground is a spray of blood. "Seems I'm not the only one."

Shiina laughed as she dashed about slicing Tonberry after Tonberry as she went he actions just short of a blur. "You could say that."

Without warning Tide suddenly let out a startled cry and he fell backwards.

"Tide!" Cloud shouted and tried to hack his way through the green monsters but as soon as he cut through one another took its place.

In a flash of white Shiina was there blocking an attack with her blades. "Get up!" She screamed at him, though there was no fear or anger in her voice.

"Hn." Tide nodded and leapt to his feet and charged back into the fight.

Only to see Cloud cleave the last of the Tonberry in twain.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to see Shiina standing next to him. "Not bad, you just need to work on your balance, reaction time, reflexes and hand eye co-ordination."

Tide snorted a laugh. "Anything else?" He asked, one eyebrow raised.

Shiina laughed and pinched one of his cheeks then moved forward to where Cloud and Vincent were crouched over a Tonberry corpse. "How about you're next paycheck?"

Tide's jaw dropped as he watched she became engrossed in a conversation with Vincent and Cloud, the smile never leaving her face.

AN: So sorry for the late update! I'll try to get the next chapter done quicker, also to all those who gave me a review, I wuv u!!!!!!! (