Through the Wolf's Eyes

Disclaimer? What? I gotta do this too? Cmon!

Sephy: Starts Nibelheim on fire again for background and looks all badass likeShut up.... and start the story already!!

Err... Eeep... yessir!

Disclaimer: Fine... No no! I do not own one single pixle of Square-Enix's legendary RPG Final Fantasy VII, nor any of the characters within.

Though.... Tifa can own me anytime.

Sephy: icey glare

Chapter 1: Transformations

Cloud sat on a rock. Said rock sat under the huge shadow of Ft. Condor. And Ft. Condor... well that sat under one helluva bird called a Condor... who would have thought. He sighed deeply, depression reering it's ugly head yet again. It had been nearly two years since all hell had broken loose. Two years since Meteor, two years since Sephiroth, two years since Aerith's... He shuddered lightly.. Roughly shaking his head, he stood up. Quickly resheathing his massive crystalline sword, the very same that had delt the final, devistating blow to Sephiroth, Ultima Weapon.

He'd thought he could find her. Avalanches quest that had spanned all of Gaia to find Sephiroth, to find the Promised Land... and yet he didn't even really know exactly what the Promised Land was. Was it the afterlife? Was it an actual, physical, place on Gaia? He'd been following lead after endless lead for two years. Two years of solitude. He'd seen his friends, of course, if he were in the area. Red was busy working on finding out everything he could about his heratige (and perhaps a proper name for his species?), Barret used the gil they had earned on their journey to help the poor people of Corel, Cid was happy as ever. Women, beer, and airplanes were all he needed. Well... that and a cigarette. Cloud shuddered briefly at the though.

They'd given all their materia to Yuffie. Well almost all of it. Cloud fingered the small pouch which held his most powerful materia. Ones that he thought better to keep out of Yuffie's reach. Vincent he hadn't seen since the Meteor incident. He seemed to vanish into the shadows that he seemed so at home with. Reeve had been trying for some time to scrape together some kind of managment in Midgar for the survivors of Meteor.

The Turks... Cloud shook his head. They were always an enigma. Last he'd heard the three of them had gone into the mercenary business as a team. He'd met them once not long after Meteor. Mostly it was Elena talking, with Reno acting huffed up, and Rude was silent as ever. They wanted to, surprisingly, apologize for some of the things they'd done. Cloud was sure it was mostly Elena's idea.

And then... there was Tifa. The girl who'd stuck by him since the start. The girl who hadn't given up on him, even when he'd fallen into the Lifestream. A girl he loved... well one of them. Cloud shook his head. He would NOT get into this downward spiral of thoughts again. He hadn't seen her since a few months after Meteor, but that was intentional. He'd been staying with her at her Inn in Kalm, but his restlessness had won him over. He wanted desperatly to find her. To find her and.. perhaps... ask for forgivness. He was her bodyguard. And he had let her die. He had let Aerith die. He had left Kalm one night, with only a note to Tifa. He knew she'd be angry or sad, or both. Thus, he'd kept away from Kalm.

Even so, with two years worth of searching, he had next to nil as far as information went. He'd followed hundreds of stories and legends. In this Red had been an immense help. He remembered one lead that had led him to Corel... and a very angry Barret. Always the overprotective one, Barret had nearly punched a hole through him for leaving Tifa, or atleast that's what the big man had said. Thus Corel was pretty much off limits now too. And Nibelheim too, though that was self inflicted. That place held far too many bad memories.

Cloud sighed lightly, before straddling his motorcycle. He'd have to head back to Junon, or perhaps Cosmo Canyon, and look for another lead. He started the engine, which came to life in a loud roar. He brushed some of his spikey blonde hair from his eyes. He wouldn't give up. No matter how much it hurt, he wouldn't give up. He turned his bike toward Cosmo Canyon and zoomed off. He'd followed dozens of ancient legends, old stories, and simple rumors. He'd searched all of the Ancients city over and again. Nothing. He felt guilty, both at his own insufficent strength, and his inability to make those around him happy. That is why, he felt, he needed to find Aerith again.

Cloud.

He looked up, though didn't stop, He'd heard his name... He'd heard her voice! He was about to turn the bike around to go look when lightning struck the ground infront of him, the resulting explosion sending both he and his bike flying into the air. Cloud landed with a thud, and his bike landed a few yards away in a twist shell of what it had once been. The lightning and the explosion had done a number to it. Cloud shook his head, rubbing it softly. "Ow..." Another shake of his head and the mist cleared. Unfortunatly the msit cleared only to show that a snarling, drooling, and particularly long and point set of fangs was staring him straight in the face.

He shifted to the right and the dog like beast followed suit, trying to sink its fangs into Clouds flesh. However, Cloud on his back, could only move so fast. The beast leapt up, pinning Cloud under it's weight, and prepared to feast. As it prepared to snap its jaws shut, Cloud rose a forearm, clad in a metal bracer, and let the beasts fangs sink into it. Trying to capitalize on a crappy situation, Cloud drew a knee close and kicked out as hard as he could, sending the beast flying back.

Back on his feet again Cloud smirked. "Got the drop on me didn't ya? Good for you. But now..." His hand travelled back to the hilt of his great weapon as he slowly drew it to the ready. He smirked again. It'd been a while since he'd had to fight any of the beasts that were lose in the world. Mostly he just went from place to place on his bike. The last time he'd had to draw his sword in defense had been months ago in the Ancients city. The beast growled lowly, drool falling from it's fangs to the mud and grass below.

In an instant the beast was charging again. Cloud easily avoided the reckless attack. Sidestepping the assault, he brought his blade to bare, and with one clean slice, brought his sword down on the back of the wolf life animal. It fell to the ground and, with one last pathetic whine, left for the afterlife. Cloud took a look at his sword and sighed. "Times of peace are great... but they're hell on my swordskill."

He turned, moving to his wreck of a bike. Quickly resheathing his blade, he gave a sound that could only be described as a cross between annoyance and sadness. "What... am I gonna do now?" His keen ears caught a slight hissing sound. He turned to find the corpse of the wolf-beast being engulfed in a strange red glow. There came a distinct crack of thunder, though Cloud only barely registered it. His mako infused eyes were fixated on the glow. There came a large gust of wind, which smacked Cloud in the face hard enough for him to realize that a storm was brewing seemingly out of nothing. The red glow continued to swirl around the corpse until the corpse had faded away entirely. Then followed a bright flash of light. Cloud quickly covered his eyes with his arm and, after a moment, dared to look again.

In place of the bloody corpse of a snarling unkempt wolf-beast stood an elegant...something. Cloud couldn't think of any way to properly describe it. His sapphire eyes were wide with awe. The beast stood as tall as he, if not taller. It was vaguely dog-like, or perhaps one could say wolf-like. The underside of it's furry body was platinum in color, and in some odd shadowey portion of Cloud's mind, it reminded him of Sephiroth's hair. While from the mid-stomach up, it's fur was azure in color. His front legs were, like his underside, silvery platinum. Yet his hind legs were covered in azure colored fur that seemed to curl upward in a wave-like elegant manner. He had a massive mane of hair, vaguely like a lions that was black in color, but as the lightning flashed around him, he noted that there were traces of blue within the ring of black. The front of his face was very wolf like, save for the nasty pair of horns that curled down past it's cheek bones, like a dragons, and were jet black in color. It stood straight and proud, looking the ex-SOLDIER straight in the eyes. Cloud noticed they were glowing, just like his, save that one of the beasts eyes was blue, like his own, yet the other was pure silver.

Cloud gulped despite himself. The beast was radiating power, nothing like the whelp Cloud had slain just moments before. He slowly reached for his blade, but just as his hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword, he felt a wave of heat pass him, and Cloud realized his body couldn't move. Of course, the heavens chose this moment to open up a downpour of rain that soaked the young warrior while lightning flashed.

You... Are Cloud Strife?

It took a moment for Cloud to realize the beast was... speaking... to him, thought the animal's mouth never once moved. Cloud shivered once more and managed a curt nod, even though he couldn't move his arms, waist, or legs. The large beast padded toward him slowly, unhurriedly, and proceeded to walk around the frozen young man, as if inspecting him. Cloud didn't like it one bit. With all his strength he struggled, with every ounce of willpower he tried to move. But to no avail.

I...am Fenrir. And I've been called here to tell you that your living in the past benefits no one.

"How am I living in the past?" Cloud blinked a moment, confused by the beasts words. Who, or what, would send a beast like this after him for such a strange reason.

You seek to call back that which has passed on.

"Aerith? What do you know of her? Do you know of a way to bring her back?!" Clouds heart began to beat wildly, had he finally found a solid lead to retrieving her? The beast simply shook it's head.

You hurt those around you and even yourself because you cannot accept fate.

"No... thats not true! Everyone wants Aerith back!" Cloud was growling lightly now. He suddenly felt as if the beast considered itself a parent and that it was telling a child of what he had done wrong. The beast cocked it's head, almost as if it were amused.

You... -are- acting childish, you know.

Cloud blinked. The beast had read his thoughts. This cause him to scowl even more. "I'll get her back! No matter what!"

And... in the process, you'll lose everything you ever had, because your chasing a dream that cannot be attained. You'll lose everything, even though you know not what you have.

"Why?!" For a moment Cloud was thankful for the rain, he couldn't tell if he was crying or not in the downpour. For some reason, having someone else tell him this with absolute certainty was releasing a beast within his heart. A beast he had contended with ever since he'd lain Aerith to rest in the lake back in the Ancient's City. "Why can't I have her back?!"

Because... she is dead.

Cloud shivered. He knew it wasn't the rain. Somehow, as simple as the beast had put it. That was the way it hurt the most. Cloud felt his body give way, apparently the beast had released it's hold on him. He sank to his knees in the rain, quivering. He rose his face, letting his eyes meet those of the great wolf infront of him. Those glowing eyes of blue and silver that shone like lights in the night, met his own gaze evenly, unwavering. "No... There had to be a way to get her back..." But even his own ears didn't believe him.

It's time you learn... exactly... the pain that your living in the past has caused those around you.

Clouds gaze snapped up again, from where it had dropped. His mako infused eyes met the great wolf once more... And he suddenly realized how fatigued he felt. It was a strange sensation. Like a wave of water, sweeping him under the currents. The last sight he saw before his eyes closed were the silver paws of the wolf infront of him.

"Please... be careful with him..."

The large wolf simply nodded.

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A/N: So whatcha think? Yea I know i sorta left a cliff hanger there, but hey I love em! My first real attempt at fanfiction, so I thought I'd try my all time favorite FF first. I'm not real sure where I'm gonna go with the story.. All i know is that it's gonna be PURE Cloti (of course :)... gets out his bug spray Away... AWAY Aerith fans! Away I said! No I'm kidding... sorta....I'm gonna try not to bash Aerith at all. I really don't dislike her. I just A) like Tifa so much more and B) Think Cloud moving on after Aerith/Aeris death would be the realistic thing to do. Well... We'll see! Ja ne!