CHAPTER 4

A truck rolled across the soaked landscape, dispersing mud all across the make-shift "road". The truck was a dark brown, and not entirely big. The Shinra logo was displayed on both doors, but happened to be partially obscured by mud and rust. This was typical ground transportation for Shinra troops, even SOLDIERS. This, it would seem to any logical person, would be quite odd. After all, Shinra spends thousands of gil recruiting and training their elite SOLDIERS... but then forces them to ride in small, rusted out trucks on dirt roads as oppose to a more luxurious or convenient mode of transportation, like an Airship... or at least something with actual SEATS...

Plus it was raining. Not too hard, but hard enough to soften the road and obscure the driver's view of the way in front of him. In the back, his "cargo" awaited. Two troops, a SOLDIER, and the mighty general himself, Sephiroth. The two troops and Sephiroth were sitting on crates dispersed throughout the cab, but Zack opted to stand. He turned to the troop facing the back, who was hunched over.

"So, how ya doin'?"

"hrm?"

Zack looked down at... the troop. He was holding his mask out in front of himself as though he were about to vomit inside of it. The troop looked up weakly at the young SOLDIER...

"I'm okay..." he replied unconvincingly. Zack gave the young troop a smug grin.

"I wouldn't know, I've never had motion sickness," Zack replied. The troop was going to comment on Zack's rubbing it in, but a wave of nausea overtook him, and he had to concentrate on keeping his lunch down. Did he even eat lunch? He couldn't remember.

Zack had turned his attention to another troop near the front of the cab, but that one hadn't felt like talking.

"Hey..." Sephiroth said. "Settle down." He brushed his long silver hair back with a gloved hand, getting it out of his glowing green eyes. These features, coupled with his relatively pale skin, bore a stark contrast to his all-black-and-silver uniform. He wore a trench coat, but no shirt underneath. Large, double-plated metal pads protected his shoulders, but that was about it.

"They gave me some new materia!" Zack replied ecstatically. He started doing squats... "I can't wait to use it!"

Sephiroth shook his head humorlessly, but fought a smile that tried to come to his face. "Just like a kid."

Zack stopped in mid-squat, and got right back up. He scratched his head... "So you gonna brief us about this mission?"

Sephiroth nodded. "This isn't a typical mission..."

"Good!" Zack interjected, sweeping his hand.

"Why do you say that?" The general inquired.

"I joined SOLDIER to prove myself! But by the time I made it to First Class, the war was over! My chances of becoming a hero died with the war."

"You should not endeavor to seek our profession for such selfish reasons, Zackery. There is nothing glorious about war. There is only death and victims. Everything else is moot."

"B-but... You're a hero. You won the war! How can you say that?" Zack asked in reply.

Sephiroth shook his head. He didn't feel comfortable discussing this. "I thought you wanted a mission briefing?"

Zack blinked. He wanted to press the issue, but decided against it. He simply nodded.

"We've received reports of a reactor malfunctioning, and producing brutal creatures. We've been ordered to destroy these monsters, and correct the malfunction," Sephiroth replied plainly.

"Malfunctioning reactor?" Zack asked, confused. He didn't think reactors were supposed to do that. "Where?"

"A town called Nibelhiem."

"Nibelhiem..." Zack mused.

"That's where..."

***

Zack paused for a moment. He remembered that in order to cover for Cloud, he had to convince Tifa that Cloud had not been to Nibelhiem five years ago, so he definitely couldn't be telling her when Cloud had spoken up...

"Where what?" Tifa asked. Zack blinked. The young woman glared at Zack with critical eyes, as if trying to read his mind. Zack maintained a clueless look on his face, and scratched his head.

"uh.... I... Er, no wait... the troop didn't say that... lemme think..." Zack replied as he stumbled for an answer. "Oh yeah..."

***

"That's where my friend Cloud is from! Too bad he couldn't make it..." Zack replied.

-CrAsH!-

The four men stumbled as the truck came to a sudden stop. The back had been lift up and brought back down due to the swift halt. Sephiroth calmly stood up as the driver turned around...

"Sir..." He began, but then remembered that the other SOLDIER was his superior, as well, "..s. We've crashed into something!" he reported unnecessarily.

Sephiroth unsheathed his gigantic, six-foot blade, the Masamune. "That would be our monster."

The two SOLDIERs piled out of the truck, as the two troops stayed inside and readied their guns, preparing to back up the two men... but both of them knew that they weren't needed.

A large, green dragon circled the truck, not knowing what to make of it. Was this some other creature, invading it's turf? No... it was a machine of the humans. The dragon saw two humans come out the back, eyeing it cautiously. The large creature jumped over the truck to meet them, hoping they'd make a sufficient snack.

Zack charged the creature and slashed at it with all his might. However, his might -as impressive as it was- was no match for the dragon's tough, scale-protected skin. The younger SOLDIER's weapon imbedded itself a few inches into the dragon's rear leg, but became stuck in the process.

The dragon let out a roar of pain, and began to summon fire into it's mouth. The human was going to pay for hurting its leg. However, it would not get the chance. Sephiroth charged the monster, and slashed down the middle. Zack didn't think even Sephiroth's legendary blade would cut all the way through the beast... but he was wrong. Blood gushed out of an invisible wound that encompassed the dragon's mid-section, like a sprinker. Then the front half of the dragon fell forward, with an almost perfect edge presenting its innards. The back half fell harmlessly to the side as Zack pulled his weapon free from the dragon's limp body.

Zack looked the monster over while wiping its blood off of himself. He turned to Sephiroth. "Wow, you must be a hit at parties!" he commented. This time, Sephiroth allowed himself to smile, but that was his only response to Zack's humorous query. He walked back to the truck, with Zack tagging close behind.

***

"And then we reached Nibelhiem." Zack pointed out.

Tifa nodded in agreement. She remembered having sat by the gates, wondering if anyone she knew would be in the group... but all she saw were two masked, inconspicuous Military Policemen, then the two SOLDIERS... Sephiroth, and some guy she didn't recognize. And although she didn't want to admit it, she thought the younger SOLDIER was rather cute... The same one who sat next to her just now. She thought it was funny how life just kept going on in circles like that.

"Aaanyway..." Zack continued, making sure he still had Tifa and Dyne's attention... and noticing a few of the others were listening intently to his tale as well... "By the time we got there, the weather had cleared up. Sephiroth had the driver let us out about a half a mile from the town, and we walked the rest of the way..."

***

"Hmm... Too bad Cloud couldn't make it..." Zack blurted out, "I'm sure he misses his home-town."

Sephiroth stood at the town gates, taking in the scenery. He turned to face his men. "I wouldn't know what that's like..." the general replied, "I don't have a home town."

"Oh?" Zack commented, "What about your parents?"

"My mother was Jenova... she died when I was born. My father..." Sephiroth paused, and started to laugh to himself. He shook his head. "...what does it matter. Let's go..."

Sephiroth had said something about the Mako smelling bad to himself. Zack heard him, but didn't notice any odor. Sephiroth headed over to the Inn, the other three following. He turned once again to address his trope... "We only need one lookout, so you others get some rest. Oh, and..."

***

"Aaaaand, what?" Dyne asked, after Zack had paused for a few moments.

Zack shrugged his shoulders. "I.. forget what he said. Must not be important..." He lamely replied, giving a slight shrug.

"Did you say 'Jenova' before?" one of the others asked. Zack turned around to look at who had said that. He looked about 18 and wore a black muscle shirt and a red bandana. Zack remembers Dyne as having called him... Biggs or something like that.

"Yeah..." Zack replied with a nod. "Why do you ask?"

"hmm... Nothing, it's just that that sounds familiar. Y'see, I'm AVALANCHE's espionage expert!" He proclaimed proudly, "..And I could have sworn I've seen that name in some files once..." He said, trailing off.

"Well, keep listening, I'll get into that," Zack confirmed with a nod. He turned back to Dyne and Tifa...

***

Nibelhiem was a small town. A VERY small town. Only about 20 or so houses surrounded a well, along with the Inn and general store. The "road" was just several stones and bricks with moss overtaking a few parts. And that was pretty much the ONLY road in the town. Most of the houses were fitted with Mako-powered climate control devices on the roofs, a rather advanced feature for such old-looking houses. And besides about two small office buildings and a few scattered farms in the outskirts, that was it... with the obvious exception of a mansion near the base of Mount Nibius, the "younger brother" of Mount Nibel, which the town was named after.

Zack wandered around town for a few minutes, even though one of the troops had been assigned as the look-out. He greeted a few of the townsfolk here and there, but ultimately couldn't find any way... or any ONE to help pass the time. He had, however, found a brown, friendly dog wandering near the well, which stood at the center of the town square. He played fetch with it for a while, but both participants soon became bored. Zack reluctantly wandered back to the inn.

Once inside, he came upon quite a sight. Sephiroth was glaring at some strange older man, and the older man seemed to be sizing up Sephiroth as well. The elderly Inn Keeper was standing behind his oak desk and sweating bullets, afraid of what might happen. After several tense moments, both men seemed to come to a silent agreement or something, because at the same time both of their expressions softened, and Sephiroth strode up the carpeted stairs. The Inn-keeper let out a sigh of relief, plopped down in his chair and put his hand to his chest, as if somehow this would help him control his breathing and heart rate. Zack looked quizzingly at the older man Sephiroth had been looking at.

He had thick muscles lining his old frame which were barley visible under the leather armor he wore. A skull cap and a red cape were also included on the man's ensemble. Zack approached the man...

"What was that all about?" he asked innocently, thumbing over at where Sephiroth had been. The older man looked Zack up and down for a moment before replying...

"Nothing. Nothing at all," the man replied, stroking his thick, graying beard. "So... you're from SOLDIER, eh? Here to clean up your messes, are you?" he said with just a touch of disdain present in his voice.

"Whatever we have to do to stop innocent people from getting hurt, sir," Zack replied curtly. "Just who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Zangan, I teach children martial arts. I have over 200 students all across the world, including one in this town," the older man replied.

"How do you manage that many dispersed students?" Zack questioned with interest.

Zangan let out a small chuckle. "It's no easy feat, I assure you. However, many of my students live in Midgar, Kalm and Junon. I only travel this far out because my student here has the most promise. I come by every six weeks to check up on her and teach her some new moves..."

"Ah," the young SOLDIER said to show his comprehension. The old guy was starting to bore him, though. "Well, hey, I'll see ya around..." Zack said with a wave of his hand. He turned and started up the stairs, noticing the fine grain of the wooden rail, and how comfortable the carpet felt, even though he was wearing clunky combat boots. He made a mental note to walk on the carpet in his bare feet sometime.

When Zack reached the top of the steps, he looked down the hallway to see Sephiroth looking out the window, who wore a contemplative look on his face. Zack strode over next to him, and leaned back against the wall, holding his hands behind his head. He just looked at the general for a minute or so, not knowing whether or not Sephiroth was aware of his presence. Zack decided to change that.

"Viva la revolution..." he muttered sarcastically.

Sephiroth blinked and turned his head to his young charge. "What do you mean?" he said in a half-annoyed tone. Then again, half the things Sephiroth said seemed to be in a tone of partial annoyance.

"That weird guy downstairs you were having a staring contest with..." Zack began to respond, "He's training kids all over the world how to fight, and he doesn't seem to love the us Shinra guys too much," he finished nonchalantly. "Like I said... 'viva la revolution'..."

"It would take more than a few children to bring down the Shinra empire. And if that happens, I will laugh when it does." Sephiroth replied, realizing what Zack was getting at. He noticed Zack looking at him wide-eyed. "What is it now, Zackery?"

"Uhm, did you just make a joke, sir?" Zack wondered aloud. Sephiroth's response was a simple shrug.

"No. These are the kinds of things we are meant to deal with. And if somehow power is grasped from Shinra's hands by a group of children... well, even I would find that to be a very comical situation," he finally added. Sephiroth turned back towards the window.

The sun was just starting to set, and cast long beams of light through the glass surface. Just outside the window stood an old mansion, made mostly of old gray brick and stone. It looked underused and as though it had not been inhabited in years, but it showed no signs of decay, dilapidation, or wear. It just looked... old. At least, that's what Zack had though when he peeked out the window.

Zack looked around the hallway in boredom. The doors to the rooms were to the left, and he noticed there were only two of them. The one closest to him was open, but he didn't look inside, assuming that's where he'd be spending the night. He'd have plenty of time to explore it later. The floor was made of a rich, dark wood with a smooth, professional finish. Plants lined the otherwise white hallway. There were paintings on both ends of the hallway, as well as one in between the two doors.

The young SOLDIER took in his surroundings for a few minutes more. He then noticed that Sephiroth had not moved the whole time. He found this troubling, so he approached the long-haired warrior once more.

"Whatchya lookin' at?" Zack asked. He was very puzzled as to what could keep the general's attention for such a long time. At about this time, a troop started coming up the stairs.

Sephiroth put his hand to his chin and narrowed his eyes. Without turning to face Zack, he simply responded as though talking to the window, "This place... it feels... familiar somehow."

Zack looked at Sephiroth intently for a moment, shrugging, waiting for more. But Sephiroth did not continue. After a few moments, Sephiroth dropped whatever thoughts had been passing through his mind and turned his attention to Zack and the MP.

"Hmm, we're short one bed..." the MP announced upon walking into the room, noticing there were only three beds for the four-man party.

Zack went up to the MP and pat him on the shoulder, "We can share one, hotshot!" he said with a fake, exaggerated wink. He put his arm around the MP playfully and pulled the poor troop over to him. "What's the matter, intimidated by my mackin-daddy loooooove?" he yelled kiddingly.

"Dude, get offa me!" The MP replied while pushing Zack away. Zack let out a laugh, while Sephiroth simply shook his head.

"We have an early start tomorrow," he announced, "So get some rest. When Kawolski gets back, I'll take the next watch, then Zack, then you..." he continued, pointing to the MP. "The bed issue is moot, since one of us will be awake at all times."

"Aww, c'mon, it's still early!" Zack protested. Sephiroth looked at him passively.

"I won't wake you," he warned. Zack took that to mean "You better get your sorry ass to sleep so you can wake the hell up on time!"

So Zack and the troop did what they were told. As it was, Zack seemed to need the rest, because after laying in his bed for only a few moments, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Some time later, Zack happen to open his eyes...

There was a large blade at his throat, ready to end his life!

"SHIT!" He yelled in surprise, kicking out wildly. He hit something, and the blade vanished from view. He rolled off the bed and onto his feet, ready to fight... Unfortunatly for him, though, the room was dark and all he could see were two glowing green...

...eyes?

Zack let out an annoyed grunt. "Jeez, Sephiroth, what'd ya do that for?!"

"It's your turn for watch," Sephiroth replied.

"Well, no, I mean why were you holding your sword out like that in front of my face like you were gonna kill me or..." Zack blurt out, forgetting he was addressing his superior officer.

"At ease, Zackery. We SOLDIERS must be prepared for everything at all times. As it was, I had about a good... eighteen and a half minutes to slice your neck open, a maneuver that would have taken more like an eighteenth of a second."

"Huh.. I guess I kinda see your, uh.. point." Zack said, looking at Sephiroth's sword, though trying desperately to avoid the pun. He stretched out and grabbed his own sword and went to leave...

"Ahem," Sephiroth interrupted. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Zack turned to Sephiroth with a puzzled look on his face. "What, you want me to kiss you goodnight?"

"No." Sephiroth replied, actually annoyed, "It is SOLDIER procedure to request a report of activities during the last watch, remember?"

"Oh yeah... so, uh... and for the record, I feel funny saying this... Report, Sephiroth," Zack commanded, though the grin on his face belayed any sense of authority he had.

"Nothing to report," Sephiroth answered disinterestingly, as he polished his already clean blade.

Zack rolled his eyes, wanting to ask why he had to demand a report when Sephiroth knew there was nothing to report... As it was, Zack still thought it was cool being able to give Sephiroth an order for once. He shook his head and left the room.

Zack strode out of the inn, gazing at the night sky. It was wonderful, amazing. Big, bright stars filled the sky, uninterrupted by city lights or smog. Just the deep blue sky, the mountains.. It made him think of home.. though his hometown was surrounded by forest and it was sometimes difficult to see past the trees.

And then another sight caught his attention. Someone coming down the path from the mountains... Zack put his hand to his sword and walked towards the person. All he could see was a shadow... though it appeared as though whoever was there was female.

"Hey.." Zack called out, though not too loudly. He was a good few yards from the person now. She had stopped, and stood her ground.

"Identify yourself..." the young SOLDIER commanded. The... girl remained silent.

As Zack got closer, he could tell based on the girl's height and posture that she couldn't be too old... though she did seem to have an inordinately large busom for someone her size, so maybe she wasn't that young. But he still couldn't make out any details. Even though he didn't deem this person as a threat, Zack wanted to know what someone was doing out this late, especially coming from the mountains where monsters have been rumored to have been spotted.

"Step into the light, please?" Zack requested to the silent entity. She remained stubbornly still.

"Look, I'm not gonna hurt you," Zack tried, placing his hands in front of himself. "I just want to know what someone, especially a kid, is doing out this late..."

"Auh..." The girl grunted, "I'll have you know I am NOT a 'kid'. I'm fifteen!" she proclaimed, stepping up to Zack. She suddenly stopped, aware that she had just blown her chance to get back home quickly and quietly. Her father was going to kill her if he found out she was wandering outside late at night. There's no reason a SOLDIER wouldn't report this to him...

Zack looked her up and down. She was wearing a gray muscle shirt which at one size too small showed her belly button and a decent amount of her cleavage, especially from Zack's vantage point from being much taller than she. He couldn't tell if she was wearing a bra underneath or not. The girl also sported red wrist bands and dark blue sweatpants. Her long dark hair was tied back into a ponytail. She also had a slightly worn set of Kine! sneakers. Zack blatantly looked at her chest for about a second, then shook his head quickly and looked her in her large brown eyes (As hard as it was to do so), also noticing her thin, lovely lips and perfect little nose.

"Fifteen? Shiiiiiiit, I woulda guessed at least seventeen." Zack commented with a smile.

The girl cocked her head a bit and looked at him strangely. "Aaaand, why would that be?"

"Well damn girl, have you seen your chest lately?" the SOLDIER answered candidly. He mentally smacked himself for being so not-smooth.

The girl opened her mouth in shock, and looked at the SOLDIER wide-eyed. She wasn't used to people talking like that. Then again, anyone who would say such a thing had moved out of town a long time ago. She recomposed herself and put a hand to her hip, and looked at the SOLDIER with a raised eyebrow.

"When my Dad finds out you're talking to me this way, he is gonna SO kick your ass. Not to MENTION the trouble you'll get in..." she spoke, her attitude beginning to show.

Zack was unfazed. "Yea-up, I'm sure your dad would be thrilled that you're out here late at night running around."

"...damn," the girl muttered to herself. Her mind raced for a solution...

"Hey..." Zack said softly, extending his hand. "Let's just pretend the past few minutes didn't happen. My name's Zack, nice to meet yoouu..." He said, waiting for her to fill her name in.

The girl sighed. "Tifa," she stated, taking his hand and shaking it, though somewhat reluctantly.

"What ARE you doing out here all by yourself? There's tons of monsters around here," Zack inquired, sweeping his arm slowly.

"Well for one..." She replied, not thinking she had a choice, "I can take care of myself. My father doesn't like me dressing like this, even though there's no other guys around, and do you have any idea how hot it gets around here? So I have to sneak out to exercise if I want to wear something comfortable while doing so. Besides, even monsters have to sleep sometime," she blurted out.

She thought that would answer all of Zack's questions. Maybe he'd just accept that and let her go...

"So... uh, there's no other guys around here?" he prodded with interest. "Sounds... lonely. Boring at the least." He put his hand through his large, dark stock of hair, and put that same hand to his hips, standing in a rather cocky pose.

Tifa suspected what the young SOLDIER was getting at. She took a good look at him before making a snap-judgment. Eyes: glowing, but they looked both passionate and mischievous, which Tifa kind of liked. Hair: Out of whack, but kinda cool. Jaw, chin, nose: All good shapes. Nice lips and complexion. Not the most handsome guy on the planet, she was sure, but probably the cutest guy she'd ever met personally. There wasn't any real reason to shoot him down other than the fact that he'd be in town only a few days at the most, she suspected. No reason to get too attached. Plus that comment about her body took off a few points...

She smiled to Zack's question. "Eaasy there, Soldier-boy. The country girl isn't used to too much attention."

They both chuckled for a moment... Zack noticed she was easing up a bit.

"Tifa?" came an unknown voice.

It had come from inside a nearby house.. It didn't seem directed at the two, but suddenly a light came on, near the side of the abode. Zack, almost instinctively, pushed Tifa back into the shadows. He didn't linger on the fact that he had to push her by the boobs to do so. Tifa resisted the urge to yell, and stayed quiet as she fell on her behind. Zack looked up at the window. A man with short brown hair, and wearing red-and-white stripped pajamas peeked out.

"Excuse me..." The man said to Zack, "Yes, you, the SOLDIER. I heard some voices out here... is my daughter out there?"

"aauhhh, No sir!" Zack replied with a smile. "What, with all the monsters running around, that wouldn't be very smart!"

"I'd rather she be with the monsters than some SOLDIER-boy with designs for my baby girl..." The man retorted distastefully. He started pulling his head back inside and called out, "Tifa, honey? Are you in your room?"

Zack had to think quickly... "Well, hate to tell you this sir... but I'm WELL past the, uh, 'design' stage..." and with that, he faked a hearty laugh. The man shot his head right back out the window.

"The HELL did you say to me, boy?"

"I SAID I was pumpin' your girl like this well pumps water!" He shouted out, thumbing over to the well in the middle of the square. He remembered thinking he was gonna get killed for this.

The man's eyes went wide, and he glared at Zack with fiery hatred and thoughts of torture and death. The man ran out of his room and grabbed a baseball bat and a kitchen knife and stormed out the front door.

"SOLDIER or not, I am going to KILL you..." he said slowly as he strode up to Zack. He swung his weapons clumsily, but Zack still backed away, feigning terror.

"Please, don't hurt me!" Zack pleaded. The man swung again and again, Zack letting him just narrowly miss each time. He lead Tifa's father to the well, where the man pined him with his bat by the neck and raised his knife. Zack saw that Tifa was silently crawling up into her room...

"Wait, mister, please! I-I'm sorry! It.. it's just that she was so irresistible a-and..."

"Boy, you are SO pushing the WRONG buttons!" Tifa's father growled angrily.

"D..dad? Wha's all this racket?" Tifa said from her room, pretending to of just woken up. Her father looked back and forth between Tifa and Zack. Zack looked up...

"That your daughter? No offense, sir, but she's not my type..." Zack pointed out dismissively, waving his hand.

"Then what in the hell were you talking about before?" Tifa's father questioned, still skeptical.

A dog came walking up from behind the well, and looked at the two men.

"Awww heeey, there's my bitch!" Zack sang, pushing the bat from his neck and kneeling down next to the dog, petting it roughly all over. He looked back up at Tifa's father... "heh, 'bitch' you see, that's FUNNY because that's a dog's title, and I also made her MY bi..."

"OKAY! Okay, enough of your blabbering, you screwed-up city boy!" the man spat out in repulsion, slowly backing away. He watched Zack with a critical eye as he returned to his abode... though hearing Zack saying something like 'oh yeah, you liked that... let's do it again, UH HUH!' was more than he wanted to hear. He looked up at Tifa... "Go to sleep, honey..." he warned.

Zack looked behind himself when the door shut, making sure he was in the clear. He stood up and pat the dog on the side, "Thanks for the backup... 'bitch'... heh." He waited until the light in the first bedroom was off, then a few minutes more. Finally, he saw Tifa in her window. He looked up at her as she put her hand on the glass...

"Thank you," she mouthed with a smile.

Zack nodded and blew her a kiss and turned away with a wink.

The SOLDIER wandered around for a while more, and then decided it may be time for the next watch. He strode back over to the Inn, and woke up his companion, though in a much more subtle way that Sephiroth had waken he. The MP stretched out for a bit, and asked Zack if anything happened. Zack smiled. "I got me a bitch!" he proclaimed teasingly. The MP shook his head and walked out.

Zack laid down on his bed, facing the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. He didn't WANT to sleep. He wanted to memorize every last detail of that girl and not stop thinking about her.

"heh... 'bitch'... I'm a clever mothafugga..." he smiled to himself.