DL Noleek
Sonata of Ages
Adagio
Chapter 1: Cloud Strife, SOLDIER Recruit
"I suppose there is some truth to that. My name is El Roe."
-El Roe
Cloud Strife sat hunched over in the corner of the train, his head pressed against the cool surface of the glass window beside him. The train was meandering its way through the tunnel, climbing steadily to the plate just below the Shinra Headquarters—it was a long hike. It had been several hours since Cloud had seen an open sky, which would probably account for the difficulty in breathing. He never would have considered himself claustrophobic, but then again, Nibielheim had nothing but mountains and wide open sky. The fact that he was crammed in the corner of a crowded railway car didn't help either. It was noisy and the heat from so many bodies crammed into confined quarters was nearly unbearable. Cloud had decided to join SOLDIER at age fourteen, despite the protests of his mother and his tiny town (Nibelhiem could scarcely be called a city). When the squad of SOLDIERS arrived at the inn only two weeks ago, he had eagerly followed five other boys from his hometown onto the truck heading toward Midgar. On the outside, he had left for the same reason the other five had: for the glory of becoming just like General Sephiroth. It was a good excuse, Cloud had no doubt of that—Sephiroth was a powerful figure in the eyes of the world. Sephiroth was not, however, his main reason for leaving. Nibelhiem, his home of fourteen years, simply was not the place for him anymore and the need to escape had been overpowering. There had to be more out there for him than the teasing and taunting from the other kids his age and his mother's home. Now he was beginning to believe that maybe his decision had been a bad move. Cloud had always been small for his age and despite the whip cord muscle that encased his body, he still looked frail. His sharp, angular, pixie-like face that he had inherited from his mother added to that softness, giving him an overall boyish appearance. The only thing that set off his elfin appearance were his eyes—two sharp blue orbs that seemed to glow softly with an inner icy flame. Tifa, a girl he had once tried to befriend, once claimed that his eyes had a mako-like glare to them. It was that glare that made some of the older boys think twice before picking on him. His mother said he had received them from his father; unfortunately, it was apparently the only thing he had acquired from his late father—that and his voice, high yet though it was. When they had first arrived at the gates of Midgar, the other recruits had simply ignored him, taking one glance at him and then just as abruptly dismissing him as someone of little consequence.
Cloud could have remained invisible had it not been for some of his "friends" from home. They had begun to commingle with the other youths and after that, everyone openly sneered at him save a few who probably just didn't care. Yeah, it was going to be the longest four years of his life alright. He could only imagine what was being said about him.
Given the uncomfortable situation, he had already begun to fiddle with the black ring on his right hand, humming softly under his breath. Both were bad habits, but nevertheless, it kept him calm for the time being.
Holy, but he hated people like them. Boys like that only said things like that about others because they needed to feel the power of authority.
And for some reason, he was the perfect target to unleash "authority."
Hi s best bet was simply to ignore it all. Personal experience with such things dictated that either it would clear itself up or the subject would drop. Either way, there was nothing he could say that would not result in a thorough beating later. Besides, actions spoke louder than words and he would show them that despite his small stature, he was a force to compete with.
Cloud reached for one of the poles as his body was thrown off balance by the train's deceleration. His other hand went to his eyes; the invasion of bright sunlight after so long was painful and it took a while for his eyes to adjust. The plate below HQ was not yet entirely covered by metal and there were several areas therein where sunlight and air flowed freely. Another perk of being a member of SOLDIER.
The recruits around him began to gather their possessions and shuffle towards the double doors. Cloud, after a moment's hesitation, heaved a small sigh and followed suite, lifting his single duffle bag and a large, heavy bundle from the compartment above him.
The station was teaming with activity. SOLDIERS returning from missions walked along the byways, chatting with comrades and unloading gear from the train's baggage cars. Here and there, medical teams tended to the wounded or performed routine checkups on those returning from certain areas. Along the walls were shops, vendors, and booths set up to attract the incoming units. In essence, it was the perfect example of organized chaos and Cloud couldn't keep his eyes from widening slightly at the sight. How different it was from Nibelhiem!
Finally, he spotted a thong of new recruits in a line that weaved its way through the crowd, stemming from one of the booths on the back wall. Mumbling a few curses beneath his breathe, Cloud began to make his way to the group by shoving through the masses, apologizing ever so often to those he was moving aside. There were definite disadvantages to being short.
He gasped when he finally made it through, nearly plowing the boy at the end of the line over with the momentum from his struggle. The other boy whirled around after the collision and Cloud suddenly found himself staring into a pair of murky green eyes.
The boy involuntarily took a couple of steps back and Cloud got a better view of the person he had nearly run over. To his great surprise, the other recruit was not much bigger than himself—slight, lightly built, and obviously meant for agility rather than strength. Like himself, the boy had blond hair, only his sat neatly atop his head and was a shade darker than his own. The boy's features were thin, almost effeminate, but they were by no means soft. The face before him was all angles with high cheek bones, sharp chin, and straight nose; it was the face of a hawk.
Green eyes narrowed into tiny slits and Cloud couldn't suppress the tiny shudder that danced up his spine. It wasn't necessarily fear that shook him, but the gaze was cold and foreboding.
Great, he hadn't been here for ten minutes and already he'd managed to humiliate himself; that didn't mean that he had to be stepped on too.
Cloud recovered his composure and stood up to his full height, which was still several inches beneath the other boy, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"I apologize for running into you," Cloud started, phrasing his words carefully. "I was in a bit of a hurry and couldn't see where I was going."
A single blond eyebrow quirked up in response, but the boy remained silent and took another step back, this time hitting the next person in line.
Cloud would have said more but the line began moving again and he decided to hold his tongue. If the other kid didn't want to speak it wasn't his problem. He really hadn't expected so much anyway and besides, it meant that he may not have problems later as a result of the incident.
When he finally reached the front of the line, Cloud found himself before a SOLDIER member in the familiar blue uniform of the Shinra. He sat hunched over a pile of papers at an old wooden desk that looked like it had been saved from the scrap heap. He was tapping a pencil impatiently against the wood.
The man glanced at him briefly before returning his gaze back to the leaning tower of paper in front of him. "Name," he muttered, his words barely audible above the dull roar of the station.
Cloud resisted the urge to retch. By the King of Dragons himself, his breath was horrible! Cloud could swear that he must have downed several shots of alcohol that morning; the smell coated him! He'd had a couple of drinks in his short life, but not enough to get that drunk!
"Cloud Strife," he managed. His stomach was beginning to feel queasy.
The SOLDIER shuffled through his papers, mumbling something under his breath about his name being at the bottom of the stack. Still, it only took him moments to find the manuscript he had been seeking and he pulled it out to glance it over.
"Cloud Strife, age fourteen from Nibelhiem. Mother is Odile Strife, father was Angard Strife—deceased. No brothers, no sisters, no other family—is this information correct?"
Cloud nodded in confirmation and the SOLDIER peeled a card off the bottom of the paper and held it out to him. "This is your ID card. Do not loose it and keep it on you at all times. Your room number is 671. Your roommate should already be there. Dorms are located in the western part of the building. A schedule is posted on the dorm door."
Cloud started to mumble a thanks, but the SOLDIER had already turned away to deal with the next recruit in line. He couldn't hold back a small smirk. Even though that SOLDIER had probably been the friendliest person he had bet since he started this journey, he was now an official member of SOLDIER.
There were several maps situated around the winding iron hallways, but as before, Cloud didn't need them to find where he needed to be—he simply followed the steady stream of people all moving in the same direction. The compound was utterly cheerless. The iron walls gave the building a cold, foreboding air and the few lights that lit the hallways couldn't pierce the blackness that lay like a shroud over the inhabitants. All the hallways looked the same. The entire edifice seemed to be nothing more than walkways branching of the main byway, all of which in turn branched off into rooms behind iron doors. He also quickly realized why he would need an ID card; the cards served as keys to open the doors. Some of the recruits moved off from the group and went into rooms on the first floor while the others, Cloud included, were led to an equally disheartening stairwell. Seeing as his room number was 671, Cloud took a wild guess that he would find it on the sixth floor and began his ascent. By the time he reached the correct floor, there were very few people still climbing. He threw open the heavy door and pulled out his card. It wasn't hard to find room 671. It was in a corner near the very back of the building. He slid his card into the electronic lock and had the satisfaction of hearing the tumblers loosen. The room, like the rest of the building, was dark and plain. Two metal beds with white sheets, two dressers, two desks, and a lamp were the only pieces of furniture in the room, but Cloud hardly noticed the sparse accommodations. No, what caught his attention was the boy sitting on the bed near the wall with his arms crossed and his knees drawn into this chest. It was the boy from the line! Cloud entered the room cautiously, setting his gear on the unoccupied bed before slowly turning to face his new roommate. "Look, I'm not going to make you speak to me, but like it or not, you're stuck with me."
The boy peered over at him from across the room, seeming to be considering his words. Whatever conclusion he reached, it worked in Cloud's favor. The boy uncoiled from his defensive position and got off the bed with an easy grace.
"I suppose there is some truth to that," he said in a light and airy voice. "My name is El Roe."
El Roe, huh? Unusual name, but then again, I've been called far worse.
"Cloud Strife." Author's Comments:
That was the first official chapter. I wanted to try and give a sense of Cloud's environment and perhaps a glimpse of his character as it stands at this point as well as introduce the character of El, who will play a rather large role in the story. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but then again, large amounts of dialogue really didn't loan well to this chapter (there's more in the next one though for those who want to know). Please review, and I love constructive criticism. I've been know to rewrite whole chapters based on constructive criticism alone.
"I suppose there is some truth to that. My name is El Roe."
-El Roe
Cloud Strife sat hunched over in the corner of the train, his head pressed against the cool surface of the glass window beside him. The train was meandering its way through the tunnel, climbing steadily to the plate just below the Shinra Headquarters—it was a long hike. It had been several hours since Cloud had seen an open sky, which would probably account for the difficulty in breathing. He never would have considered himself claustrophobic, but then again, Nibielheim had nothing but mountains and wide open sky. The fact that he was crammed in the corner of a crowded railway car didn't help either. It was noisy and the heat from so many bodies crammed into confined quarters was nearly unbearable. Cloud had decided to join SOLDIER at age fourteen, despite the protests of his mother and his tiny town (Nibelhiem could scarcely be called a city). When the squad of SOLDIERS arrived at the inn only two weeks ago, he had eagerly followed five other boys from his hometown onto the truck heading toward Midgar. On the outside, he had left for the same reason the other five had: for the glory of becoming just like General Sephiroth. It was a good excuse, Cloud had no doubt of that—Sephiroth was a powerful figure in the eyes of the world. Sephiroth was not, however, his main reason for leaving. Nibelhiem, his home of fourteen years, simply was not the place for him anymore and the need to escape had been overpowering. There had to be more out there for him than the teasing and taunting from the other kids his age and his mother's home. Now he was beginning to believe that maybe his decision had been a bad move. Cloud had always been small for his age and despite the whip cord muscle that encased his body, he still looked frail. His sharp, angular, pixie-like face that he had inherited from his mother added to that softness, giving him an overall boyish appearance. The only thing that set off his elfin appearance were his eyes—two sharp blue orbs that seemed to glow softly with an inner icy flame. Tifa, a girl he had once tried to befriend, once claimed that his eyes had a mako-like glare to them. It was that glare that made some of the older boys think twice before picking on him. His mother said he had received them from his father; unfortunately, it was apparently the only thing he had acquired from his late father—that and his voice, high yet though it was. When they had first arrived at the gates of Midgar, the other recruits had simply ignored him, taking one glance at him and then just as abruptly dismissing him as someone of little consequence.
Cloud could have remained invisible had it not been for some of his "friends" from home. They had begun to commingle with the other youths and after that, everyone openly sneered at him save a few who probably just didn't care. Yeah, it was going to be the longest four years of his life alright. He could only imagine what was being said about him.
Given the uncomfortable situation, he had already begun to fiddle with the black ring on his right hand, humming softly under his breath. Both were bad habits, but nevertheless, it kept him calm for the time being.
Holy, but he hated people like them. Boys like that only said things like that about others because they needed to feel the power of authority.
And for some reason, he was the perfect target to unleash "authority."
Hi s best bet was simply to ignore it all. Personal experience with such things dictated that either it would clear itself up or the subject would drop. Either way, there was nothing he could say that would not result in a thorough beating later. Besides, actions spoke louder than words and he would show them that despite his small stature, he was a force to compete with.
Cloud reached for one of the poles as his body was thrown off balance by the train's deceleration. His other hand went to his eyes; the invasion of bright sunlight after so long was painful and it took a while for his eyes to adjust. The plate below HQ was not yet entirely covered by metal and there were several areas therein where sunlight and air flowed freely. Another perk of being a member of SOLDIER.
The recruits around him began to gather their possessions and shuffle towards the double doors. Cloud, after a moment's hesitation, heaved a small sigh and followed suite, lifting his single duffle bag and a large, heavy bundle from the compartment above him.
The station was teaming with activity. SOLDIERS returning from missions walked along the byways, chatting with comrades and unloading gear from the train's baggage cars. Here and there, medical teams tended to the wounded or performed routine checkups on those returning from certain areas. Along the walls were shops, vendors, and booths set up to attract the incoming units. In essence, it was the perfect example of organized chaos and Cloud couldn't keep his eyes from widening slightly at the sight. How different it was from Nibelhiem!
Finally, he spotted a thong of new recruits in a line that weaved its way through the crowd, stemming from one of the booths on the back wall. Mumbling a few curses beneath his breathe, Cloud began to make his way to the group by shoving through the masses, apologizing ever so often to those he was moving aside. There were definite disadvantages to being short.
He gasped when he finally made it through, nearly plowing the boy at the end of the line over with the momentum from his struggle. The other boy whirled around after the collision and Cloud suddenly found himself staring into a pair of murky green eyes.
The boy involuntarily took a couple of steps back and Cloud got a better view of the person he had nearly run over. To his great surprise, the other recruit was not much bigger than himself—slight, lightly built, and obviously meant for agility rather than strength. Like himself, the boy had blond hair, only his sat neatly atop his head and was a shade darker than his own. The boy's features were thin, almost effeminate, but they were by no means soft. The face before him was all angles with high cheek bones, sharp chin, and straight nose; it was the face of a hawk.
Green eyes narrowed into tiny slits and Cloud couldn't suppress the tiny shudder that danced up his spine. It wasn't necessarily fear that shook him, but the gaze was cold and foreboding.
Great, he hadn't been here for ten minutes and already he'd managed to humiliate himself; that didn't mean that he had to be stepped on too.
Cloud recovered his composure and stood up to his full height, which was still several inches beneath the other boy, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"I apologize for running into you," Cloud started, phrasing his words carefully. "I was in a bit of a hurry and couldn't see where I was going."
A single blond eyebrow quirked up in response, but the boy remained silent and took another step back, this time hitting the next person in line.
Cloud would have said more but the line began moving again and he decided to hold his tongue. If the other kid didn't want to speak it wasn't his problem. He really hadn't expected so much anyway and besides, it meant that he may not have problems later as a result of the incident.
When he finally reached the front of the line, Cloud found himself before a SOLDIER member in the familiar blue uniform of the Shinra. He sat hunched over a pile of papers at an old wooden desk that looked like it had been saved from the scrap heap. He was tapping a pencil impatiently against the wood.
The man glanced at him briefly before returning his gaze back to the leaning tower of paper in front of him. "Name," he muttered, his words barely audible above the dull roar of the station.
Cloud resisted the urge to retch. By the King of Dragons himself, his breath was horrible! Cloud could swear that he must have downed several shots of alcohol that morning; the smell coated him! He'd had a couple of drinks in his short life, but not enough to get that drunk!
"Cloud Strife," he managed. His stomach was beginning to feel queasy.
The SOLDIER shuffled through his papers, mumbling something under his breath about his name being at the bottom of the stack. Still, it only took him moments to find the manuscript he had been seeking and he pulled it out to glance it over.
"Cloud Strife, age fourteen from Nibelhiem. Mother is Odile Strife, father was Angard Strife—deceased. No brothers, no sisters, no other family—is this information correct?"
Cloud nodded in confirmation and the SOLDIER peeled a card off the bottom of the paper and held it out to him. "This is your ID card. Do not loose it and keep it on you at all times. Your room number is 671. Your roommate should already be there. Dorms are located in the western part of the building. A schedule is posted on the dorm door."
Cloud started to mumble a thanks, but the SOLDIER had already turned away to deal with the next recruit in line. He couldn't hold back a small smirk. Even though that SOLDIER had probably been the friendliest person he had bet since he started this journey, he was now an official member of SOLDIER.
There were several maps situated around the winding iron hallways, but as before, Cloud didn't need them to find where he needed to be—he simply followed the steady stream of people all moving in the same direction. The compound was utterly cheerless. The iron walls gave the building a cold, foreboding air and the few lights that lit the hallways couldn't pierce the blackness that lay like a shroud over the inhabitants. All the hallways looked the same. The entire edifice seemed to be nothing more than walkways branching of the main byway, all of which in turn branched off into rooms behind iron doors. He also quickly realized why he would need an ID card; the cards served as keys to open the doors. Some of the recruits moved off from the group and went into rooms on the first floor while the others, Cloud included, were led to an equally disheartening stairwell. Seeing as his room number was 671, Cloud took a wild guess that he would find it on the sixth floor and began his ascent. By the time he reached the correct floor, there were very few people still climbing. He threw open the heavy door and pulled out his card. It wasn't hard to find room 671. It was in a corner near the very back of the building. He slid his card into the electronic lock and had the satisfaction of hearing the tumblers loosen. The room, like the rest of the building, was dark and plain. Two metal beds with white sheets, two dressers, two desks, and a lamp were the only pieces of furniture in the room, but Cloud hardly noticed the sparse accommodations. No, what caught his attention was the boy sitting on the bed near the wall with his arms crossed and his knees drawn into this chest. It was the boy from the line! Cloud entered the room cautiously, setting his gear on the unoccupied bed before slowly turning to face his new roommate. "Look, I'm not going to make you speak to me, but like it or not, you're stuck with me."
The boy peered over at him from across the room, seeming to be considering his words. Whatever conclusion he reached, it worked in Cloud's favor. The boy uncoiled from his defensive position and got off the bed with an easy grace.
"I suppose there is some truth to that," he said in a light and airy voice. "My name is El Roe."
El Roe, huh? Unusual name, but then again, I've been called far worse.
"Cloud Strife." Author's Comments:
That was the first official chapter. I wanted to try and give a sense of Cloud's environment and perhaps a glimpse of his character as it stands at this point as well as introduce the character of El, who will play a rather large role in the story. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but then again, large amounts of dialogue really didn't loan well to this chapter (there's more in the next one though for those who want to know). Please review, and I love constructive criticism. I've been know to rewrite whole chapters based on constructive criticism alone.