Chapter 8
Squall would have preferred to have continued on to try and camp for the night but Cloud insisted they go back and bury Aerith with Sasha and Yuffie. Squall might have refused to double back but he knew what Aerith meant to Cloud so agreed to return. While they were placing Aerith into the hole they had made Rinoa burst into tears.
"So many friends. I never thought I'd have to bury all my friends." Cloud didn't cry, ratchet thought he just didn't want to seem weak, but then he remembered how silent he had felt when they buried Sasha. Ratchet wanted to comfort Cloud but he didn't know what to say, in the end he decided just to keep quiet.
"I just thought" Cloud said. Trying to put his mind off of Aerith's death. "Where's Vincent?"
Vincent forced himself to stay above the water. After all he'd been through it would be very embarrassing to drown now. He began to tread water and saw a nearby beach to his left. He was very weak and tired, his fight at the top had really worn him down and in the fall Sephiroth had cut him twice down the right arm and once across the chest. The wounds weren't fatal but they were the last thing he wanted at the moment. He crawled up the beach and lay down on the shore trying to catch his breath. He decided although he didn't want to he needed to team up with Squall and the others. The warehouse wasn't too far off, and hopefully the group hadn't gone too far from it. He still had one pistol his knife and a shotgun with one bullet in. He first knew that he needed to sleep, the last battle he had been running purely on adrenaline. As soon as he'd rested enough he would set out to find the others.
Ratchet woke up sweating he had had a nightmare in which he kept seeing Sephiroth killing Sasha over and over. He looked around to find the rest of the group already up watching him whilst cooking what appeared to be a rabbit.
"Where'd you get that?"
"Wherever we are they still seem to have appropriate food." Cloud said. Ratchet yawned.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Not long, only twenty minutes roughly." Rinoa answered smiling. Clearly in a better mood than she had been yesterday.
"What are we planning to do today then?" The others looked at each other.
"We've been thinking" Rinoa said. "If we have to we could probably build a raft to escape but Sephiroth could possibly get us during then. So…" Ratchet suddenly understood.
"So you want to take down Sephiroth now. They all nodded. "Then we'd better get going. They started by checking the forest but couldn't find anyone there. Squall suggested they get higher up to get a better view. They climbed to the top of a nearby hill and looked down.
"Found him" Cloud pointed slightly to the right and there enough was a man with long white hair. He wasn't doing anything, just as if he was waiting. Ratchet thought this was curious but didn't mention it, all the others were to busy concentrating on the best way to get down without being spotted. They made their way into some bushes, literally just a few meters away from Sephiroth.
"Perfect" Squall said. "We'll get the element of surprise.
"No we won't Cloud said. Everyone looked at him, he looked quite panicked.
"Why not?" Rinoa asked.
"Because he already knows we're here. With that Sephiroth turned around smiling like he normally did. Cloud stepped out of the bushes, his sword drawn. Squall and Ratchet followed his example and stepped out to. Rinoa stayed behind. She didn't have a weapon with her, and wasn't a very skilled fighter anyway.
"You'll pay for what you did to Aerith and the others" Cloud said, a tone of hatred in his voice.
"I somehow doubt that" Sephiroth answered drawing his sword. "Come, show me your strength. The three stepped forward. The final battle had begun.
