Disclaimer – I don't own FF7
Coeurl
By Crimson Skies
Chapter Six – Catalyst
"So you call yourself a demon? Obviously you do not know the true meaning of the word," he mocked. Smiling, he holstered his gun and flexed his claw. A black aura began to gather around his form. The voice he spoke with next was not his own. "Allow me to reeducate you…"
The transformation was nearly instantaneous, though that didn't make it any less painful. Soft light from the moon filtered the trees, illuminating his new form. Purple skin covered his body, including the newly formed tail. A pair of sharp horns sprouted from his head and equally sharp claws adorned his fingers. A wild mane of spiky scarlet hair fell down his back. The first and weakest of his forms, but more than enough to annihilate the present threat.
The wolves were clearly shaken by this new development. However, it did not cause them to hesitate. They leapt at their prey. Vincent growled and batted one out of the air, leaving a set of slashes in its side. Sidestepping another, it overshot him by a few feet. The third, however, managed to claw his back. He lashed out with a powerful kick that sent it sprawling. Snarling at the beast, he was consumed by rising instinct and bloodlust. And in a whirl of claws, fur, and blood, the battle raged.
In the end, the wolves hadn't stood a chance.
Vincent frowned as he came back to himself. He hated the disorientation that came after a transformation. Somehow he could always recall what happened, but the memories were veiled in a haze of rage and bloodlust. He knew the demon inside of him had something to do with his berserker state whenever he used the ability.
The previously white snow was soaked in blood. Some of it was his, Vincent knew, but not much of it. He quickly took stock of his injuries. Something had torn his back fairly badly, there was a nasty bite on his left leg, and his head ached like he'd bashed it into a rock, or maybe a tree trunk, which was far more likely. The gunner grimaced at the gruesome sight of the torn bodies of seven wolves.
But there had been eight.
Where was the eighth wolf? He scanned the area quickly. There was no eighth body, but there were tracks leading away from the area. Tracks that led in the direction Cloud had taken.
Vincent set off at a run.
COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERSIXCATALYST
Cloud frantically dashed through the forest. Fear spurred him on. Something was behind him. He'd become of aware of his pursuer several minutes after parting with Vincent. The attitude of the predator was familiar to Cloud. He'd had a similar experience several months previously. It was playing with him and could catch him anytime it so chose. But this time resolve filled him even as fear did. He drew the dagger Vincent had lent him as he continued to run. If it caught him he would fight back as best he could. Maybe, just maybe, he could win. Or at least come out alive.
That did not stop the fear from clawing at his heart though. He felt like crying, but he didn't. He wanted to make his mentor proud. So he fought back the sniffles and ran on.
A moment later he leapt to the side, acting on instincts he didn't know he possessed. A fanged blur shot past. Acting reflexively, the hand holding the dagger snapped out. Crouching defensively, Cloud clutched the dagger tighter. The wolf turned to face him, a shallow gash in its side. It snarled viciously. Surprisingly, Cloud felt a growl of his own well up in his throat. He could feel something building, some kind of pressure. The wolf sauntered towards him, confidence in its every step. Cloud hardly noticed. Now, faced with this danger, something had awoken that hadn't been there before. The pressure inside his head was building. The wolf neared. Cloud felt as though he would burst. Pain lanced through his limbs. In his minds eye, he saw the face of a grinning cat with amber eyes. The wolf was nearly upon him.
And he snapped.
With a feral cry, he lashed out with the growing power. A bolt of blue lightning leapt from his hands at the wolf. It yelped in sudden pain. Its decidedly singed fur was standing on edge and its whole body was smoking. But it was still very much alive and now angry as well. Cloud felt drained. Whatever power he'd used hadn't been enough to stop it. Using his new instincts, he was able to dodge the beast's lunge…barely. He tried to flee, but his exhausted body refused to cooperate. He stumbled and fell backwards into the snow. Cloud could only watch in terror as the creature leapt at him.
A shot rang through the air.
The wolf's course was diverted and it fell to the ground where it lay still. Snapping his head around, Cloud spotted Vincent rapidly approaching.
"Are you alright?" the gunner asked, his concern apparent.
COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERSIXCATALYST
Hojo frowned at the file on his desk. On the front it read "Anima Project" in large red letters. It was such a waste. He almost regretted having to abandon the project. The original theory had possessed incredible potential. The goal had been to improve the typical mako enhancements using the theory behind the Chaos Project: that is to say, combining a creature's genes with that of a human's using the mako to fuse the two and stabilize the procedure. By using a smaller amounts of mako - though still enough to cause slight mako poisoning - and less volatile creatures they could, conceivably, avoid the kind of instability caused in the Chaos project.
The only catch was that the creature used had to be compatible with the subject. If they used more mako to force the fusion, instead of just enough to initiate it, it would cause an imbalance. He had even hypothesized that a DNA injection wasn't even necessary if perfect compatibility was obtained. It would probably just take a bit of magic power, physical contact, and a large enough blood mako content to start the reaction. That is, if what he'd learned about the mutations caused by mako poisoning held true. Overall, the possibilities had been promising. There were plenty of creatures, monsters, and animals to choose from.
But the subject rejected every sample.
It was infuriating. Over fifty samples tested and every one rejected. And the solution had caused a reaction in the subject so intense that the subject required a week of recovery before he could proceed with the next test. They had tried other specimens, but many of those had died within a few weeks of the testing. He reasoned it was related to the atmosphere the subject in question grew in. The specimens from Midgar had died quickly, shortly followed by those from Kalm. Junon natives were somewhere in the middle, while the one they managed to acquire from Mideel had done much better. But it was the single subject from Nibelheim that had survived. He surmised that it had something to do with the mako content in the specimen's native region.
But it didn't matter now.
Sighing, he filed the folder and moved onto his new Project.
COEURLBYCRIMSONSKIESCHAPTERSIXCATALYST
Vincent had been surprised at the scene that met him when he reached Cloud and the wolf. Cloud was sprawled in the snow, no injury apparent. However, the snow around the area was disturbed, as if a scuffle had taken place. The borrowed dagger's edge was coated with a thin layer of blood and a shallow gash could be seen in the dead wolf's side. This was not too surprising. He expected that Cloud would have fought back. That the ChocoBoy had the ability to remain uninjured was surprising.
The wolf's stiff, scorched fur was just plain puzzling.
"Are you alright?" Vincent queried, concerned. It was obvious that the boy was shaken. Cloud shakily sat upright and stared at him.
"I guess, I mean, I'm not hurt I think," he sputtered.
"You think?"
"I…yes, no. Just tired…and…"
"Shocked?" Vincent supplied the word. Cloud nodded dumbly. He waited for the kid to gather his thoughts. Had it been any other child, he'd have braced himself for an onslaught of tears, but he knew they wouldn't come. Cloud wasn't exactly the average child.
"Thank you, for saving me," Cloud finally said. "You saved me once again, and you've done so much."
"It's no problem," Vincent replied gruffly. He was not used to such gratitude. Thankfully, Cloud left it at that, understanding the gunner's discomfort.
"Vincent, I…I did something, just now. I'm not sure, I don't really know, what exactly," Cloud murmured softly. "It attacked and I just…reacted," Vincent readily latched onto the new topic.
"Instinctively?" he inquired. Cloud nodded. His blue eyes unfocused, remembering. Hesitantly, he described the event that had just taken place. Vincent considered the new information carefully. He mentally added it to his 'Strange Things Concerning Chocoboy' folder. The kid had described the lightning as being blue and had said it wasn't strong enough to stop the wolf. The way he described it sounded exactly like a basic bolt spell…
"Cloud, you don't have any lightning materia…do you?" he asked suddenly.
"No, you're carrying everything we have," Cloud responded. "I don't know how to use it yet, remember?"
"It shouldn't be possibly, but…" Vincent muttered. "Cloud, are you an Ancient?"
"An…Ancient? What's and Ancient?"
"Can you hear Planet?"
"No, I don't know what you're talking about," Cloud replied, confused.
"Never mind then," Vincent said quickly. Well, that ruled out one possibility to explain the strangeness. "Have you ever had anything out of the ordinary happen to you? Was there an accident or strange illness, perhaps? Or did anyone ever do anything weird to you?"
Cloud's hesitation showed on his face.
"This is important. Please, Cloud."
"I…" unconsciously, Cloud reached over his shoulder to rub his right left shoulder blade awkwardly, a pained expression on his face.
"Are you hurt?" Vincent asked in concern.
"No," Cloud sighed. "I…well, its better I think, just to show you…" He stripped off the shirt and twisted around, giving Vincent a full few of his back. Over the left shoulder blade was a black tattoo in a style that Vincent recognized immediately.
'ASI'
"It stands for Anima Specimen I."
Vincent was properly horrified.
ENDCHAPTERSIX
Thoughts? Comments? Hope I didn't overdo it with this chapter. You're probably tired of hearing me say this, but please forgive the errors. As I work without a beta reader and no time to proof it, there tend to be a lot of small mistakes. Anyway, I'm hoping this chapter lived up to standard. Because it's Thanksgiving, and since FFnet finished their updates, I decided to update a couple days earlier than planned. I figure it'll give you something to be thankful for. J/K, I'm not that conceited. Hehe.
Cendrillo – I'm flattered that you think so highly of my work. It's wonderful to know that someone appreciates this story so much. I do have a tendency to be sarcastic, and at times that is where my humor lies. I'm glad you understand it. I do put an effort into my characterizations and I'm quite ecstatic that you noticed. I cannot state too many times how happy it makes me to know my efforts have somewhat succeeded. Oh, and you can never write too long of a review.
kuramanya – I'm glad you like it so much. The FF7 category is great, isn't it? There aren't a ton of fics in it, but if you look you can find some real gems, but I suppose that can be applied to any category, eh?
SarMortis- Thanks much. That one line was one I absolutely savored writing. Hehe.
Eternity – I'll try to update regularly, at the very least to keep from being murdered in my sleep. (laughs nervously) Anyway, thanks for you review.
Crystaline-Dragon – Personally, Vincent is one of my favorite characters in FF7, but I wanted to flush out his personality a bit. It was difficult to achieve the balance I was looking for, and I'm glad you liked the result. As for Chibi-Seph, well, he's currently threatening to maim me because I called him 'kawaii'.
Cammy – The Seph and Zack interactions are particularly fun to write. They allow my particular brand of humor to shine through. Hehe. Wow, so many people complimenting me on my characterizations. (Does happy dance)
Minako – Hope you weren't left in too much suspense. Cliffhangers are fun for the writer, but horrible for the reader. (I can honestly say I know from much experience with such thing.) Anyway, I hoped this chapter was satisfactory in answering your questions.
Night – Sorry about the cliffhanger. I enjoy writing suspenseful endings. (Sadistic, I know.) Forgive me? I can't say I won't do it again though. Hehe.
Narcissistic-Fruitcake – LoL. Glad you like it. Love your name by the way.
Topaz Chocobo – Leaving evil cliffhangers is so fun. Anyway, thanks much for the review.