Not If You Ignore Me for a Week- Chapter Three: Wednesday
SOLDIER EXAM—Part One
Disclaimer: Me broke. Me no own wonderful Final Fantasy VII, all belong to Square Enix and their wonderful creators.
Title: Not If You Ignore Me for a Week
Pairing: Zack/Cloud
Genre: Humor/Romance
Rating: PG13-R-ish
Warnings: Yaoi, maybe some language, and there is a bit of bloody gore near the end of this chapter.
Author's Note: Here's Chapter Three of 'Not If You Ignore Me for a Week', hope ya'll like it so far! How'd ya'll like the MCHAMMER idea? Alright! It's the day of the SOLDIER Exam! How will Cloud take it? OMG! Allow me to scream and run around in little circles. -does just what she said- I've never gotten so many reviews in just the first three chapters! 8 reviews in chapter 1, 9 reviews in chapter two and 10 reviews in chapter 3! 27 reviews total! That's really cool.
-Note: This is spilt into two parts because I made it uber-long.
Dedicated to my wonderful beta, OmniStrife, author of Zack/Cloud story, Collide.
Wednesday morning… The SOLDIER exam.
Cloud hurriedly dressed, not even bothering to even try to attempt on combing his hair. He knew that if he didn't get down to the training arena by seven sharp he'd be out before he's even in.
SOLDIER exams were slightly different from anything. You were allowed the weapon of your choosing and there were older SOLDIERS who had healing materia in case something happened. He quickly pulled on his familiar and worn shoulder pad and dashed out of the shared room, looking at the couch where Zack had slept.
What he saw made him stop. Zack wasn't there. It was a miracle to even think the SOLDIER was up at this ungodly time of the day! Shaking his head to clear his mind of such thought he grabbed the hilt of his lightweight Buster Sword and slipped it through the harness on his back, running out the door, another piece of toast between his lips.
- - - - - - -
"Today are the SOLDIER Exams," Sergeant Okuda started, hands clasped behind his back as he paced in front of the sixty-two recruits that were fitted to take the test. Cloud Strife was in the front, standing straight, eyes looking directly ahead, as one were taught.
"In fifteen minutes you will be released to the training forests where you have to find your way towards the center where a battle awaits you. Third class SOLDIERS will be patrolling the trees so if you are hurt or in emanate danger, shoot the flare you have into the sky. Hopefully someone will get there before you're monster meat.
"Yes, there are actual monsters in there. I trust everyone to make it out alive, otherwise I will be sorely disappointed," he finished speaking and turned his head towards a door. It opened and seven SOLDIERS walked out, Zack leading them, face blank and serious.
"There are seven of you in this group that have caught the eye of a SOLDIER. When you are released, these seven SOLDIERS will come and find you, teaching you extra things that you will need when you come upon the creature in the middle of the forest that is suited to your skills. How you defeat this creature is what rates you to what class you become. Or for some of you, your rank as an officer."
Nods came from the group and Okuda looked at his watch, then at the sun. "You have untilfifteen hundred hours to complete this portion of the exam. From there, we go to your written exam, which is being given by Sergeant Onroy. Good luck!" He saluted and moved off as he raised a gun and fired it.
Immediately the recruits disappeared into the training forest and Zack lost sight of the bouncing blonde head. He turned to Okuda who was counting seconds down on his watch. "Five, four, three, two, one. Go, find your recruit and begin the lessons. Zack, wait a moment." The other six SOLDIERS, all second class nodded and ran with surpassed human speed towards the forest, each going in separate directions.
"Yes, Okuda?" Zack said, turning to face his past sergeant. Okuda pulled his hat off and ran a hand across his balding head.
"You're here to study Strife, are you not?" Zack gave a sharp nod. "The kid's a pain in the ass, but if you think he's First Class material… well… I'm sure that that's all that matters." Zack raised a brow and held onto the hilt of his Buster Sword as he ran towards the forest, following where he had last seen Cloud Strife run off to.
- - - - - - -
Cloud looked around the next tree, listening for a moment for footsteps or broken branches. He wasn't being paranoid… truth was, he hadn't had the time to use the restroom early and to be plain and simple, he had to take a leak incredibly bad.
It went against Zack's and Shinra's teachings to expose himself like this but he didn't really care at the moment. When you gotta go, you gotta go.
He bowed his head back with a sigh and looked up through the trees, wondering why the canopies were so think in this area. He sighed and tucked himself back in before zipping up. Just as he was turning around to grab his sword a whistle rang throughout the air.
He brought the Buster Sword up to a defensive stance and almost chopped Zack's leg when the first class SOLDIER jumped down from a tree, landing in a crouch. A big and triumphant grin was on his face.
"I knew it! You are circumcised!" Cloud's mouth fell open and it looked like he wanted to say something. When he realized this, he kept his mouth closed and turned his head, hiding the blush. Zack buckled down to business. He knew from past experience that the faster you defeated the main enemy, the greater the score that Shinra's leading experts and Sephiroth gave.
Zack told Sephiroth to be incredibly lenient with the kid. Sephiroth had scoffed and said, 'Why would I have to be lenient with Strife? You say he's great. Even talent. Something you're hiding Zachary?'
An elbow nudged him in the side and he watched as Cloud walked away slowly, his Buster Sword back in the harness, one hand on the hilt just like Zack had taught him. Zack grinned again. "My own little pupil!" He said to himself quietly.
Cloud walked through the forest quietly, mulling over why he got stuck with Zack again. Maybe the gods were against him… again. Thinking about what happened yesterday, with him almost killing Zack in the gym and then almost choking him in the cafeteria with his annoyances, Cloud wondered if there was something else that Zack was hiding up his sleeve for today. There most likely was, and he wasn't too keen on finding out.
But, yesterday had been a tad better just to have Zack's presence around. He did that to him. Something about the hyperactive SOLDIER who draped himself over Sephiroth like a fur coat was just what Cloud needed to keep a clear mind. He didn't mind it much when they were sparring, but when Zack started to shoot out just annoying and stupid little things like 'move your feet 2.4 degrees northeast…' that's when things started to get out of control.
Zack kept his eyes wandering through the forests, his muscles taunt. Realizing that Cloud had no idea what they would most likely meet in the training forest, he jogged up to his blonde companion, surprisingly quiet. He tapped Cloud and surprised blue eyes turned to latch onto the glowing orbs.
He raised a brow and crossed his arms, expecting something. Zack gestured around the forest. "You've never been around a real monster, have you?" Cloud grudgingly had to shake in head in a negative answer. "Well, these lurking creeps aren't even your normal behemoths and flans. Shinra has a genetics division where they experiment on the normal monsters and their failures, they turn out into the forest. Now—"
A pained roar cut through his sentence and immediately both went on defensive, swords drawn and placed in front of them in a cross-hair fashion. "Now, if you get hit by one, tell me immediately Cloud. These things aren't to be messed with. Some had deadly poison in their veins."
A small scoff came from Cloud and Zack wondered if he would tell him if he was injured. Snapped twigs and cracks came from the right and Zack moved out of the way. He was only here to supervise and help when it got out of hand.
Cloud gaped at the giant mutant thing that charged out of the trees. Zack immediately knew it was weak by the barely noticeable glow in its eye and thought about telling Cloud about it. But the look of determination on Cloud's face was enough to silence him.
Cloud readied the lightweight sword in his hand and crouched, looking for a weak spot in the protruding bone that seemed to cover its body. There! Behind the front leg… piece. The creature roared and charged foreword, bulky body rocking side to side. Cloud ran foreword at once, going around the far left flank to stab the sword into the ground near its leg and jackknife around, slamming his boots into the fleshy part where blood was already dripping from used and torn muscles.
"Come on Cloud! You can beat it!" Zack shouted. The thing screamed, a deep and unearthly sound that sent shivers racing up and down his spine. Zack called. "Behind you!"
Cloud ducked foreword, just missing getting whapped by the long and stringy bone-linked tail. He shivered as he realized this monster was inside-out. The creature turned his white and red head, jaws open and rows upon rows of shark-like teeth winking innocently at him in the dim sunlight. "Come one! Hit 'em with a left hook! A right hook…" Zack trailed off as he looked down at his favorite blonde.
Fear flashed over Cloud's face and he stumbled backwards, pulling up his sword just in time to avoid those teeth mashing into his torso.
"Damn it." Zack cursed and ran foreword, withdrawing his Buster Sword as he went. He lunged, jumping beyond normal standards and shoved the point into the skull, wincing at the sound of the screech against his precious blade and ran along the exposed spin, ripping vertebrae and essential motor functions to shreds.
The creature roared one last time and stumbled down before falling into a messy pile of bones and muscle. Zack withdrew his sword and flecked it off before slipping it back into his harness. He jumped off the side and walked towards Cloud who was still staring up in empty space where the creature's head had been moments before.
"Cloud…" Cloud jumped as if he had been shocked, looking up at Zack before scrambling away from the dead carcass, sword clasped tightly within white-knuckled hands. "Cloud… it's alright." Zack placed his hands on the recruit's shoulders and Cloud looked at him, fear evident.
Zack remembered when he had come through here two years ago. The exact same thing had happened to him, except he never got the first hit down. He got knocked unconscious and Sephiroth had to finish it off. When he came to Sephiroth told him that at least he didn't run off screaming like a Nancy boy. Zack admitted the thought had crossed his mind.
Cloud gave a stiff nod and his eyes returned to normal, his hold loosening just a bit from their death grip on the soft hilt. "You'll be okay, right?" Zack asked for confirmation and another stiff nod was his answer.
Cloud then brushed past him and took a deep breath. He turned his head up to the sky and made a promise, just like the promise he had made years ago with Tifa. 'I will make it to SOLDIER. I'll show Nibelheim that I am worth something. And… Zack won't have to protect me anymore.' He looked towards Zack before moving quietly foreword, lightweight Buster Sword now in front of him. 'I won't let that happen again.'
- - - - - - -
"So, dear Sephiroth, how do you think everything will end up today?" Hojo asked, his nasal voice grating on the General's normally infinite patience. But, of course, his patience was always very limited when it came to the doctor who insisted on testing him and experimenting on him until there wasn't a drop of human left in his pathetic existence.
"Just as it always does, Doctor," he said shortly and continued to look down into the clearing where handlers stood, ready to bring out the appropriate monster when the appropriate recruit arrives. Himself, the doctor, the President of Shinra, Sergeant Okuda and some ninja from Wutai named Itachi all were gathered there, waiting for the presence of the to-be officers/SOLDIERS.
"Maybe there will be a better catch this year," Okuda said, crossing his arms. Sephiroth mentally agreed with the man. Cloud was a catch… the boy was already showing improvement… though, that just might have to do with the fact that Zack was personally training the boy. But, Cloud had rare talent and determination to make something of himself. Sephiroth hated to admit it, but the kid kind of reminded him of himself when he was training for the SOLDIER exam all those years ago. He trained and trained… and trained and sparred… took extra classes…
And look where it got him. Stuck in a plastic room with plastic windows that desperately needed cleaning with a bunch of old geezers who just wanted to see if the monsters would rip the recruits shirts off. The last comment Sephiroth didn't know if that was true for all of the old geezers, he at least knew it was true for Hojo and Mr. President.
Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest and looked towards the cages, wondering which monster Cloud would be given.
- - - - - - -
A twig snapped in the distance followed by a low vibration in the ground. Zack heard the sound, Cloud felt the rumble. Blue eyes scanned the trees, slightly glad that the trees weren't so thick this deep in the forest, which meant they were coming closer to the clearing.
"Hmm… stealthily," Zack mused quietly for himself and once again, walked backwards to be out of Cloud's way. Cloud, realizing that Zack was giving him room again to fight, steeled his nerves and made sure that there was no way he was going to freeze again like before.
"Ah, there's the sneaky bastard," Zack said and pointed his blade towards a darkened hole in the forest. A large and slimy-like caterpillar slithered out without making a sound and swirled around Cloud, ignoring Zack who had jumped backwards into a tree to watch from above. "Come on Cloud! You can send this worm crawling back to Shinra!" He shouted, but inside was a tad wary. The glow in this ones eyes were much brighter than the creature before.
The snake looked to be flipped from the inside out again but instead of bone protecting its body like the other creature, the rotting skin had a deep and thick layer of pus and infected muscle. Cloud swayed a bit from the smell but ripped off two seams from his jacket and stuffed them up his nose. Zack copied this move and cursed Shinra for giving him a heightened sense of smell.
The snake sneered and glowing golden eyes dripping with pus as it leaned foreword, snapping rotting jaws where a tongue slithered out, tasting the air, looking for Cloud. When it got close enough to the recruit he woke up from his trance again and Zack made a mental note to teach him out of that.
"Come on Cloud! You can do it!" He cheered from his place, knowing the snake wouldn't attack him even though he was probably far more easier prey than Cloud at the moment. Cloud shot foreword, and swung his sword down onto the sickening tongue, watching as the snake gave an ear-piercing shriek, throwing its head back and waving its empty mouth around.
"This time hit 'em with a left hook!" Cloud didn't waste any time. He brought his sword up and gave a downward slice towards the neck. "Hit 'em with a right hook!" The ground rumbled beneath his feet and he fell over onto his back, head hitting a rock with a sick crack. Zack winced.
"Cloud! Get up! I didn't mean for you to get hit with a right hook!" Zack shouted and coiled his legs. But when he saw the snake's jaws come to a stop maybe a foot from Cloud's chest he jumped to another tree to get another look.
Cloud gave a grim grin, holding his sword out in a cross-hair fashion across his chest, preventing the snake from closing his jaws completing around the recruit. "Asshole." Cloud hissed and threw his feet up, kicking the head back and jumping up, bringing his sword up with a thrust and shoving it through the bottom mandible and further, up through it's snout.
Another scream escaped the rotting throat and Cloud gasped in pain as the tail wrapped around his body, rotting flesh and pus streaming along him, getting his clothes dirty. The tail squeezed tighter but Cloud held onto his hilt, refusing to let go. ("Come on! Use that sword to good use! I've seen you use sticks better!" Zack yelled.) Cloud snarled and then the snake finally pulled free with another scream and Cloud brought his sword down, cutting a way out for him, snake tail falling off on either side of him.
"That's it!" Zack cheered, secretly relieved that nothing had come to harm the recruit. Cloud shoved the dead skin off him quickly and practically ripped off his shirt to get rid of the rotting flesh and pus that had covered him from his intimate time with the snake's tail. "Ewww… don't you look sexy like that…" Zack grimaced, sarcasm gracing his words.
Cloud looked down at the snake's head and kicked it over, opening its mouth and withdrawing a small silver necklace that had been caught on the fangs. It was a pair of dog-tags. Probably to some former Shinra officer. He pocketed them and turned towards Zack, a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Great Cloud! You did magnificent! It was stupendous!" He gushed, jumping from the tree, hiding his grin behind flattery. "I've never seen anyone kill a snake that large by himself!"
Cloud scoffed to himself. 'You've probably never seen a snake that big at all.'
"It was amazing how you did all of that! You were trapped, but then you kicked the sorry bastard and jumped up and went huzzah!" He made a few movements with his own sword and then the flat of Cloud's blade hit his head and he groaned, turning to the recruit.
"What the hell was that for!" He demanded, pouting at the pain in his head. Cloud opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it, remembering his self-proclaimed bet. Why the hell was Zack so damn annoying sometimes?
He stalked past Zack and into a clearing, blinking. The sun stung his eyes and Zack's especially. He was already seeing like day in the dark forest, but when the sun hits glowing Mako eyes, it tends to hurt for a moment.
"Ah, Private Cloud Strife. Surprisingly fast for someone of your statue," a guard said and eyed the pus that was dripping out of blonde hair and down a pale and surprisingly beautiful chest and then the rot covered arms and pants. His eyes widened at the pieces of cloth that were stuffed in Zack and his noses but then realized it was a smart idea when he got a whiff of Cloud. "I'd offer you a shower, but you must first face your final part of the SOLDIER exams."
Cloud looked to Zack and the SOLDIER walked foreword, a smile on his lips. "Sir." The guard saluted Zack and gestured for him to come back. "What level, sir?"
"Toss him the hardest beast you got, kid," Zack said and walked towards the tree that held the glass observatory. He felt, rather than saw Sephiroth come up behind him. "This will be interesting," he said.
"Of course, Zachary." Sephiroth said.
Cloud looked up at the guards who were now pulling a giant black cage on wheels towards him. He gulped and tightened his hands, stomach muscles bunching and twitching in anticipation. 'I can do this. Just like I can ignore Zack. Let's just hope it's not another pus-covered freak.'
The yanked on the black tarp and Zack's eyes widened at the same time a scream escaped the cage. "Of all the monsters… fuck."
Sorry, cliffy in a way. The second part with have the final part of the exam and the materia written test. Also, that will be posted this Friday.
And to my reviewers; Alatus, Seven Positions (I love the name!), Artemis, Heir to the World, Nyoko Iso, Artemis (again, thanks for double reviews! I squeal again!), Sekre, yukiislikesnow, animeobsession, and Beatrix Ravenclaw (sorry about giving the wrong date).
And to Heir to the World, the corn rant is very...odd to say the least. I actually went on a rant about it the other day at the airport and people stared at me. I'm used to it. XD
More reviews please? Feeds me ego.