Author's note: Where oh where has Kadaj gone? Only I know, but don't worry you will too in this chapter. See, I needed a turning point in my story that basically asks "What will happen to Kadaj?", "Will Cloud ever find him?", and so on and so forth. Anyways... Keep on readin' and thanks for all the wonderful reviews!
Abstract Silver
With reasons unknown
His mind was racing faster than what he thought humanly possible. The small gears inside his mind twisted and turned, bringing a headache out of the sudden lurch in his heart and the savage fear that was now consuming him. He felt small beads of cold sweat form on his brow, slowly glistening in the beautiful sunlight. He knew that if he didn't get a hold of himself by now, that he would become weak. He hated being weak.
Cloud checked his surroundings over again, eyes becoming so unfocused that it hurt to even make out the church bench in front of him. A cold sensation crept up his legs and ran all the way up to his head, burying itself deep inside his self consciousness. It was then that fear of everyone's safety, the lack of food and sleep (though he rarely slept anyways), and the constant pulling in the back of his mind that warned him of this exact situation, got the better half of the blond and hit him with a crippling blow, sending Cloud onto his knees.
Hard floor boards crashed into his worn kneecaps, now frail from being abused so badly. There was a pinching feeling there, but Cloud paid no mind. A small dust cloud floated in the air above his legs, nearly invisible due to the lack of light in the shadowed area of which Cloud now lay in. The sun was hitting the wrong places and the blond was left in the dark, yet again.
Weak as he may be, Cloud forced down all the foreign feelings as slowly as he could manage and mentally commanded his legs to move, unsure if they would budge or not. He needed to find Kadaj quickly, before any havoc could be brought about Midgar for one last time. He highly doubted that there would be no more, but Kadaj had done a high amount of damage to the city and who knew what else the silver haired rebel would do while on the loose.
New energy, from sources unknown, were pumped into his weakened body, giving Cloud the strength that he so desperately needed. That, and the determination to protect the people of Midgar and save their lives was there to assist him. In a few short lived minutes, after much stalling and deep thinking, the blond found himself standing at full height.
A sharp pain in his ribs quickly forced him to move. Cloud swept his eyes across the pool of glistening water, searching once more for the body of Kadaj, but finding him missing yet again. Then, in a staggered fashion, Cloud moved towards the huge double doors of the stone church and stopped; something unseen from before catching his eye.
They were faint, but they were there. One set of tire tracks, ones not belonging to Kadaj nor Cloud himself, but of someone else's and fresh too. Cloud bent downwards, ignoring the knotting feeling he got in his lower back, and examined them closely, one eye squinted shut lightly.
With the help of the golden sunlight, they gave Cloud the clues he was looking for. Sure enough, the blond did not recognize them and followed the path that they had made in the light layer of dust. The black skid marks stopped just barely in front of the healing waters, sticking out like the Geostigma once had upon Denzel's forehead. And from there, the tire tracks came back towards Cloud, zig-zagging from left to right before they went past the doors.
He absolutely did not know where the person driving the motorcycle, who took Kadaj, had went, but that feeling of bad things to come gave him no choice but to find out, even if it took all day and all night. He was going to find Kadaj.
Cloud stood straight, back arched in unnoticed perfection, and regained his balance after his vision went blurry and the deafening sound of blood rushing in his ears finished its melody. His first step towards the outside world was a bit forced and caused him to falter oh so slightly. Another step followed, silent like an owl in mid-flight, and another, until he was standing before the brown double doors; scratches, splinted wood, and indents coming clearly visible with his close distance.
With one effortless push, the doors creaked open and bathed both Cloud and the inside of the stone building with even more warming light. But the day was growing old and dusk was soon to follow in a couple of hours, a great problem to Cloud. His search should be done in the light, there was a disadvantage while fighting in the darkness. Who knew what fiends lurked among the shadows nowadays.
As Cloud stepped outside, black boots now coated with the dirt on the ground, a shadow was cast behind him, just as bland and distant as he thought himself to be. He looked upwards, finding his motorcycle in semi-perfect condition, despite the heavy damage that had been dealt to it There was no time to waste as the sun began to lower itself, driving the frenzy the fear had worked up to into overdrive.
However, there was one thing he had to do before going off in search of Kadaj. If anything happened to him, then nobody would have any clue as to where he went and thought it wise to at least inform his childhood friend of where he was going and what he intended on accomplishing. He knew there would be plenty of objections, but they were irrelevant now.
Cloud stepped on the gas lightly, feeling the motorcycle rumble beneath him, and sped off. The wind blustered perfectly through his jelled hair and often pushed it in his line of view. But Cloud simply ignored it, as he would anything else, and continued on.
In no time the bar was in sight, the large sign reading 'Seventh Heaven' sticking out clearly amidst the pale color on the outside. When it was above him, the blond harshly stopped his bike, sending him forwards quite a bit, and jumped off after he recoiled from the sudden stop. But before he could do anything, the door had been swung open and in the doorway stood Tifa, looking both surprised and worried for Cloud wore the strangest expression on his face that she had ever seen.
Was that fear?
Quickly he said, "Tifa, take care of the children. I'm going to be gone for a while."
"What's wrong?"
Although he didn't want to admit it, hating to feel like he had failed something yet again, but doing it anyways, Cloud hurried his answer. "Kadaj escaped and I have to find him before anyone gets hurt. Nobody else is going to die."
Tifa didn't reply for quite some time, then bobbed her head up and down in a tight manner, before they ushered their brief good-byes and parted ways; Tifa going back into the bar and Cloud heading off into the opposite direction.
He really needed to find Kadaj.
The grass turned into gravel and the gravel into sand. His vision blurred as his body was tossed momentarily upwards and then back down, where pressure was applied to his starvation stricken stomach. He could feel the blood rushing to his head, flowing so fast that he would be seeing black spots one moment, then red ones the next. It was becoming tiring and he was extremely bored.
Streaked in colors that surpassed those of the other night, the sky was a perfect replica of flickering flames pressed against a dark background. There were no disruptions around them, nothing but the gentle gust of wind that was only caused from being up so high. It wasn't the right time for the infinite amount of stars to appear, but the moon was visible as its glow bore right through the sheet of pale clouds that had attempted to hide it.
Visibility was slowing being reduced as the sun sank farther and farther away, the edge of darkness and all within it waiting impatiently to be reborn into a new world. Nightfall would be soon, but the sun, so strong and its rays still holding a great amount of warmth, was holding back, as if afraid of leaving all those under its care.
Ahead, though unseen by Kadaj, stood a thin object. It was a sword, the Buster sword, the exact one Kadaj had kicked down a couple days ago. The two circular parts near the handle where materia had once been placed within, cast two small moonlight circles onto the ground below.
A sudden stop only applied more pressure onto his stomach as a hard object dug almost painfully into him. He lifted himself up the best he could, eyes taking in his new surrounding and recognizing them from a time before he had truly met Cloud. Propping himself up by pivoting his elbow into the back of a taller figure, Kadaj was now able to regain some composure and drive away the faint feeling which came along with being carried upside down, over someone's shoulder nonetheless.
He was itching for something to do. The wait for Cloud had been nerve racking and extremely boring for his part, but at least he was able to move about and do things, like glare at the water and imagine that it dried up. Not here. No way was he going to stay like this forever.
A figure strutted gracefully to the edge of a massive cliff that overlooked Midgar. Behind the shadowed person was the one who was currently carrying Kadaj, it's movements slow and forced from time to time when the silver haired rebel adjusted to his position and made a small grunting noise before going completely silent. Hell, they were all silent.
The working lights of the city below gave off a glow that was always invisible when out in broad daylight. But now it stood out like a light in the darkest room imaginable. With that came the advantage of being able to see every major area or building, an excellent advantage indeed, for they all needed it to see where he would be heading towards. It seemed impossible from all the way up there, but they did harbor things that no ordinary human could ever master or accomplish.
A building, straying away from the others, still intact and giving off more than enough light from a new, natural source, illuminated long, flowing silver hair. It swayed in the gentle breeze, curling to the right and then back down, where it rested neatly onto the shoulders of its owner, the one standing on the edge of the cliff.
Bruises littered his pale complexion of his face, darker than the night itself. There were multiple cuts and bleeding wounds all around, some through a midnight black material that was used as protection. And just like the lights of Midgar, many small orbs glowed in fluorescent colors amidst the night. His breathing was irregular, forced and uneven, mostly from the distance they had walked and the injuries he had sustained from a previous battle.
The second, more buff looking figure, who had Kadaj slung over his shoulder, finally managed to reach the end of the cliff as well. He too sported silver hair, though done up differently than the man before him, and his walking was in staggering movements. One cut on his right cheek, deep enough for medical care, had crusted dry blood around it. There was one slice to his abdomen, longer length wise than width, and exposed the wounded skin beneath.
Kadaj blew a few stray strands of hair out of his face, jade eyes glowing dully in the darkness. When the person carrying him stopped, he made it known that he wanted down by lightly bringing up his right leg and knocking it against the head of the man who was breathing heavily. He didn't get any response for quite some time, but was lowered down eventually.
The sand like ground underneath couldn't have felt better. He stretched his aching muscles and flexed his still gloved hands, cracking his wrists while rotating them in circular motions. Most importantly, his vision was returned, though reduced and useless since it was so dark out. The silver haired rebel stood up momentarily and headed towards the cliff where the two taller figures continued to stand, setting eyes upon a glowing Midgar for the first time.
"The reunion...," the one with flowing silver hair spoke in quiet tones, voice nearly snatched way in the wind. "Where is mother?"
Kadaj sat near the edge of the cliff, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He was becoming drowsy and sleep called his name loudly. It was hard to fight off, but the voice of his brother snapped him out of it.
"She... is... gone," Kadaj closed his eyes and felt the familiar warmth that sleep brought along. Then something slipped into his line of thought and he was forced to mouth his demands, slurred by the effect that sleep was having on him. "Why did you take me?"
"Why were you at the church?" Was the only answer the rebel received.
"Yazoo," the one who had carried Kadaj to their location asked, "When can we rest?"
Kadaj wasn't about to answer to his older brother. He didn't know why, but he hoped that Yazoo would not find out that Cloud had prevented him from having their reunion and keeping him in the church. Yazoo would never know if he kept silent, which is exactly what Kadaj was intending on if further questioned about that. He didn't have to answer those questions anyways, he was the leader before, so why not now?
"I was looking around," Kadaj said in a hushed voice, his arms getting in the way of his voice that wanted to project outwards, but could not.
Silence was created, rather reborn, into the world that surrounded them. Loz shifted, uneasy about the way Yazoo was acting and his shortened temper. His eyes closed briefly and reopened seconds later, wandering down to the city below, then let out a pained sigh and sat down himself, muscles stinging in a silent protest. Across from him was Kadaj, who had let his leather clad arms fall uselessly to his sides and stared blandly ahead, making it hard for Loz to determine where his gaze had been pointed towards.
Kadaj's mind was tired, as was his entire body. He put up no fight against the overwhelming sleep that now spread through his like a wild fire. But there were thoughts of what the future held for him alone, and what it would be like without his mother and without the distant blond. Kadaj didn't even know why his mind kept on wandering back to the older man, not caring about it either, as he looked deep into Midgar, in hopes that he could locate the church. But it was worthless.
Away from his resting brothers, Yazoo remained restless and nowhere near as tired as Kadaj and Loz. There were some things he needed to do. Kadaj was unable to lead them, it was unquestionable. He knew that mother had to be alive somewhere, anywhere. His younger brother must have made a mistake in their mission, even though it seemed to be a false accusation, but he would fix it and their reunion fulfilled. But first Yazoo needed some more information.
"Oi, Kadaj," the unimpressed man, who needed to know about the blond, asked, "Is niisan still alive?"
Kadaj knew that he could not deny his brother from hearing the truth, but didn't want Cloud to be involved in any of this. This was whole new problem and the blond would have nothing to do with it. Yazoo obviously did not want 'no' as an answer, so the silver haired rebel gave him the correct one, though forced and slurred from his drowsiness.
"...He is... alive."
Yazoo's gaze hardened as Kadaj spoke words of truth, despised and just what he didn't need in his life right now. His own words were cut short when white hot pain rippled throughout his body, causing his eyes to narrow and wounds to sting. And to add to the list of dread that was without a doubt inside of his mind, Yazoo could make out the speeding form of a black object headed in their direction, quite a familiar looking one too.
"Loz," he spoke calmly, "get our brother and leave. He is here now."
Suddenly the silver haired rebel didn't feel so tired anymore. If Yazoo's assumptions were right, then Cloud was bound to show up and finally some real action would take place, it was boring here anyways. As Kadaj slowly raised himself up on shaky legs, he noticed that Yazoo had his hand pointed towards the blond and he knew very well what that meant.
Yazoo was calling upon the shadow fiends.
"This should stop him..."
Before Kadaj knew what he was doing, he had thrown himself at Yazoo, preventing his older brother from doing what he had intended. They landed harshly on the hard ground beneath, dust spinning around their collapsed forms and blinding Kadaj temporarily. He had no idea that his body could still contain some form of power and remained still, Yazoo's struggling body managing to slip out from under him.
"Why did you do that?"
In the darkness that had entrapped them within its mighty grasp, Yazoo's voice rang loudly in his tired ears. It had grown terribly silent, forcing Kadaj into another world, a state of mind which he was unable to do anything. But it was the mixed emotions and those foreign ones that were causing it. Kadaj went to answer, but his mouth remained closed.
He didn't know why either.