Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this story except original characters.

Chapter 2

If it's alright...

A tranquil forest sat near a mountain, not a sound could be heard for miles around. Yet, as soon as the sun reached the top of the sky, a faint sound of battle was heard, miles from where it originated. It was a sound of metal clashing with metal. Another clash soon emanated, only to be followed by another one shortly after. A few seconds, and another clash is heard, followed once again by another one, each one getting closer than the last. After a few minutes of clashing, the sounds of people can be heard as well. Metal clashing and people grunting with effort from the battle. The sounds were getting ever so closer; birds were fluttering from trees. The sounds continued to get closer as the deer were running away from the sounds. Each sound was gradually getting closer than the last one. Each one was more violent, more frenzied, and more powerful than the last one.

Two people soon emerged from bushes nearby, a male and a female. One was dressed in purple, and had a large sword. He had blonde hair, which seemed to be in rather messy spikes. Judging from his actions, he was no older than twenty-five, but was definitely past his teen years. The other person was much younger than the first one. She had short, black hair, which she kept down. She was carrying around a rather large metal shuriken as her weapon in battle. She put up her weapon right as the guy swung his sword toward her. The impact of the weapons created an astonishing reverb of sound. Once again, the guy swung his sword at the girl, but this time, she was not ready. She barely managed to block the blow, but it threw her off balance. She stumbled backward and fell, quickly putting up her shuriken to block another assault from the guy. Quickly regaining her composure, she jumped back and threw the shuriken at the guy. He was not able to react quickly enough. The shuriken collided with his sword, sending both weapons some distance away from the duo.

The girl smiled and said, "Say Cloud, you're getting better at fighting everyday. Just know that I can still beat you!"

Cloud looked right back and said, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

Yuffie ran over to her weapon, fast as lightning, and said, "Don't you forget it! I'm faster than you."

Cloud sighed and said, "Yeah, sure. I understand. We should be heading back soon. The rest of the group is going to miss us."

Yuffie said, "I'll race you."

Cloud sighed again and said, "You know that you're going to win that."

Yuffie grinned and said, "Yep!"

After a few minutes of traveling through the woods, they arrived back at a small town. Cloud arrived at one of the houses and went inside, closely followed by Yuffie. Cloud scratched his head as he examined the surroundings around him. The house was empty, and there was hardly any lighting in the room at all. Cloud said, "Did everyone leave?"

Yuffie said, "I doubt everyone left. Maybe they went shopping."

Cloud made a noise and said, "Shopping for what? This was supposed to be a get-together party. I arrived early, and no one was here but you. Therefore, you suggested we train to pass the time. I thought this was a way to keep me away from here until everyone could set up the surprise."

Yuffie said, "Would I deceive you like that?"

Cloud simply said, "Yes."

Yuffie said, "Well, I would steal your materia, but I would never do something like that."

Cloud said, "Well, I guess I was wrong. You really weren't stalling. We took a lot of time out there training. Maybe everyone set up, waited very long, and decided to go home because we didn't show up."

Yuffie slowly replied, "I guess so." She looked at Cloud and continued, "We should go to Cid's house and see how he's doing. He can tell us what happened."

Cloud said, "Well, if everyone left, we can always visit Cid. I should have known not to train that long. You just were keeping me busy and off-guard too much."

Yuffie grinned and happily said, "Definitely!"

Both of them left the house to arrive at a neighbor's house. Cloud knocked the door and turned around. He said to Yuffie, "Hey, do you think anyone's inside?" He turned around to find she had disappeared. Quickly, he checked his pockets to make sure he still had his materia with him. Muttering to himself, he opened the door and walked inside. When Cloud shut the door, he suddenly found himself in a very dark room. No lights were on, no candles were lit, and the curtains were closed. Cloud groped at the wall for a few seconds and finally found the light switch. He flipped it and the lights went on.

Suddenly, a shout emanated from all corners of the room. The voices all shouted in unison, "Surprise!" to Cloud. Cloud jumped back and quickly pulled out his sword out of instinct. Behind a couch Yuffie jumped out and said, "Told you everyone didn't leave!"

Cloud said, "Damn! I should have known."

One guy walked out from behind the curtain and said, "Yeah, you should have known that at least I'd be here. This is my damn house!"

Cloud said, "Cid, I already guessed that."

Cid said, "Well, I'm not the only one here."

A guy, with a gun on his arm, walked up to Cloud, and said, "Cloud, we thought you weren't going to show up!"

Cloud said, "Barret, you know full well that I was going to make it. Have you no faith in me after what we've been through?"

Cid exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "Yeah, that is true, but it's hard to figure you out sometimes."

A lady walked out from behind a counter, put her hands to her hips, and said, "Yeah Cloud! You worry us sometimes."

Cloud said, "Tifa! Oh, come on. You know I wasn't going to miss this. It's been a while since I've seen all you guys."

A stuffed doll and a strange creature walked into the room from the back door. The doll said, "Yeah, too long Cloud."

Cloud said, "Cait! Red! How are you doing?"

Red looked up and said, "I'm okay. Cosmo Canyon is doing great, even without me there for this party."

Cait said, "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'm just here because, well, I am. You guys are my only friends, so hanging out with you guys is great."

Cloud looked and said, "Hey, where's Vincent?"

Cid said, "Dunno, he was here at first. He walked out the door to get a breath of fresh air, and he hasn't come back in. Damn, where has he gone to now?"

Cloud said, "We should go out the back and look for him."

Everyone walked out the back door, and looked around. A voice said, in a rather unenthusiastically voice, "Surprise…"

Cid sarcastically said, "Well, it seems that the aftershock was more powerful as I thought."

Vincent said, "I'm not really into this whole… surprise… thing."

Cloud said, "Hey, check it out. We got Picnic tables, food, and such. I guess it's time to party."

Cid said, "Quit saying things like a damn whimp!"

Cloud looked uneasy and somewhat enthusiastically said, "Let's party!"

Everyone gathered around the table and looked at all the food before them. They ate and played around and talked until it was almost sunset. Late into the celebrations, Vincent left and said he would be back in a few minutes. However, a few minutes passed and Vincent had not returned. Cloud became worried that something might have happened. He left the area to look for Vincent, while telling everyone that he would be right back.

Cloud looked all around the yard, but could not find Vincent. After searching the yard, he decided to try his luck searching the house. However, he met the same result; he could not find Vincent anywhere. Cloud finally gave up and started back outside the house to the party. Yet, as he passed a bush near the house, a strange gleam in the nearby vicinity caught his attention. He walked in the direction in the gleam; it seemed to be slightly off Cid's property. He finally arrived at the spot where he thought he saw the gleam. However, there seemed to be nothing there at all. Disappointed at his results, Cloud started back toward Cid's place. However, when he returned, everyone had disappeared. Suspecting another trick, Cloud decided to brace himself for another surprise. He cautiously opened the door to Cid's house and slowly looked around the inside. No one seemed to be inside, so Cloud walked back outside. This time, Cloud saw the gleam again, only this time, right next to the picnic table. It was mainly the same color as blood, except it had streaks of white. As Cloud approached it, he found out it was round, about two meters in diameter. Looking at it closer, he saw that it was a portal. As he bent over to examine it a little closer, he felt a slight breeze going into it. Before he had any time to think that maybe his friends were in there, a strong wind sucked him into the portal, warping him to an unknown place.