Author's note – "Sorry that last chapter was dull- not much actually happened- but bear with me- it'll get better, I promise!"

The following day, he awoke to a clear, sunny morning. He revved up his bike and charged through the plains. Along the way, he passed mountains, lush fields and flocks of giant, yellow birds, known as 'Chocobos'.

In the distance he could see a city, which looked very modern and new, probably about twenty years old or so. Dark knew this place to be 'New Midgar'.

The old Midgar had been there before, but only a few basic structures remained. A lot of the buildings had been torn down, and in the centre where an enormous reactor once stood, a magnificent building took its place. On one side was the word 'Shinra'. Dark shrugged, and drove into town.

"Err… Hello," he said shyly to an old man whom he passed. "Can you tell me where the airship station is?"

"Oh, you mean the 'New Midgar mega-station'" the man replied. " It's behind that big building there," he pointed to the Shinra building. "Say…" he squinted at Dark. "Have I seen you before?" He asked. Dark frowned.

"No, I've never been here before," he replied.

"Strange, I'm sure I have… Well; that's old age for you," he shrugged, and Dark thanked him before speeding away on his bike once again.

The streets were all very new-looking, the buildings around them looked new too, particularly in one area. There were strange signs he passed which bore the words 'sector' followed by a number.

Eventually he came across and archway which read 'New Midgar mega-station'. He pulled in and parked up. Once inside the building, he queued at the ticket office. To one side of him was an enormous TV screen. With nothing better to do, he watched it for a while. Everyone's eyes darted to the screen when the current program was interrupted by a news broadcast.

A blonde woman appeared on the screen, and in the background were images of a ruined town.

"Just yesterday, the peaceful town of Kalm was destroyed and transformed into this monstrous wreck you see behind me,"

Dark gulped. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. The town he was in just yesterday, the town which he had lived in for nearly all of his life, the only town he'd ever really known had been destroyed only that night.

Photographs of missing people popped up on the screen. He recognised some of the people, he had seen all of them at some point in his life. A wave of guilt flushed over him. Why had he been so stupid? So selfish? Why hadn't he just stayed one extra day? He could've fought- perhaps even saved the town. He put his head in his hands.

"Survivors all say they saw a tall man with long silver hair at the scene, who apparently, before the incident, he was asking for a man named 'Cloud'," He looked up to see a rough sketching of a man with a thin, pointed face and shiny hair.

"He had the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen!" cried a middle aged woman. "You could see the fierceness within them; it sent a chill down my spine," Dark took a good look at the sketch, taking in all the details. He felt raged towards the man as the screen showed footage of the fire being put out.

"Hello? Sir?" he jumped slightly and realised that the woman at the ticket booth had been calling him for at least five minutes. "Where're you going?" Dark frowned. The truth was that he didn't have a clue.

"I'm not sure… Where do you think?

"Sir, I'm not authorised to do that, but there's an offer going for tickets to Nibelheim- half price for this week only!"

"Fine, I'll go there, one ticket to Nibelheim please," he gave her the required money, and took the ticket from her. "Oh! Er… Will I be able to take my bike with me?"

"No, I'm sorry- no transport allowed," Dark sighed.

"Can I leave it here, then?"

" Of course, sir. That can be arranged for a small fee. That'll be 300 gil, please," she typed some digits onto the computer on the desk infront of her. "But that covers insurance, etc," she added when she say Dark's expression. "Can I have the model and registration of your vehicle?" She held her hands over the keyboard, ready to type the information.

"She's a Hardy Daytona- and take good care of her- her registration is G427 JZX," He gave her the keys to the bike,"

"Thank you and have a nice flight," she said monotonously, as though she said exactly the same to every customer. She smiled over-enthusiastically and beckoned to the next in queue. Dark went down the right corridor and outside, to where the airship was docked. It swayed in the wind gracefully, it's ropes swinging too.

He climbed an abnormally long ladder, which was sawing and swinging so freely Dark feared that would fall off. Once at the top, he turned and looked at the view. He could see for miles, over mountains, streams, cities, and almost crowds. In the middle of it all stood the huge Shinra building.

Inside was rocking to and fro, and Dark nearly lost his footing at least twice. He pushed his sword into a luggage compartment above his head, and took a seat next to a sleeping old man and a youth about his age.

The chairs were very uncomfortable- they were made of chipped old wood and were hardly padded with thin sponge. Dark kept having to change positions because of his discomfort. In the end, he folded his jacket and sat on it like a cushion.

"Hey, you've been working with Mako, right?" Dark looked up, as the youth next to him had spoken.

"Huh? No, not that I know of,"

"Sure you have, I'd recognise those glowing eyes anywhere. Been working for Shinra?"

"What? No," Dark said firmly.

"Suit yourself, but you've been near Mako, whether you remember it or not," Dark didn't reply- he was confused. Who was this 'Shinra' and why were his eyes bright? He stared out of the window as the landscape drifted by. Would his journey bring him more answers? Or questions?

The airship came to a sudden halt and every passenger inside jerked forwards. Dark couldn't wait to get out of his seat and stretch his legs. He grabbed his luggage and coat and skipped out of the cabin, and into the fresh air. He clambered down the ladder and onto the ground. Ahead was the village of Nibelheim which from his point of view, looked very dull, with the grey buildings and cobbled streets.

He checked in at the local inn, where he left his bags and belongings. Afterwards, he went outside into the town; which was very busy. It reminded him of Kalm, the same building design and similar streets and pavements. There were a few stalls which contained tradesmen desperately trying to sell something. One particular stall interested him; on its shelves were shiny spheres of a variety of colours. He stopped and picked one up curiously.

"What's this?" Dark asked, staring into it's depth.

"What's that?" the woman cried. "That's material, that is,"

"What is it? What does it do?"

"Its compressed Mako energy- I'm surprised you haven't seen it before, what with those eyes," There it was again; the comment about the eyes. "You can make and control magic with it, all you need is an enhancer,"

"What's a-"

"It's a piece of equipment which allows you to control the material. Normally its very expensive, but seeing as you have such a pretty face, I'll sell it to you for 500 gil, not bad eh?" Dark was rather confused about the 'pretty face' comment, but nevertheless he bought the enhancer; which looked like a necklace, and some 'Thunder' materia.

Whilst leaving the stall, feeling quite pleased with himself, Dark noticed a middle-aged woman with long dark hair, who made eye-contact with him. Before he realised it, she was running quickly towards him, with her arms wide open. Her expression was of extreme happiness, and the force of the impact when she reached him almost knocked him over backwards.

"Cloud! Cloud! You're alive! I thought you were dead! Thank god!" Dark felt warm tears running down his shoulder.