Disclaimer: I do no own Final Fantasy VII any of it's characters or references
Chapter 9 enjoy, kind shortI know.
Chapter 9: From a Friend
Slowly Cloud Strife's eyes opened to a familiar sight, it was the same room he stayed in for the past three days, after his argument with Tifa he disappeared from Edge, the room he now slept in was made of dirt and rock, he lay on a brown piece of canvas on the floor, the entrance of the cave has a wooden door, he slept against one side of the cave, on the opposite side there was a wooden window, he was dressed only in his long dark trousers, which he usually slept in. Standing up he made his way to the window, from the view below he was pretty high up, and appeared to be inside a mountain, outside appeared to be similar to the inside, the people were dressed in open clothing, there was red dirt that covered everywhere, there also weren't any houses but he saw other caves similar to the one he was in right now.
His blue eyes turned as he heard the door opening, as the door fully opened a familiar figure walked in, Cloud turned to acknowledge the feline creature.
"Sleep well?" Red XIII asked.
Cloud silently nodded.
"Well how about coming out for something to eat, it's already ten, I can't believe you sleep so late, even if it was you, I would half-expect Tifa to make sure you're up early," The red-furred beast spoke.
"Yeah, I guess so," Cloud replied.
Red made a 180 degree turn to face the exit and walked out followed by Cloud. The entire establishment seemed to be dug out from inside of a mountain, there was the same red dirt everywhere but there were also support structures inside to prevent it from caving in. Red was also the only one of his kind currently living is Cosmo Canyon, he was also the only one of his kind that Cloud had ever met in his travels.
Instead of walking down towards the main dining hall in the mountain, both him and Red were walking up a winding staircase dug out inside the mountain, they walked up continuously for a few minutes before they arrived at the top, when at the summit, there was a plain looking house with an observatory and a giant telescope looking out towards the sky.
"Where's your grandfather?" Cloud asked.
"He's at the WRO, since this is the only telescope in all of Gaia, well you know…" Red stated.
"Seems everyone is getting involved with them," Cloud said as they made their way through the house, the house itself was sparse with very little furniture if any at all, well then again Red couldn't exactly sit on a couch or sofa.
Eventually they entered into a room with a small circular table resting on a rug of behemoth skin, there were also two large windows against the walls, these windows were different, they seemed cut out of the house and was a tall as the wall and very wide, there were one on the east and south wall, the northern wall was plain and Cloud and Red entered from a large arch-way on the left side of the room. On the table there were various types of vegetables and fruits, ironically Cloud and the rest of Avalanche was a bit surprised to find out that Red was a herbivore, which Cloud found was odd because Cosmo Canyon was in the middle off a desert and there were hardly any plants, but the food he ate for the past three days, were as if they were grown in a meadow or orchid. Red sat at the table his four legs resting on the rug, Cloud sat opposite Red.
"Sorry there's no meat, but…" Red didn't have time to finish.
"Don't worry about it, I know you're a herbivore plus I prefer to eat this stuff," Cloud said.
"And I though you would be missing Tifa's cooking," Red teased.
Cloud grew silent, he lowered his head, his eyes facing the floor, again the topic of Tifa, it was something he wanted to avoid talking about. Red noticed how silent Cloud grew whenever he mentioned Tifa, both of them were his companions and friends, and apparently there was tension between them, so Red decided he's play love doctor.
"Could did something happen between you and Tifa?" The talking-beast asked.
"We just had an argument, it's nothing," He replied trying to make a short explanation that wouldn't encourage his friend from asking more questions, but Red was a lot smarter than humans.
"So you moved out all the way here from a single argument, I'm not convinced, did she kick out or something?" The untamed creature asked.
"Something like that," Cloud replied.
Now Red was convinced that something was amiss, Tifa no matter how angry she was would never through anyone out, and she rarely even got angry, and Cloud also acting like a child that had just lost or broken his favorite toy, the animal didn't want to get involved when his grandfather was away, but maybe he could just help them out, after all he was around as long as Vincent probably even longer.
"I'm not convinced, if you don't want to talk about it that's alright, but maybe I can help if you just tell me, you know you can trust me with anything," Red stated.
"I told you, she kicked me out," Cloud told him again.
"Maybe you misinterpreted, mind telling me what happened?" Red asked again.
Cloud then went on to tell him the events of what transpired after Tifa's date with Vincent. After listening to the story for several minutes, Red sat on his hind legs, while his two front ones were vertical and stood on the floor. Red didn't laugh as most people would have, he was much more understanding, he was probably the only one other than Aerith that understood Cloud's awkwardness
"Oh I see, you think because she got angry with you, and had a great time with Vincent, she doesn't want you to stay there anymore," Red summarized.
"She doesn't need me anymore, she'd probably want Vincent to move in, and I'd just get in their way, she's much rather have him join her family so it would be best if I left," Cloud added in a quite monotone voice.
'There's no way he could be this dense' Red said in his mind, 'And Vincent what the hell is he thinking, falling for Tifa.'
"Cloud you know you're welcome to live here if you wish, to tell the truth it gets kinda lonely sometimes, but well, I got a better idea, how about you put that lifetime membership pass to the Gold Saucer to use," Red stated.
Cloud looked at Red a bit confused, "You want to go to Gold Saucer, never struck me as the type to enjoy Chocobo racing," he added with sarcasm.
'He's really this dense, I can't believe it, if I hadn't met the other members of AVALANCHE I would have thought all humans were like this' Red said in his mind.
"Not for me, it's for Tifa," Red explained.
Cloud looked at him a bit confused, he didn't understand what Red was implying, Red also saw how confused Cloud was released a sigh, he was going to have to explain it to him.
"Cloud why don't you take Tifa out on a date," Red suggested.
Cloud was definitely surprised by Red's comment, he held and even more confused look on his face, Red sighed again after seeing Cloud's expression.
"I'm sure you can make things better it you take her out, besides you got that lifetime membership and it's been nearly three years since you last went there, so why not carry her out, I'm sure she'll forgive you for messing up, plus I'm sure you want to see Denzel and Marlene again," Red explained.
"I don't know, she and Vincent are lovers, I'd just get in the way," Cloud replied.
"Cloud I'm willing to bet that if you ask her she'll agree, and I'm also willing to bet that you want to return to Edge also," Red stated with confidence.
Cloud turned his gaze to the window on the eastern wall, since they were so high up, he only saw an endless blue and stretched on and on.
"You're pretty confident," the blue-eyed warrior replied, his gaze never shifting from the clear blue sky.
"Besides look at it this way, you've got nothing to loose and everything to gain," Red summarized.
Cloud knew he wanted to return to his 'family', it was important to him, he may not have known what love is, but he cared deeply for his little family, but he didn't want to return where he wasn't wanted and there was someone else taking his place, but like Red said, he had nothing to loose and everything to gain.
"Alright I'll try it," He said finally turning back to face his companion.
To Be Continued...
I know this chapter is kinda boring well it's actually the 1st part of whatI planned for chapter 9, butI was forced to only post this part, because well I'm typing using one hand, but the second one will be up soon,I promise. Even an injury can't keep me down, laughs evily, okay I fixed some errors, but please remember I'm not good with English, I typed it with one hand and was in the middle of one of my classes, the lecturer was making me die of boredom, so I decided to update.
Till next time...