The food was remarkably good for something boiled and roasted over a campfire. The meat was flavourful and tender, if only lightly spiced, and even the potatoes were creamy instead of the powdery dry things Cloud used to buy in Edge.

Benefits of growing on a Planet that wasn't half-dead, Cloud thought. Wonder how long it will take before potatoes like these grow again?

They ate in relative silence, but Cloud made a point of complimenting Kenhelm and Vahana on the food. Kenhelm took it proudly, commenting that it was nice for his efforts to be appreciated for once - Orothe gave an exaggerated groan that Cloud took as evidence that it was a common complaint, along with the laughter it provoked from the two women.

Twilight had fallen by the time they finished and were preparing for the night.

The normal schedule, from what Cloud pieced together, meant three watches and one sleeping through the night. With the addition of another person, that allowed for either two to sleep through or to go to a standard four watches instead. Cloud wasn't too surprised when they opted for the latter after a quick but brutal argument about who the second person to sleep through would be.

"Cloud can do second watch, and I can do third," Kenhelm announced as soon as Orothe claimed first watch, to his wife's raised eyebrow.

"Is that up for discussion, love?" she said with a hint of amusement.

"Um -" he flushed, clearly not expecting her to say anything in response to his declaration.

"It's fine," Cloud interrupted. "I'm fine with that."

He'd realised early on that although the others were welcoming, Kenhelm was still wary of him. Not so unfriendly that he wouldn't sacrifice a spare pair of trousers for Cloud's wardrobe, perhaps, or skimp on his portion of the meal, but still guarded in a way that Cloud could appreciate. He was a complete stranger, after all, and the cameraderie of strangers on the road could easily turn tragic if the wrong people were trusted. He probably planned to wake up when the watch changed and keep an eye on him, or try and convince Orothe not to give him a watch on the first night after they met. It's what he would have done; they didn't know enough about him to know if he'd fall asleep or not, let alone risk him murdering them in their sleep for their goods.

"Actually, I'll take third," Vahana interrupted. "You can take fourth, it's Cenne's turn to sleep through."

"Why?" Kenhelm asked. "I'm supposed to be third tonight anyway."

"No, you're supposed to be on the dawn watch. Besides, you're useless at waking up on time and if Cloud misses waking you up he could end up doing half your watch for you," she pointed out. "Unless that's what you were aiming for?"

Kenhelm glowed red again, but the indignance on his face made it clear that hadn't been on his mind. Cloud decided he liked the prickly man despite his suspicion; he seemed to be silently protective of his own, and he obviously wasn't someone who would take advantage for his own benefit. His wife's benefit, maybe, but his own? Unlikely.

"Alright," the Cetra conceded. "I'll take fourth."

Cloud was often thankful for his ability to sleep wherever and whenever the opportunity arose; whether it was his soft bed in the flat above Seventh Heaven, or the creaky floor in Aerith's drafty church, or a rocky outcrop in some uncharted area of the world map while hunting a lunatic, he could and had nodded off anywhere. It meant that although there was more than one stone sticking into him he was soon unconscious.

It also meant he was dreaming.

Greenandgreenandblueandgreen - shapes and shadows on a mirror of green on a river of blue - crystalline screaming and a low long moan a discord and a symphony - sharp spikes of ice in his head and a sluggishly bleeding wound in his heart -

a sight of a thing a monster an alien a wrong wrong wrong thing pushed into his brain -

he saw a thing, touching touching touching, reaching out and violating and changing a steady harmony of a billion lives and memories one by one by one by one by one by -

he saw a man with wings he didn't know, a man with scales covering his face and back and legs and mouth, a woman with bruises for eyes and more arms than was right, a thing that was nothing human anymore -

but he wasn't there and didn't see, he was being forced to know, a pressure in his head growing and growing and growing -

he heard a woman a voice

he knew that voice

was it a memory

Cloud?

"Cloud? Cloud, you're up next," Cloud heard Orothe say close to his ear, and opened his eyes to see the man leaning over him with an arm outstretched to shake him. As he did so, Orothe jerked his hand back and swore softly. "Your eyes - your eyes are glowing?"

Shit.

"Huh?" he said, over exaggerating his yawn to feign a tiredness he no longer felt (and hide the instinctive motion of his hand towards his sword, and giving himself a few precious seconds to centre himself in the real world, instead of whatever that dream was). This is more awake than I wanted to be three seconds after opening my eyes. "Um, yes? I fell into a mako spring when I was younger, and it had a few side-effects that stayed after I recovered."

Well, I'm not totally lying at least. I did fall in the Lifestream, and there were definitely side-effects. It's just that they weren't SOLDIER strength and SOLDIER eyes.

"Well, I guess it's not unheard of..." he trailed off, still staring. "What are the other side-effects?"

"I'm stronger than most," he whispered back - understatement, but... - "and I'm more durable. Injuries heal a bit faster, I can go a bit longer without food or water, small things. Small changes."

...well, the amnesia isn't exactly ongoing, and I'm not catatonic or disassociating or being controlled as a puppet by a madman that used to be a hero any more.

"I've heard of things like this, but nothing so... complete," he said quietly, wonder in his voice. "It's incredible - a gift from the Planet." After a moment, Cloud could see him come to some kind of decision. "When we get to Aredthusa, if you don't have plans beyond getting to the city, it might be worth your while if you stay with us. There's some people we're hoping to meet, who are the reason we're heading there in the first place. They need people willing to fight; why not think about volunteering with us? Just think about it, I don't need an answer now. It'll be a good two or three weeks before we get there."

Another fight? And I think I can guess against who - or what. Despite the sinking feeling in his stomach, Cloud nodded. If I'm right, maybe - maybe I can change things. Maybe some things that happened just - don't need to happen. Even if... even if I'm not there to see what changes, it would be worth it.

"Good man," Orothe clapped a warm hand on his shoulder. "Now, I'm off to sleep. Vahana's next, wake her when it's time for her watch."

"Thanks," he responded, heaving himself as silently as he could to his feet. He made his way away from the other sleeping members of the party to keep watch as Orothe settled himself down.

He waited until he was sure the other man was asleep before going over the dream he'd had - Cloud was unfortunately more than familiar with the sensation of something that wasn't him forcing a thought or instruction or memory into his head, and that had definitely felt more like a message than a normal dream. Trying to piece together what he'd dreamt was more difficult than he expected, with parts of it slipping away as soon as he tried to focus on it and other parts becoming hyper-real in the dark of the night. The feelings he'd had of being injured were some of the former, and from the fragments that remained with him he was grateful for it.

But the alien shapes that he'd seen, the people who had been changed, meant that Cloud was certain that the images were a warning about Jenova and what she had done so far. He hoped that the intrusion had been from the Planet, rather than the alien herself, as there wasn't all that much he could do to ensure that he remained under his own control if she decided to impose her will on him. She wasn't being controlled by Sephiroth any more, after all, and Sephiroth's arrogance and tendency to underestimate him had been his saving grace more than once.

About half an hour passed with Orothe's snores before Cloud unhooked his sword from its harness and rested it against a nearby tree. There was a reasonably open space in the eyeline of the camp, and he had identified it as the best place to run through a few stretches while on watch. His mako-sensitive hearing would make sure he was aware of most things that lurked in the night long before he saw them; it was safe enough to check that his new clothes wouldn't restrict his movements too much in a fight.

It would also work off some of the tension that had built up after the dream.

Carefully and slowly, as unthreateningly as he could considering he was sure Kenhelm was probably watching him, he moved through familiar stretches and lunges that would test the limits of his ill-fitting clothes. He was pleasantly surprised - he could still kick someone in the face without embarrassing himself with split trousers, and he had a wider range of motion in the jerkin than expected as long as he didn't button it. It was odd, wearing something that seemed so fragile and so restrictive at the same time. Half the time, he felt like he was on the verge of popping a seam. The other half, he felt like the clothes were a prison in themselves.

He was in the process of completing a set of lunges when he heard one of the sleeping Cetra cough involuntarily from their bedroll. Cloud was aware that someone else was awake, but when he turned (as a natural part of his stretches, as well as to see for himself who it was) he was surprised to see Vahana was the one that had been watching him. Her eyes were screwed determinedly closed in a way that made it very clear she wasn't asleep. In the dark it would have been difficult for an unenhanced person to know that he'd seen them, so he wasn't too concerned about her realising he was aware of her; in a way, it was comforting that at least two of them knew what a sensible level of precaution was.

The watch passed uneventfully, and when he went to wake Vahana she put on an almost believable pretence of having been woken up from a deep sleep. He didn't say anything to her about her keeping watch over him, and if he had any further dreams he didn't remember them the next morning.

A/N: Thank you for reading!