Cloud swung each piece of his gear back into its proper place, rolled up his nightclothes—now drenched in sweat—and exchanged them for the only other set he'd packed. The tiny bedroom he'd slept in didn't have a window, so he wouldn't know if the weather had changed to be more on his side until he made it downstairs, over the winding wooden stairs and into the rustic kitchen of this little log inn. Regardless of weather or other barriers, Cloud never could stand being in one place for long, desperate to continue onward, to toil just enough to escape any encroaching thoughts that weren't immediately relevant. He tried his best to brush his unruly hair out of his face and into a look that was less windswept. Failing like usual, smiling weakly to himself as he finished washing his face and rinsing the sleep from his eyes, he was ready to roll the dice and see what this day had in store for him.

The lady of the house was already bustling around the kitchen, alerted by the telltale creak of Cloud's footsteps over the well worn stairs but choosing to pretend not to notice him out of politeness. Their table, one that had very obviously seen its share of guests over the years, was lined with delightful jars of honey and homemade jams. She'd heard Cloud stir before he'd even woken, and she'd already set herself on the task of making him toast and would insist he help himself to it no matter what it took. Cloud felt comforted by her presence, just as he was when their two pet dogs bounded towards him the second his foot hit the bottom stair. Wordlessly, Cloud bent down to greet them, happy to give them gentle pets on their heads while they danced and wiggled ferociously to try and climb aboard him. The man of the house guffawed from his spot at the edge of the table, happy that Cloud wasn't startled by the puppies' overfamiliar behavior. He let his paper fall flat on the table as Cloud approached them.

"Good morning to you, sir." Cloud was anxious, but he tried his best to behave normally. The dogs helped to relieve any tension he might have had, circling around him and snaking in and out from between his legs. "Thank you both for letting me stay here on such short notice." Cloud bowed slightly to them while he spoke, in part to express his sincerity since, as his friends from long ago often pointed out, he struggled to show appropriate emotion.

"Now, now," The lady waved her hands at Cloud dismissively, smiling gently. She set down a delicate yellow plate, shaped almost like a leaf, toast stacked high upon it as if she'd toasted the entire loaf, resting the plate in its rightful space—the center of the table between her husband and the empty chairs. "It's nice having company here after so long. Come get your breakfast."
Cloud—with the two large dogs hot on his trail—came to sit at the breakfast table, moved by the powerful force of a gentle lady's cooking. He was nervous to help himself, but her husband had busied himself once more with his paper as soon as he'd grabbed a slice, and she went back to tidying up the kitchen. Although Cloud felt a little out of place, he was blown away the second he took a bite, wondering how anyone could make simple bread and butter taste so gourmet. Cloud almost wished she'd cooked more, helping himself to half of the stack. Between flipping the pages of his newspaper, the husband fed his crusts to the waiting mouths of the dogs, who were more than happy to make sure not even a crumb would hit the already-spotless floor.

As Cloud sampled different jams, swapping to something labeled 'marigold sunshine', he noticed the image on the back of the newspaper, a wanted ad. The man must have noticed the funny way Cloud tilted his head to read it better, for he folded it up with a hearty laugh and handed it to him. "You in the market for some hunting?"

Cloud flushed a little, something almost invisible in the low lighting of the early morning, before accepting the paper. He turned it to the right page, smoothing it out over the crinkly plastic tablecloth, spreading the paper into an even sheet despite the indents of various doilies under the cloth.

BOUNTY: 5,000 GIL ~ INSTANT ~ NO QUESTIONS ASKED!

DISTURBANCE ~ LARGE DRAGON

EXTERMINATION REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY

Cloud took a sip from the piping hot cup of tea that the lady of the house wordlessly set down for him as he read. The advertisement was ambiguous, strangely worded, but enticing. As he was disappointed to realize, the fog hadn't let up even a little bit, so he'd have to stay put in the area regardless of whether or not he had something to occupy himself with. He didn't need the money, but he could easily give it to Tifa or the kids, or help buy Denzel that sword he'd always raved about whenever Cloud was home…

"You're serious?" The old man was enthusiastic about Cloud's sincerity and how Cloud was carefully examining what he could of the fine print. "You've got a lot of fight in you for such a young man!"

Before Cloud could think of a better way to say 'I've fought worse', the wife chirped up. "Now, Warren, don't you torment the boy like that! His sword is bigger than yours!"

The man smiled, chuckling at his wife's teasing. "Now, now, he knows I don't mean anything by it." He winked at Cloud. "Haven't seen one like him for a few years now. Reminds me of someone I used to know…"
"Do you know anything about this…" Cloud was shy and wanted the topic to come off of him as soon as possible. He struggled for the words to describe the strange blur of an image on the paper's wanted ad. "This thing?"

Warren nodded, helping himself to his pipe now that he'd finished his breakfast and tea. His wife gently rearranged the jars back into the fridge while Cloud and Warren talked to each other. She pretended to be too busy plating the meal she'd cooked for the dogs to eavesdrop, although she was certainly keeping watch to make sure her husband didn't act too foolish.

"That's what's responsible for the weather. That thing got curled up in the hills and won't come down. We've had a lot of people go check it out, but it's too strong for any of us. We aren't as tough as we were in the good old days. Being so far out into the countryside, no one really sees it as that big a problem…" He chuckled, exhaling thick plumes of smoke that seemed to glow under the rays cast through the painted glass of the hanging light above the table. "I've had enough of it, but we can't get anyone to come take care of it, even with those local groups adding more prize money to the pool…"

"How big is it?" Cloud would have to take care of it anyway, since he needed the fog to lift. Besides, on top of a nice, hefty reward, he could repay this lovely couple for their hospitality.

"Oh, I'm not sure, my son." Warren took a long pause while he thought about it. "From the look of the trees when you get close to it, probably something like a middle-aged dragon. Wouldn't be hard for me to take care of it if I were twenty years younger!"

Both Warren and his wife laughed together in harmony. Cloud felt pretty confident, as his earlier sentiment still remained. It couldn't be harder than anything he'd dealt with before. He thanked both of his hosts, gave the dogs some more attention and scratched behind their ears until they'd settled down enough to let him gather his things and head out the door. An unexpected adventure was close by, but it was one that excited him. It was nice to feel needed, to get to stroke that lifelong desire of being a real mercenary without dragging up dozens of tender memories.

Cloud left his bike in their wooden shed, promising to return to retrieve it once he'd accomplished his goal, and by nine he was hiking up all alone through the dense fog, following the long, meandering game trail that curled around the hills. He was sure that he simply needed to stick to this path, that it would take Cloud right up to where the telltale damage began. Cloud wondered to himself as he hiked further upwards—and as the air was getting almost heavy, blurry—if he'd even be able to see said damage under such conditions. The woods were empty, almost silent, as if draped over with a heavy blanket. In fact, Cloud saw no evidence of any monsters throughout the majority of his trek, thinking it odd but reasoning that the spiritual pressure of the dragon—or its habits—was enough to scare everything off.

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