Cloud was a mixture of feelings. He knew this was the first real step to his future, but he couldn't help but feel nervous. After all, he was leaving the closest thing he had to a proper father figure in his life and setting out on his own. However he was also excited, because it meant he was unofficially stepping out of the shadow of Vincent.
Fortunately he still had Harry to fall back on, not that anyone was aware of that fact. He had come to view Harry as the awesome older brother that brought his baby sibling with him on epic adventures that would only make the other kids green with envy because their stories weren't nearly as cool. He didn't spoil Cloud, but he was often rather generous with praise and advice that would last him in long stead.
Vincent wouldn't enter Midgar directly...too many eyes and it ran the high risk of being found by Hojo. However he would still wish Cloud luck on entering the SOLDIER program.
If nothing else, he could do his best to attract the attention of the Turks. While the contract was slightly longer, it also gave better benefits than the Infantry.
Right before Cloud boarded the train to Midgar, he paused and turned back to a surprised Vincent and hugged him.
Vincent got over the shock soon enough and hugged him back. He viewed Cloud as a surrogate son, and it didn't hurt that Cloud had once slipped and called him 'dad' in his hearing. The fact Vincent didn't dispute it had only solidified that particular relationship.
"You'll drop my letters off for Mom, won't you?" asked Cloud.
"I'll be sure she gets them," said Vincent.
Cloud had written many, many letters to his mother along with part of the money he earned hunting monsters. While she couldn't reply back, as he never stayed in one place too long, he could at least feel better knowing he hadn't forgotten about her.
Cloud boarded the train and took a deep breath. One stage of his life was over and another would soon begin. He would openly admit he was terrified to some extent, but at least he had a fall back option. Earning money towards a college education with monster hunting wasn't ideal, but it was still a better prospect than others.
In the admission hall...
Cloud was beyond relieved he had color contacts in. Most who saw his green eye became rather disconcerted and unable to meet his gaze twice. Vincent was one of the rare few who could meet his gaze solidly without flinching.
With the contact in, the effect was dulled enough to be dismissed after a few moments. No matter how irritating it was to wear it.
What followed next was rather dull, but Cloud put up with it. He had to sigh about the fact that he apparently was the smallest cadet in the program, but took solace in the fact he was clearly the smartest and most crafty.
Any of the other cadets that tried to make trouble for him would find themselves up against an opponent who knew how to fight back and leave his enemies cringing at the thought of facing him twice.
After all, Harry had give Cloud a base knowledge of several martial arts not seen on Gaia, and Vincent had helped to hammer the forms into his muscle memory so that he could execute them as easily as breathing. Combine that with his natural talent towards swords and he became a formidable fighter.
Though just in case, Cloud also had a smaller gun that Vincent had given him as a present for his birthday, along with an aptitude towards sniping from Harry. Even if the only time he could use it was by covering his blue eye.
He could tell right away that the others looked down upon him, likely thinking he was playing at being a cadet. As the smallest and possibly weakest candidate for the program, it was inevitable that he would be bullied. After all, if he dropped out it was one less rival.
For the next week, Cloud felt like he was bored out of his mind. However he never once dropped his guard. The other boys, especially those who were much older than him, were clearly waiting for a sign of weakness or a chance to ambush him. The other boys were disinclined to help him, as they were just as vulnerable.
So when it finally did happen, Cloud made sure they paid with blood for thinking he was an easy target.
In the hospital...
"What happened?" demanded Angeal Hewley.
Genesis might not take his duties as a commander seriously, and Sephiroth was too busy to care about teenagers who hadn't proven themselves to be worthy of being called SOLDIER, but Angeal did care enough to investigate why ten cadets had been hospitalized.
"They all claim they fell...however I'm thinking they went after more than they could chew and paid a heavy price," said the doctor, more amused than he should be considering the situation.
"What?" said Angeal baffled.
"From what I can tell, they targeted a younger cadet in order to bully him, except the kid had more vicious claws than they were expecting," said the doctor.
Angeal looked at the list of injuries. All of them were pretty nasty, but nothing too damaging. Either way they'd be licking their wounds for the better part of a month, which would set them back considerably. It was unlikely any of them would make SOLDIER unless they trained their asses off to compensate, if they weren't dropped from the cadet program early for lagging behind.
Angeal had a headache and went to find the security tapes. It would likely explain more than the doctor would.
The cadets chose their spot well...it was off the beaten path, but they missed one of the cameras so Angeal had some idea what happened.
Nine of the older cadets surrounded a younger, smaller cadet with blond spiked hair. It was pretty clear their intentions were to gang up on the younger boy in order to establish some sort of pecking order. Or even more likely, to try and drive the younger boy out and hopefully thin out the possible competition later.
What happened next had Angeal rewinding the tapes twice in disbelief.
One minute the fight was one-sided against the smaller boy...the next the tiny kid revealed some rather nasty claws and made the older boys pay dearly for the mistake of cornering him alone in tight quarters.
Angeal had to give it to the blond...he was smart enough not to try and overpower them, but used his small size and a rather impressive display of dexterity to his advantage. He also wasn't afraid to fight dirty, and even though he got a black eye and a busted lip for his efforts, he still won.
That being said, Angeal was still going to reprimand the older boys. He felt the damage that the blond teen had inflicted was penance enough for picking the wrong opponent.
Cloud felt a strange sort of respect being sent his way from the younger cadets, and a wary gaze sent from the older ones.
Word had spread how some of the more overbearing boys in the program had tried to jump him and show Cloud his 'place' in the pecking order...but had ended up in the infirmary with wounds that would take some time to heal instead, whereas Cloud walked away with a black eye and a busted lip.
However since Cloud had a tendency to be a lone wolf, the older boys mostly left him alone.
When the older boys healed up enough to rejoin classes, they gave Cloud a bit of a wider berth, as the pain he inflicted was not easily forgotten.
However that didn't stop them from targeting the other new cadets who were roughly around Cloud's age.
Outside the mess hall...
Violet eyes watched the cadets in the hall. After the minor incident a month ago, Zack Fair had shown a strong interest in the tiny teen that had caught his mentor's attention. Angeal hadn't given much detail, but by this point most of the serious SOLDIERs had seen the video of a tiny ball of fluff taking down nine older boys and getting only minor injuries in return.
Cloud Strife didn't know it, but that single incident had brought him to the attention of several factions, including the Turks. Many of whom were quite eager to see what the boy would do next.
Which was why Zack was in the mess hall, though he didn't particularly like the food.
Luck seemed to be on his side... the boys from the earlier incident were clearly moving towards a small group of younger, weaker cadets with intent to cause trouble for them.
When Cloud walked in, most people dismissed his presence. After all, it was unlikely anyone would interfere with what was going on.
In the cadet program, bullying was so common it wasn't remarked upon, so long as they didn't draw too much attention from someone who would care.
So it came as a complete surprise when, the moment Cloud took note of what was going on, he decided to do something about it.
No one dared to speak when the biggest, strongest bully suddenly found food down his shirt and back. He had been hit hardest among the nine who ganged up on Cloud before.
The bully turned, fully intent on making the life of whoever did that hell...provided they weren't higher ranked than him of course.
Instead he found himself being stared down by the same tiny chocobo who kicked his ass before.
"My hand slipped," said Cloud dryly, and anyone with a brain could tell he didn't mean a single word of it.
The bully snarled.
"You think you're hot stuff, just because you got off easy before?"
"No, I think you're an overbearing moron with the brain the size of a walnut who picks fights on others to make yourself look better since your skills suck ass," said Cloud deadpan.
Zack had to bite back the laugh that wanted to come out hearing that deadpan reply. But Cloud wasn't done...and every word he said made it harder for the Second to hold back his amusement.
"Then again you're so pathetic you have to gang up on those weaker than you because you don't have the balls to prove yourself superior with your ability alone," said Cloud.
The bully saw red.
"The next sparring match, I am going to fucking kill you," he snarled.
Cloud pointedly looked the boy up and down, paying particular attention to the boy's crotch before snorting.
"You think you have the balls to actually beat me, or did you get tired of the girls laughing at you for being a complete disappointment?" he shot back without hesitation.
Dead silence. No one expected Cloud to have this much bite, let alone being brazen enough to piss off the older, stronger boy into a fight.
One of the cadet trainers apparently felt Cloud was being too arrogant, and needed to be brought down a notch. He didn't care about the ego of the older boy, he just didn't like the way Cloud was acting at the moment.
"Both of you, training hall, now," he said coldly. The bully apparently figured out the trainer's intention, because there was a gleam of anticipation in his eyes.
Cloud looked indifferent at best.
Zack eagerly went to the training hall, and he wasn't the only one. Most wanted to see if Cloud could back up his words with actual skills, or if he would get his ass handed to him.
There was even some betting going on. Most bet on the bully, but Zack had a sneaking suspicion Cloud wasn't going to let the older boy off easily. He put a decent chunk of his recent paycheck on the blond. If he won, then the rewards would be more than double what he got paid this month.
Zack watched with anticipation. Cloud picked up a sword that suited his smaller stature well, while the bully picked up a bigger one.
"Fight until one of you is critically injured or knocked out. No killing," said the instructor.
The two took a stance, and waited.
"BEGIN!"
Zack had to admit, the bully's form wasn't too bad. If he trained properly he might make a decent Third at best. However when he glanced at Cloud's smaller form, he was confused. The blond hadn't moved from his spot until the very last second, when he promptly tripped the older boy.
The bully slammed into the ground hard with the momentum he had. Zack could tell right away his nose was broken at the very least.
"You wretched brat! That was a dirty trick!"
Cloud openly rolled his eyes.
"Only an idiot would try to fight a bigger, older opponent with brute force. So what if I use shameless tricks to beat you up? It just means I'm not that stupid! At the end of they day, the only thing that matters is who survives!" he shot back without hesitation.
Zack had to nod at that. The boy was right...once the dust settled, who cared if the winning party used dirty tricks? In the field it was your life on the line and if using dirty tricks meant you came home, then who cared?
The bully ran at Cloud like an enraged behemoth. Cloud used minimal movement to avoid his charge and attacks, letting the older boy wear himself out. Zack could already tell that the bully was going to lose...he was using up too much energy and his attacks were too wide.
If one connected it might be a different story, but Cloud was like a slippery snake...he used his smaller, compact size to get in the older boy's guard and deliver some rather nasty hits that took even more of the bully's strength away.
Finally Cloud delivered a truly devastating blow to the bully's knee, knocking him to the ground. Before the brute could recover, Cloud delivered an nasty kick to the boy's temple, knocking him out cold.
The entire hall was silent. No one expected the slip of a teenager to beat the older, stronger boy!
Zack grinned...he liked the blond's style. As he went to collect his winnings, he made a note of the boy's appearance. Perhaps it would be worth becoming friends with the kid, if only so he could personally see how far Cloud would go in life?
With their leader soundly defeated in a straight up fight, the other bullies backed off when they noticed Cloud's gaze on them.
The younger, weaker cadets were slowly beginning to realize that perhaps they would have a quiet protector from the harassment they received for the past two months.