Cloud pulled himself forward by his elbows. Keeping a firm grip on a very sturdy sack, he crept along the muddy ground. He was covered in scratches and welts from unforgiving vegetation and stinging insects. He had been hungry for what seemed liked forever by now, and he was getting thirsty enough his tongue felt a little odd. It didn't really matter though, because he was just moments from victory.
There was a quiet rustle and a sort of squishing 'flop-flop' sound, and then, faster than the eye could see, he leaped forward and captured his prize. Swiftly tying the top of the sack together, Cloud ran as far from the rest of the creatures as he could. He was quite good at running these days, and the speed he could reach would only increase the more he trained.
Once he had reached what he judged a safe distance, Cloud paused to get his bearings, and headed for the nearest stream. He was parched, filthy, and should probably eat a little of the food he would need to carefully ration.
He found a mostly not-marshy creek after listening for the sounds of running water, and after a thorough scouting of the nearby area, decided it was safe enough for a fire. Soon he was all washed up, clothes drying by the blaze, a bite of food, and a pat on the sack to...
It really needed a name. Cloud didn't know how to tell if it was male or female, so something generic. The fire burned low, was fed and burned low again, but nothing seemed to suit.
"What shall I name you, little friend?" He muttered while patting the struggling sack.
Huh. That'll do. "Little Friend it is."
Cloud's clothes were dry enough, but it was just getting dark, so he'd camp for the night, and fashion his new weapon. He hummed a bit in satisfaction as he whittled away at a stick with a very special purpose. Make it to Gongaga alive? Check. Find, sell, and buy materia? Check. Acquire a touch-me? Check.
ooOOOoo
The next stretch of time passed by in a blur both figurative and literal. He stopped to rest when it became so dark he couldn't see where he was going, and fell asleep as soon as he lay down. The only semi-serious injury he received during the long trek, was near the Corel Mountain range. He was taken by surprise when a Cokatolis and a flock of Needle Kiss attacked him; they weren't usually that far south of the mountains. In the process of eliminating the flock of birds before they petrified him, he misjudged a vicious kick from the Cokotolis, and received a long gash down his leg.
There was probably a life lesson in there somewhere, Cloud mused. Don't get so distracted by details you miss the bigger picture? Only, without details, a picture would be a shapeless blob, so maybe not much of a lesson after all. Less abstractly, a Sense materia would have allowed him to know they were there, and so avoid the fight, so that was something to take away: you can always use more materia.
He found a place to camp early, and settled down to tend his injury. First, esuna, to make sure it didn't get infected, then pour on just enough Potion to start it knitting up. Cloud leaned back against a log and rummaged through his pack for a bit of jerky. He filled up the rest of the way on water. There was water everywhere you went, and a precise application of poisona made it safe to drink, but food was hard and time-consuming to come by. He wasn't far from his intended destination now, though, and then he would take a little time to rest and eat some good meals in celebration of a major goal accomplished.
This was the most difficult part of his plan: finding a way to kill Sephiroth that might actually work. His first thoughts had been how he had managed before. Swords had been the primary mechanism. A very long sword that impaled everyone involved, a buster sword that had only seen ceremonial use before Zack and Cloud made it earn its keep, and a very special sword that was designed specifically to kill whatever he needed to end. Anything and everything from Tonberries to Midgar Zoloms to Remnants of Sephiroth. Cloud sighed. Best. Sword. Ever. But even if he had it now, it wouldn't work. All the techniques that made a sword fight against Sephiroth work, needed Cloud to be taller and more muscular.
Cloud cast his thoughts back to that first night in Nibelheim, on the water tower. While he had been stretching, trying to stay awake, he had focused on his size. How strong his hands and arms were. He had been startled at how...small he was. Did he fail SOLDIER before because there was a height requirement? He could start training, of course, but until he was taller and had better reach, a battle of blades wasn't something he would win.
He had seldom fought any other way, so this could be tricky. How had his friends done it? Yuffie had zipped in so fast no one but Cloud was able to dodge, and would deliver what she referred to as "awesome, secret ninja moves". They couldn't have been too secret, though, because she had pestered Cloud to learn them in exchange for his "awesome extra special materia." Cloud was able to dodge, if only barely sometimes, and he wasn't enhanced anymore. Sephiroth was, and so how would Cloud...special materia. Yuffie had never bothered with a Time because you could only slot so many of the stones together, and the only one she could never catch was Cloud. But if he could get as fast as her without one, and then train with a Time materia until haste was second nature...it might work. It would take care of the speed issue, anyway, and the "ninja moves" along with a couple very sharp small knives would keep most monsters and muggers from killing his annoyingly small self. He would use his lack of height to advantage, and slip inside everyone's guard.
Sephiroth wouldn't be that easy, though. The chances of getting in a killing hit were slim, and so he needed to stack the deck a bit. Haste would be applied to Cloud, so no problem there, but to rely on stop working was iffy. What if Sephiroth had a Barrier? Or it simply didn't work on him? Magic reacted a bit strangely around powerful individuals, spells didn't always stick. If relying on obscure materia wasn't so risky, he could just use stop, shrink, and then stomp on the man. The smaller you were, the danger of getting crushed in battle increased. Cloud remembered when he was a kid, everyone always said to be careful of the touch-mes because you might get stepped on before you turned back to normal.
The only place those funny little creatures lived was the jungle of Gongaga. Not Nibelheim. When Zack was a kid, then. Thinking of Sephiroth as a touch-me amused Cloud. Would he still have long silver hair? He let slip a soft laugh, then stopped. Everyone could get turned into a touch-me. It didn't seem to matter who or what you were, you touched one, and that was it. Whatever magic was in them wasn't the same as materia.
Gongaga's materia shop usually stocked a Time. They weren't actually that expensive in the grand scheme of things, but he was rather strapped for gil. He'd need a lot of that for this plan to work. Some good equipment, travel expenses, and the basic necessities of life would all add up fast.
He'd found a rare materia in the jungle there once. Cloud paused to recall. Yes, Red had been with him, so it was Cloud who found it. It would be practically a one-stop-shop. Find that materia, get supplies in Gongaga, catch a touch-me...if he could get there, it might work. Traveling by himself, no supplies, no weapons; this was going to be more dangerous than killing Sephiroth. If Cloud didn't succeed at that, but didn't die, he would probably be imprisoned to await execution. He could escape then, and try again. So really, a first attempt to kill Sephiroth would be less likely to kill Cloud than preparing for it. Maybe it was the late hour, or the stresses of the day, but Cloud thought that was funny. He started giggling. Oh, no, he didn't giggle. Cloud gave a sharp mental poke to that part of his mind that thought cross-dressing was a viable solution. Although, now he really thought about it, a touch-me and a Time materia was something Aerith would like. Or Zack. Or Yuffie. It seemed like his best bet for now, until he hit his growth spurt. Then he'd start training for sword work, and if Sephiroth wasn't dead yet, Cloud would use the old tried and true method.
ooOOOoo
Cloud woke as dawn was breaking. His leg had healed enough to walk safely on it, but if he was going to train his materia, running would have to wait until tomorrow. It was warm enough at night now he didn't need a fire, so there was nothing to breaking camp except grabbing his rucksack/makeshift pillow, and attaching Little Friend to his staff.
Cloud had carved a kind of backrest/platform for the touch-me to rest on, and cut up a piece of cloth into a jumpsuit type shape. With his hands carefully covered, he had scooped the creature's limbs into the holes, and attached a ring to the back of it all. At night, he'd tie it a safe distance away from himself, and make sure it had water. It would hop around eating bugs and grubs and things, and before Cloud set off again, he'd slide the ring over the tip of the staff, and settle Little Friend quite comfortably onto the platform. Cloud was quite proud of how it turned out, and would swear the creature got a look of glee when Cloud would forgo practicing his hand to hand and decide to attack a monster with his Touch-Me-On-A-Stick.
He cast haste, smiled at Little Friend and said, "Let's mosey." Then proceeded to walk extremely fast in the general direction of Costa Del Sol.
The next three days he continued to run through the countryside, and then headed for the road. He had kept near-ish to it when there was one, but not too close. Farther away and the more aggressive monsters he couldn't handle yet would be a danger, and any closer and he wouldn't run into much at all. He hadn't gone looking for a fight, but if a creature crossed his path and decided to attack, he used the opportunity to practice. He'd never used a staff at all, let alone one as...unique as Little Friend.
Another day of running on the road, and Cloud heard a vehicle in the distance. That made sense. He had passed a turn a little ways back that he thought led to North Corel. He released haste, and started to walk at what he judged a usual speed for someone to travel. When the truck was close to passing him, Cloud turned a bit and waved, and it stopped.
The driver stared at him for a minute longer than Cloud really thought was necessary, before saying, "What are you doin' out here kid?"
"Going to Costa Del Sol."
"Your parents know you're out here? How'd you get out here anyway?" The driver asked, raising both eyebrows.
Those were ridiculous questions Cloud didn't think were worth the bother to answer. He had been in the wilderness with no one to talk to from Nibelheim until Gongaga, was only there for a day, and from then until now, only occasionally said something to Little Friend. He was out of practice talking, and fully intended to get back into the habit after he'd rested in Costa Del Sol. He was too tired for all that right now.
"Can you give me a ride?" Cloud replied instead. He could probably run as fast now as the man would drive, but he had mastered both his materia, ate the last of his rations yesterday, and sitting down would be really, really nice.
"Did someone kidnap or mug you or something?" The man had gotten out of the truck now and had come just out of arm's reach. "Are you hurt?"
The man's face had wrinkled up into a worried look similar to the one Tifa had gotten when they ran out of Potions and Ethers and everyone was too burned out to cast another cure. What was the guy going on about? It was late Summer now, and this was the warm part of the country, so when Cloud found a creek, he washed up. He had hacked his hair off short in an approximation of how he used to wear it, so it stuck up, but it wasn't dirty. He had kept his clothes as clean as he could manage, so they were stained, but not too bad, and only had a couple rips from after he'd run out of thread. No visible bruises, so the man would only see a few scratches that weren't even worth mentioning. Esuna kept them from getting infected, and they didn't impede fighting or running, so what was the big deal?
"Hey, kid, are you okay?" The man asked, and starting reaching a hand out to him.
Cloud backed off quickly, and started walking down the road again. He'd wait for the next one. This guy was acting strange, and Cloud didn't want to get into an altercation.
"Wait, kid!" The man actually sounded a bit desperate, so against his better judgment, Cloud turned and looked back at him.
"We're a few hours from Costa Del Sol, and you wanted a ride, right?" He said and backed up towards the open driver's side door. "Hop in."
Cloud paused. It could be an hour or six until another vehicle came by. "Don't touch me." He said, giving the man a warning look.
The man raised his hands, palms up, "I won't, kid, honest."
After they'd gotten settled, and driven for a few minutes, the man said tentatively, "So, your folks...they're in Costa Del Sol? What are their names?"
Cloud started to regret getting in after all, he was already starting to feel queasy, and seriously, did he seem like he needed parental supervision? "I'm older than I look." He bit out. That growth spurt couldn't come soon enough.
The driver scoffed, "So you're what, eleven?"
"Sixteen." Cloud growled. Actually, he was fourteen, but figured he'd start practicing now, so he could lie believably when he applied to join SOLDIER. How was it he could run so fast the world was a blur and be fine, but a slowly moving car made him ill?
The man took his eyes off the road long enough to look incredulously at Cloud, before turning back, and trying a few more intrusive and pointless questions.
Cloud ignored them, closed his eyes, and quickly opened them again. That wasn't going to help, and he suspected he was starting to turn faintly green. It was probably too late to suggest the man let him out, and Cloud would go on foot the rest of the way after all. This guy probably wouldn't like that idea. Truckers were so weird.
ooOOOoo
Costa Del Sol was lovely. At least, the inn Cloud had chosen was. He hadn't actually gone outside it since his arrival a few days ago. Or was it a week? After they'd driven in to town, Cloud had thanked the trucker, assured the man that yes, he had money and no, he didn't need help looking for anyone, and then hastily slipped away when the trucker was distracted for a moment. If that was an indicator of what public transport would be like, Cloud just might have to run from Junon to Midgar after all.
Cloud had then wandered in the general direction of an inn he remembered as less tourist-y, and more weary-traveler friendly. It had comfortable beds, bathing facilities, and plenty of delicious, hearty meals. The first two were good, but it was really the latter that he focused on. He had been far too hungry ever since he left Nibelheim.
The Spring nights and parts of the days had been been uncomfortably cold near Nibelhiem, and by the time he had made it to the Gongagan jungle it was the height of Summer, and the heat was stifling. He had lived on what fish he had managed to snatch out of streams, and whatever plants he recognized as edible. There were berries sometimes, and he never wanted to think about the grub-like things he had eaten ever again. Water for drinking had been tricky, since he hadn't had a Heal materia to cast poisona yet, and it was far too easy to get sick drinking what looked like clean water, but you found out later, wasn't.
Gongaga to Costa Del Sol hadn't been as difficult, because he had materia, and Little Friend, and some supplies, but it had been far from easy. So he now felt perfectly justified in sleeping as much as he wanted, eating as much as he wanted, and then repeating. Sometimes he'd eat twice, then sleep, just to add in some variety. No monsters, no insects, and steady meals. Cloud sighed; traveling just wasn't all that great unless you had a motorcycle or chocobo. Never got sick on one of those, either, unlike every other vehicle in existence.
He slowly enjoyed a particularly tasty meal that included steak with a reddish sauce, crunchy bread with a decadent amount of butter and two different vegetables. Then reserved a generally sold-out-early order of some rare fish dish, because it sounded good, and Aerith and Tifa insisted that shopping made you hungry.
It really was time to get himself together. When Cloud had caught a glimpse of his reflection in a mirror, he acknowledged that his appearance was a trifle...disreputable. He definitely needed new clothes. No growth spurt yet, and considering how little he had eaten the past few months, he wouldn't be surprised if it was delayed. Maybe eating a lot now would trigger it to start. He didn't mind trying that so far. At any rate, no ready-made armor would fit him at present, so he'd have to settle for exceptionally sturdy clothing.
Finding combat boots in his size was embarrassing. Not the trying on shoes part, but the saleslady kept cooing at him. So, he explained in gruesome detail just what you could do with a steel-toed boot, and then she had turned kind of green and left him alone.
The materia shop was full of tough decisions. Cloud needed to budget carefully. Should his first attempt fail, living on the run while planning a second would be expensive. You were always darting from here to there ahead of Shinra, often leaving behind your stuff, so a complete resupply was a frequent occurrence. Eventually he settled on a couple Restore and a Revive. He could heal any serious wounds without relying on Potions then, and Cloud refused to be around people without having an ability to use life on them, in case of mortal injury. Stabbings, bullets, monsters, they happened all the time when you were in this business. A Revive wasn't even that spendy when you realized you could use it indefinitely; Phoenix Downs were expensive and hard to hold onto in emergency situations when your hands were shaking. Cloud finished off with a Lightning he convinced the clerk to bring the price down on in a kind of buy two, get one almost-free deal.
And finally, bracers that would let him use his materia effectively. When the shop owner started to make disapproving glances at Cloud lingering so long at the equipment, handling and inspecting each piece minutely, Cloud took a sizable chunk of gil from his pocket, and pushed it toward the man. "I'm looking for something about this size," Cloud pushed a wristcuff forward, "That can hold as many materia as possible. Sturdy, not this flimsy stuff." He finished, motioning at a gaudy armlet that he thought was more like something Scarlet might be seen wearing at a gala event.
There was haggling, and denial, and a few not-quite-empty threats to go elsewhere before Cloud was the owner of two bands; one that that would hold three materia, one with two linked slots. They were made of some unidentifiable material that Cloud's best attempt to smash didn't even make a dent in. They were also incredibly ugly, like something stronger than him had smashed them before, didn't destroy their functionality, but kind of...smeared them around. No matter though. Cloud wasn't entering any beauty contests this time around. He slipped them over his hands and thankfully, they came to a firm stop around his upper arms. Cloud had never tried casting magic from his legs before, and he didn't want to start trying now. He slotted four of his materia, rolled his sleeves back down, and cast a weak cure. Pretty spiffy. Just one more place to go.
Cloud took the Heal materia his mastered stone had spawned, the extra Restore he bought, and packed them and some gil into a box he labeled clearly "Rocket Town - Nibelheim" and underneath that, "Strife". Mail sent to Nibelheim seldom made it all the way to its destination. There was a company in Rocket Town that delivered supplies to Nibelheim in the early Autumn, though. There was a good chance the parcel would get there just before the Winter supply delivery, so it was worth a shot. He couldn't remember how his mom had managed firewood and food, or illness. Potions were expensive, and chopping wood was hard work. She hadn't looked like she was able to do it herself, although he knew from his own appearance that you couldn't always count on that as an indicator. So that would set her up for the snowed in months at least, and come Spring he'd find a way to send more. Cloud had debated which Heal to send, the mastered or newly formed one, but settled on the new. With resist active, he could touch Little Friend for a few, brief moments without transforming. That could be the difference between success or failure with the touch-me as his main weapon.
With all that accomplished, Cloud turned back to the inn. Enough time had passed, he would have wanted to eat again by now anyway, so he still wasn't sure if shopping actually made you hungry.
ooOOOoo
The day he took the ferry to Junon, Cloud ate nothing. He even waited until the last available one. This resulted in a lack of vomiting from seasickness, but Cloud still spent several hours thinking morosely about that Seal materia he left behind, and its sleep ability. He'd never cast it on himself before, but this would have made him willing to try. Let that be a lesson to him on lack of foresight. Who needed money for food and lodging when you could sleep through transit? He still had to get from Junon to Midgar, too. Urk.
The ferry arrived in Junon late enough, he was looking for an inn long after dark. He kept a weather eye out, but no muggers, so Little Friend didn't get to thwack anyone. He'd try it out in the Midgar slums, then. He needed to get the hang of using it on a person, instead of a monster.
Early the next morning, he made a quick stop to pick up the last materia he was going to allow himself for now. He fully understood Yuffie's obsession with collecting the faintly glowing stones, which was why he got so ticked off when she stole them. Magic was amazing. The only thing more awesome was a really cool sword, and if he let himself get distracted, Cloud would just wander the world collecting materia until he hit his growth spurt. Then swords, and then Sephiroth would die in a manner Cloud knew from experience worked with a one hundred percent success rate.
He had considered waiting, but for the problem: Cloud didn't know how much time was left. His goal was to stop the madman before he burned Nibelheim, and summoned Meteor, and Cloud didn't know when that was. He'd looked at newspapers, and all they said was "negotiations with Wutai are breaking down". Did that mean the war hadn't begun yet, or it had ended, and a peace treaty was being discussed? For all he knew, a truce had happened during the war, and they could be in the middle of it. Cloud hadn't fought in Wutai, but Zack had. Was it over before Cloud even came to Midgar last time, or was he simply not deployed? Looking at the date hadn't helped, either. Life before Hojo came cackling out of the shadows was fragmented, and Cloud's memory of dates and times from then was mostly gone. Some things had come back; people's faces, some names, and a few situations, but to be honest, Cloud wasn't absolutely certain of his own age. Around the ticket booth for the bus to Midgar while fielding another question directed to him about him being "alone", Cloud realized he could have asked his mom how old he was. Ah well, not knowing for sure would make lying about it easier, right?
The bus swayed, rocked back and forth, and went around curves on the bumpy road. It stopped all too briefly to refuel, and then lurched back into motion. The person sitting closest to him took out a sandwich with pungent cheese and sausage on it. The bus continued to sway, and rock back and forth around curves in the road.
The world wouldn't ever know what he suffered for its sake. This was what a futile existence must feel like.