Once upon a time, there was a Godly valley with mountains that could touch the sky and trees that cast long shadows. The people who live in the small mountain town are hardworking and happy, so long as they never stray into the forest where the wolves lurk in the darkness. Adults brave the trees in groups to hunt the vicious pack as they have for decades, the conflict is deep with no sign of victory for either side. But wolves are not the only threat, nor the village's only secret - and the link connecting them is a simple cloak of Red ...

Every night, from the highest peak of the uninhabited mountains, a single Wolf howls to the good folk of the valley – as a warning, as a message, and as a reminder of what they did:
"Beware, beware, the Path where the Witch once stood. Beware, beware, of the Wolf in the Wood."

Edea waved him off as Leon stepped out of her house, fully clothed for a hunt, and headed into the woods, "Stay safe," she bid farewell sweetly as he stepped from the tamed lands of men and into the trees ruled by the wild. He smiled back at her with a small wave before the foliage could swallow him completely, even with his red cloak he'd disappear without a trace within a mere minute.

Once she was out of sight he picked up his pace and let the mask of indifference towards the forest fade away to one of relish. His musket hung from his shoulder and his pack was empty, but his determination was brimming. It was motivating to hunt for someone else, and he had gotten a good start on the day as Edea rose with the dawn and despite her best attempts to keep quiet, he had awoken to the smell of breakfast and was now, hopefully, a step ahead of the game. An early start left lots of day available for laying in wait for prey.

The obnoxious tolling of the Church bells disturbed the silence and the serenity of the trees and Leon groaned slightly at the sound. The trees expelled as much noise as they could but it still took a toll on Leon's mood.

He hated the reminder that he was basically barred from the village until people's superstitious anger calmed down. What could I have done to make them fail their hunt? I was miles away from them all day. And it's not like they'll accept my help without thinking I have bad motives either.

The typical thoughts began to twist themselves into anxious knots inside his head, wrapping around each other tighter and tighter until he felt a headache coming on. If he had been in the village, or inside, he would have had to leave to take a breath of fresh air. Already outside, he turned his face skywards and breathed deeply, letting the deepening forest take him to another world away from worry.

When he was deep enough into the woods, out of reach of the touch of the village, he relaxed fully once again and breathed in the wild natural smells with his eyes now bright and focused on the path before him.

Considering the time of year, he was not confident in catching the large prey nor that there would be any large birds hanging about after Genesis's hunt yesterday. However, he wanted to at least attempt to get his Matron something for housing him until the village tensions eased off again. She had finished the rabbit meat that had been his last present and there was a slight rosiness to her cheeks now, more meat would only make her stronger.

If he wasn't such a natural loner he might have considered sharing the house with Edea, or proposing the idea, Leon didn't like the thought of her left on her own but he had learnt her stubbornness well and she was determined to live in the house her husband built for her in their youth. Combined with the fact that Leon could only relax when he was within the trees or alone with his thoughts made the idea of companionship only a temporary one. Despite the good dynamic that they had, it wasn't one that could work for long term, especially now he was an adult – he needed his own space.

Leon wandered further into the trees than he intended like he was unconsciously putting as much distance between himself and the village as possible. He thought of how long he stay would be, in the past, Genesis had been a raging inferno. But, just like the sudden blaze, his fuel ran out quickly and life resumed. Maybe a week before he went back to check?

He looked up and saw the mountain looming over him, he was nearing the base as the trees were smaller and had grown tough and short and slowly to endure the mountain rocks. He glanced about and realised he'd found a suitable location for an ambush, especially if he could find a stream nearby.

He began to move towards the rocks where there were patches of grass growing but a pinecone, slightly wet and sharp, hit him in the back of the head.

Surprised, he turned and saw the item on the ground rolling innocently across the rocky ground and glanced up into the trees where he imagined a squirrel must have knocked it loose, only to double take when he saw a man sitting up in the branches, a pinecone in an easy grip and a small smile on his face betraying his mischief.

The Hunter tensed at his sudden appearance.

The stranger raised his hands in a show of peace, moving with the same teasing smile upon his lips. "Easy, Red."

Leon glanced down where the man's eyes kept glancing and saw that he'd been holding his gun in a ready position, not cocked or aimed but evidently held prepared. Slightly stunned at himself, he hadn't realised how unsettled he was by the fact that he wasn't alone if he had gone and armed himself. He relaxed his unconscious tensing and looked back at the man in the tree. The man had gained an approving smile and his hands lowered.

Leon wondered for a moment if he was dreaming or hallucinating, but the pinecone by his feet assured him that he was wide awake. But this man hadn't just appeared out of nowhere, and Leon hadn't heard him climb the tree, nor had he sensed someone following him. Only the ususal unseen presence from beyond his vision … that was coincidently absent.

Suspicious, he asked, "What are you doing out here?"

The stranger tilted his head and his blond hair moved across his face. He wore leather boots that looked new and a little ill fitting, a once white-now-greying shirt with green trousers and a coat hanging over one of the lower branches. At Leon's question, he smirked, answering in a calm voice, "Just observing."

"Observing what?" Leon raised an eyebrow

The man chuckled, leaning on one hand and giving Leon an unexpectedly tender look, eyes half closed and lips curling softly. "You."

Leon's response was sharp. "You were watching me?"

The stranger shrugged, "Sometimes, if you're passing through. You're interesting – and you're not exactly hard to miss wearing that, Red," he glanced up and down Leon's body in a way that made Leon feel appraised, the glint in the other man's eyes was hard to read and the curve of his lips just widened.

The blond moved swiftly on before a silence could settle, "Most times I'm just out because I want to be, I do as I please," he tossed another pinecone at Leon, who batted it to one side with a hand and that earned him a laugh from the blond, a laugh that had his mind going blank. "But I almost always see you on your way too."

Leon accepted this answer once his brain started to function again. "You're out in the woods alone?" he asked the curious individual.

"So are you."

"But you don't have a weapon."

The man grinned, not unkindly but with a defiance Leon had only seen in predators on the run. The large smile turned up both corners of his lips and covered most of his face. He leaned forwards as if he was telling a secret though he spoke as if stating the obvious, "I don't need one. I have nothing to fear here."

Leon glanced the stranger over again. From low down, it was hard to guess his height but his arms and legs looked muscled and strong with no fat whatsoever, possibly he was underfed, his hair was blond and spiked up in all directions and even fell into his eyes wildly. His eyes looked blue and were alight with playful emotions, he was dressed commonly and yet his clothes didn't seem to fit him very well. He looked healthy too, if a bit pale, and held a distinct aura about him, one that filled the forest air without intruding on what was already present.

Leon hadn't met someone who was so carefree before, and never out here in the wilderness. "What of the wolves?"

The man's face turned from playful and open to cold for a second. "They're not the problem. Those stupid men with guns stirring up the forest are the problem."

"Genesis …" Leon muttered, realising that this Hunt must have been extra violent for random passers-by to have been affected by it. Stupid, what is he trying to prove?

He saw the blond still wearing a hostile expression and sighed in acknowledgement, "I know. There's likely no good game running around because of them."

"Not only that, they're really trigger happy," the blond complained, one hand raising to mockingly form a gun with his slender fingers, "The amount of friendly fire is appalling."

Leon recalled he dog he'd had to put down and silently agreed. He glanced about "Any particular reason you're throwing pinecones at me?"

The man perked up and smiled that small smile again, just briefly, "I wanted to talk to you." He leaned forwards with elbows on his knees and looked intensely at Leon, utterly focused on him. "Why did you spare the deer?"

Leon's eyes widened. "You-"

"She was in your sights, the biggest prey you were likely to see for several weeks. You had waited, you earned the right, she ready for the kill … but you let her go. Why?" he looked intensely puzzled and frustrated by the question as if he had had Leon all figured out until then.

The frustation took Leon by surprise, he had never had another so interested in him before, and he had never imagined that his actions could have brought about this meeting just because of his refusal to pull the trigger.

The man in Red thought for a moment, still reeling in the fact that he had been watched by this man and that he had been close enough to tell all this about him. He cautiously glanced the stranger over again, assessing him as a threat this time as he answered, "She had a foal, it wouldn't have survived without her."

The man looked even more puzzled "I know that. Why not just shoot them both? It's what most people with guns seem to do," his voice betrayed something to Leon, a glimmer of admiration for his inaction and the way he asked seemed to be to understand rather than to challenge. Leon saw that, whoever this was, he was pleased by Leon's actions, but frustrated with himself for not understanding. His hatred of the other Hunters also was apparent.

Leon looked at his own gun and frowned, thinking back to what stopped him a few days ago from pulling the trigger. He recalled the foal so pleased and under his Mother's wing, the Mother looking about so carefully and guarding her offspring on high alert. Privately, it was what he liked to imagine his real Mother could have been like– only to understand when he was older that if he wasn't with her, he wasn't wanted. But that deer was wanted, and the forest needed it to grow up and be strong enough to keep the forest strong.

He answered at last, putting reason above his inner emotions "If I let them go the Mother would raise her baby and one day it might have foals of its own, why kill it now when it could do so much in its life and increase the population? If I spared it I would give the future hunters a better Hunt in a healthier forest; more game to catch, more to share between man and wolf and any other predator in the trees."

When Leon looked back up after giving his answer he saw the man looking stunned, his jaw hanging slack and his hands lax on his knee and against his cheek. "You … you considered the health of the forest?" he breathed at last.

Shifting uncomfortably, Leon nodded, "I didn't think of it that way … it just made sense, and felt right."

The man nodded, his stunned look brightening with every word Leon spoke. "But you shot the dog."

Leon raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing "You saw that too?"

The man just smiled.

"That was dangerous, what if the Hunt had turned around, any movement they saw they would have shot at. You're not wearing anything bright so they wouldn't have seen you as a human in their stupid frenzy."

The man's eyes widened at the open warning and concern that Leon said to him as if he was surprised or touched that he would receive one. But then he returned to his smug, amused expression and drawled "Oh, is that why you wear such eye-catching colours? To keep your own from shooting you?"

"That's the idea," Leon's cloak blew in the soft breeze.

The man looked vaguely interested. "You never answered my question. Why shoot the dog?" he was determined to get a reply, his eyes, a strange blue glanced at the musket with a mix of distaste and curiosity.

The brunet glanced at his gun and recalled the pained whimpers she had been gurgling as she bled out. He wished he could trade his weapon for another, this one felt tainted somehow. He answered and this time his response came quickly, "She was dying, and in pain. I saved her hours of suffering."

There was an unmistakable murmur of awe from above "You show mercy …"

Leon looked up at the man, and saw that a gentle smile had replaced the smug or secretive look he had worn so far, he seemed far friendlier now and he looked satisfied. Satisfied with Leon's answers, and just happy in general.

Leon returned a small smile, unable to help himself, "What's your name? Where are you from?"

Surprisingly, the man appeared shocked or surprised himself at the question, his face fell "You … oh." He considered his answer for a while, his eyes dancing about the clearing as if checking for peepers and listeners. At last, he said, "I live further North, my village is a few steep climbs from here."

Leon was intrigued, the North was mountainous and the land was infamous for predators, "You're not afraid of the wolves?"

The man had a patient smile on his face "You have nothing to fear from the wolves, Red."

"It's Leon." He corrected, at last, the nickname starting to feel more like a tease every time he heard it.

"Leon?" the man rolled his name over his tongue a few times and looked interested, rubbing his fingers together and thinking hard. "I would have thought you'd have a much more primal name than Leon. Maybe something with a bit of wild in it," he tilted his head, twirling a finger in the air as if to summon one up.

The hunter snorted, slightly amused. "Right. And you?"

There was another slow smile that moved across the man's face, though it was a shadow compared to what had been before the turn in conversation. "Cloud. Cloud Strife."

Leon blinked a few times. Cloud? For some reason, that sounded really familiar. "Cloud huh …" the man sent him a broad smile and Leon blinked as he recalled the exact same expression from a darkened part of his mind. He rubbed at his temple when a small pang of pain built up there, Cloud … Cloud …

"You okay, Red?"

Leon broke from his thoughts to see that the man had climbed down from the tree and was standing a respectful distance away, one hand reaching out and hovering near where Leon was desperately massaging. Leon felt his lips twitch in amusement when he saw how small the man was, as if sensing the joke Cloud pulled his shoulders up slightly.

The Hunter removed his hand from his forehead and answered, "It's just a small headache, they're pretty frequent, I'm good." Strange though, it wasn't like the usual headaches.

"Oh." The man pulled away, looked up at the sun and turned thoughtful, "I should get going, no need to disrupt your day anymore, right?" he smirked and turned to walk the opposite way Leon had been intending to go.

"Wait," Leon called out, and to his relief Cloud did wait. "It's a long walk to … anywhere, and the woods can be dangerous-"

"Not to me," the blond interrupted and smiled over his shoulder, utterly self-assured "For a quiet type you're not a good listener. Though your offer of company is very tempting I'm afraid my village is hostile to outsiders and it would be more dangerous for you to accompany me."

"Hostile, why?" Leon couldn't imagine a place where everyone was deemed an enemy on sight.

The man turned back to Leon with an absent-minded shrug "We were attacked recently. It's mostly high tension. But because no one's willing to go out of their way for revenge it's all just stewing and waiting for someone to blame to land in their sights." He waved a hand "Trust me, don't poke the taunt string, tension snaps and there's nothing you can do to stop the consequences."

Leon felt glum at the reminder of his own tensions back in his village, "I know the feeling …"

Cloud tilted his head as if he was going to ask him why, but then a chorus of howls echoed from higher up the mountains. The two men looked up at the peak and the haunting echoes rolled deep into the valley.

Cloud turned sharply "I'd better get back, be careful out there, Red."

"It's Leon."

Cloud smiled over his shoulder "Fine. Take care, Leon."

Leon nodded at him "And to you, Cloud."

As Cloud walked away a new headache started, Leon rubbed at his temple and blinked when a sudden, inexplicable urge to call this stranger back pulled at him stronger than gravity. He looked up but the man had already melted into the trees, not dressed in red or bright yellow or blue he was swiftly lost in the colours of nature. Leon bit his lip and rubbed his head with both hands, the pain building and the urge to scream growing stronger.

Come back … Cloud, come back …

"Edea?"

"Yes, Leon?"

Leon paused in eating his meal, root vegetables and a rabbit's hind legs that Leon had caught today. The encounter from earlier had not left his mind, it plagued him like a bad dream and each time he chased the cause it slipped through his fingers.

Now he was really grasping at straws; "Did … did I know someone called Cloud before the fever?"

"Cloud? That's a name?" No expecting much of a response he was shocked to see Edea looking surprised.

Eyes on her over his steaming meal he said, "I spoke to a stranger today … but it didn't feel like the first time I'd met him, but he didn't know my name, and he spoke to me distantly, but like he knew what to expect and like he already knew me. He was called Cloud."

Matron looked stunned. With a weak shrug, she downed most of her drink before answering him "I always assumed that you were delirious and talking about the weather!"

At her exclamation, he looked her in the eye "Talking what?"

Edea put her hands in her lap "When Genesis brought you back after the snow storm you were deadly sick with fever and pneumonia, as I've told you before. You called for 'Cloud' in your fever dreams, for many nights, I had no idea it could have been a name."

"Is that why Genesis always blames me for the bad weather?" he grumbled, recalling the earliest memory he had of thunder and lightning outside the house of caring familiar-strangers.

Sighing, Edea ignored the question, "I don't think you did know anyone called Cloud, I never met him. You did have a secret someone, though, I always assumed that he was your imaginary friend for when you felt lonely – did you remember something?" her hopeful expression was familiar whenever they spoke of his forgotten past.

"Not exactly a memory … it was like a memory, but it didn't have a place, person, meaning in my head. Other than I almost couldn't bear for Cloud to walk away from me again …"

"Again …"

Leon tried to rephrase his words, his cheeks gaining small fevers of their own. "It was so strange, but I can't stop thinking about it … but every time I look for an answer in my head …"

"You don't find one," Edea finished. She moved a hand to brush at his burning cheeks, her smile a little too sweet for the topic. "It's one of those memories taken by the fever, isn't it? I think you already are sure that you knew him, but you can't bring yourself to trust what isn't there."

Leon nodded, his head lowered in moderate grief. He had so many questions about himself that he had learnt to accept as mysteries forever when he was young and the fever had burnt away the past inside his head he had been the unfortunate quiet type of child who no one knew much about, even his closer family. So, he had had to relearn himself all over again. Today had just added another question; Did I know Cloud?

Edea broke his thoughts at last, "I think you should talk to him if you find him. You've never recalled anything from before the fever until now, my husband would have called it a Heart's calling."

Leon chuckled "Heart's calling …"

"Cid was a romantic, that's why my house is in a clearing, he wanted to treat me like a rural princess from our legends of Snow White and Rapunzel. Like you, many scoff, but I found a lot of truth in listening to an instinct that couldn't be explained in anything but emotion." She had a hand on her heart "Heart's callings are often meaningful, they never truly forget something special, and they're quick to remind you of it too." She glowed in the firelight as she spoke of her short marriage, her hands warming on her stew and her eyes lost in time.

"I think I'd like to see him again," Leon admitted "He's … interesting."

Edea hummed and stood to tidy the plates "Don't scare him off with that attitude of yours," she teased, patting his head as she went to stack the dishes and roll out the guest bed. Leon snorted, batting her hand away as he stood himself.

Leon was thoughtful as he did his own chores and lay the fire low to burn through the night. Did I know Cloud from before?

He hadn't known Leon's name, the teasing way he said 'Red' was not familiar. But his presence was comforting, and he hadn't felt the slightest bit awkward speaking to him, the words came effortlessly and Cloud understood what he tried to say so well. He had never met someone who connected with him even a fraction as comfortably.

His thoughts turned practical. Will I ever find him again? The wood is vast … He said he lived North … the mountain base should be a good place to start. But his village doesn't like strangers … I don't think he's a liar … I won't intrude further than I am meant to.

He made plans to trek about to find this stranger as he slipped into an uneasy sleep. Even if it was just a coincidence, the man intrigued him and to talk to him again might just sate the curiosity that was nagging at his consciousness. As he disappeared into dreams he recalled Cloud's smile in his mind, and, without realising, he had smiled too.

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