Into the Woods

DAY 1

Apparently, Cloud didn't believe darkness was a good enough reason to stop driving. Denzel couldn't see a thing besides the blur of unidentified shapes flying by. He wondered if the man always drove like such a maniac or if he was making a special effort to terrify him. Since he usually only rode along on Fenrir in town, he was completely unprepared for the reckless speed with which Cloud drove through the wilderness. When they finally skidded to a stop, Denzel let himself slide bonelessly to the rocky ground.

"Oh thank you, Gaia!" he cried dramatically. "I'm still alive! He tried to kill me but I survived!" Denzel raised his arms to the sky from his place on the ground.

"Uh, Denzel? Are you ok?" Cloud removed his goggles and the glow pierced the night.

"Whoa…" Denzel sat up slowly. "They actually glow in the dark!" Of course he'd seen them in dim lighting before and he knew they were bright, but this was different. Out here in the middle of nowhere, without even the ambient light of the city to offset them, he could see that they actually emitted light, not just reflected it.

The glowing blue orbs narrowed. "Yeah. You gonna help me set up camp or are you having some kind of hormone-driven teenage episode?"

"Are you serious? I can't see a thing. How am I supposed to—?"

A lantern flickered to life in Cloud's hand. "Here, take this. Go get some firewood together from those trees over there. I'll take care of the tent."

Denzel got to his feet and took the lantern. "Uh, ok. Sure. I can do that."

Cloud held his wrist before he could walk away. "Don't be gone too long, and don't put down the lantern. There are drogs in those woods, but they'll leave you alone as long as you have a light source with you."

"Ok, ok, I got it." Denzel trudged off toward the trees, holding the lantern high in front of him. He glanced back over his shoulder. The light from Cloud's eyes was seriously creepy. Did he honestly think Denzel would believe they didn't get that way from mako? Since Cloud couldn't easily get away from him during their forced bonding time, Denzel planned to use this trip to confront him about it.

The woods were filled with dead, dry branches. There would be no problem finding enough wood for the fire. The problem, Denzel soon discovered, was that he could only carry so much wood without setting down the lantern. But he didn't have any desire to meet a drog in dark, so he gathered as much as he could carry with one arm and brought it back to the tent. Cloud had somehow found enough wood nearby to get the fire started himself, and the tent and sleeping bags were already set up at his back.

Denzel dropped the armful of wood to the ground with a loud clatter. Cloud looked at the small pile and then up at him. His expression was easy enough to decipher. "I can only carry so much with one arm, you know!" Denzel defended.

Cloud sighed and rolled his head around on his neck. "It's fine. Just go to bed. It's late and we have a long way to drive tomorrow."

Denzel ignored his advice and sat down on the ground next to the fire. "So, Cloud."

Cloud looked up. His eyes weren't so obviously bright next to the fire, and the shadows flickering across his face made him look like a stranger. The dark outline of his spikes were familiar though, somehow always looking the same, despite the fact that the wind had been blowing his hair back all night. "What is it?"

"I was thinking about…I thought you said you never got any mako." He didn't mean for it to come out like an accusation, but it sounded that way even to his own ears.

Cloud's eyes shifted to the fire. "I never said that." He fed some sticks from Denzel's small pile to the fire. His voice was deadpan, completely unconcerned with defending himself from the teen's accusations.

Denzel tried again. "Yeah, you did! That day after I tried to split Tsurugi, you came to my room and you said—"

"I said I never made SOLDIER," Cloud said, sounding a bit more irritable. "Those are not the same thing."

"Oh…I didn't know there were other programs that gave mako shots." Denzel waited, but Cloud said nothing, just stared blankly into the fire. "So…how did you get the shots?"

Cloud's face showed a flicker of annoyance. "Denzel, it's late and I'm tired and it's really not a good time to go into this. Just go to bed. Please."

With a huff, Denzel got to his feet and stomped to the tent behind Cloud. Before he entered, he turned to look at his back. "You know what? You're a hypocrite. You tell me to always be honest with you. You think you have the right to know everything about my life, but you won't even answer a simple question about yours. And this is supposed to be our 'guy time'? What a joke. This sucks."

He could only see the silhouette of Cloud's back against the brightness of the fire. He lowered his head, but otherwise made no response to the accusations.

With a sigh of disgust, Denzel opened the tent with unnecessary force and went inside, pulling it closed behind him. He realized too late that he hadn't brought the lantern into the pitch black tent. Unfortunately, since he'd made his dramatic exit, he couldn't ruin it by going back out there to get it. He fumbled his way across the darkness and felt his way to a sleeping bag. It provided almost nonexistent padding against the rocky ground, and it was a long time before he was able to fall asleep. He never did hear Cloud come in.

Day 2

The morning dawned far too early for Denzel. He rolled over, hoping to see Cloud still asleep so he could catch a few more minutes, but the tent was empty. He snuggled back into his sleeping bag anyway.

"Don't even think about it, Denz. It's time to get up." Cloud's voice drifted from outside the tent.

Denzel groaned. "You know, your super hearing is really irritating sometimes."

"Yep. I know. So quit trying to burrow back down. We've gotta get moving."

Cloud sounded entirely too awake for a short night spent sleeping on the hard ground, and it made Denzel even more irritable. He threw back his sleeping bag angrily and climbed out of the tent.

At some point Cloud had gathered a huge pile of wood and tied it into compact bundles. It made Denzel's little stack from the night before look pathetic. The morning air was chilly after his warm sleeping bag. "Can we start a fire again? It's freezing."

"Sure we can, after we get some breakfast."

"Great, I'm starving. What did Tifa pack?"

For some reason, Cloud found this extremely amusing. "Pack? Come on Denz, we're camping! We get our own food." He headed off toward the woods.

This has got to be a joke. He can't be serious. He didn't bring any food? Any second now, he'll turn around and tell me it's a joke. It's in one of Fenrir's compartments. Go get it, Denzel, we'll warm it up.

But Cloud didn't turn around by the time he disappeared into the trees. Denzel groaned and dragged his feet to the woods. He had to jog a bit to catch up, the blanket of dead branches snapping loudly under his shoes.

By the time he reached him, Denzel was still feeling rather irritable, and the incessant growling of his stomach and severe shortage of sleep wasn't helping his mood. "How are we even supposed to find anything out here?" he complained. "You really didn't plan this very well, Cloud."

Cloud turned around with a snarl. "Could you just…" He made a visible effort to calm himself. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "Can you please just stand in one place and be quiet for a few minutes? We're never going to catch anything if the entire forest hears us stomping through."

Denzel huffed and sat down on a stump. "Fine. Whatever." He found a stick and poked aimlessly at the tree while he daydreamed about a big, fluffy stack of Tifa's pancakes. Pancakes being served by Alicia.

"I made your favorite, Denzel." Her hair flowed loosely around her face and tickled his jaw as she leaned over him, setting the steaming plate in front of him. She stood there for a moment longer than necessary as he breathed in her strawberry shampoo.

His eyes followed her as she walked around to the other side of the table. She was wearing black knee-high tights with a blue skirt that swayed above her knees and a thin, clingy sweater. She smiled, flashing that adorable dimple that he always found so mesmerizing. "Someday I'll make these for you and bring them to you in bed."

Denzel forgot about his breakfast. "Really?"

"Mm-hmm," Alicia purred. "You know, I've always liked you, Denzel. And I saw you out there fighting to save the town. You were so brave and strong and—"

A shrill screech tore through his fantasy. Denzel sat there, frozen, waiting to see if all hell was about to break loose. The snap of twigs alerted him to something approaching – something big and heavy. He jumped to his feet, painfully aware that he had no weapons or materia. The cracking of wood grew louder. His mind raced in frantic circles as his heart hammered against his chest. Run or fight? Run or fight?

It was too late. The next crack was right behind him. He spun around with his fist swinging. It was met with something hard and unyielding.

"Is…everything ok?" Cloud asked cautiously. He had blocked Denzel's fist with the palm of his hand. In his other hand, a limp animal corpse dangled.

The realizations tumbled over Denzel. Cloud had been hunting for their food. The animal screeched when he killed it. Cloud wasn't bothering to tiptoe over the branches anymore because he had no more reason to sneak. And Denzel's hand really hurt.

Flustered and embarrassed, Denzel focused his attention on the furry bundle in Cloud's hand. He wasn't an idiot; he knew where meat came from, but he wasn't used to seeing it so close to the living side. He made a horrified face. "That's what we're eating?"

Cloud frowned. "Yeah. My mom used to make this all the time back home. It's pretty good."

"If you say so," Denzel muttered. He perked up as he spotted something bright blue through the trees. "Score! I found my own breakfast!" He trotted over to the bush and pulled off a couple of juicy-looking fruits, big enough so that he could fit only a few in his hand. He was just about to take a taste of one when it was knocked away from him.

"Hey!" Denzel snapped. "What's your problem?"

He was dragged away from the delicious-looking bush unceremoniously by his arm. "Trust me," Cloud said. "You do not want those for breakfast, city boy."

Denzel jerked his arm away. "Alright, fine. You don't have to be such a jerk about it." He stormed off ahead, only to be called back a few seconds later.

"Wrong way, Denz. Camp is this way."

Denzel scowled. "I need to take a leak. I'll catch up with you at camp." It wasn't true, but he wanted an excuse to get away from Cloud for a while. He was really starting to get on his nerves.

When he rejoined him at camp a few minutes later, Cloud had already gotten the fire started and the animal stripped, and was roasting the meat on a stick. Denzel couldn't help being a little impressed - Cloud was really good at this kind of thing. He wasn't about to say it, though. He was still angry about the snide comments in the woods.

By the time they packed up and hit the road, the sun was baking the dry ground into flakes, and Fenrir sprayed the air behind them with rocks and dust. Denzel was a little better prepared for the terrifying speed, so he grabbed on tight and kept his eyes open a bit more this time. It also helped that the road was flatter and more open, so at least he wasn't worried about being impaled by a tree branch. He was actually starting to enjoy the feel of the wind against his skin and the sun at his back.

Around mid-day, they skidded to a stop near a peaceful-looking body of water. Denzel hopped off the bike and stretched. His legs were sore from hours in that position. How does Cloud do this all day long?

Cloud was digging in the storage compartments of the bike, so Denzel wandered over to the water, peeled off his shoes and socks, and dangled his toes off the edge of the bank. The water felt soothing on his hot feet and the water looked clean. He was parched, so he cupped his hands together and scooped up some water, lifting it to his mouth.

"Denzel! What are you doing?"

Denzel let the water trickle between his fingers. "Uh…getting a drink?"

Cloud's voice was scathing. "Come on, man! You can't just drink water from anywhere!"

The teen's ears turned red. He wiped his damp hands on his shirt. "Well how am I supposed to know? You never taught me! It's not like I had to worry about where my water came from on the plate. Jeez, you're such a jerk sometimes!" Denzel crossed his arms and stared stonily over the water.

After a moment, Cloud came to sit next to him on the bank, crossing his legs in front of him. Before he said a word, Denzel was running his mouth again. "This has got to be the worst punishment you could have come up with. I mean, did you literally just decide last night that I should spend my entire school break being dragged along to some delivery in the middle of nowhere?"

Startled by the sudden attack, Cloud just stared at him.

"I know I messed up, ok? I know I shouldn't have brought the materia to school to show off, and I shouldn't have lost my temper with Jesse. Yeah, it was stupid, and I'm sorry I did it, but it's totally not fair to make me do this!"

If he had cared enough to look, it would have been easy for Denzel to see the tension in Cloud's shoulders that should have been a warning. But wrapped up as he was in his own frustration and anger, he was completely oblivious.

"I mean, I'm doing nothing except riding on the back of a bike all day and sleeping on the ground at night! Chores are an acceptable punishment, but I might just die of boredom from this trip!"

The next second, Cloud was on his feet, glaring down at the boy, eyes flashing dangerously. Of course Denzel had known he was fast, but he didn't usually use that speed outside of battle. His hands were curled into fists at his sides. Now he had the boy's attention. "You really don't get it, do you, Denzel? What you did was beyond reckless and irresponsible. You attacked two unarmed civilians – kids, even! – using something that is misunderstood and feared by most of the Planet! And you did it in the middle of all this drama with the monsters attacking the town and everyone on edge and looking for someone to blame. And now you're…"

He stopped and drove his fingers into his own hair, making them into fists and tuggling harshly at the strands. As always, pain brought him back down, helped him focus. His arms dropped back to his sides.

"Stay here," he ordered roughly. "I need to go do something."

Cloud stormed off, pausing only to snatch First Tsurugi from Fenrir, assembling the sword in one smooth motion.

Denzel knew what he "needed" to do. Honestly, he wished he had the same option, and the feeling was strange to him. He'd never been prone to violence before, not to some random monsters that meant him no harm. But the feeling he got when his sword sliced through sinew and muscle was powerful, nearly euphoric. It was so unfair that Cloud had an outlet for his anger, but Denzel could only sit there and stew.

He wished Marlene were there. He wanted to rant and complain, and she would understand. She knew how infuriating Cloud could be.

A slight breeze ruffled his hair, and movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention: Cloud's phone, clipped to Fenrir as it always was when he was on the road. He could complain to Marlene.

He snatched up the phone and dialed home. "Seventh Heaven," the familiar voice transmitted through the speaker.

"Marlene! Hey, it's Denzel." He was relieved that she had picked up the phone, because he wasn't sure he could have hidden his frustration from Tifa if she had answered.

"Hey Denz! How's the camping trip?" she asked cheerfully.

"It sucks," Denzel growled. "Cloud is being a total pain, and I'm stuck with him for like four more days! I swear he's trying to make me as miserable as possible to punish me for what I did to Jesse. This is so unfair, Mar! I don't know if I can take any more of this. I mean, you know how Cloud is! When he gets all mad and his eyes get all bright and he talks in that low voice and you know that you might as well give in because you just. can't. win."

He expected Marlene to agree. He thought she would sympathize and cluck her tongue and commend him for putting up with Cloud as much as he did. He did not expect dead silence from the other end of the phone.

"Marlene? Are you still there?"

He heard a soft exhale in response. "Denzel, if I tell you something, you have to promise not to say anything to Cloud or Tifa."

"Of course, Mar. You know I never do. What is it?"

"Well, I overheard them talking after they grounded you the other night."

Denzel snorted. It was uncanny the amount of things that girl "overheard", but he wasn't going to complain. "Yeah? What about it?

"They sounded scared, Denz. They were afraid that Jameson would do something really bad to you. Tifa convinced Cloud to go on this trip and take you along so she could do some damage control. They're trying to protect you, Denzel, and honestly, you sound like an ungrateful little brat right now."

Marlene never was the kind to beat around the bush, and it really sounded like Denzel needed to be smacked in the face with the truth. She waited for his indignant response, expecting that she might need to beat him around the head with it a few more times, but there was nothing. Or at least, no words. She heard an unfamiliar sound, almost like something tearing, followed by some gasping breaths and weak coughing. Then there was some rustling and fumbling, and the unmistakable thump of the phone hitting the ground.

Cloud pulled his sword from the flan with a loud squelching sound as it slumped into a shapeless puddle. He rarely attacked flans with his weapon because it was extremely inefficient, but materia wouldn't do anything to work off his frustration, and the resistant, rubbery texture of the flan was just what he needed.

A familiar voice floated to his ears with the wind. He tilted his head to listen.

"Cloud! CLOUD!"

Marlene? Why did that sound like Marlene? His eyes widened. Denzel!

He took off at a sprint, running as fast as he could to the place he'd left Denzel. He didn't allow himself to think or imagine or speculate. He just ran, the boy's name playing on repeat in his mind.

His feet skidded as he turned sharply around the tight corner of the bluff that was blocking his view of the camp site.

A pain flashed through his core, white hot at the familiar scene before him. Denzel was slumped forward on the ground, impaled on the spiky arm of a capparwire that had driven through him from behind. "NO!" Cloud wasn't even aware he had screamed, as the vision in front of him flashed to a pretty girl with brown ringlets of hair and a pink dress, slumped over a long, thin blade.

Cloud's sword sliced straight through the center of the capparwire. The top half slid to the ground. No no no no no not again please not again… He dropped the sword and knelt behind Denzel's limp form, bracing his shoulders with one arm. With the other, he grasped the spiky stump of the capparwire, pulling it out of his back as carefully as he could.

The blood flowed freely from his wound once the arm was removed, which brought immeasurable relief. It meant that his heart was still pumping. The arm hadn't gone through it. He could still save him. Cloud leaned him back against his chest, already calling out to the lifestream for healing. He wrapped his arms around Denzel's shoulders from behind and held him tightly as his body twitched.

"I've got you buddy. It's ok. I've got you." He murmured softly into his ear, knowing how much it hurt while his internal injuries were being healed, sewn together from the inside out, but at least it wouldn't take long.

The twitching stopped and Denzel opened his eyes and groaned. "Cloud?"

"Yeah. I'm right here. You're ok. I'm here."

"Mmm." His eyes slipped closed again. "Safe…" he mumbled.

There was nothing Denzel could have said that would tear Cloud apart more than that one word. He bowed his head, guilt and shame washing over him.

"Cloud? Are you there? Cloud!"

Cloud startled, scanning for the source of Tifa's voice. He spotted his phone lying on the ground a few feet away, the light indicating the open connection. He leaned toward it carefully, trying to reach it without jostling Denzel.

"I'm here," Cloud said wearily into the phone.

Tifa's voice was tense. "What just happened? Marlene was yelling your name into the phone and we heard all this commotion but no one would answer us. Is everything ok?"

Cloud closed his eyes. "Yes. No. Well, it will be."

"Cloud," she said sternly. "Explain yourself."

"I left him alone, Teef. I left him alone in the middle of the wilderness with no weapon. And he got attacked."

"You left him alone? Cloud, what were you thinking? He's just a kid!"

"I know," he groaned. "I don't know. We were arguing and I got so mad and I just…"

"You went off to deal with it alone."

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Why is it so hard for you to just talk to people when you're upset? You can't just keep…"

"I know, Tifa. Not right now. Please. I…I need to get the tent set up so Denzel has someplace to sleep. I'll call you later tonight, ok?"

"Okay." Tifa sounded resigned and she heard the click of the connection closing. "Be safe…" she said softly.

Denzel opened his eyes to dark canvas and sweat. The sun struggled through the navy tent, heating the interior to a roasting degree. Cloud had removed his socks and shoes and shirt, so he wasn't as hot as he could have been. He was also not covered in blood, so he must have cleaned him up, too.

He remembered flashes of how he'd gotten here, but the phone call was crystal clear in his memory. His face burned as he remembered Marlene's words. Ungrateful brat… Yeah, he should apologize, but how was he supposed to do that without admitting that he knew why they were out there?

He pushed his sweaty bangs back from his face and crawled out of the tent. The sun had moved across the sky, marking a few hours that had passed while he slept. Cloud was sitting by the water where they'd had their argument, sitting perfectly still and staring at nothing. Denzel walked up slowly and sat down next to him.

Cloud didn't give any indication that he was aware of the boy sitting there, but he was the one to break the silence first. "I know this trip hasn't been that great for you—"

"No," Denzel interrupted. "It's not your fault. It's my attitude. I've been so moody and angry lately and…I don't know why."

The corner of Cloud's lip quirked with the hint of a smile. "Hormonal teenager?"

A slight smile cracked Denzel's face, too. "Can I use that as an excuse?"

"For the next 5 years, at least," Cloud said.

Denzel laughed. "I'll try not to abuse it."

The smile melted from Cloud's face as he finally looked over at him. "You were right though. I shouldn't just expect you to know these things. I guess I take them for granted, but had to learn them once, too. I'll teach you, ok?"

"Cool," Denzel grinned. "You mean like right now?"

"Um, maybe not right now. There's plenty of daylight left. We should put on a few more miles before we stop for the night."

"Ok," Denzel shrugged. "I'm really hot, though. Can I take a quick swim before we go?"

"Please do," Cloud agreed, getting to his feet. "I don't think I could stand your smell much longer."

With a mischievious smile, Denzel asked innocently, "Are you sure I can swim in just any water?"

Cloud stood close behind him, his boot right behind Denzel's butt. "Yeah, smart aleck. Just don't drink it."

Before Denzel knew what was happening, Cloud slid his boot under him and lifted his foot, sending Denzel flying into the pond face-first.

He came up sputtering and spitting. "Hey!" But he really couldn't stay mad, especially hearing the rare sound of Cloud's laughter.

"I'm gonna pack up the tent. You've got 10 minutes."

They stopped earlier than usual that evening. They had completely forgotten lunch in all the excitement that afternoon, and they were both starving by the time they stopped by a large forest. The wind had picked up a bit, but they had some protection next to the trees.

Cloud pulled off his goggles as he stepped off the bike and nudged down the stand with his foot. "Hey, I have something for you," he said, digging in one of the compartments. He pulled out the sword he had confiscated from Denzel before they left home.

"You're letting me have it back?" Denzel asked.

"Just for the trip," Cloud warned as he handed it over. "There aren't any people around and…well, this is as good a chance as any for you to get some practical experience. I should have given it to you earlier, anyway. The monsters are going to get thicker the farther we get from civilization." He popped a couple pieces of materia from his own bracer and handed them to Denzel as well. "You can equip some of my materia, too. Sorry, I didn't think about bringing yours along."

Denzel grinned as he put the restore and ice materia into his bracer. "No fire?" he asked.

"I just have the one fire, and I'm just going to keep it in the top compartment in Fenrir because we'll be using it often when we camp. You should put this on, too." He pulled out a white cape, the only accessory he'd left in there from a previous trip, and tied it on Denzel. "It will protect you from small and toad effects. Those attacks get pretty common in the woods."

"Cool!" Denzel said. "I can't wait to run into some monsters!" His stomach protested loudly. "Well, ok, I can wait until we eat," he amended, sliding his sword into the sheath. "How long is it going to take?"

"About 5 minutes," Cloud said. "Think you can last that long?" He was digging through one of the bags stowed on the bike.

"Really? Don't we have to catch it?"

"Not this time." He pulled out some bread and cheese from the bag, along with their water canteen and some dried meat.

"Ah ha!" Denzel yelled, perking up. "I knew Tifa wouldn't send us with no food."

Cloud scoffed. "Yeah, well. Just a little. Not enough to get us through the week. And the meat is just what's left from this morning."

Denzel grabbed greedily at the food and shoved it in his mouth. "Ohhhh, man. I never realized how good bread tasted." He bit off a piece of the dried meat. "Even this stuff is good now."

"Hey now," Cloud protested mildly. "You really shouldn't be insulting the cook unless you want to starve."

Denzel grinned and ripped off another big chunk.

After he had satisfied the beast in his stomach, Denzel stretched out on the rocky ground. "Mmm. Ok, now I'm ready for bed."

Cloud was already digging in the bags again. "Are you kidding? The sun hasn't even set yet!"

Grudgingly, Denzel sat up. "Well what else are we gonna do?"

"We're going to set some traps so we have food for breakfast. Come on, I'll show you."

The wind was cold, so they both grabbed another layer of clothes before setting off into the woods. Cloud showed him how to make several different types of traps and explained how they worked. His fingers nimbly wrapped and stretched and tied like he had done it a thousand times before. He even let Denzel make a few.

"So how did you learn all this stuff?" Denzel finally asked.

"Put that cheese right in the middle," Cloud instructed Denzel before responding. "Well, Nibelheim is just a little mountain village. We didn't have markets or stores like Midgar. There was a supply truck that came about once a month, but it was just some extra stuff we couldn't find locally, and Ma couldn't afford much of what they brought anyway. So, this is what we had to do to survive."

Denzel gaped at him. "You had to do this every day?"

Cloud shrugged. "Not exactly. If I got enough to last us a while, I might spend a few days helping with canning or drying it. We had to stock up what we could during the summer because it got a lot harder when winter came. We never seemed to have quite enough to make it through the whole season, though. Part of the reason I was so scrawny."

He stood up and dusted off his hands. "Alright, let's leave these for tonight. We'll check them in the morning."

When they arrived back at the camp site, Cloud sent Denzel back into the woods to gather some firewood. "Take the lantern though. It will be dark soon. Fire materia is in the middle slot."

As Cloud set to work getting the tent up, Denzel grabbed the lantern and materia from their supplies. He palmed it and lit the wick, but the flame flickered violently in the cold wind. He shoved the materia in his pocket, just in case he needed to relight it.

He was learning how to carry the wood a little more efficiently. The problem was actually trying not to drop the wood he held while picking up more with the same arm. By dropping the sticks into a small pile instead of continuing to carry them as he gathered, he kept his arm free until he had a decent amount gathered. Then he scooped up the pile and carried them all back.

When he returned to the campground with his bundle of wood, he noted again that Cloud had already set up the tent and started a small fire. In his hands, he held the shirt Denzel had been wearing that day, which had slashes across both the front and back. He was sewing one of the slashes with tiny, even stitches. The thread was black, matching Cloud's ribbed shirt, which explained why he never noticed all the repairs that must be covering his clothes. Unfortunately, Denzel's shirt was a light brown. The black threads looked like a cancer stretching across his shirt.

Cloud stuck the end of the needle between his lips as he snapped the thread and tied off the end.

"How did you get so good at that?" Denzel asked. His voice was teasing, but he really was impressed by the precision of the thread around the ragged tear.

Cloud took the needle out of his mouth and weaved it through a hardened cloth that he pulled from his pack. "I'm a man of many talents, young one," he said cryptically.

Denzel dropped the wood next to him, and this time Cloud nodded with approval. Feeling pretty proud of himself, Denzel sat down by the fire, opposite Cloud.

"Did you know you can sew together skin if someone has an open wound and you don't have a way to heal them quickly?" Cloud asked conversationally. He tossed the repaired shirt over the fire to the teen.

"Ha!" Denzel snorted and caught the shirt, but Cloud wasn't laughing. "What, are you serious? You stab a wound a bunch of times with a needle and that makes it better?"

This time Cloud did laugh. "Well, no, the needle doesn't feel good at all. But the thread will pull together the two sides of the wound and eventually the body will heal itself. It works the same way as a cure spell, only much, much, much slower.

Denzel made a face. "Why would you ever want to do that?"

"I don't!" Cloud declared. "That's why I learned how to use materia. But when I was a kid, no one in the village knew how to use it, and potions were really hard to come by. So we sewed up skin and used sticks to hold bones in place, and waited for our body to heal itself."

Denzel tried to imagine it as he shifted his position to get comfortable on the rocky ground. The materia in his pocket dug into his thigh, which was distinctly less comfortable. He stood up to remove it and a thought struck him. "Hey Cloud? How did you start this fire?"

Cloud looked up at him. "We brought fire materia," he said calmly.

Denzel pulled the stone from his pocket. "You mean this?"

Cloud looked startled. "Oh. Uh.." he fumbled. "Why did you take that? I needed it." Anger seeped into his voice.

Denzel glared at him and crossed his arms. "Clearly you didn't. I had it with me in case I needed to relight the lantern. Now stop trying to change the subject. How did you light the fire?"

"I...umm…" Cloud's eyes skittered around wildly, trying to come up with a plausible explanation, but finally he sighed in defeat. "Like this." He held out his hands, palms up. Two tiny fireballs appeared, growing in size until he made his hands into fists, cutting off the flames.

Denzel gasped. "Whoa! You've gotta teach me how to do that!"

Cloud rubbed his face wearily. "I can't. You remember that day I swallowed the materia?"

"Of course." How could I forget?

"Well, it's still inside of me and…I can use it."

Day 3

The new day dawned bright and crisp. Denzel had been too excited to get much sleep the night before, thinking of all the possibilities. It was so cool! He'd felt horribly guilty over Cloud swallowing the materia, but it seemed like this was actually turning out to be good thing. It was a tremendous weight off his shoulders.

He had begged Cloud to show him everything he'd learned to do, but Cloud had said he was tired. He promised to show him another time, though. Now that Denzel thought about it, Cloud did look pretty tired lately.

As he rolled up his sleeping bag and pulled on another layer against the cold air, Cloud poked his head into the tent. "Hey, you ready? Let's go check the traps."

Denzel grinned and followed him out. He was excited to see how the traps had worked. The first one they checked was one that Denzel had made. He could tell because it was a little sloppy, whereas Cloud's traps were very precisely laid out. He peered inside, disappointed to find that it looked exactly the same as the night before.

"Don't worry about it," Cloud said as they dismantled the trap. "That's why we did so many. If they all caught something, we would have way too much food."

They moved on to the next traps. By the time they reached the fourth, they had found their breakfast. Denzel was ecstatic. It was one of his traps, and it had worked exactly the way it was supposed to. The animal was a large one, much larger than the two of them could eat at once.

"What are we going to do with all this meat?" Denzel asked, bouncing excitedly.

"We're heading into the mountains today. It'll be cold up there. We'll dry some, and the rest we can take with us and it will freeze."

They went through the rest of their traps, finding one more with something small caught in it. It was cute, and Denzel couldn't help feeling a little guilty, but Cloud just shrugged. He didn't have much time to dwell on his guilt, though. As they walked back to the camp site, Cloud pointed out various plants and bushes along the way. He knew the names of all of them. He knew which ones they could eat, which ones tasted like marlboro vomit, and which ones would have them stopping every hour on the road.

"I don't get it," Denzel said, picking off one of the leaves. "Why would we have to stop?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow as he looked over at the boy. "Trust me, you don't want to find out."

When they got back to the camp, Cloud pulled a knife out of his boot and showed him how to skin and clean it. Then he handed the knife to the teen. Denzel was slow and imprecise, probably cutting off much more of the meat than he should have, but Cloud didn't seem to mind. He sat on a stump and leaned back against another tree, linking his hands behind his head for a pillow. He supervised Denzel's clumsy maneuvering and told him stories about growing up in the mountains.

By the time Denzel's fingers were too numb to hold the knife, he was laughing so hard that his eyes were watering. "Your mom actually spanked you with the cutting board right in the middle of town? With everybody watching? Gaia, that would be so embarrassing!"

"Mm," Cloud agreed. "Ma Strife was not a woman to be trifled with. Tiny, petite little woman, and all the men in town were terrified of her."

Denzel wiped at his streaming eyes with his sleeve. "Here, you want to finish this? It's going to take me all day." He handed the knife to Cloud, who shrugged. Denzel tucked his freezing fingers inside his sleeves. "What about your dad? Was he scared of her too?"

"I dunno. I never knew him," he said as he efficiently continued skinning.

Cloud didn't seem perturbed, but Denzel looked down at his feet. He knew what it was like to lose a father. It was an ache that had dulled over time, but never really left him. But what if he'd never had one at all? And what if he'd never found Cloud? Where would he have been now without him? Who would he have been now?

Cloud glanced up at him. "What's up?"

"What?" Denzel blinked.

"You just got really quiet."

Denzel shook his head. "Oh. Just spaced out, I guess. Tell me more about your mom. Was she really tough on you?"

Cloud had finished skinning and began cutting the meat off the bone. "Sometimes. If I didn't do my chores or got in a fight with the other kids, I knew I was in for it. If I knew I'd really screwed up, I snuck up the mountain trail to this little hideout I'd made for myself. I stayed up there as long as I could, hoping she would forget about it or at least calm down a little bit. But eventually I would get too hungry and go home.

"She would just be calmly going about her chores until I walked in the door. It was like she had just tucked away all her anger in this little pocket while she was waiting. As soon as I got home, she pulled it out, and then I was in even deeper trouble for making her worry. Those are the days I wished for the cutting board."

Denzel grinned. "Tough as leather, then?"

"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "But leather can be soft, too. At night, we would light the fire and curl up in our blankets. The whole house was just one big room, so we usually slept right in front of the hearth when the nights were cold. When the wind whistled through the gaps in the stone walls, it made this horrible moaning sound. I was so terrified of that sound when I was a kid. She would pull the blanket around both of us and wrap her arms around me, and tell me these stories about brave warriors and battling gods until I fell asleep." He smiled fondly. "Fenrir was always my favorite. I used to beg her to tell me that one all the time."

"What a surprise," Denzel said dryly.

"She got a lot of ridicule as a single mother, and I think in her heart she was afraid that I wouldn't turn out right without a dad to raise me, like I wouldn't be strong enough. I think that's why she was so tough on me. But she never expected me to run off and join the army so young."

Denzel felt the weight of the sadness behind his words. "You were…my age when you left home, weren't you?"

"Yeah." Cloud set down the knife and locked eyes with Denzel. "Don't be in too much of a hurry to grow up, alright? Just enjoy it while you can."

His eyes were intense, and Denzel had a strong urge to reassure him. "Yeah, I will, Cloud. I'm not going anywhere for a while."

Cloud studied his face for another minute, and then seemed to shake himself. "Come on. Let's eat our breakfast and hit the road. We should be able to deliver the package and get back to this same place by tonight."

The temperature was dropping quickly as the afternoon wore on, and Denzel was really getting cold. They were driving up a steep mountain path that was barely big enough for the bike, and ran precariously close to the ledge. Cloud had actually slowed down, which made Denzel more worried than anything.

"Hey, Cloud!" he yelled over the howling wind. "Can we stop somewhere and thaw out or something? Maybe start a fire? Warm up our toes?"

Cloud turned his head so Denzel could hear him over his shoulder. "Not right now," he yelled. "If we stop, we might not be able to get started again. We need to find someplace flat that's not coated in ice."

Denzel sighed and wiggled his numb fingers. He didn't have much hope of that happening anytime soon, but suddenly Cloud slammed on the brakes. The bike started skidding sideways on the slick ice. He shot out a stream of fire at the ground in the direction they were sliding, melting the ice and halting their momentum at the same time. They stopped mere inches from the edge.

"Get off!" Cloud yelled. They both jumped off onto the safety of the ledge and Cloud pulled the bike toward them, dropping it on its side and pulling out his sword at the same time. Denzel winced at the sound as the motorcycle crashed on the rocky ground. Cloud wouldn't be happy about that later, but at the moment they had a more pressing concern.

A giant, green, tentacled monster, previously hidden around the curve of the mountain, was blocking the path. Denzel covered his mouth and nose with his free hand as they backed up. "Oh my gods, that thing smells! What is it?"

Cloud made a face and split his sword into two. "Marlboro."

"Ugh! That thing is foul!"

"Yeah, and its bad breath will mess you up, so back up and let me—"

Cloud didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before the marlboro unleashed a nasty belch. He groaned as the stench washed over them. The ribbon on his arm tingled, and he quickly scrambled back to see what the damage to Denzel was. The boy was fast asleep on the path. That was a relief. Cloud charged the marlboro, but instead of attacking, he ducked and skidded past it. He leapt back onto his feet on the other side and slashed it across the back. The marlboro roared and turned to face him. He kept backing up, drawing it away from Denzel. As long as it didn't hit him, Denzel could stay asleep until Cloud could get rid of the thing and find a remedy.

Cloud slashed him a few more times, but he knew it would be much quicker to exploit its weakness, and the clock was ticking with Denzel still asleep. He cast a powerful water spell several times in succession and the giant plant-beast toppled forward, crashing to the ground. After stowing his sword in the harness, Cloud put one foot against the marlboro and shoved it toward the edge of the cliff. Its teeth scraped harshly against the frozen ground. The sound was almost as grating as the odor. Finally, he pushed it over the edge and watched it bounce all the way down the side of the mountain with a series of soft splats.

Able to breathe once again, he pulled a remedy from his supplies and returned to Denzel. He poured it on the boy's head and Denzel sat up with a jerk, then grabbed his head between both hands with a groan. "Augghh. What happened?"

Cloud gave him a moment to recover. "It's probably from the poison. Your head will feel better in a second. Just be glad you had that white cape on. Toad feels even worse."

Denzel blinked and gingerly pulled his hands away from his head. The pain was gone. He took Cloud's outstretched hand and got to his feet. "So how come it doesn't affect you?"

Cloud showed him the ribbon on his arm.

"What does that protect you from?" Denzel asked, poking at the ribbon.

"Everything."

Denzel's eyes widened. "Cool! Wanna trade?"

With an apologetic smile, Cloud shook his head. "If something incapacitates me, you'll be on your own. And if I get confused and hit you…"

"Oh. Right. Good call." Denzel's shoulders dropped.

"Sorry, Denz. I'd get one for you too if I could find one, but they're really rare. How about this? When we get back home, you can dig through all my accessories and see if there's something you like better."

They both made their way back to Fenrir. As predicted, Cloud grimaced as he picked up the motorcycle and examined the scratches on the paint. "Guess we'll have to wait until we get back to fix that." He sighed. "Well, we're stopped now, and if we head back down the path just a bit, we'll be on the lee side of the mountain. We can make a fire and quickly eat, but it's going to be cold either way."

He glanced at the steep slope that was their path ahead. If it hadn't already been icy, it definitely was now. The water that had splashed off of the marlboro from his spell had landed on the ground and was already freezing. "Any ideas how to get up to the top of that? The tires will just spin on the ice."

Denzel looked at him like he was incredibly thick. "Cloud…you can shoot fire from your hands. Just melt it."

"Oh yeah! Good thinking," Cloud laughed. "We'll try that after we take a break and eat."

They puttered Fenrir slowly down the trail until they reached a shallow indentation cut into the side of the mountain. At least it gave them some shelter from the biting wind. Cloud unpacked one of the bundles of wood he had brought with from the forest. This time he explained how and why he was arranging the wood before shooting a steady stream of fire from his hands.

Denzel basked in the welcome heat of the fire for a moment, stepping away reluctantly for just long enough to pull out a few more layers of clothes from his luggage. He pulled them on as Cloud unpacked the food. The meat was frozen as he'd said it would be, and it was now in one solid chunk.

"Great," Denzel sighed. "How long is it going to take to thaw that thing enough so we can even cut it?"

Cloud didn't respond, but pulled his knife out of his boot and flipped it open. He grasped the blade with one hand, concentrating intently.

"What are you—" Denzel started. "Ohhh," he said in awe as the blade glowed a hot orange-red.

Cloud used the knife to cut through the frozen meat, keeping two fingers on the top of the blade to keep it hot while he cut through it.

"That's so freaking cool!" Denzel exclaimed. "Can you cook the meat, too?"

"I don't know," Cloud said, grinning at the boy's enthusiasm. "I've never tried."

They were huddled in the little indentation in the cliff, and Cloud held the meat between his hands and focused. Denzel plopped down on the ground next to him to wait. It was taking a long time, and the cold ground was making his butt numb faster than the fire was warming him. He looked over at Cloud, noticing that he was not actually sitting on the ground, but squatting on the balls of his feet. Denzel copied his posture, immediately feeling warmer. It was an uncomfortable position though, and he wasn't keen on staying like that for long.

Five minutes later, he stood and stretched his legs. "Jeez, how can you stay like that for so long?"

Cloud didn't look away from the still-red meat. "Do some squats."

"What?" Denzel stared at him. "You mean like, right now?"

"Yeah," Cloud said. "It will warm you up."

So Denzel did squats. They did warm him up, but after a few minutes, his leg muscles burned and he let himself collapse onto the cold ground.

Glancing over at him, Cloud pulled off his outer coat and dropped it on the ground next to him. "Sit on that."

Gratefully, Denzel pulled the thick material over and slid it under his butt. Using the fire materia must have been really been making Cloud hot. His skin was a rosy pink, and beads of sweat were starting to appear on his forehead. Next to the fog of his breath, evidence of the freezing air, it was jarring.

Finally, the meat was nicely browned. Cloud cut it into two huge chunks and handed one to Denzel before dropping down next to him on the coat. "Hey, I think it actually cooks more evenly like this than over the fire." Cloud said, tearing into his chunk. "Great idea, Denz."

Denzel studied him worriedly. "Yeah, but I think we should just use the fire from now on. You look pretty worn out."

Cloud shrugged. "I'll be fine. Let's just eat and get going."

Denzel had an uneasy feeling, but he brushed it aside. He figured Cloud knew his own limitations.

He really should have listened to his instincts.