Life as a SOLDIER

Disclaimer: For a while, we're going for a more light-hearted atmosphere? Seriously?

A/N: Yes, we are! For a chapter or two. :3 Read on!

Chapter Thirty-Eight: A New Training Style
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While breakfast was in a chaotic state, Cloud and Sephiroth were training of else where.

"How good are you with your weapon?" asked Sephiroth.

"Uhm…good enough, I suppose…" said Cloud uncertainly.

"Hmm. Well, let's find out, shall we?" asked Sephiroth, summoning his sword.

"…! You grabbed your sword out of midair!" exclaimed Cloud. "How did you do that?"

"It's a new trick I learned," grinned Sephiroth. "I no longer have to carry this sword around." he waved it around. "You'll learn how to do that soon enough," said Sephiroth. "But for now, we fight!"

"Again?" asked Cloud sadly. "I don't think I have the energy to fight."

"It'll make you stronger," assured Sephiroth. "That's what you came here to be, right?"

Cloud hesitated, then drew out the first sword. "Okay, then… What kind of moves will you teach me?"

"I think it's things we'll teach ourselves." Sephiroth took a few paces forward. "Can you fly and fight at the same time?"

"No, not yet… It was one of the things Zack told me I should learn the day he programmed wings for me. There are many things I have yet to learn about flying."

"Good. I'll teach you all those, and I'll be learning right along with you!" Sephiroth leaped high into the air and hovered there with his one wing. "Let's fight up here!"

Cloud looked up at Sephiroth and nodded slowly. "Ok-Okay, if you say so…" Cloud jumped up to meet Sephiroth in midair. "You sure we'll have enough space in here to fight in the air?" asked Cloud. "There's not a lot of space here for much flying."

"That's what makes it more exciting!" Without warning, Sephiroth zoomed to Cloud with a quick striking attack.

"Awa!" wailed Cloud in surprise. He was flung back and hit a wall. "Ow! Could you at least give me a warning! You scared me!"

"It's all about the lessons you could've been learning! Being always ready!" Sephiroth swung his sword around again. "Be always on your guard, remember?"

"Yes, I remember that--" Cloud was cut off as Sephiroth charged at Cloud again. "Whoa!" he yelled, ducking to avoid being slashed by Masamune. Quickly, he defended with his sword from Sephiroth's second attack.

"Your reactions are slow, that needs some work, but you'll improve. Let's see how you do now that you're on your guard!" Sephiroth flew around and charged quickly at Cloud.

Now Cloud was ready for him; he quickly turned and deflected Sephiroth's attack. "You mean like that?"

"Yes, like that!" Sephiroth backed up a little. "Are you familiar with feints, Cloud?"

"Faints?" asked Cloud.

Sephiroth half-scoffed-half-snorted. "No, apparently not… Let me show you them then." Sephiroth raised Masamune a little, looking as though he was deciding where to attack. Within a few seconds, he flew at Cloud again, aiming at Cloud's left shoulder…or so Cloud thought. As Cloud got ready to defend against that attack, Sephiroth quickly changed course and whammed down onto Cloud's right shoulder.

"Oof!" grunted Cloud as he hit the ground. "Ow, I didn't see that coming."

"Of course you didn't, Cloud," said Sephiroth from somewhere high up. "That was a feint. It's a tricky move to spot. But watch your oppent carefully. He'll usually give you a hint of some sort if he's readying his weapon. Watch the eyes, and watch for any certain body movements."

"Body movements? Such as?" asked Cloud, standing up and dusting himself off.

"If his left foot twitches, he might be preparing to attack your right flank, and vice versa. Or if he lowers his weapon, he might attack somewhere above the waist. Same as if he raises his weapon slightly. Got it? Those are just the basics, we'll have plenty of things to look over."

"I see," said Cloud, joining Sephiroth in the air, writing down what Sephiroth said on his right arm.

Sephiroth stared. "…uh, what are you doing? I didn't say write notes."

Cloud looked up from his notes. "…? No, no, I always write down notes, they help me remember."

"Well, I have a strict no-note policy," said Sephiroth. "You have to learn to use your brain once in a while. Wash those notes off, and meet me in the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" repeated Cloud despairingly. "Does that mean…?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," said Sephiroth. "If you say 'ow' over things like being slammed into the ground, then you are still vulnerable to pain. You have to learn to ignore it!"

Cloud sighed resignedly. "All right, Sephy…"

"Good, let's go." Sephiroth landed on the ground and looked up at Cloud. "You coming?"

"Yes, I'm coming," called Cloud, landing down next to Sephiroth, and followed him to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, with the Turks…

All the Turks were taking turns running 100 laps, 50 Turks taking the 1-mile track at a time.

"Vincent, go faster then that," called Tseng, not looking up from the book he was reading. "Elena, look up when you run. Rude, don't breath too loudly, you have to pace yourself. And Reno, you're running with your tongue out again."

"Aw, shit!" gasped Reno as he ran by Tseng.

"I'm trying!" gasped Rude as he ran by Tseng.

"My head is up!" gasped Elena as she ran by Tseng.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" gasped Vincent as he ran by Tseng.

Tseng looked at all them as they ran by, then shook his head, returning to his book. "Honestly, they only have 5 laps done and they're already exhausted… I've always told them that they work too hard on research."

Other Turks ran by. And more.

"Come on, it's just 95 more laps!" yelled Tseng. "Work harder then that!"

All the 50 Turks running all shouted something, continuing to run.

"Really… And we have to assign them new weapons and go over the newer weapons with Scarlet today… Sigh, this is going to be a long day," sighed Tseng, closing the book, seeing as he finished it.

Reno, Rude, Elena, and Vincent were coming around the corner again. "Hi, Tseng," they gasped as they ran by.

"This is going to be a long day," sighed Tseng again, putting the book away and pulling out another one. "In the time it took them to run six laps, I finished 3 books. They're getting very slow."

58 minutes later…

The 50 Turks who were running laps had finally finished, and stepped off the mile-long track to admit the next 50. The five Turks assigned to Tseng crawled slowly to him. "Tseng, we did it," they gasped.

Tseng lowered his book to glance down at his Turks. "It took you 1 hour and 2 minutes, you guys. How slow you are. What will you do if you have to chase after someone?"

"We'll shoot them!" yowled Reno, flopping his head onto the ground.

"And if we needed to interrogate them?"

"We'll…uh…We'll get the tranquilizers!" yowled Rude, flopping his head onto the ground.

"And if it was a SOLDIER who escaped? Tranquilizers don't effect them."

"Then we'll send the SOLDIERs after them!" yowled Vincent, flopping his head onto the ground.

"Hmm… And if all the above fail, Elena?"

"It means that our excuses aren't working, and we'd better get our butts off the ground and get ready to run 100 laps again!" yowled Elena, flopping her head onto the ground.

"Exactly," said Tseng. "Get up and get ready to run."

"If only we could make YOU run 100 laps," said Reno irritably, standing up with the rest. "We'll see how well you do!"

"If I ran 100 laps for you 5, I'd crush your dreams of becoming an extraordinary Turk."

"Oh, really?" asked Rude. "Why don't you try us?"

Tseng lowered his book. "I don't have to prove it, I've already done it while you were complaining. Look up at the timing records."

All the 5 Turks looked up curiously at the timing records. Tseng's name was up on the top of the list, and his time for running 100 laps on a mile-long track read as: 00:00:01.

Reno gaped at the time. "No way…"

Rude gaped at the time. "That's impossible…"

Vincent gaped at the time. "That's impossible to overcome…"

Elena gaped at the time. "Nothing less from Tseng…"

"Which is why I'm the head of the Turks," said Tseng, returning to his book.

"But even you make mistakes!" yowled Reno. "Remember the day when Aeris escaped!"

Tseng lowered the book with a "don't you dare mention what happened" sort of glare of his face.

"Oh, right, sorry. That 'little secret' that we five know of how Aeris escaped. Don't worry, I won't tell a soul!"

Tseng narrowed his eyes, and returned to the book.

Reno sighed, and he and the others sat down on the bench next to Tseng. "Are we really gonna have to run another 100 laps?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," answered Tseng.

"Even if we're exhausted?" asked Rude.

"Yep."

"Even if our legs feel like jelly and can't move very well?" asked Vincent.

"Even that."

"Even if we said we'd rather research endless hours then run another 100 laps?" asked Elena.

"Even if you said that," said Tseng, not looking up from the book.

All four of them started bawling. "YOU'RE EVIL! WAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Tseng shook his head flipping a page. I think that'll be an extra hour of running and research…for mentioning that day… Sheesh, as if they think I'd actually LET a Shinra prisoner escape… Tseng sighed. Of course I didn't let Aerith escape…

Meanwhile, with Cloud…

Cloud dried off the last of the dishes, stacking them onto the counter. Boo-hoo… my hand stings horribly… I almost prefer the pain that comes with the stigma…

Flash: Cloud running the heavy rain, but tripping over a rock and landing at the feet of…

Cloud winced and rubbed his left arm. Ouchie, I didn't mean it… I don't want to think about that, it happened so long ago…

Sephiroth entered the kitchen and observed the work that Cloud did. "Hmm… you missed a spot here," he said.

"I did?" asked Cloud in shock. "Oh, drats… Do I have to rewash it?"

"Yes, afraid so," said Sephiroth. "As a matter of fact…" he "accidentally" knocked something off of an open cupboard, spilling juices and such onto the once-clean dishes. "Why not rewash all of them?"

"That was a mean thing to do," said Cloud with a scowl at Sephiroth. "You seem to love giving me anguish, you know that? First, you show me death that one day, you make me leave Zack for training under you, then you make me wash dishes in bleach-lemon-ized water, then you steal my precious black ribbon, and now you're gonna make me rewash these dishes that YOU made dirty?"

"Yes," said Sephiroth. "Glad you finally caught on. After you rewash those dishes, come meet me in my room. I'll have another pain-resisting lesson in there."

"In your room?" Cloud asked.

"Yes… My room. Hurry up," said Sephiroth, leaving the room.

Cloud stood in shock for a few seconds, then sighed wearily and got back to washing the dishes in the bleach-lemon-ized water.
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Aww, next chapter is a WELL of memories! And, enter the most adorable FF7 character of all time (next to Cloud and Kadaj, of course).
Mario: What, and Sephiroth isn't cute either?
Nah, he's DAMN SEXY HOT!
Mario: …
Anyway, see you next chapter! And don't forget to review!