A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORESS
Welcome to Final Fantasy 7: The Story 2nd Instalment! The second instalment in this novelisation of the Final Fantasy 7 game. This fic begins where the first instalment leaves off, when Cloud and the gang are on their way to Gongaga after completing the Gold Saucer arc.
For those of you who have just found this fic, I would recommend that you go to my profile and locate Final Fantasy 7: The Story for the first instalment, which goes through the game from Midgar to the end of the Gold Saucer arc, before reading this second instalment, otherwise you will miss a heck of a lot and miss out on a lot of the fun. On the other hand, if you are so familiar with the game (or you just can't be bothered), you can start here. This second instalment should be about the same length as the first one. I haven't decided where it will end yet – with any luck, it will be at the end of Disc 01. Well, enough of my blabbering, let's move on and enjoy Final Fantasy 7: The Story 2nd Instalment
DISCLAIMER
Emerald, Princess of Vernea does not own Final Fantasy 7 and is not associated with it or its creators in anyway. This is a novelisation of the text (writing up these things is a hobby), and Emerald only lays claim to the written form and original dialogue that does not appear in the game. Everything else is copyrighted to Squaresoft, the creators of Final Fantasy 7.
Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Part Five: Study of the Planet
Chapter One
After a full hour of driving in the late afternoon, Cloud and the gang finally reached the southern part of the Western Continent – the only way to cross to the far Western part of the continent.
Thanks to the buggy given to them by the Gold Saucer theme park as an 'apology' for wrongly locking them up in the Desert Prison, the journey had become much quicker and a whole lot easier. With the buggy's specially designed track wheels they had been able to cross the desert surrounding the Gold Saucer with ease, the pits of quicksand unable to get a hold of them and pull them down.
The buggy also came in handy after they crossed the rest of the continent, heading southwards once again in their on-going pursuit of Sephiroth. Another large river separated the continent, so wide it would have been impossible to cross on foot, but the buggy allowed them to cross the river easily, with only spray flying up from the wheels as it rode over, splashing them all with cool water.
Aeris drove most of the way, feeling glad to be doing something and allowing the others to take a rest as they drove on. She had guided them out of the desert and across the river despite offers from Cloud to take over. It was only after they had crossed the river and were driving freely down the Forest Plains that Aeris allowed Tifa to take over control of the buggy, while she went to the back of the vehicle and sat with Cloud and Red XIII. Yuffie was sitting on top of the buggy, perched on the back of the seats. She looked a little pale, even just riding in a buggy, but was also enjoying the feeling of the breeze through her short hair.
Apart from the moments when Cloud had offered to take over the driving of the buggy, he had been silent throughout the journey. As the buggy had hummed along the plains he had been sat with his back resting against the back of the buggy, with Dio's letter still in his hand. He had read the letter over and over again, or, in particular, the last part of the letter where Dio talked of seeing Sephiroth.
For some reason it bothered him that Sephiroth had been to the Gold Saucer. Although Sephiroth had not been responsible for any of the deaths caused there, it was still a wonder to him why he had been there in the first place. The Gold Saucer was simply a theme park and had nothing to do with their search – going to the Gold Saucer had just been a mere coincidence in an attempt to lighten their journey and lift everyone's mood, despite its unpredicted consequences.
While the light-hearted chitchat went on in the background, namely Aeris's casual comments about Barret's behaviour in the Desert Prison, Cloud continued to read the last part of the letter, and Dio's remark of Sephiroth having fans. Back in the days before Nibelheim fell, Sephiroth had had a lot of fans, especially with boys Cloud's age. Of course, when Sephiroth disappeared after that, Shinra had done its best to keep it all covered up. Not many people knew what Sephiroth had done, especially since there were very few survivors from then. A lot of people still remembered and admired Sephiroth. Everyone else just didn't talk about.
"There it is," called Tifa from the driving seat.
Cloud looked up, scrunching up the letter and shoving it roughly in his pocket, before he climbed to his knees and knelt with Aeris and Red XIII, looking out at the place where they were arriving.
Up ahead of them was a fairly small forest, identified on the world map as 'Gongaga'. Even though the forest was fairly dense and compact, they could just about see the tops of a tall black structure poking up through the trees. They couldn't see much of it at first through the growth of trees, but as they drove closer it soon became clear what the unnatural, eyesore-of-a-structure was.
"A Mako reactor," Cloud muttered under his breath.
The group fell silent for a minute as they watched the reactor come into view. Of course they couldn't see the whole of the reactor, although they knew that the small town of Gongaga would also be in the middle of the forest. They were surprised, however, to see that the forest and the land surrounding the reactor was still rather lush and verdant. There were faint traces of grey here and there, but green grass was quickly growing over that.
They were forced to come to a stop at the entrance of the forest, right next to a small path leading into the forest. It was much too small for the buggy to ride through, so they had no choice but to part the buggy as close as they could to the forest's edge before they went inside.
The forest was just as silent on the inside as it appeared on the outside. There were no other signs of life other than that of the trees and plants – no birds chirping, no scurrying animals. In fact, apart from the sounds of their footsteps lightly pressing on dirt and fallen twigs, and the occasional breeze fluttering through the leaves of the trees, it was silent. There was only one path to follow and so they followed it, hoping it would lead them to Gongaga.
They were a few minutes into the forest when Cloud suddenly stopped right in the middle of the path. He raised a hand to the others as an order to stay silent, before he turned back to the path ahead of them, which curved around slightly behind a clump of trees and bushes, preventing him from seeing.
There, just under the silence of the forest, came the sounds of faint noises. They were very quiet, almost like whispers, but definitely audible through the silence of the trees.
"…Is someone there?" Cloud whispered, also keeping his voice low.
The others all kept themselves to the side out of sight as Cloud slowly edged forwards towards the curve, trying to peer round the corner without being spotted himself. He edged in as close as he dared, before he looked out at the figure beyond.
Just around the corner from where they were, Cloud saw that the road they were following suddenly split into two: one road continuing ahead with a small sign saying 'Gongaga' ahead of it, and a second road moving to the right, presumably to the Mako Reactor.
Standing at the entrance to that fork were two men – men that Cloud unfortunately realised. The trademark blue uniforms and black shades; there was no doubt that they were Reno and Rude of the Turks. Cloud remembered the last time they had encountered Reno, back in Midgar. It was by Reno's hand that the bomb used to destroy the Sector 7 pillar was activated. Cloud had to wonder what they were doing so far out, especially without any signs of Shinra anywhere.
"Hey, Rude," Reno said suddenly, lifting his voice a little. "Who do you like?"
Cloud pressed himself as far back against the tree as he could and watched as Rude looked back at Reno blankly. He couldn't really hear what they were talking about from where he was, but for a second he thought he saw Rude's face turn slightly red, before he hurriedly looked away from Reno and crossed his arms.
"What are you so embarrassed about?" Reno asked, also noticing the sudden flush on Rude's face. "Come on. Who do you like?"
Rude still didn't answer and refused to look at Reno. Then he took a deep breath and muttered quietly under his breath, "………Tifa." He looked up as Reno jumped about half a metre into the air, before he turned away again to hide the flush on his face.
"Hmmm…" Reno said once the initial shock had passed, and he scratched his head thoughtfully, pushing back the strips of red hair that hung over his face. "That's a tough one. But, poor Elena. She…… you……"
Rude shook his head. "No, she likes Tseng."
"I never knew that!" Reno exclaimed, clearly shocked for the second time. Then he stopped. "But Tseng likes that Ancient…"
"What are they talking about?" Cloud wondered quietly to himself.
He tried to lean forward a little more to try and hear what they were talking about, careful not to lean out too far otherwise they would spot him, or he would fall from his spot. While he and the others were absorbed in trying to listen to Reno and Rude's conversation, they didn't notice the third blue-suited figure walk up behind them, until she stopped beside Cloud and put her hands on her hips crossly.
"It's so stupid!" she exclaimed, making Cloud jump. Elena turned away from him and looked out at Reno and Rude still talking, a cross expression on her face. "They always talk about who they like or don't like. But Tseng is different." She stopped very suddenly and slowly turned to look back at Cloud and then round at the others standing around her. She suddenly jumped violently. "Ah! Oh no!" Before anyone could stop her she brushed past the, dashing towards Reno and Rude. "They're here!" she called out to them. "They're really here!"
Rude and Reno both turned as Elena ran up to them, and saw Cloud and his group standing on the path behind them. Although Elena was excited and nearly hysterical they didn't seem too surprised, which set off warning bells in Cloud's head.
"Hmm… Then it's time…" said Reno. He gave Rude a quick glance. "Rude… Don't go easy on them even though they're girls."
"…Don't worry, I'll do my job," Rude replied simply.
"Then, we're counting on you," said Elena. "I'll report to Tseng!" She gave her two comrades a brief salute before she turned away and ran quickly down the right-hand path leading towards the Gongaga Mako Reactor, leaving Reno and Rude behind to deal with Cloud and the others. Once she was gone, Reno began to walk casually towards the group, the fingers of his right hand gingerly playing with the button of his sleeve.
"It's been a while," he said. He looked particularly at Cloud, Barret and Tifa as he spoke. "Payback time for what you did in Sector 7."
He stopped right in front of Cloud and looked directly into Cloud's eyes. Cloud stared back defiantly, refusing to move or look away. Reno was not much taller than he was, and he certainly didn't intimidate Cloud. Yet it angered Cloud that Reno was talking about the fight they had had on top of the pillar, and not the destruction of Sector 7 and the death of hundreds of people. Cloud then realise that Reno did remember, as a smug and superior smile spread on his face, sniggering quietly.
"Out of our way," Cloud replied angrily. As a word of warning he reached up and placed his hand firmly around the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment. Behind him the others all placed their hands on their weapons and stood ready.
Reno looked at the sword blankly, as equally unimpressed as Cloud was not intimidated. Then he glanced over Cloud's shoulder and looked at the others. The smile disappeared from his face as it turned into a frown, and he looked back at Cloud. "I don't like being taken for a fool," he said.
"That's as far as you go," said Rude.
The moment Rude finished speaking, Reno suddenly whipped his right arm out to the side and a long metal pole with a short metal handle slid quickly out from under his sleeve where he had been hiding it. Reno grabbed it and flipped it up, bringing it down quickly towards Cloud, who was drawing his sword at the same time in anticipation of a battle.
There was a loud clash of metal on metal and a flash of sparks as the two weapons collided. Cloud had his sword held out flat in front of him, his other hand pressed against the blade at the other end, keeping it steady in front of him as Reno brought the pole down hard. Now the two were locked in an instant stalemate.
Tifa ran forward, past Cloud and Reno, and towards Rude who was waiting patiently behind them. As Tifa ran towards him, her fists clenched and ready, he lifted his own fists. Instead of attacking his brought his arms together vertically in front of him in a defensive position, so when Tifa punched outwards with all her might she did not do any damage, and simply punched his arms.
That didn't stop her from trying again and this time aimed for his head, only to miss again as Rude broke his defence position and lifted his arm up in front of his face, catching her fist as it approached him and pushing it up harmlessly above his head so that she was punching the air. Like Tifa, Rude also knew a thing or two about martial arts.
Reno and Cloud had managed to break from their stalemate at that moment, and Reno was now locked between Red XIII, Cloud and Barret. With so many people gathered in such a small space Barret didn't dare to use his gun for fear of the bullets ricocheting off the trees and hitting one of the others.
Red XIII broke the impasse and dived up, trying to clamp his powerful jaws around Reno's arm and force him to drop the bar. However Reno predicted his move and quickly spun around away from Cloud, whipping the bar with him.
An almighty yelp rang through the air as the bar connected with the side of Red XIII's face, followed by a string of blood that came from the hound's nose. The force of the blow caused Red XIII to swerve aside and ram into Barret as he was preparing to cast a ball of ice at the Turk. Red XIII's bulk made Barret lose his concentration and the ball cast off harmlessly into the air where it hit a nearby tree, and Barret and Red XIII fell over onto the floor.
Meanwhile Reno was still spinning around at that point. As he turned his head he caught the flash of something silver heading towards him, and he very quickly brought his arm up and caught the sharp edge of Cloud's blade with the bar, and they were back in the temporary stalemate.
Reno looked over the rim of his bar and looked up at Cloud, a huge sneer on his face. Cloud looked back at him with a fixed gaze, not faltering for a second. Reno was about to say something when he noticed faint flickers of blue-white light beginning to spread on Cloud's sword.
He realised only just in time and quickly jumped back away from the sword, just as Cloud's sword became alive with electricity, using the combination of Materia to make the blade electrical.
At that moment Tifa was still locked in a fierce martial combat with Rude. There was little that Aeris, Yuffie or Cait could do apart from form a border around the two, preventing Rude from trying to break out of the circle. Tifa was very relentless in unleashing all of the skills she had learned against Rude, not letting him have even a second to try and counterattack.
The main advantage came from the fact that she was younger and much more agile than Rude was. Thanks to her training in Nibelheim from a fairly young age she had built up enough stamina and speed to keep her going for much longer, and try moves that Rude couldn't because of his uniform restricting him somewhat.
Yet, despite her skills, she was totally unprepared as she jumped up into the air, her leg straight as she brought it round for a kick to Rude's head. In a flash Rude suddenly ducked down and dashed beneath her, passing under harmlessly as she kicked the air and headed for the ground. As Tifa landed Rude was behind her and in the perfect position. He brought his flat palm around and hit her hard on her back in between her shoulder blades, making her fall forward onto the ground, stunned.
That was when the others jumped in. Aeris ran forward and spun her staff round in a circle, but one simple expert punch from Rude knocked it from her hands and let it fall onto the floor, Aeris falling with it. Cait bounded forward on his Mog form and bounded up, his megaphone held high and the Mog's arms up high as he prepared to bring them both down on Rude while his back was turned.
Yet Rude was prepared for that too, and with a sudden burst of speed he bent down and picked up Aeris's staff, flicking it round and jabbing it out at the cat. The staff hit the cat right off the Mog's body and it fell harmlessly to the floor, along with Cait. Without his control the Mog lost its movement and collapsed facedown onto the floor, leaving Yuffie the only one holding a weapon. She charged forward and began to whip the shuriken in front of Rude's face, making him dodge aside away from its sharp points.
Cloud swiped his electrified sword at Reno again, before he stepped back and held the blade up high. The electricity on the blade intensified as the new piece of Materia he recently inserted flashed brightly with lightning, and when Cloud brought his sword down the lightning jumped off his blade and struck the ground in front of him.
The lightning hit the ground with such force that it made the soil explode, forming a large mound in the middle of the clearing, and still rising. Yuffie, who was at that moment pinned down with her shuriken pressed against her throat by Rude, kicked him in the shin and quickly dashed aside out of the way.
The tip of the mound acted like a lightning rod and brought all of the lightning flashing around the mound together. When all the bolts came together they exploded in a shower of sparks, illuminating a solitary figure that was standing on top of the mound amongst the lightning.
The figure was Ramuh, the summon beast contained within the Materia Cloud had 'picked up' in the Gold Saucer waiting room. He was an old man in a long white cloak and a white beard, holding a long staff designed to conduct lightning.
Rude and Reno both stepped back and braced themselves as the old man lifted his staff up high into the air. The lightning grew closer together around the tip of the staff, before it exploded again and was cast out around the clearing.
The lightning flickered out and around the perimeter of the clearing, narrowly missing Tifa and the others who had pressed themselves amongst the trees and bushes to hide from the lightning bolts. The bolts also crackled over the bodies of Reno and Rude as they stood in the clearing.
By the time the lightning finished its explosive discharge the mound had already sunk back into the earth, and Ramuh had disappeared. As the last of the lightning disappeared Rude and Reno both staggered back, lightning sparks still flickering off their clothes and Reno's hair slightly static from the charge.
For a moment or two everyone was silent, watching as Rude and Reno stood quietly in the middle of the clearing. Yuffie was edging out from her hiding place in between two trees, her shuriken raised as she prepared to throw it at the two while they were silent. In fact, she was just about to throw it when the silence was suddenly broken by a loud beeping sound coming from Rude.
Reno slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Rude as he pulled back the sleeve of his left hand and pushed a button on his watch, stopping the beeping. He nodded at Reno, who smiled smugly and turned back to Cloud and the others, who were gathering in front of him.
"We may be retreating, but… we're still victorious," he said, and glanced at Rude.
"…………" the other Turk replied silently. "…………"
With one final glance at his watch the two Turks then turned and fled from the area, following the same path Elena had in running towards the Mako Reactor. Everyone else stayed in the clearing, watching as the Turks turned the corner and disappeared into the deeper parts of the forest. Once they were gone and out of sight and hearing, Cloud turned around to the group, scratching his head.
"Hey, something seems wrong," Tifa said, voicing the same thought that had filled everyone's head at that moment. "Like they knew we were coming."
Cloud nodded slowly in agreement. "They followed us……" he assumed, watching as Aeris went over to Red XIII and began to wipe the traces of blood from his nose with a cloth, and preparing to attach a small plaster until the wound healed. "But there weren't any signs of it. Then, that means…"
"…Someone's been informing them," Red XIII finished, wrinkling his nose to shift the uncomfortable plaster a little, which was causing him to itch.
"Maybe it's someone in this group," said Yuffie.
All at once everyone in the group looked around at everyone else, trying to find something in their faces that would somehow give them away. But everyone had the same expression – nervous and slightly suspicious of everyone else.
"You don't think there's a spy, do you Cloud?" Cait asked suddenly. He had finally managed to climb back onto his Mog body, and was looking at Cloud almost pleadingly. As he watched the Mog began to hop nervously from one foot to the other. "I hate this. Now everyone's gonna blame me because I'm new."
Cloud turned away, blocking out the gazes of the others as he thought carefully about their new predicament. If there were a spy amongst them then it would be a problem for them all – Shinra would know their every move and be able to move ahead of them, as well as know everything that they did.
The one question he had to ask was: who? Barret? Aeris? Tifa? Red XIII? Yuffie? Cait? He had no doubt the others were thinking the same. If this had happened in Midgar, Barret would have wasted no time in blaming Cloud for being an ex-member of SOLDIER, but what if he… He shook his head fiercely, blocking out the thoughts.
"I don't even want to think that there's a spy…" he said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had spread between them all. He turned back to the nervous gazes of the others, clearly waiting for some words of encouragement. "I trust everyone," he said, hoping that would do.
It did somewhat. The others looked a little more relieved to hear it at least. Still Cloud turned away again and began to walk silent down the second path leading out of the clearing, the one leading to the town of Gongaga. Barret and the others soon began to follow him, while Aeris gave Cait a comfortable pat on the shoulder, and they also followed on towards Gongaga.
Emerald: Well, that's the first chapter of the 2nd Instalment complete! Like I said in the beginning, if you've just found this fic I highly recommend reading the 1st Instalment to get up to speed. It's 45 chapters and over 150,000 words long, but what do you expect from someone who wants to be a novelist?
Anyway, I apologise if I got the weapons wrong for Reno and Rude. I truly could not remember what their weapons were, so I kinda just took my best guess and hoped for the best. If I have got it totally, utterly and completely wrong, please let me know and I shall adjust the chapter accordingly. I want it to be as correct as I possibly can, unless you don't mind what weapons I've chosen. Well, I suppose I'd better get on with writing the next chapter.