A/N: Ok... Umm... So this is the 3rd chapter and... well... please review and if you find any mistakes please tell me. Thank you.

etErnalroSe09- I know, Seph-chan... I know. I've always been slow, especially when it came to writing... *sad face*

RedLeatherDarkGrey- That's a really cool dream to have! I sincerely hope you achieve it. :) And please, don't treat this as sarcasm, because it's something I'm incapable of. You can even ask etErnalroSe09.

Red Dog Krim- A stoning? But... it sounds really painful... But it's not like I can complain. Thank you for reviewing!

Kingdomlily: Thank you for reviewing. And yes, I suppose. That's kind of what I intended... Ehehe... *blush*

Disclaimer: I don not own Final Fantasy VII

Chapter 3: Shinra

Upon hearing the General's words, Cloud's expression turned angry and his eyes stormy. At this, Sephiroth supplemented his statement, "It is not a threat. It is a fact. Nibelheim is not too far from Wutai and the fight is drawing closer. This village will not remain untouched for long."

The blond's body slackened with acceptance of what the older male had said and asked, "What difference will one boy make? You have many more at your disposal, even more now that some other village boys have agreed to join."

"You harbour the talent for swordplay in that body of yours. It would be all for naught if one does not use it to end the war before it reaches one's hometown. Also, you're the first person I've seen who can take on a dragon alone without any prior experience," the silver haired General disappeared into the inn again, having said his piece.

Cloud merely stood, contemplating, as those silvery strands of starlight vanished beyond the door to the inn. Cloud sank to the floor by the side of the building, the chill of the wall biting at his back as he leaned against it. He stared out at the village and an overwhelming sense of protectiveness welled up in his chest, threatening to choke him. True, the villagers treated his mother and himself like outcasts, but he didn't know what he would do if Nibelheim were destroyed.

As he gazed out over the village, a juxtaposition of a Nibelheim wrecked and going up in smoke assaulted him and he quickly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything was as it should be, peaceful in the dark of night. For the first time in as long as he had lived there, his mind had slapped a label onto the sleepy little village, and that was 'home'. Perhaps it was the sudden realization that Nibelheim would not stand forever, but he was aware of just how close the war was getting to his hometown. And if there was something he could do, if the man was to be trusted, then he would do it.

The next morning he informed his mother of his decision to enter the SOLDIER programme and nearly died by her hand. He sat, locked in his room by his maternal figure, trying to puzzle out why she had such a violent aversion to Shinra. True, they were killing the planet and that was unacceptable, but that was all they did. Nothing to warrant the hate-filled tirades and flying pots.

The next day, a bulky military transport vehicle arrived in the village square, the Shinra emblem slapped on the side for all to see. Cloud was leisurely eating breakfast, too tired after the previous day's events to muster up energy to care about if he went to Midgar or not. His mother had sat him down at the table for a heart to heart, but ended up cooking breakfast instead. As the blond teen slowly chewed through his meal like a cow chewing cud, he could hear heavy footfalls growing closer and stop at their door. Pushing back his chair, Cloud strode over to the door and swung it open to find himself staring at cross straps and a bare chest.

"Giants," he mumbled indignantly as his mother hurried to greet the visitor. He was short for his age and he hated that fact. A hand closing around his wrist snapped him out of his reverie as the bare-chested cross-strapped person dragged him towards the vehicle. Instincts kicking in, he grabbed the assailant's wrist , twisted, and pinned the person to the floor. Or tried to. The person regained their standing just as Cloud let go and swept the attacker's legs out from under them.

The man caught himself with his hands and flipped away expertly, landing a few feet away, his sword at Cloud's neck the instant he regained stable footing. Cloud growled in annoyance as his opponent blurred away and reappeared with a weapon at his neck. He locked eyes with the owner of the sword and looked down the length of the blade, into sea foam green eyes and paled.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," Cloud tried to make himself look as small as possible, all too aware of the disbelieving eyes on him, criticizing him for daring to go against Shinra's SOLDIER General.

"We have time. Continue," the silver-haired man said, an amused glint in his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry sir. P-Please..."Cloud quivered under the scrutiny.

Sephiroth's eyes swept the space he was in, his gaze resting on a murderous-looking blonde woman.

He returned his sword to his side and spoke, "You owe me a fight."

A sigh rang out from behind the blond and he slowly turned around to face his mother.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Cloud dipped his head, ashamed that he had acted so violently.

"Boys will be boys. Don't let me hold you down. You should chase your dreams while you're young and not an old windbag like me. Go make me proud," the petite lady drew the boy into a hug and pressed a piece of candy into his palm.

"For your motion sickness. Now go," she gave him a playful shove towards the vehicle. Cloud tentatively climbed into the back and watched his mother wave goodbye as they shut the door, worry etching itself on her face. The blond leaned against the interior of the truck and closed his eyes, feeling his stomach churn. The other boys sat in silence under the General's hawk-like gaze, cowed by the man's intense aura and abnormal eyes. Bile was starting to rise to his throat when he finally decided to suck on the sliver of a sweet treat. The churning in his stomach ceased and his body began to feel numb and relaxed enough for him to drift off to sleep.

A violent shuddering forced Cloud to the floor of the vehicle, jarring him awake. They were all quickly herded into a reception area and into an event area that looked like a ballroom. The floor was of glossy marble, spotted through like flecks of ash in the snow. Heavy and intricate red curtains flowed from the ceilings and down the walls, gold trim and tassels lining the richly coloured fabric. Contrasting the atmosphere of the room were the cheap, grey plastic chairs arranged at the front of the stage.

The newcomers took their seats among the variety of teenage boys, with the exception of the two girls from Kalm. Cloud tuned out the president's rambling speech and only deigned to process the information regarding their accommodations, the orientation tour, class arrangements and qualifications into SOLDIER. They were split into groups of six and each group was led to the labs for their physicals and MP capacity tests. Those who didn't make the cut would be sent packing.

An arm snaked itself around the blond's shoulder as they waited to have their blood tested.

"Name's Reno. What's yours?" the owner of the appendage warbled. The boy was a whole head taller than Cloud with tan, unblemished skin and a shock of red hair.

"Cloud," the blond replied benignly.

"Cool name. Hey, think you'll pass the physical? I heard they're really strict," Reno nudged him.

Just as Cloud opened his mouth to speak, a man in a pristine white coat entered the waiting room and requested for Reno's presence.

"Well, gotta go, Chibi-chan," Reno gave a merry wave and disappeared with the scientist. Cloud sat on the floor, preferring the cool surface to the grey plastic chairs, slick with the sweat of its previous occupants. Just as his consciousness started to slip into the dark void of sleep, a sullen looking scientist emerged in the room. His black hair shone from grease and the lengthy locks were pulled into a limp ponytail that snaked down his back, contrasting with the white of his coat. The name tag pinned to his coat read 'Head Scientist, Dr. Hojo'.

"You. You're the last one. Come," he gestured to the door to the laboratory with his clipboard. Cloud got up off the floor and followed after the man, wincing as the cloying smell of disinfectant hit him with the force of a tidal wave. His hands flew up to his nose to block out the smell like an in-built defense mechanism, earning him a sharp look from 'Dr. Hojo'.

"Sit down," he gestured to a plastic chair beside another SOLDIER cadet hopeful. Cloud slumped into the chair and simply stared ahead unflinchingly, even when the scientist shoved an eerily thick needle into his arm and collected a blood sample.

Hojo's eyebrows closed in on his hairline as they rose. This petite blond boy's blood was an anomaly. There was something present in it that he couldn't identify. Eagerly and roughly scraping skin cells off the boy's cheek, he begun analyzing it and running quick tests on the blood sample. The skin cells appeared to be mutated, a cross between a normal human cell and something else. The mad scientist's heart leapt, having found such a fascinating specimen, but he decided to let it go for now and send it off for an MP test. Good things came to those who waited, and for now, he had some blood test results to wait for. The machine beeped and printed out its findings. Hojo flipped through the papers and tutted in disappointment. It seemed that the specimen was completely normal after all. The apparatus might have been contaminated. His assistant was going to get a long lecture later.

Cloud found himself in a chair again, watching the scientist lose his patience with every passing second. The test should have taken less than a minute but the machine had dragged it on and the test was now entering the fourth minute. The coated person was close to outright glaring at the machine, hating the numbers that fluctuated on its screen. Finally, the piece of technology decided that Cloud didn't exist and automatically shut itself down. The older of the two sighed and switched it on again. The machine eventually chose to cooperate and displayed a fixed number, just high enough to pass the test. The next testing was a psyche evaluation which Cloud passed, if only just. Physical fitness testing marked the end of the battery of tests, with Cloud barely passing yet again.

Reno drifted over to the Chocobo-headed cadet immediately after the evaluations and swung an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey, Cloud!" he greeted cheerily, pouting petulantly when the boy merely dipped his head in brief acknowledgement. They were now waiting to be sorted into groups in accordance to their capabilities. A man wearing an immaculate suit walked in and silently pinned three large sheets of paper on three separate notice boards at the front of the waiting room.

"You have all been sorted into three squads. Alpha, Beta and Omega. Alpha being those with the best results overall and Omega being the worst overall. After one month, you will all be fair game for being selected for a mission. Naturally, those in Alpha have the best chance of being selected. Once you find your name, please stay by the board and wait patiently for your guide. He or she will bring you to your barracks," the man drawled in a monotonous voice. He then turned smartly on his heel and left, back straight and shoes clicking meaningfully on the floor.

"Come on, Spiky! I hope we're in the same squad!" Reno dragged the blond to the 'Alpha' board excitedly, chattering incessantly as he did.

"I got into Alpha squad!" Reno babbled excitedly.

"But I don't see your name, so... That's too bad. I was looking forward to bunking with you."

"Cloud shrugged nonchalantly and trotted over to the 'Omega' board. He scanned the list on the board and sighed wearily. There were a total of three names on the board. Two were female names, obviously the two girls from Kalm. The last one, however, was his name.

"It's too bad, Spiky. But hey, at least you get to bunk with girls," Reno, ever the optimist.

'Well, this is bad. If I can't get noticed on a mission, how am I supposed to enter SOLDIER and fight to protect Nibelheim?' Cloud thought as he waited by the side of the board.

A/N: Um... Yeah, well, that was it. I'm so sorry. I know it's rather disappointing but... *cries*