Cloud stepped into the ShinRa building and looked around, holding his suitcase in one hand. He had finally arrived. He walked up to the main desk and cleared his throat to get the receptionist's attention. She squinted at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What can I do for you?" she asked sweetly.

"I'm here to sign up for SOLDIER." he said, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"Oh, sign up to SOLDIER, all right." she said, correcting him slightly. She glanced at his scrawny figure and then shrugged, picking up the phone and pressing a button. "Yes, another one for SOLDIER. Same place? Okay." she put the phone down and smiled at him again. "Go down that corridor and turn left, then right and then the third door on the right again."

"Thanks." Cloud said, turning and walking off. The receptionist shook her head with a light chuckle, imagining the looks on their faces when he walks in.

Cloud entered the room and saw about a dozen other guys around his age wandering about talking to each other. A man walked over to him and extended a hand.

"Hello and welcome. You're here to try out for SOLDIER, ey?" Cloud nodded slowly, shaking the man's hand. "Well then, just hang out and chat for a bit to get to know the others. The try-out session will commence as soon as I can find Sephiroth." he left the room and Cloud stared after him. Why did he need to find Sephiroth of all people? The great Sephiroth.. why was he needed? Would he be helping out with the try-outs?

Cloud pushed the thoughts aside and looked again at the people gathered in the room. All of them looked like they'd already been training all their lives for this day! Cloud hadn't trained at all, would he even have a chance?

The door behind him opened again and he stepped forward to avoid being crushed, but failed. Someone slammed into him and he yelped. There was a grumble and Cloud turned to see Sephiroth standing there with a scowl on his face.

"Sorry!" he said, stepping back and looking up at the great SOLDIER with awe and fear in his eyes. Sephiroth looked down at him, the scowl still in place on his face. He rolled his eyes and muttered something else before pushing past roughly and going to stand at the front of the room. All chatter faded away and everyone stared eagerly.

"As you all know, I am Sephiroth, SOLDIER, First Class." he introduced himself. "You are all here to try out to be part of SOLDIER, so straighten up!" he ordered. All backs went straight and Sephiroth looked slightly appeased. "Now then, we will go straight into the training."

"Seph!" the door banged open and Sephiroth cringed in annoyance as Zack came running through and stopped beside his friend. "Found you!" he suddenly noticed there were other people there and turned to see all eyes on him. He grinned cheekily and scratched his head in what he thought was an innocent way. "Uh, hi!" he said.

"Fair, I'm busy right now." Sephiroth said.

"Oh come on!" Zack said, forgetting about their audience and turning back to Sephiroth. "You're always busy! Can't I help you this time?"

"Zack, look over there." Sephiroth pointed to where a very annoyed looking man was standing next to the door. Zack's eyes widened in horror and he made to hide behind Sephiroth. "Oh no you don't." Sephiroth said, pushing him towards the man.

"Come on Zack, it's time to go finish your paperwork." the man said in a low growl. Zack sighed, reluctantly heading for the door. As he left, he glanced at the kid standing closest. Cloud looked away quickly.

"All right, now we will go to the outside training facility." Sephiroth said, sighing and leading them through ShinRa until they came outside. One SOLDIER-in-training spoke up.

"Where's the training facility?" he asked tentatively. Sephiroth turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Look around you. You are to trek across this empty space, through the forest you will find and across the river." he explained. There was a pause and then Sephiroth added, "What are you all waiting for? Get moving!" Needing no further encouragement, all the trainees headed out. Once they were out of ear-shot, Zack appeared.

"Would you please go do your paperwork?" Sephiroth asked desperately.

"Why? You won't do yours. Besides, meeting new recruits is so much more fun!" Zack reasoned.

"It doesn't depend on what's more fun. And I would be doing my paperwork if I wasn't stuck here babysitting!" Sephiroth growled.

"Wanna swap places? You do your paperwork and I'll babysit!" Zack said happily. "You could even do my paperwork too!"

"Dream on, kid." Sephiroth muttered.

"I've been dreaming all my life, Seph!" Zack protested.

"Exactly, why stop now?"

"No fair!"

"Actually, it is fair. Seeing as your last name is Fair." Sephiroth attempted to make a joke. Zack stared at him and then cleared his throat, turning away and pretending to try not to laugh.

"That.. was so... lame!" he said, turning back to Sephiroth with a twinkle in his eye.

"I know. What kind of girl would marry a guy with the last name Fair?" Zack's jaw dropped and he couldn't believe he'd just heard that.

"Oh come on! Who cares about my last name? Girls love me anyway!" he said, grinning again.

"Um, Zack? I was talking about your mum and dad." Sephiroth pointed out. Zack pouted. "Oh hey, you don't know any of the new recruits do you? One of them looks familiar." Zack's pout fell from his face and curiosity replaced it.

"Eh? No.. who do they remind you of? And which one." Zack asked.

"The blonde one that I walked into. Oh, you weren't there. Um, he was standing at the door." Sephiroth tried to explain.

"Oh yeah! I saw him." Zack said, nodding. "So who does he remind you of?"

"I'm not sure yet. I keep getting some image of a turk in my head, but no names come to mind." Sephiroth shrugged.

"Maybe he's related to someone here and decided to come join them." Zack said, beaming at his ability to think up ideas. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"Who cares? Just go finish up your paperwork. You'll meet all the trainees at lunch, anyway." Zack nodded eagerly and ran off. Sephiroth sighed, still not understanding why he had befriended that idiot, and then headed off to beat the trainees to the end.

Cloud had left his suitcase in the first room they'd all met up in and could see the forest up ahead. All the other trainees were slowly disappearing into the forest and there was only one that seemed to be finding it hard to keep up, though they were still in front of Cloud. Was this supposed to be some sort of race, thought Cloud?

The second last trainee disappeared into the forest and Cloud glanced around, slipping past the trees also and suddenly stopping. He couldn't see any of the trainees and he couldn't even hear them. It was as if as soon as they stepped into the forest they disappeared. Cloud walked forward a few more steps and looked over his shoulder. He fixed his eyes ahead of him again and he continued on.

"You think any of them'll make it?" The commander asked Sephiroth as he stood beside him on the other side of the river.

"Who knows. I doubt the blonde one will though, he's so scrawny." Sephiroth shrugged. The commander nodded in agreement.

"Well, any idea of how long they're going to be?" he questioned.

"We could be here till midnight tonight." Sephiroth informed him. The commanders eyes widened slightly but he tried to hide it.

"All right." he sat down and got comfortable, pulling out a book and beginning to read. Sephiroth smiled slightly in amusement but didn't look at him.

Cloud kept walking and wondered when the forest would end. What was the purpose of this exercise anyway? The silence was foreboding and Cloud just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. There had still been no sign of the other trainees and he was beginning to wonder if he was the last person to be stuck in the forest. Should he pick up the pace?

A noise to the left made Cloud stop and look, his heart thudding in his chest. There was nothing there and he began to think he was dreaming up sounds to get rid of the silence. Was that even possible? He shrugged off the thought and continued walking, only to hear the sound again and slightly louder. What was it?

"Hello?" he called. The noise sounded again and Cloud glanced around, slowly walking in the direction it was coming from, very aware that he still needed to reach the river.

"Please.." this time the sound was audible and Cloud began walking faster, wanting to know who it was that needed help.

"Where are you?" he asked, still unable to see anyone or any living thing amongst the trees.

"Don't let it find you." the quiet voice said. Cloud shivered at the words, glancing around in paranoia for something that would jump out at him. Walking further, he saw a form lying on the ground and hurried over, bending beside them.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His eyes widened as he realised it was the trainee that had been struggling to keep up with the others. "What happened?" Cloud's eyes wandered to the trainee's hand where it was resting on his chest. It was covered in blood.

"Get out of the forest." the trainee said quietly. "You'll die, just like me."

"You're not going to die." Cloud said firmly, looking over his shoulder in case there was something there waiting to attack. "Come on, I'll get you to safety." he bent lower and scooped his arms underneath the trainee, lifting him and slowly standing up and beginning to walk off again.

"It's no use, they're too strong." the trainee muttered, his eyes closing from exhaustion. Cloud staggered slightly as he tripped on a tree-root, trying not to be affected by the words the trainee was saying. He couldn't ignore it though.

"What are too strong?" he asked.

"I don't know. They're huge and powerful." the trainee's voice was getting softer and Cloud glanced down at him.

"Why did they tell us to come through here if it's so dangerous?" Cloud wondered aloud.

"To find the true SOLDIER's, of course." the trainee muttered. "If you don't make it, you're not worth the time and training." Cloud frowned slightly, thinking that wasn't very fair. There was a slight rumbling sound this time to his right and the trainee whimpered and began coughing.

"What is it?" Cloud asked, backing away from where the sound had come from.

"That thing," the trainee paused to cough. "Whatever it is." The trainee coughed again and a bit of blood came out of his mouth. "You can't help me.. don't worry. Just run and get away from it. Leave me here." Disbelief covered Cloud's face as he stared at the trainee that had completely given up on life.

"But I-"

"Go. Otherwise it'll destroy you like it's already destroyed me." Cloud slowly lowered the trainee to the ground where he smiled lightly and closed his eyes. There was a thud and Cloud looked up to see a huge beast standing amongst the trees watching him.

"Crap." he said, turned, and fled.

Sephiroth had eventually sat down as the first few trainee's began arriving, drenched in water from crossing the river. Apparently they hadn't discovered the bridge. Oh well, no point in telling them. The commander was ticking off a list as each one arrived and eventually only two names were left.

"What's taking them so long?" The commander asked.

"Do you even know what's in that forest, commander?" Sephiroth looked over at him.

"Well, no." he admitted. "Why, what's in there?"

"I'll tell you when we get back, come on." Sephiroth stood up and waited for the commander to follow.

"Don't we have to wait for the others?" he asked.

"They're most likely dead, come on." the other trainee's sucked in deep breaths and glanced at each other in horror.

"Dead?" the commander's voice trembled slightly.

"Yes, dead. They are the ones that fail. The other's get to train as SOLDIER's." Sephiroth began walking off and the commander scrambled to his feet, glancing at the trainee's and then following.

"I didn't know there was actually something that could kill us, but I did hear something. I wasn't sticking around though, I was just trying to get out of the forest as quickly as possible." one of the trainee's said. The other's nodded in agreement.

When they got inside again the trainees were told to wait in the room they had been in originally while Sephiroth went off to report who had failed. Unfortunately he didn't make it.

"Seph! I finished my paperwork!" Zack said, beaming. "Now can I meet the new recruits? I wanna see if I can tell who the blonde reminds you of."

"I'm busy and so are they. Besides, it's freaking midnight and the blonde failed." Sephiroth pushed past him and kept walking.

"Aww man, maybe the blonde was supposed to be a turk! Did you refer him to that?" Zack asked.

"Zack, don't act like you don't know how the system works. You got into SOLDIER, you should know." Sephiroth said, turning and looking at him pointedly. Zack's happy outward expression faded and he stood there, utter gloom enveloping him.

"I hate it. You know I try to pretend it's not how ShinRa does things." he muttered.

"I know. But you can't pretend forever. The blonde is dead and so is another guy. The other's are in the room you found us in just waiting to be attacked by your hyperness. Now would you please leave me alone?" Sephiroth sighed and left, leaving Zack to slowly make his way toward the room the trainees were in.

Cloud swung the branch and it smashed into the beast's head, causing it to let out an angry cry. It swung a paw and dragged it's claws through Cloud's shoulder. He yelled out in pain and beat at it with the branch again and again until it backed away with a growl.

"Don't you ever give up?" Cloud asked, looking around desperately for a thicker branch. The beast roared again and pounced. In defence Cloud did the only thing he could think of and held the branch out in front of him, closing his eyes and turning his head away. He felt the branch jerk wildly and something clawed at his stomach. Pain flooded through him and he dropped the branch, collapsing in pain.

Looking up slowly, his eyes widened as he saw the beast limping away with blood on its chest. He had defeated it! He painfully drew himself up and looked around for an exit out of the forest.

With no obvious signs of an exit, he decided to just head off and try and find his way back. As he walked, he couldn't help but think about the other trainee that had died. A cold wind blew through and Cloud winced as the air whipped around his wounds. His clothes were completely soaked in blood and he began wondering whether he was going to die as well.

"Yeah, and then I just put my sword up and the beast sort of spiked itself with it. But anyway, that's the story of how I defeated the almighty rat." Zack said, puffing out his chest with a grin. The trainees laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're a real laugh, mate." one of them said. Zack shrugged and gave an innocent look.

"So are you guys looking forward to being in SOLDIER?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Duh! We're gonna become the best!" another piped up.

"Absolutely!" Zack agreed, nodding. "Well, you stay here and do whatever, I gotta go finish up some stuff." with a wave, he walked out of the room. That bunch were cool, but they weren't really the kind of people he wanted to hang out with. They were too self-confident.

Walking through the corridors of ShinRa, Zack found himself nearing the lunch room. He grinned, feeling his stomach grumble at the mere thought of lunch, and walked towards the door. Just as he opened the door, Sephiroth and someone else came pushing past at a run.

"Seph? What's wrong?" Zack called.

"The blonde's alive!" Sephiroth called over his shoulder, already disappearing around the corner. Zack's eyes lit up. No one had ever been out in the forest for this long and survived. This would go down in the history books for sure. Zack took off at a run, following them. He wanted to congratulate this blonde trainee on his success.

Sephiroth put out an arm and stopped Zack from running straight into Cloud, who was being gently lowered onto a stretcher. The medics pulled a plain white sheet over him which began turning red almost immediately and then hurried him off.

"Is he gonna survive?" Zack asked, stunned.

"Who knows, probably not though." Sephiroth shrugged. "Once you get the poison in your body there's no knowing whether you'll live or die." Zack's mood sank again as he remembered about the poison.

"Maybe I should go check on him." Zack said.

"For goodness sake, the medics are looking after him Zack! And before you ask what you should do, for all I care, go write a letter to your girlfriend!" Sephiroth snapped. Zack gave his puppy-dog look and Sephiroth narrowed his eyes.

"Okay.. but she's not my girlfriend." Zack said, turning to walk away.

"Sure she isn't. And I'm not a first class Soldier." Sephiroth muttered. Zack spun around with wide eyes.

"You're not!?" he asked in horror. "All along, you were pretending?"

"Yes Zack, now go to bed." Sephiroth replied in a monotonous tone.

"All right Seph."

"Don't call me Seph."

"No problem, Seph."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"Get lost!"

"If you yell at me again, I'll tell Angeal." Zack said like a little kid back at school.

"And I'll bash the crap out of him, what's the point?" Sephiroth asked. Zack pouted and folded his arms.

"You're so mean."

"I know."