Oh-Em-Gee! Sorry about the delay once again… school started again this week. Some short winter break huh? Well I have 18 credit hours. And they are all studio classes so that means 6: 6 hour classes! And one of them I have to do as an independent study by myself. Blah. So I was very busy this week. But I'm done for the week and now I'm going to finally get this new chapter up! Thanks for sticking with the story! –Annubis
The Decision Between Life or Death:
A Second Chance
Chapter 28
"Sephiroth?" Aeris whispered to the darkness around her. "Where are you?" the girl shivered. She hoped deeply that Sephiroth hadn't followed her to where she and Zack had been. It would ruin everything.
"Sephiroth? Are you here?" she was getting closer to where she had last seen Sephiroth in his natural form. She looked from side to side unaware of the staring shadow in the corner.
"Where have you been?" the man's voice rang out clearly as he stepped in front of the woman. She cried out when she bumped into his solid chest.
"Don't do that!" the girl slapped him in the shoulder. "You scared me." Huffing she gave him a murderous glare.
"You've been gone quite a while." The man eyeballed her cautiously.
"I had a lot on my mind." The woman folded her arms.
"You went to see him." Sephiroth matched the woman's actions.
"Yeah, I did. So what?" the girl looked off to the side.
"Since when did you care so much about him?" the look on the man's face was unreadable.
Aeris narrowed her eyes. "You jealous?" she questioned.
"What!?" the man sputtered. The woman got a rise out of his widened eyes.
"Oh!" she gasped as if remembering something. "Give me my materia." Aeris suddenly threw out her hand. She kept her other arm wrapped around her.
"What for?" the man cocked his head to the side, analyzing her.
"Just give it to me, it's mine." she frowned.
"No." the man turned away from her and headed down the tunnel into the dark.
"Why must you keep it!?" she stomped a foot.
"Why must you?" he looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes glowing menacingly.
"Because it's mine!" her voice was a low growl. Her hand pushed out further toward the silver haired man.
"…You aren't planning on using it anytime soon, are you?" he turned about face.
"W, well…" the girl innocently held her chin in a small hand.
"On Zack?" the man seethed. His voice hissed over the other man's name.
"I can help him!" Aeris tugged on the man's arm. He immediately pulled it away.
"He's dead Aeris! DEAD!" Sephiroth barked. She jumped at the volume. "He's GONE! DEAD! ETERNALLY SLEEPING! ONE WITH THE PLANET!"
"But I can help…" the woman breathed heavily, tears in her eyes.
"I thought you hated him!" Sephiroth leaned forward, scrutinizing her like an ugly bug. "Did you forget the incident in the forest?"
"No…" she hung her head low. "B, but…Sephiroth…" the man felt a chill down his spine at the mention of his name by her gentle voice. "Even if he was a bad person, I don't want anybody to die."
Sephiroth stared at the young woman, his green eyes taken by hers. He fumbled over his thoughts, trying to keep his cool. He hadn't followed her after she left his posing body on the cold rocky floor. She was very convincing about turning and running straight back to where she had left him, where they currently were. But she had taken so long to get back. He had even taken an alternate route, the long way around. Nonetheless, Sephiroth easily beat her here and had to wait some time for her to round the corner. He almost suspected that she ran away, went looking for the man who obviously wasn't dead. Sephiroth glared at the floor, remembering the anger he felt when Zack's body was nowhere to be found at the base of the cliff. Aeris seemed innocent enough, however, and she was dreadfully slow. He figured that must've been the reason for the delay. He had to trust her, she was all he had. She was the person who would bring him and Mother to salvation. Aeris was going to help him destroy the planet once and for all. He needed her to be with him, to trust him, to use her materia against the planet, to summon Holy.
He gently grabbed her hand, entwining his fingers within hers. Aeris was flush. He began walking, guiding her. His voice was soft and reassuring. "Sacrifices must be made in order to save the planet."
'And this time it won't be me…' Aeris replied in her mind.
Cloud climbed to his feet, his fingers frozen from digging in the snow for what seemed like hours. He quickly sheathed his snow covered sword. He silently prayed it wouldn't rust. Rubbing his hands together he turned to help the others out of the gaping hole. "Tifa." He called out to the freezing woman beneath the snow. Her teeth were chattering violently and she held onto her hands tightly. Cloud reached down to the woman. She eagerly grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly, not sure of her own strength caused by frozen nerves. He hoisted her up and set her on the ground. He kept his hands around hers, trying to add some body heat to them.
"You never listen to me." The man shook his head. The woman looked even more miserable out in the open. He thought it may have been a better idea to leave her in the cocoon of insulating snow.
"I wasn't g, going to sit in there and not…not help." She choked for a breath as a cold gush of wind washed down into her lungs.
Vincent leapt from the hole in the ground. One by one he helped the others climb out of the hole. He looked back out the corner of his eye at Tifa and Cloud. He had never seen the man even lay a finger on the woman when there was no need for it, like when rescuing her or helping out in battle.
"Damn it's cold!" Yuffie's voice echoed over the valleys.
"Quiet Brat! You wanna start another one of them avalanches?" the angry pilot named Cid shouted.
"Your voice isn't any better!" Yuffie huffed, her hands on her hips.
"Why don't both you shut yo' mouths?" Barret grumped. "It ain't that cold."
"Says the man with an extra foot of insulation around his body." The young woman muttered with a smug look on her face.
"What was that?" Barret leaned forward. He poked her with a robotic finger. "Wonder which is faster. My gun arm or Vincent's draw?"
Yuffie gulped.
"And who's to say that I'd actually draw?" the red eyed man mused.
"Vincent!?" Yuffie turned to the clawed man. He gave her a little smirk. "Ugh!" she rolled her eyes, stomping away.
"Perhaps we should hurry to the cliffs." Shelke shivered. She looked upward at the sky. Night was quickly approaching.
"I would agree." Red XII nodded, his headdress beads nearly touched the deep snow. It was a wonder how the animal stayed warm.
"I wouldn't want to be stuck out here at night." Kadaj ran his hands over his arms.
"Well what are we waitin' for?" Cait Sith hopped. "I don't want to malfunction either." The cat trotted through the snow up toward their destination.
"Let's head out." Cloud nodded once, releasing the brown eyed woman's hands. Tifa stared at him, wishing he wouldn't have let go. Cloud tugged at the gloves on his hands. He quickly slipped it from each finger individually. He grabbed both black leather gloves in one hand and passed them over to Tifa. She gave him a questioning look. "Put them on. You'll get frost bite."
"B, but…what about you?" she stammered.
"I've got these." The man turned away from her, leading the way. He held up a hand, waving the fingers. He wore his typical everyday gloves. "Just put them on, Tif." The woman smiled. He shortened her name. It didn't seem like much but the sound, 'Teef', was odd coming from his lips. She smiled, appreciating the small effort he made to show his affection. Tons of people called her that, but Cloud always called her just Tifa. There was nothing else. He was so formal, she was surprised he didn't just call her Miss Lockhart all the time.
The woman tugged on her soaking wet gloves. She stuffed them into her coat pocket and quickly pulled on the gloves Cloud gave her. She giggled softly to herself. His hands were bigger than hers, the gloves too big. She didn't mind though they were delightfully still warm. It was almost like his hands were still around hers.
"What's that?" Nanaki twisted his head. He stared at a group of bushes and trees, listening eagerly.
"You hear something?" Cloud asked.
"It's coming." The animal took a predatory stance. Suddenly the bushes began shaking violently. The group prepared to attack but halted once the bushes began talking.
"Ow! Son of a-!" out stumbled an angry Zack.
"Zack!" the group shouted.
"Huh?" he looked up, blinking. "Hey guys!" the man waved a hand, approaching them. "Bout time I found you." Tugging on stickers and leaves he brushed off his clothing.
"Are you alright?" Cloud stared at the man. He could tell Zack had been through more than the spill over the fissure into the valley. The blonde glanced at the cut on the man's leg.
"Yeah, fine." The black haired man caught his breath. "Damn bushes. Thought I'd never get out."
"Why didn't you just head for the Northern Crater?" Vincent pried.
"Oh that, yeah, do I have a long story to tell you." The man rubbed the back of his head. "But I suggest we keep moving in order to save time."
"Good idea." Yuffie muttered sarcastically. He ignored the girl's poor humor.
"Ok…long story short, I made my way into the crater and low and behold right in front of me is Aeris herself!" the man threw his arms into the air.
"And you didn't bring her with you!?" the ninja girl asked in disbelief.
"Woman, quiet while Zack tells his story." Cid drawled.
"She was across a fracture and just outside a tunnel. I called out to her but she was frightened of me, wanted to run away I could tell." The man stomped through the snow hurriedly. The other's struggled to keep up.
"Frightened?" Tifa asked.
"I think Sephiroth's been messing with her head. You know how he plays his games." The man scoffed. Tifa nodded. She knew exactly what he was talking about. Sephiroth himself had paid her a visit too in Nibelheim. "Anyways, I'm trying my best to get her over to me and then, can you believe it!? A behemoth is right behind her! Now I'm all frantic, trying to get her to come to me! She steps on the damn thing, pissing it off and it comes after her!"
The man continued his story about the dramatic scene that unfolded in the Gaea Cliffs; the great effort to both convince Aeris he wasn't bad and save her, the struggle with Sephiroth, his delightful fall into the darkness dragging his sword through the rock to slow himself down and the wonderful climb back up to the top. He continued telling them about finding Aeris back at the top again.
"She had run away from Sephiroth. We…" he hesitated. "Talked for a while."
'Should I tell them what she told me? About her being pregnant?' the man swallowed thickly. He shook his head. That was not important right now. They would figure things out after they found Aeris and stopped Sephiroth.
"So…where is she?" Cloud asked.
"She's with Sephiroth." He laughed nervously.
"What!?" it was a unison sound.
"Now, let me explain." The man held up a defensive hand. "Well…I can't quite explain it myself; it's all her doing actually."
"Zack…" Cloud clenched his fists, warning. "You didn't let her go by herself to stop the man, did you?"
"She said she had a plan." The man sighed. "Look, Cloud I know you don't like the sound of it. I don't either, alright?! But you know how she is…I couldn't stop her. She wouldn't listen. She said she had a plan and she knew exactly how to take care of things. And…I trusted her."
"I trusted her too, Zack. And that was the last time. She ran off to the City of the Ancients by herself! She was going to be killed then if you hadn't intervened! I was going to kill her!" the blonde shouted.
"But you didn't Cloud. None of us did, Sephiroth did. And right now, she's with him and she's waiting for us. My part of the plan is to get all of us to the Northern Crater as quickly as possible. Now stop bitching and get moving." The ex-SOLDIER continued walking. "I know it was stupid of me, but would you have preferred me to run off with her and have to fight Sephiroth by myself? Like last time?"
"…" the group remained silent.
"We both would have just been killed all over again waiting for you guys to show up. I needed to make sure that you all made it out of the avalanche alive and we all made it in time to save Aeris. She didn't specify what it was she was going to do, but I know that she's thought about it carefully." The man sighed loudly. He wasn't sure himself. He never should have left her alone.
"She said that she's seen a side to Sephiroth that we don't know. I think she's burrowed a soft spot into the man. Don't ask me how that happened; I don't even want to know myself." He mumbled. Cloud watched him benevolently. Cloud knew exactly what the other man was feeling. "I just have to trust her and carry out my part of the plan."
"Let's pray she's still alive when we get there." Cloud murmured.
"Oh…and here's the icing on the cake, Cloud." The man laughed to himself. Was he going crazy?
"…" the spiky haired man waited.
"She said she'd come back when it's all over…" the man looked back with a worried smiling face.
"." the blonde shook his head.
"That's what I thought too." Zack's shoulders slumped.
They continued a few more feet. Suddenly, the ground beneath Zack's feet opened up, exploding into pieces, and swallowed the man.
"ZACK!?" Cloud shouted. He held an arm over his face, protecting his eyes from the falling snow and frozen dirt. Everything settled into place revealing a large hole in the ground. Cloud looked down the hole. It was only about 7 feet deep and curved backward from where they came. "Back!" Cloud pointed.
"What?" Tifa looked behind her.
"It's going back! Look!" Cloud shouted, sprinting past the others and running back toward the cocoon from earlier.
The ground busted in places, snow and ice spraying everywhere. It was like a giant sandworm was burrowing quickly under the ground, making a tunnel. And whatever it was, it was taking Zack with it.
"Zack!" the blonde cried out as he neared the hole. He watched the ground, seeing the straight line of the ground crumbling beneath the surface.
"Cloud! Be careful!" Tifa called out.
"Damn he runs fast!" Barret cursed. "Wait up, Spiky!"
"Zack! Hold on!" Cloud pushed himself to run quicker. 'It's fast…' the man panted.
Snow exploded from the giant hole of the cocoon that was caused by the avalanche. The group stopped dead in their tracks. It wasn't the explosion that shocked them all, but the fact that the snow wasn't white. It was red. Balls of snow and millions of tiny flakes exploded from the ground, all spotted in a deep crimson. It was like the planet itself was bleeding.
'Oh shit!' Cloud felt goose bumps invade his entire body. They all watched in horror. The ground stopped moving. There was no more noise of crumbling snow, no more shouts from the others. It was dead silent, the soft howling of an approaching wind made the scene all the more dreadful.
"Zack?" Cloud managed to speak after a minute. He stumbled step by step, slowly nearing the opening in the ground. He closed his eyes, hearing an awful laughter, one that reminded him of Hojo. The blonde dropped to his knees, clenching the side of his head.
Cloud could see Zack lying on the Shinra lab table, being cut into pieces, infused with Mako, stuffed into a giant tube filled with liquid oxygen and other unknown chemicals. He remembered his angry shouts and the painful ones. He remembered the scratches on the side of the tube's thick glass, Hojo's maniacal laugh and spidery fingers. Visions of Zack's dead body lying in the rain wracked painful cries from the man's soul. He could see Zack lying on the crater floor, wounds through his body, his own blood pooling out around him. It was too much blood. No one should have that much blood leave their body and them being able to still speak. He had tried so hard to hang on, but Zack knew it was useless. Cloud growled to himself, trying to push back the memories. Now he could see Zack lying in the cocoon of snow torn to pieces by whatever it was that gabbed him. He could see blood everywhere in the white linen snow, White like the color of death, a pale body, the colors of Aeris' Iris' she sold when someone lost a loved one, the color of dead eyes…
"Cloud!" he heard Tifa's voice. The others had finally caught up. "What happened!? Is he alright!?"
Cloud quickly glanced upward at the sound emitting from the hole in the ground. It was that laughter again. Something shot up from the hole. The group shouted in surprise. It was a heavy sword, Zack's sword. It too was covered in blood. A moment later two gloved hands plopped on two sides of the gap.
"Mother &s." A moan sounded.
"Zack!" Tifa ran over to the man. "Are you alright!? My god!" she covered her mouth. The man was covered in crimson as well.
"Not mine…" the man breathed heavily. "At least, not all of it…" He leaned over the side of the hole, resting a moment to catch his breath. He dug a boot into the side of the cold snow, ready to push his way out.
"What was it?" Cloud slowly got to his feet.
"Those damn…" the man's blue eyes opened wide. He was almost out of the hole when a white hand sprang out of the hole and gripped the man's boot. Cloud stared at it, feeling the sense of nausea taking over. "AH!" Zack screamed as he was torn backward into the hole once again, snow exploding behind him.
"NO!" Cloud dove over the side of the hole, reaching for his friend. He gripped Zack's hands. "Hold on!"
Strife stared down at Zack. There was a cluster of 'wandering' clones, the same from the underground lab beneath Shinra Co. They tugged and pulled at Zack's leg's, reaching upward at his torso, tearing into his flesh. Others dug quickly beneath him, the ground opening up like an earthquake. Zack winced in pain, blood dripped from a gash on his brow. There were nicks and cuts all over his body and his clothing was covered in red. The two struggled with the clones.
"You…have the…worst luck." Cloud grunted.
"Don't I know it?" Zack frowned. Their hands slipped, only fingertips were latched. The two groaned. Cloud focused on the man, ignoring the cries from the other's outside, his body slipping, and the ground crumbling around them. Everything seemed to slow down considerably. It was like someone hit pause on a game.
"Find Aeris." Zack spoke quietly. The sound was ghastly. Cloud made eye contact with the dark haired man, worried eyes stared into disappointed.
Time sped up. In a flash Zack was gone, down into the dark depths of the earth.
"ZACK!" Cloud shouted, reaching at nothing but the frozen dirt.
"Cloud!" there was screeching from the women and hollering from the men. The blonde felt himself being tugged by Barret, he didn't notice that he was fighting with the man.
"What are you doing!? You can't go back in there! It's suicide!" Barret struggled with the spiky haired blue eyed man. Cloud shoved Barret away with the shrug of an arm.
"I'm not going to sit here anymore!" the blonde screamed. Everyone gawked. Cloud never raised his voice like this. It was higher in pitch, a foreign sound. "Damn it! Zack has died too many times, bled too many times to save us! I'm tired of sitting back and not doing a thing!" he scolded. "You all can sit here, trying to think of the safe way to infiltrate that place, but I'm not! # damnit! I'm not playing these
games anymore!" the blonde spat. He knelt down quickly, scooping up Zack's sword. He sheathed it with his.
Tifa cringed. She had never seen the man so angry. Not even when he fought with Sephiroth.
"This isn't a game! This is really happening! People are getting hurt! People are dying! And for what!? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! He'll keep coming back, keep trying to kill us all and if we keep this up we're all going to die!" his voice softened. "I'm tired of relying on other people to take the fall for me."
Cloud turned toward the hole and without another thought, dropped in.
"Cloud…" Tifa watched in shock. Everyone stood silently, watching the hole as if it were going to do something.
"What…are we going to do?" Shelke asked.
"We don't know where that tunnel goes." Yuffie said apprehensively.
"It goes there…" Kadaj stared at the dark hole.
"Where?" Shelke asked.
"To the Northern Crater." The man had his eyes closed tightly. He looked like he was in pain. "It's those clones again. They are taking him to the crater."
"But it's going underground." Cid patted his pockets, looking for a cigarette. "Damn…"
"That's the whole point." Vincent glanced over the side of the opening. "If they drop low enough, they can cut through the rock and soil leading to the crater. They do exactly as they did in the underground labs. If they beeline from here they'll make it to the center of the crater."
"The center of the crater…" Tifa bit her lip. "The final confrontation."
"It's where Sephiroth is heading. For some reason he wants Zack." Vincent shook his head.
"Why'd he do somethin' like that?" Cait Sith scratched his ear.
"I don't know why. Perhaps it is to take away our strength." The clawed man replied.
"Or it's Jenova's way of weakening them, putting them in a bad mental state." Red XIII suggested.
"Or he just likes torturing the man." Kadaj frowned. Everyone stared at the man in disbelief. "What? You know what type of man Sephiroth is."
"Then we shouldn't be wasting any time." Tifa announced. "Cloud was right. We need to get there as quickly as possible. We don't have time to dilly dally."
"The more time we take the sooner the others come to death." Red XIII stood next to Vincent by the gaping hole in the planet.
"Shall we head in then?" Yuffie asked.
"Or should we split up? Half goes in the hole; the other half goes the normal route? That tunnel doesn't look very safe." Cid pondered. As if on cue, the ground started shaking.
"Cloud!?" Tifa ran to the hole.
"Back up! It's caving in!!" Vincent tugged the woman rearward.
They all flew backwards, leaping away from the swallowing hole. The group ran away at a safe distance, cracks and new holes opening up in the terrain. The ground shook violently another minute before falling into peaceful silence.
"Cloud!" Tifa scrambled to her feet, her snow boots kicking up flurry. "Oh god! CLOUD!" she dropped before the now enclosed hole, tears stinging her eyes.
The ground had swallowed him up. He was crawling through tunnels of rock and dirt. He was surely crushed. There was no way he crawled to the crater already. The woman gasped.
'The other hole!' she jumped to her feet, running back to the other opening Zack was first pulled under.
"Tifa!" Barret hollered.
"The other hole! He may have gotten out! He may still be alive!" the woman shouted frantically.
"But…" the dark skinned man hesitated. Cloud was in the lower tunnel beneath the first level. He would have had to dig his way upward through rock and dirt who knows how many feet to make it up to the first level and out the hole.
But Tifa had hope, and she knew that as long as she had faith, good things would happen.
Cloud crawled through the tunnels as fast as he could. He only wished that the tunnels were high enough to stand in. It must've been the clone's plans to slow them down, to make sure they didn't make it to the crater before they did. He figured that sooner or later the tunnels had to open up. Even the clones wouldn't be able to keep up the quick digging without being able to run. He'd catch up with them sooner or later.
He had a lot of weight to carry; both his and Zack's sword would only slow him down more. It was too dark to tell what was before him. The man slid out his cell phone, flicking it open. Bright blue light
flooded into the darkness. He looked up ahead. The tunnels indeed did widen. He guessed it was past the hole Zack was first drug into. Cloud paused.
'Wait…' he frowned. 'Why would they decide to widen it now? What's the purpose of keeping this hole so small? Was it to slow me down?' the man narrowed his eyes to get better sight. He noticed a standing pillar supporting the ground above him. It was about thirty feet before him and looked very frail and thin.
He slowly continued, wary of the situation he was in. Cloud never bothered to look at the ground beneath him. Of course, he wouldn't notice the sudden steep slope.
"Ah! Shit!" the blonde fell forward.
He slid down the polished, flat ground of the tight tunnel. His back collided with the pillar, sending a traumatic scar over its surface. The man coughed, his wind knocked out of him. He crawled to his feet, standing. He tensed when he sensed something moving beside him. A low hiss sounded. Cloud turned toward the sound coming face to face with white glowing eyes and slick smooth skin.
"AH!" The man stumbled away.
It was a clone and it had been waiting for him. Cloud watched as the monster's hand began glowing, ready to cast a magic spell. Cloud pulled out his sword, lunging backward and slipping on the side of the steep slope he had just fallen from. He fell to the ground with luck however as the clone had just throw a spell at him. Lightning bolts burst into the sides of the walls and ceiling. It was a maxed level spell, tearing up massive amounts of surface area. Cloud frowned.
"You stupid clone!" the blonde growled.
Another spell was shot out at the man. Cloud dodged easily, driving his sword through the clone's midsection. Being cramped in a tight place prevented the clone from using its quick speed. It tried to dart back, carrying the man forward with his sword stuck in its body. There was a loud crunch as the monster ran into the pillar, cracking it further. Explosions sounded from all around, Cloud looked behind him. The ground was caving in on itself. He turned his gaze back to the clone, glaring.
"You asshole. This was all a part of your plan, wasn't it!?" the blonde fumed. The clone only tilted its head at the man. "Well you can die down here!" the blonde pulled the sword from the monster's body, tearing the supporting pillar to pieces. The beast dropped to the floor.
'!' the man cursed repeatedly in his head.
He looked upward at the shaking roof of mud. The lightning blasts were even melting the snow, dirt and rock. Cloud gritted his teeth. He needed to get out of here immediately. He began to head back to where he came but the steep slope was too much. He could hear the beginnings of the ground above caving in. He turned his head upward again.
'The hole…it has to be around this area. But how!?' the man panicked.
Cloud darted back and forth. 'I could run down the tunnel after the clones…' he growled in frustration loudly. 'I won't make it. I wasted too much time with that clone!' the man hopped up and down.
"!" he cursed aloud.
He stabbed his sword upward into the roof, his materia glowing. The soil came crumbling down around him. He closed his eyes, feeling the strength of the spell explode from the tip of his sword. is claw dug into the snow and soil. at he too was worried to hell about Cloud. ea was sunken in the most. --In seconds he was engulfed by rocks.
"Cloud! Cloud!" Tifa dug through the snow; surprisingly this hole wasn't full of rock and dirt, but mostly the surrounding snow. It seemed that this area was sunken in the most. "Help me!" she called out to the others.
"We have to remain calm, Tifa." Vincent announced. He kneeled beside the woman. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he too was worried to hell about Cloud. His claw dug into the snow and soil. She abruptly stopped.
"You hear that?" the woman asked. There was a small tremor and then the ground sunk in further, tearing into bits. The woman shouted in surprise, falling back onto her behind in the cold snow.
"Dig!" Vincent hollered. The others were there now digging with the man. Tifa regained her composure and joined them. They pulled the pebbles away.
"Pebbles? Weren't these rocks a moment ago?" the woman asked.
"Yeah…" Vincent replied. "I think Cloud's working his way out."
"What!?" the woman asked hopefully.
"These pebbles are a result of heavy shock waves." The man explained. "Being a Turk you learn about the way magic effects certain things."
"Magic?" Yuffie questioned.
"Quake." The dark haired man smirked.
"Cloud, you smart dog!" Cid hooted.
"You mean, he's still alive!?" Tifa scooped up dirt and pebbles.
"Possibly." Vincent nodded.
"Don't know how anyone could survive that…" Barret let out a deep breath.
"I feel him!" the dark haired woman reached into the dirt. Her arms dug into the soil. She wrapped her arms around what felt like Cloud.
Vincent dug in as well helping the woman. They lifted together as the others scraped at the surrounding rocks. Slowly, sure enough, Cloud was pulled from the debris. He was a mess, caked in dirt and mud and a little bit of his own blood.
"Oh Cloud." Tifa gasped. There was a wound on his head and his arms were battered and bruised, his clothing torn in places. The woman reached for her green materia to cure the man while Vincent leaned forward to inspect him.
"…He's not breathing…" Vincent held his ear next to the boy's mouth.
"What!?" Tifa's voice rasped.
"And I can't really feel a pulse. It's very faint." The man informed coolly.
"We…we got to do something!" the woman clenched the blonde haired man's shirt.
She held onto him tightly, a hand against his cheek. The man lay in the cold snow, slowing staining it with his own blood. Tifa leaned forward, hugging him. The sun settled low on the horizon.
"We can't let Cloud die!"
Ok! That's the end of this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and reviewing! –Annubis