Cloud stepped out into the crowded streets of the (now re-built) sector seven Midgar slums. Maybe once, ten years ago or so, he would have had to burry himself in a cloak to move around the city so freely without being hounded by civilians and their children, asking him to tell stories of saving the world. He would have had to fight off the New Shinra Army (NSA) at every corner. He would have had shady eyes following him from the shadows. But not anymore. No one gave a damn anymore. He wasn't "Hero Cloud" to them anymore… he was a bum that had turned his back on society when it needed him the most. He didn't care. He'd rather be "Outcast Cloud". It was easier to do business that way.

He took notice of everything as he slowly twisted and turned his way through the crowded streets. Things weren't always so… full. After meteor hit, life seemed to slow down to a crawl for a little while, but it didn't take long for things to pick back up. And boy did they pick back up. "The planet's dyin' Cloud.", someone had once told him - he didn't remember who. If it was true then, it certainly wasn't now. There used to be spaces between towns. Wide-open, long spaces that filled the way from one place to another. Things weren't like that anymore. The planet was under a serious population crisis.

What was once a long trail of nothing, the road from Midgar to Kalm was now occupied by two, fully populated towns. It was like that all throughout the planet. Where it was livable - people lived. It was meteor, and the events around it, that made things this way. "Yay!" The people had shouted. "Meteor is gone! Sephiroth is dead! Shinra is no more!" Everyone was so damn exited. So exited that all the evil in the world had seemingly been defeated. Everyone wanted to celebrate by bringing new life into this fresh, good world. So they did.

If there's a way to make a profit, evil will be created. Even if it has to create itself from nothing, Cloud thought, as he pushed past two large men in armor. New Shinra Army… what a joke.

The remains of Shinra didn't take long to resurface themselves. They emerged shortly after the Geostigma incident, claiming the planet needed a government to ensure such travesties did not happen again. The people agreed. They signed their own freedom away. What started as a democracy, quickly turned to a dictatorship. Oh sure, there would be voting once every five years, not that it mattered much. Former Shinra president Rufus was at the head of the whole thing, of course. He earned the peoples sympathy by parading around in a wheelchair. (Which Cloud knew he didn't need) He gained their respect by making promises of a new world for them and their children to live in. And after a long, drawn-out campaign, Rufus Shinra had become the first leader of the new world. Twenty years later, and he still had the title.

The first five years had gone by, and things didn't seem that bad. Maybe Rufus was the man to lead the people into a new era. Five years after that, and people started to realize what was happening, but by then, it was too late. The New Shinra Army had been formed, and democracy had died. The government the people had once all agreed they needed, was reduced to a puppet show - and President Rufus was pulling the strings. He taxed whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, and had no troubles raising them either. He claimed the money was going towards the betterment of the planet, but then again, he could have claimed anything. There was nothing anyone could do, now that he had his army formed. An army that sheepishly accepted any command their leader was to give them. There was nothing anyone could do.

Except their all-mighty hero and savior of the planet… Cloud.

But no such hero came. The memories of that period of his life were as vivid as if they had happened yesterday. He heard their cries - but it wasn't his war to fight… he felt betrayed. He felt like he was a puppet again, but this time it wasn't Sephiroth pulling the strings, it was the people. He wasn't theirs. He owed nothing to them, and yet, they always called his name whenever something went wrong… and only when something went wrong. It was in that moment he had stopped caring… when his true hibernation would begin. He stayed hidden from the people and the government for ten years, no contact with anyone. He hunted his own food… fetched his own water, and all but forgot the life he had once know. And he probably would have finished the rest of his days in hibernation… alone, but then there was that day…

Cloud ducked into an alleyway, getting off the busy streets. He felts too many curious eyes on him. They hadn't remembered him yet… but it wouldn't take them long. "The hero has returned to help us!" He could almost hear them chanting. No… I'm not here for another war… and I couldn't give a damn about it, either. He pressed his back up against a wall and tilted his head up. His mind drifted back to that day. The first human contact he had in… a long time.

Her muscles strained as she yanked the reins of the chocobo back, trying to gain some control over the beastly yellow bird. She feared if he did not calm down, she would be flipped straight off him, and right now, that would not be good. Not in the middle of a vicious sand storm that had completely engulfed them, and reduced their sight to only a few yards in any given direction. Fortunately, the girl on the chocobo was suited for just such an occasion. She was dressed from head to toe in a long, cream colored robe. She wore a hood of the same color that covered her entire face, leaving a thin slit for her eyes (which were shielded by a thing pair of goggles). Not like that was doing her any good at the moment. Picking a direction had become a guessing game. She feared deeply that she would wind up accidentally steering them straight into Corel prison, and the thugs there would harass her and demand money… maybe even keep her there against her will. She shook the thought of her head. Right now she needed all her concentration on keeping the wild chocobo from having a heart attack. Her arms were getting weak, fighting the beast. She knew it wouldn't be long before she completely lost control and was stranded in the midst of a vicious sand storm. Maybe Corel prison wouldn't be such a bad thing to run into after all.

Then a horrible thought crossed her mind. What if her contact had been wrong, or worse, lied to her. Or even worse, lied to her because he worked for Shinra. What if he had sent her out her knowing full-well that there would be a sand storm. I've failed you Tifa. She thought. I've failed you.

But just when all hope had been lost, there it was, just as the contact said. A large rock that shot out of the earth at a perfect, sloping angle. The girl squinted her eyes to make sure the sand wasn't playing tricks on her. It wasn't. She pulled the reins of the chocobo tightly to the left, causing the yellow bird to veer off in that direction. When she was but a few feet from the beat-up looking wooden door, she swiftly jumped from the side of the chocobo, holding on to the reins. She pulled him to a stop and then led him to as close to the door as possible, before tying them to a nearby jagged rock that was sticking out of the earth. The sand storm wasn't so bad under here, he would be fine. She braced herself with a deep breath, then slowly entered the door.

Inside was a long, dark hallway with rocky walls. At the end was some light… a room, probably. She started towards it cautiously. She wasn't sure how mentally stable he was going to be. It had been so long since anyone-

Her thought was abruptly cut short. A strong arm wrapped around her throat, another yanked her right wrist behind her back and twisted it into an uncomfortable position. Her left hand shot up to try and pull the arm off her neck, but the arms hand caught her other wrist quickly.

Completely defenseless within five seconds. At least he was still sharp.

"Cloud, stop!" She cried out from under her hood. Within a second, he had released her, spinning her around to face him and pushing her backwards - ripping off her goggles somehow in the process. Her hand automatically dropped to her side for the small dagger she had brought along. She didn't intend to use it, but once again, she wasn't sure how mentally stable he was. Not like it mattered, the dagger wasn't there. She looked down at the empty space it once occupied, then up to him, who was holding it at his side.

"Friend or foe?" He asked, staring hard at what little of her face he could see.

"Friend." She answered quickly.

"Funny, I don't have any friends. Not anymore."

"Cloud it's me." She said, pulling off the hood. "Marlene."