A Wizard's Return
Authors Notes Thank you all very much for the reviews x
I appreciate any feedback comments, questions whatever. flames are not nice, but they don't really bother me.
x !!chapter on crack warning!!
I was in a good mood when I wrote this. I hope you guys find hedge hogs as amusing as I do...
I suffer from insomnia... but that's no excuse...
Anyhow...
A Wizard's Return
Chapter two
Early the next morning, Cloud had awakened to find that Yuffie had kept her promise. A Large stack of sickly sweet, syrup drenched chocolate chip pancakes, topped with a generous amount of whipped cream.
"TADA!" Yuffie shouted shoving the full plate in his face. Cloud reacted instinctively by pulling back and wrinkling his nose. "Don't they look GOOD? Yep, I made these puppies ALL BUY MYSELF!"
"That isn't necessarily a good thing…" Leon grumbled to Cloud as he entered the room.
"HEY! That's not fair! Why doesn't anyone trust my cooking!?" she turned to Leon pouting.
"No offence girl," piped in Cid, who was sitting at the computer. "But ninjas have never been known for their culinary skills! That along with the fact that they are known to kill people in a sneakish fashion, isn't exactly comforten'…"
"Me and Aerith already ate some this morning!" Yuffie defended, "We're still alive!"
"Give it an hour our two…" Leon remarked as he walked across the room, not noticing that Cloud was studying his stiff movements very closely. Yuffie trembled slightly as she hunched shoulders and glared at Leon.
"You're so…mean!" she finally whined, "No wonder nobody likes you!"
"Hey Kiddies! Hush up for minute, yer "Uncle Cid" needs ta focus!" Cid barked over his shoulder as he madly typed away.
The room went quiet; Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Leon, who was now leaning against the farthest wall in the house. Watching the young girl's childish reactions, the thought did cross Leon's mind to insult her with a slightly more…crude gesture, however he contained himself and simply ignored her. He was in a bad mood, but not enough to lower himself quite to that level.
A few more rapid clicks came from the computer area before Cid, frustrated with his defective equipment shouted, "DANG NABBIT! WHY WON'T THIS STUPID HUNK OF ELECTRICAL CRAP WORK!" he paused to breathe. "Leon, something's up with the Security System! We need to head up to Ansem's place right away!"
Leon nodded and walked back towards the door. As he passed by Yuffie, she grinned from ear to ear then followed after the two men, carelessly plopping the plate of soggy pancakes on Merlin's table.
"Wait! I'm coming too!" she cried. Cid nodded as he rubbed his chin back of his hand. Cloud stood up and turned towards Cid and Leon.
"Well ya wanna come too Cloud?" Cid asked, but before Cloud could reply Leon cut in.
"Cloud, why don't you stay here and wait for Aerith to come back?" Leon turned to Cid and gave him a look that clearly asked for his support. Cid fidgeted for a moment then rubbed the back of his neck.
"Err… Yeah that sounds like a good Idea…um…Cloud, why don't ya stay here."
Cloud turned to Leon with a puzzled expression. Leon looked down at Cloud and nodded.
"…Alright…" Cloud answered still thoroughly confused. What was Leon up to?
"…Eh-hem," Yuffie broke the brief silence. "To Ansem's study?" she asked energetically trying her best to switch subjects.
"Um…sure…" Cid opened the door. "Let's go," With those words, he slipped outside.
"Right…" Added Yuffie, who quickly followed after. Leon was the last to leave; as he exited he turned back to Cloud, "She should be here in a little while. When she comes back, tell her where we went."
"…Alright…" Could looked unsettled, "But-"
However before Cloud could finish Leon interrupted,
"Good," He stated plainly; then shut the door.
"Hey, Leon-"
Cloud stood alone in the wizard's cluttered house, feeling very much dejected. Lost in contemplation, he stared at the door then forced himself to shift focus, to a more important issue. The fact that he really was quiet hungry...
"Leon, what the hell?!" Yuffie finally gathered up the courage to speak to Leon as they walked through the castle bailey.
"I was just 'bout ta ask the same question." Cid Looked to Yuffie who crossed her arms and glared suspiciously at Leon. "Well," He continued, "Are ya gonna tell us why ya wanted to ditch Cloud? Or Not?"
"I needed to talk to you two. Last night I saw Sephiroth here, in Hollow Bastion. "
"WHAT?" Yuffie and Cid cried both simultaneously.
"I'll explain more when we get to the study…"
Cloud stared at the stack of cold, mushy pancakes sitting on the table. "They look harmless enough," He contemplated to himself, "They smelled kind of...funny…kind of...wrong…"
He took a quick look around the cluttered room then returned to Yuffie's pancakes. Cautiously he lifted the plate and fork of the table and brought it back to the small bed. He took a seat, and slowly took his first bite.
Gross.
A combination over powering salty and sweet tastes, lightly accented with that bitter blacked flavor you receive after licking a piece of burnt wood. A shiver went up and down Cloud's spine; he swallowed and took another bite. After all, he was very hungry. Disgusting or not it was food; real edible food; something that Cloud had not come across for a very long time.
Suddenly with out warning, a sparkling cloud of blue smoke appeared in the center of the room. Alarmed, Cloud almost dropped his plate when a white haired wizard in a pointed hat suddenly emerged from the smoke.
"Leon! Cid!" He called as he opened his bag, from which a collection of assorted items flew out, then put themselves neatly away in various places. "Yuffie! Aerith! I'm back! And boy do I have some interesting stories to tell you about Bermuda!" The Wizard turned around to see Cloud sitting on his bed. The old wizard's eyes widened as he grabbed the edges of his pointy blue hat. "ACK!" he cried, "YOU- you what are YOU doing here! You- you- must be the Hollow Bastion BURGLAR!"
Cloud looked around the room, realized the wizard was, in fact talking to him then shook his head in protest. "Um…Sorry but…I'm not a burglar…I'm-"
"Oh! Oh- that's-that's what they ALL say!" Merlin took out his wand and waved it franticly in the air. "Now, Now you just GET! Before I turn you into a hedgehog!"
"I'm really not a Burglar-"
"Oh you're NOT are you?" Merlin lowered the wand for moment, "Then, then WHY are YOU in my house eating burnt PANCAKES?"
Cloud wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question.
He was trapped. Was this Leon's idea of a sick joke? "Stay here and wait for Aerith to come back." Was what he said. "Sure, he warned me about Aerith but not about Merlin." Cloud thought.
"WELL?"
Cloud didn't respond fast enough.
"HEGDEICUS HOGGEICUS!"
And Cloud ran for the door as fast as he could… keeping the same pace until he was a safe distance away from Merlin's house.
Aerith hummed softly to her self as she opened the door to Merlin's house,
"Cloud," She called sweetly, "I brought you something…" She said lifting a small basket. "Hello?" She peered around the door to see Merlin pacing back and forth. "Oh, hello Merlin…Back from Bermuda already?"
"Hmm?" Merlin lifted his head, "Oh hello Ms. Aerith! Yes I came home a little early and it's a good thing I did! Would you believe I found a BURGLAR in my house? What has this town has come to!"
"Oh…that's not good…" Aerith's eyes widened as she set down her basket. "Merlin, this "Burglar" didn't have blonde Spiky hair did he?"
"Err…Yes…"
"Oh no… Merlin…Merlin that was Cloud." Aerith looked like she needed to sit down.
"Who was it dear?"
"Cloud Strife…remember? He use to live here a long time ago,"
The wizard suddenly smiled, "Ah! YES! Now I remember him! The little crazy, yellow-haired boy that didn't like to talk!" Merlin's smile quickly faded. "Oh no…That's not good…"
"Merlin, what did you do?" asked Aerith, not knowing what to expect.
"Well…I- I may have turned him into a Hedge Hog…"
Aerith covered her mouth, "You didn't!"
"I'm not sure…He was running out the door when I cast the spell you see…so I might have missed him…but probably not…I have a descent aim…unfortunately in this case…"
"Where do you think he would be? You know as a- a Hedge Hog"
"Well," Merlin paused to stroke his beard. "You see, Hedge Hogs like green things…Perhaps we should look in the flowerbeds at the Market place…"
Aerith nodded, "Yes…let's do that right now…"
The two left for the Market place as quickly as possible.
"Done," Stated Cid plainly, "The Security System is back online, but I can't figure out how it got offline in the first place!"
"My guess is that it might have been connected to Sephiroth's reappearance." Leon declared.
"Maybe," Cid shrugged, "But we should check on what Maleficent has been up to, make sure none of her idiot drones messed around with anything,"
"Maybe the problem's INSIDE the computer!" suggest Yuffie grinning.
Cid groaned and put his face in his hand, "Ya should have ditched her too Leon…"
"Hey! I'm Serious! It is a machine and machines malfunction, right?"
"Yuffie, why don't ya run along and do somethin' ninjaish." Cid barked. Yuffie crossed her arms and turned away to sulk in the corner. Cid shook his head and continued, "Ya see Yuffie, there are traces that prove somebody deliberately hacked into Ansem's computer and disabled the Security System. It wasn't just a malfunction."
"Do you think Sephiroth did this?" Leon asked, approaching the super computer.
"He could have, very easily…" Cid rubbed his chin, "But I think he would have done a better job of it."
"So, it was more likely one of Maleficent servants," Leon continued starring at the monitor.
"Yeah probably…" Cid turned to face Leon, "Well do you think we should tell Cloud…ya know…so he doesn't get sneak attacked err…anything?"
"I think we should just keep any eye on him, we don't want him to go looking for Sephiroth." Leon answered, "I did want to tell you this when you arrived at Merlin's house, but Cloud was injured last night…He didn't tell me…but I think Sephiroth did it…"
"Cloud was hurt?" Yuffie suddenly stopped sulking, "So that's why he was all depressed and stuff…well…more depressed than usual."
Leon nodded, "I think so…"
"Well what are we gonna do?" Yuffie asked Leon, lifting her arms. "We can't keep a secret like this from Cloud forever…I mean…I know he's blonde, but he's pretty smart!"
"Well, by then Cloud will be fully healed." Leon paused and looked over Yuffie's shoulder, towards the door. "What's going on between Sephiroth and Cloud is something…I think Cloud has to deal with this himself. I think," Leon nodded slowly, "That's why…he never stays with us."
"You've been doing a lot of thinking lately, huh Squall?" Yuffie stopped and covered her mouth, "Sorry…Leon…"
Leon simply nodded, in a way that eerily reminded Yuffie of their troubled friend.
"Leon? You've…still here right?" Yuffie tapped the side of her head with her pointer finger.
"Are you calling me crazy, Ninja thief?" Leon glared and crossed his arms.
"Yep, you're okay!" She smiled goofily and chuckled. Familiar foot steps could be heard coming from Ansem's study; Leon watched the doorway. A few moments later, Cloud hurried in to the lab, looking paler than usual.
"Cloud?" Cid turned to the door way.
"What are doing here?" asked Leon,
"Are you okay Spiky? You look really funny! Like you're gonna puke!" Yuffie watched intently, looking as though she was expecting Cloud to explode.
Cloud turned to face Leon,"Did…did you know Merlin was coming back today?"
Cid chuckled, "That must have been awkward." He smiled crookedly.
"He thought I was a burglar…" Cloud took one step and began to shake. Leon almost instinctively stepped forward as Cloud began to lose his balance then caught his upper arm with a strong grip.
Leon glared, "You shouldn't be running around like this yet,"
Yuffie took a place behind Leon crossing her arms, signifying her support. "Yeah! You're hurt Stupid! Go Lie down!"
"Are you saying that I should have stayed in Merlin's house… and let him turn me into a Hedgehog?!"
Yuffie looked at Leon, who in shock drew back bearing an obvious, "What the hell" expression on his face, Cid spat out his wooden stick and began snicker. After a few moments of giggling, Cid collected himself enough to speak, " That's funny 'cause…Ya look like a Hedgehog!" he pointed at Cloud's head. "A yeller one!"
Leon put his free hand over his eyes and shook his head. Yuffie scowled back at Cid who continued to laugh. Cloud switched his glare from Cid to Leon. Yuffie cleared her throat and spoke for Cloud.
"Leon, I think Cloud wants his arm back, I mean I know it's pretty and you want to keep it but-"
Without another word Leon dropped Cloud's arm looking somewhat disgusted. Then as if to emphasize his lack of interest in the blonde, he turned away and shot him a dirty look over his right shoulder.
Cid began to chuckle again, "You're really gross, Yuffie!"
"Yeah, I know!" She giggled. "Aww… look at the sulking squally-poo!"
"Whatever…" Leon grumbled, "Creeps…" he turned back to Cloud, "Well, we should head back, let everyone know that you're not a Hedgehog…"
"That…might be a good idea," Yuffie said with a nod.
"Alright," Cid sighed as he took one last look a the super computer, "Let's go,"
A crowd of town's folk had gathered in the market place, after hearing strange rumors about a crazy old man and young woman in search of their friend Cloud, who had accidentally been turned into a hedgehog. People came from all over Hollow Bastion, to see what the commotion was about; many of them hoping to catch a glimpse at the enchanted spiky animal.
"Cloud!" Aerith called softly as she crawled under a bush in one of the marketplace's many flower beds, "Cloud, are you under here?"
"Cloud! Yoo-hoo!" Merlin said as he peered around a different shrubbery.
Aerith turned her head towards where she heard a rustling noise. She watched closely in the direction from where the sound had come, when surely enough a sandy colored hedgehog waddled out from under some exposed roots. Aerith scooted forward as quietly as she could, as not to startle the little animal. She took a moment to study the small rodent, as it dug around sniffing the dirt.
"I have to do this…for Cloud," Aerith told herself mentally. She crept closer to the hedgehog, until it was within her reach. Then lowered her shoulders, gathering all the energy she would need to accomplish the task. She sucked in her breath, the final preparation for what she had to do next.
There was a tiny "squeak" as Aerith pounced on the little animal and scooped it into her arms.
Meanwhile, Merlin was searching in the flower bed on the opposite side of the Market place. He lifted a bush branch with end of his wand.
"Cloud…" he said aloud, hoping the hedgehog would hear. "I'm very sorry for turning you into a prickly rodent… But I honestly thought that you where a burglar! I mean… after all you where dressed completely in black..."
"Merlin!" cried Aerith as she popped out the shrubs, leaves tangled in her hair, her dress smudged with dirt. "I found him! I found Cloud the hedge hog!"
Merlin turned to face Aerith, "Good job, Aerith! Now put him in your picnic basket so he can't get away!"
"Right…" Aerith nodded as she gently set the hedgehog down in the basket.
"Good," Merlin said as he walked forward and lifted his wand. "Bring him here! I'll fix him!"
Aerith set the basket at Merlin's feet. "Aerith, can you open the basket quickly so that I can cast the spell?"
"Okay," She bent down and put her hand on the lid, "On the count of three?" She looked up at Merlin.
"On the count of three!" he answered
"Okay," she began to count, "One…Two…THREE!" Aerith flipped open the picnic basket as Merlin waved his wand,
"Humonaeongus!"
A bolt of green light shot out of the end of Merlin's wand and struck the interior of the basket. The picnic basket began to shake then exploded in to a mass of sparkling bubbles. Aerith clamped her hands over her mouth to silence a scream, "YOU KILLED HIM!"
"NO AERITH! LOOK OVER THERE!" he cried pointing at the little rodent, who was now plummeting to the ground, towards the Hollow Bastion castle brought.
"He's going to land in the village!" Aerith cried.
"After Him!"
Aye mi, poor fools
tbc