"You sure you'll be here alright on your own, boy?" Dio asked for the seventh time.
"I may have left Soldier," Cloud said, "but they still trained me while I was there. I can handle myself."
"Against a whole squad?" Dio's frown hid almost entirely behind his moustache.
"No one is going to attack me with a whole squad of troops." At least he would tell Dio that. Cloud had no problem with thinking either Avalanche or Wutai would send a whole squad after him, though Avalanche was much more likely to do that than Wutai.
"But you're just one boy," Dio said.
Cloud grit his teeth, staring skyward for several moments. The businessman had been arguing with him for the last ten minutes on the edge of the village. Dio needed to go. Dio would rather whine about Cloud's supposed inadequacies in the event of attack. Nothing Cloud seemed to say would placate the
man.
"You researched my history right?" Cloud asked. Dio gave him a suspicious glare. "You know I'm Soldier trained. Why are you worrying about this?"
"You're just a kid," Dio said gruffly, "and I don't want this business deal falling through. This is the biggest venture of my entire life and the Wutai people won't give me the time of day without the novelty that comes with your oddness. If any of the local gangs decide to do you in, this plan is burnt to a crisp."
Cloud huffed a silent laugh. "Just go, Dio. I'll be fine."
Before Dio got another chance to retort, Cloud's PHS rang. Cloud jumped on the opportunity to get Dio to shut up for a few minutes. He hesitated only a moment after seeing it was Zack calling. He probably should stop ignoring his friend's calls.
Cloud flipped the PHS open and said, "Cloud Strife speaking."
"Spiky!" Zack shouted. "You answered!"
"I noticed," Cloud said dryly. He quirked a brow and mouthed at Dio, I'm fine, just go.
The businessman glared and grumbled under his breath but finally started on the path out of the village. Cloud sighed and allowed himself to focus on Zack, who was just finishing a rant about how horrible Cloud was to ignore him.
Cloud ignored the accusation because he had most notably been replying to all of Zack's emails. "Is that what this call is really about, Zack?"
"No," Zack said, "but I figured I'd get the lecture in before you hung up and started ignoring me again."
"I'm not ignoring you, Zack. I was busy."
Zack scoffed. "But you won't tell me with what."
"Zack," Cloud said, a bit of pleading in his voice. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Zack started making demands for information. It was difficult enough telling his friend half-truths. Cloud figured his story would fall apart quite spectacularly if he tried to lie.
"Fine," Zack said with an exasperated sigh. "But don't think I'm not going to force a favor out of you later. What I really want to talk about is where you are."
Cloud frowned, unsure of whether or not he should be wary of that line of talk. He wasn't in Wutai as CS Delivery. He wasn't doing anything construed as terrorism. Even though Lord Kisaragi suspected he was CS Delivery, that could hardly have gotten back to Shinra this fast, unless there was a spy sending messages during the meeting.
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.
"Please tell me you're not in Wutai."
"What?" Cloud asked dumbly. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to not be able to leap to the conclusion that Shinra Company would be keeping track of his movements and that Zack would know about it.
"There's really heavy Avalanche movement in Wutai right now and the situation looks like it might get volatile." Zack hesitated. "I kind of have a confession to make."
Tensing, Cloud asked, "What?"
"I know you met with a man named Dio and you seem to be doing some sort of business with him and that he's been in Wutai. I don't want you in Wutai."
Cloud relaxed a little at that. Shinra Company didn't obviously know where he was, probably.
"You know, Spiky, if you don't want people to know who you're meeting with, you shouldn't have meetings in the Shinra Building where there's boatloads of cameras."
"It's not like I didn't think anyone at Shinra would notice," Cloud mumbled.
Zack just chuckled. The sound set Cloud a little more at ease because it meant his friend wasn't holding the fact that Cloud hadn't told him about Dio against him.
"So tell me you're not in Wutai, Spike."
Cloud winced, hoping Zack would have forgotten about that during his little rant.
"Oh, Gaia, Spike, please tell me you're not in Wutai. I was serious when I said we've got terrorist activity picking up there. Avalanche is on the move, and I don't want you caught up in it. You've got enough to deal with without bad guys with bombs showing up to spoil your day."
"I'm fine, Zack," Cloud said. The movement just beyond the edge of the village that Cloud caught with his peripheral vision completely belied his statement and the sun glinted off the barest hint of metal.
"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself there, kiddo," Zack said wryly.
"No, I just spent the last fifteen minutes arguing with Dio about how 'fine' I am," Cloud said. "I'll tell you what I told him. No one is going to jump out of the bushes and attack me. And I swear if you start calling me things like 'boy' or 'kiddo' on a regular basis, I'm not going to pick up the phone when you call for at least a month."
"Right, then," Zack said hurriedly, "no little kid appellations. I'll stick with Cloudy as the most embarrassing nickname I use for you, alright? Just don't throw a tantrum on me. I just want to make sure you're alright."
The sharp sense of guilt prickled through Cloud's gut. "Sorry, Zack," Cloud said, voice infinitely softer. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that. Dio can be so damn annoying and he's half convinced I'm going to trip over my own shoes and impale myself on a passing rock or something. I have to wonder why he's even working with me if he thinks I need so much help."
"Whoa, Spiky," Zack said, incredulity obviously lacing his tone. "I think that's the most emotional and silly thing I've ever heard you say."
Cloud used his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. At least it seemed like his stalker in the woods was going to stay there until Cloud finished his call.
"That's not a bad thing," Zack said, almost sounding like he was trying to verbally backpedal. "I'm glad you're being a bit more open. You've always been a bit secretive you know. Not in a bad way."
Cloud couldn't help but smile a little at that. Zack was calling the teenage reticence that Cloud used to have secretive.
"You're just so quiet most of the time, and I think you could do with a bit of loudness in your life."
Cloud certainly didn't lack for that with Zack around.
"For Gaia's sake, Cloud, just say something back. I don't want you mad at me."
"I'm not mad," Cloud said, hearing the slight smile in his own tone. "You just kept talking. It's not like I'm going to interrupt you when you keep tripping over yourself like that." Cloud's smile deepened. "It's funny."
Zack spluttered incoherently, for obvious lack of a better response. Cloud couldn't help a quiet chuckle.
"But seriously, Spiky, Wutai isn't a safe place right now," Zack said.
"I'm good, Zack," Cloud said, catching the glint of yet more weapons in the forest. It seemed more than one attacker was getting antsy about ambushing him.
"That's what you think, Cloud, but that's all according to their plan."
Cloud quirked a brow even though Zack couldn't see it. "Whose plan?"
"Well, uh," Zack offered up intelligently, "that's not the important part. You're not safe in Wutai, and I think you should come pay me a visit."
"You do?" Cloud asked dryly.
"Of course," Zack said, sounding slightly affronted. "Friends look out for each other that way."
Cloud rolled his eyes but found the sentiment endearing. Zack certainly wasn't thinking of pushing Cloud away if he was still thinking about looking out for him.
"I'll swing by the next time I'm near Midgar," Cloud said.
"Hey," Zack snapped, "you can't sidestep the fact that you're in Wutai and I don't want you there."
More movement in the trees told Cloud he didn't have much time.
"I'm going to be busy here in a few moments, Zack, so we'll talk later, alright?"
"You're just ignoring my worry now, aren't you?" Zack asked.
"Bye, Zack."
"Later," Zack said sullenly.
Cloud smirked to himself, shaking his head as he stowed the PHS away. He stood, seemingly staring off into space while he watched the movement in the trees with his peripheral vision. He was still in full sight of the village so, feasibly, he could simply walk back in and wait in the Turtle's Paradise until sunset for Lord Kisaragi's answer. Of course, it wouldn't be too much trouble for him to walk out of the village and take care of all his stalkers. He just didn't want to be accused of provoking anyone and fighting on Wutai ground.
One sharp crack and a faint whistle through the air made the decision for him. He jerked his upper body sideways to dodge the bullet and caught the telltale sound of more bullets tearing toward him.
Cloud ripped the simple sword from its sheath on his back. He thought he heard one of the harnesses tear. He whipped the blade around, deflecting the bullets he couldn't dodge. A scream rang through the village behind him, and he hoped he hadn't accidentally caught one of the bystanders with a ricochet.
Unwilling to let his attackers fire into the village unchecked, he threw forward one hand and cast the only spell he had paired with an All materia. Lightning shot from his fingertips as the nearly mastered Bolt 3 crackled through the air. The magic left bright, discolored afterimages across his vision. Several trees burst into flames and pained screams floated out from where the Avalanche troops were hiding.
Without waiting for retaliation, Cloud threw a second Bolt 3 into the trees, squinting to minimize the afterimage. He could only imagine how blinding the magic would be for someone not wearing goggles like him.
Cloud was only marginally surprised when several troopers hurtled out of the trees to avoid his lightning. Of course, the screams from within the trees said he'd still hit a fair number. The three troopers who escaped his magic charged in a slightly uncoordinated manner from three slightly different angles. Cloud snapped his sword around, smacking bullets out of the way and shuffled to the side as two of the projectile sprays converged. This put him within striking distance of one of the three.
The trooper swung his gun around in attempt to bash Cloud with it. Lamenting the lack of a second sword, Cloud kept low to the ground and brought his sword around again. The clash of metal sent the Avalanche fighter soaring through the air, weapon flying in a different direction.
Cloud rounded on the other two to find guns still blazing, though the aim was a bit wide, like they were following him instead of trying to anticipate the direction he was moving. He supposed it wouldn't matter if they tried to anticipate his movements as he sprinted around them. He would look like nothing more than a blur anyway.
With a twist of his wrists, Cloud slammed the flat of his sword into the middle of the back of the nearer Avalanche trooper. Cloud wasn't sure if the obvious crack was the trooper's armor or his ribs. He suppressed a grimace as his sword shuddered with the impact. This simple long blade probably couldn't take the kind of abuse he was used to giving his weapons.
Ignoring it for the time being, Cloud focused on the next trooper. This one already had his gun aimed at Cloud's head. Rather than trap himself on the ground, Cloud vaulted sideways, twisting and throwing his weight to flip over the path of bullets that clumsily tried to follow him. Again, Cloud brought the flat of the blade hard against his opponent. Rather than the crack of ribs or armor, he focused on a small, metallic snap. He immediately reduced the force behind the blow and the trooper merely stumbled forward to collapse.
Cloud's sword didn't appear cracked or crumbling. It looked fine. But Cloud could tell the difference with an experimental swing. Something had given and the weapon didn't feel balanced anymore, the movement was strange.
Cloud didn't have time to more deeply examine his clearly insufficient blade before another spray of bullets had him twisting and dodging away. Only this attack was coming from the direction of the village.
A quick assessment of his new opponent showed another Avalanche terrorist, but with a darker uniform and a sword strapped to his back. His eyes were covered by his helmet's visor but a cold sneer twisted his mouth, giving Cloud the vague impression that this fighter might be a bit different from the others. Perhaps this one was a commander instead of a little peon like all the rest.
Cloud's new opponent closed the distance between them with what would be considered shocking speed by anyone not mako-enhanced. As it was, the continuous rain of bullets kept Cloud where he was, deflecting projectiles without sending them back into the village. This possible Avalanche commander didn't stop firing when he switched the gun to one hand only. Of course, his aim became nearly nonexistent. With his free hand, his opponent drew his sword and swung wildly at Cloud.
Cloud brought his blade up from underneath the other's weapon, planning to break the Avalanche commander's grip and send the weapon flying. Cloud was not expecting his own sword to snap practically at the hilt, the blade embedding itself in the ground mere inches from his foot.
Cloud flung himself into a sideways roll to avoid the other sword, as he no longer had an effective means to block it. A spray of poorly aimed bullets followed him, definitely too close for comfort, but still being directed with only one hand.
Cloud threw a Fire 3 spell at his attacker and gained himself a temporary reprieve from the projectiles. He tossed away the practically useless hilt and wracked his brain for what to do now. He didn't have another sword.
The Avalanche commander burst out of the fading fire spell blade low and swinging toward Cloud. With a quiet curse, Cloud darted away again, attempting to put some distance between them. Cloud fired another Bolt 3, but his opponent simply dodged. Cloud couldn't help but wish he had decided to bring along a summon. Sure, he had Counter materia to make himself all that much more effective during a fight, but that didn't do much good when he didn't have a weapon to attack back with.
In his minor mental distraction, he missed the Avalanche commander casting Haste on himself. The man whipped his blade around and Cloud threw himself out of the way. The weapon licked up the side of Cloud's arm, sending a light spray of blood across two of the already downed troopers. His blood hissed on contact, creating a faint, green mist.
"Shit," Cloud growled under his breath as he dodged out of the way again. That damn Minerva had made his blood evaporate on contact or something. She just had to mess him up even more than he already was.
The gash and evaporating blood distracted him enough that when he dodged the next swing of the blade, he stumbled over the third body on the ground and had to stumble out of the way.
Cloud sprinted around the small clearing, cursing under his breath and mentally lamenting his own stupidity. He'd spent years and mission upon mission upon mission with Tifa, and not once had he asked for a little hand-to-hand combat training. Cloud could demolish whole buildings with a few flicks of a sword, but he didn't know how to punch properly. He'd probably break his hand trying to attack anyone even halfway competent. He always sliced his hands to ribbons whenever he tried to grab an opponent's sword in a fight and he certainly wasn't about to try that with his trigger-happy swordsman of an opponent.
Additionally, if he tried to kick anyone, he'd probably strain his tendons or ligaments or something. He didn't think he'd ever had his leg stretched that high. How the hell did Tifa do it? How would he kick a blade away without cutting his boots and feet off? And how would he stop the bullets he couldn't dodge? Punch them out of the way?
Cloud evaded another spray of bullets and fired off a Fire 3. The pillar of flames scorched the grass where the Avalanche commander used to be. Cloud wondered if he could somehow get up a tree to jump on the man without getting riddled with bullets.
Raisa wished she could get away with rolling her eyes at the collective military leaders of Wutai. The imperial guard didn't want anything to do with Strife, Dio, or his business venture. The five saints wanted to give Strife the go ahead with a few more rather ridiculous conditions. The captains, colonels, and sergeants were all divided. The ninja who guarded the pagoda with Lord Godo were remaining as silent as him.
Raisa just wished they'd all agree to it and have it done with. This Strife character was an interesting guy. He was probably the single worst thing to ever happen to Shinra Company, and yet he went off running trivial errands for Lady Yuffie like he didn't have a care in the world. She was a bit perplexed as to why Strife appeared to be keeping his identity as a terrorist secret from his business partner and from Shinra, but not from the ragtag group of weirdos that intelligence gathering said he took on his terrorizing missions. Who traveled with a talking cat wolf thing and a guy who wore pointy gold armor and a raggedy cape anyway?
Refocusing on the discussion, she realized Primus was in the midst of yet another rant about how Strife was clearly the best ally for taking on Shinra Company because not only did he blow up reactors, he ran around with flocks of chocobos just to throw people's suspicions off. Wutai intelligence still didn't know what Strife was planning with all those birds.
Raisa's eyes slid surreptitiously to Lady Yuffie. The young ninja couldn't seem to decide what expression to keep on her face. As she stared at the treasures Strife presented her, her face flickered quite rapidly between confusion, elation, and childish anger. Raisa fought back a sigh as she thought over the Lady Yuffie's "plan". It was utterly ludicrous and Raisa didn't think there was even the smallest chance Lord Godo would be fooled into it, but this was Lady Yuffie. Perhaps she would just pester her father to death to get what she wanted.
Her gaze moved back to the pagoda guardians. Shake looked like she was about ready to split to find a little fun. Staniv and Chekov were whispering to each other about who knew what, and Gorkii didn't even look like he was paying attention.
Gaia, this meeting was boring. They all knew Lord Godo had probably already made up his mind and that he just wanted to hear what everyone had to say. Even knowing that didn't make it any less boring for her.
The pagoda doors were thrown open with a loud crack, effectively shutting off all conversation. The villager who barged into the meeting shouted, "Avalanche is attacking Strife!"
The five saints were out the door in a flash with most of those from the regular armies. The imperial guard formed a protective circle around Lord Godo and his daughter. Raisa took up her position next to Lady Yuffie, readying her overly large shuriken in defense.
Without conversation to fill the air, Raisa could hear the gunshots from the direction of the village. The occasional boom heralded a spell. Raisa could only hope that neither Strife nor Avalanche was blowing up the village.
Then everything went silent. Raisa couldn't tell if that was a good thing. It could mean that the village was gone or that they'd just run far enough away in their fight to leave hearing range.
And then Secundus appeared at the door. "My Lord, you should see this."
The imperial guard relaxed a bit as the saint wouldn't invite their lord into danger. Raisa made sure to remain near Lady Yuffie even as the young ninja just about vibrated as she walked with impatience to run out and see what was going on before her father.
The knot of worry in Raisa's gut unwound a bit as they reached the village. Nothing seemed out of place, and the smoke hanging in the air seemed to be in the trees on the other side of the houses.
Raisa couldn't see more than hints of yellow hair and bits of a dull sweater through the crowds of Wutai troops. At least the villagers were hanging back.
Primus joined Lord Godo and the guards and whispered, "We got out here just in time to see Strife launch himself out of a tree and land on the last attacker's head."
They finally got close enough that the troops parted. Strife was sitting cross-legged on the ground, no sword, no gun, no weapon of any kind, blood covering his arm. Oddly enough, he looked kind of exasperated, even with those ridiculous goggles covering up his eyes.
Lord Godo stopped in front of the potential business partner terrorist, who looked up at him neutrally. Lord Godo said, "You can certainly take care of yourself."
Strife huffed what might have been a quiet laugh. "It would have been easier if I hadn't broken my sword."
Raisa's eyes found the useless hilt with its blade a good twenty feet away.
"We have a fine weapons dealer in the village."
Strife simply nodded, peering unconcernedly around at the now groaning Avalanche troopers.
"I'll sign your contract, Strife," Lord Godo said.
Strife only looked at Lord Godo in response.
"I'll sign if you agree to the additional stipulation that a Wutai operative is to remain with you or your subordinates at all times."
Strife asked, "Who do you want to send with me?"
"Me!" Lady Yuffie shrieked in her high-pitched, little girl voice.
Raisa expected it, but to hear Lady Yuffie screech it out like that was a teeny bit startling.
"You're not running around Gaia with some stranger, Yuffie," Lord Godo said with no small amount of exasperation.
"I will," Lady Yuffie countered. "Even if you don't let me go, I'll escape you and my guards and I'll follow him and he'll let me because I've agree to let him work for me finding treasure."
Lord Godo glared at his daughter for several moments then turned his gaze to Raisa. "Raisa Hazuki, you will accompany my daughter on this little excursion of hers and keep her safe."
"Yes, my lord," Raisa answered with a nod. She couldn't help but catch the slight smirk tugging at the corners of Strife's mouth. Raisa wasn't sure if she should be irked that Strife thought the whole situation was funny or not.
Cloud eyed Yuffie sideways, keeping half an ear on her chatter about Wutai supremacy the art of treasure stealing. The little girl was bound and determined to mold Cloud into the perfect treasure hunting assistant and figuring out all his secrets. She wasn't the best spy. Cloud would simply have to make sure Yuffie never ended up with a way to speak with anyone in Shinra Company that he didn't have control over, especially Zack or Sephiroth. One well thought out question and Yuffie would send Cloud's whole farce tumbling down around his ear.
Cloud reached over his shoulder and touched the hilt of his new Murasame sword. The thin blade was so light it rarely felt like it was actually there. He had to wonder if Sephiroth ever had problems with forgetting he had the thin bladed sword on him. He figured the Masamune would be long enough to weigh more than the Murasame, but Sephiroth was taller and therefore he weighed more so a heavier sword might go unnoticed for that man as the lighter sword went unnoticed for Cloud.
Brushing that ridiculous train of thought aside, Cloud eyed the brown-eyed, brown-haired Hazuki, wondering just how much of her role was meant to spy on him and how much was meant to protect Yuffie. The ninja looked a great deal like a grown Yuffie with different coloring and a slightly rounder face, but her temperament wasn't nearly as volatile.
"So, Strife," Hazuki started during a lull in Yuffie's rambling, "where exactly are we going?"
Cloud shrugged. "For now, we're meeting up with the others."
"Where?"
"The western continent."
"Where on the western continent?"
"Somewhere between Rocket Town, North Corel, and Costa del Sol."
"That's not very precise," Hazuki said, hints of sarcasm creeping into her voice.
"Where we meet them depends on how long it took them to run the errand I sent them on."
"What errand?"
Frowning, Cloud asked, "What does it matter?"
The woman huffed and said, "I need to know how it affects Lady Yuffie's safety."
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Cloud said, "If you look at it a certain way, it makes her safer." Cloud was markedly more efficient with his custom swords than any other weapon or weapon combination he could use.
"That's not very specific."
"Nope." Cloud figured he'd make sure this ninja bodyguard knew exactly how likely he was to answer questions he didn't feel like answering.
"Well, what about the people we're meeting?"
"What about them?"
"Who are they?"
One corner of Cloud's mouth quirked up. "Do you think you'll know them?"
Rather than answer, Hazuki huffed and glared at the horizon. They still had at least half a day before they reached the boat landing on the southern beach.
Cloud had a blessed thirty-two seconds of silence before Yuffie broke the silence.
"Why are you wearing those stupid goggles?" she demanded.
With a sigh, Cloud pulled them down so the goggles rested loosely around his neck.
"Liar!" Yuffie shrieked, promptly trying to kick Cloud's shin.
Cloud hopped out of the way, scowling.
"You work for Shinra, you lying thief," Yuffie continued.
"Why would I be working against Shinra," Cloud asked, "if I was working for them?"
Confusion twisted Yuffie's face and gave Cloud a chance to check the bodyguard's reaction. She just seemed wary, her expression a bit too hooded for Cloud to properly read.
"But your eyes are glowing," Yuffie pointed out, as though he hadn't known.
Unwilling to justify himself to a nine-year-old, even if the nine-year-old was a former friend, he started walking through the tall grass again.
Yuffie followed, no longer walking next to him, but behind him. Cloud made sure to keep his attention on her because he didn't want to lose all the materia he had. Mastered magic was not something that belonged in a child's possession.
Hazuki asked, "Were you one of their experiments?"
Cloud's frown deepened.
"Experiments?" Yuffie asked, actually sounding more wary than curious.
Fortunately, Hazuki took it upon herself to explain to the child. "Shinra Company experiments on people with mako to make them stronger soldiers. Not everyone they experiment on volunteers for the tests."
Yuffie was instantly at Cloud's side again. He surreptitiously checked his materia.
"So did they lock you in some secret medical lab and pump you full of evil, mutated mako then and that's why your eyes glow like that?"
Cloud couldn't help the small smile that crept across his face. Leave it to Yuffie to accurately guess what happened. Of course, he couldn't exactly tell her that. Zack and Shinra Company still thought he'd just woken up enhanced in the training yard. But Tseng knew the real story, and Cloud figured it would come back to bite him if he told Yuffie the lie and the Turk said something telling both ninja that there'd been something deeper going on.
He sighed, unable to figure out how to get around telling the ninja what happened. Eventually. Perhaps if he just told them as little as possible. So Cloud said, "Yeah. That's what happened."
Indignantly, Yuffie demanded, "What were you thinking between when I asked and when you said yes?"
Hoping it would shut the little girl up for a few minutes, Cloud said, "I was trying to decide whether or not to lie to you."
"So what?" Yuffie aimed another kick at his shin that Cloud dodged. "You just decided not to say anything?"
Cloud shook his head, one side of his mouth curling up slightly. "I decided not to lie."
"That's not telling me anything," Yuffie said, scowling as best as her little girl face could. With a shaken fist and an inarticulate roar that sounded remarkably like a shriek, Yuffie launched herself at Cloud with a flying kick.
Cloud sidestepped and snatched her by the ankle. She thrashed and squirmed so he dropped her on her head, where she collapsed with an indignant squawk. Hazuki seemed more shocked than anything else. The bodyguard stared slack-jawed at her charge. Cloud just shook his head and kept walking. They'd catch up with him eventually. The trip would certainly be interesting if Yuffie kept trying to attack him.
AN: Any and all random author's comments, disclaimers, and notes are on my profile page. If I get asked a question enough times, its answer is there too.