Wow, sorry this took so long, but I was a little stuck. Anyways, thanks to all reviewers! It is the longest chapter yet though, 3377 words *YAY*
Hope everyone enjoys chapter Nineteen, Red Crayons.
Zack yawned, his eyes opening to a gray sky, the sun just beginning to rise. Outside, three celestial doves soared across the sky, singing softly, announcing the birth of a new sun. He lay
there for a moment, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the bed he slept in, appreciating the fact that for once, his friends were safe and at peace. The world, as Zack saw it, was at that
moment, perfect. A place of serenity and peace where no danger could befall them. A sanctuary.
Though only for that moment.
What awaited them on their journey, Zack knew, was surely unpleasant, for the world, though peaceful as it seemed in these first waking moments of dawn, was a cold and cruel place.
He was disturbed by a pitiful growl. He looked down at his stomach, who had just then spoken, quite loudly, reminding him that he'd not eaten in several days. Reluctantly, he left the
warmth of his bed, seeing Cloud was still sleeping peacefully, and Flint, snoring, was sprawled across the bed beside him, his sheets carelessly thrown on top of him. Not eager to see the
most likely hung-over Flint when he awoke from his nap, he decided to take a walk. He found a pen and paper and scrawled a quick note, leaving it on the counter and walking out the
door, locking it behind him.
The morning was a brisk one, and with every breath, cold air filled his lungs and stung his nose, giving him a refreshed feeling. He hadn't slept in a warm bed in a long time, nor had he
bathed properly, so he felt happy and comfortable, despite the circumstances. Zack looked around at the buildings, for the most part constructed of stone, timber and logs. Smoke floated
lazily from each chimney, drifting up into the sky and vanishing. He could hear the birds as they began to wake up, hidden in the many bare tree branches. It surprised Zack how many
trees there were here. He'd always thought of Corel as a desert town because of all the dust, and the intense heat of the summers. Not many trees existed on Gaia so far from the
forests, and it surprised him that they managed to survive here without a well or a source of food. Speaking of food... Zack thought, the hunger now gnawing more insistently at his
stomach. I haven't eaten for days. He thought, apologizing to his neglected stomach. He scanned the row of buildings, searching for the general store. Every town has a General Store. And
then he saw it, bathed in golden light. (Well, in his mind it was) On the far corner of one street, sat a small shop. Zack made his way over, his stomach grumbling loudly.
Zack looked up at the sign as he approached, reading, ENLARGER TOES.
There was a slight jingle when Zack opened the door, feeling a wave of heat hit him when he entered. It was much larger than the inn's lobby, but still small. There were six rows of
sorted non-perishable foods and energy supplements, a rack of hunting weapons and cheap swords, and a large assortment of travelling cloaks, back packs, saddlebags and clothing
items.
In the far corner, there was a shelf sporting assorted tack for Chocobos, and goggles. He walked up to the counter, where an old man sat, smoking a cigar. "Don't even tink about askin'
'bout the name. When yas heards it once, yas heards it a million times. It ain't funny no mores."
He said, spit flying from the gaping hole between his two front teeth.
"Why? Who did it?" Zack asked as he scanned the shelves, picking out various soft foods and soup mixes for Cloud and smoked meats and canned foods for himself and Flint.
He also picked out three black travelling cloaks, as most of their own clothes had been torn or ripped, letting the cold winter's air through the holes.
These would prove an easy disguise, and good protection against the cold winter winds.
He also added three pairs of goggles to his pile, just in case they met any more snow on their way. "Well, we geths all our shipmenthses from them Wutaians. Every time, Lord Godo
thends his little girl along, I thuppose she'th got nuttin elthe to do. They thtay here for abouts and hour or two, and she cauthes the motht naughtietht mischief." He exclaimed, emitting
an rather large spray of spit.
"Once, she took all me materia and fed it to a Moogle. Last month, she changed all th' shampoos with a Chocobo feather growth concoction, an' Just last week, she changed all me letterth
to say Enlarger Toeth."
Zack chuckled. "Wow, that kid's good-"
He stopped when he saw the look the man was giving him.
"She'th the devil. I thwares, the devil in dithguise!" Zack raised an eyebrow, leaving some gil on the counter. "Uh huh. I'm just gonna leave now." He said, slowly backing away. The old
man smiled a gape-toothed smile,
"Have a nithe day!"
The satchel of Gil he'd brought with him had emptied out from their last purchase, and was hanging limply on his belt. I hope we've got enough food to last us. He thought. After returning his
purchases to the inn room, he went back outside to finish his walk. He'd only been to North Corel once briefly, and that had been as a child, helping his father on a delivery. And so, with a
childish air of adventure, he decided to take a look around and explore.
After about half an hour of walking, he heard someone shouting a few houses down, and then the smash of glass. Curious as to who would be disturbing such a peaceful morning, he
wandered through the streets, empty in the cold dawn light until he found the house. He slunk up to the window, curiosity tugging him, and listened.
A voice of authority was speaking to what sounded like a group of people, mumbling quietly amongst themselves. "What are we going to do? The only one against this is Dyne."
"I am definitely against it, no matter what, there's nothing to talk about if you're thinking of throwing away out coal!" another man said, his voice shaking in anger.
Zack waited in the garden, feeling a little foolish for being so nosy as they continued to talk.
He then heard a deeper voice talk, his language loose but authoritative as well. "But listen Dyne. No one uses coal nowadays; it's a sign of the times."
Zack jumped when he heard this next voice. "Right, everything is Mako now."
What the hell? Scarlet? "I apologize if you are surprised by our proposal, but sooner or later, you will not be able to rely on coal. Mako will be the only way of making life sustainable here."
As carefully as he could, he peered over the windowsill. In the room, stood a group of adults. A burly dark-skinned man stood, (Zack guessed he'd been the deeper voice) his arms folded.
He was watching Scarlet and the two SOLDIERs beside her with dislike in his eyes. Beside where he stood, on the couch, was the man, Dyne, his head in his hands as the dark skinned
man and an older man were trying to persuade him. A broken glass lay at his feet, the amber tinge of spilt liquor flickering in the firelight. Zack froze as the burly man's eyes lock on his for
a minute, narrow somewhat suspiciously, and flit back to Scarlet as she addressed him. Zack went away from the window, sprinting down the street towards the inn.
Shit.
He crept up the inn stairs, walking up to his door and nearly stepping on the breakfast tray. He eyed it hungrily- a loaf of fresh bread, three hard-boiled eggs, and a hot pot of coffee with
three porcelain mugs. He picked it up, opening the door and closing it quietly behind him. The room was still dark, and warm, Flint was snoring loudly and Cloud's blankets were moving up
and down with every breath.
Just as he'd left them. He set it on the wooden table in the middle of the room and went over to check on Cloud. "Morning Spike." Zack said, opening the curtains
to let in the sun that was now streaming into the room. The sky had cleared somewhat and was now a dusty blue, the sun a hazy yellow in the fog.
"Mmph." Flint grunted, rolling off the bed and landing with a thud on the floor.
"Just because you're awake now, doesn't mean the rest of us are." He groaned, untangling himself from the sheets and mumbling something about being woken up at this ungodly hour.
"There's coffee on the table."
Zack said, catching Flint's attention, who immediately went over to the table, dragging his blankets with him. He gently shook Cloud's shoulder "Mmm." Cloud mumbled.
Zack put some pillows on the headboard, pulling Cloud into a sitting position so he was leaning back against them. Cloud's eyelids were twitching, his face wore a frown of concentration.
"You still asleep Cloud?" Zack asked, watching Cloud's eyes.
Cloud let out a frustrated moan.
"You want to open your eyes?"
Zack carefully put two fingers on Cloud's eyelids, lifting them gently, startled when he saw the florescent green iris, swirling with cloudy blue.
Cloud's eyes were motionless. They didn't move towards him when they opened, resting half-lidded, but just stared ahead of him, dead.
"There, now you can see buddy." Zack said, ruffling his friend's hair. "So, you hungry ?" Zack asked, heading over to the small stove and putting some water on to boil. "There it'll be ready
in a bit." he said, surprised when Cloud made soft chewing motions with his lips. "You must be really hungry."
"Muh." He responded.
After he'd fed Cloud, a full bowl of soup he'd eaten in ravenous haste, he quickly dressed him in his old clothes, and put him on a chair by the window where he spent his time staring
blankly at the wall. Glancing at Cloud, he poured himself a cup of coffee and sat with Flint at the table, who'd wrapped himself in a woolly blanket. He was sipping at his coffee, his eyes
trained on Cloud who sat in silence, his eyes fixed on the wall.
Zack smiled at the blonde, and the corner of his mouth twitched, as if trying to smile back. "Z-Z." Cloud muttered.
Zack saw a ghost of a smile appear on Flint's lips.
He reached into the confines of his blanket, pulling out his old weathered map.
"We should probably leave as soon as we can." He said, flattening the map against the hard wood surface.
"Our next stop is Costa Del Sol. By Chocobo it'll take two and a half days. From there, we'll catch a boat to the port closest to Midgar."
Zack nodded, somewhat distracted. "What is it?" Flint asked, turning to follow Zack's line of vision. He found himself looking out the window where he saw two men wearing SOLDIER
uniforms, talking to a burly dark-skinned man and a lady in a red dress and fur coat. Zack quickly closed the curtains, watching as the SOLDIERs headed for the inn. "Aw shit." "What?"
Flint asked, standing abruptly. "I took a walk this morning and I heard some people talking in raised voices. That guy that looks like Mr. T out there saw me when I was looking through
the window, and I think he just ratted us out." Flint put a hand on his forehead. "Zack, why do you always poke you nose where it doen't belong?" he sighed, looking towards the
window. "We'll make a scene if we kill them here, then all of Corel will be in chaos, and word will get out that we're here, and Hojo and the president will send people after us." Flint said
thoughtfully. Zack pulled the travelling cloaks and goggles from the pile. "We'll have to disguise ourselves and slip out the door." He said, as he put his own on, and then helped Cloud
with his, pulling up the hood and pulling the goggles over his eyes, and then his own. "Goggles?" Flint asked, holding up the third pair. "Our eyes are infused with Mako." Zack said, "If
one of those guys sees, they'll know." Flint nodded, strapping them to his face. Zack picked up Cloud, slinging an arm around his shoulder so he appeared to be walking. "Sorry Cloud, but
carrying you would be too obvious."
"Mmm."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
The three travelers made their way downstairs in rather strange attire. Must be heading for Nibelheim. They won't need goggles out here. No snow. The innkeeper thought, watching as two
of them made their way towards the door, one slumped against the other and the other following behind. The strangers nearly knocked into three customers that entered the inn at the
same time, two SOLDIERs, and a rather pretty lady wearing a red dress and a ridiculous fur coat, but hurriedly pushed past, making their way to the Chocobo stables. "How rude. The
woman said, flipping her mink scarf over her shoulders. "And what were they wearing? Goggles? In a dusty old place like this? Ab-surd." She said in a rather lavish tone. "Absolutely no
common sense these days." She said, looking at the men who shifted awkwardly. "Kya-ha-ha!" she laughed horsily, drawing an odd look from the innkeeper.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When they entered the stables, the man who Zack claimed to 'Look like Mr T.' Was waiting for them. "Hey punk, what was you doin' at the window?"
he asked, his arms folded.
"Wait a minute- didn't you just tell Scarlet and those two SOLDIERs--"
"Tell 'em what?"
Oh shit.
"Um-" Zack paused.
"If you three are runnin' away from those creeps, go ahead, I don' care. We'd run away too, if that damned Shinra wouldn't follow us everywhere, tryin' to install a Mako reactor to replace
coal. This is a minin' town for fuck's sake, not made for that damn pollution Shinra is tryin' to shove on all of us."
The man said, leaning against the doorframe.
Zack took off his goggles and pulled back his hood, leaving them to hang around his neck.
"So kid, why're you runnin'?"
Zack smiled, "Shinra thinks we stole something of theirs I suppose."
He said, hoisting Cloud as he started to slip.
"So didja steal it?"
Zack shrugged, "Wasn't theirs to begin with."
arret turned his attention towards Cloud, whose hood had slipped off, his goggles hanging loosely around his neck. "What's up wit' him?" Zack pulled Cloud's hood back up.
"Sick. Mako poisoning or something worse." He said, hoisting him onto Fenrir who Flint had saddled, and making sure his face was covered.
He hopped on behind, taking the reins. The man looked into Zack's mako infused eyes.
"You SOLDIER?" he asked suspiciously.
"I might've been once." He answered. "What's your name by the way?"
The man smirked slightly, moving away from the doorframe to let them pass. "Barret. Barret Wallace." Zack smiled his genuine smile.
"Zack Fair, and this is Cloud." He said, gesturing to the spiky-haired blonde.
"Where ya headed?" Barret asked.
"A friend of ours."
"Hm. Well, I'll do ma best to keep those damned Shinra bastards off your tail." Zack nodded his thanks, giving Barret a smile and a wave before he left the stable, pulling up his hood.
Flint followed behind on Fifer who was exchanging excited warks with Fenrir.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Barret watched as the three travelers went out of sight, a cloud of dust following in their wake.
He thought about blonde-haired boy who Zack had been supporting. "Cloud..." He frowned, the name seeming to bring up a long lost memory.
He was sitting in the Seventh Heaven, a newly opened bar belonging to the Lockharts, just a small girl, around the age of eight or nine, and her father. They had been evacuated from Nibelheim
with everyone else after a massive snowstorm had hit, and had made it dangerous to live there anymore until it passed.
Mr. Lockhart had set up the bar to help pay for the hospitality Midgar provided to Nibelheim's occupants, and it had proved to be a great business, the most popular bar in Midgar.
Barret was a regular there, as he was in Midgar on a year-long business escapade to help rebuild a part of the plate, and the slum houses that it had fallen on.
He worked for a small building business that handled the repairs that the insurance company wouldn't cover.
It was difficult but rewarding work, and as a bonus, the Lockharts supplied him and his crew with free drinks- and what he liked best, good company.
Barret, despite his tough appearance, had a soft spot for children, and treated Tifa like one of his own, and her father appreciated it, as he was being run ragged from the bar work, and
sometimes needed some time to himself.
Small hands pushed a glass across the recently polished counter. "Thanks Teefy." Barret said, taking a long drink of the foamy ale, and smiling as two
brown eyes watched him from behind the counter. "How is it?" she asked in anticipation. "It tastes even better than yesterday." Tifa's face broke into a smile. "Good. I poured it myself!"
Unlike the other bars throughout Midgar, the Seventh Heaven was clean and smoke-free, and Tifa made sure it was kept that way.
Tifa herself had drawn a large sign, bearing the words: nO SmokInG in red crayon and taped it to the front of the window for all to see, and frequently swept the bar, making sure it was properly
cared for while her father tended to its patrons.
"So Barret, how's the work going?"
Barret but down his drink. "Well, it's going pretty good. We've cleared all the rubble, and for the next few months we're going to finish building the houses. What about you Tifa? What's
up?" Tifa's eyes lit up. "Well, me and my friends went adventuring yesterday, and we found a big deserted church- but the doors were locked, and we couldn't get in." She said, somewhat
disappointed. "But there was a big window, so one of the boys, the quiet one climbed up to it, but it was really high, and then he slipped and fell. He got hurt, and now he can't come and play until
he's feeling better."
She said, looking down. "Now I really feel bad." She said, scraping her feet on the floor.
"Well, maybe you could make him a get well card." He suggested. Tifa lit up, "I'll get my crayons!"
Moments later, Tifa and Barret were sitting at a booth, paper and crayons at the ready. Tifa folded a piece of paper in half, scrawling Get well soon in big rainbow letters on the front. She then
opened it up and drew two stick people, one with spiky yellow hair, the other with long reddish brown. They both had large smiles on their faces, and the boy was holding a sword that was almost
twice as big as him. Barret raised an eyebrow. "Tifa, your friend doesn't have a sword does he?" Tifa shook her head, "No, but he wants one so he can slay those big bad monsters on the plains, so
maybe if I draw him with one, he'll feel better and he can come play." She said hopefully. She went back to the card, writing TO: on the front, and then a big C. She paused, sticking out her tongue
in concentration- "Um- Barret, I can't spell his name."
"Okay, I'll write it for you then, what is it?" Barret asked, taking a light blue crayon and holding it over the paper.
"Cloud."
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I don't really like it, and it was a pain in the ass to write, but it's done and I can move on. I don't know if I'm gonna put any more Barret into the story, but maybe. I'm gonna try and put most of the FFVII characters in if I can, I've done Yuffie, Tifa and Barret, and I've got some more ideas...
Anyways, thanks for reading, sorry if I made any mistakes, it's one in the morning and I edited it really carelessly.
Bye :) Lucifer
PS If anyone has any requests for characters, post them, and I'll try to put them in the story.