Cloud shifted nervously from foot to foot, as were most of the other cadets in the room. They had been separated according to which level of SOLDIER they were trying out for. The other six in the room with him were trying out for 1st Class, and they were to be the last ones to do the physical test. There were almost fourteen of them originally, but the others hadn't passed the written exam.
Cloud rubbed the lightly healed wounds that were on his arms, and sighed as he forced himself to sit cross-legged on the floor. Jaz was with Sephiroth currently, in the observation booth, and even though she had been obviously pissed that she couldn't be with him, she had gone along with his General quietly enough. Running a finger over a wound slowly, he frowned. They were pale pink scars, and he knew that if Sephiroth hadn't gotten special permission to heal him with materia, then he wouldn't be taking the test today. He looked up as the door opened, and a wide grin split his face as 130 pounds of wolf came barreling towards him, knocking him over backwards and licking his face enthusiastically. He finally managed to get her to calm down, laughing and more relaxed, which he was sure was the intent. Smiling, Jaz lay her head in his lap, her tail still going a mile a minute as Sephiroth walked over to him, kneeling by his side. They both ignored the dark looks they were getting from his fellow roommates.
"She was going crazy up there with me," the General explained, reaching out a hand and beginning to stroke the wolf. Cloud snorted, and smiled at his lover.
"Thank you," he said quietly, his heart flipping in pleasure as Sephiroth smiled back.
"I just want you to know…" the General began, before Cloud raised his free hand and pressed it to his lips with a scowl.
"If you're going to tell me something about the test, then I don't want to hear about it," he said firmly, trying not to smile when Sephiroth's lips twitched under his fingers. He removed his fingers, watching the General curiously, but he only shook his head.
"I was going to, but now I'm only going to say good luck, and I love you," he said with amusement, causing Cloud to blush and grin hugely at the same time. Ignoring the others in the room, he leaned forward and kissed his lover passionately, earning a soft noise of pleasure in return. It was Sephiroth who pulled away first, standing and whistling. Jaz obediently rose and went to his side, her tail between her legs as she whined at Cloud. Trying to get his bearings back, because Sephiroth was always good at making him forget what he was doing, he blinked wide blue eyes up at his lover.
"Get ready cadets," Sephiroth said loudly, and everyone snapped to attention. Rolling his head, Cloud got to his feet, feeling an icy calm surround him as he rubbed his palms on his pants. He met the cool green eyes, which watched him with approval.
"Ready, General Sir," he said, saluting. With a nod, Sephiroth led them all out of the room.
He knew it was only a simulation, but the bone and flesh he sliced through with his sword felt very real to him. Cloud was able to shove down the nausea seeing the blood and intestines with a trick he learned from Genesis, clearing his mind of everything but what was around him. He cautiously crept through the underbrush, recognizing the area as something from Wutai. They had even gotten the moist, hot air right of the tropical rain forest in the center of the island. He stopped suddenly, every sense on alert as the dead leaves crackled somewhere to his left. Crouching down, he didn't even blink as the noises stealthily circled him, and with instinct honed by Angeal, who just happened to be extremely stealthy, he shot his arm out behind him, closing his eyes at the gurgle from a ruined throat. Drawing his blade from the animal, he glanced over his shoulder to see the large wild boar fall to the ground, blood pouring from its ruined throat. Standing, he moved on. The object of this mission was to find the camp of rebels, and destroy them.
He knew he was getting close when the smell of urine and feces reached his nose, not buried in the dirt like it was supposed to be. Smiling slightly to himself, he crept up to a tree, and glanced behind it towards the camp. Nodding absently to himself at the small circle of tents, people moving back and forth between them, and the white wolf that was lying by the fire in the middle, he was getting ready to climb the tree for an aerial attack, when he stopped cold. He looked back behind the tree slowly, his eyes glued to the small white figure by the fire.
No… he thought, mind going numb, and the coldness that Genesis had so painstakingly helped him learn, began to melt away on a tide of white hot anger. The only thing that was keeping him pinned to the spot, was his brain telling him that it wasn't real, that it wasn't his wolf lying there dead.
Jaz is with Sephiroth, he kept repeating to himself, this isn't real. The pictures of Jaz bloody and unconscious on the ground kept going through his brain, and he found himself rubbing the scars on his arms without thinking. What was his undoing, and what made his mind go blank with ice cold anger, was when one of the men walked up, and stabbed a hunting knife through the animal's neck. He walked boldly out from around the tree, lips peeled back in a snarl as he raised his weapon. He didn't care that he had fought and bled to be able to control this dangerous anger inside him, because he knew what happened when it was released.
It was happening now.
Heads were separated from bodies, limbs fell to the ground still twitching while the former owner screamed. Blood coated him from head to foot by the time he was done, having slaughtered every single person in camp, regardless of whether is was a man, woman, or child. He knelt by the prone form of the wolf, and his snarl deepened, the one mako injection he already had making his eyes burn. He looked up to the sky, his hands clenching into fists.
"Sephiroth! Get your ass in here now!" he screamed, his voice hoarse and deep. He lowered his head again, putting a hand on the ridiculously soft fur of the white wolf, waiting for his lover to join him. He felt a ripple, which meant someone had joined the simulation, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sephiroth entering the circle of tents. With a vicious growl, he launched himself at his lover, their blades ringing as Sephiroth barely got Masamune around in time.
"Was it your fucking idea, my love?" Cloud asked venomously, bringing his sword around in an underhanded swing that was meant to slice the person in two. Except for a moment of surprise in the green cat eyes, he was cold, the General that everyone knew.
"I had the operator put in a likeness of Jaz, yes," he said calmly, having to utilize his skills against Cloud, in a way he never had to before against someone who wasn't a SOLDIER. He had been warned from the blond about his anger, and the reasons why Cloud was so adamant about learning how to control it. Sephiroth knew that he had almost killed a man back in his hometown, when the man dared to try and lay a hand on Cloud's mother. Even he could admit, seeing the wild look in his lover's eyes was a scary, yet interesting thing. Cloud had a temper, he knew that, but it was usually a superficial thing. Cloud rarely stayed mad at anyone for a long time, preferring to take the Zack route, and just laugh things off. This Cloud though… this Cloud was scary. His eyes were burning so hotly with his anger, that they were cold.
Cloud snarled, coming at him with a series of thrusts and slices, and he was able to block all but one. He looked down at his forearm, where the shallow cut was already beginning to heal, and then back at Cloud. He reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out his phone, hitting the end button to the simulation. The trees and mugginess wavered around them before disappearing, and as soon as they were back in the training room, Cloud growled and threw his sword down at Sephiroth feet, walking past him and out the door without a word. Sephiroth slowly sheathed his sword, hearing a whistle from the hallway, and the happy whining of the wolf as she joined her master. He was still standing there when Lazard, Genesis, and Angeal walked into the training room.
"I would say he passed, wouldn't you?" Genesis said with a smirk, walking over and looking at the thin white scar on his arm. Nodding absently, he was stopped when he reached the door. He looked down, and then at the blond Lazard with a raised eyebrow who had grabbed his arm.
"Why did you put in the simulation of the wolf?" he asked curiously, letting go of the General when he growled softly.
"I wanted to see if he could control the anger, when something he loved was in danger, or dead," Sephiroth muttered, and left before any of them could say a word in return.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Cloud was still terribly angry when he went down to the training yard, throwing the hard rubber ball down the field for Jaz with all his might. He couldn't believe that his lover would do such a thing to him. Even though, he thought as he smiled grimly, Jaz bringing the ball back with a waving, fluffy tail, I know I passed because of it. I probably passed with flying fucking colors.
He cocked his arm back again, when something hard and sharp caught him between the shoulder blades. His arm stopped the movement, as the blue in his eyes blazed to life again. He lowered his arm as Jaz began to growl deeply, her ears flat against her head and her hackles raised. He looked over his shoulder, even though he didn't need to. He knew who was walking up on him.
"Well now," the green eyed man from before said cockily, causing Cloud to turn slowly, his hand clenching around the ball in his hand. "Aren't you just a glutton for punishment. Back for more already?"
"I suggest you leave. Now," he said quietly, making the boy stop for a moment, his eyes lighting with apprehension, before the arrogance returned. He snickered, the other four following suit, and then pulled out the same switchblade from before. Cloud began to growl softly when knives appeared in all four hands.
"If you want to fight again, that's fine with me," Cloud said quietly, his mind going deathly calm as he readied himself. He was more then happy to go against these guys again, but he knew that with his mind state currently, he ran a high possibility of killing the fools. "Wait until tomorrow." The leader laughed again, nudging the other boy on his right hand side.
"You hear that? He wants us to wait until tomorrow." He turned back to Cloud, smirking. "Why? So you can make sure not to have your pet with you? You got lucky the other day. She is going to die, just like you are." An image of the wolf from the simulation crossed his mind, and something snapped inside him. Jaz was the most precious thing to him, second only to Sephiroth himself. Not only had these fools tried to kill him and her once, they were about to try again. He refused to let that happen – and they would be the perfect outlets for his current rage.
With a ferocious growl he moved in a blur, catching the leader with a fist to his throat, and not waiting for him to fall to the ground as he pivoted, and caught another in the face with his boot. With another kick, and two punches, they were all on the ground, and he found himself with his hands around the leader's throat, kneeling on his chest to apply pressure to his lungs. He savored the fear in the muddy green eyes as he tried futilely to bat away Cloud's hands.
"You're going to kill us both? Don't make me laugh," Cloud hissed, smirking evilly. "How does it feel to be the one about to die, hmm? How does it feel to watch your life slip before your eyes, knowing that you'll never experience anything else?" He blinked once in surprise when thickly muscled arms wrapped around his upper body, forcefully pulling him off the man.
"No! Let me the fuck down!" he screamed, and began to fight with all his might, struggling against the iron bands of flesh that were encasing him. Satisfaction filled him when the man holding him grunted, only to be replaced with panic when he heard a loud yelp. He looked around wildly, and saw Sephiroth holding Jaz, who very clearly was trying to get to him.
"Jaz! No you asshole! Let her down!" he howled, and she echoed him, both of them renewing their efforts to be free. Sephiroth and the man holding him began to curse fluently as feet and teeth began to connect. All Cloud felt was anger, and the panic of a trapped wild animal. Howling again, he renewed his efforts, not caring that he was tearing open the sensitive skin of his newly healed wounds, his body becoming slick with his blood. Panting, he kicked as hard as he could, and with a grunt, the arms slipped enough for him to struggle free. He fell to the ground on his hands and knees. Scrambling up, he rushed Sephiroth, cocking his fist back and punching him as hard as he could. Sephiroth rocked backwards in surprise, and Cloud grabbed Jaz as she fell from his arms. They both crouched down on the ground, glaring and snarling at those surrounding them. Angeal had been the one who had grabbed Cloud, and along with him and Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack were also there, watching Cloud and Jaz both with wide eyes. Cloud slowly rose to his feet, as Jaz continued to growl at them all.
"Fuck you all," he hissed, and turned on his heel, Jaz following obediently. As they walked passed the groaning men on the ground, he kicked the leader as hard as he could in the head, and continued on his way.
"We came to tell you that you passed!" Genesis yelled, his aquamarine eyes filled with worry and amusement. "You're a 1st!" Cloud didn't even look back.
"I know," he said, and then the two of them disappeared out of the yard. Sephiroth watched them go, sighing as he rubbed his cheek.
"I warned you about his anger, Seph," Genesis said quietly, earning him a shocked look from Angeal and Zack. Neither one of them had known, but then again, neither one of them had the anger issues that Cloud and Genesis did. Genesis had learned at an early age to control his true anger, because if he hadn't, he would have killed people for just looking at him. He had imparted that iron control to Cloud, but they both had the same trigger. See someone they love get hurt, or killed, and that was the end of that control. Sephiroth nodded and sighed again, his eyes thoughtful.
"I needed to know if he could control it under extreme circumstances," he said, his eyes still watching the spot where Cloud disappeared. Zack whistled, causing everyone to look at him. They frowned when they saw he was amused.
"You tread a dangerous line with him, Sephiroth," he said with a chuckle. "You know he'll never forgive you for this." A calculating, yet sensual look entered the emerald cat eyes, as a small, anticipatory smile took over his face.
"I have confidence that I can find a way for him to forgive me."