Redemption
A Final Fantasy 7/ Lord of the Rings crossover
By: Lazeralk
Standard disclaimers apply.
Once again, ("blah") denotes things said in Sindarin. 'Blah' is the Advents and Cloud sharing thoughts.
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Cloud considered himself to be fairly good at roughing it, after all, he'd been practically living on his bike for months at a time back home. This day after day on a horse thing however was decidedly rougher. Horses were not exactly smooth rides and the constant on and off to feed and water and rest them was more of a hassle than he was use to. He took good care of his bike, but it didn't need the constant attention that the horse did and Cloud wished more fervently for his bike than ever. He could cross these plains on Fenrir in a quarter of the time they were taking on these blasted animals.
'I want my bike back too Ni-san.' Whispered Loz, still a little uncertain of his welcome in Cloud's head, even after all this time together. Cloud flashed him a small smile in return, sending a warm hum of energy at the burly teen slightly behind and to the left of him. Loz beamed back and glanced at Yazoo for approval. He pouted and looked a little close to crying when Yazoo scowled fiercely at him. Cloud sighed.
They camped in the open that night, not daring to risk a fire in the dry and brittle grass. The horses, elven bred and raised, didn't need to be tethered. They grazed contentedly nearby after their tack had been removed, hooves seen to, and they'd been brushed down. Cloud was careful not to scan the open plains too overtly, mentally cautioning his brothers to be mindful of the glow their mako enhanced eyes cast in the darkness. Kadaj raised a hand to hip level and a single Lurker emerged from the shadows. He sat down on the ground and the massive beast laid down behind him, making a comfortable, if boney, back rest for the youngest of the advents. The twins eyed the Lurker a little warily but didn't comment and thankfully, Kadaj didn't seem to notice. The shadowy creature laid its head down on its clawed front feet and settled down to sleep in a decidedly canine sort of way.
"Well Ni-san? Do we get a new story tonight?" asked Kadaj lazily as they gazed up at the spectacular expanse of stars. Cloud studied them a long moment, an uncomfortable feeling churning in his stomach as he looked up at the stars. They were very beautiful, but there wasn't a single shape he recognized in them. He frowned, the full impact of the alien sky finally hitting him.
'We're on a different freaking planet.' He thought to himself, astonished. He was both a little frightened and angry at the thought.
'I know, couldn't you feel it Ni-san? There's no Lifestream here.' Said Kadaj in his head, watching the blonde closely.
Cloud sent him a curious look, ignoring the twins who were frowning at them all, eyes darting between the four seated SOLDIERS.
"It's rather rude to have conversations like that when we're standing here waiting for you to answer the question you know." Said Elrohir, arms crossed over his chest.
"Sorry, just an odd thought. I do want an answer though 'Daj." Said Cloud.
"You called me 'Daj!" squealed Kadaj, crawling across the space between them and practically throwing himself into Cloud's side, arms wrapped under his sword holster and around his slim waist.
"Kadaj." Said Cloud, a slightly annoyed manner. The youngest detached himself and then crawled back over to his previous spot.
"Kadaj." Said Cloud again, this time prompting with his tone.
"What?"
"How do you know this planet doesn't have a Lifestream?"
"We can feel it. Well, we could when we were back on Gaia anyway." Answered Kadaj, a slight crease to his brow betraying his confusion.
"It was sort of abrasive. I imagine it sort of felt like Geostigma to you. We carried so much of Mother in us that the Lifestream was constantly pushing against us." Said Yazoo, gazing up at the stars and pointedly not looking at anyone.
"We don't feel anything here." Said Loz, absently tearing bits of grass apart in his large hands.
"Pardon, but what is Lifestream?" asked Elrohir.
"And Geostigma?" added Elladan immediately after.
"Lifestream flows through our planet, dictating the cycles of life and death. The Lifestream is…energy I suppose, the very energy that can only be called 'Life'. When living things die they return to the Lifestream and when living things are born they come from the Lifestream. It is the energy and the…conscious of the Planet. It is a physical thing, powerful and everywhere. Our materia is actually crystallized Lifestream, which is usually more liquid in appearance." Explained Cloud patiently.
"Geostigma was our invitation to Reunion…" said Kadaj before Cloud cut him off.
"Geostigma is a painful affliction caused by the body's natural defense system trying to fight off a foreign infection." He said stiffly, glaring headedly at Kadaj and daring him to say anything else about it. Kadaj opened his mouth, a scathingly angry reply on the tip of his tongue, before he realized why his Nii-san was so upset. Talking about Geostigma could lead to talking about Mothe-Jenova, he must remember to call her Jenova, and that would lead to talking about Aniue and Ni-san didn't like to talk about Aniue. He bowed his head and looked away.
Cloud sighed and picked at the grass around his feet, eyes distant as they lapsed into silence. The twins shared a weighted look and turned to gauge each of their otherworldly charges. Cloud seemed to have withdrawn completely and was steadily destroying the grass in his immediate area. Kadaj scowled into the distance, head turned fully away from the blonde and Yazoo stared down at his hands, folded in his lap, looking absolutely disgusted with all of them. Loz was looking hopelessly between his brothers, on the verge of tears as he sniffed quietly.
"Once upon a time, there was a poor miller's wife who had one daughter. Her fondest wish was for her daughter to marry well so that she and her husband would be looked after when they were too old to work." Began Cloud, startling all of them. Kadaj's head whipped around to face him, excitement filling up his face as he seemed to forget all about his earlier disagreement with the blonde. The twins visibly relaxed, shooting sly smiles at each other as if to say they'd known all along that things would turn out alright.
"She was so determined in this that she let her tongue get carried away with her, and was soon making wild claims about her daughter's virtues to anyone who would listen. She claimed that her daughter was the most beautiful girl in all the land, which was not so unusual for a mother, since all mothers think the best of their children. But then she started to claim that her daughter had a most unusual and amazing talent, that she could spin ordinary straw into pure gold. These rumors soon reached the ear of the King, who was very greedy. He had the girl brought to him at once and set her in a room filled with straw and a spinning wheel. He told her that if she spun all the straw in the room into gold before the night was over, he would marry her, but if she didn't, he was have her killed for lying to him. Of course it didn't matter that the girl had never made any such claim, but the King didn't care. He locked her in the room and resolved to see her in the morning.
The girl, who, naturally, was terrified, started crying uncontrollably. Just then a strange voice called to her and said: 'Poor Miller's Daughter, why are you crying?' The girl looked up and there was a little man, not two feet tall looking up at her. 'I must spin all this straw into gold before morning or I shall be put to death and I haven't the slightest idea how!' she cried. 'Well,' said the little man, 'What will you give me if I spin it for you?' 'You may have my necklace if it pleases you.' She answered, and gave it to him. The little man took it and set to work at once. The girl watched in amazement as the little man spun the straw into gold with ease, just three turns of the wheel and the bobbin was full of gold thread. She watched for a long time until she fell asleep.
When morning came, all the straw was spun into gold and the little man was gone. The King returned and was astonished to find that the poor miller's daughter really could spin straw into gold. He praised the girl handsomely, but because he was very greedy, he led her into an even larger room full of straw and a spinning wheel. He gave her the same conditions as the first night and went away again. As soon as the door had closed she began to cry again, and at once the little man was back.
'Poor Miller's Daughter, why are you crying?' he said. 'Oh, I must spin all this straw into gold before morning or I shall be put to death and I don't know how! Won't you help me again?' said cried. 'And what will you give me if I spin it for you?' he asked. 'The ring from my finger if it pleases you.' She answered and gave it to him. The little man took the ring and set to work. Just the same as the night before, she fell asleep watching him work and when she woke all the straw had been spun into gold. The king returned and was very pleased, but his greed got the better of him and he led her yet another room, much larger than the first two and told her that if she could spin all the straw into gold before morning he would marry her, but if not, she would not be put to death, but rather would be spinning gold for him as a servant for the rest of her life. She began to cry at once and again, the little man appeared before her.
'Poor Miller's Daughter, why are you crying?' he said. 'Oh, I must spin all this straw into gold before morning, and if I do, the king will marry me and I want that very much. Will you help me again?' she asked. 'And what will you give me if I spin it for you?' said the little man. 'I have nothing left to give you.' She answered, for as a poor miller's daughter she had very little to begin with. 'Very well,' said the little man. 'I will spin the straw into gold for you, but you must consent to give me your first born child when you are queen.' He said. With very little option open to her she agreed and the little man set to work again, spinning the straw into gold. Once again she fell asleep watching him work and when she woke the room was full of gold and she was alone. The King married her the very next day and she was soon pregnant with her first child. By the time the child was born she'd forgotten all about her promise to the little man and was shocked to see him again when the child was just days old. 'You promised me your first born child if I spun a room full of straw into gold for you.' He said. 'I will take the child now.' She offered him all manner of treasures instead of her baby, but the little man refused them all. When she saw that she must give up her child, the girl, who was now Queen, began to cry. The little man took pity on her and said: 'I will give you three days, and if, by the end of them, you cannot tell me my name, I will take your child.' And with that he was gone. The Queen sent out messengers to every corner of the kingdom, making lists of all the names they could find. The little man returned at the end of each of the first two days and the Queen read off the all the names on the lists but to each and every one, the little man replied: 'That is not my name.'
On the third day, the Queen was very much distressed and walked about in the woods to calm herself and think of what names she could possibly be missing. As she walked she heard a strange sort of singing and spied upon the little man dancing around a fire with other little men.
'Today I do bake and tomorrow I brew,
For on this night the Queen's child comes in;
And oh! I am glad that nobody knew
That the name I am called is Rumplestiltskin!' he sang.
The Queen crept away quietly and raced back to the castle in joy. When the little man came that night she asked a few of the other names she'd thought up, silly things like Spindleshanks, until at last she said: 'Then if none of these are your name, then it must be Rumplestiltskin.' The little man flew into a rage and screamed and cursed the Queen before he disappeared forever. They lived happily ever after, the end."
The camp was quiet for several long moments and Cloud shifted nervously in the silence. Had his story been bad? They had seemed to enjoy the changeling story, which was just a children's story, same as Rumplestiltskin.
"What happened to the little man after that Ni-san?" asked Kadaj, eyes wide and curious.
"Uh, I don't know. I've never heard anything past that. I don't think anyone has." Said Cloud, shooting his youngest brother a thoughtful look.
'Didn't you hear these stories growing up? They're really common everywhere, not just in Nebleheim.' He sent over their shared mind link. Surprisingly, it was Yazoo who answered him.
"We grew up in the labs. We never heard any kind of silly story like that when we were kids. All we heard stories about how much better Sephiroth did in whatever twisted experiment they were doing on us at the time."
Cloud tensed and said nothing, feeling guilty for bringing up such an obviously painful subject for his harshest critic. Loz put his hand on Yazoo's shoulder and gazed at him sadly.
"We didn't get any silly stories when we were little, so you have to tell us all of them Ni-san, ok?" said Loz, a desperate kind of smile on his face as he fought back tears.
"Of course." Said Cloud quietly, studiously not looking at any of them. He was shocked that they had had such a harsh childhood, and then surprised that he was shocked. It really made sense, in a sick sort of way, that of course, the remains of the Shin-Ra science department wouldn't let them grow up normally. A strange sort of anger boiled inside him the more he thought about it. He was angry that they had to live like that, and knew something of how it must have been, having spent five years under Hojo's tender mercies himself. He jerked another handful of grass out of the ground, scowling. At least he'd had some semblance of a normal childhood before it all went to hell though, he'd had bed-time stories and a mother who indulged him and all sorts of things he never even thought about because, didn't everyone have them too? Clearly not these three, four if he wanted to count Sephiroth. He was certain that Sephiroth's childhood must have been just as bad now that he thought about it.
He glanced up at them and resolved himself to fix as much of that as he could. He'd tell them all the children's stories he knew and when he had the chance he'd do all the things he could think of that his mother use to do for him. It wasn't right that they'd never heard a fairy tale before. Cloud set his jaw and nodded to himself, decision made. He'd give them as much as he could, and maybe, it would help a little.
0o0o0
End Ch.13
AN: Ok, I know I haven't updated in forever, and I'm sorry! This story is just so fickle with its inspiration. Ah well, I won't give up! Promise! I really appreciate everyone who has reviewed! It really helps with that inspiration thing, hint hint, wink wink! So, the next few chapters will be filler mostly I think, more Grimm's Fairy Tales and brotherly bonding ahead until they reach Edoras. Tally Ho!
-Laz