AN1: Yes, this is another chapter. I couldn't wait to write it… heh.

Note the 'Arc' that comes before the chapter. So far there are slated to be six before the story ends, and should be around ten chapters each. Not sure how all that will work out, and some may get blended into a single arc or split into multiples.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy… This chapter is watery…

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Reviewers: Please note that I am open to ANY FORM of review! Criticism is highly appreciated. Cookies and cake are… accepted.

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First ARC

Wings of Calamity

Chapter One

It Just Needs Some Polishing

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A blazing morning sun sat almost a quarter of the way up into the sky. It was just nearly ten o'clock when a small and strange group of people arrived back at Allovoros's largest and most expensive inn 'The Desert Lady'. A small dirty blonde kid in blue ragged clothing stood next to the silver haired noble that was leading a black Chocobo around. Like another one of the sacks atop the chocobo's back and apparently unconscious lay a fire haired fox boy dressed in equally tattered, but red clothing.

The inn stood three stories tall and was made entirely of finely carved wood. Posts in the shapes of scantily clad women held aloft the front balcony. Unlike most of even the city's richest people could afford, there were glass windows, and real dark stained wooden doors.

At the front door a woman and man stood as greeters to their finely paying guests. As the small group approached the female greeter dressed in golden silk with darkened skin, and hair like the night sky stepped forward with a smile.

"My Lord Crescent you have returned already. And you brought…" The woman trailed off as she took note of the small blonde child walking beside him. His new lord, if the feeling Sephiroth held was correct. "I'm sorry my lord, but the urchins will have to-," she began again but was cut off.

"Watch your tongue woman, and have someone stable my Chocobo in the back." Sephiroth stated through a darkened and very frightening complexion. She may have thought she was rather good, but he had noted the look of disgust that flitted across the woman's face before that false smile was back upon her lips.

A single hand deftly reached back and grabbed the butt of the kitsune's trousers lifting him with ease from his perch. The boy's hair, arms, and legs drug on the ground as he stepped forward past the woman and into the inn.

"Wait! You're dragging him!" His soon to be lord stated. Sephiroth stopped and closed his eyes while fighting back a sigh. His next action was not going to be pleasant, and its reason was one of their purposes for coming back to this inn in the first place.

"Understood," Sephiroth replied as he reoriented the kitsune and tossed him over his shoulder like a sack. With closer proximity, his nose wrinkled in disgust, the smell was absolutely horrendous. Yes… their main reason for coming here was to get his new lord and his new lord's, 'brother' into a bath to clean themselves up. While they were here he was going to have to get something to change them into besides those horrible rags they wore as well.

Personally, he would rather have left the kitsune behind, but the blonde boy would have none of it. While the future Lord Strife had asked for an explanation Sephiroth had managed to put that off until later in the day… when the boy was cleaned and dressed in a way that befit his soon to be station.

His soon to be lord had stated that the fox boy was his 'brother'. While the statement seemed genuine enough it was entirely preposterous. The soon to be Lord Strife was a pure blood wingly, and the fox APPEARED to be a pure blood as well. He had heard of bonds such as this, but without any form of siblings or even real parents, Sephiroth could not understand the emotion in the least.

Lord Strife had stated that if he was going anywhere, his 'brother' was going with him. Taking the fire haired and unconscious boy was merely the quickest way out of that small back alley hovel the two apparently called a home. The thought itself was… disgusting, but he had heard of such things in the past. Being one from his rank… or rather, his former rank of high noble; he had never actually been in one before this day. Now that he had been, he held no desire to return EVER again.

"What are we doing here?" Soon to be Lord Strife queried as his blonde head moved in apparent awe at his surroundings. Sephiroth was used to places such as this even in all his travels, it was the cold and contemptuous stares from the inn's other patrons that he took note of.

"We are here so that you-," Sephiroth began, but was cut off by the groaning form on his shoulder. The kitsune appeared to be coming around. Finally, he may be rid of this useless and filthy weight he'd been forced to carry around. Let the boy walk on his own.

Without a care he lifted the boy by his trousers once more and set him on the floor face first. "Aon! Are you alright? Can you stand up?" Lord Strife questioned the groaning kitsune.

"I feel like I tried to fight a bull demon." The boy stated as he sat up and looked around, then shook his head as if he did not believe where he was. "Cloud… where are we?"

Sephiroth excused himself at that point and walked over to the nearby counter to check in. He doubted much that the two were foolish enough to think that they could actually escape him. "Excuse me, Madam." Sephiroth said to get the attention of the attendant.

Slowly a dark skinned cat woman glanced up with a smile. Her tail remained still behind her… another false smile it seemed. "Yes sir, how may I help you, my Lord Crescent?"

"I have need of three of your best rooms, personal access to the baths with attendants, a runner to go and pick up new clothes, and…" Sephiroth trailed off as he looked behind him. The kitsune was staring at him as Lord Strife waved his hands around in some form of explanation.

"I expect the two with me to be treated with the utmost respect. Should I notice anything of the opposite, or be told of such later…" He allowed the woman to speculate. Long ago Sephiroth had learned the power of imagination. Let the scantily clad attendant think what she would.

"Of course My Lord, everything will be exactly as you desire." The woman stated; and though her eyes never left his face her hand seemed to be scrawling something on a small note pad behind the counter.

"Very good." He stated then turned back to the soon to be Lord Strife, and the attachment. He would have to find a way to get rid of the Kitsune soon. He held no real purpose, and as such, was merely a burden.

CHANGE POINT OF VEIW CHANGE*** AON ***POINT OF VIEW CHANGE POINT OF VEIW

Aon didn't like the situation at all. As he and his little brother walked down the immaculate hallways led by a barely dressed female attendant, he took note of every possible escape path. If his guess was correct, which… with him being him was only natural; then the man that had brought them here was Sephiroth Crescent the 'hero' of the five years war.

"This is the place," the woman said with a bow as she gestured to a door on her left.

"Thank you," Aon replied and inclined his head slightly; as was usual, his young wingly brother mimicked him.

Cloud was the first to enter the room; slowly and warily Aon followed. He wasn't really sure what to expect. After all, they hadn't exactly been told where the attendant was taking them by their 'benefactor'. A large bath lay before the two of them, and he fought back the wonder. Cloud on the other hand wasn't quite nearly so discreet as his mouth dropped open slightly.

Dark stained wooden pillars dotted the entire room and could obscure things if you didn't look closely enough. Beyond them at the edge of the room sat a large step in pool that grew progressively deeper as you went in. The water was most probably warmed with fire Materia or some other method. The floors were all made entirely of dark colored tiles. If one looked just right they seemed to paint a scene of a beach near the ocean.

"Welcome," a woman to his right stated causing Aon to jump and an arm to fling out in a protective motion covering Cloud. "We are here to assist you."

… He could only watch in some strange sense of horror as more attendants appeared out of what seemed to be thin air… then proceeded to converge on the two like a pack of rabid slobbering dogs. (his imagination at work). It wasn't more than a few seconds and they were surrounded. He was quickly separated from Cloud against his will by the pulling hands of the women. He… didn't know when, but at some point he lost his vest. "Hey, quit it!" He said to the crazed women around him.

"Be calm sir," One of them said as a giggle erupted throughout the small group. Of course, the next step was his trousers, and as they plummeted to the ground he started to try and push the women away. "Sir, please stop struggling, we are only here to help you."

"I don't need your help to undress!" He exclaimed angrily as he fought his way through the crowd of women(four). When he was finally away he noted the breezy feeling that told him he was completely naked. These women were very good… wait, Cloud, where was his brother? His gaze flew around frantically until it landed on four more women and his naked brother near the edge of the step in bath.

His fist clenched as a hand rested on his shoulder pushing him gently toward the warm crystal clear water ahead… and he finally snapped. Before he could be pushed into the water his feet, and thus steps, reoriented until he found himself standing next to the group hounding his brother. The women were insane, they were practically attacking the little blonde wingly.(imagination).

A hand lashed out and pulled one after another away from his brother as he shouted, "OUT! ALL OF YOU GET OUT!" He pushed them back uncaring where his hands landed until the group of women were sent in a panic towards the door. He chased them all the way out of the room and into the hall as his tails lashed behind him angrily. "DON'T COME BACK!" He shouted after them.

Aon Glanced both ways to make sure that the group of insane women following his instructions before he turned back to walk inside. The people in the hall were looking at him strangely… he didn't know why. Aon slammed the door behind him as he walked happily back towards the bath finally free of those pests.

His tails were swaying with joy as his ears twitched in a happy fashion atop his head. He rounded one of the strange wooden pillars that decorated the room and came into view of his brother. "Cloud, I'll help you wash your hair." He stated with happiness… which quickly dissipated as he noted his brother was already lathering something into his blonde spikes.

"I can wash it myself." The boy stated matter-of-factly… or was it standoffish.

Aon's tails quit moving and tucked slightly in defeat. "Ohh… Ok." He said as he walked slowly towards the bath in defeat.

"But…" His brother stated slowly as he turned around. "I can't reach my back very well, and they don't seem to have anything to help with that."

"I can do that!" Aon stated as his ears perked up and his foot scooted a scrub brush behind a small box thus obscuring it from Cloud's view.

The small blonde moved forward another step as Aon walked up and sat behind him with only his feet stretched out in the water. To his right was a rag which he quickly grabbed, dunked in the water then lathered up with some… soap like substance. The boy's pale skin was brown in some places where he hadn't ever really been washed… aside from that one time… heh. They even put a bit of make up on the boy. It was nothing major, but that's the actual reason it was funny. He wasn't about to tell his wingly brother that though.

After splashing water onto Cloud's back for the initial scrub he took note of the small white 'scar tissue' where his wings should come out. One of the boy's problems lay in that, and he doubted the 'hero' knew it just yet. Though Cloud was a wingly he couldn't spread his wings. Aon never actually understood how the wings worked in the first place either so he couldn't help. It wasn't like they tucked in there when they weren't in use right? There was just not enough room unless all Wingly's were hunchbacks or something, and since they weren't, it just didn't make any sense.

"Hey, Aon," Cloud began as the rag touched his back for the first time.

"Hmm?" The kitsune replied as he started the job… which would probably be difficult.

"Do you know what Mr. Crescent wants?" His brother asked.

Aon didn't reply for a few moments while scrubbing at the dirt on his brothers back, or rather he didn't want to. "Yeah… probably." He said trying to be vague and evasive. There was one spot he just couldn't get clean, so he scrubbed harder pushing his brother forward.

"Stop for a second." The blonde said as he dunked his head under water and scrubbed with his hands before resurfaced.

"You're gonna need to do that again." Aon jeered happily as he noted that the boy's hair still wasn't clean after the first go.

"Chh, it gets in my eyes." The blonde replied.

"Heheheh, well then you should keep them closed." He taunted.

"Once is enough," Cloud said then turned around suddenly. "Let me help you with yours!"

"Denied," Aon's hands made an X in front of his chest after dropping the rag.

"Why?" The boy asked sadly while putting on a pouting face. Bahh, Cloud should know that didn't work on him anymore.

The Kitsune's right hand drifted up and tugged at one ear. "You aren't allowed near my ears anymore remember." He stated as memories flooded his mind.

"Come on! I'll be more careful." Cloud replied and Aon's eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother's pouting face in contemplation.

A light sigh escaped his lips as he closed his eyes and nodded. "Fine, but you have to wash your own hair again when it's done." See he could he brotherly demanding as well.

"Yes!" Cloud cried out in triumph then stood and moved around so Aon could take his spot.

"Remember to be careful around my ears," Aon warned.

"I know!" Cloud stated rather sharp and angrily. Well Aon was sorry that he couldn't demonstrate just what it was like to have someone scratch behind your ears; or get stroked from the top of your head, down your back, and to the tips of your tails. It wasn't the same as doing it yourself… it felt different.

"So about Mr. Crescent," Cloud started. Chh, he'd thought he managed to escape that one. His brother could be quite impatient. Their silver haired kidnapper had said he would explain things, didn't he?

"Yeah alright," Aon said after dunking his head to wet his hair for the first time. "You said he called you his lord right?" A cold substance touched down at the top of his head, and hands slowly started the job careful of avoiding his ears.

"Yeah, that's what he said." His brother replied.

"Hmm," Aon started. "You probably don't remember since you were only four when it was talked about a lot."

"What was talked about?" Cloud interrupted. See… he was impatient.

"Sephiroth Crescent the hero of the 'Five Years War'-." Aon started but was cut off… AGAIN.

"What's the five years war?" His brother queried.

Aon's face deadpanned. "I've taught you that before, remember? Or were you actually asleep with your eyes open?" He had tried to teach the boy as best he could after their mother died when he was nine and Cloud was seven.

"Umm…" Was his only reply… naturally.

"The five years war happened nearly fifty years ago. It was that war of retaliation against the humans for killing Princess Aria. Anyways, as I was saying," he continued as Cloud's hands started to wash the red hair that reached down to his mid back. "Sephiroth, the Hero of that war, was appointed to find the next Lord of the Central Gate."

"You mean the seat that's been vacant for decades?" Cloud said as his hands moved back up slowly towards Aon's scalp.

"Yeah, that's the ahhhhaaahahhhhh," Aon stated as his foot jerked at the sudden scratch behind his right ear. "I said to be careful Cloud." Aon said perturbed that the boy hadn't listened or wasn't paying enough attention.

"I am being careful." His brother said happily as he scratched behind both ears at once.

"Cl… Cloud s-ss… stop, stop it!" Aon stated as his head contradicted what he was saying by leaning into the scratch to help. Ahh it felt sooo good. No… he had to fight back.

"But you enjoy it so much. You should let me do this more often." The boy jeered tauntingly.

Aon's left eye twitched slightly as his tails lashed happily behind him in the water. Damn those tails, he didn't want this! "No I'm not en… enjoying," he replied but couldn't finish.

"That's not what your actions suggest though." Cloud stated the annoyingly obvious as he continued the ohh so nice… NO he had to figh… yes, right there. Scratch right there more…

It took another minute or so before he could break free and whirl to face the boy who was happily holding his hands up in defense.

"Now you're gonna get it…" Aon trailed off with narrowed eyes as he slowly walked forward… until Soap got in his eyes and he had to close them with a curse.

"Hahahahahahaha," Cloud laughed as his voice retreated away from the bath side.

"Damn it Cloud! Get back here and accept your punishment!" Aon cried out before dunking his head under the water again.

CHANGE POINT OF VEIW CHANGE*** SEPHIROTH ***POINT OF VIEW CHANGE POINT OF VEIW

Sitting out in the hall at a small table near the baths was Sephiroth. He'd had it brought up so that he could keep an 'eye' on the two. A small plate of breakfast foods and two cups sat before him. In one was a black substance that could only be coffee, and in the other a white substance… milk perhaps.

He had been annoyed after discovering that the fox had chased the helpers from the bathroom. However, since the two could still be heard occasionally from the room he had accepted the situation. As he sat and took sparing bites of the food laid out before him, he thought through recent events.

The previous day he had been headed for this exact inn after arriving in town some hour or so before. The city was dismal, sand filled, scorching hot, and wretched. He had decided that he wasn't going to be spending much time here before moving on. After all, who would think that Allovoros could possibly hold someone strong enough to be the Central Gates Lord?

When he'd been almost mugged by a small blonde wingly he had been in a bit of shock. Power, though suppressed by something, seemed to be rolling off the boy in droves. Scaring the child had simply been a way of testing him. Sephiroth had gotten more than he expected after the scream and boy's subsequent escape.

During the struggle the blonde's magical power had spread out around them and of all things activated dormant Materia at a local stall. Though the Materia was low in level, the fact that he had activated two at once, and unconsciously no less, was worthy of more investigation.

Sephiroth's head turned back to the closed off room as another laugh echoed loudly under the closed door. He failed to see how anyone could have enough fun to be laughing while taking a simple bath. Perhaps they were doing something besides cleaning themselves in there, which meant that he was going to have to stop it soon. If not he would undoubtedly be here for the majority of the afternoon. There was much to do, and much more to say.

After the soon to be Lord Strife's escape from his grasp he had spent nearly the whole previous day searching for him. While there were traces and hearsay, it was quite difficult to actually nail down exactly where the boy could be. Finally after he'd retired to the inn at around four o'clock he had questioned a few patrons unsuccessfully, and then an attendant. The woman had known the boy as well as his apparent brother. He had finally been forced to shut her up and send her away after a half hour. He'd gleaned all of the important information within the first half of their conversation. After that it had been about the two boy's exploits after the death of their guardian.

Apparently there was a female wingly that gave birth to the young Cloud some sixteen years prior. When the boy was around the age of two the red haired fox had been adopted from a friend who had died. The woman made her way through life as a stall crier and sales woman. Apparently she was rather popular as well. When her son was seven she had caught an illness and died rather badly. From there, the two had turned to petty thievery as no one would take them in during the food shortage happening at that time.

Should he call it a tragic story? No, there were thousands more with similar tales out in the world, and would be millions more if he didn't manage to place the boy in his soon to be seat. "Ahahahahah, quit it AON! Quit it!" The voice of Lord Strife echoed from beneath the door.

A sigh escaped Sephiroth's lips as he wiped his mouth with a napkin then stood. He was going to put an end to this 'bath' now. It wasn't like the two were actually cleaning off anyways. If he had to go in and finish the job then he would, and they would both regret it.

After pushing the door open he strode purposefully into the room and around a few large wooden pillars. The sight that greeted him was most definitely NOT one he expected to see. The fire haired fox stood in the middle of the bath spinning around with Lord Strife tossed over his shoulder. Sephiroth cleared his throat and the fox tripped on something sending the both of them plummeting into the water only to resurface a second later.

"What'd you do that for?" Lord Strife queried as he was facing the other way. The kitsune boy reached across and grabbed the lord with both hands then spun him around to face Sephiroth as he had been since surfacing. "Ohh…" The Lord stated.

Sephiroth's eyes closed as a hand reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. When he opened his jade eyes once again he stared at the two. It DID appear that they were actually clean now, and to top it off, the lord AND the fox cleaned up rather nicely. Certain Brothels in the capital would fight for the both of them given the chance. They were young, well toned to a degree if not more than a bit thin, and held a slightly exotic allure.

The small wingly lord had pale skin which lent credence to his pure blood theory. Blonde hair the color of wheat sat atop his head and seemed to defy gravity at random, even with its current wet nature. To top it off he had strangely dazzling sky blue eyes which seemed to give off a dull shine in the right lighting. From what he could tell, the boy stood at around five foot five or six, but it would take a tailor back at Kaifeng to pin that down to one or the other.

The fox had a slight tan, but nothing major considering the amount of time he probably spent in the sun. Fire red hair fell to his mid back, and bangs of the same color fell to around the same place on his chest. The trademark golden eyes that seemed to grace most of his species stared back in a calculating fashion. The tips of his ears were white and as far as Sephiroth could tell that was the only hair the boy had that wasn't that deep fire red. If he had to guess, the kitsune was between five foot eight and five foot ten. Fox's were very wary, sly, and devious creatures; thus dangerous, as history had shown on more than one occasion.

"Out… Now!" Sephiroth commanded as he finally pulled his eyes away and walked back to the door. Given the correct clothing and some training perhaps the small blonde wingly could actually pull off looking like a Lord.

"Told you," the voice of the fox reached his ears before he closed the door.

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AN2: The bath scene was actually supposed to be rather short, but I enjoyed writing it; so it kept getting longer… whoops.

I was thinking of taking Cloud and Aon's ages back a year. So instead of 16/18 it would be 15/17. I'll leave that up to you the readers. If I did so I would have Cloud's birthday right around the corner, and thus give you a birthday chapter to look forward too. If not his birthday happened recently and will not happen again until later in the story. PM me with your thoughts or feelings about this. Suppose I could start some poll or something… but I won't.

This chapter was going to go on for about… 2500 more words or so, so I cut it short and decided to post it all in Chapter two.

FUN FACTS:

Aonather Strife: That's Aon's full name. I figured I'd tell you since it will probably be more than a few chapters before I get the chance to have someone actually say it completely. He's Cloud's adopted brother, and one of the main characters. I can't help but put in OC's… they make things fun o.o; I might even take one from a reader eventually. It could be interesting to write a character I didn't come up with. We shall see...

The Five years War: The war of retaliation that happened after Princess Aria was killed. In the open the war lasted five years, during which time Sephiroth became the 'Hero' he is known for being today. After the first five years the war between armies stopped. In its place for another four years the Demon's sent assassin's to kill off very influential people in the Human Empires nobility. Most were made to look like they were caused by other Human nobles, and before long the Empire tore itself apart from the inside.

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