A/N: Hey, look! Sparky isn't dead! AND WHAT'S THIS?! She posted another chapter to this fic?! I thought she'd left it to die a sad death! :O ... No, I didn't. Surprise! Sorry for not posting for several months. I was enjoying my summer vacation. But, in the famous words of Roxas himself "It looks like my summer vacation is... over." Yeah, it's the truth! I thought I'd give a heads up to some probably confused readers: there WILL be chocobos in this story, but they're going to make an appearance later. I can't wait for their yellow/black/green/blue/gold feathers to start popping up all over the place! *KWEH!*

Cloud Strife, his mother, Zack Fair, Nibelheim, and all that stuff belong to SQUEENIX. The horses, story, and OC's belong to ME. Thank you and enjoy! :D

Chapter 5

The sun rose over the misty tree tops as dawn broke out. As the flaming sphere rose higher into the sky, a dirt path leading out of the forest became visible, as well as the figures trudging along it in the dim light.

Cloud had several scratches on his body from galloping through the underbrush in pursuit of the men who had stolen his prized mare. His chase led him deep into the forest until he came to a river. The tracks had stopped at a peer jutting into the dark waters. He had jumped off of Nabi's back and paced the shoreline looking for any hints in case his thieves had simply crossed the river, but to no avail.

They must have taken a boat downstream, he had thought to himself. That is, unless they were lucky enough to have a boat with some type of engine. But Cloud knew it was unlikely since the world was in such disrepair. Machines were very rare in these parts, and well protected; why would some lowly thieves have something like that? It didn't add up.

He gave and angry huff as he let some of his pent up frustration and sorrow seep out. Nabi's ears twitched back to listen, but the horse kept moving along the trail on autopilot. He knew exactly where they were heading; home! But his rider was radiating waves of unpleasant feelings. It was unnerving. Nabi paused on the path for a moment, turning his long neck to look back at the teenager on his back. The blond boy looked tiredly into his mount's intelligent dark eyes.

"What is it, Nabi? We're heading home, just keep moving," Cloud murmured, tapping his heels against Nabi's sides. The stallion didn't budge. Cloud gave another sigh, this time in defeat, and tapped the horse's sides again.

"Go on. Move on."

The stallion moved this time, turning his head back towards home and moving at a steady pace. The two reached the house and barn an hour later. A small crowd had gathered outside the humble home. Zack was there, along with some of the neighbors, the doctor, and Cloud's mother. No one noticed the bay horse and blond boy approaching until Nabi turned his head towards the barn and called to the other horses, getting several whinnies in return. The choir of voices startled the people at the house doorstep. They all turned and made noises of relief as they saw Cloud coming closer. His mother and Zack came jogging over. Zack beat the aging woman by a few yards.

"Better watch out, dude. She's mad. I hope you survive this one," he whispered up to Cloud, pity in his eyes. Cloud only had time to open his mouth to reply before he was cut off by an angry shout from a flash of gold hair in his peripheral vision.

"CLOUD STRIFE!" his mother shouted at incredible volume. Nabi shied away from the furious woman, blowing and perking his ears. Cloud quickly jumped off before the horse could decide to bolt run for his life.

"You're going to stay here and take this with me!" he hissed in the horse's ears. He turned to face his raging mother, a hint of shame crossing his features. She showed no sympathy.

"How dare you disappear like that! Do you have any idea how worried I was? I return home and you're gone! No note, nothing! And then two of the horses are missing! I asked everyone around if they'd seen you, but no one had! Not the neighbors, not the slums people, the rich folk, not anyone! I even contacted the authorities and asked them to search the town for you, but there wasn't a sign! And you know how much I hate talking to those sorry excuses for police! For all we knew, you were kidnapped!" She glared straight into her son's eyes with the force of a blue wildfire. The surrounding villagers and Zack had been slowly inching away during the tirade until they were all at least ten feet away from the mother and son.

Cloud's mother turned away the second her son bowed his head and gave a small nod. She faced the crowd and quickly put a pleasant smile on her face.

"Thank you for your help, everyone. Now that Cloud is back, I'll take care of the rest. You may all go home now."

One by one, the villagers started making their way to their own homes. Cloud looked up from beneath his golden bangs to watch them leave when his blue eyes caught the attention of wine red ones. His cheeks darkened slightly and he gave a small frown and looked down at the ground, breaking the contact. A man called from the road, and the girl turned toward away and walked off.

As Cloud's gaze left the ground, he found himself face to face with Zack, a cheeky grin plastered on the older boy's face.

"Oh? What's this? Feeling a little warm, Cloud?" The dark haired teen let out mischievous chuckle. Cloud glared at his friend and looked away with an angry "shut up" whispered under his breath. Zack only shook his head.

"I'm going to head home now, man. It's way too early for this type of drama. The doctor is here to check up on you again in case your concussion got worse or maybe you lost a limb or two when you were 'kidnapped'. I see you got a couple cuts, but that's nothin' that won't heal in a couple of days! See you at school tomorrow, right?" Zack asked over his shoulder as he turned and started walking back to his own home. Cloud gave a nod.

"Yeah. I'll see you," he called to his friend's back. Zack smiled and started to jog back to his home. Cloud turned to the barn and gave a tug on Nabi's reins, leading the horse to his stall to untack. His mother noticed.

"Oh? Where do you think you're going, young man?"

Cloud turned to her and mumbled, "To put away the horse." His mother stared back at him for several seconds before nodding.

"You do that. But you had better come back to the house the second you are finished, am I clear? The doctor still needs to give you one last check before you can go back to normal activites." Cloud quickly nodded and ducked his head as he started to jog to the barn so as to escape his mother's glare. Nabi gave a snort and trotted after him.

Cloud sat on the stool in the kitchen later that morning as the doctor pulled a jar of ointment out of her bag. She unscrewed the lid and dipped a finger into the green gunk inside and pulled it out to wipe the stuff along a cut on Cloud's lower jaw. The blond winced as the scratch stung sharply for a split second and then started to fade to a dull throbbing. The healer added ointment to a few other scrapes along his neck and arms before leaning away to screw the cap back on the jar.

"That takes care of bacteria. We don't want you to get any infections, although it's a bit unlikely with cuts that small. But, we don't know what plants you may have gotten these from, so being careful can't hurt, can it?" she asked rhetorically as she slipped the jar back into her medical bag and rummaged around for some bandages. Cloud shook his head in reply. The doctor gave a small "aha!" and pulled out a couple bandages along with a small roll of medical tape. She started to tape the bandages to the worst cuts on Cloud's arms and face.

"Do you still have a headache, Cloud?" the healer asked as she taped down one of the bandages on the inside of Cloud's arm. He shook his head. The headache had faded away earlier that morning when he was heading home. "Do you feel strange at all? Dizzy? Nauseous?" The blond shook his head. "Do you feel especially tired?"

"Well, yeah," he replied. "But I think that has to do with the fact I was up all night long…" The healer gave an understanding nod.

"How about amnesia? Do you remember what happened when you were at the market? Do you remember what happened on your search last night?" A nod to each question confirmed the doctor's thoughts. "I think you're not going to have any issues with your concussion, which is good. Just try to stay out of trouble for a while, alright, Cloud? I've been seeing you a bit too much lately."

Cloud glanced away and looked out the window. After a few seconds he murmured, "Yeah, I guess so. Sorry, Doctor Gertrude." The kind woman simply smiled and stood up, giving the teenager a pat on the head.

"Don't be sorry, just make sure you stay out of trouble," she cautioned as she grabbed her bag and made her way to the door. As she was passing Cloud's mother, she leaned to the other woman and whispered, "If he starts acting out of the ordinary, like personality changes or slurring when he talks, send for me right away, alright?" The blond woman nodded and Dr. Gertrude made her leave. The second the door closed, Mrs. Strife turned to her son.

"What exactly happened last evening, Cloud?"

Cloud told her everything, explaining how he had entered the barn to see the men from earlier the other day in the barn and stealing his mare, how they disappeared and he took chase, and how he had lost them at the river and was forced to return home.

When he was finished, his mother walked forward and gave him a caring hug.

"I'm so sorry you lost her, Cloud. But I'm just glad you made it home without any large injuries…" She pulled back and was startled to see her son's eyes glistening with unshed tears of anger, frustration, and sadness. She felt a painful tug in her heart, and she leaned forward to give Cloud another hug, this one protective and loving.

Several moments later she pulled away again and whispered to him, "Hey, I got you something at the market yesterday." Cloud looked up in surprise, distracted from his angry thoughts.

"What? You did?" His mother nodded with a small smile and went into her bedroom, appearing a few moments later with a small cloth bag in hand. She grabbed a chair from the table and pulled it over. As she sat down, she reached out and handed Cloud the bag. He pulled at the top of the bag, opening the worn cloth, and reached inside. He pulled out his fist and opened it. His eyes lit up at what he saw.

In his palm sat three silver pieces: a ring, an earring, and some type of badge. They were beautifully crafted. A wolf's head decorated each one. The beast's face glared at Cloud proudly, a small metal ring clenched in its jaws. Cloud traced the carved lines of fur with his index figure, marveling at the smooth, cold texture. He looked up at his mother, a self-contained yet delighted smile on his face. His mother spoke up.

"That wolf is supposed to be the great Fenrir. I thought these could protect you when you needed protecting," she explained quietly. Cloud looked back at the jewelry in his hand with awe.

Fenrir was a great Nibel wolf of local legend. The giant wolf had appeared in the surrounding mountains one day and the people of old Nibelheim thought it was a monster to be exterminated. But when the town was attacked by hordes of real monsters, the Nibel wolf went against them to protect Nibelheim. No one knew why it did this, but it saved the town from sure destruction. The wolf died of its wounds afterwards, but the town's people dubbed it Fenrir and remember it to this day in admiration. When the Caps started running things around Nibelheim, they forbid mentions of that Nibel wolf, punishing those who told the legend. No one really knew why until later…

"This is incredible… Thank you, Ma."