Disclaimer- I claim no rights to Final Fantasy VII

Chapter Seventeen Winter's End.

Cloud didn't understand Shelke's title until the woman moved with such speed and agility that it knocked him clear across the room, depriving him of his knife that bounced off the wall and shattered into small shards of metal and ice thanks to the strong magic imbued. He was thankful, however, that Zack was smart enough to leave a sword underneath the bed. He raced towards the canopy bed, heart racing against his chest when he heard a small giggle against his ear before he was knocked against the wall, gasping as the breath left his body.

"I can't understand how someone as powerful as Azul was defeated by the likes of you." Shelke looked disgusted, but Cloud couldn't help but feel absolute glee at the thought and it showed on his face for Shelke's face twisted from disgust to downright anger and Cloud snarled when Shelke's booted foot collided with his stomach. "You shouldn't think it funny, Omega, considering that you're about to die."

"I'm not dying today, Shelke." Cloud wheezed out, grunting when her foot collided with his stomach again. Cloud reached out, grabbing her ankle as she was pulling away and dragging her to the floor. He kept a tight grip, pushing enough magic out of his hand to freeze her foot into place and giving himself enough time to roll away and slide underneath the bed where Zack's spare blade lay. Just as he was about to grasp the handle of the blade, the door burst open and a flash of black and white zipped across the corner of Cloud's eye. He looked over to see Kunsel pinning Shelke down with a blade of his own, his mouth set in a wide snarl.

Shelke's features turned blank as she gazed up at the guard, the only indication of emotion was her nose wrinkling. "You stink of the Earth, Native of Kalm."

"And you stink of death, child." Kunsel kept his gaze steady on the assassin, his ears twitching. "Cloud? Are you alright?" Kunsel didn't dare remove his eyes from Shelke. "Cloud?"

"I'm fine," Cloud called back weakly, rubbing his stomach and reaching for the blade. "I'm just in the need of a new stomach." He rose up and turned to look to see Kunsel still holding Shelke by sword-point. "Azul is gone, but this one calls herself Shelke the Transparent which means there are three remaining running around and causing havoc." Cloud joined Kunsel, staring down at Shelke with a sharp smile that failed to reach his eyes. "Where are the rest of your allies?"

"It would be wise if you ended my life," Shelke uttered, staring down at the edge of the blade as if it amused her. Cloud supposed that nothing fazed her, not after what she's been through. "The worst fate awaits me if you don't."

"A worst fate awaits you, either way, Shelke." Kunsel placed his blade against her chin with enough pressure to allow a drop of blood escape. "You bore witness to your creator's execution and yours will soon to follow."

"Why wait?" Shelke goaded, reaching up and grabbing Kunsel's blade with her hand and pulling it towards her neck. "Unlike my creator, I don't plan for my death to be set as an example." Shelke's jaw clenched and Cloud watched, horrified, as Shelke began twitching and foaming at the mouth.

"What's going on?" Kunsel demanded of him, watching as Cloud reached down and took Shelke into his arms. "Cloud?"

"She poisoned herself," Cloud responded, leaning down to sniff around Shelke's mouth, rearing back when the smell of monkshood reached his nostrils. He looked up to Kunsel in an effort to get her to a healer when she stilled in his arms forcing him to turn away to stare down into a new pair of listless eyes.

"This isn't good," Kunsel uttered, tensing when the door creaked open to reveal a downtrodden Zack who took in the scene with a detached air that caused a shiver of apprehension to run down Cloud's spine. Why wasn't Zack angry? Or surprised?

"Are you alright?" Zack approached him, leaned down, and helping him off the ground and away from Shelke's still body. "Did she hurt you?"

"No," Cloud uttered back, hand drifting down to his stomach in reflection to the pain he experienced, but it was nothing in the face of what Zack was going through. "She didn't. Kunsel came just in time, but we weren't able to get any useful information out of her other than the other Bloodhounds are still roaming around."

"She didn't state where?" Zack probed, his eyes running over Cloud's form, eyes sharpening when he noticed Cloud holding his stomach. "Are you sure you're alright? Do we need to call a healer?"

"I'm fine." Cloud insisted. "And no, she didn't state where the remaining Bloodhounds were hiding. What about Hojo's notes? Those that we managed to save from the fires?

"Nanaki has been looking over them, but he states that a bottle of the strongest liquor is needed." Zack's lips twitched in bitter amusement. "He states that a number of experiments were quite horrific and not even the strongest of scholars are able to stomach it."

Kunsel and Cloud shared a look, both of them sympathetic to Nanaki's plight and yet-

"How far along is he in his analysis?" Kunsel asked curiously. "The closer he is to completion, the closer we are to getting the rest of the Bloodhounds and arresting Crescent and Rhasphados."

"The notes are encrypted," Zack admitted with a grimace. 'Covered in a rather thick layer of the codex and it takes Nanaki hours to decipher just a single page. So, if we need names and locations then we're just going to have to wait."

"We don't have time to wait, Zack." Cloud reminded him. "As you can see, Shelk was quite adamant in ending my life."

Zack's lips thinned, taking in Shelk's cooling form and noticing the foam at the corner of her mouth. "I see that she saw fit to take her own life?"

"She decided that monkshood was to be her end." Cloud murmured, bending down to examine Shelk's body. "She came here to take revenge for Azul, but she didn't count on me and Kunsel being a challenge."

"Of that, I am relieved, but that doesn't answer the question as to how she got into your room." Zack turned to Kunsel,. and gave him a short nod, watching as the new guard captain turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Zack and Cloud alone with Shelke's body.

"What are we going to do?" Cloud turned to Zack who was staring at him with a closed-off expression. "Zack?"

"You almost died," Zack uttered, the closed-off expression melting into one of concern and anger. "You almost died while I was out there executing an old man who was as evil as Jenova."

"It's not your fault-"

"Isn't it?" Zack's jaw clenched before he huffed and turned away towards the window, where, below they were burning Hojo's remains. Zack saw to it that the man wouldn't receive a proper burial.

He didn't deserve it.

"You didn't know your most trusted advisers would betray you, Zack - one of which you considered family. You didn't know that Hojo, one of the most celebrated Alchemists in Midgar would be using humans as experiments. You didn't know and the people don't blame you." Cloud reached out and placed a hand on top of the Alpha's. "What they would have blamed you for is if you didn't bring them to justice, but you did and I couldn't be more proud of you."

"...Thank you." Zack kept his gaze lowered and it didn't Cloud long to realize that while Zack appreciated the words, he didn't believe it. He took them as a compliment and Cloud wasn't having it.

"You gave them back to me."

Zack blinked, lifting his gaze to Cloud with a confused frown. "What?"

"My parents," Cloud clarified softly, his eyes burning with tears. "You gave them back to me even if they were nothing but bone and ash. You gave Marlene back to Barrett even if it was just a former shell of herself and you released the people who were trapped in that awful place. Zack, you took back your city whether you realize it or not."

"I-" Zack shook his head, his lips trembling. "It should have never have come to that, Cloud. None of this should have happened, but I can guarantee that it's never going to happen again."

The words drew a frown and Cloud was tempted to ask what Zack meant, but the look in Zack's eyes caused the words to stick in his throat. He recognized that look. It was a look of hopelessness and Cloud's heart damn near ripped in two at the sight of it.

"Stop it," Cloud whispered, reaching out again, and holding Zack's face in his cold hands. "Stop looking like the world is placed on your shoulders." Cloud's hands tightened forcing a small wince out of the Alpha. "Stop looking you're about to stop giving a damn."

"I care-"

"Not from my side." Cloud insisted. "You're a leader - a fighter and one of the most kind-hearted and wholesome men I've ever met and to see you-you in such despair ." Cloud swallowed. "It hurts. I don't want us to give up."

"We're not," Zack whispered, reaching up and grasping Cloud's slim wrists. "We're not because we're leaving."

"Leaving?" Cloud repeated. "Where are you-?"

"We're leaving," Zack repeated. "Tonight, actually."

"Where?" Cloud was still underneath Zack's hands and gaze. The man's gaze had sharpened and darkened. "Where are we going?"

"On a hunt." Zack murmured, abruptly released Cloud's wrists. "The Bloodhounds aren't our only problem, Cloud."

"You mean Sephiroth and Genesis?"

"Angeal." Zack began his tone heavy with regret. "Angeal regretted his actions in the end. He knew what he was doing was wrong and immoral and he paid for it with his life. And yet, Sephiroth and Genesis? They ran underneath the cover of night like cowards and I intend to find them and bring them to the executioner's block."

Cloud frowned, staring into Zack's eyes with a hint of apprehension. He knew that Sephiroth and Genesis need to pay for their crimes, but for Zack to abandon Midgar now? When it was in such a vulnerable position?

"You can't-" Cloud shook his head in the face of Zack's protest. "You can't just leave when Midgar is in such a vulnerable state. You can't go on some revenge hunt-"

"It's not revenge-"

"Don't sit there and lie to my face, Zack." Cloud shot the Alpha a thundering frown. "I deserve better - we both deserve better." Cloud stepped away, his heart twisting when Zack made a move to reach for him but forced himself to still. "I will go in your stead - if I have to."

"What...?"

"You're in no position to go on a manhunt." Cloud tried to reason. Who knew that Zack could be so stubborn? "I will take Kunsel and a hunting party and we will go after Genesis and Sephiroth."

At his words, Zack grew quiet before he spoke again, his tone firm and black. "You don't honestly expect me to let you go on your own, do you? To let my-" Zack stopped himself, realizing and implying what he was going to say, but Cloud said nothing of it and allowed him to continue. "To let you go out on your own and hunt them down? They're dangerous."

"They're just as dangerous to me as they are to you." Cloud countered softly. "You have just as much of a chance of being killed as I do, Zack. So, that's really not an excuse."

"I don't want you to go."

Cloud smiled at the almost petulant tone. It was unfit for an Alpha, but it was honest. "I'm afraid that we don't have much of a choice. If we don't find them then what will the people think of you?"

Zack opened his mouth, to Cloud he didn't necessarily give a damn, but it would be far from the truth wouldn't it?

"Very well. I will see you off at dawn."

"You're letting me go? Just like that?"

Zack looked amused and weary. "Do I really have a choice? You're going to leave whether I approve of it or not. Better to see you off than to have you disappear into the night, right?"

Cloud grinned. "Right."