The next morning found Cloud and Zack up and out of the Inn well before sunrise to avoid any of the issues they were faced with the day before. This time there were thankfully no issues and the two managed to get out of Kalm easily. It helped that many of the peddlers from the festival the day before had taken the chance to get away early as well, so they were able to blend in for a while.

The cool morning air was frigid this time of year and it sent Zack's teeth chattering for a while before their brisk walking pace warmed him up; he still missed the warmth of the bed at the inn, especially when he was cuddled up with Cloud.

The blond had been quiet all morning, his eyes watching for anything out of the ordinary in the people that they passed. The Turks were undoubtedly still hanging around, but thankfully they seemed to have slipped by them, something that Cloud was actually very grateful for; even though they had started out as enemies when Avalanche had been working against Shinra, Cloud now considered both Reno and Rude something close to friends and he had come dangerously close to needing to fight Rude yesterday. He had realised it before, but it was a painful reminder that many of the friendships that he held so dear would no longer be there now; so many of his friends wouldn't know him at all, and those that did, like Tifa, no longer had the memories of hardship that had forged them all into a family. It left him feeling hollow inside.

"You okay Spike?" Zack asked after a while of walking along. The sun was just beginning to lighten the horizon and the land around them was slowly blooming into colour. They had been walking for nearly an hour in silence and Zack was starting to get a bit worried.

"Yeah, just thinking." Cloud said, giving Zack a small smile.

"What about?" Zack pressed, he had spent too long trying to get Cloud to open up to him since that day that they had found him in the forest, and he now knew that letting Cloud think when he had that far-away look on his face could only lead the blond to painful memories. Cloud sighed.

"Just thinking of what needs to be sacrificed to ensure the survival of the Planet and all the people that live here." Cloud said, his eyes taking in the sights around them; they were close enough to the shore line that many of the trees and plants were tough and coarse from years of growing in harsh winds and salty air and soil. It was still beautiful, especially as the gray of night receded. They would be on the coast within a couple of hours, and then it would be only a little bit longer until they got to one of the small fishing villages that dotted the coast.

"That's... Pretty deep." Zack said, "What do you mean by sacrifice?"

"It's selfish, but I wish that by coming back I didn't have to give up my friends..." Cloud explained, being very careful to keep his eyes ahead of him. "I know that there is no helping it, and by coming back all the friends that I have lost are safe and sound once again, but they were all I had..."

"Geez, that's... rough." Zack muttered, rubbing a hand through his hair at the back of his head for a moment before a though occurred to him. "I've got an idea though! Once this is all over, we will go and find them!"

Cloud smiled sadly at the thought. How could he explain to Zack that many of them never would have so much as glanced at him if not for the crazy circumstances that had bound them together in the first place. Aerith had been tied to Zack through love; something that Cloud felt a little bit cruel for denying, but not enough to give the raven-haired man up. Barret had founded Avalanche and Cloud wasn't even sure where the man would be now. Tifa... He had never been able to give Tifa the life she had wanted, and he knew that this way she could have the life that was meant for her; one without fighting and with a husband and kids that she could live happily with. Yuffie would still be a small child, if even born yet, and Cid had been a gruff man that had most likely hated them all at first until Shinra had double crossed him.

"No, they all need to live life how they were meant to..." Cloud said, looking up at the sky. "Without all the suffering and pain."

"But..."

"It's okay Zack, it is better this way. If I can give even one of them a better chance at life I would in a heartbeat, and this way I can."

Even Reno and Rude, even if they were now more enemies than friends Cloud hoped that he would be able to help them too. Reno had once opened up to him about how much dropping the plate on the lower sections of Midgar had torn him apart. He had been drunk at the time, and had broken down in a sobbing heap saying how he so often had nightmares about it, and while Cloud had been at a loss about what to do with a crying Reno, he had been able to relate to the red-head in that moment.

A strong arm wrapping around his shoulders finally dragged Cloud from his thoughts, and after another long breath he finally looked over at Zack. There was a serious look on his face, and a determination in his eyes.

"I said we would find them Spike, even if you never talk to them, there is nothing against you making sure that they really are living a better life. You are not the one who caused them pain, and I know without a doubt that you never would."

For just a second, Cloud remembered the feelings of helplessness when he had held a sword above Aerith's head, fighting for control of his own body before watching Sephiroth kill her, and once again when he had lost that fight for control and he had given the black materia to Sephiroth and allowed him to call upon Meteor, causing so much destruction... He quickly pushed the memories aside, recently he had been getting better at keeping such thoughts at bay, but it seemed today wasn't his best day, so he allowed himself to accept Zack's words and let the thought ease the turmoil in his mind.

"You're right... Thank you Zack." Cloud said, bringing a hand up to grab onto Zack's hand that was resting over his shoulder.

"Hey, you know I'll always be here to help. Even if it is just to make you look on the bright side of things again." Zack said with a soft smile, resting his head on blond spikes for a moment as they walked.

The sun was now free of the horizon and it looked like the day was due to be a beautiful one. Zack and Cloud continued to walk in comfortable silence for a while, both of them focusing on the feeling and warmth of the other to keep any thoughts at bay. Zack knew that there was something that had triggered the thoughts in Cloud's mind, and figured that the tossing and turning the blond had done in his sleep might be the cause. Zack remembered how Cloud had constantly been like that when they first brought him to Shinra, how there had always been such a haunted look in those blank eyes, and something in Zack had decided that he would do anything to see those eyes light up; after all the pain in those eyes hadn't been able to fully hide the spark that had once been in them before. Somewhere along the way he had grown to love the small smiles and inner strength that Cloud sometimes showed, and in turn he had begun to love the man himself.

"There is a village about three hours from here, we should be able to borrow a small boat to get across the straight to the shore closest to Bone Village, it will be an uphill climb, but we should make it to the village by midday tomorrow." Cloud said.

"A village? I've never seen any marked on the maps for this area." Zack replied.

"They are small enough that they can hardly be called villages," Cloud explained, "But the fishing is good here, so they set up settlements that fishermen could stay at to make the fishing easier. That's why there are still paths up here; so that they can easily transport fish to the Kalm markets."

"How do you know so much?"

"Do enough traveling and you tend to pick up a few things." Cloud answered with a chuckle. Especially when you are on the run and main roads and common travel routs are to dangerous, he thought to himself.

"So whats in Bone Village?" Zack asked. He had hard of it before but had never been anywhere near it.

"It's mostly a dig site, or it will be at least. I'm not sure if they have started digging yet to be honest. Beyond it is the Sleeping Forest and the Forgotten Capital."

"What do you need from there?" Zack asked.

"It is mostly to loose Shinra, as there are very few ways to get there and it is well protected. From there we should be able to move a lot more freely."

Zack nodded, it was a good idea; there weren't many places that you could go to escape Shinra, and yesterday was a good example of how easy it could be to run into trouble.

Finally the two walked up a small incline and at the top they both stopped to take in the sight of the ocean stretching out before them. Out in the distance over the water Zack could just make out the hazy shape of what he assumed was the Northern Continent. Cloud's eyes were tracking up and down the coast line looking for any trouble; after all this area was largely uninhabited and monsters were well known to stalk the beach side. Aside from a few scuttling animals and seagulls he saw nothing of concern.

"Come on, lets mosey." Cloud said with a small smile.

XxXxX

Within a couple of hours the small fishing village that was based on one of the points of land at he top of the continent was in full view, and the two men had faced nothing more than a few over eager seagulls that wanted to either steal their food or use them for target practice when pooping. Something that had sent Zack rushing to the water line more than once to wash his hair in the salty water while Cloud tried not to laugh.

By the time they finally entered the small village, Zack was grumbling about wet hair that was drying stiffly in all directions thanks to the salty water, and Cloud was just relieved to have made it without incident.

"I can see why it didn't make it on the map." Zack muttered looking around. The place consisted of only a hand full of buildings and ships moored to the beach. There were a few men moving about the place, barely giving the two of them a glance before they went on their way. Over all the place was quite peaceful but very private.

"We should head down to the building over there closest to the boats." Cloud said, pointing to the building as he spoke. There were no signs or identifying mark to separate that building from any of the other ones, but its placement was the best to find someone to talk to about borrowing a boat.

When Zack and Cloud knocked on the door, a plump middle-aged woman answered, looking ready to beat the shit out of anyone who said the wrong thing.

"Strangers eh? Don' oft'n see your sort 'round 'ere." She said, her green eyes assessing both men with a suspicious look.

"Just passing through ma'am." Cloud assured, "We were hoping to borrow a boat to get across to the Northern Continent."

Zack found it amazing how Cloud could make himself seem both completely non-threatening and yet so confident at the same time, something told Zack that this woman would not respond well to weakness or aggression.

"Hmmm, a boat? I 'ope that you 'ave the Gil to pay for it then."

Zack didn't like the hungry look in the woman's eyes, but Cloud simply nodded an affirmative.

"Wait 'ere." Was all the woman said before disappearing inside and slamming the door behind her leaving the two men standing on the porch.

"Well, she was... nice?" Zack said quietly, scared to talk to loudly lest the woman hear him.

"Most communities like this are very closed off and cautious of outsiders. We were lucky that she even opened the door." Cloud replied.

Zack was about to say something funny about small communities and their kids when the door opened again and the woman came out followed by a big burly man with arms the size of tree trunks and tattoos covering his considerable forearms. Zack immediately didn't like the man, and it had nothing to do with the sneer on his ugly face, or the way that he eyed Cloud like a peace of mean, although that didn't sit well with him either, there was something that was simply off about the man.

"This 'ere is my partner," The woman said, "He will be goin' with you on the boat to make sure it is brought back. We will talk 'bout the price on the way down to the shore."

To anyone else Cloud still looked the complete picture of calm, but Zack could now see the slight tenseness in his shoulders and the way that he moved so that he didn't expose his back to the couple for even a second as they all began walking down to the shore. So Cloud didn't like the feeling of the man either? That was a bad sign.

Zack walked a little bit behind them all, only half listening as Cloud and the woman bartered on a price. The big man stayed completely silent throughout it all, his eyes rarely moving away from Cloud as they walked. To Zack it seemed like the man was more likely to slit their throats and steal all their stuff than to simply come along for the ride to bring the boat back. Zack would have preferred to find someone else to get a boat from, but then he remembered what Cloud had just said about these people not liking strangers, so they would just have to put up with these freaks, they would have to keep their guard up the entire time though.

Finally Cloud and the woman settled on the, rather steep, price of 180 Gil.

"When do you wan' ta leave?" The woman asked as they approached a small group of rickety wooden boats. On closer look they weren't all that bad; they would safely get them across, but they looked like they hadn't seen a lick of care in the past 10 years, and they certainly were not worth the price they were paying. Cloud looked over to Zack for a quick moment before turning back to the woman.

"As soon as we can." He answered.

She seemed to think about it for a short while before nodding and making a horrible noise in her throat that might have been a grunt of acknowledgment before pointing to one of the medium sized boats with a small motor that looked like it would give out any time.

"You can take that one. Nort will be ready within the 'our to set off."

"Not a problem. Thank you." Cloud replied, nodding once.

The woman and 'Nort' turned and went back up towards the house, turning back to check on them occasionally.

"Can't we just steal a boat?" Zack asked once he was sure they were out of hearing range. Cloud shook his head.

"They wouldn't leave the boats like this unless they were sure that we couldn't just take one."

Zack had to agree with that, even as crappy as the boats looked, no one would leave them as they were unless they were sure that nothing would happen especially in a fishing village.

"Cloud, I really don't like that guy." Zack finally admitted.

"Me neither, but if we wait here too long then we risk the Turks coming along, and the chances of finding anyone else to lend us a boat are rather slim. Between the two of us, we should be able to handle him if things get rough."

"There is just something about him that sets me on edge... I think it would be safer to try our luck elsewhere."

Cloud looked at him for a long moment, obviously trying to weigh their options.

"We have an hour." Cloud said, "We can ask around and see if we have better luck, if we do then we go with that and if not we leave with the brute."

Zack smiled brightly, he was sure that there had to be someone else in the village that could help them.

XxXxX

Nearly an hour later Zack was pissed off.

They had to have tried every single person in the area, and no matter how much they offered, they were lucky if they even got the chance to ask. Stupid rural people and their tiny little fishing communities.

"Come on Zack, there is no point wasting time. Let's just get it over with, it will only take a couple of hours to get across, sooner if the water is calm, and then we will be on solid ground. I don't like it any more than you do, but it is a risk we need to take."

"Okay..." Zack conceded with a pout.

The two made their way back to the small bit of beach where they would be setting off in the medium sized boat with a big man that had both of them on edge. The woman and Nort were both waiting for them when they got there. Nort was dressed in the typical fisherman gear that would keep him warm and relatively dry with a small bag over his shoulder that looked tiny on his big frame.

Cloud inwardly grimaced as he walked over and handed the agreed 180 Gil to the woman, feeling her hungry eyes watching him count out each Gil and hand it over. He could only image how much she would charge if he was someone weaker or more naive.

Without a word Nort made his way to the boat, and with one of his big hands he lifted the side of the boat and felt around underneath until he shifted a large metal spike that was positioned so that it would have definitely torn a hole in the bottom of the boat if someone had simply tried to drag the boat down to the water.

Once the boat was mostly in the water, the large man motioned for Cloud and Zack to climb aboard before pushing off so that they floated out onto the relatively calm surf where he expertly started the motor and they were quickly on their way.

Cloud and Zack sat at the front facing the back so that they could keep their eyes on Nort as they began their journey across a thankfully calm sea. After nearly and hour or so Zack was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get over to the other shore without an incident. Nort had done nothing but steer the boat in complete silence so far, and despite the wind being a bit chilly, the weather was nice enough. Zack looked across at Cloud, only to see that the blond was looking a little but more pale than usual.

"You okay?" Zack asked quietly.

"Yeah," Cloud replied, "I was never much good with transportation, and boats still don't go down so well."

Zack chuckled softly as he realised that Cloud was seasick. He could almost not believe it.

"Just hold out, we must be over half way by now." Zack encouraged.

Cloud smiled at Zack as he pushed the queasy feeling down. He had been quite happy when he had recovered most of his memories and he had realised that his motion sickness had pretty much gone away, and since then he had spent so much time on Fenrir and on Cid's air ships and many other kinds of transport that he had hoped that he had been fully cured.

There was suddenly a harsh jolt to the boat that left Zack and Cloud struggling for balance as the boat surged upwards as though it had hit something, but before Cloud could even turn around to see what it was there was a strangled shout from Zack and he looked over to see Zack get dragged up and out of the boat by what looked like a demon octopus, but it was the black eyes that stared back at him that raised every alarm in his mind. Without hesitation Cloud stood up with the intention to dive in after Zack who had been pulled under but before he could make his move towards the edge he suddenly had his feet pulled out from underneath him so that he landed hard on his back in the bottom of the boat, his sword trapped beneath him for the moment.

Large hands closed over his throat as a heavy weight settled on his chest and Cloud found himself looking up into the pitch black eyes of Nort.