Another chapter is here!
Kazeshuriken: Wait and see is right.
Enjoy!
Cloud panted as he stood with his blade at the ready once more, exhaling with hot and heavy breaths that knocked loose the beads of sweat that dotted his brow and left the drops trailing down his skin in streamlets. Opposing him was the former Second-Class SOLDIER several yards away, a bright glare coming from the sword wreathed in flames through a combination of an Elemental and Fire Materia. The distance between them could be swallowed up in two seconds at best once the pause in the exchange came to an end.
The clarity that came from their sparing session was welcomed in contrast to the bitter uselessness he felt since Costa del Sol. The feeling of her body covered in blood in his arms and the memories of her falling to the ground both lingered freshly in his thoughts if he didn't have something to occupy his mind. Things could have been worse, and would have been if not for Red XIII's warning and her response.
But Cloud couldn't shake the feeling that he should have been better, and he couldn't remain in the same place that she was while haunted by that feeling. He couldn't sit and watch the evidence of his failure in her pallor as it slowly regained its fair tone. He needed a distraction other than festivities within the confines of the Gold Saucer, away from the people who looked so joyous and ignorant of how close someone he cared about came to losing their life.
So he took to exploring the Mountain Path and tracks, hunting down whatever monster he could for the visceral distraction and experience that combat provided. He avoided the Mako Reactor. It looked abandoned, but he didn't want to risk Shinra becoming aware of where they were again and sending someone else to finish the job they started while she was recovering.
Others came with him, but they didn't talk much. He had nothing he wanted to say, and they had nothing they could say to him on the subject. He just continued his trek and slew monsters wholesale until Kunsel provided him with an actual challenge for once.
A bestial roar in the distance made it clear that Red XIII and Yuffie were still occupying themselves with the monsters that became curious to the sound of steel sliding against steel prior. It served as the beacon to start again. Cloud raised the Buster Sword and crossed the distance in the span of heartbeats to bring it down in an overhead cleaving motion.
The former Second-Class escaped the slash with an angled step and pivoted, bringing the rapier around towards his neck.
Cloud reared his head back so the hot steel missed, but the wild flowing fire-mane that followed in the blade's wake flared in his eyes. He braced the Buster Sword and set the flat of the blade to guard his front, sparing him from being caught by the follow-up slash while his eyesight rapidly recovered. Then he pushed forward to open enough space to swing again and repaid him with a flurry of slashes.
Kunsel avoided what he could and parried what he couldn't, but he didn't try to block outright against the larger sword.
Cloud pressed on that. Strength and speed were his advantages and he had to stick with them. The worst thing he could do was give him too much space. That's when the spells came out, shaped flames battering against his skin and searing his flesh if he was too slow to block or dodge.
After it was clear he wouldn't get away easily, Kunsel swung his blade along the ground and unleashed a Fire 2 spell point-blank at their feet. The sudden flare of heat and debris forced them apart, with neither escaping unharmed. But it bought him the breathing room he so desperately needed.
Not this time, Cloud triggered the Earth Materia in the slot and slammed the Buster Sword down. The ground rippled and upturned from the epicenter, costing Kunsel his footing and sending him falling backwards. Cloud chambered the Buster Sword and leapt towards him as he entered into a back-roll, putting all of his strength into the next blow.
Kunsel extended his bangle-equipped arm and used the Gravity Materia on it. A Demi 2 spell slammed the aerial swordsman from above and abruptly brought him to his hands and knees. The former Second-Class SOLDIER was on his feet and had his sword at Cloud's throat the moment the spell wore off.
"You have the technique of how to use a sword, but not the experience," Kunsel said as he perched the flat of his blade against his shoulder. He followed with a Cure spell from the second materia on his bangle to deal with the injuries and minor burns. "You're stronger than I am, but rushing in and trying to press that will only get you so far against someone skilled or flexible with materia."
"Again," Cloud demanded as he stood up and readied the sword once more. "I'm not do—"
"You've got a call!" Yuffie interrupted, suddenly popping up Red XIII in tow. The latter had a new Diamond Pin on his head, while the former had a PHS in her hand that looked similar to the one Cloud had seen belonging to the former Second-Class.
Kunsel was apparently of the same mind, because he looked at it and then patted his pockets down to feel they were empty. Yuffie only smiled a little smugly when he snatched it back and then walked past Red XIII towards the Gold Saucer with a skip in her step. Kunsel held the phone up to his ear for a few moments and then placed it back into his pocket. "Crimson's awake."
Cloud slung the heavy blade onto his back, the metallic ring of the magnet signaling it being locked into place. "Was there any long term damage?"
"I'll go and talk to the doctor overseeing her and ask them." He walked forward until he was next to Cloud and added. "You'd do better in a fight if your head wasn't weighed down by the need to escape from blaming yourself. Accept what happened and then push on, Cloud."
Cloud didn't say anything to that as Kunsel walked on, leaving him alone with his thoughts….
[-oOo-]
The sound of her PHS buzzing briefly drew Tifa attention away from the company she was keeping. The Gold Saucer catered to a large clientele base and so they had a large variety of drinks available for her to sample at the bar. She set down the half-empty glass, answered to get an update on the situation from Aerith, and then declined to go check up on her on two fronts.
The first reason was that she knew from personal experience that the last thing she would want was for someone who she could barely tolerate seeing her when she was at her weakest and pitying her. The second was that it reminded her too much of the time she had to be carried all the way to Midgar on Zagan's back while he struggled to keep her alive, much like they had done to reach the Gold Saucer. That was a memory she never liked to think of because it reminded her of when she was so weak she couldn't even take care of herself, something she trained to ensure would never happen again.
Tifa turned her attention back to Barret as he gestured for the bartender to pour him another drink and leave the bottle behind. It was by chance she had run across him in the Gold Saucer an hour ago, smelling of chocobos and gunpowder, fiddling with a necklace he didn't have before and nursing several bruises and hastily patched wounds. Whatever it was that happened to him seemed like it killed off a part of him and to fill the void he was spending every Gil he had on whatever would get him drunk the fastest.
"So what we're you talkin' about again?" he asked as the bartender filled the glass once more and set the bottle down. "You were at the part where you got the guy from Shinra."
"Hojo said the original incarnation of AVALANCHE was no better than Shinra when we finally managed to get answers out of him. They killed innocent people just to try and stop them from harming the Planet. It's been bugging me since then, and since you we're likely to know best…."
"And you believed the crap that came outta his mouth?" Surprisingly, there was no offense in his tone at the accusation. A contrast to the rough and assertive tone she had come to expect from such a question.
"I wouldn't believe him based on his own words, not after everything he's done. But we had someone who could tell whether he was lying or not with a materia. She confirmed that they were the ones responsible for Sector 6 being destroyed just to try and get to Shinra."
"Is that right?" He knocked down the entire glass and sighed, staring at the ice in it. "To be honest, I don't know much. I just ran into someone who told me about how they were goin' against Shinra. If it's true then I can't say I wouldn't have done the same and left it out. Hell, at this the point I'll be damned if I know anymore what's right or wrong."
"That's not like you," Tifa pointed out. "You always sounded so sure of what you were doing before."
"If this was before what happened in Sector 7, I'd say that damn near anything was worth it to take them down for the Planet. But livin' in Cosmo Canyon with Marlene before trackin' down rumors until I came here and…." He trailed off, looking down to his gun-arm. "It gave me some time to think, and now I'd be lyin' if I didn't say that most of it wasn't just out of revenge for what happened in Corel."
"You mean the shantytown on the way up the mountain?"
"Those are the ones who are left after Shinra rolled in and shot up the place." He let that last bit of information linger as he poured another glassful of the strong alcohol. "The real Corel is buried under this place, housin' scum and corpses left forgotten by the world after the Mako Reactor was supposedly sabotaged. Shinra used that as an excuse to try and kill everyone they could while drivin' those that made it away."
"Just like my home, huh…." She could still remember the glow and heat of the fires from that time, cinder and fume filling the air. The pain of Sephiroth's sword and the hatred she felt for everything that led to her home and family dying still smoldered within her.
"I told myself that Marlene deserved a world she can live in that's not a wasteland when I decided to form AVALANCHE and go to Midgar," he continued. "But I just wanted those bastards to pay for what they did. And in the end, what did we accomplish in the end?"
The answer wasn't one that needed to be said when silence did the trick. In the end, everyone blamed AVALANCHE for the plate falling and drove them out. The news of the refugees joining the people who dropped the plate in the first place had also been a bitter pill to swallow when Tifa learned about it.
"How are the others taking it?" she asked. "Marlene? Biggs? Wedge? Jessie?"
"Marlene is fine, but the other three…." Barret's tone dropped, laced with bitterness. "Biggs' sister hates him because she lost some friends there and blamed him too. Wedge lost his brother during the fall. And Jessie… sometimes she just stares down at her hands for minutes on end without a word. Planet's no closer to being saved either, so I can't tell them that it was worth it in the end. Some leader I am."
There wasn't much she could say to him after that. He wasn't in the mood to hear her say otherwise, and she'd be a hypocrite if she said that her actions weren't just as driven by revenge against the people who had burned down her home as his were. If she had to be honest, that was as good as any reason to fight against them and revenge wasn't an inherently bad thing—not against Shinra.
But their methods had been. Wantonly bombing the reactors had been no different than something that Shinra would do and the collateral damage had been enough to make people see AVANLANCE as extremists. That was why they were quick to blame them when Shinra said they destroyed the pillar, because it became plausible in their eyes.
Now the next time she fought against their military it was very likely she'd be fighting her neighbors, who lost their homes and families partly because of the actions she and the others had taken.
That was a thought she'd rather try drinking away herself. "Bartender, another round."
[-oOo-]
Crimson stared at the Summoning Materia in the palm of her hands while lying on the bed in the Infirmary, fighting off the growing weariness she felt. She was alone now that Aerith had gone off with her blessing to get some well-deserved rest. The others had given her courtesy visits as well, except for Lockhart and Cloud.
She was actually grateful they didn't since she wouldn't likely be able to stomach feeling pity from them. Aerith was sympathetic and blamed herself somewhat, but they had more common ground after their last discussion. Red XIII was a warrior and didn't show pity outwardly, likely because he also had a high sense of pride. Kunsel knew the risks and understood her well enough to simply keep things on point, giving her information from the doctor on the extent of her wounds and how long she'd be sitting out of a fighting role. Yuffie was also surprisingly mature during her visit… at least until she saw Ramuh's Summoning Materia.
It was different with Lockhart, who was someone she didn't want to see in her current state out of a sense of pride. They weren't enemies by any stretch at this point, Crimson even had a begrudging respect for the woman's strength and how she didn't back down even in the face of a threat. But they weren't friends and, as much as her rage against Shinra was justified, Crimson wouldn't likely forgive her for turning Cloud into a terrorist when she'd spent a good deal of her life dealing with extremists on both ends.
With Cloud… it just embarrassed her to be seen so weak and helpless, needing to be carried in his arms from what Kunsel told her. She promised him as in the church that she would be with him every single step of the way in getting his memories back. Things only got harder along the way, and she admitted to him that she hadn't expected it to do so, but she had no regrets.
Then Tseng shot her and shattered it all like glass, the nightmare that followed leaving her with doubts that she couldn't shake without the assurance of Aerith and a promise from a summoning to be put to death if she became a monster. If he'd seen her when she woke in a panic, it would have been unbearable to look him in the eyes.
She sighed at the thought when the sound of the door opening reached her ears.
Cloud's voice followed. "Crimson, are you awake?"
"I'm awake." She sat up in the bed and put the materia away. "At least for a little while longer."
He shut the door, placed the Buster Sword against the wall gently, and took a seat in the chair next to the bed, where Aerith had been. "And how are you feeling?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I've been better, but I'm alive. I won't be able to fight for a bit directly, but we'll leave the Gold Saucer as soon as we can and get back to our quest. Cosmo Canyon isn't that far and after we drop off Red XIII we'll go to the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim."
"I've been thinking about what happened at Costa del Sol a lot." He kept his eyes down, not daring to meet hers. "You shouldn't have been hurt like that in the first place. I should have been able to do something."
"You did your best," she said, keeping her tone at a gentle level. "I should have guessed the Turks would be called in, but I didn't and I paid the price. Even so, everyone made it out alive and we got the information we needed."
"If you or the others die helping me then the information won't be worth it," he said, looking over his shoulder to the blade perched against the wall. "I've lost too many people as it is to Sephiroth and Shinra, even if I can't trust my own memories. So when I thought you had died, I… I didn't take it well."
He took a deep breath before he continued. "I don't want to go through that again. But, even if I told you to stay here or if I went off ahead to fight Sephiroth alone, you and Tifa would be right behind me. So I'll do better from this point on and protect you all."
"…Okay then," Crimson told him. It wasn't in her to argue against needing protection given her current condition and mindset. "Just the same, I… we won't be happy if you got hurt defending us either. I'll do my best to avoid putting us in a spot like that again, but don't be reckless in trying to shield us from everything—"
She abruptly covered her mouth as a yawn slipped out. The weariness she felt had become more pronounced. Crimson couldn't hide it well as she continued on, notable pauses in-between her words. "We're not… helpless…Cloud."
"You need your rest," he said. "Go back to sleep. I'll stay here and keep watch this time."
"You don't have to if you don't want to." Crimson's head lowered itself onto the pillow, its seductive embrace beckoning her into slumber. "I'm okay now."
"It's not fair to the others if I don't when they've done their part." He draped the bed sheet over her carefully despite her offer for him to leave. "Just rest easy, okay?"
Crimson didn't protest any further as she drifted off to sleep. This time the nightmare was nowhere to be found….