This chapter is dedicated to all the amazing people who responded to my pleas for info on cold weather. You are all amazing. I was shocked by the detailed responses I received and I hope what I use from your responses fits with my desire to be accurate but still entertaining.
I plan to put a new poll up-regarding the song suggestions from a few chapters back. Please submit your choices. :D
Chapter 31: The Cold is Snow Laughing Matter
After bringing Aerith back to the shell structure, they slept through the rest of the night and a good way into the next morning. For the first time in over a week, Zack smiled as he bounced around helping with morning tasks. "I'm glad we got you back safely," Tifa confided to Aerith while she carefully sewed the Ancient's severed hair ribbon back together. "Zack has been a mess since you left, and that made working with Cloud's issues all the harder."
Aerith sighed and nodded sadly. "I can tell. No matter where he goes or what he does, he keeps me in view... You know why I had to leave though, right?" she plead, her eyes begging for understanding.
"We know why you went," Yuffie agreed slowly from where she leaned against Red XIII a few feet away. "But…" she trailed off, her brow furrowing, unsure how to phrase what she wanted to wanted to say.
"What our young companion struggles to articulate," Red interjected smoothly, "is her confusion regarding why you felt it necessary to proceed alone."
"The hell with 'why'," Cid huffed shaking his head. "What I wanna know is how she got up here all alone so fast when we still had the Tiny Bronco."
Aerith paled, her eyes darting around guiltily before she said in a high pitched, falsely cheerful voice, "Never mind that guys, we need to decide what to do now." She carefully avoided anyone's gaze, her smile obviously forced.
"Somethin' stinks here," Barret grumbled, narrowing his eyes at her.
Aerith shifted nervously and looked down, her arms crossed over her chest and a faint flush on her cheeks.
"The Turks gave her a ride in one of their helicopters," Cloud interjected as he climbed up the ladder from the first floor, his hair still slightly damp from his shower. "And before you ask," he directed to Zack, "Kunsel told me when I texted him a few days ago."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Yuffie demanded, planting her fists on her hips and puffing out her cheeks. Several other members of the party murmured their agreement.
Vincent wasn't one of them. He shook his head and interjected, "He didn't say anything because as Aerith said, it isn't really that important."
Cloud nodded and took in the assembled members of their group before straightening his shoulders and speaking. "We've had a long, hard journey here. We faced many dangers together. Things have been hard so far and they're bound to get harder. It looks like our only choice now is to head north and try and keep Sephiroth from the Promised Land so he can't summon Meteor."
Cloud folded his arms and shook his head. He spoke fervently and in a low voice, almost to himself as he continued, "I can't believe it has come to this. I started on this trip in hopes of gaining some closure, maybe even some revenge... I thought it was my plan and my own will, but now… now I'm not entirely sure."
He raised his left hand and stared blindly at his open palm and in a louder voice said, "There are parts of myself that I don't fully understand. The part that made me give Sephiroth the Black Materia, the part that pressured me to attack Aerith. Despite all my struggling against that part, if you hadn't been fast enough Zack, she would have died." He lowered his hand and then nodded to Zack before turning his back to the group.
"There's something inside of me, something that goes against everything I care for and believe in," Cloud continued. Vincent shifted slightly at this admission, the leather of his normal glove creaking under his tight fist. Cloud shook his head once and then turned back around. "That's why I should quit this journey before I end up doing something you can't prevent."
"No!" Tifa cried. She jumped to her feet, Aerith's half repaired ribbon fluttering to the floor. Zack's expression grew thunderous and he looked ready to drag Cloud along by the back of his pants if needed. Barret cleared his throat and traded a meaningful look with the former SOLDIER. Their teeth flashed in brief smiles but Cloud wasn't finished.
"But…" Cloud said quietly, not in a tone of protest but a tone of almost defeat. He raised his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist. "But I am going to continue. He destroyed our hometown five years ago," he said with a nod to Tifa. "He tried to kill Aerith," this time directed to Aerith and Zack. "And now he's trying to destroy the whole Planet. I can't just sit back and let him do that."
He clenched his fist so tightly his arm trembled and declared, "I will go on... but I have a favor to ask all of you." He looked up from his fist, meeting the eyes of each of his traveling companions individually before continuing. "Will you all go with me? Will you help me, and keep me from doing something terrible at the command of this strange part of me?"
"Hell man," Cid scratched the back of his head. "The way I figger it, we stay back we're gonna die. If we go with ya' we might die or we could even make it. I'll take livin' with a chance of death over certain death any day."
Barret snorted and clapped Cid on the back in silent agreement before huffing, "Ya' know we're with you ta' the end of the line Spiky. I started on this ride 'cause I wanted Marlene to have a good world when she grew up. 'Seems now the mission is makin' sure there is a world and that she gets the chance to grow up."
"And as for keeping you from doing something awful," Tifa huffed. "I'm sure the offer to smack you out of it is still in force for all of us." She nodded firmly and slid down the shell wall to retrieve Aerith's ribbon.
Cloud studied the group intently, reading the sincerity and determination in their eyes, he nodded. In a firmer voice he ordered, "Well then, let's pack up and get moving. We've got a long way to go and Sephiroth has a head start on us."
After all the practice from their days on the road, the building was swiftly swept for any forgotten belongings before they left. Once assembled outside, Yuffie mused, "I wonder which way Sephiroth went?"
A piercing ringing filled Cloud's ears and he clapped his hands over them while his vision went a sickly greenish yellow. Sephiroth walked casually down the lane north of them. A wide smirk crossed his face as he met Cloud's gaze and then vanished.
"Cloud!" Aerith's voice broke through the ringing and her hand on his arm banished the green haze.
He shook his head and pointed north. "He said he needed to go north past the snowfields. That path looks like the only one to go beyond the capitol building. Sephiroth took that road."
"Why would he take a trail if he can fly?" Vincent asked suspiciously.
"He wants us to follow him," Red XIII huffed reminding the others of his statements when they found the slain Midgard Zolom. "There's no sense in baiting a trap if your quarry can't reach it."
The trail past the massive coral ridge led to a narrowing valley that finally terminated at a cave. Later, most of the party would decide that the less said about the horrific experiences in the caverns the better.
The horrors ranged from climbing stone chimneys to the crazy, ghost-shaped monsters called "Hungry" that shrunk and then tried to eat Zack. No matter how much a sinister part of Cloud thought it a dose of karma, he refused to let the creatures succeed. After the fourth time, Zack swore, "Damn it, stop laughing Cloud!"
Cid scratched the back of his head, tracking Zack's growth as the remedy Aerith administered took effect. "Don't look like he's laughin' ta' me," the older man huffed, switching his gaze to the silent blond and back.
"Trust me, he's laughing," Zack accused, his annoyed growl sounding much less impressive from someone the size of a toddler.
Barret snorted, "It's 'cause Cloud's the only one who hasn't cracked a laugh at 'im. The expectation's drivin' 'im up the wall."
The pilot scratched his chin, his gaze swinging between the two before huffing, "Eh, guess I can see that. For all I know he is laughin' in some…" he waved his free hand, "band 'o brothers, former Shinra co-workers language thing."
A baffled silence fell until Yuffie shook her head and huffed, "That or he's paranoid."
The corner of Cloud's mouth gave a slight twitch, busy glaring at the young Wutaian, Zack missed it.
Much like previous ventures through caves, Cloud would pause at certain junctions and seek out some piece of treasure or useful potions. Unlike the other caves however he announced, "These paths are too difficult for some of us to manage only to have to struggle our way back."
"I hear ye' laddie," Cait Sith huffed, slumping against a cluster of broken stalagmites. "My mog isn't built for this kind of travel. Tight spaces…" he trailed off.
"I second that," Barret growled, dabbing a rag from Tifa along an abrasion one of the tight passages caused on his broad shoulders.
Obviously relieved at the show of solidarity, Red XIII slumped down to bite off a claw he cracked several passageways back. Cloud nodded at the three and took Yuffie, Zack, and Vincent while the rest of the group stayed behind to tend to injuries or rest up for the next tight passage.
One such side trip resulted in Cloud discovering a Hypno Crown. The smooth gold band rose in three rounded points with a large, smoothly polished oval garnet in the center. He turned it over in his hands a few times before offering it to Cait Sith.
"This should go well with your manipulate materia," he explained while the feline turned it over in his hands. "I can sense some additional compulsion powers in it which should be useful if we need to manipulate more monsters.
Cait Sith was quite pleased with the gift. Though much too large for his head he first wore it like some weightlifter's prize belt then changed his mind and looped it around his mog's right bicep like a piece of jewelry.
Eventually the array of chimney chutes and cracks in the stone of the mountains gave way to a wider cave system. Cloud led them unerringly through a complex maze of stone tunnels, made all the more dizzying through the uncertain light of cobbled together torches, mako, and phosphorescent moss.
In the wider chambers they clambered over slick flowstone and around spikes and columns of stalagmites. Their lights flickered off the damp formations and deep pools of water, their glass-like surfaces only broken by periodical drips from above. "This place is amazing," Aerith breathed to Zack her eyes locked on delicate clusters of crystals sparkling on the wall to their left. "If we didn't need to catch up to Sephiroth…"
He grimaced and nodded sharply once. "Maybe when all this is over we can come back and take our time?" he offered.
She smiled softly and nodded, "I'd like that."
A few tight squeezes and chambers later, Red XIII perked up and said, "I smell fresh air."
Sure enough, the ambient light increased when they rounded a bend in the room and blazed almost blindingly from the opening that served as the exit. A fine crust of ice and snow dusted the floor of the brightly lit opening. Yuffie shivered when the breeze reached her and muttered, "Okay, this might be a problem."
Cloud nodded grimly and met Tifa's eyes. As the ones most familiar with the cold, they'd need to watch for signs of overexposure in the others. They were most worried about Aerith and Yuffie, with one's sheltered time in Midgar and the other's near tropical homeland their reactions to exposure could be deadly.
Despite being raised in a location that reached temperatures well below freezing early in the year, even Tifa and Cloud found the transition from the cool but consistent temperatures of the cave system to the icy plain jarring to their systems. "Hoo that's brisk!" Zack huffed with a laugh. He puffed a cloud of condensed air and tried to make a smoke ring. "I never could figure out how to make a ring," he laughed after several failed attempts while they hiked out of the narrow canyon concealing the cave system.
Tifa and Cloud raised their eyebrows at each other and Cloud smirked, nodding to the young woman. Tifa walked past Zack to Cloud's side, casually puffing three smoky rings. Zack shook his fist playfully at her back.
"Normally I ain't big on complainin'," Barret called to Cloud, "But I'm from the desert and ain't got a shirt on. How long we gotta be out here in this cold?" he asked, rubbing at the goosebumps forming near the metal port of his gun arm. Cloud looked back and frowned at the man's arm, mentally making a note to keep an eye on it since the metal connection would leech heat out of his body even faster than his bare skin.
Cloud peered up at the overcast sky and then the mountains around them before grimacing. "Unfortunately Barret, if I've got our location right-"
"And he always does," Zack murmured as an aside, though his brow lowered at the grim expressions on Tifa and Cloud's faces.
Cloud shot his friend a quelling look and huffed. "Much like when we left the Nibel Mountains to head for Rocket Town, we've got the arm of a mountain range to go around. We can probably still travel for a few hours before it gets too dark."
"In other words, how long we're out here depends on how fast we walk," Aerith sighed, rubbing her arms and squinting across the glittering white expanse of snow.
Cloud and Tifa exchanged another silent look before Tifa nodded and said, "I'll make some tonight, I've got some spare fabric."
"Somethin' tells me we ain't gettin' even half the conversation 'tween you two," Cid grumbled testing the depth of the snow ahead of him with the butt of his Dragoon Lance.
"Sorry," Tifa apologized. "It's just, since Cloud and I were born and raised in the mountains where it snows and gets intensely cold, we know a lot of the dangers this portion of the trip can bring. We're going to do our best to keep all of us safe and healthy. Part of that is keeping our eyes open for the symptoms of hypothermia and frostbite as well as guarding against snow-blindness. It is a good thing it is cloudy right now so it isn't quite as bright."
"Yeah but what about if it snows?" Yuffie asked through chattering teeth. Her eyes flicked to the clouds and the crease between her brows deepened
Vincent shook his head, "Those aren't snow clouds."
Yuffie huffed at the lack of explanation and hunched forward, trying to keep warmer in her minimalistic outfit. Cloud heaved a deep sigh and removed his White Cape, slinging the fabric around the young woman's shoulders. "You need this more than I do right now. I'll want it back though!" he cautioned in a half joking voice. She handed Cloud her Razor Ring to store away and cocooned herself in the shimmering white fabric.
She sighed in relief as his residual body heat leached away some of the chill and the sturdy fabric blocked the icy wind. "Thanks Cloud, sorry I won't be much of a help in battles though."
"We have sufficient warriors to combat any foes we encounter," Red XIII reassured her. "Should the direst need arise, you still bear half your materia." Her eyes widened and she nodded enthusiastically, ducking her head inside her cape-burrito to double check what materia was on her bracer.
One crisis averted,-or at least delayed-they traveled a small way farther before Zack's stomach rumbled in protest. He clapped his hands over it, cheeks going red. "Heh, looks like it is almost time to feed the beast. I don't suppose we could catch and cook something? The trail rations we've had to use over the last few days don't really satisfy the kind of metabolism SOLDIER treatments cause." Cloud laughed but nodded his head in agreement.
As if on cue, a trio of Jumping lived up to their names and hopped from their concealment to attack the group. The white hares' comically large ears flopped with each bounce. Each one carried a massive orange carrot. Even while he widened his stance for the impending attack, Cid cried, "Where in the blue blazes did they get those carrots?"
Barret snorted a laugh, "Hell if I care. Just means we get some veggies to cook with our meat!"
"But the poor bunnies!" Aerith protested, slightly torn since by leaving them in Gongaga, she'd gone even longer than the others without their makeshift camp meals. One of the hares lunged for Yuffie's vulnerable form and Aerith's sympathy vanished. Brows lowering she snarled, "Right, clean cuts or shots if you can manage it, we might be able to use the fur as well."
No one dared argue with the seething Cetra.
They killed and collected six more Jumping before a group of Bandersnatches attacked, drawn by the scent of the blood. With the sun setting and more animals to skin than they could feasibly carry, Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, and Barret staked out a patch of ground for their tents. A large distance away from their campsite, Tifa, Zack, and Aerith started skinning and preparing the game while Red XIII happily devoured the offal.
Yuffie huddled miserably half way between both groups, obviously torn. Cloud patted her back and jerked his head toward the tents in a silent order. She shuffled after him, a small piteous part of herself wondering if he was going to banish her to wait inside one of the tents. He didn't though. Instead he knelt and brushed the snow off a large flat stone. When he was satisfied with the area, he unclasped his pouch and pulled out the massive cooking pot and tripod.
Finished setting up the tents, Cid huffed, "Meat and pots are all fine and dandy, but I ain't seen a tree since that creepy forest."
Unperturbed, Cloud handed Yuffie some of the fluff they used as part of their kindling. She had been shocked at first when she realized some of the stuffed animals she'd won at the Gold Saucer were sacrificed as fire starters, but she'd been on her own long enough that she'd learned to take shortcuts where they were offered. Next he pulled out some small sticks and finally started stacking a pile of cut logs on the stone. He paused, raising an eyebrow at Yuffie and chagrined she started piling the wood to start their cook fire. As she started moving, some of the chill in her limbs ebbed away.
Cloud nodded approvingly and resumed stacking the logs with the speed and ease of long practice. Cid gaped for a few minutes and then cried, "When the hell did ya' get all that?"
The blond shrugged and replied, "Whenever we camped somewhere with plenty of wood I made sure to gather some extra and take what we didn't burn in case we ran into a situation where we didn't have wood to use. If we hadn't had driftwood back on Wutai's shore, I would have used some then."
"That fire was awesome by the way," Zack piped up from behind the trio. "I loved the colors. Too bad you didn't keep any of it, can you imagine how cool that would look with all this snow?" He laughed but didn't wait for an answer. He hefted the massive cauldron over to a pristine snowdrift and scooped it through the snow, filling it to overflowing. Cloud shook his head fondly and arranged the tripod over Yuffie's growing fire. He took the pot from Zack and laughed while the man saluted with the lid and made his way back to where Tifa, Aerith, and now Vincent were preparing the meat and carrots for their dinner.
Yuffie huddled by the fire and watched with interest as the others bustled about the camp. Zack gathered meat and vegetables for the pot on the lid and ferried it to the pot a few times before tossing spices in with the ingredients and now melted snow. While the stew cooked, Barret and Cid used the smaller pot to melt snow to refill their water supply.
The hot meal and sleep in the crowded but warm tents went a long way toward reviving Yuffie's spirits. Around the fire and during the night Tifa made wraps of spare cloth to protect their eyes from the brilliant sunlight. She'd also cobbled together some garish but warm fur pants and shirts from the skins of the Bandersnatches and Jumpings.
"They haven't been treated properly," she admitted while helping Yuffie into the furs the next morning. "So they might… no, they will start to smell after a while. Cloud did some drying with a very low powered fire spell but… at least we won't freeze as easily." She shrugged to Yuffie and Aerith before pulling on her own rather ugly pants.
"Shouldn't ya say we won't freeze?" Cid asked, grunting under the weight of Barret's chainsaw while the larger man pulled on his fur shirt.
Once he was dressed, Barret took the weapon with a small smirk and shook his head, "Naw, she's right. Even though this is better, ya' gotta respect Mother Nature. Sometimes she's a mother, and other times she's a mother fffu-uh," he trailed off at Aerith's gimlet glare and scratched the back of his head, failing to find a fitting alternative. "Well, ya' know what I mean right?"
Considering all the nasty things nature tossed out at him as a pilot, Cid nodded. Once out of the tents, the structures melted like morning dew and flickers of Lifestream. "Kinda sucks that we can only use those once," Yuffie muttered, returning Cloud's cape with a flourish.
Zack snorted and nodded. "Especially with how much they cost. You'd think you should be able to use them over and over."
"I always figured the cost came from whatever kept monsters from attacking during the night," Cloud interjected without looking up. He served out the last of the previous night's stew and angled the pot towards Aerith.
Grinning, she shot her soapy water spell into the pot and Cloud scrubbed the inside vigorously. When the camp was cleaned and the frozen strips of meat from the previous night carefully stowed away with the cookware Cloud led them on through the snowy fields.
Judging from Cloud's mental comparison of the area to the maps Kunsel made him memorize as a cadet, they emerged in one of many snowy aquifers in the Northern Continent's pervasive mountain range. The positive of this was most of their travel was downhill and they made relatively good time despite monster attacks and the difficulties of slogging through sometimes knee-deep or higher snow.
On their third day of travel however, they swung around the hook of one mountain range and as their path turned uphill, the trip grew to be more of a struggle. In the midst of all of this, Vincent's limit break upgraded and he transformed into Death Gigas. The monstrous transformation caused him to regress into silent self-loathing once he reverted back.
Yuffie rolled her eyes and scooped up his snow blindness rags and a little roughly tied it in place. "Stop moping you big goof," she huffed, her voice thick around the runny nose that developed that morning. "Nobody has normal limit breaks, why freak out that yours is a bit more physical? Cloud summons meteors and whirlwinds, Zack is apparently a limit break plagiarizer, I can make earthquakes." His shoulders slumped part way through her rant and he slowly turned back to face the others.
She wasn't finished however, "Barret somehow summons an attack from space, but as far as any of us know, neither Shinra nor anyone else has managed to get something up there. Who is he getting to attack for him? Aliens?"
"Aw damn," Barret clutched his head. "Ya had ta' ask that. Ya know how long and hard I've tried ta' ignore that question?"
"Since you learned the attack?" Vincent ventured weakly. Barret nodded and grumbled at the young woman, not truly angry at her.
"Hey," Tifa protested with her lower lip thrust out in a pout. "My limit breaks are martial arts moves, those aren't weird!"
"You picked up an Adamantaimai and suplexed it," Cid rebutted in a flat voice.
"And ye' summoned a dolphin out of solid ground," Cait Sith chimed helpfully.
Tifa's pout deepened. Barret snorted and huffed, "Give it up Teef, you know we're right."
Her lower lip stuck out impossibly further and then her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know," she sighed and then to Vincent she remarked, "Seriously though, your transformations are neither the scariest nor the weirdest thing we've seen on this journey."
Various expressions of pain, resignation, and disgust flashed across the faces of the rest of the group.
"I've only been with you crazies a few weeks," Cid snorted, "and if it's any indication of your previous times, you're sure as hell not exaggerating."
Things got a little dicey the next few days of travel. A biting wind swooped in and the sky darkened with impending storm and the temperature plummeted. While the threatening blizzard didn't arrive, the falling flurries had a life of their own and always managed to find the exposed gaps in their clothing. Yuffie's sniffles grew to wet coughs and shuddering chills. Cloud spotted Chocobo signs one evening and while she hacked and wheezed in the tent under Aerith's care he whispered to Zack, "If the storm breaks, I'll call a chocobo and you'll take her on to Icicle. She's fought hard but this cough of hers is getting worse."
Zack was torn, he didn't want to leave Aerith but he didn't want Yuffie to risk developing pneumonia. If things worsened for the rest of the party, at least with Cloud there he could potentially call more chocobos. He sighed and nodded.
Luckily for all of them, the weather held until late the next evening, the snow falling in thick flakes when they finally staggered into town. Uncaring of what buildings the town held other than the inn, they staggered in from the chill. Fully aware that they reeked from days of travel without washing and the uncured furs, Cloud didn't begrudge the scandalized innkeeper's slightly exorbitant price when he was assured hot baths and food they didn't have to hunt.
With a plastic smile he also offered some discarded winter clothes to tide the group over the next day until they could purchase their own suitable clothing. The poor man gathered their makeshift furs to dispose of with disgusted relief.
Late the next morning, after a hearty breakfast Cloud and the others explored the town while leaving Aerith and Cait Sith to watch over Yuffie. The evening storm coated buildings and streets with a sparkling layer of snow. A pair of old tractors with snow blades attached to their fronts sat buried to their hubcaps in the snow outside the inn. A few shop owners paid boys in over-large coats to scrape snow out of the doorways and paths of their businesses. Cheery golden light shone from the windows of most of the houses.
As had become their habit, Cloud's first stop was the town weapon shop. In the cold of the north, the blacksmiths weren't restricted by the threat of overheating while they worked, so the quality of metals usually ranged incredibly high. Cloud purchased new weapons for everyone but Red XIII and Cid, their current weapons higher powered than the ones in the shop though only narrowly.
Outside the weapon shop Cloud divided the party up into tasks. After portioning out a good supply of gil to each group he said, "Zack and Barret both of you hunt down supplies and clothing more suitable for this climate. Sadly it is only going to get colder as we head further north."
"I ain't fightin' ya on that," Barret huffed, stuffing the gil into his pockets. The only sweater that fit his massive frame was a garish red and green monstrosity declaring him "Santa in training". Zack actually loved his crazy midnight blue and blinding orange gingerbread sweater.
While they departed, Cloud turned to Tifa, Vincent, and Cid. "You three head to the local bar to hunt for information."
Cid grimaced down at his gray sweater that read "Let's get Egg Nog wasted" and then glared at Cloud. Tifa fought a smirk while tugging on her sweater. It was a lovely gray cardigan… missing most of the top buttons, leaving it to gape provocatively around her bust. Vincent and Cloud both went without grabbing anything. Mainly because the last remaining sweaters featured profanity on one and the other depicted Santa on a toilet.
While the trio set off across town Red XIII murmured, "I am unsure of my welcome in most of these homes and establishments. I will explore the town outskirts while you search the residential areas." Once the blond nodded his agreement he bounded off through the snow into the patchy woods around town.
Traveling counterclockwise, Cloud entered the house of a harried young woman. Piles of boxes crowded the front room and she paced back and forth, digging through first one box and then another. A child cried in the back room. "Excuse me ma'am," Cloud interrupted her distracted pacing. "It looks like you could use some help."
She looked up, the rims of her blue eyes red and damp with tears. She gaped at him from the strangely menacing Organics sword on his back to the silvery White Cape around his shoulders. The cries from the other room redoubled and her shoulders slumped, "We just moved here and I gave in to my son's demands to get a snowboard. Unfortunately, he hurt himself and since I haven't unpacked…He's not hurt badly enough to go to the town medic but..."
"You can't find your first aid kit," Cloud nodded in understanding. "I've got plenty of potions if you'd like one. If you prefer materia healing I'd have to call one of my companions but-"
"A potion would be perfect," she breathed, some of the tension leaking out of her shoulders. Cloud fished a potion from his pouch and handed it over. The woman scampered to the back room, the cries increasing in volume when she stepped in. Moments later Cloud snickered at the child's exaggerated gagging over the taste but the crying slowed and then descended into sporadic sniffles.
The grateful mother emerged from the bedroom, a marmalade cat weaving around her ankles and a boy no older than seven or eight on her heels. The child's cheeks were crimson and stained from his tears but his eyes were clear of pain. He walked unsteadily towards Cloud as if uncertain whether his no longer injured foot would carry him. His gaze lit on Cloud with the blooming fire of new hero-worship. "Thanks for the medicine mister! My leg doesn't hurt anymore!"
Cloud nodded and smiled at the child. "You're welcome, I'm glad you don't hurt anymore."
The boy's mother dug around in a purse she pulled from a shelf, "How much do I owe you for the potion?" she asked.
The blond shook his head and admitted, "Don't worry about it, I have more than we need and frankly we've upgraded to higher strength potions for this section of our journey. I'm glad I was able to help."
"I couldn't just take it without offering something!" she protested, wringing her hands.
"I know!" the little boy shouted dashing with a little more confidence back in his room. The boy huffed and grunted while he dug through his room, the sound of objects bouncing off the floor as they were flung around came through the doorway before he returned with a rainbow-gradient painted snowboard. "Here Mister! Take this for helping me!"
The boy's mother looked on the verge of relieved tears and took the board pressing it into Cloud's hands. "Yes, please take this!" With a little difficulty, Cloud repressed his snort of amusement. The mother seemed more than happy to get the dangerous equipment out of her home.
"Alright, I'll take this off your hands," Cloud agreed, tucking the board under his arm.
The little boy nodded, "That's good. Sally down the street said part of my problem was that's a grown up board. Maybe when I'm better with the snow I'll get one that's the right size." Fighting a laugh at the mother's constipated smile Cloud ducked out of the house and slipped the snowboard into his pouch.
Twin girls patted snow into a snowman outside the doorway of the next house. It was nearly as tall as Cloud but one of them said, "Next time we'll make it even bigger."
Smiling in amusement, Cloud entered the lodge. In the distinctive style of the area, a few petrified tree trunks served as both decoration and supports in the house. The living room of the house was warm, a cheery fire lit the room and a plump older woman in red and white smiled at him from the rocking chair by the fire. "Hello young man! What brings you to my humble home?"
Cloud scratched the back of his head and admitted, "My friends and I need to travel further north but…"
"But you don't know where to start?" she continued kindly. "Well young man, you've come to the right place! My name is Valerie Holzhoff and I run the snow sport supply shop in this town. The first thing you'll need to do is get down the slope to the fields. I've got plenty of skis I can sell you cheap. If you're more interested in snowboards or sleds I've got those too."
"I'll have to ask my friends what they'd prefer but I'm pretty sure I'll need at least two sets of skis." Cloud replied nodding his head. "I just picked up a snowboard and I'll need a sled or two for some of my companions." He shook his head with a faint hint of frustration.
She nodded, "That's alright dearie, when you know what you want, head on over. Though I'd be willing to cut you a bigger discount if you did a favor for me. Bring me the map off that wall and I'll explain." She pointed her chin over her shoulder to the wall behind her.
A large, simple map in sepia tones adorned the wall. Cloud unhooked the frame and held it angled toward the woman while she pointed at a red check mark at the top of the map. "Thirty years ago, my husband Marcus set across the Great Glacier to climb Gaea's Cliff with his friend Yamski. Marcus came back alone and broken. He spent the next ten years ferrying supplies out to the cliff, intent on building a cabin there to warn off travelers or something along those lines. His obsession and guilt destroyed the man I once loved."
"At the end of those ten years, he took his supplies, crossed the fields and never returned. While…" her breath shuddered with pent up tears, "While we were already in the process of divorcing at the time he vanished, I desperately would like to know what happened to him. If you can find any information, please let me know."
Cloud nodded solemnly, "I can't promise we'll find anything but we will search for clues."
"That's all I can ask," Valerie agreed, rolling the map up and handing it to Cloud. "Come back when you know what equipment you need. Feel free to take the items in the store room back there as well."
Cloud thanked the woman, picked up the Vaccine and Hero Drink, and left the house. Peering over the village he felt nothing from most of the houses, but one tugged at him. Circling around past the inn and the town bar Cloud felt drawn to a the dark home huddled behind the weapon shop. He'd felt the pull the instant they entered the town, but resisted it firmly, more concerned with getting the tired and cold group to shelter. Unfortunately, he'd run out of excuses. His feet and heart sank in his chest as he slogged through the un-shoveled walkway to the door of the empty home.
The unlocked door creaked ominously when Cloud lifted the latch. The air inside was chilly and stagnant with a faint hint of mold. An array of computers lined the wall to Cloud's left and to his right, a flight of stairs descended to a basement. He was impressed the machines still ran and the lights still flickered on with the casual flip of a switch. The heavy feeling pressed harder on him, tugging him to the machines, urging him to learn… something. He wasn't sure what. His footsteps paused over a foreboding black stain on the floorboards before he switched the machine on.
Back at the inn, Tifa chatted with Aerith and the recovering Yuffie. She dangled a small silvery bracelet set with green stones. "Then I saw the surfers from back in Costa del Sol at the bar, still wandering around in board shorts, can you believe it? So I asked them why they weren't freezing to death and they told me these bracelets will keep your body warm no matter how much or little you're wearing! They're a little pricey, but so much better than wearing nasty furs or being unable to move dressed like a marshmallow."
Aerith took one of the bracelets and hummed, "It's like some kind of fire materia, right?"
Tifa shrugged, "I think so… They didn't really explain it. I figure if they work we should use them."
"I'm all for it," Yuffie rasped, her voice still not recovered from the wracking coughs. "It would be nice to be able to move and deal death rather than smelling and feeling like it."
"The man who sold them to me warned that they cause a constant though small drain on our mana," Tifa explained, pulling one on and handing them to the other two. "I think with our strength and supply of Ethers we should be okay."
Zack and Barret staggered into their large room, their arms loaded with supplies, Red XIII entered close at their heels.
"Ya' know, we went ta' buy some warm clothin' for all of us," Barret huffed with a shiver while stripping out of his ugly Santa sweater. "An' ya' know what they told us? Go see Crazy McGee at the bar for some jewelry." He flung the sweater to the corner of the room with a scowl and then raised a single eyebrow at Tifa while he continued.
Tifa sheepishly smiled, already seeing where the rant was going.
"We get there ta' buy some of these 'magic bracelets' of his and what's he say?" Barret asked folding his arms across his chest.
"He said some woman just cleaned out his entire stock," Zack finished, shooting the gleaming pile of bracelets in Tifa's lap a pointed look.
Tifa giggled, shook one free of the tangle and tossed it to Barret. "To be fair," she chuckled, "he was at my assigned location."
Barret rolled his eyes and huffed when he caught the piece of jewelry. "This better be a stretchy one, cause ya' ain't lived till ya' tried to use a lobster claw catch with only one hand," he grumbled with a wince, thinking about his times indulging in dress-up with Marlene.
Luckily, the one she gave him was an elastic band. The silver settings spread comically far apart on his wide wrist. Cid smirked and opened his mouth to needle Barret about his jewelry knowledge but Cloud flung the door open, his mouth a flat, hard line.
His eyes flicked around the room, briefly pausing on Aerith before landing on Zack. "Zack, step outside with me," he commanded before leaving.
Brows drawn down in worry, Zack climbed to his feet and followed. Tifa's brows furrowed with concern while the rest of the group fell into an uncomfortable, anticipatory silence. She slid off the edge of Yuffie's bed and passed out the bracelets that would keep them warm while crossing the Great Glacier north of the village. Just after she finished explaining how to activate the accessory, Zack and Cloud returned, their faces grim.
Cloud tilted his head in silent question to his friend. Zack's frown deepened but he shook his head and walked to Aerith's side. Taking her hands in his own he said, "Aerith, Cloud says he found something you need to see." He tugged her gently to her feet and led the bewildered young woman out of their loft.
The instant he heard the pair leave the inn, Cloud's shoulders slumped. He walked to the wall, put his back to it, and slid down, shaking his head. "Cloud, what's going on?" Tifa asked, crouching by his side. She ran her fingers through his hair until he wearily looked up at her.
Kneeling right by him, she could see the faint lines of pain and the subtle reddening around his eyes. He sighed with emotional exhaustion and answered, "It is a personal matter, but you'll all need to know so we can help Aerith."
"Help Aerith?" Yuffie croaked.
Cloud nodded and explained, "One of the houses here was abandoned. Inside I found video recordings of Dr. Gast interviewing Ifalna about the Ancients, the calamity from the sky…"
"That was something Sephiroth mentioned back in Nibelheim," Cait Sith interjected loudly.
Cloud nodded but Tifa stiffened and murmured, "That name… Ifalna… I've heard it before, but where?"
"Aw damn," Barret hissed, his face crumpling. "That's the name of Aerith's Mama."
"You wouldn't be this distressed just over a video of her mother," Vincent interjected. "What more is there?"
"You're right," Cloud agreed. "There's audio of when she was named, video of when Hojo captured her and her mother… and audio of her father's death."
Yuffie cringed as if struck and sobbed, tears tracking from her widened eyes and down her cheeks. Cloud cursed and utilizing the inhuman speed and agility he usually kept in check, he flowed to his feet and across the room in a dizzying blur to cradle the distressed girl in his arms. Gently rubbing her back while she cried for Aerith, Cloud explained the pertinent information he gleaned from the video interviews.
"Sounds ta' me like we should try ta' wake up these Weapons," Cid declared after Cloud finished.
The blond was nodding in agreement and he opened his mouth to say something but before he could speak his head whipped to the door. It opened slowly and Zack slipped inside with Aerith curled in his arms and clinging to his neck as she cried. "Vincent," Zack said, his voice cold and hard. "If we haven't taken Hojo out by the end of dealing with Sephiroth, I'll help you hunt him down."
A fierce growl of agreement rose from the throats of the rest of the party. One way or another, Hojo would pay for all he'd done.
Chapter Notes: I wanted to include something about Yuffie's Aunt Shizuka… but couldn't find somewhere to slip her in *pouts* Oh well. Kudos to the last-minute guest reviewer who figured out what I was planning in regards to the cold and posted *just* before I was going to post (by the time I finished last night it was too late)
So I have a rant, feel free to skip it but don't forget to vote in the new poll!
I received my first "flame" on this story (and naturally it was a guest review so I couldn't respond directly):
The only thing I don't like is how often you make it clear how weak the female characters are. If it's not someone getting angry because a character shouted at a woman, it's a character being chastised for sending a woman out to do what you clearly consider to be "men's work". What happened to equality? What happened to women being just as tough as men are? Stop with the "women are delicate flowers who can't handle being yelled at or attacked by big scary monsters, and they need big strong men to protect them" crap. (end review)
….So I was of mixed feelings when I read this. First I thought "when did I have a character get angry because they shouted at a woman?" The only example I could think of was Cid yelling at Shera. Um… I'm not sure what kind of person you are if you think that abuse is justified. I would be ticked if it was a woman doing that to a man or a man doing it to another man. It is called "abuse" there's nothing against equality in that. Point shot down and dismissed, if you support Shera being yelled at like that, you're a horrible human being and I no longer care what you think.
The next point, a character being yelled at for sending a woman to do "what [I] clearly consider man's work"... I have no idea what this reviewer is talking about, anybody want to theorize?
"What happened to equality?" Um… evidence please? This story is over 170 thousand words at this point. When it comes to 'equality' I think I'm actually *easier* on the ladies. Is that it? I need to poke more fun at them?
The whole rest of this review doesn't make sense if someone has read my story. I mean, I had Tifa suplex a giant monster, Yuffie climbing cliffs, and Aerith dangerous in her own way. Does anyone else think someone randomly went around spitting their frustration here? Without any evidence to support their claims, I'm going to put it out that either they're having a bad day and I was where they wanted to vent, or they may be posting their angry review to the wrong story. Grrr.