Ch.1

Sephiroth walked quietly through the corridors of the facility with Cloud following right by his side. As they walked Cloud looked around every which way, his face constantly shifting from curious to worried. Everywhere he looked there were doors and hallways. Everything was a white color and looked rather dull with no decoration or anything. Though he started to notice something the further they walked.

"Why are there no windows to look outside?"

"I thought I said to not ask questions," Sephiroth stated, not once slowing his walking pace.

"But I gotta ask questions. My… my mom said if I was ever curious about the world I should always ask questions. So that way I can learn more!"

"Hmph…" Sephiroth grumbled softly. It was clear that this little kid wasn't going to let up any time soon, and if he was going to keep asking him, Sephiroth figured he might as well just give him what he wanted. "There are no windows to the outside because this building is underground. We are no longer privileged to see the sky anymore."

"But why?"

"The humans do not want us, the winged kind, flying about I suppose. They want to keep us here away from everyone else."

"But I thought…" Cloud came to a stop, staring down at the ground. "I thought I was human? Why do I have a wing now?"

Sephiroth actually stopped walking, turning around rather briskly to look at the child. He could see the worry and confusion in the child's eyes… and he could relate. Everyone here including himself felt that way at the start. But he wasn't about to let this child's thoughts become misguiding in anyway based on what he already knew prior to being brought here.

Sephiroth walked over to him and knelt down to his eye level. "That's what we all think at first. But then we find that we have a wing. We are not human, but something greater than that."

"Something greater?" Cloud asked softly. He raised his head to look at his wing. He stretched it slightly and watched as he made it move a little.

"We don't know the origins of why we are given a wing, but we have them and it makes us unique compared to humans. And humans fear things that are different, so they fear us. But we are not to be feared."

Cloud continued to stare at his wing, humming softly to himself while he thought over what Sephiroth was telling him. Even if he didn't quite understand all of it, he liked what Sephiroth was telling him. It made him feel a bit better than how he was feeling before, but he was still left with many questions.

"But why is my wing different? Everyone was saying it was different."

"We don't know, but I do not see it as a bad thing. It only makes you more unique. There are many of us here that have traits that stand out more than others. We are all winged ones, but we are also special in our own ways," Sephiroth replied. "Now… is that the last of your questions?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, I got a lot more! Like where are we going?"

"We are going to one of the smaller areas where my friends are."

"There's more? I thought there were a lot of people back there, but is there more everywhere here?"

"Yes, there are more of us around here. This building has been in place for hundreds of years from what I heard. With winged king showing up every seven years it does add up. Hojo… the detestable man who runs this place… is just a great descendant of the first human who created this place. Hojo just takes after what the rest of his family has been doing for all these years."

"Ooh… I think I get it. Let's go see your friends!"

Sephiroth shook his head before turning around to continue his walk. Once again Cloud was right beside him, now staring at him with a new curious look. "Why is your hair white?"

Sephiroth sighed again before coming to a stop. He stared down coldly at Cloud. "No more questions."

"But…"

"I don't want to be your teacher. I'm letting you follow me but I won't let you continue if you persist with all of these questions."

Cloud frowned, his eyes watering slightly. "I-I'm sorry…"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes at the little one's sadness. It wasn't something that he should be so upset about, but then again the child had recently been through a lot. He couldn't fault him for that.

"Fine. One more question for now, and then you stop asking, okay?"

Right away Cloud's demeanor changed. He smiled happily and nodded quickly. "Okay! I got it!"

"And for your answer. It isn't white, it is silver," Sephiroth replied as he ran a hand through his hair. "And to why I have silver hair, it is because I am a winged one. Not everyone has such unusual hair colors, but some of us do, and it is because we have a wing. Birds are known for having large ranges of colors, so we have come to assume the same can be applied to us."

"So is that why my hair is maybe more yellow like a chocobo?" Cloud asked, his voice a little softer than before.

"That can be a comparison if you want," Sephiroth said. He thought about telling Cloud off for asking another question, but he could see the boy had worry in his eyes again.

"Kids used to call me a chocobo head cause of it. Didn't know why my hair was so yellow… but you said it's cause I got a wing?"

"That would be the general assumption that we all have, yes. Now come, let's not waste anymore time."

Sephiroth began to walk once more, not waiting to see if Cloud was going to follow him, but sure enough Cloud was right by his side a second later. After a bit of walking down a hallway, they came to an open area that looked rather similar to the area that had the other winged people, but this was just a bit smaller. Cloud saw that there were a few sitting around at some tables and he began to wonder which ones were Sephiroth's friends.

Soon they approached a table that sat two young boys who looked around the same age as Sephiroth. One of them had straight, medium length black hair while the other had short red hair. When Sephiroth came closer to them, they right away looked to Cloud and then to Sephiroth.

"So, he's one of the new ones?" the raven-haired one asked.

"What a unique wing," the other mused.

Cloud quickly moved behind Sephiroth, holding on to his shirt. The other two let out small laughs at the sight. Then the raven-haired one spoke up again. "Well Seph, what on earth did you do to get the little guy to follow you?"

"I did nothing of the sort. He chose to follow me for whatever reason."

"Sephiroth stood up for me!" Cloud said, popping his head out from behind Sephiroth. "Everyone was staring. Staring at my wing saying things and then Sephiroth told them not to say those things!"

"So now you are a motivational speaker? Wish I had actually gone now to see this." the redhead said.

"I only told the others to not look down upon him for having a different wing. That was all."

The redhead chuckled lightly. "Sure, if you say so." He then looked over to Cloud. "So why don't you introduce yourself to us, little one?"

Cautiously Cloud stepped out from his hiding spot and approached the table. "My name's Cloud. Are you Sephiroth's friends?"

"Yes we are," the redhead replied. "My name is Genesis."

"And I am Angeal."

"And you all have wings too? The Rinoa lady said that everyone has a wing here, and Seph said you two have a wing as well. Is it true?"

"Yes, that is true, we all have wings. Each is unique from the next, but that is what makes us all special," Genesis replied.

"Will I get to see all your wings?" Cloud asked.

"In due time when we wish to show. We usually keep them hidden for the time being unless we are to go flying in the caverns."

"Hidden and flying in the caverns?"

Angeal shook his head. "Did you not explain anything to him, Seph? If he is going to follow you around you might as well tell him the basics."

"I have no need to be a teacher," Sephiroth replied bluntly before taking his seat at the table.

Cloud sat right next to him and smiled his way. "But you already did good at explaining a lot to me! Can't you tell me more? Please? Pleeeease?"

Sephiroth stared at Cloud's wide and pleading eyes. He still could not understand for the life of him why this child was so intent on wanting to stick around him. It just didn't make any sense, but he could not actually find himself to cast the child to someone else. It was something odd that he thought about, something he had never thought or considered before.

Sephiroth slowly ended up slightly. "I can try to, but I feel Genesis and Angeal would be beneficial to help."

"Oh no, I don't think we need to help," Angeal laughed. "I think you captivated his attention enough on your own."

"Agreed, but we will gladly listen in to your little lecture," Genesis added teasingly.

"You two are never any help," Sephiroth deadpanned. He then turned back to Cloud thinking over what he would try and explain first. "The first thing I could explain… I guess it would be about your wing. It will take you a bit, but after a bit of practice you will be able to hide it like the rest of us."

"But where does it go?"

"That… I wouldn't know how to explain it. Let's… how about we just say it has to do with the magic we have. The wing is still there but it is just hidden when we don't need it."

"Like how the Rinoa lady made her wing appear out of nowhere?"

"Yes, that would be it. In the next few weeks you'll probably be taught how to tap into your magic to hide it," Sephiroth continued on.

"Oh! You going to teach me right?"

"Ah…" Sephiroth faulted slightly, not knowing how to respond. Though as he tried to think he could hear the faint chuckles from Angeal and Genesis. "I think it would be better if someone older taught you. I told you before, I am only 14."

"But that still means you are older than me! So you know waaaaay more than I do! So you can teach me!" Cloud exclaimed.

"I wouldn't know how to teach it very well."

"I bet you can! You just gotta try!" Cloud replied cheerfully. "I believe you can do it!"

"Hey, the kid believes in you Seph, that has to count for something," Agneal replied.

"And I believe you should stay out of it," Sephiroth replied quickly.

Angeal shrugged. "Well we are only sitting here watching, not much else we can do."

"I feel this is going to end up being some very long weeks…" Sephiroth muttered, trying to not continuously stare at the wide and excited eyes that Cloud had.

He still didn't fully understand the child, he never had been very good at understanding others in the first place. He only had managed to make friends with Angeal and Genesis because they were captured around the same time and had enough time to talk before being brought to the facility. There was that and also the uniqueness that each of them had that managed to bring them closer. But other than those two, there weren't any others he was really closer to. He was always cold and distant to the rest and no one seemed to mind.

Despite that, Cloud walked right up to him with no fears or worries about how he acted. It was probably because he was a child and didn't understand if someone wanted their space or not. But either way he could see that Cloud wasn't going to leave his side anytime soon, and he had no intent to be cold or mean towards the child. He may have had his cold distance, but that coldness was not cruel. Yet he felt something else when looking at this little child… this little child that was looking up to him already with such admiration. If this child was truly going to look up to him, wanting to learn from him, then he would do what he could, even if he had no idea what he was really doing.

And a new chapter already! Haha, well I did have big plans for this. I hope you guys enjoy what I am building up here... brohterly Sephiroth! Woo!