And now for a fun chapter with a new character :)

Ch.10

Cloud ran as fast as he could, trying his best not to stagger or trip over anything. The rain was coming down harder though, making the pathway muddy and wet. His heart was racing along with him, every step of the way. With heavy breaths mixed in and he was starting to feel dizzy. His vision was wavering, trying to fade in and out, and he was having trouble keeping it together.

As he came to a clearing, running out of the dense forest, the first thing his eyes picked up on was a large wooden building a bit further up the path. It took him a moment to think back, but he realized it was a barn. He hadn't seen something like it in seven years, and the feeling was a bit strange at first.

"A barn… It's perfect for hiding. Seph will know I'm hiding there."

Pushing himself to go a little faster, he ran all the way to the old barn, swung the door open and ran inside. Now out of the rain, he was able to stop and catch his breath. Still feeling a little dizzy, he made his way over to one of the piles of hay and flopped down onto it.

He shuddered shortly after, having the cold weather finally catch up with him. If it wasn't for the mandatory sleeveless turtleneck uniforms everyone had to wear at the facility, Cloud would have wished to have a coat. He was going to freeze unless he found something to keep himself warm. The barn was bound to have something, so Cloud started to look around.

As he came near some shelfs he finally let out a sneeze. He shivered as he rubbed his arms, trying to keep himself warm.

"Bless you."

"Thank yo-" Cloud started to say when he realized that voice did not belong to Sephiroth.

Nearing freezing up on the spot, he turned around slowly to see someone standing in the doorway that he had carelessly left open. It was hard to tell in the dim light of the barn, but it looked like a young boy, older than him but younger than Sephiroth. Next to the boy was a creature he had loved so much as a child, even if kids had called him names because of it. The fluffy, yellow chocobo was also staring at him, tilting its head to the side.

"I… I um…" Cloud said as he started to back up.

"Hey hey! It's okay!" the older boy said. He let go of the reins holding the chocobo and approached slowly. "I won't hurt you. Are you okay?"

"I can't… I shouldn't have come in here! Of course people would own this barn!" Cloud said, frowning deeply.

"Whoa hold on there! Seriously! No need to freak out. I'm not someone who's going to hurt you or anything. I'm a friend. Well… you don't know me, so we can't really call each other friends yet, but hey! I am a friendly guy so we can say I am a friendly stranger."

Cloud stopped backing up to stare at the boy, who kept coming further. Now that he was closer to Cloud, he could finally make out his features more clearly. He had black spiky hair, and blue eyes that did give off a rather friendly vibe.

"Then… who are you?" Cloud asked.

"Well my name's Zack! And welcome to the Fair family farm!" Zack said as he held out a hand.

"Well um, I'm… my name is Cloud," Cloud said hesitantly as he reached out to shake Zack's hand.

"Nice to meet you Cloud! So what brings you here? Running into a barn in the middle of a terrible storm?"

Cloud wasn't sure if he should tell Zack. The guy did seem friendly enough, but Cloud knew that humans hated Winged Ones. If somehow Zack found out, he would most definitely hate him and probably send him back to Hojo.

On the other had, Zack seemed nice enough to not do something that mean. Maybe, as long as Cloud didn't tell Zack that part, he would let him hide in the barn until Sephiroth came for him.

"I was running… running because I had-"

In an instant, black feathers rushed by, taking Zack with it, and tackling him into a pile of hay.

"S-Seph!" Cloud shouted, feeling relief over seeing his big brother, but concern for his drastic action.

"Stay back, Cloud. You know very well we can't trust him."

"Y-Yes we can! He wasn't hurting me or anything! Maybe he could let us stay here."

"We cannot take that chance. We cannot trust a human to keep people like us safe."

"B-But maybe we-"

"Humans hate Winged Ones, remember? They can't change their ways."

"Ahem," Zack said, trying to clear his throat. "I get you two are having an argument, but could you maybe not try to dislocate my shoulder? And also, you can trust me. I'll keep you guys safe if you need it."

Sephiroth pushed on Zack's arm, making him grit his teeth in pain. "What makes you think we would trust you, human?"

"Cause I think the winged people are awesome? I support you guys."

This caused Sephiroth to loosen his grip slightly. "And we should believe that… because?"

"Cause you guys are so cool! You can fly and stuff… the freedom that brings, it sounds amazing. But the government takes you guys away… locks you up somewhere, and that's just not right."

"See Seph? You can trust him. He's a friend."

"I won't trust him… not until I see a reason too. But…" Sephiroth slowly stood back from Zack, freeing him from his grip. "I will give you the benefit of the doubt for now. But know this, I will keep my eye on you. Anything that I deem is too suspicious and we will be gone before you can even blink."

"Right Gotcha! But I promise I can help!" Zack said as he ran back to the open barn door. He pulled his chocobo inside and then closed the door after. "So! Uh, Seph was it? Can I at least ask some questions? I've always wanted to meet the winged people and I've got so many questions!"

Sephiroth hummed, narrowing his eyes. "You'll call me Sephiroth first of all. Secondly before you get to ask anything… if we are to stay here for now, are there any supplies we may use?"

"Oh right! Yeah there's some blankets in here and I can get the old air mattress from the house. Better than just sleeping on the floor. Be right back!"

Zack ran out the room, closing it behind him, leaving Cloud and Sephiroth alone for a moment. Now that they had their time alone, Cloud ran up to Sephiroth and hugged him tightly.

"I was worried for you! I thought… I thought you were going to get captured."

Sephiroth petted Cloud's head gently as he pulled him into his own embrace. "I would never abandon you, Cloud. Even when my wing felt strained, I pushed forward to find you again. As your older brother, I must do everything I am capable of to protect you."

"And your wing? Is it okay now?"

"It's a little sore," Sephiroth said as he stretched it out. "But it will heal."

That brought a lot of relief to Cloud. "Thank goodness. So what will we do now? We can't stay here forever… Can we?"

"It's too much of a risk. After we rest, we will keep moving on. We will get as far away as possible until we reach a place that we can deem as a safe haven."

"Right. That makes sense."

"And with that we will have to make sure that this boy-"

Cloud held up a hand to stop Sephiroth. "Zack."

Sephiroth sighed a little. "We have to make sure that this boy Zack won't tell anyone our secret."

"I think we will be good. He's really friendly and he doesn't hate Winged Ones."

"He can say that all he likes, but I still won't trust him just yet."

As they waited for Zack to get back, the chocobo approached the two of them. Cloud reached out to pet the bird, enjoying the soft kwehs that it was making. He found himself to be smiling as he let the bird nuzzle him shortly after.

"Never thought we would see chocobos, did you?"

"It was always a possibility. More likely to see wild ones than a farm raised," Sephiroth stated.

"Aw true, but if we find any wild ones we could try and tame them! Then we could ride them from place to place rather than flying."

Finally reaching out to pet the bird, Sephiroth let out a soft hum. "I suppose we could always attempt it. It would save us the risk of being spotted if we were to fly."

The door swung back open and Zack ran in, dragging a big box behind him. "Sorry it took so long. Tried to get everything in one trip. I got the air mattress in here, and a few other things like water bottles and snacks. Though uh, if you guys gotta use the bathroom… Well, don't really have one in the barn. So either you come up to the house or uh… well the woods is just next door."

"I am sure we can figure out something," Sephiroth replied.

"Great so let's get this set up!" Zack said as he started to unload everything in the box. "And you guys can answer some questions, right? It's only fair that way, cause I got so many questions."

"Start first with one question," Sephiroth grumbled.

"Alright alright fine! Let me think first! If I have to pick one to start, I need to make sure that it's a good one!"

Cloud chuckled softly. Zack really was a human who was full of energy. He knew some of the other kids his age had some levels of energy, but he had never seen anyone older than him act like this. It was kind of funny if Cloud had to be honest, but he liked it. He liked the idea of making a friend with a human who actually liked the Winged Ones. If there were more humans out there like him, maybe the world didn't hate him as much as he thought.