Once More, With Feeling... – Chapter 4: Familiar Faces
Summary: Cloud's first day in SOLDIER Prep. And already things are out of hand…
Author: Illusor Meaneld
Rated T: for Descriptive violence and injuries, No Adult Situations, No Cussing.
Disclaimer: I did not create, and do not own the characters from Final Fantasy 7, They are owned by Square-Enix, and I am simply borrowing them for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment.
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On the first 'official' morning of "SOLDIER Preparation" class, Cloud woke feeling surprisingly refreshed, there was still some lingering ache and tiredness from the boot-camp exams. But his young body was adapting quite well, he glanced at the darkened room around him, the S.P. cadets were supposed to wake at the same early time as before but Cloud's adult mind had already adjusted his subconscious sleep schedule and he woke a good 20 minutes before the others. Sliding out of bed he stretched carefully, assessing the points of strain before taking the time to stretch and massage the worst of the stiffness out. He was already in the showers before the Shout went out for S.P. recruits to get out of bed. Each of them had been given two new uniforms, and so, freshly showered and dressed smartly in his new indigo outfit; Cloud couldn't help the extra bounce that entered his steps. He met back up with his roommates before the entire group proceeded to the breakfast hall. They were supposed to be a "group", unless they were in separate classes, or on free time, they were supposed to act more or less as a unit. At least, that's what their superior officers had explained, in actuality it was a test, … Cloud knew this, a very complex test to calculate loyalties and long-term teamwork. Telling the other cadets wouldn't help them, it would only make them nervous and paranoid, so the blonde wisely kept the knowledge to himself.
"You said your name was Cloud right?" One of his 'squad-mates' interrupted the ex-Warrior's musings, he blinked once before smiling at the lad before him, the boy had tousled-looking brown hair and hazel eyes, a leanly muscular build, he looked about 15.
"Yeah that's right." Cloud affirmed, he thought back to the previous night, and was surprised when the memory was indistinct, never-the-less he managed to pull the boys name from his mind. "You're Gavin, right?" the boy nodded back.
"I heard about your exams…" Gavin continued, "You really impressed the instructors, they're saying it's miraculous you're even managed to finish!" Cloud chuckled,
"I wasn't sure I'd finish either."
"Why do you want to be in SOLDIER so bad?" Gavin settled closer, his eyes curious, just past the boy, Cloud saw that he'd garnered the attention of a few of his other squad-mates as well. He stifled another chuckle, pausing for a moment to consider what he should tell them, eventually he settled for the obvious.
"It's been my dream, … y'know… seeing all those news clippings with General Sephiroth and the others…"
Gavin laughed, "So you're a Seph-fan eh? That explains a lot. Well it's nice to meet you! Welcome to squad Sekhmet!"
"Uh… what?" Cloud blinked several times, staring at the boy in confusion, "Sekhmet??"
Gavin beamed, "Yeah, Squad Sekhmet! … it's a tradition to give your squad a name when you join SOLDIER Prep. And of course, we want the awesome lion that can beat down Wutai's Leviathan!"
Cloud gawked, he hadn't remembered any such tradition… then as he thought about the name they'd chosen he clapped one hand over his mouth, trying and failing to stifle his snickers. Gavin's face fell, and a few other boys looked affronted,
"What?" Another boy chirped, "It's a good name! Sekhmet is a powerful God!"
"Goddess!" Cloud choked, "Sekhmet is a Godd-ESS." He dissolved into giggles, "Powerful for sure, but definitely female!" His entire squad looked stunned,
"What?" another blonde squawked in startlement, "Sekhmet is a GIRL?? … but…. But…… we already registered the name!"
Cloud howled, slapping the table at the looks on his team-mates faces, "We'll pray to her in battle then!" He gasped, "Claim her as our patron! … HO and ONWARD SOLIDERS of Sekhmet!" He laughed so hard he actually fell off the bench.
Cloud found out later that it had been young Wyatt who had chosen the name, a burly boy with short-cropped black hair and pale grey eyes. He'd taken the time to browse through mythological deities without actually checking out the details. The unfortunate lad might have been the subject of ire after the Squad learned the details of their new "name" … had it not been for Cloud's outburst. Instead, a couple of boys had taken to sending dark looks his way whenever their squad was introduced by it's full registered title. It probably didn't help that Cloud snickered every time it came up.
As new SOLIDER Prep. Cadets, all of the boys were enlisted in the same classes, so to start off with they all had the same curriculum. The first class of the day was weapons training. So when they were finished with breakfast they all marched into the training room, a large and very open room with wooden floors and heavy mats. A rack with wooden swords ran along one end of the long room, and locked metal cabinets sat next to the doors. As per their instructions Squad Sekhmet lined up in along the center of the mats. While they were waiting for their instructor, Gavin, who had placed himself next to Cloud, leaned towards the blonde,
"Hey, … I'm sorry we didn't ask you about the name… I mean … we should have checked with you first before registering it." The brunette looked honestly guilty, and for a moment Cloud broke position to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder,
"No, no! It's fine, I actually like it! There's no way I'll forget our squad name with this one!" Cloud grinned at him, ignoring the skeptical looks of the other boys in line. Wyatt looked sulky, and another boy, one Cloud now remembered was named "Logan" looked furious. It made his green eyes blaze beneath his dirty-blonde hair. But Cloud didn't have time to ponder this as the door opened in that moment and he found himself thoroughly distracted.
A young man entered the room, he didn't look much older than the S.P. Cadets themselves, just about 16, (a year older than the average boy in Sekhmet), with messy black hair that reached his shoulders, and bearing the standard attire and sword of a SOLDIER 3rd Class, he strode into the room, his face almost completely obscured by a stack of papers pressed to his nose, Cloud was glad for the papers, because had Zack been looking at him he would have seen the absolutely dumb-founded expression on the short blonde teenager's face. Somehow it hadn't occurred to him that going back in time meant Zack would be ALIVE. It took him several moments to put his emotions in control, but thankfully the SOLDIER never looked up.
"Hello, My name is Zackary Fair, and I will be teaching this class…" Zack's voice, much higher pitched than Cloud remembered it, intoned from behind his paper shield… "I am a SOLDIER 3rd class and as such I am qualified to teach you the basics of swordplay, Do not read this paper aloud in front of your class, study the materials ahead of time so that you might be prepared, this instructional material written by Angeal…" All of Cloud's efforts to school his features failed, he gawked at his old friend, the other boys in line were already sniggering, and when Zack's face suddenly snapped up and flushed in embarrassment, Cloud was hard-pressed not to join them.
"Ah… Oops… I mean…" Zack rubbed the back of his head sheepishly with one hand, dropping his other arm, which still held the stack of papers, to his side. "Anyways, …um, I'm Zack, this is the first time I've been asked to teach, but I'm just a part-time instructor. … Um… It's supposed to be part of my training or something to train all of you, but you'll also have an experienced instructor instead of me the rest of the week. So … uh, … go easy on me okay?"
Another round of chuckles and Cloud couldn't help but grin. He'd had no idea that Zack had taught classes! What an unexpected treat! He was fighting back foolish smiles the whole time Zack spoke, he followed instructions with only half of his attention, grabbing one of the wooden swords from the wall and returning to his position, the lines were spread out and Zack demonstrated the stances for sword-fighting. For a moment Cloud forgot what he was doing, and moved how instinct told him. … That was the exact moment when he was introduced to the floor mats for the first time.
"Whoa!" Zack paused in his instructions and glanced at Cloud, "You okay kid?" Now it was Cloud's turn to blush, staggering upright he nodded at his 'instructor', and took his place back in line as quickly as possible. It wasn't quite fast enough,
"Sir,…" the boy named Logan interjected, "Private Strife only barely passed the physicals Sir, he probably won't be able to keep up." Zack paused, shuffling uncomfortably,
"Um… really?... ah… well …" his intense blue gaze flitted between Cloud and Logan a few times, before finally settling on the smaller boy, "You think you'll be alright ,… uh… Private Strife?" Cloud quickly nodded, and was grateful when Zack returned to his lesson without pressing the issue.
The rest of the class turned out to be one continuous session of humiliation for Cloud, even when he tried to ignore Zack and focus on his sword-work, he just couldn't seem to perform even the most basic of maneuvers. He knew swordplay like the back of his hand, which… he decided later, was exactly the problem. The backs of his hands were much different than he knew and he couldn't seem to get the hang of what he was doing WRONG, … it all FELT right… every time he picked up the wooden sword, adopted a stance and lunged, he couldn't feel anything wrong with his motions, but without fail he would trip or swing wide or somehow mess up the move (and his balance) every time. By the end of the session Cloud had several bruises and a split lip from falling on his face. But more than that, he'd felt wounded every time Zack's blue eyes would stare at him with concern. When the SOLDIER 3rd announced the end of class, Cloud was the first one to dart out of the room towards their next class, not even bothering to say goodbye to his 'ex-friend' first.
The next class, thankfully, was "Extended History", a subject Cloud knew quite well, and within the first hour he was banned from answering any questions the teacher posed. While he sat listening to the instructor, Cloud reviewed the Syllabus, the first progress exam was in a week, and Cloud would probably be able to test out of this class by then. History passed in a blur, after the teacher had ascertained that Cloud was on top of his work, he was left to his own devices until the bell.
After that Squad Sekhmet slogged back to the mess hall. Lunch consisted of steak-bites and steamed vegetables, after snagging a large bottled water Cloud took his food to his Squad's table and munched thoughtfully, pondering whether or not having Zack as an instructor might change his plans. It wasn't until he was jostled by one of his table-mates that Cloud realized an argument had started between the other boys. Further inspection showed that the other older "Squads" were starting to watch the display.
"That SOLDIER 3rd is an amateur" Logan was saying, "I heard he was supposed to be this great prodigy, but he's just a moron!"
"You can't say that about SOLDIERs!" Gavin growled, his face turning red with fury, "Anyone who's made 3rd class can no doubt hold his own! He was teaching just fine!"
"Who knows? He might have been decent if Strife hadn't been interrupting the class by tripping every five minutes." Gavin seemed to turn even redder, much to Cloud's surprise, but as the brunette opened his mouth to further protest, Cloud decided to step in,
"Hey, sorry about that." He smiled at Logan apologetically, "I'll try not to embarrass our group or anything okay?" Logan blinked several times as the hint behind Cloud's words sank in; he frowned, the expression pulling his already squarish face into harsh angular lines. He clenched his meaty hands once or twice before settling back down into his seat. Gavin simply looked confused, he glanced between Logan and Cloud as if asking for an answer, but the larger boy was silent, and Cloud had already gone back to his meal.
After lunch, the boys were shown to "Calisthenics", all of the boys were quite familiar with the standard exercise regimes by now, more Push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, this class was taught by an Officer Cloud wasn't familiar with, but his bellowing instructions were so similar to their boot-camp Sergeant that he'd had to stare at the man to ensure the two weren't related. At least THESE exercises Cloud didn't have to think about quite so much anymore, they weren't easy, he was panting and exhausted by the time it was done, but compared to the exams it was a relief to do the standard workouts.
The last class of the day was another study class. This one was "Military Strategy", and Cloud settled into this class with a happy sigh. While his bunk-mates struggled to follow the teacher, Cloud just listened, this also wasn't a new subject, and Cloud felt a pang of regret when he remembered he'd probably get to test out of this class too within a week or two, but as for the moment, he was simply enjoying the "refresher".
Cloud lay in his bunk that night with mixed feelings, he'd discovered, over the course of the day, that being in this young body had degraded his memory. His older self had possessed a nearly photographic memory, he'd been able to recall small details whenever and where-ever he needed them, but this had apparently been a side-effect of whatever Hojo had done to him. With his young, and unaltered body, his mind just didn't retain information he didn't try to memorize. … Like the names of his bunk-mates. For whatever reason, his old memories were just as crisp as always… a paradox to be certain. … but that phenomenon aside, he was still achingly behind in all his physical courses. … His swordplay during Weapons training had been mortifying. Shelke and Vincent hadn't foreseen this possibility, and already it posed a mystifying conundrum to Cloud. How could he relearn all of that swordplay? Zack hadn't been able to figure out what was going wrong. His stance had been fine, when he moved slow it was accurate. … With a sigh Cloud rolled over and closed his eyes, tomorrow, he'd figure out some plan to overcome this obstacle.
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