Disclaimer- I claim no rights to Final Fantasy VII

Chapter Twenty-One: On Our Way -

The citizens of Kalm were a close-knit group of people that welcomed Cloud and Knusel with open, but wary arms. Cloud understood considering the rumors and horror stories cropping up about Midgar. One couldn't help but be worried about the comings and goings of people who had no solid destination in mind. However, not all people were warm to their arrival.

Cloud frowned as one of the miners shoulder-checked him shooting him a suspicious stare as he continued down the road. Kunsel shot the man a flat stare before urging Cloud forward and back towards the hotel that was considered a second home. It had been a fortnight since their arrival and not a trickle of information had landed in their laps about Sephiroth and Genesis. It was disheartening and Cloud had been meaning to talk to Kunsel about moving on, but without a solid lead, they would be wasting time and resources, and judging from the letters Zack had sent, he was growing impatient with their progress, all but threatening Kunsel to make a move or return to Midgar where they would send out a proper search party.

Kunsel hadn't taken it well.

It was seeing Kunself upset, that caused Cloud to sit down and pen his letter to the Alpha, explaining that they couldn't force the people of Kalm to relinquish what little information they handed they couldn't produce it out of thin air. Kunsel was a fine soldier and would complete their mission promptly. He sent the letter, or the scolding without Kunsel's knowledge, and set about soothing the Beta who had been in a foul mood since the previous letter's arrival.

"You are doing a fine job." Cloud soothed placing a bowl of soup on the desk in front of his friend, who accepted with a tight smile. "I would have no other by my side."

"...Truly?" Kunsel looked up, deep green eyes searching for falsehood, and when he saw none, a relieved smile pulled at his lips. "Thank you, Cloud. I'm glad that I still have your confidence."

"You have Zachary's as well." Cloud shook his head at Kunsel's protest. "He is impatient and he is worried. The longer we linger, the further Sephiroth and Genesis get out of our grasp. He's worried that the lost people will receive no justice and Zack will have failed his people."

"He will have failed you." Kunsel corrected with a small, amused huff. "Zack can bear the brunt of his people - always have - but you, Cloud? He will never forgive himself if he doesn't bring those two to justice."

"...Why? What does this have to do with me?"

"Your parents were pulled from their resting place and used in an unholy manner while Hojo was put to death for his actions, Sephiroth and Genesis were the ones who funded and approved the endeavors, and while they think they've kept their hands clean by just funding Hojo's experiments, they're not above the law. They're hands are just covered in blood." Kunsel turned, meeting Cloud's gaze. "They must be brought to justice and answer for their crimes."

Cloud's lips pulled into a weak smile at the confession. He supposed he would have done the same thing if he were in Zack's shoes, but that begged the question-

"Do you ever wonder what was the objective behind all of this?" Cloud wondered softly. "Why would Genesis and Sephiroth commit these atrocities?"

"It doesn't matter-"

"It does." Cloud protested swiftly. "To kidnap and kill so many and for no reason? To wipe out entire bloodlines and empty homes? Surely, it makes you wonder why?"

Kunsel was silent for a long moment, a thoughtful expression coloring his features before he confessed. "I must admit that I am curious about what, exactly, their objective was in massacring those innocents, but those questions are reserved for Lord Fair-"

"And for us as well." Cloud cut in softly. "We are hunting these men and will get the answers we deserve. You are not a dog told to fetch a bone, Kunsel. You are a warrior with an important task and thousands of lives riding on it. Lord Fair sent us for a reason: it is because he trusts no other." Cloud reached out and grasped Kunsel's hand in his own. "Do you understand?"

Kunsel visibly swallowed before squeezing Cloud's hand in return. "I understand."

"Good," Cloud breathed. "I'm afraid that we'll have no answers in Kalm since the miners are rather tight-lipped about the affair. So, what will be our next destination?"

Tight-lipped, Kunsel pulled out a map and pointed west. "There is nothing but land and few villages before we reach Junon, but I am hoping that we will be able to gather some type of information." He gripped the edge of a desk in frustration. "We've not been gone a fortnight and it feels like we're running in circles."

"It feels that way when we haven't caught a scent." Cloud stepped away, moved towards the window, and observed the people moving back and forth, going about their business, innocent of the two men above and on the run with an unknown objective. "I have faith that we will find them and the necessary answers."

"You'll have faith for the both of us, won't you?" Kunsel murmured. "I find that I have little of it."

"Of course." Cloud turned back to him with a wide smile and mischievous eyes. "I must have faith in my husband, no?"

A surprised chuckle emerged from Kunsel's throat and for a moment the heaviness in his heart lightened and he returned Cloud's grin with a bright of his own.

"See that you, husband, see that you do."

Kalm was a distant dot on the horizon as Cloud and Kunsel inched down the dirt-ridden paths that connected endless lands under Midgar's shadow and Cloud allowed himself to take in the seemingly endless green lands that sat under Zack's rule before turning to Kunsel with a question on his lip.

"Why are there not more villages within Zack's domain? I see ruins and nothing else."

"The ruins are remnants of the war between House Fair and Shirna decades past and before that still was the Republic of Junion and before that, the Cetra. The ruins tell a story of a time when technology and magic ruled before we were reduced to the simpler times you see before you." Kunsel tilted his head in curiosity. "Were you never taught of the wars?"

Cloud's lips twisted in displeasure at his confession. "I'm an Omega and a Guide. And according to the Council back at home, neither of my designations needed an education. It was only through my mother's insistence that I learned to read and write."

"And your Father? What did he have to say about it?"

"He agreed." Cloud chuckled at the thought. "His sisters -my aunts - were born Omega and my grandfather sold them off like cattle and they never had a chance to learn and grow. He didn't want the same fate for me, so, he set out and taught me the ways of the sword. He wanted me to learn how to defend myself if my future Alpha thought it was his right to put his hands on me. His philosophy was that if my Alpha had the right to put his hands on me then I had full rights to cut him down."

Kunsel was silent for a long moment before stating. "I think I would have liked your Father. A man after my own heart."

Cloud smothered a sad chuckle, a mind conjuring an image of himself, Zack, and Kunsel sitting at a table debating the right and wrong of the world and determining to change it. He would have loved to see them get along and change the world, but in another life, perhaps.

"I'm sure he would feel the same, Kunsel." Cloud pulled on the reins of his Chocobo, clicking his tongue to get her into a slower trott and allowing him to take in the miles and miles of land that spread out before them, and briefly felt a touch of doubt enter his mind. How are they going to find Sephiroth and Genesis? For all he knew, the two men could have crossed the sea and disappeared on the west continent.

"Chin up, Cloud." Kunsel appeared beside him, reaching over and giving him a small pat on the arm. "Sephiroth and Genesis only had a two-day headstart, I'm sure they haven't reached the coast-"

"How can you be so sure?" Cloud cut in, desperation clawing at his throat. "What if they're already on the west continent? What if their boat is leaving now and we're just trotting along-"

"Do you remember what I told you, Cloud?" Kunsel reached over and grabbed his wrist. "We can't rush off into the sunset and hoping for the best. We need to do this carefully. Sephiroth and Genesis are dangerous and the last thing I want to do is get us killed."

"I know-"

"I have confidence in you, Cloud. We're partners." Kunsel continued. "We'll get through this together."

"I know." Cloud swallowed down the doubt and pulled his lips into a weak, brittle smile that failed to convince Kunsel of the confidence he was trying to display. "I worry that whatever plans they have will come to fruition and we're going to be too late."

"I share your sentiments, but why don't put that energy into getting to our next destination." Kunsel pointed into the horizon, where, if Cloud squinted hard enough, were a couple of farmhouses. "We'll rest at the farmhouses before we move across the marshlands, but-" Kunsel scowled and Cloud waited patiently for him to continue. "I'm not sure it's wise to cross at this time of the year?"

"Why not?"

"It's mating season for the Midgar Zoloms." Kunsel met his gaze with a worried one of his own. "The creature is extremely territorial and is known to take entire squads out and drag them underneath the marsh and swallow them whole."

A bitter snort escaped Cloud's throat at the description. "What happened to that startwalt confidence?"

"I'll let you know before the snake swallows me where my confidence went," Kunsel drawled before clicking his tongue and gripping the reins of the Chocobo. "I'll race you to the farmhouse?" Kunsel clicked tongue and his steed was off leaving Cloud in the verbal and literal dust.

"Hey-!"

Cloud nudged his own Chocobo along, lips spreading into the first genuine grin since their journey started. He knew that it would take time and diligence to find Sephiroth and Genesis, but with Kunsel at his side, he knew that he would reach their goal and return home as heroes and Zack's praise and thanks on his lips, but what Cloud didn't know was that neither of them would be returning home with their souls and hearts intact.

A cost both of them would be more than willing to pay.