It was cold, and dim, and the ground was hard where Subject C had been laid down. He tried to do what S had taught him for when he wasn't sure why or how long he'd been sleeping, even though he'd been awake the whole time, but when he tried to move his fingers and toes… nothing happened. He tried not to panic, he needed to be logical about this. This was part of an experiment and he couldn't mess it up by 'freaking out' and acting like a baby - he was not a baby, he was a-prock… he sounded the word out in his head, app-rox-im-ate-ly three years and eight months old.

There was a faint sound of water dripping somewhere close, and the low light was blueish-greenish, which was weird because it had been morning on a clear day when he'd been carried outside. He could feel his heartbeat getting faster and he tried to control his breathing like he was supposed to. It wouldn't help to cry, and it might make the man who was in charge angry at him and make it worse. He couldn't let S down! He was so proud of him the previous week for not crying even when the shots hurt so bad . They'd given him an unfamiliar shot before the man took him outside… he'd never been outside. It was…. big. Bigger than the whole lab and the upstairs combined. It wasn't that he didn't know how big it was, he just hadn't expected the… open-ness of it all. He'd have to tell S all about it, when he got back. He'd tell him all about it when he got back !

S said it was a bad habit to let him cry in their room and he was trying so hard to stop doing that. He felt his eyes burning so he started counting backward from one hundred, catching himself and having to start all over a couple of times. He hadn't cried when they'd taken him out of bed, or in the… the thing… he tried to remember the word and it made him forget to count as he pronounced it twice in his head until he knew he had it right - he hadn't cried in the helicopter even though it had been loud and he hadn't liked when the man dressed in camo stuck his hands over his ears, to help with the noise he'd said. It hadn't helped, and it just made his ears sore and his stomach feel bad.

It had been hard not to throw up, but he was getting better at holding that in too. They'd made him drink a bottle of water and two of the banana milkshake things before they gave him the shot that made everything feel heavy. A banana is a fruit, he thought, becoming distracted from counting again, and the picture of one on the container looked like a yellow boat. Bananas came from islands in the south, somewhere, but he wasn't totally sure what an island was. S didn't like bananas, so they always traded if they got given different ones because C did like them.

The man who'd taken him from their room was nearby, but C couldn't turn his head to look. He could hear the man's boots scuffing the ground, then watched as the man walked in front of him again. He crouched down and all C could see of his face was the bottom part with his mouth because he was wearing a helmet with three eyes. Was he a Subject too and they gave him an extra eye ? Did it help him see, or would it be weird?

"Sorry kiddo," the man reached down and patted C's head, ruffling his hair like S did sometimes. C didn't want the man to do that, only S was allowed to do that. The man's lips twisted, "Aw fuck kid, don't gimme that look… Shit, don't cry okay? I'll be back tomorrow if whatever they're doing doesn't pan out, alright? You're safe as can be in here yeah? I promise."

'Fuck' and 'shit' were un-dig-ni-fied words, Hojo had said so. The man stood up and spun around suddenly, muttering something C couldn't hear as he disappeared from C's point of view and then everything got really quiet.

Outside was not as fun as he'd thought it would be. S got to go out sometimes for training, learning how to track animals and even one time he got to fight a monster when it had started tracking him . He'd thought maybe he'd get to go out with S one day. It had sounded fun, sort of, at the time . He'd been wrong. It wasn't fun. C blinked really hard, hoping that the experiment would be over soon.

C wasn't really sure what 'safe' meant to that man, but it wasn't being left somewhere so cold and dark. If he could move, he'd try to hide better - he could see so many better places to get into where nothing could get him. He knew better than to hide in the lab, after the last three times, but he was always thinking of where he could get into if he was willing to risk it. The con-se-quen-ces were always in the being caught part, not in the hiding part, for some reason.

S said it was the same with asking questions, it wasn't the wanting to know, it was saying you wanted to know that could make trouble.

He tried to stop the tiny sound of fear as he heard a soft scraping sound somewhere behind him, the click of claws on stone - it sounded just like Dr. Ballard's guard hound, and he hoped it wasn't that. It was mean.

He shivered as something cold and wet touched the back of his neck, then felt warm breath huffing through his hair before whatever it was laid down behind him. It curled around him, warm and soft. It didn't try to hurt him, but it still made the tears finally burst from the confines of his eyelashes. He wanted to go home.

It felt as though a very long time had passed since the small alarm clock on Sephiroth's desk had begun to buzz and announce it was time to get up. He'd tentatively risen and tried the door, wondering if… if he just followed the usual routine then things would perhaps go back to normal. Maybe he would find Cloud on the other side of the door in yesterday's scrubs that he'd slept in and was just waiting for him to get them both fresh clothing. He'd make sure to get Cloud the yellow socks that he liked the most out of the linen closet, and they'd eat breakfast, and go to their physical fitness lessons.

But the door didn't open, the knob merely giving a tiny tick against the lock when he carefully attempted to turn it. He stood there, staring at it, his feet growing cold on the cement floor, but he needed to be ready. Cloud was probably scared, but he needed to be calm for him. Sephiroth carefully kept his hands at his sides, forcing them to be loose and relaxed instead of pulling at the hem of his shirt or curling into fists. The little red blinking light of the camera over the door was watching, and he had a distinct feeling someone was on the other side this time and it wasn't just recording.

Sephiroth turned and looked behind him at the alarm clock, long after his feet had gone numb, to find it had been nearly two hours since Cloud had been taken from their room. An hour since the alarm had gone off. His mind wandered back to the day, several weeks ago now, when the routine had been upset and they'd suddenly been placed together in this room to sleep at night.

Cloud had come back different, then. His eyes had changed, and Sephiroth hadn't known what to say or do. He didn't think Cloud had even noticed and Sephiroth hadn't been sure if he should explain. It wasn't as though the younger boy had ever had many chances or reasons to look in a mirror since it had been Sephiroth's responsibility to comb his hair and help him with anything else he needed until he'd learned himself. For days after that, Cloud had slipped out of his own bed and into Sephiroth's, as soon as the light had been turned off from outside. He'd shivered every night, even under both of their blankets, and pressed his little body as close as possible.

It had taken a week to convince him to sleep in his own bed, even though the closeness was a comfort. No, he admitted to himself, because it was a comfort and it was yet another thing to be used against him. Against them . He didn't realize until he felt wetness leak around his fingers that he'd clenched his hands into tight fists. His sharp nails had sliced half circle marks in his palms. He stared at them, watching as bright red coated his hands and began to clot. Dregs of green fluid separated out, leaving the blood an even brighter red.

The door opened so suddenly it made him jump and he shoved his hands behind his back. Dr. Ballard smirked, tucking his clipboard under one arm and reaching out to spin Sephiroth around and grab his wrists. The man tugged him out of the room and grabbed a towel from the linen closet, scribbling on his papers as Sephiroth cleaned himself up. He watched Ballard from beneath his fringe as he used the antiseptic gel dispenser on the wall to wet his palms, the burn of alcohol in the cuts barely registering as his thoughts began to race, much as they had weeks ago when Cloud had been taken away before . Dr. Ballard was short and pudgy and always looked as though he were in a contest with Professor Hojo for who could look the most unkempt.

Sephiroth was grateful , really, that they insisted Cloud and himself be clean and presentable at all times. He hoped that Ballard got blood all over his clothes from grabbing him. If he'd hurt Cloud, he would make sure of that. He wondered if Ballard had realized that even at ten years old Sephiroth was tall enough to almost look him in the eyes. Before Cloud, Sephiroth had never thought anything like that. Hadn't realized those things himself .

He threw the bloody towel into the hazmat bin once the tiny wounds had closed and locked his hands behind his back, right hand curled loose around his left wrist and the fingers of his left hand deliberately relaxed. He wasn't sure what else to do - it was clear he wasn't being taken to his usual physical fitness tests today, and Ballard had only retrieved a towel and not a pair of scrubs. It was a choice of reprimands if he tried to get them himself now. Either he'd be taken to task for being so slow and stupid as to stand there and do nothing, or berated for trying to get them when it should be obvious he wasn't to get dressed in them in the first place. From the corner of his eye he could swear Ballard looked disappointed before he grunted and pushed Sephiroth in the direction of the examination rooms.

Sephiroth had been waiting for something awful to happen, ever since Professor Hojo had begun to spend more and more time on the other side of the lab where the specimen cages were. He had to struggle not to ball his hands up again, it was bad enough Ballard had caught him hurting himself in his anxiety, but he couldn't let Hojo see the same. He would get worse, had gotten worse before, than merely cleaning his wounds with stinging antiseptic.

He told himself it would be okay, even as bile burned the back of his throat, and told himself that there was no way they'd take Cloud to those cages. Just last week an orderly had been punished for pushing the little boy down, because Cloud was a valuable subject and worth more gil than the orderly's entire family combined.

The open door to examination room B was flanked by two men in Shinra infantry uniforms and Sephiroth glanced quickly at their faces to find that neither of them was the one who had taken Cloud. He walked through with his head up and shoulders back, reminding himself for perhaps the ten-millionth time that he was going to be a SOLDIER. He wouldn't be intimidated, at least he wouldn't let them see it in his face, schooled perfectly blank.

Too perfectly, it seemed.

"Aren't you interested in the proceedings?"

Sephiroth hadn't heard Hojo's nasal voice projected towards him for weeks, the man merely muttering into his tape recorder as he took readings and adjusted the Mako levels in their showers and injections. He couldn't help it, he flinched. A cold feeling kindled in Sephiroth's chest as someone behind him snickered, the sound too muffled to know who exactly it was but he knew regardless.

He managed to keep the tension from his voice as he answered, trying to sound as professional as possible in front of the strangers, "Yes, Professor, I am merely waiting to learn the parameters of this experiment as pertains to my involvement."

"Excellent," Hojo snapped the word out, "well said boy, very good."

He wished he could stop the cold in his chest from thawing at the praise, at the need to gain this man's approval - it was through him that Sephiroth was becoming so strong, that he'd one day be free of the lab and become a SOLDIER. For some time he'd understood, in a way, that this was contradictory, but he couldn't bring himself to untangle it yet.

He hadn't quite let himself think about how he'd manage to take Cloud with him, but he would figure it out soon . He had to make sure the younger boy would be ready to go whenever he was. Cloud learned so fast, and the last few weeks in particular he'd seemed to absorb everything Sephiroth taught him so quickly that at times he said it made his head hurt.

He thought this through as Hojo presented him with a set of unfamiliar clothing and waved a hand toward an odd divider in the room. He stepped behind it obediently and realized he was meant to dress out of sight, his gaze flicking between a gap where the curtain connected to its metal support at one of the uniformed men who was looking curiously into the room.

The clothing was new and interesting, sturdier even than his usual outdoor training gear. A navy blue sleeveless shirt with a high collar, the fabric surprisingly soft and textured. There were brown boots that reached past his knees and fastened in place with leather straps above and below. They fit tightly over dark blue canvas trousers. He shifted his feet, anticipating the pain at his heels from the stiff newness. He'd blister, and heal, and eventually callus until the boots were broken in - if he got to keep them. And he wanted to keep them.

He abruptly realized, catching sight of his distorted reflection in a metal fixture, that this was a SOLDIER 3rd class uniform. The pleasure of the new clothing and boots vanished and plunged him back into icy panic. Were they taking him away now ? Had the infantryman taken Cloud away so that the toddler wouldn't cry and annoy everyone while Sephiroth was being shipped to wherever the other SOLDIERs were stationed?

Swallowing hard against the knot in his throat, he stepped out from behind the curtain and steeled himself against his fate. He didn't want to go. But when did what he want ever matter to anyone? There was nothing he could do, not yet… perhaps, if he could be articulate enough, he could persuade the Professor that Cloud would be better going with him.

His thoughts raced as he clasped his hands behind his back again. A set of shoulder armor, gloves, and a leather stomach guard waited on the examination table that had been laid flat and stripped of its protective paper sheet. Hojo said nothing, merely waving towards it with an unsettling smile.

One of the pair of infantrymen stepped into the room and began efficiently showing him how to get into the belts and strap on the shoulder guards, called pauldrons, he memorized. They weren't terribly heavy, at least for Sephiroth, but he knew he'd have to get used to it. His throat never stopped burning, his stomach rolling with nausea that he kept from his expression.

"Presumptive Third Class Sephiroth," the man began to instruct, once he'd stepped back and given a cursory inspection of the gear's placement, "your very first mission, on the path to achieving the rank of Third Class, is the search and retrieval of a valuable asset that has been taken hostage and sequestered somewhere on Mt. Nibel."

"Do not assume that because this is a test the dangers are not real, towards yourself and the subject in need of rescue," the man continued, "the hostage has been incapacitated by the enemy and your objective is to seek him out and administer the antidote and guard him until morning. You and the hostage will return tomorrow morning and your actions during this mission will be pored over to determine your upcoming position in the ranks."

Hojo passed a small metal tube into Sephiroth's hands, "This is the antidote, place this tablet under Subject C's tongue and it should take effect within minutes."

Sephiroth barely managed to keep the shock, and horror, and utter relief that ran him through as cleanly as the sword he was given next. They'd taken Cloud , drugged him, hidden his helpless body somewhere on the mountain… but Cloud was alive and he hadn't been taken to the cages in the back of the lab, or disappeared, or disciplined so that he wouldn't cry for Sephiroth while he was taken away.

"Yes professor," was all he said, giving a tiny nod in the affirmative as he put away the medication into one of the pockets of the cargo pants and buttoned it shut for good measure. A handful of ration bars took up the pocket on the opposite side and a canteen slung around his hips to fasten around his thigh. He slipped the sword behind his back, feeling the click and hearing the quiet whine as the electromagnet that rested between his shoulder blades engaged to hold the weapon in place.

It had been a long time since Sephiroth had been outside the mansion, weeks at least, and that had been to practice tracking small animals. He was tracking something much more important now, and he had no leads to go on, no prints to follow… no blood trail, at least, which he wouldn't put past Ballard to think of. He stood outside the back gate and let out his held breath.

Just before he'd been let outside, Hojo had come up behind him and rested his bony fingers on the pauldrons covering Sephiroth's shoulders - what he'd said made no sense, but it was the only clue he had.

"Reach out, boy, think of how frightened Subject C must be, that's how you'll find him. I expect you to do well on this, it is a very important experiment and failure will bring the most dire consequences you've ever imagined. And I'm not merely speaking of the possibility of something finding C before you do." He'd shoved him out the door then, slamming it behind him with a finality that had made Sephiroth cringe.

He had no idea what it meant to 'reach out', but he did want to find Cloud so badly… The little boy was probably… he was terrified. He couldn't move, it was dark and cold… how did he know that? He stopped, shook himself, and looked back to find that the mansion was more distant than it should be.

He couldn't remember walking so far.

A dull pain thrummed between his eyebrows.

Sephiroth looked up, and up, tracing the pathways only animals used to traverse the mountain, and began to run. He had to get to Cloud. If something happened to Cloud… he remembered the overwhelming urge to hurt Ballard for merely snapping his fingers at Cloud. He didn't know what he would do, or what he was capable of doing.

The cold morning air filled his lungs as he climbed over a rock slide, the pebbles beneath his feet shifting and sliding out from under him to nearly send him tumbling over the side. He took note of it only so he'd remember to go a different way down with Cloud - when he found him, when they came back in the morning, they'd be coming back together.

Hours passed, they must have, but Sephiroth didn't seem to experience them in any way. His palms were scratched and bleeding, dirt embedded in the cuts and beneath his fingernails. The uniform was covered in dust and his ankles in his boots were bleeding into his socks. It didn't matter though, because his headache kept getting worse the further up he went. He knew he was close.

He stumbled suddenly as the last rays of sunlight vanished over the mountain - or, no, he was standing just inside the entrance of a cave. Blinking rapidly, he stepped to one side of the yawning mouth of the low cavern and waited for his eyes to adjust. His fingers found the clip-light attached to one of the straps on his harness but he didn't twist it on just yet - as sun spots stopped dancing across his vision the semi-darkness became soft blue lights from luminescent spires of crystal jutting out of shallow depressions in the rock. Water, and the Mako sunk beneath it, reflected the light and magnified it.

A small sound drew his attention and he went completely still, feeling himself pale as he reached up to grip the hilt of his sword. Cloud was curled on his side in what their field medicine instructor had called the 'rescue' position, still wearing the scrubs he'd fallen asleep in, barefoot and tucked up against something covered in golden fur nearly the same color as the little boy's hair.

"C, are you-" Sephiroth sucked in a breath, the air catching painfully in his chest. The Nibel wolf, curled around Cloud as though he were its own cub, raised its head. The creature was massive, possibly the biggest wolf Sephiroth had ever seen, and it hadn't even stood to show its full height. It turned its icy-blue eyes to Sephiroth, flicking over him in assessment and stopping to stare over his shoulder where he gripped the hilt of his sword.

The wolf's tail twitched around Cloud, long and fluffy enough to nearly conceal his small body, and it skinned its lips back from its teeth in warning. A low growl, rumbling deep in its chest, made Cloud stir.

"Cloud?" he whispered, then bit his tongue. He'd never said his name out loud before, and Cloud didn't even know he had a name. The little boy's eyes opened, the whites reddened, glowing green even in the pale blue light.

His hand tightened on the hilt, ready to draw the blade. His knuckles were undoubtedly white and his palm stung from half-healed cuts. He hesitated as the wolf growled again, raising up as though to put itself between Sephiroth and Cloud. Carefully, slowly, he prised his grip off of the weapon and moved his hand away from it - ready still to quickly swing it off his back and launch himself forward.

The wolf regarded him seriously and Sephiroth swallowed as it settled back down to nuzzle through Cloud's hair with a soft whine. It pushed at him with its nose, as though trying to wake him or make him move.

"I'm," Sephiroth bit his lip, hard enough to taste blood - there was no one here to see, it didn't matter - and tried again, "I'm going to fix him, okay?"

It felt strange to speak to what most would call a monster, its blue eyes glowing in the darkness just as brightly as Cloud's and the same color they'd been as an infant. It must be the Mako here in what was undoubtedly its den. Mako mutated animals, making them stronger and faster and usually more aggressive. Some, however, became uncannily intelligent. Hojo had wanted to get his hands on something like this wolf for years, but they were too clever to be caught. Sephiroth would never tell him where to find this one.

Hackles lowering, the soft whine increased in volume as it licked the back of Cloud's head. As Sephiroth drew closer he could see his metallic gold hair was matted and soaked from previous attempts at grooming him, or trying to wake him up.

Cloud was watching him with pleading eyes and he could see his lower lip barely tremble. Sephiroth stepped a little closer, waiting to see if the wolf would threaten him again, and dropped down to his knees beside them both when nothing happened.

His fingers were clumsy as he opened the stiff button on his pocket and pulled out the tube of medicine and shook the white tablet into his hand, "Here," he whispered, "I'm going to put this under your tongue, okay C?"

Gently, he tilted Cloud's head back and pressed his fingers into his mouth to put the tablet in place, "It'll be okay in a few minutes, Hojo said…" he was rambling, trying to calm himself as much as Cloud, "I know that is not particularly comforting, but he isn't here to record whatever happens if it doesn't work the way he said. And I'm supposed to take you back to the lab in the morning but we have all night here."

He settled down to wait, wondering how many minutes it would take for Cloud to be able to move, trying not to meet the eye of the strange creature that had decided that Cloud was now its responsibility.

Cloud twitched, fresh tears welling up as his muscles contracted, and Sephiroth reached up and pulled his left glove off with his teeth. He rested his hand over Cloud's head, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would hurt, just try to be still okay? Be calm."

The rising panic on Cloud's face subsided immediately, eyes fluttering closed as he leaned into the hand that Sephiroth stroked through his hair to comfort him. The wolf made a soft chuffing sound in its throat, nudging Cloud's back again and rising up to nose at his legs. Sephiroth swore that it, or she now that she had stood completely and it became obvious, looked satisfied when the little boy kicked weakly in response.

Cloud twisted back to look at the wolf that had been keeping him company and helping him stay warm in the cool confines of the cave, lifting a hand up to pet through golden fur with a look of bewilderment.

"I thought you were going to eat me," he said, his words a little bit slurred the way they did when the doctors were in too much of a hurry while administering oral anesthesia and some of it spilled over your tongue.

Cloud rolled over, slowly, and looked at the nearest pool of Mako-laced water and he seemed to be seriously considering it. Sephiroth plucked his canteen from its holster and untwisted the cap to let him have a drink, "Little sips," he instructed, "this is all the water we have and it's a bad idea to drink from a raw Mako spring."

The wolf huffed again, padding over to the water and lapping at it with her eyes still locked on the two of them as if to assure them that it was perfectly safe.

"It's fine for you maybe, Wolf, but it might make Cloud sick," Sephiroth took a mouthful of water from the canteen for himself and put it away again, pulling out one of the military ration bars in its dull green packaging and broke it off in pieces for Cloud to eat, "is your stomach alright? Did the medicine make you nauseated at all?"

Cloud shook his head, chewing deliberately at the cardboard-like bar that the package insisted was 'chocolate' flavored. Whatever that was, it didn't appeal to Sephiroth in the slightest as he ate one of his own. It was cloyingly sweet with the chemical aftertaste of artificially added vitamins and minerals.

Fiddling with the empty wrapper, the little boy looked at him from the corner of his eye, "Um, S?What did you call me, you know, a minute ago."

"Don't say um," Sephiroth corrected it automatically, as he always did. He bit the inside of his cheek, "this is a secret, okay? You have to keep it secret from everyone, don't trust that one new nurse who's been acting nice okay? They always turn mean after a while."

"I can keep a secret," the other boy's jade eyes widened, slit pupils blown nearly round as he leaned forward eagerly, "promise."

Sephiroth took another swallow of water, his mouth was so dry all of a sudden, "That's… it's your name. Your name is Cloud. And I have a name too, it's Sephiroth, but nobody's called me that since Professor Ghast transferred out when I was your age."

"Why's it a big secret?" Cloud asked, thumping his fists against his legs, clearly still full of pins and needles, although he showed none of the pain he must be feeling. Sephiroth was so proud of him.

"Because it's… It just is," he stuttered to a stop, trying to figure out how to properly explain, "You read the story in the mythology textbook I finished last week, right? The allegory about self-realization? The witch stole the names of the people who made deals with her and gave them new ones, and she could control them like that, but the little girl got away because no matter how hard the witch tried, the girl never forgot who she was in her heart."

It sounded stupid when he said it out loud, but he'd really enjoyed that story. It had felt real, like none of the other stories in the book had, it felt like… himself. He'd understood it - so many folk-tales and literary samples seemed incomprehensible to him. It was all alien and strange when he'd grown up so very differently than it seemed others did. He knew he was special, and different, and that was why he was in the lab and going to be a SOLDIER and better than all the others, but that story had made him feel… wistful, he thought was the correct term.

"So, C stands for Cloud," the boy murmured, pulling his knees up against his chest and resting his cheek there as he thought about it, "it's easier to say than yours, Seph'roth"

He shook his head, "Seph-i-roth," he sounded it out and waited for Cloud to repeat it three times like he did for all of his new vocabulary words, "and this might be the only time we can use them for… maybe forever I don't know. I'm not sure what they'll put when we join SOLDIER, maybe they'll still call us S and C. But," he smiled faintly, "maybe we can use them in the field on missions we take together one day."

"That would be nice," Cloud murmured, yawning, "sorry, s'been a long day."

"Yeah," Sephiroth looked at the cave's entrance, trying to gauge the time, and gasped, "Cloud, look!"

He reached down and pulled Cloud to his feet, tugging him along as he rushed across the uneven floor of the cave and out into the cold. Both of them stared up at the sky, the faint speckles of star lights nearly blotted out by a wavering flag of Mako colored light stretched across the sky. Faint traces of pink flared around the lower edge, with the occasional swirl of blue.

Soft fur brushed along Sephiroth's side as Wolf joined them, sitting down to seemingly watch the sky just as they were. It had been a very long day, but it was hard to mind all the fear and pain he'd gone through to get here when they had the opportunity to see something so very beautiful.

Wolf tilted her head back and howled, the sound so mournful it drew Sephiroth closer until he petted her back. Wolf turned her head into his side, pressing her face into the leather stomach guard and giving a shuddering sigh.

All across the mountain, her cry was echoed by her fellows, a chorus of yips and howls piercing the otherwise silent night.

Further down, another howl, broken and choked off, made something in Sephiroth's stomach clench.

"Let's go back inside," he said, uncertainly, not wanting to frighten Cloud when it was just a stupid feeling, "where it's warmer."

"But," Cloud yearned toward the sky as Sephiroth pulled his arm.

Sephiroth frowned, hating to give orders but knowing he had to get used to it, especially when something dangerous might be nearby, "Now, Cloud!"

The little boy flinched, shoulders hunched as he automatically whispered, "Yes, sir."

"No, don't…" Sephiroth drew Cloud into a hug. "I'm sorry, but this is for your own good. We have to walk back down the mountain tomorrow, and you need to get some sleep. I'll keep watch, I can go a lot longer than you can without sleeping."

"But," Cloud cut himself off and nodded his head, "okay."

He held Cloud a little tighter, "Good boy," he whispered, "and the faster you go to sleep the faster it will seem before we can go back to the lab. Then we can get clean and maybe, if they decide we did a really good job, we'll have the whole rest of tomorrow off to train or read however we want."

Sephiroth drew his sword from his back and set it in front of him, taking out another of the disgusting ration bars and splitting it between them. They'd eat the last two before they left in the morning, he thought, because it would take a lot longer to get down than it had going up, with Cloud's shorter legs.

Wolf settled down beside him, her glowing eyes pointed at the mouth of the cave - clearly she had decided she would be on watch as well. Cloud fell asleep with his head resting on Sephiroth's thigh, on the side furthest from his dominant hand to give him space to grab his weapon.

Letting out a shaky breath, that strange emotion he'd experienced listening to the strange animal's cry slowly worsened. He pulled the sword into his lap, left hand resting lightly on the hilt as the light of the crystals reflected from its surface.

He watched the bits of the aurora he could see with his back against the cave wall, and waited for whatever would come. Maybe it was nothing.

The pain in his stomach twisted and spread.

He hoped it was nothing.

Professor Hojo leaned back in his chair, hands pressed together and fingers tapping against his thin lips as he watched the live feed on the screen in front of him. The camera bobbed and shuddered with the movement of the creature it was attached to, the speaker picking up first one howl and then a dozen more wolves raising their own cries in answer.

The camera stopped, the guttural sound that Subject NB-09 loosed from its throat was only vaguely akin to the sounds a normal wolf would make. He wondered what the townsfolk thought of it, illogical and idiotic stories of werewolves would be the talk at the inn most likely. The howl it gave was, he admitted, eerily human.

NB-08 had made sounds that were almost vocalizations, but it had suddenly collapsed after a week and a necropsy had found swelling around the speech center of the brain. He'd been a little more careful in the subject he deemed acceptable. Subject NB-09 was the culmination of weeks of research for Project Squire, duplicating the process that had been utilized on Subject C. Weekly blood draws, replaced by equivalent amounts of Mako and S-Cells.

Subject C's body was still too human to go so quickly. He'd had the treatments twice more, in January and March, and the results had been promising to say the least. Accelerated reading comprehension and a rapidly growing vocabulary kept pace with an almost instinctive acquisition of physical techniques - but only so long as it was Subject S performing the demonstration.

He had hoped that the enhancement he performed on NB-09 might increase its intelligence, perhaps even enough that he could force a full consciousness on the beast akin to the possibly extinct fire-wolves. Something of human intelligence that looked like a wolf would make excellent scouts and guards.

Instead it had exhibited a series of fascinating physical mutations. Mako had a tendency to affect the body in unpredictable ways but with the S-Cells it had stabilized at becoming a third larger than the average Nibel wolf. Its coarse brown fur had fallen out, and strands of fine silver hair grew to cover it. Its eyes, once golden, had mutated the same as Subject C's with slit pupils and green irises, although the white sclera had turned black.

Ballard had suggested, moronically, that they should give it some of Subject S's used clothing or unwashed bedding to acclimate the beast to S' scent in order to help the process along and give it something to track when the time came. It wasn't the scent of the boy that would draw NB-09 to him, it would be the call of Reunion, the same as it had led Subject S to his subordinate.

And the beast was drawn to S, it trotted unerringly up the mountain paths without stopping to check for scent or sign of passage. The camera whipped back and forth as it stopped to shake its head and whine, seemingly in pain, before it began to run faster. A dark depression loomed before it soon enough, and the feed glitched momentarily as the dim green light in the sky overhead was replaced by glowing blue. A grin spread over Hojo's face, hands rubbing together, as Subject S leaped to his feet; his weapon had been at the ready, and he set himself in a protective stance.

Hojo leaned forward, adjusting his glasses as he settled in to observe.