Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/224007.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Final_Fantasy_VII
  Relationship:
      Zack_Fair/Cloud_Strife
  Character:
      Zack_Fair, Cloud_Strife, Sephiroth
  Stats:
      Published: 2006-02-09 Completed: 2006-04-14 Chapters: 26/26 Words: 126268
****** Got Your Back ******
by Miko
Summary
     Even the best had to start out somewhere, and everyone needs someone
     to watch their back on the way up.
Notes
     A lot of people seem worried to finish this because they're afraid it
     will end with canon events, so I thought I should clarify. This fic
     does NOT cover the events of Nibelheim, though the ending is such
     that it could go on to be canon compliant. Or you can do what
     everyone else seems to want to, and assume it goes AU and ends better
     than the real events of the game, lol.
***** Chapter 1 *****
If there was one thing Cloud had learned in his five and a half days so far in
Shinra's boot camp, it was that drill sergeants must be chosen on the basis of
their capacity for sadism. He'd come to join Shinra's army to get stronger;
partly so he could be strong for Tifa, but also partly to get away from the
bigger kids in Nibelheim who thought they could talk down to him and push him
around.
If he'd wanted to get away from bullying, he was discovering, he'd come to the
wrong place.
"Cloud! What the hell was that supposed to be?" the sergeant was barking at him
now. The man was standing in front of him, so close his spittle was landing on
Cloud's face as he yelled. Cloud knew better by now than to do anything to get
rid of it or react in any way.
"Sergeant! That was a lunge and parry, sergeant!" he answered, keeping his eyes
carefully fixed on a point front and center, about a foot behind the sergeant's
pasty face.
"The hell it was!" the sergeant snapped back. "That was the saddest excuse for
a lunge I've seen in my entire career. Then again, you're just about the
saddest excuse for a recruit I've ever seen, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised,
should I?"
"Yes sergeant!" Cloud had also learned better than to try to argue or - Odin
forbid - make excuses. If the sword was too heavy for him, if he was drooping
with exhaustion after an afternoon spent doing endurance drills in the hot
summer heat, if his arm was aching so much from yesterday's drills he could
hardly lift a fork, let alone his sword... well, as the sergeant would be happy
to point out, those were all good reasons for Cloud to drop out and give up
'like the pathetic loser he was'.
Dropping out and giving up weren't options Cloud was willing to consider,
however. At first it had been because he'd been so determined to make himself
stronger. Now, it was at least as much from a desire to prove the sergeant
wrong and make him eat his words.
"And you!" The man turned on Cloud's current sparring partner, a tall dark-
haired boy probably a couple of years older than him. "You're damn lucky he's
so incompetent. You left a hole in your defence so wide I could summon Bahamut
through it! Do you want to find yourself eviscerated?"
"No sergeant!" Cloud couldn't actually see the other cadet without moving his
eyes, but he could hear the smile in the older boy's voice. So could the drill
sergeant, though Cloud was certain Zack wasn't stupid enough to let the
amusement actually show on his face.
"Drop and give me twenty, both of you! Then get your pansy asses in gear and
start swinging those swords like they're weapons, not conducting batons!"
"Yes sergeant!" Their response came in unison, but Zack's answer was much more
cheerful than Cloud's had been, bordering on irreverent. So far as Cloud had
been able to determine, there was literally nothing that would cause Zack to
lose his good cheer. The sergeant certainly seemed to have made it a personal
mission to try, which at least gave Cloud some relief from the man's
attentions.
On the other hand, Zack had good reason to be cheerful. Scuttlebutt in the camp
said that Zack was already being scouted by officers as a candidate for the
SOLDIER program. He was the best in their squad, probably the best in the
entire boot camp, and everybody knew he was going to end up as an officer at
the very least. Pissy drill sergeants aside, Zack had no cause to be anything
less than cheerful.
Some days Cloud hated him for it. Especially when he had to drill with Zack,
because it just made him look even more frail and incompetent than he was. As
they both dropped to their hands and toes and started doing the required push
ups, Cloud could already tell Zack was going to be finished in half the time he
was.
"What in Hades' name are the rest of you lily-livered pansies looking at?" he
heard the sergeant bellow. "Get back to your drills!" There was a scramble of
motion as everyone else renewed their efforts at the sword drill, not wanting
to be the next one singled out for abuse.
"I wonder if drill sergeants start out that mean, or if it's a process they go
through like the one that makes SOLDIERs?" came an unexpected whisper from
beside him. Cloud glanced over, surprised to see Zack grinning at him between
push ups.
"It's gotta be special training," he muttered back. "Nobody's that mean
naturally."
"Maybe that's what's behind the rumours of monsters appearing in the wilds
outside Midgar," Zack said thoughtfully. "It's really just the retired drill
sergeants getting frustrated because they don't have anybody to pick on."
That startled Cloud into a snicker. He did his best to muffle it and turn it
into a cough, but he was too late. "I'm glad you find your punishment so
amusing!" the sergeant said, coming back to stand in front of him. Cloud
groaned internally. "Since you're enjoying it so much, maybe you'll find KP
duty just as entertaining!"
Great. He was going to starve because he wouldn't have enough strength left in
his arms to feed himself, and get no sleep because of being on KP. Cloud had
already been assigned Kitchen Patrol once this week; the camp cooks had a
seemingly infinite pile of vegetables that needed chopping and peeling, and
they were more than happy to put a wayward cadet to work for half the night or
more. "Thanks a lot!" he hissed at Zack as the sergeant moved away again and
the older boy was climbing to his feet.
"Hey, I..." Whatever Zack had been about to say was cut off as the sergeant
bellowed for him again.
"Zack! Get over here and train with Thomas. At this rate Miss Cloud there won't
be done until the drill session is over."
"Yes sergeant!" Zack replied smartly, and marched off to the indicated spot.
Cloud noticed the other boy's steps didn't drag in the least; if he was tired
after the long day of training, he wasn't showing it. Just one more thing to
resent the Golden Boy for.
He did finish the push ups before the drill session was over, but he didn't
fare much better against his new sparring partner. Either Zack was performing
well enough that the sergeant couldn't find anything to fault, or the man had
decided it was 'pick on Cloud' open season, because he never moved more than a
few feet from Cloud for the rest of the session. And, of course, he was more
than happy to point out Cloud's long list of mistakes and failings loudly
enough to be sure everyone in the whole bloody camp heard him.
Cloud ground his teeth and refused to even listen, concentrating everything he
had into the next swing of the sword. And the next, and the next after that, in
an endless repetition that seemed like it would never be over.
Finally the trilling whistle that signalled the changing of the guard came, and
that meant their drill session was over. Cloud didn't drop his sword or let the
point drag in the dust, he'd learned that lesson on their first day. He slid
the sabre gratefully back into the sheath at his waist and formed up with the
rest of his squad to be dismissed.
Pacing back and forth in front of their lines, the sergeant eyed them with his
hands folded behind his back. "Congratulations," he said, his voice dripping
with sarcasm. "You all have made it through six days of training. Clearly our
standards have fallen drastically." He shook his head. "Tomorrow is your last
day of boot camp. Those of you who make it through tomorrow will have earned
the right to call yourselves privates in Shinra Corp's army."
Pausing, he eyed them all slowly. "Don't start celebrating just yet," the
sergeant warned. "Tomorrow will be harder than all six days you've been through
combined, and then some. Shinra is not interested in funding a corps of whining
babies who run back to their mamas at the first sign of hardship, which is
about all you lot add up to. We will be putting you through hell, and we will
be testing you to your limits and beyond. Not all of you will make it to the
end of the day."
Now Cloud was certain the man was staring straight at him, though he didn't
dare turn his eyes to check. His jaw clenched, and his hand tightened on the
hilt of the sword. The thought of a day worse than everything so far was nearly
enough to break him... but not quite. He'd come this far, there was no way in
hell he was backing down now.
"Dismissed!" the sergeant finally barked, and the cadets turned in their lines
to march smartly off in formation.
Of course, the formation broke up into little straggling groups as soon as they
were out of the room. None of the groups included Cloud; he'd never been good
at making friends, and he hadn't had the energy to spare to even make the
attempt while he was trying to survive boot camp. He picked up his pace despite
his exhaustion, not wanting to linger and watch everyone else laughing and
having fun.
Showering was a noisy, crowded affair. Cloud didn't think he would ever get
used to bathing in front of so many people, but it was just another thing he
had to grit his teeth and bear. It wasn't like it was difficult, just
embarrassing. He wasn't really all that short, but he was still half the size
of some of his squad in terms of sheer mass.
At least being the scrawny runt meant it was easy for him to worm his way
through the press of bodies and find an empty space big enough for him at one
of the nozzles. He washed himself quickly but thoroughly, wanting to get to the
mess as fast as possible. If he got there early enough, he could claim a seat
to himself in a corner and not get stuck among a bunch of laughing, chattering
men who didn't particularly want him there.
The food the cooks plopped down on his tray looked unappetizing at best,
inedible at worst. Cloud was used to it by now, though, and took what was given
to him without complaint. Some of the others weren't so resigned; he could hear
more than one voice protesting the glop, and the sharp retorts of the cooks.
Settling himself into his preferred quiet corner, he started shovelling the
crap into his mouth, trying to ignore the aching protest of his much-abused
arm. Normally he hurried through his meals so he wouldn't have to taste the
awful stuff any longer than necessary, but tonight he was in no rush. Once he
was done he had to report for KP, and every minute spent lingering over his
meal was one less he'd have to spend peeling vegetables.
No one had ever disturbed him in his solitude before, so he was more than a
little shocked when somebody dropped a tray on the table in front of him and
plopped down onto the bench. Somehow he wasn't entirely surprised to see who it
was.
"What do you want?" he asked, more curtly than he'd really intended.
Zack gave him a soulful look, like Cloud's abruptness had hurt his feelings.
"Look, I didn't mean to get you in trouble. Honest. Sarge finds enough flaws to
pick on without us handing them to him on a silver platter. I'm sorry."
It was hard to stay mad in the face of such a sincere apology, especially since
Cloud was fairly certain the older boy really hadn't intended it maliciously.
"It's fine," he said, prodding at a lump of what he thought might be mashed
potatoes, not looking up to meet Zack's eyes. "If it wasn't that, it would have
been something else. He likes to make certain I'm aware that I'm the worst in
the squad."
"Sure, but you've been the worst in the squad since day one, and you're still
here," Zack commented cheerfully. "Half the people who started out with us have
packed it in already. And I bet they're not going to be able to chase you off
tomorrow either, are they?"
Startled, Cloud made the mistake of lifting his head and was immediately caught
in the older boy's gaze. For all that he'd just insulted Cloud, there was an
odd sort of earnestness in his eyes. "Look, you made your apology and I
accepted it," Cloud said gruffly. "You don't have to stay here and eat with me
just to show how sorry you are, or because you're taking pity on me or whatever
the hell you're doing."
"Is that what you think?" Zack sounded amused rather than offended as Cloud
ducked his head to stare at his tray again. "You don't have many friends back
home, do you?"
"That's twice in as many breaths that you've insulted me," Cloud said, getting
angry. "Would you just go away and leave me in peace?"
His anger wasn't helped any when Zack merely chuckled and propped his chin on
his hands, his elbows on the table. "Ramuh, but you're a prickly little thing,
aren't you? Look, I like you okay? I've been watching you since about our third
day here, and you've got a lot of spirit."
"That's a polite way of implying that spirit is all I've got," Cloud pointed
out between gritted teeth. "I'm sure you enjoy the fact that being around me
makes you look that much better, but you don't really need the boost to your
ego. You're already the Golden Boy."
"Heh. Is that what they're calling me?" Zack snickered, having apparently
missed the point of Cloud's rant entirely. "That should be your nickname, not
mine. I've never seen hair that blonde before. You'd better tuck in, or you'll
just be hungry when you're still peeling carrots at oh-dark-hundred."
Suiting action to words, Zack started eating with every evidence of enthusiasm.
Cloud couldn't help but watch him with a sort of sick fascination. "How can you
eat that stuff like it actually tastes good?"
Chuckling, Zack swallowed and grinned at him. "I spent a while in the Midgar
slums before I signed up. Trust me, compared to what's available down there
this is good. You been down there yet?"
Shaking his head, Cloud went back to eating his own meal. He didn't bother to
answer, not wanting to encourage the older boy in conversation. Zack seemed to
catch his mood, or maybe the brunette was just that hungry, because he went
back to cleaning his plate without another word.
Zack went back for seconds, but returned to his place across from Cloud as if
they'd always sat together. Even so he was finished at about the same time
Cloud was, inhaling the food like a human vortex. "Do you always eat like
that?" Cloud couldn't help blurting out.
"Sure," Zack grinned at him again. "I'm a growing boy after all. Aren't you
hungry? You're nothing but skin and bones, and you look like you've got a lot
of growing left to do yet."
"I'm always hungry," Cloud admitted, a little ruefully. "This stuff is just
awful. I hope they serve the troops better food than they give the cadets, or
I'm going to starve to death in my first week."
"Miss your mama's cooking, huh?" Zack's smile became sympathetic. "Me too. My
mom was such a great cook, I could stuff myself on her food and never get
enough. It's a good thing I left as young as I did, or I'd have eaten my
parents out of house and home. But I do miss it. She made the best cherry
cobbler this side of... well, anywhere..."
Somehow, Cloud realized as he stood and gathered his tray while Zack chattered
on, he'd been drawn into an actual conversation with the other boy even though
he hadn't meant to. Zack was like a fire spell; bright and passionate and
impossible to ignore, burning you without meaning to but you wanted to get
close and warm your hands anyway.
It wasn't until Zack actually followed him through the door to the kitchens
after they'd deposited their trays that Cloud realized the older boy seemed
perfectly willing to trail him all the way to his punishment duty. "Where are
you going?" he interrupted the stream of cheerful words.
"KP duty," Zack said, as if it should have been obvious.
"What? Why?" Cloud was mystified. Surely he'd have remembered if they'd given
Zack KP at some point during the day. It wasn't like the sergeant pulled them
aside privately to hand out punishments. "You're not the one who got in
trouble."
"No, but I'm the one who made you get in trouble," Zack shrugged. "If I hadn't
been mouthing off you'd have been fine. So I'm going too. It'll make the work
go faster."
"You're crazy, you know that?" Shaking his head, Cloud stared up at him. "It's
not like having you there will get me out any sooner. They'll keep me until
they feel like letting me go, not until I've done a specific amount of work."
"Yeah, sure, but having company always makes the work go faster. Besides," Zack
winked at him. "Us backwater hicks gotta stick together." He started towards
the kitchens again while Cloud was still trying to formulate an answer to that.
"You're from Nibelheim, right? I recognize the accent."
"How did you...?" Cloud trailed off, mystified. Sure, he had enough of an
accent that everyone could tell he was from the western continent. But most
people in Midgar didn't seem able to distinguish between the subtleties of
foreign accents.
"I'm from Gongaga," Zack confided. "Trust me, when I got here my drawl was as
bad as yours. In a year or two yours'll wear off too. So, like I said, hick
solidarity. Now get your feet moving, soldier. The sooner you get to the
kitchens, the more likely the cooks are to let you off at something
approximating a more reasonable hour."
Helplessly Cloud found himself following along behind. He revised his earlier
comparison; Zack wasn't like a fire spell, he was like the Typhoon summon
they'd seen an officer demonstrate the other day. He just picked you up and
swept you along with him, and all you could do was hope you came out the other
side in one piece.
The cooks didn't question being presented with two cadets for KP rather than
just one, and shortly both Zack and Cloud were ensconced on the most
uncomfortable stools Cloud had ever encountered. Cloud was peeling the first of
a truly impressive pile of potatoes, and Zack was chopping greens. Somewhat to
Cloud's disbelief and irritation, Zack was actually humming softly under his
breath as he worked, tapping one foot idly along with the beat.
"Never fails to amaze me how they can take perfectly good ingredients and turn
it into the nameless sludge they feed us in the mess," Zack said after a few
moments. "If I wasn't looking at these veggies myself, I'd have said there
wasn't a single bit of real food in that slop. Maybe this goes to the
officers?"
"I challenge your definition of 'perfectly good'," Cloud replied, holding up
one particularly sorry specimen of potato for proof. This one was especially
bad, shrunken and wizened like it had never had a chance to grow properly, but
none of them were likely to win any prizes. "Where do they grow these, in a
cave?"
"Farms outside Midgar," Zack replied, his tone more sober than Cloud had yet
heard it. The change surprised him, and he looked at the older boy more
closely. "Pretty soon they're going to have to give up on the home farms and
start shipping it in, I think. Nothing grows properly around here any more. The
soil dries out more every year, and they don't know why." He shrugged. "Good
news for farming communities elsewhere, not so good news for the people beneath
the plate who can barely afford food prices as it is."
Like a dog shaking off water, Zack tossed his head and shed the sombre mood
he'd briefly slipped into. Cloud watched the change with fascination. So there
was more to Zack than the hyperactive incessantly cheerful Golden Boy after
all.
"Speaking of living under the plate," he said, pointing the knife at Cloud with
a mock-accusatory look. "How in Hades' name did you convince the recruiters you
were old enough to sign on?"
Caught off guard, Cloud sputtered. "Hey! What makes you think I lied about my
age?" he asked indignantly. "Maybe I'm just short!" Half of his indignation
came from the fact that he had lied, of course. But when he'd gotten to Midgar
and found out you had to be sixteen to sign on, he'd just about died.
"Bullshit," Zack said in a conversational tone. "Kid, I am just barely old
enough to be here, and there's no way in hell you're my age. You look like I
did when I got here at fourteen, at least, I don't think I was any scrawnier
than you then. I spent a year and a half after I got here living in sector 5,
coming up to the recruiting office every month to try to convince them I was
old enough, and they weren't having any. How'd you do it?"
The image of Zack as a kid as small as Cloud was, harassing the poor recruiting
officers, was enough to make him laugh. "Come off it, you were never as small
as I am," he said, sure of this much. He'd thought Zack was eighteen at least;
if he really was just sixteen, he was the best muscled sixteen-year-old Cloud
had ever met.
"No seriously, I was," Zack insisted with a grin. "Little shrimp right off the
boat, Gongagan accent so thick nobody could understand me, and it was the shock
of my life that I was too young to sign on. All my big dreams of winning fame
and fortune as a SOLDIER hadn't included having to wait around to be old
enough."
Cloud flushed and ducked his head, hoping Zack wouldn't read on his face that
he'd gone through exactly the same thought process. He hadn't yet admitted to
anyone here that he wanted to be a SOLDIER, because he just knew they would
laugh at him. They laughed at him enough for just wanting to be an ordinary
trooper, he wasn't going to give them free ammunition.
"Anyway, there I was without a penny to my name, since I'd stowed on board the
ship to get to Junon and walked to Midgar," Zack was continuing, waving his
knife around for emphasis in a way that would have made Cloud worried except
for his certainty that Zack knew exactly where it was at all times. "Half
starved, freezing because it was the middle of winter and I'm from a place
that's never even seen snow, and being told 'Thanks for your interest, come
back when you're older'. I lucked out and managed to find enough work to keep
me fed and sheltered down in sector 5, and now that I'm finally sixteen they
let me in." He pointed the knife at Cloud again. "So? How'd you do it?"
There was some satisfaction in knowing he'd managed to do something that Golden
Boy Zack had failed at. Cloud's lips twitched despite himself as he admitted,
"I set up camp at the recruiting office door and refused to budge until they
signed my paperwork. They had to go in and out through the back door, nobody
could get past me. They threatened to shoot me a couple times, but finally a
visiting officer said if I was that determined, they should just let me go kill
myself in training."
"You... you camped out..." Zack stared at him with his mouth open, knife
drooping in his hand, then burst out laughing. "You stubborn son of a bitch!
That's one thing I never tried, for sure. And I thought I was being a pain in
the ass coming back every month."
The older boy was actually crying with laughter now, and he dropped the knife
on the counter so he could wrap his arms around his stomach and wheeze. Cloud
watched, utterly nonplussed. Surely it wasn't that funny.
"Cloud, don't let them ever convince you that you're not good enough to be
here," Zack said when he finally started to calm down, wiping his eyes. "You're
trying for SOLDIER, am I right?"
Looking away, Cloud swallowed. Zack was still chuckling, but he didn't seem to
be laughing at Cloud, or at least not at his dream. "Yeah," he acknowledged
gruffly. "I made a promise to myself."
"Then you're going to do it, because fucking hell I've never met anybody with
your determination." Cloud couldn't see Zack's expression, but the tone of his
voice was almost... admiring? "They're gonna try to shoot you down, but if you
stick with it you'll make it eventually." Zack nudged him in the shin with the
toe of his boot, and Cloud looked back at him. The older boy was grinning.
"We'll do it together, okay? You and me, we'll take SOLDIER by storm."
"Why do you care?" Cloud burst out, unable to contain himself any more. "What
difference does it make to you what I want to be? You're going to make it,
everybody knows that. They're already talking about how you might even make 1st
Class. What do you need me for?"
"To watch my back, of course," Zack said as if it were the most obvious thing
in the world. "Everyone's gotta have someone to watch their back, if they plan
to get anywhere. Besides," he flashed his incorrigible grin again, "I want to
have a friend, someone I know I can count on. And so far you're the only person
I've met in this whole damn camp who seems worth the effort."
Staring at him for a long moment, Cloud tried to find his voice. His brain
seemed to have shut down sometime during that little speech, and the words just
weren't coming. "You're nuts," he finally managed. "Everyone will be happy to
tell you so, too. I'm just going to slow you down."
"If ninety percent of people are telling you that you're doing something wrong,
then you probably made the right choice," Zack informed him cheerfully. "I
don't really care what people think of me, or my friends. I told you before, I
like you. I want to be your friend. If you don't want to, that's fine. But
don't tell me the guy who argued the Shinra recruiting office into taking him
years too early is gonna let the opinions of a bunch of jealous jerks dictate
who his friends are."
Once again Cloud found himself lost for words. Slowly he shook his head. "I
still think you're crazy," he said, hoping his voice wasn't wobbling too much.
Had he ever had a friend? A real friend, not just someone he wanted to be close
to, like Tifa? "But if you're happy being crazy, I'm not going to argue with
you."
Clearing his throat, he shrugged and turned back to his potatoes, not wanting
to let the rather sappy moment stretch out to the point where it would be
embarrassing. More embarrassing, rather. "Now start chopping, or they'll never
let us get back to our bunks," he ordered roughly. "We've got a hard day
tomorrow."
***** Chapter 2 *****
True to the sergeant's prediction, when they formed up in the early afternoon
there were fewer people in the ranks than there had been the day before. Cloud
was so exhausted he could barely hold his arm up to help him dress the line
against Zack next to him. Even Zack looked tired, his face streaked with blood
from where he'd gotten a minor head wound and hadn't had a chance to clean it
up.
They hadn't had a chance to do anything but what the sergeants ordered them to
do. They'd been rousted out of bed even before the (already obscenely early, in
Cloud's opinion) reveille sounded, and herded off to a series of written exams
to show how much they'd managed to absorb of what they'd been taught. Trying to
think on an empty stomach and maybe three hours of sleep hadn't been pleasant,
and Cloud was a little nervous about his results.
Ten minutes to grab breakfast, which consisted of the nearly inedible field
rations, and then they were off again. Drills, sparring, obstacle course,
endurance run, shooting range... everything they'd done over the whole week,
crammed into the morning and early afternoon.
Several people had dropped from sheer exhaustion. Others had taken injuries
once weariness made them start getting sloppy; Zack's head wound had come from
an argument he'd lost with some iron spikes on the obstacle course, and Cloud's
side was aching from a fall from the climbing rope in the endurance test.
He wasn't sure how it was that he wasn't one of the people who'd succumbed to
exhaustion. His body was telling him in no uncertain terms that it would be
happy to do so, but he'd refused to give up. Mostly he'd concentrated on just
following Zack, and during the times he fell behind he focused on catching up
again.
Having someone to work with, to challenge and follow and watch each other's
backs, was a new experience for Cloud. He was deciding it was one he really
liked.
They'd just come off the endurance run, and their lines were a bit more ragged
than was strictly regulation. There was a lot of panting and stifled moans, but
everyone here had made it through two thirds of the day. Surely the last third
couldn't be as bad? Cloud wasn't even sure what they had left to be tested on.
The captain in charge of the camp was standing at the front of the formation,
waiting for them to finish dressing ranks so he could call them to attention
again. "I suppose you all think you're getting lunch now," was the unpromising
beginning to his speech.
Cloud's stomach dropped, and beside him he thought he heard Zack muffle a
groan. Breakfast had been a long time ago, and they'd been expending a lot of
energy. He was starving, and considering the way Zack ate he was probably even
hungrier.
"In the field, you may not always have access to supplies," the captain
continued. "The enemy will not schedule their attacks so as to give you a
convenient lunch break. If you can't perform under these conditions, then you
are not worthy to wear the Shinra uniform."
Turning, he gestured at the building behind him. They'd all been trucked into
the main Shinra compound; this was one of the smaller outlying buildings.
Possibly a warehouse of some kind, Cloud thought, or maybe offices. "Your
mission today is data recovery. There is a vital piece of information on a disk
in the safe of one of the offices. Some of our real soldiers have been
stationed inside the building, to simulate security you might run into if this
were a real raid on an enemy compound. Squad leaders will be given the map with
the target marked on it; other than that you're on your own. Squads with less
than five remaining will be matched up with other small squads. Each squad has
a different route to the target; if you stray too far from your route you will
be penalized."
There were six people still in Cloud's squad, including him and Zack. The squad
leader, of course, was Zack, so at least he didn't have to worry about his
leader 'accidentally' misplacing him or otherwise doing something that would
cause him to fail.
"The guns you are being issued contain paint pellet ammunition," the captain
said. "Your enemies are armed with the same. Be aware that the paint pellets
can cause severe damage when fired at close range. Collect your guns and maps,
and line up by squad number."
There was a general movement towards the nearby tables stacked with rifles, and
it was only marginally orderly. Apparently they were allowed to discuss things,
because the officers were making no move to curb the murmurs that had already
started. "Well, it could be a lot worse," Zack said cheerfully. "The way
they've been driving us today, it wouldn't have surprised me much if we'd been
given real ammo! This sounds like fun."
"Fun for you, maybe," Cloud groaned. "I'm ready to drop."
Grinning at him, Zack clapped him on the shoulder. "The faster we get in there
and get our target, the faster we get out, pass, and can go rest. I'm tired
too, trust me."
They accepted their guns and Zack received their map, and they took their place
in line. They were Squad 3, so at least they wouldn't have very long to wait.
"All right, it sounds like the squads ahead of us are planning to charge in
with guns blazing," Zack said as they huddled together to plan strategy. "We're
going to try a stealth approach. It'll be less work for us, less likely to get
any of us 'killed', and if we can avoid some of the enemies I'll bet we get
extra points. Any objections?"
Nobody had any, so he nodded and moved on. "Good. I'll take point. Lucas, you
take rear guard, Terry and Cloud flanking. Watt and Ryan, you'll be centre and
in charge of the map. Cloud is second in command; if anything happens to me you
follow him, got it?"
Startled, Cloud gaped at Zack, his face turning bright red. Their squadmates
were no less surprised, and not entirely happy with the pronouncement. "I'm
squad leader, and those are my orders," Zack said quietly, with no hint of
cheer in his voice for once. "If you don't like it, you'd better pick another
squad leader."
Since Zack was the current leader specifically because he had been the only one
everyone could agree on, there wasn't much to be said to that. Cloud got a
couple of resentful looks, but there wasn't time to say anything more. Two
minutes had passed since the second squad went in, and now it was their turn.
Once inside, Cloud pushed his worries and fears off to one side, determined to
concentrate on living up to Zack's belief in him. The hallways were dim, as if
it were night in the compound they were raiding; that suited their stealth
approach just fine.
Whispered directions from the middle led them through the labyrinth of offices.
On the right flank, Cloud kept his finger on his rifle trigger and paid sharp
attention to everything on that side. Zack would approach each intersection
first, crouched low so he wouldn't get shot the moment he poked his head around
the corner. Once he'd confirmed the way was clear, he would wave the rest of
them forward.
They successfully avoided two enemy patrols that way, waiting until they'd
passed by before crossing the intersection behind them. Cloud was just starting
to think they might actually get through this with no casualties when there was
a muffled exclamation from Terry. "Left!"
One of the office doors had been slightly open, and even as Terry called the
warning three men in Shinra guard uniforms burst out with their guns blazing.
Cloud swung his rifle around, but there were three people between him and them
and he couldn't risk shooting for fear of causing friendly fire.
Biting his lip, he deliberately turned his back on the attack and turned his
attention back to the right flank. The noise of the rifles might bring other
guards, and if they were all focused on the current enemy they'd never see it
coming.
Turning his back was still the hardest thing he'd ever done. He had to trust
his squadmates to deal with it and watch his back. Two paint pellets whizzed
past him, one actually brushing against his uniform sleeve, but they spattered
harmlessly on the wall.
Just at that moment, another pair of guards rounded the corner of the next
intersection and came running for them. "Zack!" Cloud shouted, half panicked as
he lifted his rifle to his shoulder and fired. His aim was off, but he managed
to hit one of the approaching men in the leg. In real life it probably would
have been a minor flesh wound, but it was enough to make him hesitate for a
moment.
A 'fatal' moment. There was the sharp crack of a rifle firing from his left,
then again in quick succession, and both of the approaching men sprouted red
paint over their hearts.
"Nice shooting, kid," one of them called, rubbing his chest ruefully. Turning
his head, he saw Zack shoulder his rifle and wave a grinning acknowledgement.
There was no sound of fighting behind him; turning further, Cloud saw that the
other enemies were down as well. Terry was on the floor hunched over his
stomach, looking pained, and Cloud thought he could see real blood among the
red dye on Watt's sleeve. He remembered what the captain had said about the
damage the pellets could do at close range, and shuddered.
"I know you're all disappointed not to have any more enemies to play with, but
let's not stand around waiting for the next batch," Zack drawled. "Terry,
you're 'dead', we'll have to leave you here. We'll come back for your body on
the way out if we can." He glanced at their other casualty. "Watt, can you
continue?"
"I'll have to fire left-handed, but I'll manage," the man said, his face pale
as Ryan finished tying a quick bandage around his upper arm.
"You take the map then, and Ryan will have the left flank," Zack declared.
"Let's go. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can get you two help."
Cloud tried to keep his breathing quiet as they continued down the halls, but
he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and knew he probably still
sounded a little panicked. Zack gave him one reassuring grin, then focused his
attention on getting them where they were going with no more casualties.
They ran into one more patrol, but this time they were the ones who sprang an
ambush and they shot down the men with no trouble. "Almost there!" Zack crowed,
his eyes bright as he bounced slightly on the balls of his feet. "One more
corner and it's the office at the end of the hall, right?"
"Yeah," Watt agreed, checking the map. Cloud was impressed. Zack remembered the
route after only having the map for a few minutes?
"Be careful, there's probably more security at the office itself," Zack
cautioned them. "I don't see any sign of the first two squads, though. We might
even be the first ones here."
"Let's hope they don't come charging up behind us and alert the guards just as
we're sneaking out," Cloud muttered, and the others grumbled agreement.
Zack edged forward as they approached the next corner, and the rest of them
fell back as agreed. There was nothing but blank wall on the right, so Cloud
turned his attention to the front. As a result, he saw the way Zack suddenly
ducked back around the corner and plastered himself to the wall, looking like
he'd just seen a ghost.
"Holy Alexander," the older boy murmured. "That's not fair!"
"What? Is there a whole platoon there or something?" Cloud whispered back,
wondering what could have shaken Zack like that. Wordlessly the older boy shook
his head, and Cloud crept forward to get a look of his own.
It wasn't hard to figure out what had set Zack off. Pacing up and down the
narrow hall in front of the door they needed to reach was the Silver General
himself. At least, Cloud was fairly certain it was really him. Surely nobody
else had silver hair like that, or would have the nerve to wear that uniform?
Sephiroth wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, just walking back
and forth as if he was deep in thought - or possibly just bored waiting for the
squads to get there, Cloud thought. He jerked back around the corner and
plastered himself to the wall much like Zack had.
"It's Sephiroth," Zack whispered back to the rest of the group, having
apparently recovered a bit. He was still wide-eyed and a little pale, but he
had himself back under control.
"Sephiroth?" Ryan almost squeaked. "That's... that's insane! How are we
supposed to get past him?"
"Maybe it's just someone in a wig and a costume," Cloud suggested, though he
didn't think that was the case. There had been something, some indefinable
quality to the man that had him convinced it was the real thing. The way he
walked, maybe; all coiled tension and barely restrained power like a panther
prowling for prey. Normal people just didn't move like that.
"No, it's really him," Zack shook his head, probably thinking much the same
things Cloud was. "I'd stake my life on it. Damn it, this is completely unfair.
Don't they want anyone to pass this test? Sephiroth so far outclasses us
that..."
A thought seemed to strike him, and he halted in mid sentence. "Wait, maybe
that's it," he said slowly. "In an enemy compound, if we came up against
superior firepower, we wouldn't be able to just go back to our commanders and
whine about how it's not fair. Maybe the test isn't getting the document. Maybe
it's to see whether we're willing to risk everything to follow orders."
"We're still gonna get killed if we go out there after the Demon of Wutai,"
Lucas protested. "And I don't mean 'killed' like Terry was!"
"You go ahead and fail then," Zack said, his eyes alight with determination.
"I'm going after that disk. Who's with me?"
'I'm out,' Cloud had intended to say. There was no way in hell he wanted to go
up against the Silver General. What came out of his mouth instead was "I've got
your back."
Appalled at himself, he nearly bit his tongue. Well, he'd come this far... it
would be really stupid to back down now, he supposed. Zack nodded as if he'd
never doubted that Cloud would be coming, and looked at the others. "Anyone
else?"
Their squadmates looked at each other uneasily, and shook their heads one by
one. "We'll guard your retreat," Lucas offered. "It'd be stupid if you got past
him and got the disk and then got shot down on your way out."
"Fair enough," Zack shrugged, though it was clear from his tone that he'd
already mentally dismissed the lot of them. "C'mon Cloud, let's go take the
first step to SOLDIER."
Almost shaking with nerves, Cloud nodded and followed him. The others remained
behind, watching them go with a certain amount of disbelief. Cloud couldn't
blame them. "Are we going to try to sneak up on him?" he asked softly, his
voice trembling.
"Nah. No point," Zack said. "Hell, he probably already knows we're here. We'll
jump out at him when he gets to the part of his pacing closest to us. I'll
charge him; you're smaller, so you concentrate on getting by him to the door,
okay?"
"I'll hit him from behind," Cloud replied, a little more firmly. "I'm not
letting you sacrifice yourself. I don't want to have to lead them out of here!"
"You'll be fine," Zack assured him absently, concentrating on watching
Sephiroth pace to judge their best moment. "Ready?" Cloud hefted his rifle,
trying to ignore the way his hands were shaking. "Three... two... one... Go!"
They burst out from their concealment, Zack yelling a fierce battle cry and
Cloud just doing his best not to scream in terror. He fired wildly, unable to
aim but hoping a lucky shot might actually connect.
Sephiroth had been turned away to start his pacing back towards the door. He
spun to face them, a whirl of silver hair and black leather. For just an
instant, Cloud thought he saw an expression of surprise on the general's face,
as if they'd actually caught him off guard. Surely that couldn't be right?
He didn't have a chance to wonder further, because suddenly everything went to
hell. There was a flash of magic and Zack cried out as he was flung into the
wall hard enough to leave a sizeable dent. He slumped to the floor, dazed or
unconscious, bleeding from the reopened head wound.
Cloud didn't have time to worry about him though. Sephiroth had grabbed him
around the neck and lifted him right off his feet, and his every thought was
focused on just trying to get enough air past that crushing grip.
Glowing, inhuman green eyes stared down at him; somehow Cloud managed to spare
the brainpower to marvel that even holding him up off the ground, Sephiroth was
still taller than him. The general's gaze flicked over Cloud's uniform and the
paint spatters on his own leather jacket, then returned to Cloud's face. "You
have spectacularly bad taste in pranks, cadet."
The general's deep voice was soft, but somehow all the more menacing because of
it. Cloud's eyes widened. "Prank?" he squeaked around the constriction of his
throat. "Uhhh... Zack! I don't think he's part of the test!"
His voice was hoarse and almost incomprehensible, and he wasn't sure Zack was
awake to hear him anyway, but he did get a response. "Test?" the general
repeated, one eyebrow raised.
"Boot camp... final exam," came a wheezing voice to the side. Rolling his eyes
as far as he could, Cloud could just see Zack shoving himself gingerly into a
sitting position against the wall. He was holding his arm against his ribs, and
taking tiny, shallow little breaths. "Supposed to... retrieve a disk... in that
office. Thought you were... the last test... sir." From the way he was talking,
having to force each word out as if it was an effort to think, Cloud suspected
Sephiroth had hit him with a Slow spell.
"I see." Cloud's feet touched the ground again as the general lowered him and
let go of his neck, but his legs wouldn't support him. He collapsed to his
hands and knees, trying to draw in air past the bruising in his throat.
Sephiroth looked down at them, his expression now more neutral than angry.
"Well, that explains why I was actually able to get the quiet I wanted. I
suppose they cordoned off the building after I got here, and nobody who saw me
would have presumed to question my presence."
"Y'picked the wrong... hallway for quiet, sir." The Slow was wearing off and
Zack seemed to be getting his breath back a bit, but Cloud couldn't catch his
no matter how hard he tried. The older boy frowned at him in concern. "Hey
Cloud, can you breathe?"
Shaking his head, Cloud fought for what air he could get through the swelling.
There was a soft murmur above him and cool green energy rushed over him. It
bubbled and sparkled, and seemed to wipe away not only the bruise around his
throat but the ones on his side. It even left him feeling energized, as if he
hadn't just spent the whole day in ridiculously tiring training.
Beside him he heard Zack draw a cautious deep breath, and realized the general
had used a Restore materia on them both. A fairly high level one, if it had
healed Zack's broken ribs as well. "Thank you, sir!" Cloud said, managing an
awkward salute as he scrambled to his feet and Zack followed suit.
"As you were," Sephiroth said automatically, then paused. With a faint smile,
he added, "Well, perhaps not, all things considered. At ease, then."
Zack made a small choking noise, and Cloud stared at the general as they moved
to the parade ground rest position. Had the great General Sephiroth actually
made a joke?
The man studied them, almost curiously. "I apologize for hurting you," he said
formally, which made Cloud's eyes bug out even more. First a joke, and now an
apology? He hoped the rest of the squad was close enough to hear this
conversation, because nobody was ever going to believe this. "Perhaps I'm
misremembering, but aren't these exercises generally conducted in squads with
several men?" Sephiroth arched an eyebrow at them.
"Sir, yes sir," Zack answered. "The rest of our squad hung back to provide
covering fire for us, sir."
"Oh?" Sephiroth glanced down the empty hall, then back at them. "I don't recall
any covering fire."
"Well, you see sir," Zack explained with a perfectly straight face, "The point
of covering fire is that the people covering you are out of range themselves.
Your range is a lot farther than our rifles, sir, so they had a bit of a
problem."
Once again they were treated to the sight of a faint smile on the general's
face. "I see. I suppose there will be other squads along shortly as well?"
"Most likely, sir," Zack agreed.
"I won't keep you from your task, then." Sephiroth moved past them, but paused
once more. "What are your names?"
"Zack, sir," the older boy answered.
"Cloud, sir," Cloud put in as well.
Sephiroth nodded. "Finish the exercise, then. Shinra can use people with your
courage and determination."
With that he was gone, fortunately taking a different path than the one where
their squadmates were hiding. Assuming the rest of the squad hadn't fled the
moment Sephiroth seemed to be attacking them in earnest. Zack let out an
explosive breath, and Cloud gasped and leaned against the nearest wall to keep
from collapsing again.
"Holy fucking Alexander," Zack murmured, staring after the general with an awed
look. "I can't believe that just happened."
"I can't believe we attacked Sephiroth and lived to tell about it!" Cloud
retorted, his voice shaking as badly as his knees. "And he apologized to us.
And I think he made a joke!"
"I think he did too," Zack said, the awed expression slowly turning back to his
usual grin. "Well, there's one good thing about all of this. After that, the
rest of this exam is going to seem like a piece of cake!"
***** Chapter 3 *****
Thanks to the general's Cure spell Zack and Cloud had emerged from the exam in
much better shape than just about anyone else, but nobody felt truly human
until they'd finally been allowed to shower and eat. Shinra medics applied
Cures to anyone who'd been seriously injured in the test, but anything more
minor than broken bones was left to heal naturally.
Of course the story of their encounter with Sephiroth started making the rounds
the moment their squad exited the building. It seemed like everyone in the
entire camp made the time to wander by and oh-so-casually mention the subject
to them. Cloud was a little flustered by all the sudden attention, but he was
more annoyed that people seemed to be assuming he'd just cringed against a wall
while Zack did all the hard work.
It helped that Zack swiftly corrected anyone who said as much to him, and it
helped more that the older boy was visibly becoming as impatient as Cloud at
the way everyone would glance doubtfully at the blonde, then look back at Zack
with an 'if you say so' expression.
"Just give up, they're never going to believe you," Cloud advised wearily as
yet another curious person wandered away again. For a wonder there was nobody
behind them, and that meant Cloud and Zack might actually have a chance to
finish their dinner. Cloud had gotten about halfway through his, but Zack had
hardly had a chance to touch his because he'd been talking so much.
"It's just stupid," Zack complained, frowning as he toyed with his food.
"What's so difficult to believe? Why would I lie about it? I mean, you made it
this far, I don't see why everyone persists in acting like you couldn't
possibly have been any help to me."
"Zack, look at me," Cloud said dryly, gesturing down at the way his cadet
uniform hung off his scrawny shoulders. He was tall enough that his uniform was
only a size or two smaller than Zack's, but he didn't have nearly the muscle
mass needed to fill it out properly. "Of course they don't think I could have
been useful. Haven't the drill sergeants been making it painfully clear all
damn week how pathetic I am? Forget about it, it's not important."
"It is important," Zack insisted, his scowl deepening. "We're probably the only
two people crazy enough to have ever charged general Sephiroth with a couple of
paint guns. That took serious guts, and you were right there with me. Yet
people are treating you like you did worse on the test than the rest of our
squad, who all hung back like a bunch of... ow!"
Blinking and giving Cloud a hurt look, Zack actually pouted slightly at him.
"What was that for?" he asked ruefully, leaning down to rub at his abused shin.
"Because you were getting loud enough for the whole mess to hear you, and you
were about to call our squadmates cowards," Cloud replied in a low voice. "I
don't think they'd likely appreciate it, and one or both of us might end up
with some of them in our regiment once we're sworn in. Neither of us needs to
start making enemies."
"True," Zack agreed sheepishly, lowering his voice as well to bring it back to
a normal conversational tone. "See? I told you I needed you around to watch my
back. You really think they'll split us up?" He looked faintly worried.
Cloud shrugged. "What reason would they have not to? They probably spread the
new recruits out through all the platoons, so no one group has too many green
people. It's not like they care that we're... friends." The last word came out
more hesitantly than he'd meant it to, but he was still a little unsure of the
whole thing. He kept expecting Zack to come to his senses. And if they were
assigned to different regiments they'd hardly ever see each other, so he
shouldn't let the older boy mean too much to him.
Drumming his fingers on the table, Zack looked thoughtful for a moment. "They
don't have any reason not to put us together," he finally said. "And you and I
both know I'm going to graduate this camp as the top-ranked cadet. That's gotta
count for something if I make a request." He grinned. "Hell, if I need to, I'll
write General Sephiroth and ask him if he can fix it. I think we impressed him,
he might just help."
"You wouldn't dare!" Cloud gasped, though he had a fairly good feeling Zack
would dare if he decided it was necessary. "You're completely insane, you know
that?"
"So you keep saying," Zack said unrepentantly. "Good thing I've got you around
to keep me humble. C'mon, it looks like they're gathering everyone up for the
exit ceremony."
Glancing at what was left on his plate, Cloud sighed and decided it wasn't
worth shovelling it into his mouth just for the sake of eating it. He'd
probably choke on it. Zack scooped up one last large mouthful, but considering
how little the older boy had gotten to eat Cloud couldn't blame him.
"You'd think they'd at least give us decent food for our send-off meal," Zack
complained good-naturedly as they made their way out of the mess towards the
parade ground. "Well, once we get our papers they can't take it back, right? So
what will they do to me if I go raid the kitchens later?"
"I'm sure you'll find out," Cloud said dryly. "And I suppose you'll want me
there to watch your back, so I'll probably find out, too."
"Now you're getting the idea," Zack agreed with a grin.
As squad captain Zack of course was the right marker for their section. Usually
Cloud ended up somewhere in the middle of the back rank, out of sight. Tonight
there weren't enough of them left to form more than one rank, but he was still
surprised when the others blatantly left the first two spots in the rank open.
He nearly missed a step in his surprise, but he recovered quickly and took the
place that had been left for him. Zack nudged him gently with his elbow, and he
thought he caught a fleeting grin from Watt on his other side.
It finally occurred to him that the rest of their squad did know that Cloud had
been just as much a part of the attack on Sephiroth as Zack, and this was their
way of showing him honour for it.
Flushed with pleasure, he fixed his eyes front and centre and fought down a
stupid grin. For all his determination, this was the first time it had really
felt like he was going to get where he wanted to go. The first step to SOLDIER,
indeed.
The ceremony was boring, of course. It hadn't taken long for Cloud to figure
out that formal military inspections or reviews or ceremonies were all pretty
much the same... he stood around in his uniform fighting the urge to fidget or
look around, while various officials made boring long-winded speeches. The
length of the speeches depended on the importance of the event, and that was
pretty much the only difference.
He was just grateful that the general's Cure spell had left him energized as
well as healed. He heard more than one desperately stifled yawn around them;
everyone was exhausted after a ridiculously hard day of tests, but they hadn't
been handed their papers yet. For all they knew, successfully getting through
the graduation ceremony without falling asleep or otherwise drawing attention
to themselves was just one final test.
At last the captain started calling names, and each cadet moved up to receive
their graduation certificate and the transfer papers that listed what unit they
were being assigned to. The captain nodded and shook each man's hand, and then
they moved back into their rank to wait until everyone was finished.
They were calling names by squad, so it wasn't long before they got to squad
three. Cloud was the first one called, and there was a certain amount of giddy
joy to walking up in front of everyone and proving that yes, he could do it. As
he marched back to his place in the ranks he saw Zack flash him a quick wink,
and let his lips twitch in a brief grin in response.
Zack was last to go up in their squad, and he got a special commendation for
having the best marks in the camp. The captain offered him a personal welcome
to the ranks of Shinra as well as just shaking his hand, and Zack's salute in
return was textbook perfect.
Then they had to wait while all the other squads were called. Cloud found he
was grateful that relatively few people had passed the last day of boot camp;
it meant the ceremony only dragged on for a month, rather than a year.
Once all the names had been called, the captain stepped up to address them
again. Cloud started to tune the man out just as he had with all the other
speeches, when Zack's elbow dug into his arm again and prodded him to
attention.
"...have your kits packed and ready to go at oh-six-hundred tomorrow morning,"
the captain was saying. "Your gear will be transferred to your new unit's
barrack, and you will be expected to report to your new commander by no later
than oh-eight-hundred. As of that moment, your lives will officially belong to
Shinra Corp, until such time as you are discharged for whatever reason." He
gave them all a thin smile. "Enjoy your last night as free civilians.
Dismissed!"
Nobody moved until the officers had left, of course, but the moment they were
all free to move a roar of voices broke out. "Cloud! Did you hear that?" Zack
grabbed him around the shoulders and tried to pull him into a headlock, and
Cloud had to punch him hard in the ribs to get his grip to loosen enough for
him to pull free. Zack just laughed at him, reaching out to ruffle his mussed
hair instead. "We've got leave! Screw raiding the kitchens, we're going to
town!"
"Who's 'we'?" Cloud wanted to know, narrowing his eyes at the older boy. "I
don't know anyone out there, I'm just gonna stay here and pack."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Zack replied, and his cheerful tone
promised that he intended to have a great deal to say about it. "We've got to
celebrate, man! Anyway you know me, and I know people out there. I'll take you
down to sector 7, there's a bar down there I washed dishes in for a while,
they've got the best drinks and atmosphere anywhere under the plate."
"You want to go down to the slums?" Cloud asked, dismayed. He'd come in through
Midgar's main gates and headed straight for the recruiting office, then gone
from there to here. He hadn't seen the area of Midgar under the 'plate', but
he'd heard the horror stories. Desperately he tried to think of a reason not to
go that wouldn't make him sound like a chicken. "I... I don't have any money,
Zack. I spent everything I had just getting here."
"Dumbass," Zack chuckled and snatched the envelope containing Cloud's transfer
papers out of his hand, smacking him over the head with it. "Your first
paycheque is in here." At Cloud's astonished look, the chuckle became an
outright laugh. "Didn't anybody tell you? If you make it, the week of boot camp
is considered paid time at the base rate for a private."
"Yep, and it's tradition to take it all and blow it on your last night of
freedom," Ryan put in as he walked past them and overheard their discussion.
"That's why they give it to you directly. After this we get paid by automatic
deposit into an account with Shinra Corp, and you have to go through all kinds
of paperwork to withdraw it. Enjoy yourselves, boys! I'm off to visit a couple
of lady friends who are going to miss me sorely between leaves." He laughed and
continued on his way, leaving them alone in the crowd again.
Flushing, Cloud shot Zack a suspicious look. "If that's what you've got in
mind, I'm not interested," he said vehemently. The idea of paying a woman to
have sex with him, a woman probably dozens of guys had been with before him,
was totally unappealing.
Almost immediately he realized he probably should have chosen his words a
little more carefully as Zack's grin turned innocently surprised. "Why, Cloud,"
he said, his tone just short of truly angelic. "I had no idea you weren't
interested in women. Well, they do say the military is more progressive these
days..."
"You... that's not what I meant and you know it!" Cloud punched at him, and
Zack blocked it with his palm; Cloud had been expecting that, and Zack hadn't
been expecting the kick that connected with his already abused shin while Zack
was distracted by the punch.
"Ow! Damn it, kid, I need that bone," Zack exclaimed, hopping back out of reach
with a grimace. "All right, I won't tease you. About that, anyway. You gotta
admit that was a perfect straight line, though. You saving yourself for your
true love or something?"
"No," Cloud flushed and rolled his eyes, trying not to think of a promise he'd
made in the moonlight. That was... that didn't have anything to do with this
conversation at all. "I just don't want to catch something nasty right before I
report for my first day of duty."
"Well, it so happens I agree with you," Zack relented, grinning again. "And
since most of these bastards are probably planning to follow Ryan's itinerary
for the evening, it'd be crowded anyway. If I need some that badly, I'll go
visit my girl in sector 5." He coughed and looked rueful. "Not that I'm likely
to get much action there. Her mom hasn't left us alone together since that time
she caught us kissing out in the garden."
"You have a girlfriend?" Cloud didn't know why he was surprised. Of course Zack
had a girlfriend. He was smart, and strong, and sweet, and obviously going
places in life. He probably had girls throwing themselves all over him, and his
girlfriend would be the prettiest, smartest, nicest one of them all.
To his surprise, Zack flushed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nah. Nothing
that formal. She's been a good friend to me since I got here, helped me find
work and shelter and made sure I was always fed. We've messed around, but it's
not serious." His grin this time was a little quirky. "I'll introduce you one
of these days. She'll love you, and everyone loves her. Not tonight, though.
Tonight is for celebrating with the guys."
"In other words, going out to get drunk," Cloud concluded with a sigh.
"Now you're getting the idea!" Zack agreed cheerfully. "You trust me, don't
you?"
"I trust you to drag me into trouble right along with you," Cloud replied, but
his mouth quirked in a small smile. Hades, he'd followed the man into battle
against Sephiroth, how could he balk at doing anything less?
"Exactly," Zack snickered. "Trouble shared is trouble halved. Or something.
Come on, if we don't hurry the shuttles back to the train platform will be full
and we won't get to go!"
Cloud still wasn't entirely convinced that would be a bad thing, but he let
Zack hustle him back to their bunks to change into civilian clothing. After a
week of wearing nothing but the scratchy fabric of the standard issue cadet
uniforms, jeans and a t-shirt felt almost sinfully good against his skin. "I
hope our new uniforms aren't as uncomfortable as these ones were," he said as
he tugged the shirt over his head and debated whether or not to grab his
sweater as well. He didn't have much in the way of clothing, having worn out
most of what he'd left home with on the journey here.
"Gotta be," was Zack's considered opinion as the older boy ran a brush through
his hair. "Damn, I wish they hadn't made me cut my hair. Think they'll let me
grow it out again when I get into SOLDIER?"
"You too, huh?" Cloud ran a hand over his own spikes, thinking wistfully of the
ponytail he'd been forced to chop off. "Probably. The general's was long."
"Yeah, but he's Sephiroth," Zack said, shaking his head. "We'll see, I guess.
Hey, did you check your transfer orders yet?"
"Not yet," Cloud replied, grabbing the envelope and slipping it open. Inside
was a cheque on official Shinra paper, as Zack had promised. The thick packet
of papers was too complicated for him to be able to skim through it
effectively, but he found the name of his new unit easily enough. "3rd rifle
battalion, alpha company, B platoon," he read. "You?"
"Hah!" Zack's exclamation was triumphant. "I won't even have to ask for any
favours, after all. That's my assignment too. I claim top bunk!"
"You're welcome to it, and I won't have any pity for you when you fall off in
your sleep," Cloud retorted, but he couldn't keep his genuine relief out of his
voice. Something had relaxed inside him at Zack's declaration that they'd been
assigned to the same unit, and he was a little reluctant to admit to himself
just how happy he was about it.
At least it meant he could let himself safely enjoy the friendship Zack seemed
determined to extend to him, without fear of turning around and losing it
tomorrow.
Which led him right back to the fact that Zack was dragging him out to the
slums, of course. He sighed again. "Why is it I can already tell I'm going to
feel put-upon a lot of the time when I'm with you?" he asked as Zack grabbed a
jacket and they both headed for the door.
"Clearly, because we are soul mates," Zack said mock-seriously. "How else could
you understand me that well this quickly? Brace yourself, this is the part
where realization strikes and we have to do the 'run through the flowers and
fling ourselves into each other's arms with sappy declarations of love' scene."
"Well, we're a little short on flowers, but if you want to do the sappy
declarations, just hang on a second while I find a recorder," Cloud replied,
shoulders shaking with repressed laughter. "I'm not going to pass up blackmail
material like that. I can tell I'm going to need it."
"Heh. Blackmail only works if you're ashamed of what's on the tape," Zack said.
"You'll have a damn tough time blackmailing me, kid. C'mon, let's go! The night
is wasting!"
Maybe it was because they were both relatively fresh and almost everyone else
was suffering from the day's efforts, but even with their arguing and Cloud's
attempts to stall they made it to the shuttle well before it was full. Cloud
let Zack take the window seat because it wasn't worth the argument, and plopped
down beside him.
Someone from another squad leaned over the seat in front of them and started
asking about Sephiroth. More than happy to let Zack field the latest round of
repetitive questions, Cloud tuned them out and sank into thought.
Everything since the fight with Sephiroth seemed a little surreal. Cloud kept
wondering if maybe the general had cast Confuse on him, and he was just
imagining everything since then. When Zack turned his full attention on you, it
was so hard not to respond. The older boy had done it last night over KP as
well, drawing him out into talking and laughing in a way he couldn't ever
remember doing before.
Was this what having a close friend was like? Someone who could tease you and
you knew it wasn't malicious, someone you could tease back and who would laugh
with you when you actually managed to get a point of your own? If it was, Cloud
thought he could get used to it. He already liked it, though it made him a
little nervous to open himself to someone this way.
"Gil for your thoughts?" Zack startled him by asking, and Cloud blinked his
eyes open to find the older boy looking at him with a curious expression. "Then
again, they seemed like they were pretty serious, so maybe they're worth more
than that?"
"Nah," Cloud shook his head, feeling oddly embarrassed. "They're not even worth
that much. I was just thinking about what a bad influence you've been on me
already."
"Corrupting influence," Zack corrected him, laughing. " 'Bad' is subjective,
but nobody could argue that I haven't been a properly corrupting influence."
"How exactly are you planning to get me into a bar, anyway?" Cloud wanted to
know, changing the subject before they could wander into uncomfortable
territory. "You're underage too, but at least you look old enough. As you so
thoughtfully pointed out, I don't."
"There is no such thing as 'underage' under the plate," Zack shrugged. "That's
a concept for a civilized society. If you're old enough to be able to see over
the bar to ask for the drink, you're old enough to drink it. Besides, you're a
trooper now." He snorted. "Drunk and disorderly is an expected condition for us
when we're on leave. You have to live up to the image."
They transferred to the train that ran in a spiral down through Midgar to the
lower sections without any problems, but as soon as they got beneath the plate
it was like entering an entirely different world. Even though it was still only
sunset above, they were plunged into a world of eternal night that was more
than a little disturbing. Cloud blinked at the sudden transition, trying to
accustom his eyes.
"It's always a little startling," Zack said, leaning against a pole beside him.
The train was packed with cadets and other troops on leave, and there hadn't
been room to sit. "You never quite get used to it. Creepy, huh?"
"It's... not right," was Cloud's uneasy response, as he shivered. He was glad
the Shinra military compound was above the plate, where the sun could shine
down on them properly. He didn't think he could live in this permanent gloom
without going a little crazy. "You lived down here for a year and a half?"
"It's not so bad," Zack shrugged. "There are good points to it. Though I have
to admit, except for a couple of friends I'll be leaving behind, I won't be sad
to move back into the sun. And I can always visit."
"Or have them visit you," Cloud suggested, leaning closer to the grimy window
so he could look up at the plate above. "Who on earth decided it was a good
idea to build a city on top of a bunch of other towns? Wouldn't it have been
easier to just find a new place to build on?"
Zack laughed. "You know, I have no idea. Personally, I suspect Shinra built it
just to prove they could. Hey look, we're coming into sector 6. You ever see
anything so gaudy in your life?"
Looking out at the sea of garish lights and signs in the business district,
Cloud listened as Zack pointed out sites of interest and explained what all the
different buildings housed. The majority of the troops and cadets got off at
the sector 6 platform. "Heading for the Honeybee," Zack said with a wink that
told Cloud all he needed to know about that particular establishment. At least
it gave them some breathing room on the train.
The bar Zack had wanted to take him to wasn't far from the station 7 platform,
which Cloud was grateful for as it meant he didn't have to walk too far under
the unnatural gloom of the plate. Once inside the warm, noisy, well-lighted
atmosphere of the bar it was easier to relax, to pretend he was in any one of a
hundred similar establishments that probably existed above the plate.
Enthusiastic greetings followed Zack's progress through the crowd, and he
greeted most people by name in return. "Your usual, Zack?" the bartender asked,
and Zack made a scornful noise.
"Nah. Beer's for an ordinary night, however much Gongagan beer is a cut above
the rest," he declared, to much cheerful booing from those around them. Cloud
stayed mostly in Zack's shadow, more than happy to let the older boy take all
the attention. "Tonight is a night to celebrate! Cloud and I are officially
troops of Shinra, and well on our way to SOLDIER!"
There was a round of cheering and applause at that, and Cloud was a little
surprised. He'd have expected the people beneath the plate to be resentful of
Shinra and everything it stood for. Maybe they were, and it was just that Zack
was popular enough that they were applauding his accomplishment more than
anything else. But they also seemed to be genuinely applauding Cloud as well.
He flushed under the attention, but wasn't displeased.
"So! To start the night off right..." Zack flashed that incorrigible grin at
the bartender, and the man chuckled in response. "A shot each of Fire 3 for me
and Cloud, please." Another cheer, at their bravery this time, which made Cloud
a little apprehensive about what Zack was about to try to pour down his throat.
Watching the bartender concoct the shots was fascinating, though. He poured a
bit of this and a bit of that, somehow keeping the liquids in their distinct
layers, so that the whole thing was striped in shades of red and gold. Then he
thrust a clear rod into the middle and stirred once, and suddenly bits of red
and gold were swirling around each other in separate but slowly blending waves
that did indeed sort of resemble dancing flames. With a flourish the man set
fire to the two shots, and shoved them towards Zack and Cloud.
"Quick, before it's too hot to drink," Zack urged him with a laugh, reaching
for his own drink. He deftly blew the fire out and downed the shot all in one
go, tipping his head back and shivering. "Hoo boy! That is some damn fine shit,
right there."
Not wanting to seem like a coward, Cloud steeled himself and reached for his
own shot. The fire was hot against his face as he blew it out, and the liquid
scorched his tongue and mouth on the way down. He'd expected it to be harsh
enough to make him choke, but it went down smoothly, tasting of cinnamon and
spices and even, somehow, of heat.
Then the effect of it actually hit him, a sharp fire that blossomed in his
throat and spread rapidly down to his stomach. He gasped, for a moment afraid
he'd waited too long and the liquid had burned him badly, but the fire wasn't
actually painful. Warmth spread through his whole body, and he felt a little
light-headed. "Whoa," was all he could think to say, dazed. No wonder the drink
was named after a powerful fire spell.
"See? I told you that you could trust me," Zack said cheerfully. "I'll have you
know I have very good taste." He reached for his wallet; they'd both taken a
moment to cash their paycheques before boarding the train, and while a week as
a cadet wasn't exactly enough to let them live comfortably for any length of
time, they weren't going to have to worry about how much the drinks cost
tonight.
"Nope, this one's on the house," the bartender said good-naturedly, shaking his
head at Zack. "Congratulations, boys."
Laughing, Zack pressed the money on him again. "A round for the house, then,"
the dark-haired boy insisted. This pronouncement was greeted by more cheering
from the crowd. "Share the joy, and all that. What do you want to try next,
Cloud? Something sweet, or sour, or spicy again?"
Later, when Cloud tried to remember the events of the night, it was mostly lost
in the haze of alcoholic fog. There must have been another cadet there, or else
Zack had told the story at some point when Cloud wasn't listening, because it
seemed like everyone already knew about their attack on Sephiroth. Unlike the
other cadets these people seemed perfectly willing to believe that Cloud might
have been just as much a part of it as Zack had been, which left him bombarded
with all kinds of questions. His shoulder started to ache with how often people
had slapped him there in congratulations.
He never got quite drunk enough to start getting sick; he wasn't sure if Zack
had been watching out for him or if the bartender had just been careful not to
serve him more if it seemed like he was at his limit, but Cloud was fairly
certain it wasn't his own doing. At the same time, he was never allowed to
sober up too much either. Eventually he found himself laughing and joking with
the rest of the crowd, chattering as cheerfully as if he were Zack. Apparently
he was a happy drunk, and it felt good enough that he didn't even try to fight
it.
Zack, on the other hand, seemed to be a touchy drunk. He spent what seemed like
half the night with an arm slung over Cloud's shoulder, dragging him this way
and that to introduce him to various people, or try a new drink, or challenge
him at the arcade games, or whatever else struck his fancy. It wasn't just
Cloud, either; he was always ruffling people's hair or punching them in the arm
in a friendly manner or just generally making a nuisance of himself. Cloud
found he didn't mind as much as he might have, as it was hard to object to the
warm camaraderie Zack insisted on dragging him into.
It seemed like it couldn't have been more than a few hours before the bartender
was announcing last call, and Cloud stared around him in confusion. "What time
is it? Why are they closing so early?" he asked, his voice a bit slurred.
Laughing in that careless way that only someone who is drunk can manage, Zack
leaned on his shoulder and grinned at him. "It's stupidly late, kid," he
replied, shaking his head. "Or stupidly early, depends on how you look at it.
We've probably only got a few hours before we have to report. Just enough time
to sleep off the last of the drunk, and it's a good thing they'll probably be
expecting everyone to show up with hangovers."
"What? No way," Cloud protested, trying to make his fuzzy mind work properly.
"We haven't been here that long!"
"Sure we have," Zack shrugged, and nudged him back towards the bar. "C'mon, one
last drink for the road. What should we have?" He looked thoughtful for a
moment, then nodded, his eyes gleaming. "I know. Liquid mako!"
Waving acknowledgement, the bartender set to work mixing the last drinks for
them. Cloud couldn't see what he was doing this time through the crowd of
people around the bar, but the glasses that were handed to them were half-
filled with a glowing green liquid that did indeed look very much like mako.
"It's not really, is it?" Cloud asked, eyes wide as he gingerly accepted the
glass and held it away from him. Mako this concentrated would not only be worth
this whole bar and then some, but probably toxic as well. Everyone knew that
mako overexposure could do strange things to you; that was what the
modifications made to SOLDIERS were based on, in fact.
"Nah, not really," Zack snickered. "It'll keep us awake and aware enough to
make it back to the camp, though! Drink up!" He clinked his glass against
Cloud's, and they both knocked back the drinks at the same time.
It wasn't unlike the effect of the Fire 3 he'd started with, Cloud thought in a
daze as the effects of the drink poured over him, but at the same time it was
completely different. It felt like pure energy; not fire or lightning, but just
energy. He'd been a little drowsy with the warmth and the alcohol before, but
now he was wide-awake. "What...?"
"The base is a Potion," Zack explained, grabbing him around the shoulders
again. "And it's got some Speed Drink in it, not enough to Haste you, but
enough for you to feel it. Best thing to end the night with, it helps mitigate
the hangover. But we definitely want to be back in our bunks before it wears
off, because we'll probably crash hard."
Cloud had never experienced Haste so he couldn't make any comparisons, but he
did feel as if everything around him was just a bit sharper, a little slower,
easier to process and react to. "Wow," he said, shaking his head. He
immediately regretted it, as the room spun around him a bit. He was still drunk
then, however clear-headed he felt at the moment. It was only an illusion, and
he'd have to be careful to remember that.
"Let's go, then," he said, with a crooked grin of his own. "I don't want it to
wear off before we get back; being found passed out in a gutter somewhere
probably won't look very good on our records when we're applying for SOLDIER."
"Truer words were never spoken," Zack chuckled. "Off we go!"
The effects of the drink seemed to make Zack even more exuberant than usual,
and he babbled endlessly the entire way back through sector 7 to the train.
Cloud was content to just listen, finding himself grateful for Zack's warm arm
around him. The night air was chilly after the heat of the crowd in the bar.
By the time they made it back to the camp, the effects were starting to wear
off. Both Cloud and Zack were dragging their feet, and Cloud could see why Zack
had described it as 'crashing'. "Think we'll actually get any sleep?" he
wondered wistfully as they staggered towards the building where their squad
shared sleeping quarters with three other squads. "Drunk guys coming in at all
hours..."
"Nah, most of them will spend the night in the city," Zack asserted, shrugging.
"Wouldn't surprise me if we're the only ones in the barrack."
They weren't, as it turned out, but the three people inside were sleeping the
oblivious sleep of the drunk, and they hardly even needed to worry about waking
anyone. They did their best to stay quiet anyway, though they weren't entirely
successful.
Cloud had the bunk by the door, the least desirable spot, but he had it all to
himself. His bunkmate had been one of the first to drop out. Zack glanced at
the empty upper bunk, then down the long narrow room to where his own bunk was.
"Too far," he declared wearily. "I'm just gonna bunk in with you tonight, if
you don't mind."
"I don't care," Cloud shook his head, stifling a yawn. His eyes were drooping,
and he couldn't blame Zack for not wanting to go the extra twenty feet. "Can
you even get up there?"
"I'll manage," Zack chuckled, wrinkling his nose. "Last thing we need is the
rumour mill going about us being found curled up in bed together."
Cloud felt the flush start at the base of his neck and sweep upwards until it
felt like his ears were on fire. "No, definitely not," he agreed immediately,
wincing at the very thought. He'd heard that such things were more accepted in
big cities like Midgar, but 'more accepted' didn't mean 'acceptable'.
"Heh. You're cute when you blush like that," Zack murmured, and his grin had an
odd quality to it that Cloud hadn't seen before. Swallowing, Cloud looked back
at him, wondering if it was only his imagination that put that look in Zack's
eyes. Considering what they'd just been talking about, and how drunk he was...
Then warm lips closed over his, clumsy with the effects of all the alcohol
they'd drunk, and Cloud made a startled noise. Zack had his hand on Cloud's
shoulder, preventing him from jerking away reflexively, and Cloud was drunk
enough that he couldn't seem to figure out what he was supposed to do in
response to this.
It was over almost as quickly as it had started, and he blinked at Zack, dazed.
"Way too cute," Zack declared again, grinning and ruffling Cloud's hair. "Sweet
dreams, kid."
With that he kicked off his boots and hauled himself up into the upper bunk
with a motion that looked effortless, but that Cloud probably couldn't have
managed in a million years. Cloud stood there just staring up at him long after
quiet snores told him Zack had joined the others in drunken oblivion, wondering
if he'd just imagined the whole thing.
***** Chapter 4 *****
There were an awful lot of things the recruiting officers neglected to mention
when they were handing out brochures, Cloud reflected. They were always talking
about glory and honour and the thrill of battle, about serving with the best
military on the planet. And most of all, about the SOLDIERs and how strong and
fast and admirable they were.
What they didn't tell you was that as a grunt, the vast majority of your
working time was spent on patrol or guard duty. They didn't mention how mind-
numbingly boring it was to walk through the empty halls of the Shinra Corp
tower, or to stand motionless for hours in front of a door somewhere.
On the other hand, there were moments when Cloud would happily have volunteered
to spend a double shift standing guard over the least important door in the
compound, if it would get him away from the duty he'd been assigned instead.
This was one of those times.
Coming around a corner, he caught a glimpse of movement ahead and nearly
panicked, jerking his rifle up and around to aim. Just before his fumbling
finger found the trigger, he finally registered the blue uniform that was the
same as the one he was wearing. "Zack?"
The older boy had been facing the other way, and he jumped visibly when Cloud
called his name. Turning, Zack scanned the dim room until he saw Cloud at the
other end. "Hey Cloud! Don't sneak up on me like that. I nearly fired on you."
"I nearly fired on you," Cloud retorted, moving up to join him. It did make him
feel a little better to know that Zack was just as jumpy up here as he was. He
did his best not to look around too much as he walked, not wanting to look too
closely at the things in the tanks and specimen jars. "Hades, but the
laboratory levels are the creepiest place I've ever been. I hate patrolling up
here."
"You and me both," Zack replied ruefully, tipping his helmet back so Cloud
could see his face. "Hell, us and the entire rest of the army, that's why these
levels always get assigned to the tenderfeet. And these helmets don't help,
they cut off half your line of sight. Who the hell designed these, anyway?"
"Not someone who was ever going to have to wear them," Cloud agreed sourly,
pulling his own up far enough for him to be able to look around properly. The
helmets included goggles that could be switched to a night-vision mode, which
would have been more useful if not for the interference given out by all the
lab equipment. Even outside of the interference, though, the night-vision was
hardly worth the horrible restriction to your field of vision imposed by the
narrow lenses. Not to mention the way everything became washed in shades of
red, making it hard to distinguish between colours.
"Probably the PR people," Zack said, rolling his eyes. "Just think of all the
identical soldiers in their neat little ranks in parades and such. Never mind
the fact that having our vision restricted might make the difference between
winning and losing a fight, and it's our asses on the line."
"Or maybe it's to make it easier for the brass not to think of us as people,"
Cloud suggested with a shrug. "So they don't have to feel bad if they send us
out to die. If they can't see our faces, we might as well be toy soldiers."
"You might have something there," Zack snorted. "Well, either way, there's not
much we can do about it. We'll just have to make SOLDIER soon, they don't have
to wear helmets." He grinned. "Three months until the next exams. We'll have to
work our asses off, but we can do it!"
"I know, Zack," Cloud said with exasperated good humour. "You've reminded me at
least five times a day, every day for the last week!"
With a sheepish laugh, Zack shook his head. "Well, it bears repeating.
Motivation, and all that. And part of getting in involves not getting caught
slacking off on duty, so let's get moving. We'll patrol together, all right?
Maybe then it won't seem so creepy."
"Are we allowed to do that?" Cloud asked in surprise as they tugged their
helmets back down.
"Sure, I've seen other guys bunch up in twos and even threes," Zack said,
shrugging. "It's not like this level is so big it needs multiple people
patrolling in the first place. They just need something to do with us all."
Following along as Zack set off down the hall again, Cloud did his best to
focus on his friend rather than everything else around them. "Do you suppose
it's less creepy during the day?" he asked, fingering the trigger guard on his
rifle nervously. "I mean, there'd be people wandering around, and presumably
they'd bring the lights up?"
"I dunno about that last part," Zack said thoughtfully. "I heard the lights are
mostly kept dim, at least in this area. Something about potential damage to the
specimens. But yeah, surely with people around it's got to be less spooky."
"What are they doing up here, anyway?" Cloud wanted to know. Despite his best
efforts not to look around, he kept getting glimpses of dead animals stuffed or
otherwise displayed for view, and other less recognizable things that were
probably best left unidentified.
"Studying the monsters that have started appearing outside Midgar, I think,"
Zack said, squinting at one of the displays. "I heard some people think they're
connected to the way the soil out there is drying out, though I don't really
see how that could be. Nobody knows where they're coming from, so they're
probably trying to figure it out."
"Strange creatures shouldn't just appear out of nowhere, should they?" Cloud
asked uncertainly. It seemed pretty unlikely to him. "I mean, they have to have
come from somewhere. Up in the mountains where people don't go, maybe?"
"That's the most popular theory," Zack agreed. "I think their food supplies
must be affected by the same thing that's destroying Midgar's farms, and
they're just ranging farther afield in search of food than they ever have
before. Still, it's good to study them, we can probably learn a lot. And the
guy who runs the labs is the same one who came up with the SOLDIER process,
right? They probably do lots of studies on that, finding ways to improve it or
lessen the side effects so more people can withstand the transition."
"I'd hate to have been one of those first few people they made into SOLDIERs,"
Cloud said, shivering. "Can you imagine? Undergoing an experimental process
like that, not even really knowing what it would do to you."
"I dunno, Sephiroth was one of the first, and he turned out pretty well," Zack
laughed. "But yeah, I hear you. I'm glad they've got most of the bugs worked
out now."
The conversation died out; it was hard to find innocuous things to talk about
in this atmosphere. As they walked Cloud found himself sneaking surreptitious
glances at Zack, though it didn't do him much good. It was hard to read his
friend when all he could see was the lower half of his face.
He'd been watching Zack a lot over the last week, though. He couldn't seem to
help himself. The older boy had never said or done anything to indicate that he
remembered the drunken kiss, and Cloud was seriously starting to believe he'd
just imagined the whole thing.
That didn't stop him from thinking about it, though. Somewhat to his
embarrassment, he found himself thinking about it rather a lot. He'd tried to
tell himself it was only to be expected, after all... having a guy kiss you
wasn't something you'd forget any time soon. And if it had really happened, it
was his first kiss, too.
Still. Cloud tended to blush at odd moments, especially if Zack caught him
looking and teased him about it. He'd never had the courage to ask about it,
and wasn't sure he really wanted to anyway. What would he do if Zack
remembered, and said it hadn't been a mistake?
What would he do if Zack remembered and it had been a mistake?
Shaking off his thoughts, Cloud risked a look around to distract himself.
They'd entered the live specimens area now, which was at least a little less
creepy than looking at rows of dead animals and body parts. The cages ranged in
size from one as small as Cloud's hand, to one that took up nearly half a room.
Not all of them were full; in one Cloud saw a lizard-like creature with dull
red scales, with a black VI tattooed into its shoulder. Beside it were two
apparently sleeping creatures that looked like blue mounds of fur, the closer
of which had an XV tattoo visible.
A sharp bark and a sudden thud from his other side startled Cloud into swinging
around, his rifle levelled and finger on the trigger. Beside him Zack had
dropped to one knee to get out of Cloud's line of sight, his rifle trained on
the now growling animal as well.
Only a mesh of wire stood between them and the snarling creature. Hoping the
cage was strong, Cloud studied the massive dog-like animal. "Zack, that's a
Nibel Wolf!" Cloud exclaimed, his eyes wide. "They live in the Nibel mountain
range. Only I've never seen one that big before. And it doesn't quite look...
right."
It was half again as large as any wolf Cloud had ever seen in the mountains,
and its claws and teeth seemed out of proportion even for the larger size of
its body. Muscles bunched in odd places on its limbs, and its muzzle was longer
and narrower than what Cloud was used to.
"Maybe they live in the mountains around here, too?" Zack suggested, slowly
straightening from his crouch. "Or some kind of cousin to them?"
"Maybe," Cloud agreed doubtfully. "There haven't been any reports of strange
creatures showing up anywhere other than Midgar, have there?"
"Not that I've heard," Zack shrugged. "But they'd probably be keeping something
like that quiet to avoid a panic, so it's hard to say. You really think that's
a Nibel Wolf?"
"I don't know," Cloud confessed quietly, staring into the wolf's eyes. It
looked back at him with an uncanny intelligence, and he shivered. Some instinct
told him that whatever this creature was, its intentions were entirely
malevolent. "I guess not. Nibel Wolves aren't all that smart, for one thing,
and this one..."
"Yeah, it's pretty smart," Zack agreed. "Looks like it's trying to figure out
how to get its paws around the latch."
"It cannot escape." The sudden and unexpected voice from behind them made Cloud
yelp, and they both jerked their rifles around to aim at the man who'd entered
the room. Apparently oblivious to the threat of the guns pointed at him, the
man moved forward to pat the cage holding the wolf, equally oblivious to its
snapping fangs just short of his fingers. "All the cages are quite secure, and
designed specifically with the capabilities of the contained specimen in mind."
Recovering from the surprise faster than Cloud, Zack cleared his throat. "This
is a restricted area, sir. May we see your pass, please?"
The man's shoulders were shaking beneath his lab coat, but it took Cloud a
moment to realize he was laughing silently. Turning to face the two troopers,
he raised an eyebrow at them and pushed a stray lock of hair out of his face.
"Well. Guards who actually do their job, how refreshing. I trust this will be
sufficient clearance for you?"
He pulled a badge from his lab coat pocket and held it out; from this angle
Cloud could only get a glimpse of the picture, but Zack would be able to read
it.
The helmets kept him from seeing Zack's expression, but he knew his friend well
enough to read the sudden intake of breath and tension in the older boy's
shoulders as shock. "Professor Hojo, sir!" Zack came to attention and saluted,
and belatedly Cloud did the same. His brain caught up to him a moment later as
he finally recognized the name, and he drew in a sharp breath of his own.
The man who had pioneered the SOLDIER program regarded them with a faint trace
of cynical amusement in his expression for a moment, before waving off their
salutes with an irritable gesture. "I have no patience for your military
formalities. You are tonight's guards, I take it?"
"Yes, sir," Zack confirmed, dropping the salute. "I apologize for not
recognizing you, sir."
"Bah." Turning, Hojo moved away from them to study the large red lizard,
smiling as it breathed a gout of flame against the glass walls surrounding its
cage in an attempt to burn him. "I'd much rather have overzealous guards who
question everyone than the lackadaisical ones I usually seem to be burdened
with. I was beginning to suspect Heidegger of deliberately assigning his most
incompetent men to me in an attempt to sabotage my department.
Zack and Cloud glanced at each other, and Cloud repressed a snort. Somehow he
didn't think it would be very politic of him to mention the fact that only
green recruits were assigned up here, specifically because it was considered
the worst job on the whole guard roster and nobody else would do it.
"Perhaps I should request to have you assigned here regularly," Hojo mused, and
Cloud stiffened. Having to patrol here all the time instead of just every so
often as it came up on their squad's roster would be the worst thing he could
imagine. He'd never sleep properly again, considering the nightmares he was
sure he was going to have tonight.
"With respect, sir, I believe the duty roster is regularly rotated to prevent
anyone from becoming complacent with a familiar assignment," Zack said
smoothly. As usual Cloud had to admire his friend's ability to think on his
feet under questioning - this time he might even be telling the truth, too. "If
we were always assigned here, we'd end up becoming as careless as the people
you're complaining about, just for different reasons."
"I'm not certain that's entirely sound reasoning, but I'm a biologist, not a
psychoanalyst," Hojo shrugged. "At any rate, I will be working late tonight.
You will guard the door. You may patrol the rest of the floor if you like, but
under no circumstances am I to be disturbed, is that understood?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Cloud and Zack acknowledged in unison, saluting again.
"Good," Hojo said, gesturing at the door. "Off with you, then. Remember, no
interruptions. That door is to remain shut even if the building is burning down
around us."
Both of the troopers made quick time back to the door they'd entered by, and
Zack closed it behind them. When they were standing out in the hall again, they
tugged their helmets back and looked at each other wide-eyed.
"What was that all about?" Cloud wondered. "What kind of experiments would he
need to be doing at midnight, without even any techs around to assist him?"
"Maybe that's the point," Zack said, shrugging. There was more than a hint of
unease in his voice, though. "I mean, maybe it's something so delicate he can't
risk having anybody else around to ruin it, so that's why he's doing it so
late. I bet people are always barging in on him during the day with
'emergencies' and administrative crap. Probably drives him nuts."
"He's creepier than the rest of the lab combined," Cloud declared, shivering.
"Yeah. Charismatic though, when he wants to be," Zack said thoughtfully. "And
he can't be just an absent-minded scientist type, if he's this high up in
Shinra's cut-throat political environment. I heard he's got a lot of influence
on the president."
"Where do you hear these things?" Cloud asked, momentarily diverted. "You work
with the same people I do, and I never hear any of these things you're always
so casually repeating."
"That's because you just work with them, you don't actually talk to them," Zack
replied, laughing and rapping smartly on Cloud's helmet, making his ears ring.
"You always hang back and let me do all the talking, when you participate at
all. You need to be more outgoing Cloud, seriously."
"I'm as outgoing as I want to be," Cloud retorted, rolling his eyes. "I've got
you to drag me into being more sociable than I want to be, already."
"Yeah, and you love it," Zack teased him, grinning broadly as he knocked
Cloud's helmet the rest of the way off and caught it in one hand, using the
other to mess the smaller boy's hair vigorously. "C'mon, admit it. What would
you do without me? Wither away in your dark little corner, probably."
"Zack! Cut it out!" Cloud protested, trying to duck away from the ruffling. As
always when Zack got this close to him he found himself thinking about the
kiss, and his heart was pounding. At least if Zack bothered to ask, he could
write off the faint flush in his cheeks to embarrassment from the current
teasing. "You are such a pain!"
"And you are way too cute for your own good," Zack replied, laughing. The words
were so similar to what he'd said that night that Cloud froze for a panicked
moment, half expecting another kiss. Instead Zack jammed his helmet back on his
head, putting it on deliberately askew so that Cloud could only see out of one
side of it.
Grumbling, he reached up to adjust it, giving Zack time to step back out of
range of retaliation. "So you think we should stand guard here, or go patrol
some more?" Zack asked as Cloud straightened himself out.
Thinking about the rows and rows of disturbing samples in some of the other
rooms, Cloud swallowed. "Stay here," he decided. "If we go patrolling we might
miss someone, and they could come knock on the door or something. The professor
said he didn't want any interruptions."
"True enough," Zack agreed. "Door guards it is then. At least we don't have to
stand motionless. I suppose it'd be a bit much to pull out a deck of playing
cards, though?"
Cloud knew Zack wasn't serious, because for all the older boy's teasing there
was nobody who took his duties more seriously than Zack. Still, he was half
tempted to take him up on it, just for the distraction a game of cards would
provide. He didn't want to be caught slacking off either, though. Neither of
them could afford any black marks on their record if they wanted to make it
into SOLDIER.
He was about to say as much, but his words were pre-empted by a sudden shrill
scream from behind the door they were guarding. It was a high, thin noise,
almost more of a shriek than a scream, and it sounded like an animal in mortal
pain.
"What was that?" he asked, his head jerking around to the door so fast he was
surprised he didn't break something. "What's he doing?"
"I don't know, but it doesn't sound pleasant," Zack said, grimacing. There was
another scream, this one ending in a choked sounding cry. "Fuck. And he wonders
why he can't get decent guards to stick around."
"Y'know what?" Cloud said. His words came out a little too fast and high, but
he couldn't seem to calm them. "I think I changed my mind. It'd be stupid if
someone got in and messed around in the lab while we were just hanging around
here, right? Maybe we should patrol after all."
"I... can't fault your reasoning," Zack agreed, glancing at the door again as a
third cry came, this one little more than a whimper. "We'll just make sure
nobody gets this far, and that will keep him undisturbed too." He jammed his
helmet back down, and headed back the way they'd come at a trot.
They didn't slow their pace until they were past the first room full of
samples. Cloud decided that compared to having to stand outside that door and
listen to animals screaming, the rest of the lab was downright homey, not
creepy at all. "How often do we get assigned up here?" he asked, proud that his
voice trembled only a little.
"Too often," Zack replied, shaking his head. "Way, way too often."
"Hojo gives me a bad feeling," Cloud said softly. He felt like a chicken saying
something like that, as if admitting he was too scared to face the man. But
this was the sort of 'bad feeling' that twisted in your gut until you felt
nauseous, and you were sure that whatever it was your subconscious was worried
about, you never wanted it to happen.
"Well, surely he doesn't work this late every night," Zack said, reaching out
and squeezing Cloud on the shoulder. It felt like a gesture meant to reassure
him as much as Cloud, and in an odd way that was the part that comforted Cloud
most of all. "With any luck, we'll never run into him again."
***** Chapter 5 *****
In an environment where everyone showered and slept together in a big open room
and privacy was more precious than gil, it was an unspoken rule that you just
turned your head and pretended not to hear if someone started moving in their
bunk in the night. So long as nobody actually saw you doing it, you were safe
from teasing on the subject.
When Cloud had first realized just how things had to work, he'd been mortified
and certain that nothing would ever induce him to be the one squirming around
where a dozen guys could listen to him. That resolution had lasted about a week
and a half; he was a teenager, after all.
The next day he'd found himself blushing horribly if anyone so much as looked
at him, especially Zack. Nobody had said anything, though, and eventually he'd
resigned himself to the situation. After that he generally gave in to his
body's needs a couple times a week, and felt much better for the release.
It was also an unspoken rule that you didn't indulge yourself if you heard
someone else going at it. Cloud wasn't sure how he was aware of this rule, but
he was certain of it. Maybe it was just that he'd never heard two people at the
same time. Or maybe it was an instinctive knowledge that something like that
would be frowned upon as if the second person were getting off because of the
first, not just because of a need that happened to crop up at the same time.
Never mind that sometimes, lying in the dark listening to someone's strangled
breathing and faintly creaking bunk, it did make him hard. How could it not?
Cloud was sure he wasn't the only one thus affected. The moment he heard
someone else doing it, his subconscious bombarded him with images of doing it
himself, and his body responded. He couldn't help it.
Generally he just buried his head under his pillow and refused to listen, and
often the problem would be taken care of as he drifted back into sleep. If not,
he would just wait until a decent amount of time had passed since the last guy
stopped, and then take his turn. Sometimes a whole string of guys would go in
turn, with a few minutes pause between each so they could all pretend each
incidence had nothing to do with the others.
Tonight, though, nobody else was stirring as Cloud lay staring blankly up at
the bottom of Zack's bunk, trying to control his breathing. He hadn't actually
touched himself yet, was in fact struggling to ignore the urge in a way he
hadn't bothered to since he'd first gotten here, but it was a battle he was
already pretty sure he was going to lose.
The reason he was fighting it tonight had everything to do with the cause of
his tightly wound state, and it wasn't something he wanted to think about.
They'd spent the afternoon doing hand-to-hand drills. Cloud was so much smaller
than just about everyone else that he tended to come out of those drill
sessions aching and bruised, so Zack usually partnered him. It wasn't that Zack
went easy on him, exactly, but the older boy did pull his punches a bit more
than the rest of their toonmates.
They'd been at it all afternoon, learning various grappling techniques and how
to overcome each. Everyone had stripped down to his fatigue pants and sweaty
undershirt, and some had even abandoned the undershirts. Zack was one of the
latter, his having been torn when Cloud had kept too tight a grip on it after
successfully heaving Zack over his hip and flipping the bigger boy onto his
back on the ground.
And Cloud, much to his horror, had realized that wrestling with a half-naked
Zack was having a very profound and disturbing effect on certain portions of
his anatomy. Objectively, anyone would have had to admit that Zack was
beautiful, with his golden skin and muscles sculpted by more than a year of
hard work down beneath the plate. Subjectively, though, he shouldn't have been
paying so much attention to the way Zack's slick skin felt as he grappled with
him, and his body certainly shouldn't have been reacting in entirely
inappropriate ways.
Somehow Cloud had managed to make it through the session without anyone
noticing his predicament, though Zack had been concerned enough by his
distracted performance to ask if he was feeling all right. Bless the baggy
design of the fatigue pants.
That had left him with a not-so-small problem to deal with, however. He'd
managed to force the reaction down enough to get him through the rest of the
day, but the moment he crawled into bed and glanced over to see Zack - in
nothing but boxer shorts - hauling himself up to the upper bunk, he'd been
right back where he started.
So now he was lying there, struggling to keep his breathing slow and steady
even though he wasn't doing anything, his cock hard and aching as his
subconscious mind pelted him with memories of the afternoon. The quickest and
easiest way to deal with it would have been just to deal with it, to let
himself take care of it and get it over with, but Cloud felt wrong at the idea
of jerking off to mental images of his best friend. There had to be something
wrong with that, especially when said friend was sleeping just above him!
At this rate, though, he was never going to get to sleep. And anyone awake
enough to hear him probably thought he was going at it anyway, hell they were
probably wondering what was taking him so long. Maybe someone else out there
was lying there aching and waiting impatiently for him to finish, and he was
just being selfish.
He was also rationalizing, he fully realized as he gave in and reached down
beneath the blankets. Well, a little rationalization wouldn't hurt him. It
wasn't like anyone was ever going to know what he'd been thinking about. This
would just seem exactly like every other time he'd given in to his body and
touched himself at night.
The rough weave of the starched cotton Shinra-issue sheets wasn't exactly
silken against Cloud's skin, but as worked up as he was any extra stimulation
just added to the heat pooling in his gut. He was in his boxers too; most of
the guys slept that way, though some few went commando. It was too hot in the
summer for anything more, never mind that their employer was a power company
and you'd think they wouldn't begrudge air conditioning for the barracks. As
Cloud slid his hand down, the fabric rubbed against his arms and chest,
sensitizing what seemed like half the nerves in his body.
He rubbed himself through his boxers first, biting his lip to keep the
incipient moan trapped in his throat. The callous that had started to build on
his hand from sword and rifle drills caught on the softer cotton of his shorts,
adding an extra edge of sensation as he stroked himself slowly through the
fabric.
Almost immediately he knew this wasn't going to be quite like the other times.
He was already so hard it almost hurt to touch, his body rocking up into his
hand no matter how hard he tried to keep it still. The more he fought against
images of Zack, the more strongly they came to him.
Zack grappling him from behind. Zack pinning him to the ground, and Cloud knew
he should have tapped out much sooner each time but oh, the feel of that strong
body over his. Zack kissing him, the image hazed with alcohol and uncertainty.
Zack's hand wrapping over his, guiding it down into his boxers and encouraging
him to stroke directly on his cock. Zack touching him directly, his hands
larger and stronger than Cloud's, but calloused just the same. Zack touching
himself, lying up there in the bunk and doing exactly what Cloud was doing now;
Cloud had felt the bunk shift a few times in the night, but Zack was apparently
quieter at it than Cloud was because he'd never actually heard anything.
He wondered what the older boy would sound like. Zack had a smooth voice that
had settled nicely into a rich deep tone, unlike Cloud's that would still
sometimes crack unpredictably. What would it take to get Zack to make noise?
Had his girl down in sector 5 ever heard him gasp and moan with pleasure? Cloud
burned at the thought, and he knew he shouldn't be picturing these things, but
he couldn't stop himself now.
Maybe Zack would moan softly in the back of his throat, letting the sound build
inexorably until it escaped him in a muffled groan. With his eyes closed and
head thrown back against the pillow, an expression of stifled passion on his
face, he would look like some kind of erotic god.
The image was so provocative Cloud had to still his hand and just lie there for
a moment, his breath caught in his throat. If he so much as shifted his fingers
he was going to come, and as much as he knew he shouldn't be indulging himself
while thinking about Zack, he couldn't bear to let it end so quickly.
In that moment of stillness, he heard something that shocked him so deeply he
couldn't quite believe it. The desperately stifled moans weren't a product of
his imagination, and the slight shivering of the bedframe wasn't all his doing.
The first thought that managed to make it through his muddled mind was a
horrified awareness that Zack was definitely awake and probably listening. He
jerked his hand away from his cock, and he must have made some kind of startled
noise because suddenly the soft sounds from above stilled as well.
At which point Cloud finally connected the noises with the knowledge that Zack
was, in fact, breaking one of those unspoken cardinal rules. He wasn't just
listening to Cloud, he was touching himself at the same time.
Shivering with unfulfilled need, Cloud lay staring wide-eyed up at the bunk
above him. He wondered what was going through Zack's mind at that moment.
Maybe, impossibly, Cloud had actually been quiet enough that Zack hadn't
realized what he was doing?
That seemed the most likely explanation; that Zack had simply been so caught up
in his own pleasure he hadn't been aware of what was going on below him.
Silently Cloud prayed that none of the others were awake to hear this. Nobody
had ever broken the rules before that he knew of, and he wasn't certain what
would happen if the others realized he and Zack had.
From above came a whimper so soft Cloud wasn't sure he'd actually heard it, and
he knew Zack must be as close to the edge as he was. At this point it was
physically painful not to continue, and Cloud had to clench his fists in the
bedsheets to keep himself from giving in to the need to continue. His whole
body ached with the desire for release.
What were they supposed to do now? Cloud didn't think he could bear to do the
relatively acceptable thing and let Zack finish, then wait a few minutes before
finishing himself. And even if he managed to hold off, how could they possibly
look each other in the eye tomorrow morning and pretend absolutely nothing out
of the ordinary had happened the night before?
Zack gave another of those tiny, choked off moans, followed by an almost
inaudible gasp. The bunk creaked softly, and Cloud knew Zack had started
touching himself again. He could almost picture it, just from the quiet chorus
of sounds. The creaking of the bed was when the older boy arched his hips up
into his hand, unable to keep himself from bucking. The gasps came when Zack
pulled his hand back at the end of the stroke, when there was almost no contact
before he plunged his fist back over his cock. And those little moans were
surely the moments when Zack rubbed his thumb over the tip, collecting the
slick drops of precome from his slit to help his hand glide more easily.
There was no way he was going to last even until Zack was done, let alone until
five minutes afterwards. Biting his lip, Cloud gave in to the inevitable and
snaked his own hand back down under his shorts. Anyone listening had already
heard them doing it at the same time earlier anyway. Since they were both in
the same bunk, maybe they'd get lucky and it would just sound like only one of
them was doing it and they were just making a little more noise than usual.
His cock was almost shamefully wet when he touched it again, dripping with
enough precome that he didn't even need to rub over the slit first. He did
anyway, just because it felt so good, like little shocks all along his nerves.
He knew his attempt to muffle his groan in his pillow had failed when he heard
another soft whimper from Zack. He shivered, knowing the older boy was
listening to him, aware of every move Cloud made just as Cloud was aware of
him. The only way they could have been more intimate without actually touching
each other would have been if they were watching each other; staring blindly up
at the bunk above and picturing Zack in his mind's eye, Cloud almost felt like
he was anyway.
Unconsciously Cloud matched his rhythm to what he could hear from above, or
maybe Zack was the one matching him. Either way they fell into synch without
meaning to, and once there Cloud couldn't seem to break the rhythm. He'd never
had sex, but he thought it might be something like this, two bodies moving
together in a dance as old as time itself. All they needed was physical contact
between them. The image of sex with Zack was far more arousing than it should
have been, even if Cloud couldn't quite work out the mechanics in his own mind.
Together they rushed headlong into orgasm, and Cloud could feel the waves of
pleasure rising to engulf him. His muscles tightened, his balls pulled up close
to his body, and his breaths came in harsh little pants. Normally he wasn't
this loud, but then again it usually wasn't anywhere near this intense. When it
crashed over him and the knot of coiled tension within him exploded, it was all
he could do not to cry out.
Heat licked over his body as his veins sang with electric energy. At that
moment he almost felt like he could cast a spell without even needing the
materia, just the sheer energy of his own release. He came hard, gobs of sticky
white fluid spurting over his hand and stomach, leaving him feeling limp and
wrung out.
When his ears stopped ringing and he became aware of his surroundings again, he
could hear Zack's muffled moans much more clearly. It sounded like the older
boy was biting his pillow in an attempt to stifle himself, but it wasn't quite
working well enough. After a minute Cloud heard his breath hitch once, then
again, and then stutter to a stop altogether.
For a long moment there was silence, before Zack finally drew in another gasp
of air. Sprawled bonelessly over his narrow bunk, Cloud lay still and listened
to Zack try to catch his breath. He thought he heard the older boy mutter a
soft curse, but it might have been his imagination.
Neither of them said anything. That would have been blatantly breaking the
rules; not only would it force them to acknowledge what had just happened, but
it would have opened them up to unending teasing from everyone else. Assuming,
of course, that they weren't going to be mercilessly teased anyway. Cloud's
throat ached with unasked questions, and he desperately wanted to know what
Zack was thinking. At the same time, he really didn't want to know, didn't want
to have to think about any of this or its possible implications.
Not quite five minutes had gone by before he heard someone else start up, a few
bunks over. Wryly Cloud reflected that the others really didn't have any room
to tease, since he was sure that wouldn't be the last person to go tonight.
Above him there was a soft snort of amusement, and he knew Zack was thinking
much the same thing. Oddly, the moment of connection made Cloud feel just a
little bit better about the whole mess.
Sighing, he forced himself to roll over and face the wall, staring at the rough
plaster in the dim light. A soft rustle above told him Zack was doing the same
thing. He wondered if either of them would be able to sleep tonight.
***** Chapter 6 *****
For once, reveille couldn't come early enough to suit Cloud. He'd tossed and
turned through most of the night, catching only brief snatches of uneasy sleep.
At the same time he dreaded the sound of the recorded bugle, because it meant
he was going to have to get up and face Zack.
When the familiar notes did finally come, he groaned softly and buried his head
under his pillow. Above him the bunk creaked as Zack shifted around, getting
ready to get up, and just the sound of it was enough to put a fierce blush on
Cloud's cheeks. How was he ever going to get through this?
There was a thud beside him that marked Zack jumping down, and his friend's
voice reached him through the thin shield of the pillow. "Hey, sleepyhead, get
moving," the older boy said, kicking at the side of Cloud's bunk. It was the
same exchange they had every morning, since Zack was a naturally early riser
and Cloud was notoriously reluctant to get up.
This time, though, there was a strain in Zack's voice that wasn't usually
there, and when Cloud unearthed himself to glance up, he could see the same
strain in his friend's eyes and smile. Zack was such a carefree person that
even though he hid his unease well, Cloud could still read the difference in
his expression.
Flushing deeper, Cloud's eyes skittered away from meeting Zack's gaze, and he
couldn't quite look the older boy in the face. "I'm up," he said, his usual
response to Zack's exhortations, but his heart wasn't in it. From the corner of
his eye he saw the forced smile slip, and for a moment Zack looked as awkward
as Cloud felt.
Then Zack shook his head, and plastered his usual grin over his face again.
"So? Up and at 'em, then! Last one to the mess has to clear the trays."
With that he was gone, heading for the showers. Usually Cloud would have been
stumbling along sleepily behind him, but today the mere thought of having to
face a naked Zack in the very open shower room was enough to make him groan and
burrow back under his pillow.
He couldn't hide there forever though, however much he might want to. Mortally
certain that everyone in the room was either leering at him or giving him an
accusing look - or both - Cloud dragged himself upright and started making his
bed.
By the time Zack got back from the showers, Cloud had his bed straightened with
the proper military precision, and his uniform for the day laid out carefully
over the covers. Not until he saw the dark-haired boy return did Cloud grab his
shower kit and head out himself.
"Hey, you're running later than usual," Zack observed as they passed in the
narrow aisle between bunks. "Better get a move on, you don't want to miss
morning inspection."
Still not able to look his friend in the eyes, Cloud shrugged. "I'll be fine,"
he mumbled, jerking his head back towards their bunk to indicate his prepared
uniform. "I just... wanted to wait until the showers weren't completely
crowded, for once."
"Fair enough," Zack agreed, but he sounded strained again. Swallowing, Cloud
ducked his head further and fled for the showers.
It was a little nice to not have to fight for space in the showers, but Cloud
immediately found he missed having Zack beside him cracking jokes and making
Cloud talk to him to make sure the sleepy blonde didn't drift off under the
water. It felt odd not to have that familiar presence by him, and what was
worse, he didn't see any way to fix the problem.
That Zack was feeling just as awkward as Cloud, he had no doubt. The older boy
covered it better than Cloud did, but then he'd always been better at
maintaining an uncaring attitude. It was one of the things Cloud liked best
about Zack, because he could always count on his friend to find the bright side
of just about anything. If there was a bright side to this, though, Cloud
couldn't see it.
How were they supposed to deal with this? Even if he'd been inclined to talk it
out, which he most definitely wasn't, Cloud didn't see any way they could talk
about it without being overheard by every busybody gossip in the regiment. The
same lack of privacy that had caused the situation in the first place was going
to continue to exacerbate it.
And even if they could find a moment alone and decided to say something, what
could they say? If there was a casual way to ask your best friend if he'd been
aware that you were jerking off before he started, Cloud couldn't think of it.
Another thought blindsided him, leaving him standing under the spray staring
blankly at the tiles, dripping soapsuds from his half-rinsed hair. What if Zack
thought Cloud was the one who had broken the rule and started at the same time
as Zack? Worse, what if he suspected Cloud had been doing it because he'd been
listening to Zack?
The worst part was, Cloud didn't think he could believably deny it, even though
it wasn't true. He had been thinking about Zack, even if he hadn't been aware
of what was going on above him at the time. Did it really matter whether or not
he'd been listening? The fact was that he'd been jerking off because of Zack,
and that crossed some kind of line of acceptable behaviour between friends. No
wonder Zack was hard pressed to keep his usual cheer up.
Swearing under his breath, Cloud scrubbed the rest of the soap out of his hair
and twisted the shower off with a violent motion. How the hell were they going
to fix this? He didn't want to lose the best - maybe the only - friend he'd
ever had over his stupid hormones.
Maybe if they ignored it long enough, things would go back to normal as they
forgot about it. He could only hope that would be the case, because he didn't
think he could stand it if things stayed the way they were.
As he made his way back to the bunk to get dressed, he once again passed Zack.
"Hurry up," the older boy urged him. "You don't have much time left. I'll see
you in the mess." Cloud nodded and hurried on with his head down, his throat
tight. Zack always waited for him so they could go out together, even if it
meant they would both be late to morning inspection. It was just one of those
things that everyone in the unit knew; if one of their two youngest members was
in trouble, it was a guarantee the other one was in equally hot water.
That Zack had gone on ahead of him today spoke volumes, and Cloud saw more than
one curious look directed at him as he quickly dressed. Flushing, he did his
best to ignore everyone and just concentrate on not doing something like doing
his buttons up wrong and getting in trouble during inspection.
He made it in time, but only barely. As B platoon fell into its accustomed
place in the ranks of alpha company for inspection, Cloud found himself at the
tail end of their file. Zack was somewhere in the middle, his dark spikes
visible from the corner of Cloud's eye.
Morning inspection was a desultory process most days, unless there was going to
be a parade or other event later in the day. Today was no exception, and they
were dismissed quickly for breakfast. Cloud almost expected Zack to hurry on
without him, but somewhat to his relief the older boy hung back until Cloud
caught up with him so they could walk together like they usually did.
"Do you think they could inspect us any more often in the day?" Zack asked as
they walked, a complaint frequently voiced by the members of the Shinra
military. "I mean, really. Morning inspection before breakfast, then gear
inspection after, evening inspection before bed, and an extra one any time in
between that we're lined up!"
"Yeah," Cloud said shortly. He hadn't meant to be so abrupt, but it was hard to
force words out through the anxious constriction in his throat.
Zack's steps faltered briefly, then recovered as the older boy tried a new
tack. "At least the food is better than boot camp, even if it is only a
marginal improvement," he said doggedly. "I'm willing to believe there's
actually vegetable content in this glop, anyway. You think the SOLDIERs get any
better?"
"Probably," Cloud answered, shrugging. He'd always been the more taciturn of
the two of them, but today he just couldn't seem to get anything out but one
word answers. Maybe because he was focusing so intently on his feet, just so he
wouldn't have to look up and meet Zack's eyes. If he did, he just knew he was
going to blush so horribly that his thoughts from the night before would be
written all over his face, and then Zack would never speak to him again.
"Yeah, so, uh..." They'd reached the mess, and Cloud's reticence seemed to be
throwing off even Zack at his most determined chatterbox best. Visibly casting
around for another topic of conversation, the older boy floundered. "Some of
the guys were talking in the shower, they heard from A platoon that we might be
getting an out-of-city assignment today. That'll be kind of cool, right?
Getting out and actually doing something useful instead of just wandering
around guarding a tower that nobody in their right mind would break into."
Out of the city? Cloud perked up a bit at that. "Really?" He hadn't been out of
Midgar since he'd first arrived, and he'd been so focused on getting there that
he hadn't really paid attention to much between Nibelheim and the city. Before
that, he'd never left the Nibel mountains. It would be nice to get out and see
more of the world. That was supposed to be one of the big attractions to
signing up with the Shinra military, after all.
Obviously glad to have gotten more of a response from Cloud, Zack nodded.
"Yeah. They've been scouting locations for a new reactor, and apparently
there's been some resistance from the locals near Mideel." He snorted as they
picked up their trays. "Dunno why they're even bothering to put a reactor in
such a remote location. Mideel's not that well populated. But Troy said he
heard there's an unusually high concentration of mako there, so maybe that's
why."
"Maybe," Cloud agreed softly, glancing around for a place to sit. Unlike boot
camp, there were rarely large unoccupied spaces here unless they pushed to be
the first ones in after inspection. The whole company shared one mess, not just
their platoon. Even so, after the first week of Zack shamelessly bribing or
blackmailing people into giving up their place so he could sit next to or
across from Cloud, someone always made sure to leave two spaces open for them
somewhere.
Today Cloud almost wished they hadn't, as it would have given him a good excuse
not to have to face Zack for just a little longer. It was cowardly of him and
he knew it, but he couldn't stand this horrible awkwardness between them and he
knew it was mostly his fault. Zack was at least trying to pretend that nothing
out of the ordinary had happened, even if his smile was forced.
If anything, more space had been left for them than usual, giving them a little
bubble at one end of a table. Cloud sat down with a wince, taking that as a
sign that everyone knew what had happened between them last night. He wasn't
sure if the extra space was a misguided attempt to give them privacy to talk
about it, or if everyone was hoping they might fight if left to their own
devices. There was nothing like a good fight to create juicy gossip, and gossip
was the lubrication in the gears of any military unit.
With a quiet sigh Cloud almost missed, Zack sat across from him. "I suppose if
we are shipped out, we'll be subsisting on field rations for however long we're
out there, so we might as well enjoy the food while we've got it," the older
boy declared, scooping up a healthy portion of oatmeal. "Hell, by the time we
get back we'll probably be grateful for this stuff," he added when he'd
swallowed.
"Mm." Cloud nodded his agreement, his eyes fixed on his plate as he
concentrated on eating. It was more of an effort than usual; the same lump in
his throat that made it hard to get words out was making it difficult to
swallow as well.
Apparently that was so non-verbal even Zack couldn't find anything to say in
the face of it, or else the older boy had just run out of conversational
gambits. Either way he didn't say anything more, and they descended into an
awkward silence as they ate their breakfasts.
With every minute that went by, the hard knot in Cloud's chest grew. The food
tasted even more like sawdust than usual, dry and unappetizing in his mouth.
Half of him wished Zack would just give up and leave him in peace for a while
so he could think through this, but the rest of him was terrified that Zack
would do exactly that and wouldn't come back again. Cloud had said all along
that Zack was crazy for wanting to be friends with someone like him, but he'd
stopped preparing himself for the eventuality that Zack would come to his
senses a long time ago. If it happened now, he didn't think he'd be able to
stand it.
Finally, when they were shoving the last remnants of dry toast around on their
plates, Zack sighed again and toed Cloud's shin. "Hey." Lost in his
increasingly panicked thoughts, Cloud was startled enough by the sudden touch
that he actually looked up. Immediately he was caught by Zack's intense grey-
violet gaze, the older boy looking back at him with an expression Cloud
couldn't identify. It certainly was nothing like his usual happy-go-lucky grin,
or even the more sober face he would sometimes show when discussing a serious
topic or focused on a task.
"Look, Cloud," Zack started, clearly searching hard for words. "I didn't
mean... that is, I don't want..."
Whatever Zack had been about to say was interrupted by a sudden shout from the
door. "Captain in the room! Attention!" Without thought Cloud and Zack shoved
their chairs back and jumped to attention along with everyone else, saluting
blindly in whatever direction they happened to be facing when the call was
made.
Cloud was facing the doorway, so he could see alpha company's captain standing
there surveying them all. "As you were," the man said, and there was a rustle
and much scraping of chairs as everyone dropped the salute and sat down again.
Zack flashed Cloud a look that clearly said 'later', but there was a hint of
pleading in his eyes that turned it from a demand into a request. Cloud looked
away again, focusing on the captain so he wouldn't have to see the expression
in Zack's eyes. Maybe if he put everything into paying attention to the
captain, he wouldn't have to sit there coming up with progressively more wild
theories about what the older boy might have been about to say.
The announcements were straightforward, more or less exactly what Zack had been
speculating on. They were being shipped out to the southern islands, along with
a company of sword and a unit of SOLDIER 3rd Class. The last set everyone
chattering among themselves as they were dismissed to pack their gear.
"Did you hear that, Cloud?" Zack crowed, whatever he'd been about to say before
forgotten in the face of this new information. "SOLDIERs! They probably won't
have much time for the likes of us when we actually get there, but it'll take
us a while to get there, right? They'll probably send us by transport to Junon
and then put us on a ship for the islands, that would make the most sense.
Maybe we can get them to tell us what it'll be like, or what we can expect from
the exams. Any tips we can get will help, right?"
"Right," Cloud agreed weakly, but his face had gone a bit green at the mention
of a ship. The voyage across from Costa del Sol to Junon had been, without
exception, the most miserable two days of his life, and it was an experience
he'd worked hard to put out of his mind. Objectively he'd known that eventually
he was going to have to deal with something like that again when his unit was
shipped out, but he hadn't thought it would come so soon. He only hoped he
could keep from making a total idiot of himself in front of everyone.
His lack of enthusiasm seemed to dampen Zack's, and the older boy sighed again.
"C'mon, let's go pack our gear," he said. He reached out, and Cloud held his
breath. Zack was forever ruffling his hair, claiming the spikes just begged for
that kind of attention. It was such a normal and familiar gesture, and it was
the most reassuring sign he'd had so far that they might be able to get past
this and put their friendship back on an even keel.
Instead of the accustomed touch of Zack's hand messing his hair, though, he
felt the barest brush of fingers against his bangs before the older boy
snatched his hand back like it had been burned. "Right," Zack said, clearing
his throat and looking away. It was hard to tell with his darker skin, but
Cloud thought there might have been a faint flush on his cheeks. "So, let's
go."
His heart hovering somewhere around his boots, Cloud nodded and stood, clearing
his tray.
After that they didn't have time to so much as look at each other, let alone
talk. The flurry of activity involved in getting ready to ship out was
overwhelming, and in the chaos of trying to ensure they each had all the gear
they were required to take with them Cloud didn't have a chance to worry about
the state of their friendship.
The transport trucks they were loaded into were noisy and not terribly well
sprung, not to mention crowded. Cloud hung onto his seat and did his best not
to break anything or go flying each time they hit a bump in the road, fighting
to keep from being sick or panicking in the close confines of the truck. Zack,
restless as always when forced into inactivity, wandered up and down the narrow
aisle between the seats.
It was only a few hours to Junon, but getting out of the truck didn't help as
much as he'd hoped it would. As soon as he escaped the confines of the
transport the smells of oil and gas and closely packed bodies were replaced by
the salty scent of sea air, and that just reminded his stomach of how he'd felt
the last time he'd been near that fishy smell.
He was a little distracted by watching the unit of SOLDIERs embark the ship
ahead of them. Their uniforms were different from the ubiquitous blue of the
troopers, and they looked the perfect image of a group of heroes as they
laughed and chattered among themselves. Their massive buster swords were slung
casually across their backs; Cloud had never seen one so close before, and
looking at them he couldn't imagine how the men were able to wield something
that massive. Those swords were as big as he was!
"Pretty impressive, huh?" Zack said beside him as they walked up the gangway,
his eyes shining as he studied the SOLDIERs. "Wow. Just think, in a couple of
months that'll be us."
"Uh-huh," Cloud managed, trying to convince himself he couldn't possibly be
feeling the ship rocking beneath his feet. They were still docked, and the ship
was big enough that it wouldn't be moving with just the waves in the harbour.
"Look at their eyes!" Zack continued enthusiastically, apparently not noticing
Cloud's distress. Or maybe just assuming it was more of the same behaviour the
younger boy had been exhibiting all day. "It's true, they really do glow in the
dark. Look at the way they move, they're perfectly balanced. And these guys are
only 3rd class. Can you imagine what the 1st class guys are like?"
"Probably a lot like Sephiroth was," Cloud said, swallowing hard to keep his
bile down where it belonged. Behind them the loading bay was closing, and he
could hear running feet on the deck above them as the sailors got ready to cast
off. Taking careful, deep breaths, he did his best to steady himself in the
gloom of the hold.
"True," Zack agreed. "C'mon, let's find somewhere to sit before all the good
places get taken. Maybe we can sit near the SOLDIERs."
Cloud followed along without comment, looking around in an attempt to distract
himself from his queasy stomach. He didn't know why Zack was bothering to look
for a seat; it wasn't like the older boy would be in it for longer than five
minutes at a time. Zack was not a person who'd been designed to sit still.
Cloud would be grateful for the seat, though, since he didn't think his legs
would hold out on him for long.
The hold was crowded, and despite the fact that this was supposed to be a troop
transport ship it didn't look like it had been designed with any such purpose
in mind. The area they were in was obviously intended to be a cargo hold, with
bunks and seats hastily installed to accommodate them. There weren't enough
seats for everyone, and they were going to have to sleep in shifts. Cloud hoped
it wouldn't take them too long to get to Mideel.
They didn't manage to sit anywhere near the SOLDIERs, since everyone else had
exactly the same idea. Cloud was just as grateful, since the last thing he
wanted to do was make an idiot of himself by being seasick in front of the men
he would most like to impress. He'd worry about finding a way to get near them
when they were safely back on dry land and he could be sure the contents of his
stomach would stay where he told them to.
There was a lurch as the ship's massive engines kicked in, and then Cloud could
sense motion as they pulled slowly away from the dock. His stomach sloshed in
response, and he closed his eyes tightly as he collapsed down into the seat. At
least his helmet would keep anyone else from seeing how green he was. If he was
lucky, nobody would ever know and he wouldn't end up as the butt of merciless
teasing for it.
True to Cloud's prediction Zack was up and pacing less than five minutes after
he'd sat down. His seat was quickly claimed by another trooper, but Zack didn't
seem to mind. If the gentle sway of the deck bothered him, Zack didn't show it,
walking as gracefully as if he'd been on solid ground. "Man, our first
assignment, I'm so excited," he enthused, his voice gleeful. "Whatever's going
on down there, it must be a pretty big deal if they're sending two whole
companies and a SOLDIER unit. Even if they are only 3rd class. Funny, I always
heard people in Mideel were laid-back."
Grateful that Zack seemed to have recovered enough not to require Cloud to
respond in order to continue the conversation, Cloud opened his eyes again and
followed Zack's restless pacing. "I bet it's not really the people from
Mideel," Zack continued, thinking out loud. "Probably one of those crazy
ecological terrorist groups. Mideel's in the middle of a lush forest, they're
probably upset at the idea of cutting some of it down to build a reactor. They
had the same problem when they built the one in Gongaga, a lot of people didn't
want to lose that much of the forest. It turned out for the best in the end,
though. Once we had mako power to heat and light everything, we didn't have to
use wood for fuel. So in the long run, it actually saved the forest."
That was something Cloud had never considered before. The Nibel reactor was in
the middle of a large expanse of rock, not anything anybody cared about. The
only real objection to it that Cloud could remember had been that it was so far
away, and workers had to cross the flimsy rope and plank bridges to get out
there. Of course the Nibel reactor had been built long before Cloud had been
born, so maybe there had been objections to it that he didn't know about.
Watching Zack pace, the back-and-forth motion interrupted by the up-and-down
induced by the heaving deck, wasn't doing anything to help Cloud's seasickness.
Biting his lip, he ordered his stomach to behave itself and tried to remind
himself that motion sickness was entirely psychological. His stomach wasn't
listening.
"Hey, Cloud?" The sudden uncertain tone in Zack's voice made him focus again,
and he found Zack had stopped pacing to crouch in front of him. The older boy
had pulled his helmet off and was holding it tucked under one arm, revealing
his worried expression. "Listen, I never got a chance to say at breakfast..."
Once again a hundred horrible possibilities welled up in Cloud's mind, about
what Zack might have been intending to say earlier. The sudden case of extreme
nerves tipped the already delicate balance he had with his equilibrium, and his
body rebelled.
"Zack... I can't..." he managed to gasp out. "Move!" he blurted as he scrambled
out of his seat and bolted past Zack, heading for the stairs up to the deck.
"Cloud!" Zack's worried voice came from behind him. "We're not supposed to go
up there! Cloud? Cloud!"
Ignoring him in favour of reaching open air before he lost control entirely,
Cloud pelted up the stairs and crashed straight into the first railing he
found. He promptly lost his entire breakfast over the side, heaving helplessly.
The fresh air helped a little, and the motion of the boat seemed slightly less
pronounced up here, so he managed to stop throwing up after a little while and
just clung weakly to the railing.
Pulling his confining helmet off he dropped it beside him, and that helped too.
Planting one foot on it to keep it from rolling away, he stood there gasping in
the salty air and trying not to be sick again.
"Seasick, kid?" one of the sailors asked, coming up to him. Wordlessly he
nodded, and he must have looked truly miserable because the burly sailor
apparently decided to take pity on him. "You troops aren't supposed to be up
here, but I'll let you stay for a little while, as long as you keep out of the
way. Focus on the horizon, it helps."
"Thanks," Cloud rasped out, obeying the advice and fixing his eyes on the point
where the water met the sky. It did help a little, and he decided to stay up
here as long as they would let him. Not only would it help his seasickness, but
it would let him avoid whatever recriminations Zack was going to make about
last night just a little longer. Sighing, he stared out over the water. It was
going to be a long trip.
***** Chapter 7 *****
The only word Cloud could come up with to describe the Mideel jungle was
'soggy'. The moisture that hung heavy in the balmy air seeped into everything,
and sweat just stayed on your body instead of evaporating. Surprisingly,
despite the high humidity it hadn't yet rained. When one of the locals had
overheard Cloud wishing it would, the man had laughed and told him that the
only rain the area got was during the monsoon season.
The lush forest was so dense you couldn't see more than a few feet away, and
they'd already had a couple of people get lost. So far everyone had been found
again and there hadn't been any casualties, but they had strict orders to
always remain in sight of at least one other person when on patrol.
Cloud was, to put it lightly, completely out of his element. Born and raised in
the arid mountains of Nibelheim, he'd never seen so much greenery in one place
in his life. The heat was exacerbated by the humidity, and it all combined to
make Cloud feel sluggish and irritable.
Zack, on the other hand, was most definitely in his element. This jungle was
apparently similar enough to the forests around Gongaga that Zack felt right at
home. The older boy was a popular patrol partner, because he always seemed to
be able to find the route that took the least effort and encountered the fewest
stinging bugs.
Not that Cloud was reaping the benefits of his friend's experience. Things had
not improved between them over the course of the voyage; if anything, they'd
gotten worse. When Cloud had finally returned below decks, he'd found Zack
engaged in conversation with the SOLDIERs, having wandered over and shamelessly
introduced himself. Cloud didn't have nearly enough nerve to just walk up and
join them, especially not when he was still in danger of throwing up all over
them.
After that Zack had seemed to avoid Cloud, just as Cloud had feared he would.
The only thing that confused him was that sometimes he would catch the older
boy giving him soulful looks, like a puppy begging for forgiveness, but so far
Cloud wasn't sure just what they were supposed to mean. Zack was the one
avoiding him, not the other way around.
The end result was that Cloud was more miserable than at any other time in his
life, up to and including the voyage from Costa del Sol to Junon. Slogging
through humid rainforest for twelve hours a day on what seemed to be a wild
goose chase did nothing to improve his mood, either. He snapped and snarled at
anyone who got close to him, and eventually the rest of his platoon wisely
decided to leave him alone.
Today was no exception. As he forced his way through the dense undergrowth,
Cloud did his best to keep his rifle from getting tangled in the greenery. The
insects were especially bad today, and he was certain he was going to end up
with a bad case of anaemia by nightfall. To his left he could hear one of the
sword platoon members crashing along, catching occasional glimpses of the man
through the greenery. There was nothing to his right, since he'd been assigned
to the flank.
Up ahead the SOLDIER in charge of their unit called for a rest stop, and Cloud
staggered to a halt gratefully. Moving through the jungle was hard work, and
his heavy uniform was plastered to his body with sweat. He wished he could take
his helmet off, but some of the others had already gotten in trouble for doing
that while on patrol earlier in the week.
Gulping water from his canteen, he rested the butt of his rifle on the ground
and looked around. This area looked exactly the same as every other bit of
jungle he'd seen over the last five days. There was certainly no sign of the
people who had supposedly shot down a Shinra helicopter and sabotaged the
efforts of the surveyors. General speculation among the troops was that whoever
it was had been smart enough to pull out when they heard Shinra was sending
reinforcements, but they couldn't go home until they got orders to that effect
from the brass in Midgar.
"All right, we're almost at the turnaround point," the SOLDIER said, pacing up
and down their ragged line. "Another hour and we'll swing around and head back
to base. I know you're all tired and frustrated, but stay sharp. That could be
exactly what these people are waiting for. Keep your eyes peeled, and make sure
you don't lose sight of the people on either side of you. I don't want anyone
getting lost. Understand?"
"Yes sir!" Cloud joined the weary chorus of acknowledgement, trying not to lean
too much of his weight on his rifle. He wanted this horrible mission to be over
already, and he wanted to go back to the familiar routines in Midgar. More
importantly he desperately wanted things to return to normal between him and
Zack, but he still had no idea how to go about setting things right.
Automatically he glanced over to the left. He knew Zack was somewhere close by,
maybe even on the other side of the swordsman, because he'd heard the older
boy's voice at an earlier rest stop. That marked the closest the two of them
had been to each other all week, and it made Cloud's chest ache.
"Move out!" the SOLDIER declared, and Cloud hefted his rifle back to his
shoulder and started walking again. He honestly didn't know what these patrols
were supposed to accomplish; you'd have to be deaf not to hear them coming in
plenty of time to hide, and they could walk right by the terrorists and not see
them five feet from the flank.
They'd been walking for maybe fifteen minutes when there was a startled shout
from the left and rear. Cloud turned, automatically squinting as if that would
help him see through the trees, but he couldn't see anything. His hands tensed
on his rifle as another shout came, accompanied by a burst of gunfire. The next
sound was a roar that couldn't possibly have been made by any human throat.
"Close ranks!" the SOLDIER bellowed, running from the point position back to
where the chaos was. "Close ranks, form a square! Don't let them draw you out
or you'll be unprotected!" The distinctive sound of metal on leather reached
Cloud as the man drew his sword, and then the ground-shaking roar came again.
Belatedly Cloud realized he was just standing there on the unprotected flank,
and started moving. Almost immediately he encountered the swordsman who had
been beside him, engaged in a fight with a red-scaled dragon that was twice his
size. His sword was proving somewhat ineffective against its hard scales, but
its wicked talons had no such trouble piercing his uniform.
Without thinking Cloud dropped to one knee to steady himself, braced his rifle
against his shoulder and fired. His aim had improved since his time as a cadet;
he wasn't a crack shot by any means, but at least he could hit a target this
big. The bullet pierced the scales at the thing's shoulder, making it roar in
fury. From that sound Cloud knew this was the same creature that had attacked
their rearguard.
It also looked vaguely familiar. As he sighted for another shot and waited for
the swordsman to get out of his line of fire, Cloud realized it was the same
sort of dragon they'd encountered in the cage in Hojo's lab. Which meant it was
one of the creatures that were supposedly appearing inexplicably around Midgar
- except Midgar was half a world away. How had it gotten here?
This dragon didn't have a tattoo on its shoulder, but that meant very little to
Cloud at the moment. All he was worried about was surviving, hopefully along
with the swordsman.
"Get back!" he shouted, firing again and driving the dragon a little further
back. He wasn't sure his rifle was doing more than just stinging it, but at
least it was more damage than the swordsman could do. "You're not hurting it,
get out of the way!"
The swordsman turned to run while the dragon was distracted, but neither of
them had counted on the fact that claws and teeth weren't the creature's only
weapon. Opening its mouth, the dragon breathed a wave of fire at the hapless
man, who instantly burst into flames. Screaming, the swordsman thrashed and
dropped to the ground, trying to roll to put out the flames, but they were too
strong. The horrid stench of burning meat reached Cloud, and he gagged.
Trying not to let the screaming distract him, he fired again on the dragon,
aiming at the head. If he could hit it in the eye maybe he could blind it, and
it might run off. Or it might get even angrier and fry him too, but it was
probably planning to do that anyway so he didn't really have much to lose.
Whatever deity watched over fools and small children was apparently guarding
him as well today, and he didn't think it was because of his age. His shot
entered the dragon's mouth as it opened its jaw to breathe at him, and the
tissue there was unprotected by scales. It made a horrible noise, shuddered,
and collapsed, shot through the brain.
Jumping to his feet, Cloud started to run over to the swordsman. The man was
lying still now, not screaming any longer, but Cloud had to check and make sure
it really was too late to help him.
He hadn't taken more than a few steps before a heavy, snarling weight crashed
into his hip, knocking him down and sending him sprawling. Cloud screamed as
vicious fangs sank into his thigh, and he looked down to see the narrow face of
one of the wolves he'd mistaken for a Nibel Wolf in Hojo's lab. The creature
had him by the leg and didn't seem inclined to let go, shaking its head as if
trying to break the bone.
Scrabbling for the rifle he'd dropped as he fell, Cloud snatched it up and
started bashing at the wolf's nose with the butt. He was too close to be able
to get a good angle to shoot with the long gun, and he would have risked
hitting his own leg anyway. As grateful as he'd been to be in the rifle corps
when facing the dragon, now he desperately wished he had access to a sword as
well. The rifle wasn't making much impact on the wolf, except to irritate it
and make it clench its jaws harder.
"Cloud!" Through the roar of blood rushing in his ears, Cloud was vaguely aware
of a familiar voice calling his name. "Cloud! Damn it, get off him!"
For a dizzy moment Cloud thought the command had been directed at him, and he
choked down a hysterical protest that he'd be more than happy to get off the
wolf if only he could. Zack grabbed the sword the other trooper had dropped
when he caught fire, and started hacking at the wolf's hindquarters. "Let go,
damn it!"
Snarling, the wolf finally released Cloud's leg to turn on Zack. The moment he
had enough distance to be able to level his gun, Cloud buried the muzzle in the
wolf's chest and pulled the trigger. At the same time Zack slashed down with
the sword, catching it squarely in the side of its neck. With a gurgling whine
the wolf collapsed, half draped over Cloud's legs.
"Shit, Cloud, are you okay?" Zack crouched over him, dropping the sword and
using both hands to apply pressure to the wound. "Looks like it missed the
artery, but I don't think you're going to be walking on that any time soon.
Fuck!"
The panicked concern in the older boy's grey-violet eyes made something that
had been far too tight in Cloud's chest finally relax, despite the pain that
was making him light-headed. Zack did still care, even if he was avoiding
Cloud. Maybe they could save their friendship yet.
Assuming they both lived through the next ten minutes. "Zack, these are the
same animals we saw in the lab," Cloud said, dazed.
"Yeah, I know," Zack agreed, ripping the material of Cloud's ruined pants and
using the strips to make bandages. "So much for the theory that their
appearance is related to the reactors somehow. The nearest reactor is way out
in the plains south of Junon."
There was a crashing noise somewhere nearby, and Zack grabbed the sword and
spun around. The next monster to come through wasn't anything Cloud had seen
before, though it looked like some sort of animated carnivorous plant. Right
behind it was a human, though - one not dressed in the familiar Shinra uniform.
The man gave them a startled look, then swore and ran off into the undergrowth
in another direction. "Shit, that must be one of the terrorists!" Zack
exclaimed, hacking at the plant's reaching vines. "They must be the ones who
released the monsters. Damn it, he's getting away!"
"Go!" Cloud shouted, firing at the plant's main body when Zack stepped away for
a moment. "Zack, you have to follow him! If we don't catch him now he'll just
do it all over again, and more people will die!"
It took all his courage to say the words, and then some. There was no way he
could put weight on his leg, and he was the next thing to completely helpless
as a result. If Zack left, he was probably going to die. If Zack didn't go,
though, and the man got away, then many more people might die the next time a
patrol was caught unaware. These monsters were way beyond their level.
"Fuck!" Frustrated, Zack slammed his sword through the head of the plant,
severing it messily from the stalk. The whole thing collapsed and shrivelled
up, leaving the dark-haired boy panting over it. "I don't want to just leave
you here!"
"Zack." Cloud looked up at him, forcing his expression into the most determined
look he could manage. "You know you have to."
Growling, Zack reached up and hastily stripped off the bandolier that held his
extra ammunition. "You take this," he ordered, dropping it into Cloud's lap.
When the younger boy started to object, he shook his head sharply. "I've got
the sword, and I can dodge. You can't. I will come back for you, I swear!"
Gripping Cloud's shoulder, he stared into the smaller boy's eyes. "Stay alive."
With that he was gone, darting and weaving his way through the underbrush in
the direction the terrorist had gone, moving with considerably more ease than
the strange man had managed. If he was lucky, he would be able to catch up.
Trying not to let his heart pound its way right out of his chest, Cloud hefted
his rifle and set it against his shoulder. He wanted to be able to sight and
fire on anything that came out of the jungle the moment he saw it, even if it
was tiring to hold the rifle up like that.
He knew his chances of surviving this were slim to none. Shaking hard enough
that he could hear the rifle rattling, he gritted his teeth and tried not to
panic. At least, if he was going to die, it wouldn't be with Zack mad at him.
Whatever awkwardness had been between them had evaporated in the face of the
possibility of death, and he was grateful for that much.
Straining his ears, he tried to catch some sign of the rest of the patrol. He
could hear shouting in the far distance, and the occasional burst of gunfire,
but nothing near enough that they might be able to hear him if he hollered for
help. He was on his own - and even if the patrol won the fight, they might
never come looking for him. The only one who knew he was alive and injured out
here was Zack, and there was no guarantee Zack was going to survive a headlong
charge after the enemy. He swallowed, trying not to think about it. He wasn't
sure which thought bothered him more - that he might be left alone to die out
here, or that Zack might not survive.
Several times he heard creatures prowling in the bushes, and fired on them to
scare them off. Twice he didn't succeed, and had to keep pumping bullets
frantically into the attacking monsters until they dropped. One of them, a cat-
like creature, made it all the way to his foot before it finally collapsed, and
he had far too good a view of its gleaming fangs.
When he heard the soft shushing of wings in the trees, his heart clenched in
fear. That wasn't just one creature, not unless it had multiple sets of wings.
A small cloud of bats emerged from the trees around him, circling above him
with what he imagined was a hungry look in their eyes. They seemed to be
attracted to the blood that was seeping through his makeshift bandages, darting
down to dive at his leg again and again. He swatted them off with the rifle
barrel, again cursing the fact that he didn't have any other weapon. They were
far too fast in the air for him to shoot them.
He tried anyway, using up the last of his loaded ammunition. When he fumbled
for more, the swarm descended on him all at once and he felt half a dozen sharp
stabbing pains on his extremities. Yelling, he flailed around him with the
rifle, trying to bat them away and protect his face at the same time.
They pulled back to stay just out of his range, and hovered there in a flapping
group. They were waiting for him to get tired, he realized in horror as he
paused in his flailing to catch his breath and one of them darted at him again.
They knew he couldn't hurt them or run away, and they were trying to wear him
out.
Shaking, he firmed his grip on the rifle and set his mouth in a determined
line. He might be facing death, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
Shifting the rifle to his off hand, he fumbled around on the ground for
something to throw at them.
They dove on him again, and he jerked his hand back to the gun, ready to beat
them off once more. Instead they scattered as something large and dark charged
into the middle of the cloud with a furious yell. For a moment he was certain
he was dead, that it was another monster come to rend him to pieces with claw
and fang.
It took Cloud's stunned brain a moment to realize what he was actually seeing.
Zack swung the sword in large sweeping motions, hitting two or three of the
bats on every swipe. They converged on him, trying to swarm him from behind,
but he kept circling too fast for them to gang up on him.
Once his heart started again and he remembered how to breathe, Cloud brought
his reloaded rifle back up and fired on the edges of the group of bats, trying
to drive some of them away. He managed to distract some of them long enough for
Zack to finish them off, and finally the last bat dropped to lie flapping
weakly on the forest floor.
Breathing hard, Zack spiked the sword into the ground and leaned against it.
"What're you looking at me like that for?" he asked the still astonished Cloud
with a fierce grin. "I told you I'd come back for you, didn't I?"
"I... I thought..." Cloud swallowed hard and closed his eyes, not wanting Zack
to see the shameful tears of relief that were threatening to spill over. "I
thought I was dead for sure."
There was a rustle as Zack knelt beside him, and the older boy's hand brushed
over his face. Cloud opened his eyes again to see Zack giving him a deadly
serious look. "I will always come back for you," Zack swore. "No matter what,
Cloud, I will never leave you behind. I promise."
Somehow, even though he shouldn't have been able to make a promise like that
because who knew what circumstances might happen in the future, Cloud believed
him. "Zack," he rasped, his voice hoarse with the fear of the last hour, and
the stress of the last week. "Zack, I'm sorry. Please, please can we go back to
the way things were before? I hate not being able to talk to you. Please don't
avoid me any more!"
"You're sorry?" Zack looked surprised. "What the hell for? I'm the one who
screwed up. You seemed so mad at me, I thought you were disgusted and I was
trying to give you space. I... ah, hell, it doesn't matter whose fault it is."
He shook his head. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me, okay? C'mon, let's get
the hell out of here." He turned and presented his back, gesturing. "Climb on."
"What are you, nuts?" Cloud asked him in disbelief. "You can't carry me all the
way back to the base, we're six hours out!"
"Well, unless you're packing a Restore materia and have a hell of a lot more
energy left than I've got, it's the only way you're getting out of here because
you sure as hell aren't walking," Zack replied. "Now climb on. I'm not leaving
you behind again."
The fierce note in the older boy's voice convinced Cloud he was serious. Any
thoughts he'd had of protesting that Zack should leave and go for help died
unspoken. His vision swimming from blood loss and shock, he scrambled up onto
Zack's back and wrapped his arms around the older boy's broad shoulders. Zack
hooked his arms under Cloud's knees and stood carefully, grunting with the
effort.
"Fuck, it's a good thing this didn't happen a couple months from now," he
commented. "I don't think I could carry you if you were much heavier, and the
way you've been growing it wouldn't take long. Dragging you along with one arm
over my shoulder would be cumbersome as hell. You're gonna have to shoot
anything that comes at us, I can't swing a sword like this."
"I'll manage," Cloud said, clinging harder with one arm so he could free the
other to hold the rifle. It was an uncomfortable position for both of them, but
better than getting eaten by a monster. Zack started walking, seemingly
uncaring of the vines and branches that slapped him in the face because he
couldn't use his arms to push them out of the way. His bulk sheltered Cloud
from the worst of it, but Cloud felt guilty for every scratch and scrape Zack
picked up.
It took much longer than six hours before they finally staggered back into the
camp. Zack's feet were dragging, and Cloud could feel the older boy's breath
rasping in his chest with each heaving pant. They'd tried having Cloud limp
along beside, using Zack as a crutch, but as predicted it had been far too
awkward to be practical and Zack had ended up carrying him again.
There was a shout as they were spotted by the sentries, and a rush of troops
clustered around them. People babbled questions and orders, talking over each
other until the words became nothing but a disorienting jumble of noise.
Finally one of the SOLDIERs pushed through, followed by medics with a
stretcher. "Report!"
"We encountered one of the enemy terrorists, and I followed him," Zack said,
his voice hoarse with exhaustion. He didn't release Cloud, though Cloud
suspected that might be because he was so tired he'd forgotten how to let go.
"I lost him in the underbrush, and came back for Cloud. He's got a nasty wolf
bite on his left thigh, and multiple stabbing wounds from some bats."
"Here, let us take him," one of the medics coaxed, and slowly Zack released
Cloud into their arms. Cloud sucked in a pained breath as they set him on his
feet for a moment, then sighed as they settled him onto the stretcher.
"Where are the stab wounds?" one of them asked him brusquely. He felt the cool
energy of a low-level cure spell wash over him, and the worst of the throbbing
in his leg subsided.
"Legs and arms," Cloud muttered, dizzy with even the relative relief from pain.
"I managed to protect my torso."
"Really?" the medic sounded surprised. "Where did all the blood on your shirt
come from, then?"
Glancing down for the first time, Cloud blinked for a confused moment. He was
certain that the uniform tunic he'd put on that morning was the same vivid blue
as he always wore, but his shirt front was a dark rusty colour. When he finally
realized that what he was seeing was blood, he went white.
"Zack?" he gasped, jerking his eyes up to his friend's face. The older boy
smiled weakly back at him.
"He gonna be okay?" Zack asked the medics, who nodded. "Good." Without another
word his eyes slid closed, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.
***** Chapter 8 *****
Triage, Cloud had decided, was a dirty word. Oh, he understood the reasoning
behind the concept and even agreed with it in theory. The problem was, there
was nothing theoretical about watching his best friend die by inches while the
people who could have saved him did nothing.
Nobody had expected the kind of debilitating casualties they'd received.
Cloud's patrol was the first to be attacked, but not the last. Even knowing
there was a possibility of facing monsters, troops were still being cut down
left and right. The only medics they'd brought along were the ones permanently
attached to the companies, and two people were not nearly enough to handle the
sudden influx of wounded and dying.
Their limited supply of potions was being hoarded against future emergencies,
and the medics only had so much energy to spend on Restore and Revive spells.
The SOLDIERs took precedence, of course, and after that the medics concentrated
on the people with more minor injuries who could be quickly healed and put back
out in the field. Serious injuries were treated with bandages and sutures, and
left to heal on their own.
At least the wolf bite on his thigh had been serious enough to put Cloud firmly
in the latter category as well, so he was free to sit by Zack's bed and soothe
the feverish boy as best he could. Infection had set in quickly; the multiple
stabbing wounds Zack had taken from the swarm of bats had been exacerbated by
carrying Cloud on his back for hours. The shock of losing so much blood hadn't
helped, either.
Three days later he still hadn't woken up, though he'd opened his eyes a few
times. Cloud had sat by him night and day, dozing in the uncomfortable chair
next to his bed, making sure Zack's bandages were changed regularly and bathing
his face in cold water.
In the beginning, the medics who had occasionally come to check up on them had
been hopeful. Each time they came, though, as Zack slipped farther and farther
into delirium, their estimates for his recovery had dropped. The last time, the
doctor hadn't even looked at the wounds, just silently shaking his head and
walking away when he saw the state Zack was in.
Cloud was furious, but none of his arguments or pleas had any effect on the
exhausted medics. Zack was beyond the point where a phoenix down or first level
Life spell would help him, and even if the medics had wanted to cast anything
higher they simply didn't have the energy for it. Their answer was the same
every time Cloud begged them to do something: "Reinforcements are on the way.
If he survives until then, maybe they'll be able to help."
It was the 'surviving until then' part that Cloud was starting to worry about.
Zack was getting worse, not better. His breathing was harsh and his pulse was
fast and erratic. His skin was hot and tight with fever, but he wasn't sweating
at all and Cloud thought that was a bad sign.
"Don't you dare die on me, Zack," he whispered, leaning over as he wiped the
older boy's face with the cool cloth once more. "Don't you dare. How am I
supposed to watch your back if you're dead, huh? If you die I'll... I'll...
I'll find a way to turn you into a ghost and make you haunt me, you hear me? No
afterlife for you. You'll be stuck here with me forever. I'm not letting you
go."
He rested his forehead against the older boy's, and when he felt warm moisture
there he thought for a joyous moment that Zack's fever had finally broken
enough for him to start sweating.
Then he realized it was just his own tears, though he hadn't been aware that he
was crying until he felt them. Biting back a sob, Cloud drew a deep breath and
sat up again. Pity wasn't going to get him anywhere, and grief wasn't
appropriate. Zack needed him to be the strong one right now, and Cloud would be
damned before he'd fail his friend in this.
Turning, he wrung out the cloth again, noting absently that he needed to get
more ice soon. The muggy heat of the Mideel jungle made it hard to keep
anything cool for long, and probably wasn't helping Zack at all. At least
they'd found some kind of smoking incense to put down at the doors of the
infirmary tent, to help keep out all the insects.
"I'm not letting you go," he said again more firmly, drawing the cool cloth
over Zack's face once more. "Not now. Not when we just fixed things. I'll find
a way."
"So... cute..." The harsh whisper was so soft Cloud almost thought he'd
imagined it, but when he jerked his startled gaze up he found Zack's eyes
cracked open, his parched lips tilted in the barest hint of a smile. The fever
made his eyes bright enough to rival any SOLDIER's, but unlike the other times
he'd opened them he seemed to actually be lucid.
"Zack!" Jumping out of his seat in excitement, Cloud forgot about his own
injury and nearly fell on the other boy when his leg buckled under him. In his
flailing and hopping attempts to stay upright he managed to knock the basin of
water over, drenching a section of the bed and pillow and splashing Zack. "Oh
crap, I'm sorry! You're awake! Are you really awake this time?"
"S'okay," Zack says, licking his lips where some of the water had landed. His
voice was raspy and hoarse, nothing like his usual smooth tones. "Was thirsty.
How long?"
"Three days," Cloud replied, grabbing the basin again. "Hang on, I'm going to
get you more water, I'll be right back."
He ran for the water, heedless of anyone who might be in his way. His bad leg
shrieked protests at the abuse, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it as best
he could. Zack was more important, he could worry about his own injury later.
Running on the way back would only have spilled the water everywhere, but Cloud
hurried as much as he could. Even so by the time he returned Zack's eyes had
closed again, and Cloud panicked. "Zack? Zack, please, wake up. Please."
"So tired," Zack whispered, forcing his eyes open again. Each breath he took
was an obvious effort, and speaking was almost more than he could manage.
"Water?"
"I brought it. Here, let me help you sit up a little." Sitting on the bed by
Zack's head, Cloud set the basin down and worked one arm under the other boy's
shoulders, lifting him at an angle. Dipping the cloth in the water, Cloud
brought it over to Zack's face and let it trickle into his mouth. "Not too
much. Don't want you to choke on it. How's that? Better?"
"Cute," Zack said again, closing his eyes but still smiling slightly. Cloud
choked on an hysterical laugh.
"That's what you said right before the last time you kissed me," he blurted out
without thinking. "Are you going to do it again?" Then he remembered that he
wasn't sure if that was a dream or not, and held his breath.
To his surprise, Zack winced faintly. "Thought you'd... forgotten. Sorry."
So it had been real. Cloud felt something warm twist in his chest, but it was
almost buried by the massive knot of worry and panic. "Don't be sorry, be
better!" he chided gruffly. "We'll talk about it when you're well. It's... it's
not like I minded," he admitted with a blush. Surely if Zack had been the one
to initiate the kiss in the first place, he wouldn't freak out that Cloud
hadn't been disgusted?
Zack said nothing, turning his head slightly to nuzzle into Cloud's shoulder.
His breathing seemed to be getting even more laboured, and Cloud was starting
to feel really scared. "You'll be okay," he said, but it was more of a plea
than a reassurance. "You're awake now, that means you're getting better. Your
fever will break soon, and the new medics will come and they'll fix you right
up."
"Tired," Zack repeated with a sigh. Cloud's throat closed around any other
words he might have wanted to say, and he must have tensed because Zack
struggled to open his eyes again. From somewhere the older boy dredged up a
reserve of energy, and his smile was more real this time. "Lemme sleep. Don't
worry. It'll be okay."
Swallowing, Cloud nodded and gently laid Zack down again. He hadn't missed the
fact that his friend hadn't said 'I'll be okay'. Zack never lied if he could
help it... and they both knew it would have been a lie. He couldn't hang on
like this much longer.
"Rest," Cloud ordered him softly. He dipped the cloth once more and wrung it
out, folding it and draping it over Zack's brow. "Everything will be all
right."
This time his voice held the conviction he hadn't managed to put into it
before, and his eyes blazed with determination. Anyone from the recruiting
office where he'd signed on would have recognized his expression; it was the
same stubborn look that had been on his face every time they threatened to
bodily remove him from the doorway.
Unfortunately for the alpha company medic, he didn't know Cloud well enough to
know what that expression meant. When he looked up to see the determined young
trooper bearing down on him in the centre of the camp, he just sighed and shook
his head. "Look, I've told you, there's nothing we can do. You'll just have
to... erk!"
His words trailed off in a strangled squawk as Cloud grabbed him by the front
of his lab coat and jerked him half off his feet. "Then find something you can
do, or so help me I'm going to make your life a living hell!" Cloud growled. He
didn't yell, but the intensity in his voice was fearsome. "He's dying! You're
not even making any effort to help him without magic any more!"
"Limited resources," the medic started, but he was cut off as Cloud shook him.
"Don't give me that!" Fierce blue eyes glared at the man. Cloud should have
looked ridiculous, a scrawny blonde kid a good three inches shorter than the
man he was threatening, but he didn't. "If you can't help him, then give me the
damn materia and let me cast the spell myself!"
Prying at Cloud's hand with both of his, the medic tried to get free. "You
can't! You're not anywhere near a high enough level, you don't have that much
energy. You'd kill yourself trying!"
"I. Don't. Care," Cloud gritted out around clenched teeth. "I won't let him
die! Now give me the materia, or..."
"What is going on here?" The deep voice broke into Cloud's rant unexpectedly,
and he whirled on the person interrupting.
"You stay out of it!" he snarled, not caring if it might be a superior officer
he was snapping at.
That is, he didn't care until he actually registered which superior officer was
standing in front of him. Long black leather coat, shimmering silver hair, and
vivid green eyes all added up to only one person. "S-sephiroth!" Cloud
squeaked, horrified. Then, realizing he'd just addressed the general by name,
he released the medic and snapped to attention, saluting. "I, uh, that is...
sir!"
This time the look the general was giving him was more bemused than anything
else. "Have we met, private? You look familiar."
Swallowing, Cloud managed to force the words around the knot in his chest. "The
paint guns, sir." By now a crowd of curious troopers and SOLDIERs had gathered
around them, and most of them looked thoroughly bewildered by this
pronouncement. A few from B platoon knew the story of Zack and Cloud's final
exam, and started spreading it around gleefully.
Once again Cloud was privileged to see Sephiroth's lips quirk in a faint smile.
"Ah yes, of course. How remiss of me to forget. And where is your taller
shadow? I do recall making certain you would be assigned to the same unit.
Loyalty such as you showed each other should be encouraged."
Under other circumstances Cloud would have been stunned by the knowledge that
Sephiroth himself had arranged for he and Zack to be assigned together. As it
was, his words only served as a sharp reminder of why Cloud was out here in the
first place, instead of back in the infirmary tent by his friend's side.
"Zack!" he exclaimed, horrified to have been distracted even for a moment.
Rounding on the hapless medic again, he forgot to be worried about protocol in
front of the general. "You! You said when the reinforcements got here they'd
fix him! So go help him!"
"They... they didn't bring any medics with them," the man stammered, backing up
nervously. "We can't..."
"Then give me the materia and let me do it myself!" Cloud demanded furiously.
His anger was actually a very thin veneer over the fear that made his heart
pound in his chest. No medics? No extra help? He'd been hoping if he could
manage to cast even a low-level Cure or Life spell, it would be enough to let
Zack hang on until help got there, but there was no help?
"Stand down, private." The words and the heavy hand on his shoulder reminded
Cloud that he was threatening a superior officer right in front of General
Sephiroth himself, but the general's tone wasn't rebuking. Glancing over his
shoulder with wide eyes he saw that Sephiroth was frowning, but not at him.
"There was no request for extra medics along with the request for
reinforcements," the general said to the medic, and now there was a rebuke in
his voice.
"Sir!" Stiffly, the man drew himself up into a salute. "We assumed there would
be more medics and supplies arriving with the additional units, sir, and that
would have been enough to handle most of the casualties."
"Firstly, there is no acceptable reason for any casualties to die other than
those killed immediately on the field," Sephiroth said, his voice gone deep and
menacing. Cloud shivered, and felt the hand on his shoulder tighten in what he
thought might have been meant as a gesture of reassurance. "We have the
resources and ability to heal almost anything that can be inflicted in a
battle. If you lack sufficient resources, then you should have requested more,
not assumed there would be enough sent to help 'most' people."
"Y-yes sir," the medic stammered, clearly fearing for his job.
"Secondly, SOLDIER units never have medics attached to them," Sephiroth went
on, and Cloud's heart sank. So it was true, there was no help. "We carry our
own healing materia and have more than enough power to use them. That does not
mean, however, that it is acceptable for SOLDIERs to be expected to exhaust
themselves before a battle healing other troopers."
Unable to stay silent, Cloud burst out, "But then... you're just going to let
him die?" And all the others, who had been hurt badly enough to be shoved off
to the side until later?
"Certainly not." Now the frown was directed at him, and Cloud had to fight not
to cringe. Lifting his hand from the boy's shoulder, Sephiroth started pointing
at various SOLDIERs Cloud didn't recognize and snapping orders. "Andrew. Secure
the perimeter, set up guards and make sure any patrols out there now get pulled
back in. I don't want anybody leaving the area of the camp or the town except
on my say-so. Zeke, organize a patrol for around the town, they might become a
target. Jeremy, I want a list of all the wounded, listed in order from most
badly hurt to least. I don't want to miss anyone. Everyone else, equip your
healing materia and get to work. Our foray after the enemy will have to be
delayed until tomorrow."
Glancing down at Cloud, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "Well? Where is your
friend?"
Almost giddy with relief, Cloud saluted and headed for the tent. "This way,
sir! Thank you sir, thank you so much, I've been so worried and I did
everything I could for him but I don't have any medical training and he's been
so sick and it's all my fault..."
His breath and his leg gave out on him at the same moment, and he stumbled
badly. Sephiroth caught him by the arm, steadying him until he could stand
again. Glancing down, Cloud saw the bandage around his thigh was slowly seeping
blood again. He must have broken the stitches at some point in all his running
around today. He wasn't even supposed to be standing on it, except to get to
and from the latrine.
"You're injured as well," Sephiroth noted coolly. Cloud gulped and nodded,
catching his breath.
"Yes, sir. Zack carried me all the way back to camp, the stupid idiot didn't
even tell me he was wounded, I could have at least bound up the injuries so he
wouldn't have lost so much blood! And then they got infected, and nobody would
help, and now he's having trouble just breathing..."
Horrified, he realized he was crying again. Crying and babbling in front of
Sephiroth, of all people. He'd never felt more like a kid playing at being a
trooper than he did right then. Gulping back a sob, he scrubbed at his face
frantically. "I'm sorry, sir. It's just... I've been so worried..."
"Your concern reflects well on you, private," Sephiroth said. Cloud heard the
murmur of a spell, and once again felt that powerful energy rush over him. The
persistent throbbing ache in his leg vanished, along with all the other smaller
aches from his other partially-treated wounds. "There. Now that you can move
more quickly, take me to him."
Grateful beyond anything mere words could express, Cloud nodded and rushed off
to the tent. He led the general through the maze of cots that had been set up
and sheets that had been hung to give a modicum of privacy, until they reached
Zack's area at the back. "Zack!" he exclaimed, hurrying to his friend's side.
"Zack, look, Sephiroth is here, and he's going to help... Zack? Zack!"
The dark-haired boy had tossed his head fitfully in the grip of the fever,
causing the cloth compress to slide down onto the pillow. His breathing was
harsh and laboured, and he showed no sign of waking again at the sound of
Cloud's voice.
"Allow me, private," Sephiroth said, stepping up. Cloud backed away to give him
space, and watched in awe as the general stretched a hand out over Zack's still
form. This time he could see the energy of the spell gathering, then flowing
out from the bracer over the general's hand and down over Zack's body. He
recognized the trigger words for the second level Life spell, and held his
breath. If this didn't work, it would mean Zack was too far gone for magic to
help him, and it would only be a matter of time.
Please,pleaselet it work, Cloud prayed silently, fisting his hands at the side
so tightly his nails drew blood. Please!
For a horrible moment after the spell had faded, Cloud thought it had failed.
Then Zack gasped and opened his eyes, staring up with a dazed expression on his
face. "What the hell?" Catching sight of Sephiroth, his training overcame his
confusion and he scrambled up to a sitting position, snapping a salute.
"General Sephiroth, sir!"
"Once again I find myself unable to tell you 'as you were'," Sephiroth said,
his mouth curving faintly again. "This is a bad habit to fall into, private.
You should take more care."
"I'll do my best, sir," Zack said, dropping the salute. "Uh... may I ask what
happened?" He glanced past the tall man, and saw Cloud hovering off to one
side. "Cloud! Are you all right?"
"Stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself for once!" Cloud
chided him, feeling so relieved he thought his heart might burst. He gave Zack
a somewhat watery scowl. "You should have told me you were injured!"
"I didn't think the wounds were that bad," Zack admitted sheepishly. "And then
by the time I realized they were, I didn't want to worry you. Uh, I guess I owe
you a thank you, general?"
"Save it," the general waved him off. "You should have been tended to long
before I got here. And I will be having words with your commanding officer
about that. Now, since you are both healed, it would be useful if you would
make yourselves available to help the rest of your units."
"Yes sir!" they chorused, saluting again. He nodded at them, and moved to go to
the next injured trooper, leaving them alone in the marginal privacy of Zack's
area.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Cloud said fiercely, keeping his
voice low but unable to keep all the fear of the last few days out of his tone.
"I'm sorry," Zack said, just as softly but equally fervently. "For all of it,
I'm sorry. Look, let's just forget everything and start again, okay? I want
things back the way they were as bad as you do. I've missed you, kid."
Cloud hesitated, but finally nodded. He thought there were issues between them
now that they probably ought to deal with... but that would mean talking about
it, and that still wasn't something he really wanted to do.
Zack surprised him by bouncing to his feet and capturing Cloud in a headlock
before he could think to dodge; intellectually he knew the spell would have
healed Zack completely, but experiencing it was another matter. He squirmed,
protesting the vigorous ruffling Zack gave his hair, but secretly revelling in
the familiar feeling. As long as things could go back to normal, nothing else
mattered.
***** Chapter 9 *****
"You told off Sephiroth?" Stopping short in the middle of the camp, his arms
full of bulky canvas, Zack stared at Cloud in shock and not a little awe. "Are
you serious?"
"It's not like I knew it was him!" Cloud protested, hefting his own armful a
little higher and glaring at their companion, another man from their platoon.
"Anton, do you have to spread this story around?"
"If he didn't hear it from me, he'd just have gotten it from someone else," the
older man grinned at Cloud over his bundle of stakes and guy lines. "It's all
over camp, kiddo."
"Never mind all that," Zack nearly lost his burden as he let go with one hand
to wave off their words. "You told off Sephiroth?"
"Zack! Will you drop it already? I'm just thanking Ramuh he didn't court-
martial me on the spot," Cloud said, flushing. "Now, you two might not care
about getting these tents up before a bunch of tired and cranky SOLDIERs 1st
Class come looking for them, but I do. Move!"
By unspoken agreement the troops healed by the SOLDIERs in Sephiroth's unit
were, one by one, taking up the tasks and duties that would normally have
fallen to the SOLDIERs. Such as setting up tents for them to sleep in, or
sorting out the crates of supplies they'd had flown in with them. They were all
well aware that the SOLDIERs didn't have to spend their own energy healing
everyone who should have been tended to long before they arrived, and it was
their way of paying the men back a little.
Cloud, especially, was willing to do just about anything Sephiroth might have
asked of him in return for Zack's life. If the general had ordered him to go
out unarmed and play bait for the monsters, he'd have done it. Running around
doing menial tasks and basic camp chores to spare the SOLDIERs the effort
seemed trivial.
"So then what happened?" Zack asked Anton as they started moving again towards
the area of the camp where the SOLDIERs' tents were being set up. "I can't
believe I missed all this!"
"Zack," Cloud moaned, shaking his head. He knew it was pointless; as Anton had
said, even if Cloud managed to stop the conversation now Zack would only hear
it from someone else. And probably a more exaggerated version of it, too.
Rumours always grew with each repetition.
"So then he turns on the medic again," Anton took up where he'd been
interrupted, clearly relishing both the tale itself and Cloud's reaction to
hearing it. Worse, Zack was hanging on his every word.
Doing his best to tune both of them out entirely, Cloud stopped at a cleared
space and dumped his armful of canvas onto the loamy forest floor. Wrestling
with the collapsible poles that were supposed to thread through loops sewn into
the tent fabric, Cloud grunted. "Little help here, guys?" he asked, breaking
into the recitation.
Sephiroth's unit had brought more of the same 'jungle tents' the units already
in place were using. Smaller than the more traditional rectangular tents, they
fit into the spaces between trees without needing to cut down any of the
forest, and the canvas was painted in mottled green camouflage. The collapsible
poles were also easier to transport than the wooden posts needed for the big
tents. Only the infirmary, the mess, and the command tent - now Sephiroth's
tent - were the more traditional style.
"Aren't these things supposed to be designed so one person can put them up by
themselves?" Cloud grumbled as Zack set down his bundle and came to hold the
tent so Cloud could thread the pole more easily.
"That's what the instruction manual says," Zack agreed in a tone that was just
a little too cheerful. "Tent version 3.2; jungle camouflage. Fits up to four,
can be raised by one man even in adverse conditions. Not for use as a flotation
device."
Pausing, Cloud gave his friend an odd look. "Does it actually say that about
not being a flotation device?" he asked, not having read the manual himself. In
his moment of inattention the rod he'd been feeding through the slot came
apart, and he swore and started pulling it back out again so he could
reassemble it.
"This is the army, kid," Anton laughed at him. "We're all about the three Rs.
Rules, Regulations, and Restrictions. The more specific they can be about the
permissible use of any object, the happier they are."
"Personally, I think the people writing the manuals just get paid by the word,"
Zack snickered. He grabbed another of the poles and started fitting the
sections of rod together into one long length.
"Here," Anton said, dumping his load of ropes and stakes on top of Zack's tent.
"You two can handle these, I'm going back for more."
Waving him off, Zack grinned at Cloud's increasingly frustrated attempts to get
his pole to stay in one piece. "So, you actually told off the general?"
"Oh, for..." Snatching up a stake, Cloud chucked it at Zack, who laughingly
shielded his head with his arms. "You're like a dog with a bone, you know that?
Yes, fine, I snapped at General Sephiroth. I was worried about you, all right?
I wasn't thinking, that's all."
Zack's smile turned soft. "I knew you were worth the effort of befriending,
back in boot camp." He might have said more, but the pole he'd been working on
chose that moment to fall apart in his hands. Blinking, he cursed at it and
scrambled to collect the shorter rods again.
Turning red at the older boy's words, Cloud nevertheless had to laugh. "Whoever
designed these should have worried a little less about making them collapsible
and a little more about making them poles."
Between the two of them they managed to get the two tents set up, though Cloud
lost track of the number of deities they called on or swore at in the process.
Even so they were laughing as they moved back to see if there was anything else
they could help with. Cloud was so relieved to have things back to normal
between them, he would have happily put up with a great deal more teasing and
smiled through all of it.
In the centre of the camp, though, they found a crowd of people waiting rather
than a diminishing pile of equipment and boxes. It wasn't an orderly formation
of ranks like Cloud would have expected to find gathering here, but literally a
crowd.
At the front of the group was Sephiroth, another SOLDIER 1st Class, and the
SOLDIER 3rd Class who had been acting as the camp's commanding officer before
Sephiroth arrived. The latter looked thoroughly chastised, and Cloud had no
doubt the man had been read the riot act by Sephiroth. He'd caught a few
glimpses of the general as the man went about checking on the wounded, and
every time Sephiroth had looked angrier.
The crowd was buzzing with rumours and speculation, but Sephiroth didn't need
to ask for quiet. All he had to do was step forward, clearly intending to
speak, and moments later there was absolute silence for his words to fall into.
"I want to thank you all for the efforts you have gone to here," the general
started, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. Cloud and Zack had scrambled up onto
a pile of crates to better be able to see over the crowd, and Cloud felt sure
Sephiroth had focused on him for a moment. Or maybe that was just an illusion,
because everyone around him looked like they were thinking the same thing.
"The danger in this area far exceeded anything predicted in your mission
parameters," Sephiroth continued, his deep voice grave. "You have all shown
remarkable valour and constitution in holding your position here, and
continuing to make patrols despite the considerable threat. You do Shinra
proud."
Cloud's heart beat faster in his chest, and a wave of pride washed over him. He
caught Zack grinning at him from the corner of his eye, and turned to smile
back at his friend.
"Tomorrow I will be taking my unit out in search of the terrorists and their
horde of monsters," Sephiroth announced. "The rest of you will be set up in
patrols around the camp and the town, in case the enemy takes advantage of our
absence to attack. Once we have cleared out this nest of creatures and the men
behind them, you will be sent back to base at Midgar."
There was a cheer from the units who had already been out in the jungle for
more than a week, and Cloud's voice was part of it. He looked forward to
getting back to the familiar routines of Midgar. Not to mention an absence of
things that might end up killing him or Zack, or both.
"In the meantime, sleep well and recover your strength," the general concluded.
"Those of you who have just been healed may be feeling energized, but I assure
you that your body will welcome the rest regardless. Night patrol, report to
Lieutenant Andrew. Everyone else, dismissed."
The crowd of people broke up in chattering groups as everyone dispersed either
to their tents to sleep, or to the mess tent to socialize for another hour or
two. "He's really different, isn't he?" Zack said thoughtfully, staring after
the general as the man turned and gestured for the two SOLDIERs with him to
join him in the command tent.
"Are you kidding me?" Cloud asked him incredulously. "Zack, he's Sephiroth. Of
course he's different! He's the best SOLDIER ever!"
"That's not what I mean," Zack shook his head, glancing at Cloud. "He's
different from the rest of the officers. He's not just a commanding officer,
he's a commander and a leader. You know? I always wondered how a teenager could
have won the war in Wutai, but now I understand."
"Yeah, I know," Cloud agreed softly, then stifled a yawn. Sephiroth's spell had
healed him, but he had spent three days with very little sleep while he watched
and worried over Zack. He was completely exhausted. "You can go socialize if
you want, but I'm turning in. I'm totally beat."
"Nah, I'm for sleep," Zack said, turning towards the area where their platoon's
tents were clustered. "He's right about us needing the rest, even if we don't
feel like it."
As they walked back to their tents, Cloud felt a sharp pang in his chest. Zack
had been in the middle of avoiding him when they'd chosen their tentmates, so
of course they were in different tents. Not that it really mattered, they were
only going to be sleeping, after all. But at the moment Cloud still kind of
felt like he needed to keep Zack in sight, or Sephiroth showing up and the
older boy's miraculous recovery would turn out to have been a dream after all.
Chiding himself for acting like a scared little kid, Cloud steeled himself as
they reached his tent. "I guess I'll see you in the morning, then," he said,
proud that his voice was both steady and casual.
Snorting, Zack shoved by him through the tent flap. "You'll see me a hell of a
lot sooner than that. Dumbass."
"Huh?" Startled, Cloud scrambled in after him. The dome-shaped tents weren't
tall enough for them to be able to stand up inside them, and there was hardly
room to step anywhere inside. 'Fits four' was an overly generous estimate, in
the opinion of anyone who'd ever had to share one with three other people, but
they were crammed in four to a tent regardless.
Scanning the neatly laid out sleeping bags and duffle bags, Zack found the ones
labelled with Cloud's name. "Zack, what are you doing?" Cloud asked,
bewildered, as Zack scooped up his bedroll.
"Moving you, obviously," Zack replied with his most irrepressible grin. "Don't
just stand there, grab your gear."
Knowing better than to argue with Zack when the older boy was in a mood like
this, Cloud just shook his head and grabbed his duffle. "You can't seriously be
proposing to squeeze me into your tent," he said as he followed Zack back out
into the warm night air. "Someone will be smothered. There isn't even enough
room for four people in these things, let alone five!"
"Of course not," Zack shook his head. "You have no faith in me, honestly."
Nobody but Cloud batted an eye as Zack proceeded to shamelessly badger one of
his tentmates into switching places with Cloud. If anything, the members of B
platoon who were present seemed relieved, which both confused and embarrassed
Cloud. Of course he'd realized that everyone had to be aware that the unit's
two youngest members were on the outs, but he hadn't realized it had been
affecting anyone else that much.
Settling into his bedroll, the top half thrown back because of the heat, Cloud
listened to the familiar sounds of Zack shifting around next to him and smiled.
He'd gotten used to hearing Zack above him, and he hadn't realized he'd missed
that familiar presence nearby just as much during the night as during the day.
"Sleep well, Zack," Cloud whispered, turning on his side so he could look at
his friend. He wasn't all that surprised to find Zack looking back at him,
smiling as well.
"Sweet dreams, kid," the older boy said, reaching out to ruffle Cloud's spiky
bangs once before they both composed themselves for sleep.
Despite his exhaustion, Cloud hadn't been sure if he would be able to sleep.
The urge to keep his eye on Zack so his friend couldn't turn out to be an
apparition was strong, but not enough to overcome his body's needs in the end.
He was therefore sound asleep when the shouting began, and the first alarms
sounded. It was Zack shaking him roughly by the shoulder that woke him, and he
dragged himself out of sleep reluctantly. "Wha..."
"Something's wrong," Zack said, his voice rough with sleep as well but his eyes
glittering darkly in the dim light of the tent. Their two tentmates were slowly
waking as well, and then all four of them were suddenly wide awake as the main
alarm bell started clanging.
"They're attacking the camp?" One of the other men blurted out as they all
scrambled for clothes, armour and weapons. "They're going to take on two full
companies and two units of SOLDIER, all at once?"
"Two units of SOLDIER who spent the afternoon exhausting themselves healing the
rest of us," Zack countered grimly, slinging his extra ammo over his shoulder.
Cloud was still struggling with his shoulder plates, so the older boy quickly
helped him with the buckles. "We haven't been asleep more than an hour, which
means everyone is still tired, wound up from today, and the 1st Class unit
probably doesn't have much power left for spells. This is the best chance
they'll ever have."
"You're saying there's a spy?" Cloud exclaimed. When Zack just gave him an odd
look, he shrugged. "How else could they have known that now would be a good
time to strike?"
"Yeah, maybe," Zack agreed, picking up his rifle and handing Cloud's over as
well. "We can worry about that later, though. Right now, we need to..."
Whatever he'd been about to say was cut off as something large and snarling
slammed into the side of their tent, ripping the guy lines and stakes out of
the ground on that side. The impact snapped the collapsible poles like they
were tinder, and the whole thing came crashing down on top of them.
Yelling, Cloud thrashed beneath the weight of monster and canvas. He felt
something draped over his upper legs and hips, and it took him a moment to
realize Zack had fallen half across him. Razor sharp claws slashed through the
canvas and tore into the earth beneath as the monster struggled to get free of
the entangling tent, and Cloud tried not to hyperventilate as the claws flashed
far too close to his face.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he heard Zack cursing, as they both fought the weight
crushing them. Finally the beast found its feet, and they were able to move
freely again.
Getting free of the draping canvas of the tent was more difficult than Cloud
would have thought it would be, but when they finally burst free they found
themselves in the midst of sheer chaos. Soldiers and SOLDIERs were running
everywhere, any thoughts of a formation lost in the first moments of the
attack. There were more monsters than Cloud ever wanted to see in one place
again, and the noise level was overwhelming.
"Cloud!" Zack shouted, and from the corner of his eye Cloud saw the older boy
level his rifle at him. Instinctively he ducked, and Zack's shot tore over him
to slam into the wolf that had been creeping up behind him. From his crouched
position Cloud opened fire on the dragon still shaking free of the last ropes
from their tent.
From somewhere near the centre of the camp there was a sudden crack of
lightning, followed a fraction of a second later by a deafening clap of
thunder. "Looks like somebody's still got energy left," Zack shouted, flashing
a quick grin down at Cloud. "My money's on Sephiroth!"
"I'm not stupid enough to take that bet!" Cloud called back, wincing as the
lightning struck again. That had to be at least a Bolt 2 spell, if not Bolt 3.
He'd never seen one from this close before.
He didn't have time to really appreciate it, though. The dragon had freed
itself and turned on them, its wings lifting menacingly as it thrust its head
forward and hissed at them. Remembering the way the swordsman had burned to
death, and the way he'd killed that dragon, Cloud fired at the beast's head.
This time he didn't manage the lucky shot. His first bullet glanced off the
dragon's tough horn, and the second went wide. "Zack! The dragon, shoot its
mouth!" he called, spinning on his heel and aiming for the wolf instead. Zack
was a much better shot than he was, and was more likely to be able to shoot the
dragon before it finished gathering breath to flame them.
Zack whipped around so he was facing the other way, and Cloud heard his rifle
fire. He didn't have time to worry about whether or not the shot went true - if
it hadn't, he'd know in a few seconds. If it had, then he needed to make sure
they weren't saved from the dragon only to be eaten by the wolf.
The wolf went down, but there was one of those animated plants behind it. Cloud
scrambled to his feet again, and put his back against Zack's solid body. They
both fired again and again, twisting to follow each other any time one of them
was forced to dodge or turn to aim. If one of them ran out of ammo, they fell
to a crouch while the other stood guard over them to reload.
Cloud wasn't sure what had happened to their two tentmates, let alone the rest
of the two companies. All he could focus on was one monster after another, his
arms shaking with exhaustion and fear but his aim as steady as it had ever
been.
Finally the inevitable happened, and Cloud cursed as he pulled the trigger and
nothing happened. "Zack! I'm jammed!" he called, working at the bolt to try to
force the chamber clear.
"Shit, and I'm almost out of ammo," Zack swore, swinging around to shoot the
plant-creature Cloud had been aiming at. "We need to find cover!"
Glancing around, his fingers still struggling with the bolt, Cloud spotted one
of the stacks of supply crates. "Over there!" he said, gesturing. Zack glanced
over, and nodded.
"On three, we'll make a break for it," the older boy declared. "Ready? One...
two... three!"
They ran for all they were worth, Cloud dogging Zack's heels. Neither of them
looked back, though Cloud was achingly certain there had to be something
snapping just inches away from him. Zack vaulted over the first of the boxes,
Cloud right behind him, and they got a moment to breathe.
The weren't the only ones who had thought of taking shelter here. Half a dozen
men had rearranged the crates into a fortress with a small space in the middle,
and that was where Cloud and Zack came to rest. Two of the men had set aside
swords that were useless for the moment, and were reloading spare guns for the
riflemen.
"What's the situation?" Zack asked as he took up a position in the defensive
circle. Cloud dropped his jammed rifle and grabbed one of the spares, trying
not to think about the fact that they must have been salvaged from dead
troopers.
"They got past the sentries on the west side somehow," the oldest of the men, a
sergeant, replied. His voice was calm and steady, his aim solid, but Cloud
could see tension in his bulky shoulders. "From the looks of it the SOLDIERs
are grouping in the centre and trying to fight their way out to whoever is
controlling the monsters. Some of my men tried to get up there to join them,
but..."
Zack nodded, moving over to make room for Cloud. The sergeant didn't need to
say anything else. The ground between their position and the centre was a
morass of bodies, human and beast alike. Many of them weren't moving, but there
were plenty of live threats between here and there.
"We're almost out of ammo," one of the swordsmen called in a high, thin voice
as Cloud took aim and fired on another wolf. "We're not going to last long
after it's gone!"
"Is there no end to these bloody bastards?" the sergeant snarled, shooting a
dragon as it reared up over a running trooper a dozen feet away. No, not a
trooper, Cloud saw as the man went down before the dragon's fiery breath just
moments before the sergeant killed it. A SOLDIER, his massive buster sword
falling from his hand as he collapsed.
Cold fear clenched at Cloud's heart. Trapped, cut off from reinforcements, with
their ammo running out... they were as good as dead, unless one of them came up
with something brilliant. Distracted, he shifted his rifle too far out to the
side of his shoulder, and the recoil of his next shot sent his arm slamming
back hard.
Biting back a cry of pain as his elbow impacted with one of the crates, Cloud
gingerly raised the rifle to his shoulder again. He paused, glancing back at
the crate thoughtfully. "Hey, what's in the crates?"
For a moment, everyone in the little fortress just stared at him blankly.
"Shiva's tits," one of the men swore, and there was a scramble for the crates.
Three of the riflemen kept guard while the rest of them pried open any crate
that wasn't integral to the defensive wall they'd built.
"Potions and ethers, looks like," one of the swordmen reported.
"I think these are hi-potions, but I've never seen one before," Zack said,
crouched over another crate. The sergeant, who was one of those still standing
guard, glanced over his shoulder.
"Yeah, they are," he confirmed. "But if these things get close enough for us to
be damaged enough to need them, it's going to be too late to use them. We need
something offensive. See if you can find any grenades or bolt plumes or
something."
"Here!" the other swordsman called, holding up a fistful of grey spheres.
"Grenades!" He started passing them around, and Cloud snatched up an armful
gratefully. They didn't have the range of the rifles, but they also did a hell
of a lot more damage and could hit more than one enemy at once. Aim didn't
matter nearly as much, especially considering how thick the trees were around
them.
They started throwing the grenades, and the explosions were almost loud enough
to drown out the lightning still sporadically striking the camp. The bolts were
coming down further away now, indicating that the SOLDIERs were making progress
towards the far side of the fray.
"It's not going to be enough," Zack muttered, eyes narrowed as he tossed a
grenade at a dragon and followed it up with a quick burst shot to the head.
"Damn it, I think some of these things are resistant to physical attacks. The
armour, or something. We need magic."
"If there's anything in here that casts magic, it's in the walls," Cloud said
despairingly. "We don't dare take them apart to find out, the monsters will
rush us through the breach."
"Yeah, I know, but... maybe we don't need items to cast spells," Zack replied,
his eyes fixed on one of the dragon corpses.
No, Cloud realized, not on the dragon. On the SOLDIER that had fallen beneath
the dragon, and his sword lying in the mud. The buster sword had the standard
two materia slots, and Cloud could see the gentle green glow from whatever
magic materia the SOLDIER had equipped.
"Zack, no," Cloud protested, but he was too late.
"Cover me!" Zack yelled over his shoulder as he dropped his rifle and vaulted
back over the wall, hitting the ground running. Frantically Cloud pulled the
pin on two grenades at once and tossed them to Zack's left, where one of the
carnivorous plants was rushing to meet him.
He managed to damage the plant badly enough to slow it, and then Zack had
reached the dead SOLDIER. Snatching the sword up from the ground, the dark-
haired boy swung it in an awkward arc, chopping through the plant's head. It
collapsed, and Zack staggered back towards the fort with the sword dragging
behind him.
"Holy Alexander, this thing is heavy," he gasped as he tumbled back over the
crates into the safe space in the middle. "Here, catch!" he added as he pried
one of the materia loose and tossed it to Cloud.
All of them wore bracers with two linked slots and two unlinked, standard issue
Shinra armour, but Cloud had never actually equipped a materia before. He
didn't even know what sort of magic the materia he was holding did... but then
again, he wasn't sure it really mattered. Whatever it was, it would be better
than nothing. Taking a deep breath, he shoved the materia into a slot.
Thin tendrils of energy wound through the bracer and into him, and somehow he
understood that he was holding a fire materia. A strong one; it was mastered,
or close to it. He couldn't hope to use the third level spell, but he thought
he might be able to cast the second level. Once.
Well, once was better than not at all. Turning, he focused on the materia and
his target, a cloud of the same bats that had nearly killed Zack. Concentrating
hard, he willed power into the trigger words as he spoke them. Green energy
flared all around him as the materia responded, and a column of flame engulfed
the bats.
He'd forgotten that magic materia only worked on one enemy at a time unless it
was paired with other support materia, though. He killed one of the bats, but
the rest of the swarm was fine and now he was out of energy. "Hades take it,"
he swore, glancing over to see Zack expending a Bolt 2 spell to better effect
against one of the dragons. "Now what?"
Zack was reeling, one hand against a crate to steady himself. Cloud doubted
he'd be able to cast again any more than Cloud could, but Zack was grinning at
him like he'd just won a prize. "Now we put those ethers to good use," he said,
and gestured at one of the swordsmen.
Understanding flared in Cloud's eyes, and he caught the ether that was tossed
to him. Downing it, he felt unnatural energy pouring through him. It was easy
to channel it through the materia again, and this time he focused on the bigger
enemies and left the bat clouds to the grenades.
They still had a limited amount of ethers and only two materia, but between
that, the rifles and the grenades, it was enough. At some point as the first
false hints of dawn lit the eastern sky above the trees, Cloud looked around
for another target and couldn't find one.
Blinking in surprise, he scanned the area again, swaying on his feet with
exhaustion despite the artificial energy of the ether he'd just downed. There
were monster carcasses everywhere, and some of them were still twitching, but
there was nothing that seemed to be an immediate threat.
After a moment when nothing further attacked them, one of the riflemen whooped
with glee. The rest of the group took up the cheer quickly, slapping each other
on the backs and shouting themselves hoarse with the giddy relief of victory.
All around the camp Cloud could hear other similar cheers starting, as other
defended pockets of troopers realized there was nothing more to fight.
"Shit, that was insane," Zack said, his eyes wide and almost feverish with the
energy of the ether. He grabbed Cloud around the shoulders with one arm,
ruffling the younger boy's hair vigorously with his other hand. Cloud
struggled, but not as hard as he might have. He was too relieved to have come
through the night alive, and with Zack still at his side.
"We need to regroup, in the centre with the others," the sergeant proclaimed
wearily. "General Sephiroth will be gathering everyone there for a debriefing.
Check bodies as you go, see if any of our people are still alive, and kill
anything else that's still moving."
"I think I'll just hang onto this, and a few of these," Zack said, gesturing
with his bracer and scooping up the few last ethers. He handed a few to Cloud
without being asked, and Cloud tucked them into his belt. He felt a lot better
having them.
"Think they'll let us keep the materia?" he asked with a weary smile as they
climbed over the crates. "Not that they'll do us much good without the ethers
to back us up."
"I'm claiming mine as a bloody souvenir, if nothing else," Zack declared with
an equally weary grin. "We've earned it."
***** Chapter 10 *****
It was a considerably diminished company of troops that gathered in the centre
of the camp as the sun began to set once more. The vast majority of those still
alive had been wounded; not everyone had been lucky enough to find a shelter
with crates of supplies available. Far, far too many numbered among the dead,
and the living had spent most of the day sorting friend from foe and either
burying or burning the bodies.
Even so, the general air among the group was one of muted triumph. The relief
of having survived the attack, combined with exhaustion and stress, left them
all a little giddy. Cloud stood at Zack's side, looking around and feeling a
bit like reality hadn't set in yet. He'd helped bury people he knew today,
people he'd worked and trained beside for weeks. It was strange to look around
and not see those faces around him now. It made him stick to Zack like a burr,
for fear that he would turn around and discover the older boy gone as well.
At least Zack seemed to feel the same way, frequently glancing at Cloud
throughout the day as if to reassure himself that his blonde shadow was still
there. He was looking now, in fact, and he offered a weary smile when he saw
Cloud looking back.
Before Cloud could say anything the flap of the hastily re-erected command tent
was pushed open, and Sephiroth emerged. He strode to the front of the assembled
troops, his second in command trailing along a step behind him.
Enviously Cloud noted that although pretty much everyone else in the camp
looked like they'd gone through hell, the general looked like he'd just stepped
off a recruiting poster. There was no blood or gore, ashes or dirt, on his skin
or hair or clothes. "Bet nothing got close enough to dirty him before he killed
it," Zack whispered.
"Stop thinking I'm stupid enough to take bets like that," Cloud retorted just
as softly, flashing his friend a brief grin. Zack snickered, and then Sephiroth
raised a hand for silence and they both returned their attention to the front.
"As most of you are aware," Sephiroth started, his voice low and calm but still
somehow carrying to every trooper present, "I and most of the remaining
SOLDIERs went out today after the fleeing terrorists while the rest of you set
things in order here." Cloud was close enough to the front that he could see
Sephiroth's face tighten as if in anger, though he wasn't sure why. Anger at
the deaths and destruction among his command, perhaps?
"Once Shinra receives my report about the results of our foray," the general
continued in a level tone, "I have no doubt the information will be highly
classified and compartmentalized. However, I feel you have the right to know
what it was you were all fighting - and dying - for here." Again that brief
flash of anger, and Cloud wondered.
"I'm sure I don't need to warn any of you of the consequences for spreading
such information," Sephiroth added. "If any of this becomes common knowledge, I
will be personally meting out discipline for those involved."
He paused, and every man in the crowd was so rapt on his words that there
wasn't so much as a cough to break the silence. They all wanted to know what
was behind the sudden influx of monsters in the area, and not one of them was
stupid enough to wish to incur the general's wrath. Satisfied, Sephiroth nodded
once.
"The leader of the terrorists is in fact a former Shinra employee, one of
Professor Hojo's assistants. As some of you may know, the good professor,"
there was a certain amount of sarcasm to the general's words there that
surprised Cloud, "has been investigating the monsters that have begun appearing
around Midgar and in some other areas of the world. This man, Dr. Lins, has
apparently taken it upon himself to begin breeding the monsters and studying
their potential use in battle."
Sweeping his gaze over the crowd, Sephiroth looked grim. "We have captured most
of the terrorists and destroyed the monsters and breeding pens, but Dr. Lins
himself fled the area some days ago. He is still at large, but with the
destruction of the monsters your mission here is over. The ship will arrive to
transport you back to Midgar tomorrow."
There was a ragged cheer at that, as the relieved and exhausted troopers
absorbed the welcome knowledge that they would be going home at last. Stepping
aside, Sephiroth gestured to a wall of casks that had been piled to one side of
the clearing. "In the meantime," the general said, "the mayor of Mideel has
been kind enough to send over a sample of the rum the town is known for, as a
token of their appreciation for ridding the area of the monster threat."
Another cheer came, more heartfelt this time, and Sephiroth nodded. "I want the
camp struck and everyone at the docks ready to go by oh-eight-thirty tomorrow.
Dismissed!"
He turned and headed back towards the command tent, though his 2IC stayed
behind to organize the distribution of the rum. "Sweet!" Zack exclaimed. "C'mon
Cloud, let's go get our share before these greedy bastards drink all of it."
"But..." Cloud protested, frowning and digging his heels in when Zack grabbed
his arm to drag him along. Glancing back at him, Zack raised an eyebrow, and
Cloud shook his head. "It doesn't seem right," he said dubiously, looking
around at the milling and laughing crowd of troops. "People died today, Zack!
Anton, Jeffery, Seren... we must have buried half a dozen men we knew. How can
they get drunk and celebrate? Shouldn't we be, I don't know, mourning them?"
"The best way we can remember the fallen is to celebrate the lives they died to
help protect," Zack said, for once being serious in response to Cloud's very
real distress. "We lived, Cloud. We all made it through this alive, and that is
something to celebrate." He shrugged, and grinned. "Besides, we all need to
blow off some steam before it blows up in our faces. Drunken revelry is the
traditional and accepted method for victorious troops to keep from self-
destructing. Better than raping and pillaging, anyway."
Glancing around, Cloud noticed an edge to the laughter, a sense of desperation
behind everyone's movements. "Stress relief," he realized, nodding. He could
understand that. He certainly felt wound tighter than a clockwork watch.
"And a reaffirmation that we are still alive, by embracing the best parts of
life," Zack agreed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Now come on, we've more than
earned our share."
This time Cloud didn't resist, though he still felt a bit like he was being
disrespectful to the people who had died. On the other hand, Zack was right
about the need for stress relief, and Ramuh knew Cloud would appreciate
focusing on something other than last night's disaster for a while.
There was more than enough rum to get all the remaining troops well and truly
hammered, and by the time a few hours had gone by Cloud wasn't worrying about
the fallen any more. He was too busy scowling at his cards and trying to figure
out why he had managed to end up with a useless hand again.
"You guys cheat," he finally said as he tossed his last card down in disgust
and watched the winner rake in the pot. "Especially you," he added, pointing a
slightly wobbly finger at Zack, who had the biggest pile of gil in front of
him.
"Nah, you just have the world's worst luck at cards, kid," Zack snickered,
downing half a mug of rum before picking up his deck to shuffle it. "Not to
mention the fact that you're at least two sheets to the wind. You realize you
totally could have won that last round if you'd played your cards differently,
right?"
"I could have?" Surveying the layout of the cards, Cloud swore as he realized
Zack was right. He'd made a couple of stupidly basic mistakes that had cost him
the round and lost him one of his best remaining cards. "Aw, Hades take it. All
right, deal me out. I can't afford to keep playing like this."
A chorus of protests sounded, but someone else stepped up to take Cloud's place
willingly enough when he moved aside. Taking stock of himself and the way he
was swaying on his feet, Cloud decided he'd probably had enough for the night.
He finished the mug he was holding, feeling the burn of the rum as it went down
his throat, but didn't go back for another.
"I'm done for," he declared, stifling a yawn. "The rest of you may be planning
to stay up all night, but I'm hitting the sack."
"Past your bedtime, kid?" one of the other men jeered, and Cloud snorted.
"No, I'm just smart enough not to want to have a hang-over while I'm stuck on
the ship tomorrow morning," he retorted. He wasn't looking forward to the
return voyage any more than he had to the journey to Mideel, and being nauseous
thanks to drinking too much was the last thing he needed. "I'll see you in the
morning, Zack."
"Hey wait," the older boy protested, looking up at him from his seat on the
ground. "Give me two minutes to finish this round, and I'll come with you."
"Aw, you gonna tuck him in, Zack?" the same man laughed and smirked at them,
and Zack chucked his empty mug at him.
"Keep your dirty mind to yourself, Trevor," Zack snapped, though there was a
hint of a flush on his cheeks that might not have been entirely from the
alcohol. Telling himself he was imagining things, Cloud shook his head and
leaned back against a tree to wait out the round.
Zack won, of course. The man had the devil's own luck, in cards as in
everything else. Gathering up his winnings, he stood and made his way a bit
unsteadily to Cloud's side. "All right, let's go," he said, grinning as he
stuffed his cards and gil into his pockets.
"I still think you cheat," Cloud said mildly as they wandered through the trees
towards the area where the tents had been set up again. There were considerably
fewer tents now than there had been before, since many had been destroyed or
badly damaged by the monsters, but there were also fewer people to need them.
"You didn't have to come with me, you know," he added, just a touch sourly. "I
don't need to be tucked in."
It was hard to tell in the flickering of the fires dotted around the camp, but
he thought Zack's flush increased slightly. "Of course you don't," the older
boy said, shaking his head and slinging an arm over Cloud's shoulders. Cloud
wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, or if his friend
just needed the support to help him walk. He'd drunk a fair bit more than Cloud
had.
For a moment he said nothing more, and Cloud thought that was all he had to say
on the subject. Then he spoke again, startling Cloud. "I just keep thinking
about what might have happened if I hadn't convinced you to move into my tent,"
Zack said, his voice more sober than Cloud would have expected. "We'd probably
never have found each other in the chaos if we hadn't already been together. I
know the general said there weren't any more monsters, but I guess I'm a little
paranoid right now."
What he didn't need to say was that if they'd each been on their own instead of
fighting back to back, chances were good one or both of them might be dead now.
Swallowing, Cloud nodded. "Yeah," he agreed, his voice a little husky. "Well,
better to stick together and not have needed to, than to split up and regret it
later, right?"
"Yeah, exactly," Zack agreed, with a smile so brilliant it made Cloud's chest
ache a little. "Besides, this is where we're supposed to be, remember? Side by
side. Where you go, I go. Always."
The ache became a warmth that had nothing to do with the fires or the alcohol,
and Cloud ducked his head so his blush wouldn't be so painfully obvious. They'd
reached their new tent, and undoing the ties at the flap gave him a good excuse
to concentrate on his hands rather than on Zack.
"Looks like we've still got it to ourselves for now," he noted as he opened the
flap and found nobody inside. They still had two tentmates, a couple of men
from the sword company that neither of them knew well. Cloud thought he
remembered seeing them at another fire, deeply engrossed in a game of dice, but
he wasn't sure.
"They probably won't be back any time soon," Zack agreed, following him inside
and fastening the flap again. "Most people will be up until dawn, and then
spend all day tomorrow bitching about it. We're the smart ones."
"We're also going to get teased for days about our 'bedtimes'," Cloud pointed
out wryly, stripping out of his uniform. He wished they could leave the flaps
open to let in the night breeze, but the bugs would eat them alive if they did.
He settled for stripping down to his boxers and flopping down on top of his
sleeping bag, rather than crawling into it. "Ugh, it's as hot as Ifrit's flame
in here."
He'd expected some kind of smart remark from Zack, like about how at least
Zack's bedtime wouldn't be as early as Cloud's, but there was nothing.
Surprised, he glanced over to see Zack sitting on his sleeping bag in his
boxers, holding his shirt in his hands and staring at Cloud with a dazed look
on his face. "Zack?" Cloud prompted him curiously.
Zack blinked and shook his head like a man coming out of a dream, and laughed.
"Sorry, I guess I'm spacing out. I dunno, I like the heat here. I could do
without all the humidity, though. Gongaga's tropical, but it's not a rainforest
like this."
"It's too wet and too hot for me," Cloud replied, wriggling on the bedroll to
get comfortable. The outer nylon shell was cooler than the fabric inside, but
it was also uncomfortably slippery. Sighing, he gave up and crawled inside the
bag, keeping it open to his waist.
"Aw, you mountain-bred types are just wimps, that's all," Zack said, reaching
out and flicking the sweat off Cloud's forehead. He wasn't sweating at all, and
seemed perfectly comfortable in the heat.
"Oh yeah?" Cloud eyed him. "I'd like to hear you say that after you spend a
winter in the mountains. We'll see who's whining about the temperature then."
The heavy air in the tent suddenly seemed harder to breathe than before; Zack
hadn't moved his hand away, resting his fingertips on Cloud's cheek and tracing
idle patterns. Was it his imagination, or had Zack shifted closer?
"I bet you'd be real cute, all bundled up in your snow gear," Zack teased him,
his eyes bright with the alcohol and something else. "I like you better like
this, though." His hand trailed down Cloud's cheek to his throat and chest, and
Cloud's breath caught in his lungs. He couldn't breathe, couldn't speak or
move, couldn't do anything but stare helplessly into Zack's eyes and wonder if
this was really happening.
"Shit," Zack suddenly exclaimed, and snatched his hand away as though it had
been burned. Rolling over onto his back, he threw one arm over his eyes and
groaned. "Damn it, I shouldn't be allowed near you when I'm drunk. Maybe I
should have let you come to bed by yourself after all."
"Why?" Cloud's voice was deeper than usual, and he was grateful it didn't crack
despite how husky it was. "Are you going to kiss me again?"
"What?" Zack lowered his arm, and his expression was dismayed. "Aw, fuck, I
thought you didn't remember that. I'm sorry."
Blinking, Cloud stared at him for a moment, and finally realized Zack didn't
remember the conversation they'd had in the infirmary. Well, of course he
didn't; he'd been delirious and dying at the time. He probably didn't remember
anything between collapsing and Sephiroth reviving him.
Which meant the older boy also didn't remember Cloud telling him he hadn't
minded the kiss. That gave Cloud a perfect out if he wanted to take it and not
risk Zack realizing his friend might not be as straight as he'd like to be...
but then again, Zack wasn't exactly acting like he would be disgusted by that
sort of revelation.
"So are you going to kiss me again?" Cloud repeated, his heart pounding in his
chest.
"No," Zack shook his head quickly. "No, you don't have to worry about that. I
never should have done it the first time, but I... hell, I'm too drunk to have
this conversation right now," he groaned, and shoved himself up to a sitting
position. "I, uh... I'm gonna go take a walk, see if the fresh air..."
"Oh," Cloud said. Maybe he should have been disappointed - well, no, he
shouldn't have been disappointed, because he shouldn't have wanted the kiss in
the first place. But it didn't seem like Zack didn't want to do it, rather that
the older boy was afraid he would disgust Cloud.
Come to think of it, hadn't Zack said something about avoiding him because he
thought Cloud was disgusted with him?
Throwing caution to the wind and grateful for the alcohol that was quieting the
little voice of worry that often seemed to nag in the back of his head, Cloud
sat up as well and stopped Zack with a hand on his chest. "Zack?"
"Uh..." Zack looked a little stunned, like having Cloud touch his bare skin was
something shocking. "Yeah?"
"You think too much," Cloud informed him, and leaned in to fasten his lips to
Zack's.
It was just as awkward and clumsy as their first kiss, and Zack seemed startled
into immobility now just as Cloud had been then. After a few moments Cloud
started to seriously worry that he'd misread Zack, and fear clenched at his
heart. When he pulled back to apologize, though, Zack suddenly came to life and
followed him to recapture his lips with a moan.
This time they were both participating, and for all their uncertainty and
sloppiness it was worlds better than anything Cloud had ever imagined. Having
Zack's mouth moving hot and wet over his made things coil tight low in his
body, and he shivered when Zack's tongue flicked over his lips.
Opening his mouth Cloud allowed the older boy's tongue entrance, and then they
both moaned as their tongues rubbed together. Pulling back, Zack stared down
into his eyes, and Cloud realized at some point the older boy had taken him by
the shoulders.
"Cloud, you... are you sure about this?" Zack asked, his voice rough in a way
that made Cloud's cock twitch. "You don't have to..."
"Zack!" Exasperated, Cloud cut him off with a half-serious glare. "Will you
shut up and kiss me already?" He didn't want to talk about it, didn't want to
think about it. He just wanted to lose himself in the incredible feel and taste
of Zack against him. It felt oddly right, like he'd found a piece of himself he
hadn't known was missing. And damn it, he was embarrassed just for thinking
something like that, he sure as Shiva wasn't going to say it out loud.
Lips twitching with a barely-contained smile, his eyes full of wonder and
happiness, Zack lifted one hand to salute. "Yes, sir." He moved to cover
Cloud's mouth with his again, and stopped trying to fight against what they
both wanted.
Apparently having decided that yes, Cloud really was okay with this, Zack
seemed to be giving it his all. He was also, Cloud was discovering, rather a
good kisser when he put his mind to it. He licked and nibbled at Cloud's mouth
and lips, finding places to stroke his tongue against or sink his teeth into
that set Cloud's body on fire. Cloud did his best to imitate the actions,
seeking out the same kind of sensitive spots for Zack, and he thought he
succeeded to some degree.
Certainly Zack didn't seem to be complaining. He pushed gently on Cloud's
shoulders and eased them both backwards, until Cloud was lying on his bedroll
with Zack half over him. Clutching at Zack's broad shoulders to help anchor
himself, Cloud abandoned himself to the kiss.
Whatever other experience Zack might have, his hand was hesitant as he trailed
it over Cloud's chest, exploring the muscles that had started developing there
with all the hard training they'd been doing. Cloud gasped as Zack's finger
flicked over his nipple, and the older boy groaned.
"You make the most amazing noises," he whispered, drawing back to lick at the
shell of Cloud's ear. The unexpected sensation sent a shocking wave of heat
through Cloud, and he arched up into the touch. "You have no fucking idea how
hard it was to lie there and listen to you jerking off at night, and not do
anything to give myself away. Hell, I'm surprised I lasted as long as I did
before I lost it. I was hoping you wouldn't hear me over the noises you made."
"I stopped for a minute because I didn't want to come too fast," Cloud
confessed, panting as Zack's hand got a little bolder. Not wanting to take
everything and give nothing back, he ran both his hands over Zack's smooth,
toned chest. "I was... I was thinking of you that day, you know. I got so hard
during that damn wrestling match, and then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I
was freaking out that I was thinking about a guy, but I couldn't help myself."
"Fuck, Cloud," Zack shuddered over him and caught his mouth again in a quick,
fierce kiss. "You still freaking out?"
"N-no," Cloud stammered, dazed from the force of the kiss. "Well, a little.
Everyone always said this kind of thing was wrong, but it feels..." Right, so
right, so very right that he couldn't hope to put it into words. Certainly not
without sounding like some kind of weepy sap. "Good. It can't be bad if it's
this good, can it?"
Laughing, Zack pinched his nipple and made him squirm. "I think that might be
circular logic, but whatever. I'm not arguing. Not when you're giving me
everything I've been wanting for the last month and then some."
With a firmer touch, Zack stroked his hand from Cloud's shoulder right down to
his hip, his strong hand lingering over the waistband of his shorts. "So you
were thinking about me, huh?" he murmured, nibbling at Cloud's ear again. "I
wondered why you were hesitating to tap out that day. I thought you were just
being stubborn about admitting defeat." There was a smug sort of amusement in
his voice. "Enjoying having me pin you down, were you?"
"Zack," Cloud groaned, blushing horribly. It was true, that was the worst part.
He couldn't hope to deny it. Even so, he wasn't expecting it when Zack shifted
over him, catching his arms and shoulders and putting him into one of the
grappling pins they'd learned that day. "Unh! Zack!"
If he'd thought this position was hot when Zack was only half dressed, that was
nothing compared to the way it made Cloud burn when they were both the next
thing to naked. Zack's strong body slid against his, muscle to muscle, firm and
unyielding. When Zack rocked his hips against him, Cloud realized he wasn't the
only one achingly hard.
"You do like this, don't you?" Zack all but purred, nuzzling at Cloud's throat.
"You realize I'm never going to be able to partner you in hand-to-hand drills
again? I'd spend the whole session imagining this and fighting the temptation
to kiss you every time I had you pinned."
"You're shameless," Cloud accused him breathlessly, and Zack laughed. "You
realize our tentmates could come in here any moment, right?" he asked as Zack
rocked against him again.
"Yeah, so?" Zack's eyes glittered in the dim light of the tent, his hands
shifting so his fingers could caress Cloud's skin while still keeping him
pinned. "That's half the thrill, isn't it?"
"Totally shameless," Cloud repeated, arching up against him. He couldn't get
his hands free, but nothing was stopping him from running his mouth over
whatever parts of Zack he could reach. He did exactly that, tentatively
flicking his tongue against the place where Zack's neck met his shoulder, and
was rewarded by a shudder from the older boy.
"You make it sound like a bad thing," Zack murmured. "But I notice you're not
telling me to stop."
"Don't stop," Cloud pleaded, half afraid he would just to prove a point or
something. He was so hard and his body was on fire with want and need. Jerking
his hips up again, he revelled in the feel of his cock rubbing against Zack's
even through two layers of cloth. "Please, Zack."
"Jailbait, that's what you are," Zack said with a groan as Cloud bucked his
hips again. "How could anyone resist this kind of temptation?" Partially
releasing Cloud, he ran his free hand down over the younger boy's stomach and
slipped his fingers under the waistband of his shorts. "This okay?"
"Yes, yes, please," Cloud babbled, shuddering beneath him. "Oh Hades, please,
Zack."
"You know, I think I kind of like it when you beg me like that," Zack chuckled,
that deep husky chuckle that made shivers run over Cloud's spine. His hand
slipped further down, and his fingers curled around Cloud's hard cock in a way
that made the younger boy moan helplessly.
And with the exquisitely horrible timing that was the curse of horny teenage
boys everywhere, that was the moment their tentmates chose to return. "Fuck,
who tied these things?" a slurred voice demanded from just outside the flap,
making Cloud and Zack both freeze. "They're knotted!"
"They weren't knotted before you started," another too-loud voice proclaimed,
laughing. "You're just drunk, man. And be quiet, those two kids are probably
sleeping. Here, let me do that."
Once the initial shock wore off, Zack and Cloud scrambled as quietly as they
could to wrap themselves up in their separate sleeping bags again. The flap of
the tent was thrown open just as Cloud yanked the cover over him to hide the
embarrassing state of his body, and Zack had barely managed to burrow into his
bag in time. The two men stumbled in, shushing each other in loud voices as
Cloud and Zack did their best to feign sleep.
If the men had been even a little less drunk it probably would have been
obvious just what the two boys had been up to, but luck was on their side in
this at least. As Cloud watched through his lashes, his body so tense with
frustrated desire he thought he might explode, their tentmates stripped down
haphazardly and collapsed into their own bedrolls.
They were snoring in minutes, the loud sound produced only by a man who is
wasted and sound asleep. "Zack," Cloud whispered, agonized.
"We don't dare, they could wake up," Zack replied, and he sounded just as
frustrated. Sighing, he shifted in his sleeping bag so he was facing Cloud, and
gave the younger boy a somewhat disgruntled smile. "We'll just have to wait. It
won't kill us." The smile softened slightly as he added, "At least now I know I
can kiss you without you punching me, given the opportunity."
Groaning, Cloud buried his face in his pillow. There was no way they would be
able to get even a semblance of privacy on board the ship, and they already
knew how difficult it was to get a moment to yourself in the barracks. "You're
going to be the death of me, one of these days," he muttered sourly, shifting
to try to find a position that was comfortable. Considering how hard he was,
that wasn't an easy prospect.
"You think this is any easier for me?" Zack countered. "Go to sleep. Lying here
staring at each other isn't going to help."
"Yeah, right, like I can sleep like this," Cloud retorted, but he settled in
grudgingly. It was an unbelievable ending to a surreal day, and he was half
afraid that if he did manage to sleep, it would all turn out to have been a
dream.
Then again, he didn't really mind just looking at Zack as the other boy
composed himself to try to sleep. Smiling to himself, Cloud watched Zack and
didn't even realize it when his own eyes started to drift closed.
***** Chapter 11 *****
"Hey lazybones! Up and at 'em!" Zack kicked the side of Cloud's bunk, far too
awake and cheerful considering reveille hadn't even finished playing yet.
Groaning, Cloud burrowed further under his blankets and pillow. "Where do you
get your energy from?" he mumbled, disgusted. There were moments when he didn't
really like Zack, and they all seemed to happen in the very early morning.
"I siphon it off from you, clearly," Zack said, amused at Cloud's reluctance as
always. "I'm hitting the showers. Don't go back to sleep! We don't need another
punishment duty for being late to morning inspection again."
Freeing one hand from the tangle of blankets, Cloud made a rude gesture in his
direction. Zack laughed and wandered off, and Cloud couldn't resist the
temptation to peek out from beneath the pillow. From behind in nothing but
boxers, Zack's body was one long sleek line of tanned muscle. Cloud hadn't
figured out yet if the golden tone was just Zack's natural skin colour or if
the older boy was sneaking off to sunbathe somewhere, but either way it was
absolutely gorgeous.
There was one advantage to Cloud's well-known reluctance to get out of bed in
the mornings; it gave them an excuse not to shower at the same time. They
hadn't needed to try it once to know that would lead to a potentially
embarrassing situation, now that things had changed between them. So Zack went
first, returned and chivvied Cloud out of bed, and if they were late to morning
inspection more often than not it was a small price to pay for keeping their
dignity.
Not that there was really any way to tell that anything had changed between
them. As predicted, they hadn't had so much as a moment to themselves on the
crowded ship on the way back to Midgar. The closest they'd come to privacy was
when a bemused Zack was rubbing Cloud's back as the younger boy threw up over
the railing, and that was hardly a situation likely to induce feelings of
romance.
Nor had there been any more opportunities once they'd reached Midgar. Even when
they were alone, such as when they were patrolling deserted corridors together,
they didn't dare so much as steal a kiss. The Shinra tower was riddled with
security cameras, and they had no way of knowing if someone was watching or
not.
There were days when Cloud even wondered if he'd imagined the whole thing, a
fantasy created by his hormones in collusion with the potent rum.
Then he would glance over and catch Zack looking at him with that banked fire
burning deep in his eyes, and a shiver would go down his spine as his body
responded with an equal heat. At those moments, there wasn't a doubt in his
mind that the tension between them was real.
And so they continued to shower separately, for fear that if they didn't then
one of these days one of them was going to snap and jump the other. Teenage
hormones were not a force to be denied for long, but neither of them
particularly wanted to give their toonmates that kind of ammunition against
them. At best something like that would make great blackmail and teasing
material; at worst, it could earn them dishonourable discharges or even a court
martial.
Although, given the knowing and indulgent smirks Cloud sometimes caught the
other men in their company giving the two of them, he thought they might not be
as subtle about the whole thing as they thought they were.
Of course, the fact that neither of them was capable of listening to the other
jerk off without giving in to the urge as well probably didn't help their cause
any. So far nobody had said anything though, and Cloud was just hoping to
maintain the status quo.
Even if it did cause him to die of sheer frustration. Groaning again, he hauled
himself out of bed and groped sleepily for his shower kit, knowing Zack would
be back shortly.
Once he saw the familiar black spikes heading back towards their bunk, Cloud
yawned and shoved himself to his feet, shambling off towards the showers. Zack
clapped him on the shoulder as they passed, and even that casual touch was
enough to make Cloud shiver. They really needed to find an opportunity to ease
some of this tension, before one or both of them exploded.
At least it helped wake him up a little, so that by the time he was under the
shower his eyes were actually open all the way. He washed up quickly, not
really wanting another round of punishment duties for being late.
For once he actually wasn't running late as he stepped out of the shower room,
towel wrapped around his waist, and went to go deal with his untameable hair.
Somebody coughed as he walked by, and it sounded suspiciously like a muffled
snicker. Cloud gave him a narrow-eyed look, but the man wasn't looking at him.
Further down the room somebody else choked, and there was another snicker from
somewhere Cloud couldn't identify. Now thoroughly suspicious, he all but ran
for the mirror and jostled for a spot in front of it.
Only to pull up short, staring in a sort of fascinated horror. His hair, the
usual spiky locks flattened by water and mussed by sleep, was a bright, vivid
green. It looked like someone had decided to grow tantal greens on his head.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed, lifting one hand and tugging on a lock of his
hair, just to make sure it was real.
When he pulled a bit down over his face he could see that yes, it wasn't just a
trick of the light in the mirror, it really was green. Behind him the snickers
had grown into muffled laughter, and everyone was carefully looking away from
him. Glancing down at his shampoo bottle, Cloud glared as he realized the
liquid in it was the same verdant green colour.
"Who put dye in my shampoo?" he demanded, incensed. It was a fairly popular
prank among the troopers, though he'd never been subjected to it before.
Apparently someone had decided that his typical zombie-like state in the
mornings made him a prime target, since he could be counted on not to notice
the altered colour of his shampoo.
The laughter got louder, but nobody owned up to it. Fuming, Cloud went to tug a
brush through his hair anyway in a futile effort to make it look more
presentable.
"I'm going to kill whoever did this," he declared as he stalked back through
the barrack to his bunk. "Don't you know dye doesn't wash out of blonde hair
the way it's supposed to?" He was going to be stuck like this for weeks, and
he'd probably end up having to practically buzz cut his hair to get rid of it.
He'd look like a prime idiot, either way.
Zack took one wide-eyed look at him and burst out laughing, doubling over to
clutch at his stomach. "You look like a walking shrub!" he proclaimed, wheezing
with the effort of breathing through the laughter. "You better not go near any
chocobos, they'll try to eat you!"
"You're not helping," Cloud muttered. Zack was already half dressed, and most
of the others were finished or nearly so.
Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, Zack grinned at him. "Aw, we'll find
some dark dye for you later. At least that'll make it an acceptable colour,
you'll only get in trouble at this inspection. Now hurry up, you don't need to
be late as well as green." He snickered again and ducked the shampoo bottle
Cloud chucked at him.
Grumbling about best friends and toonmates with reprehensible senses of humour,
Cloud reached for his footlocker to get his uniform.
Half a dozen long, slinky objects burst out at him, and Cloud fell back on his
ass with a startled yell in an instinctive attempt to dodge. Automatically he
mentally reached for the magic of the Fire materia that had never left his
bracer since that night in Mideel, but the bracer was still in the trunk, and
his weapons were all out of reach.
When the initial moment of blind panic had passed and his heart had started
beating again, Cloud looked more closely at the dangling objects now hanging
out of his trunk. Nudging one cautiously with his foot, he scowled at the way
it gave beneath his touch. "Plushy snakes?" he blurted out, incredulous.
Scrambling back up into a crouch from his undignified sprawled position on the
floor, he peered into the locker and saw the spring mechanisms that had been
set up to make the snakes jump out at him the moment he lifted the lid. "What
is this, official 'pick on Cloud' day?"
More badly muffled laughter was his only answer, and he glared around the room.
"You guys suck," he declared, grabbing his uniform and dressing with quick,
jerky motions. This was a little too reminiscent of the bullying and pranks
that had been pulled on him back in Nibelheim, where he'd been the kid nobody
wanted anything to do with. He knew this was more good-natured than that had
been, but two pranks in a row was a bit much.
He sat down on the bunk and yanked on his combat boot. Immediately a very odd
expression crossed his face, as something soft and squishy worked itself
through his sock and around his foot. "Ew! Augh, gross, what the..."
Hastily pulling his foot back out again, he stared at the foamy white globs
clinging to the wool of his sock. Scooping up a finger's worth, he sniffed it
cautiously and his suspicions were confirmed. "Shaving cream? Come on, guys!"
Fuming, he looked around to see if anyone else thought this had gone too far.
Zack, the traitor, had turned to face the wall and was leaning against it, his
shoulders shaking with laughter that was so hard it was silent. "Zack, you
bastard, is this your doing?" Cloud demanded, trying not to show how hurt he
was.
"Nope, not me," Zack said, but his voice was strangled with the laughter he
wasn't voicing and he still wouldn't look at Cloud. Neither would anyone else,
for that matter.
Biting his lip, Cloud glared down at the shoe in his hands, trying not to do
something stupid like explode in anger or start crying. He'd always counted on
Zack being the one he could trust not to pull this sort of crap on him, but it
seemed like his best friend was as much a part of this as everyone else.
Everyone... Cloud's eyes narrowed. "Wait. What day is it?" He tried to reckon
the date in his head. He'd lost track of the exact date somewhere in the
jungles of Mideel, and it was easy for the day-in and day-out sameness of
military life in Midgar to cause one day to blend into the next.
"August nineteenth," Zack choked out, finally turning to give Cloud a grin that
was so huge it should have split his face in two. "Bout time you figured it
out, kid. Happy birthday."
Flushing, Cloud ducked his head again as the whole platoon started whooping
with laughter - and adding their birthday wishes to Zack's. It was a company
tradition that birthday victims got picked on by their whole platoon. Hell,
Cloud had helped to TP every item in another private's kit just last week. It
hadn't been maliciously meant at all - was in fact just a way of including him
in the group, showing that he was no different from anyone else.
Suddenly very grateful he hadn't started yelling or something equally
embarrassing, Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes at all of them, shaking his
head. "Somebody toss me a towel, please?" he said over the laughter, fighting
his blush at being the centre of attention. "I have to wear these boots, you
know!"
"You realize that officially, you're older than me now?" Zack asked him, still
laughing as he handed over a small towel. When Cloud gave him a confused look,
he shrugged. "They would have had to put your age as sixteen on the paperwork,
or it wouldn't have been processed. So, since it's your birthday, that means
you must be seventeen now. And I'm still only a few months into sixteen."
The idea that he would be listed as older than Zack was so absurd that Cloud
burst out laughing as well. "Should I be the one calling you 'kid', then?" he
asked, amused.
"Nah, they'll just keep listing your age as sixteen until you actually are
sixteen," someone else put in, chuckling. Everyone in the platoon was aware
that Cloud was underage; it would have been rather difficult to hide the fact,
really. But mostly they didn't mention it, since it was tacitly agreed that
Cloud had more than earned his place among them, young or not.
Thankfully it was also a company tradition that the officers would look the
other way regarding certain irregularities for this one day, so Cloud's vibrant
green hair didn't get him more than a stifled grin from the lieutenant doing
the morning inspection. After that Cloud was sufficiently warned that he
managed to avoid the worst of the pranks, and was able to just patiently suffer
through most of the others.
By the time they were released from their duties at the end of the afternoon,
though, he was more than ready for his birthday to be over. He and Zack had
been assigned to stand guard at the building's main doors, and that meant
standing motionless and straight-faced for hours. That in itself was hard
enough, but the civilians coming in and out were forever trying to make the
guards laugh or otherwise break their composure. Today, of course, everyone in
alpha company had made the time to pass by and do their best to tease Cloud
into breaking. At least the helmet had covered his awful hair.
"Aw, cheer up," Zack said, ruffling his green spikes as they changed out of
their dress blues and back into their casual uniforms. Cloud had been scowling
at his locker, which had proved to be stuffed full of confetti that spilled out
the moment he opened the door. "At least we don't have any night duties today."
"That just means everyone has more time to pull pranks on me!" Cloud exclaimed,
batting Zack's hand away irritably. "They can only go so far while I'm on duty,
but free time means open season. Think I could volunteer for some kind of extra
duty for the evening?"
"Nah, you don't want to do that," Zack laughed, nudging him in the ribs with an
elbow. "C'mon, let's grab dinner in the mess, I'll scrounge around and see if I
can find some dark dye for you, and we'll head back to the barrack. I bet the
guys have organized a party or something for you, since we've all got the
evening free."
"That's not a prospect that's likely to work as an incentive to make me want to
go back!" Cloud pointed out, though he was fighting a reluctant smile. "They're
just going to try to get me smashed, and then get me into compromising
positions so they can take pictures for later blackmail."
"You don't think I'd let them get away with that, do you?" Zack asked,
affecting a hurt look. Cloud swatted at him, and the older boy ducked away with
a mock pout.
"I think you'd be right out in front with your personal camera," Cloud
retorted. "Why don't you do something useful like give me a hand cleaning all
this confetti up, instead of giving me more reasons why I should go find a dark
corner to hide in for the night?"
"If you find one, let me know where it is and maybe we can take advantage of it
sometime," Zack muttered under his breath as he leaned down to help Cloud
gather up the bits of paper. Cloud flushed at the look of heated frustration
Zack gave him, and nodded shortly.
Every time their hands touched as they scooped up piles of confetti, it felt
like tiny sparks of lightning jumped between them. Cloud might have suspected
Zack of doing something unorthodox with the Lightning he had equipped, except
that he knew this particular electric tension had nothing to do with materia.
As they walked together back to their barrack after dinner, their shoulders
bumping every so often, Cloud wondered if there was any way they could get away
with heading into the city on a weekend leave sometime and just getting a hotel
room. It seemed like the only way they'd ever get any privacy, and he was sure
he was going to die of frustration soon.
The SOLDIER exams were coming up fast, though, and by unspoken agreement Zack
and Cloud had both been spending every free moment they had studying and
practicing. They weren't the only ones in their company who were planning to
take the exams, but everyone else had been through them at least once before.
Very few people passed the exams on the first try, though Zack and Cloud were
equally determined to be among that number. Wasting a whole twenty-four hour
leave just for a few hours of personal gratification would be shooting
themselves in the foot.
On the other hand, Cloud reflected as their hands brushed and they both
flinched away, carrying this level of tension into the exams with them might
not be a great idea either.
As predicted, the platoon had gathered together a stash of distinctly against
regulation beer and snacks, and proceeded to mob Cloud the moment he walked in
the door. Really it was just that troopers would take any excuse for a party,
but Cloud still felt warmed by the evidence of affection from the rest of his
toonmates.
Despite the healthy dose of Tabasco sauce someone had apparently dumped into
the first beer they handed him. Coughing and spluttering amid the laughter of
the others, Cloud grabbed another bottle - an unopened one - and chugged the
whole thing to wash the spicy taste out of his mouth.
After that, things got lively. People from other platoons and even other
companies wandered by, attracted by the signs of revelry. It didn't take long
for the reason for the party to be forgotten completely, as it simply became
the sort of party troopers everywhere threw themselves into with abandon.
Nobody got drunk, since they all had duty the next day and there wasn't enough
beer for that anyway, but everyone was pleasantly buzzed.
At some point not long before lights out, Cloud wormed his way through the
press of the crowd and out the back door of the building, gulping in the cool
night air gratefully. His head was swimming, more from the heat and lack of air
inside than the beer. He ran a hand through his hair, soaked with sweat and yet
oddly dry from the bleach they'd ended up using on it. It was a paler yellow
than usual, but at least it wasn't green and it wouldn't look as odd as it grew
out as it would have if he'd dyed it dark.
Moving away from the door so he wouldn't be disturbed by anyone else coming out
for a bit of fresh air, he leaned against the wall and let the breeze play over
his face, his eyes closed.
His only warning was a soft rustle of fabric and the brief scuff of a boot
against the gravel, and then warm lips covered his. Cloud went stiff and his
eyes flew open, but before he could punch out the person assaulting him his
brain registered familiar grey-violet eyes laughing at him from inches away.
"Zack!" Cloud gasped as the older boy pulled away a bit, his hands on the wall
on either side of Cloud's shoulders. "You idiot, what are you doing? I almost
decked you! And someone could see us."
"Oh?" Zack raised an eyebrow at him, and looked a little disappointed. "And
here I thought you followed me out on purpose. But if you want me to leave you
be..."
Instinctively Cloud's hands flashed out and fisted in the older boy's shirt,
preventing him from pulling away. He knew he should let go, that someone really
could come out at any moment and see them, but the feel of Zack's body a mere
breath away from his was more intoxicating than any beer could ever be.
"I didn't know you were out here," Cloud admitted, his voice low and aching
with barely restrained desire. "I lost track of you an hour ago. It's way too
crowded in there, I just came out to get some air." He tore his gaze away from
Zack's mouth long enough to see there was still a hint of disappointment in the
older boy's eyes. "If I'd known you were out here, I'd definitely have followed
you, though."
That worked, and Zack's smile was easy again. "Come on," Zack said, grabbing
his hand and urging him to follow. He led Cloud into the space between B and C
platoons' barracks, where the shadows wrapped around them like a lover's
embrace. It wasn't exactly out of sight, since the space between buildings was
wide enough for two to walk abreast, but it was a little more secluded.
Leaning in again, Zack pinned Cloud to the wall with his whole body, kissing
him like a drowning man gulped at air. Melting willingly beneath him, Cloud
kissed him back no less fiercely, his tongue warring with Zack's for dominance
in their mouths.
"Shit," Zack muttered against Cloud's mouth as they broke away for air, not
bothering to pull back far enough that their lips didn't brush with the
movement. "Shit, Cloud."
"Yeah," Cloud gasped, in perfect agreement. He'd thought maybe he'd exaggerated
how good it had felt in his own mind, that his frustrated hormones had blown
the experience out of proportion and the real thing would never be able to live
up to his expectations. If anything, this was even better than he'd remembered,
all the hotter for weeks of denial.
Rocking against him, Zack ground his groin into Cloud's and made them both
moan. They were almost the same height now, Cloud having had a recent growth
spurt, and that meant their cocks were pressed together in the most delicious
way. They kissed again, and this time Cloud tipped his head back and let Zack
dominate the kiss even as Cloud's hands searched to find a way under the older
boy's tunic.
Anyone walking along on either side of the buildings could glance down the
narrow alley between and see them. At that moment, Cloud discovered he really
didn't care. They'd been denying themselves for too long, and now that he had
the taste of Zack in his mouth and the feel of Zack under his hands, he
couldn't bring himself to let go again.
Despite Zack's muscled, heated body pressed against every inch of his, it still
wasn't enough. Finally Cloud got his hands under Zack's tunic and pulled the
thin undershirt out from under his belt, allowing his fingers to glide over
smooth skin. Zack's abs were well defined, and he groaned and shuddered as
Cloud explored each dip and swell by touch.
"Tease," Zack accused him, his lips trailing away from Cloud's mouth to slide
down the sensitive side of his neck. "You are such a tease. Hades, but I can
hardly stand to even look at you some days. I want you so bad."
"Who's teasing who?" Cloud asked, moaning as Zack latched his teeth into the
juncture of his neck and shoulder and suckled. He was grateful the collars of
their uniform were so high, because otherwise the mark Zack was going to leave
would be highly visible. He was still going to have a bitch of a time hiding it
in the showers.
Sliding his hands up, Cloud found the hard nubs of Zack's nipples and pinched
them, rewarded by Zack's shuddering groan. Zack rocked against him again,
pushing his thigh between Cloud's legs and lifting him by the waist until his
toes were barely touching the ground. He squirmed, grinding himself up against
Zack's groin, pressing against him to get the friction they both wanted so
badly.
"One of these days," Zack murmured into his skin, licking at the bite mark he'd
made, "I am going to drag you down into the city, and we are going to find a
room with a bed somewhere we don't have to worry about being caught or
interrupted. And then I am going to strip you down, tease you until you beg me,
and fuck you into the next week."
It wasn't anything Cloud hadn't fantasized about half a hundred times since
Mideel, but somehow hearing Zack vocalize it like that made it seem real and
immediate. Not to mention very, very hot. "Y-yeah?" he stammered, voice rough
and deeper than usual. "You talk big, but I haven't... ah, don't stop...
haven't seen any evidence that you're prepared to back it up."
"You want evidence?" Zack thrust against him again, pushing him into the brick
wall hard enough that he'd probably have bruises on his back, but Cloud only
moaned. "I'll give you evidence, you little brat. Fuck, Cloud."
"That's th-the general idea," Cloud agreed breathlessly, pinching at Zack's
nipples again before sliding his hands around to rake his fingers against the
strong muscles of the older boy's back. He knew they couldn't, not really, not
here. Nor did he really want his first time to be up against a rough brick wall
in an alley, though at that moment he'd probably have agreed to it if Zack
suggested it. But with Zack plastered against him and rocking into him, just
the thought of having Zack buried inside him was enough to make Cloud shudder.
Dropping one hand, Zack fumbled at the fastening of Cloud's belt. It took him
longer than it should have, but eventually the buckle fell free and he was able
to undo Cloud's pants. As he slid his hand inside and curled his fingers around
Cloud's cock, the younger boy squeezed his eyes shut and prayed that this time
nobody would interrupt them.
The helpless moan Cloud gave as Zack rubbed a thumb over his tip was wild and
more than a little loud. Shushing him, Zack fastened his mouth to Cloud's again
to help him stay quiet. It was a good thing he did, because as he stroked his
hand over Cloud's cock the younger boy found himself completely unable to
stifle his cries.
Writhing and pushing his hips up to thrust into Zack's grip, Cloud gasped for
air around Zack's mouth. Guilty simultaneous masturbation was no substitute for
any kind of real satisfaction, and Cloud knew he wasn't going to last long.
A little desperate, he forced his hand past Zack's belt and pants, running his
fingers over the older boy's rock-hard cock. Now it was Zack's turn to jerk
into his hand and groan loudly, and Cloud tugged at his belt with his free
hand. When it came loose, he was able to get his hand farther down Zack's pants
and get a better grip on the older boy's erection.
They settled into a rhythm, not unlike the one they shared when they were lying
in their bunk, listening to each other and wishing they were doing this
instead. Sucking at each other's tongues, snatching quick gasps of air between
heated kisses, they pushed each other closer to the edge. Cloud's whole body
was trembling with need, and he could see the pulse beating frantically in
Zack's throat.
Tearing his mouth away abruptly, Zack buried his face in Cloud's shoulder and
the motion of his hips turned jerky. "Fuck, fuck, Cloud," he muttered, his
voice breaking on a deep moan that made the tension in Cloud's groin pull
tighter still. Then he muffled his cry in Cloud's shirt, sticky hot liquid
spilling over Cloud's fingers as he came.
His hand squeezed down as the muscles in his body clenched and relaxed with
release, and that was enough to push Cloud over the edge as well. Stifling his
shout into a high keening noise in the back of his throat, Cloud threw his head
back hard enough that he saw stars when it impacted with the wall. Or maybe
that really was from the force of his orgasm, a hundred times stronger than
anything he'd ever felt at his own hands.
For a long moment they stayed that way, hands still loosely wrapped around each
other's softening cocks and bodies supporting each other to help them stay
upright, as they drifted back to reality. Finally Zack gave a shaky chuckle and
pulled his hand free, wiping it on his white undershirt where it wouldn't show
as badly.
"You are something else," he murmured to a still dazed Cloud, kissing the
younger boy again fiercely. "When we get through the exams, the first leave we
get I'm taking you somewhere we can do this properly."
"Yeah," Cloud agreed, his voice still husky with the shouts he'd been
struggling so hard to swallow. "Sounds good."
"C'mon, clean your hand off and let's get back in there before they miss us and
someone comes looking," Zack urged him, pulling away slowly and letting Cloud
slide back down the wall to rest on his own feet. Cloud swayed, putting his
other hand against the wall to steady himself, feeling a little light headed.
But entirely content and relaxed, for a change. He followed Zack's example and
cleaned his hand off on his undershirt, then tucked everything back in where it
was supposed to be and straightened his uniform. Zack had done the same, and
except for a faintly smug smile and an unusual look of satisfaction in the
older boy's eyes, Cloud wouldn't have been able to tell what they'd been up to
if he hadn't already known. He hoped he looked as casual; he had a feeling he
might have a stupid smile on his face, but he couldn't seem to do anything
about it.
"Shit, they're sounding lights out," Zack exclaimed, as the familiar notes of
taps came over the loudspeakers. Swearing and laughing, they scrambled back
towards the door and into the barrack.
The party had calmed considerably, and the last remnants of the troopers who
weren't part of their unit trailed out as Zack and Cloud entered, heading for
their own beds. Hoping the dimming lights hid the flush on his cheeks, Cloud
followed Zack back to their bunk.
"Sleep well," Zack murmured as they stripped hastily down to their boxers in
preparation for sleep. Cloud dared a glance at him, admiring the sleek muscles
his hands had been running over just minutes before, and he could tell by the
look in Zack's eyes that the older boy wanted to kiss him. He smiled back,
which was enough to tell Zack that Cloud felt the same, and that was almost as
good as actually doing it.
"G'night, Zack," Cloud replied, his voice soft and satisfied. As he pulled back
his covers and slipped into his bed, he decided he'd never had a better
birthday than this.
That conviction lasted about three seconds after he got into the bed. "All
right, that's it! Which of you bastards short-sheeted my bed?"
***** Chapter 12 *****
Taking deep breaths to calm himself had stopped working about half an hour ago.
At this point Cloud was just trying to keep from descending into a full blown
panic attack as he reviewed his notes over and over.
Zack was pacing, but it was less out of nerves and more a matter of his normal
inability to sit still for long. Every so often the older boy would do some
knee bends or push ups, but mostly he was just roaming aimlessly in small
circles. He seemed much more composed than Cloud, though - hell, more composed
than most of the men waiting with them.
In less than half an hour, they would all be admitted to the examining room for
the written portion of this year's SOLDIER exams. Cloud wasn't sure exactly
what the tests would be composed of; when he'd asked the others in their
company who'd taken the exams before, they'd shrugged and told him to just
study everything. He and Zack had put countless hours into taking notes and
drilling each other on everything they could think of. In the last week Cloud
felt like they'd hardly slept at all because they'd spent so much time huddling
up on Zack's bunk with a flashlight and a textbook, trying not to disturb any
of the others.
Opinions were divided on whether the written portion of the exam or the
physical portion was more difficult, but either way if he didn't pass this
part, he wouldn't be allowed to continue on to the physical exam. Cloud had
always done reasonably well on tests in school, but the importance of this exam
was enough to make him hyperventilate every time he thought about it too hard.
"Ramuh, Cloud, will you calm down?" Zack said plaintively, pausing in front of
him. "You're making me tired just watching you, and you're not accomplishing
anything!"
"I'm studying," Cloud gritted out through clenched teeth. He glared at his
friend, unable to understand how Zack could be so cavalier about this. "You
should be, too!"
"If you don't know it by now, then you don't know it," Zack proclaimed firmly,
plucking the sheaf of paper out of Cloud's hands and ignoring his outraged cry.
"The only thing cramming accomplishes at this point is to confuse you, panic
you, and muddle the things you do know."
"I can't just stand here and stare at the walls!" Cloud protested. At least
muttering his way through his notes had kept him occupied enough to stop him
from truly panicking.
"Relax, Cloud," Zack coaxed him, his tone even and soothing. "Breathe, kid,
you're going to pass out. No, don't hyperventilate," he added as Cloud started
to do just that. "Just breathe. Nice and slow. Look, let's do some drills,
okay?"
"Drills?" Cloud stared at Zack, certain he'd misunderstood. Either that, or the
older boy had lost it. "Drill is the one thing we aren't going to be tested on,
Zack!"
"Exactly," Zack said, as if that should have made perfect sense to Cloud.
"We're not being tested on it, so you don't have to strain yourself trying to
make sure it's perfect. You can just relax into the rhythm, and stop thinking
so hard. Don't look at me like I've grown a second head," he finished, amused.
"I'm serious."
"You're crazy," Cloud said flatly. He made a grab for his notes, but Zack held
them back out of his reach. "Zack! Give me back my damn notes! Just because
you're too lazy to study doesn't mean I should be!"
"It's not laziness, it's knowing when you're doing more damage than good," Zack
countered. With a quick twist that Cloud wasn't fast enough to block, he dumped
the papers into one of the waste bins. The lid on it was designed so people
wouldn't be offended by the sight or smell of the garbage, and it didn't come
off. Cloud wouldn't be able to get them back.
Dismayed, Cloud kicked at Zack. When the older boy blocked what had become an
expected attack, Cloud punched him in the ribs instead. Hard.
"Ow!" Wincing, Zack rubbed at his side. "Damn it, Cloud. You trying to break my
ribs? I need them in one piece for the physical exam!"
"You deserved it, you jerk," Cloud fumed. "How am I supposed to study now?"
"You're not," Zack informed him, totally unrepentant. "You're going to practice
drill with me." Glancing around with a grin at the rest of the room, where most
of the people were blatantly watching the two of them, he added, "Anybody else
who wants to join in is welcome. Attention!"
"You are completely out of your mind," Cloud said, shaking his head. "What
makes you think I'm going to go along with your insanity?"
"Because now that your notes are gone, it's either participate or sit staring
at the walls and go nuts anyway," Zack reminded him, still grinning. "At least
my brand of insanity is more fun. Now look alive there, trooper!"
Well, he had a point. Resigned, Cloud snapped to attention, and Zack started
barking out drill commands in a voice that was only slightly quieter than it
would have been on the parade grounds.
Cloud had expected the others in the room to complain about the disruption to
their own reviewing, but to his surprise most of the waiting men seemed to take
Zack's words to heart. Someone raided a supply closet and came up with a supply
of brooms and mops, the handles of which were quickly cut down to the
appropriate length to allow them to substitute for rifles or swords. In minutes
it had become an impromptu competition, and Zack willingly got into the spirit
of things by calling out the orders for the more complicated drill routines
used in formal parades.
3rd Rifle's bravo company prided itself on having one of the best drill squads
in Shinra, and the whole battalion was a bit drill-happy. Zack and Cloud had
spent hours practicing these moves on boring patrols and sentry duty, and the
familiar routines soon absorbed Cloud. The fancy drills were difficult enough
to require complete concentration, especially since the broom handle
substitutes were hardly ideal copies of a real rifle's heft and feel.
"Aaaand... halt!" Zack called. Everyone participating snapped back to
attention, 'rifles' resting against their shoulders. Cloud blinked as he was
thrown out of the almost trance-like state he'd been in, and abruptly
remembered where exactly he was.
One of Heidigger's subordinate clerks was standing in the doorway to the exam
room, gaping at them all in astonishment. Cloud's face went beet red as he
wondered what the man must be thinking, to see them all goofing off like little
kids instead of applying themselves seriously to the last minutes they had to
study. He could only hope they wouldn't be disqualified then and there.
The clerk either wasn't inclined to do so or didn't have the authority, though.
He just cleared his throat, and moved out of the doorway. "They're ready for
you now."
"See?" Zack clapped Cloud on the shoulder, and winked at him. "Now you're not
panicking, and I bet you're remembering what you already know more clearly,
aren't you? Let's go kick some ass."
Grudgingly Cloud had to admit that he did feel a little calmer as they filed
into the exam room. Desks had been set up for the participants, spaced far
enough apart that they would have needed to have eyes on extendable stalks if
they wanted to copy someone else's work. Cloud took the first seat he came to,
and Zack took the one next to it.
There was a man in the uniform of a SOLDIER 1st Class standing at the front,
his hands tucked behind him in the 'at ease' position. When everyone was
seated, he nodded to acknowledge them. "Welcome to the written portion of the
exam for SOLDIER applicants," he said. "Your test papers are already on the
desks. Do not turn them over until we indicate you should do so. You will have
four hours to complete the test. If you finish early, you may leave." His tone
indicated he didn't think such a thing was likely, unless it was because you'd
given up. "Pens and pencils have been provided; if you need more, raise your
hand and one of the attendants will come to help you. Speaking for any reason
from the moment the test begins is an automatic failure. Anyone caught cheating
will be facing a court martial."
Fisting his hands in his lap, Cloud stared at the stack of papers face-down on
the desk in front of him. This was it; the moment of truth. Some men took years
before they successfully passed this exam. Others tried their whole lives, and
never made it.
From the corner of his eye he saw Zack flash him a thumbs-up, and he gave his
friend a weak grin in reply. "Begin!" the SOLDIER said, and there was a rustle
as everyone in the room turned over their papers.
Scanning the first couple of questions, Cloud felt his heart rise up in his
throat and threaten to choke him. 'Show the exact chemical process involved in
creating a Fire materia from raw mako.' 'Write a brief paragraph describing the
duties and responsibilities of a lance corporal in the mounted chocobo
division.' 'List all SOLDIERs currently on active duty, alphabetically by
name'.
Everything was either technical and difficult to the point where he would have
needed a degree to know the answer, or completely irrelevant material that he
would never have thought to study in a million years. Flipping to the second
page, he saw that it was more of the same, as was the third.
"This is bullshit!" someone behind him exclaimed, echoing the thoughts in
Cloud's head perfectly. Shoving his chair back with a scraping sound, the man
slammed his hand down on the desk. "Nobody could pass this! You're rigging the
exams, giving impossible tests to people you don't want to pass."
Wondering if that was true, Cloud tried not to panic again. Glancing over at
Zack he saw the older boy was scribbling away, a slightly amused smile on his
face the only indication he was even listening to the man's diatribe.
"Stand down, sergeant," the SOLDIER at the front said coolly. "You're
dismissed."
The man stormed out of the test room, slamming the door behind him. Swallowing
hard, Cloud turned his attention back to his test paper, and summoned every bit
of will and determination he possessed. This might be a rigged test, but be
damned if he was going to give up without even trying! There had to be
something he could answer.
Flipping through the pages, he scanned each one carefully, his panic growing
with each question he had no idea how to answer. Finally, at the top of the
sixth page, he found something he knew. 'Describe the conditions under which it
is permissible for a SOLDIER to grant a promotion in the field to a trooper.'
Hell, every trooper knew that list off by heart, because every one of them was
hoping it would happen. Cloud wrote out the various conditions, and glanced at
the next question. 'List ten different magic materia, and the spells available
in each. Do not use Fire, Lightning, Ice, Restore, or Revive.'
He knew the answer to that, too! Blinking, Cloud scanned down the rest of the
page, then flipped it over and looked at the next one. He knew the answers to
most of these questions, and they were all things that were perfectly
reasonable for them to be tested on. Flicking rapidly through the rest of the
stack, he saw that the rest of the exam was the same.
All of the questions were hard, but not impossible. As his breathing slowly
calmed and his pulse returned to something resembling normal, Cloud realized it
had just been another kind of test. The sort of person who would give up just
because a task seemed impossible at the outset was not the sort of person
Shinra wanted in SOLDIER. Feeling much better about the whole thing, he went
back to page six and got to work.
The SOLDIER called out the time every half hour, letting them know how long
they had left. Cloud almost wished he wouldn't, as it was just a distraction
that added to the pressure he was already under. In the last ten minutes the
count-down changed to every minute, and everyone started scribbling frantically
to get a few last questions done. Cloud hadn't finished everything, but he was
only a few pages from the end of the test and he'd answered the vast majority
of the questions up to that point. As the SOLDIER called "Time!" and everyone
set down their pens, he prayed it would be enough.
"That's it!" Zack exclaimed, bouncing up out of his seat. "We're done! C'mon,
let's get the hell out of here before I go stir crazy."
"You are such a little kid sometimes," Cloud said, but he didn't fight when
Zack grabbed him by the arm and hauled him up out of his seat. "Let's hit the
mess, I'm hungry! I was too nervous to eat breakfast."
"Yeah, me too," Zack confessed, which made Cloud stare at him in astonishment.
He'd been so busy reviewing his notes he hadn't paid any attention to what his
friend ate, but he'd assumed the older boy was packing away the food with his
usual gusto. Zack certainly hadn't shown any other evidence of nerves. "What,
I'm not allowed to be nervous about something this major?" he asked with a
mock-pout when Cloud stared at him.
"You hide it well," the younger boy replied, shaking his head. "So, let's go
then. I'm surprised I couldn't hear your stomach all the way from my desk."
"Yeah, I'm all for food, but not at the mess," Zack proclaimed. "We're off duty
until the exams are over or we're disqualified, and they're not going to post
the results of the written until tonight. Let's hit the city for lunch and
spend the afternoon wandering, it'll take our minds off worrying about whether
we passed. Not like we can do anything about it now."
The idea of getting off the base and away from everything that would remind him
of the exams was actually fairly appealing. "So long as we stay above the
plate," Cloud said firmly. "It's a nice day today, smog notwithstanding. I want
to enjoy it."
"Aw, you just don't want me to drag you down there to meet Aeris," Zack teased
him, and Cloud flushed. That was, in fact, part of why he was so reluctant to
go down beneath the plate when they had leave. For all Zack's assurances that
she would love Cloud and that there had never been anything serious between him
and her, Cloud was more than a little wary of meeting his 'boyfriend's
girlfriend', if either of those terms could be said to apply.
"Above the plate, or you can go without me," Cloud insisted, and Zack
capitulated with a shrug.
"Have it your way," the older boy conceded. "But either way, let's go before I
start swooning like the heroine in a bad drama. I'm starving!"
The gate guards gave them no trouble when they flashed the badges that
identified them as exam participants, and they headed out into the city. Upper
Midgar was actually a pretty decent place, though Cloud had been told the air
pollution problem was getting exponentially worse every year. There were lots
of quaint shops and cafes lining the main streets, and men in Shinra blues were
always welcomed.
They descended on the first decent-looking restaurant they found, and proceeded
to put away enough food to feed a whole squad. The waitress seemed amused by
them, saying something about 'ravening teenage boys' and then dimpling when
Zack complimented her outrageously.
Cloud sometimes wondered if he ought to feel jealous when Zack did things like
that, but... it was just Zack. He flirted with everyone, not in any kind of
serious way but just to let them know that he was paying attention, and thought
they were worth his time. And as bright as the smiles he gave other people
were, they had nothing on the brilliance of the one he seemed to reserve for
Cloud. How could Cloud be jealous?
After they'd satisfied their hunger they wandered the streets, talking about
anything and everything but SOLDIER. They'd been so tightly focused for so long
that it almost felt strange to talk about anything else. Strange, but good.
Passing a hotel, Cloud glanced at it and flushed, remembering things Zack had
said in that dark alley weeks ago. They'd found a few rare opportunities to
indulge themselves since then, but never in a place where they could safely go
further than a furtive handjob. It wasn't really satisfying, and they had hours
yet before they had to be back on base.
"Hey, Zack?" Cloud asked softly, his voice a little husky. When his friend
looked at him curiously, he tipped his head at the hotel and tried not to
blush. "Didn't you say something about your plans the next time we were in the
city?"
Looking from the hotel back to Cloud's flushed face, Zack groaned. "Hades,
don't tempt me like that," he said, his voice rough as well as heat flared in
his eyes. "Believe me, there's nothing I'd like more, but... do you really
think that'd leave us in any shape to take the physical exam tomorrow?"
Thinking of various dirty locker-room jokes he'd heard since joining the
military, Cloud winced. "No, probably not," he conceded reluctantly. Damn, but
now that he'd thought of it his whole body burned with wanting it. He wasn't
sure exactly what the appeal to having another guy shove his cock up your ass
was supposed to be, but if it was Zack then he was more than willing to try it
and find out. And even if it didn't turn out to be all it was cracked up to be,
just having an opportunity to take their time and explore each other was pretty
much Cloud's idea of heaven right now.
Growling under his breath, Zack grabbed Cloud's arm and yanked him into an
alley, behind some crates and garbage bins so they were out of sight of the
street. Before Cloud could voice a question or protest, Zack had him up against
the wall and was kissing him silly.
"Damn it, don't look at me like that when I'm trying to be virtuous," Zack
panted when he finally pulled back. Cloud stared at him, dazed and trying not
to think about the last time they'd been in this position. "Tomorrow, once the
physical portion is over and we know we've made it, then we'll celebrate," Zack
promised him, his eyes darker than usual with lust.
"Sounds good," Cloud gasped, fighting the urge to rock against him. He knew
Zack would be hard too, and he also knew that if they started now, they
probably wouldn't stop. Getting arrested for indecent exposure while in uniform
might well be a black mark on their record that would keep them out of SOLDIER.
"Uh, Zack? You'd better let go of me, then."
With a visible effort, Zack stepped back and tugged on the hem of his uniform
tunic to straighten it. Cloud ran a hand through the spikes of his hair,
checking that they weren't in any more disarray than usual. "Let's go before I
jump you again," Zack sighed, turning and leading the way back to the street.
The tension between them was high after that, but they were kind of used to it
at this point. If nothing else, it served as a good distraction from thoughts
of the exam, and Cloud couldn't resist the urge to walk a little too close so
their arms would brush with every step.
As the sun started to make its way down to the horizon, they turned to head
back to the base. The results would be up by the time they made it back, and
despite his best efforts Cloud's stomach started to tie itself in knots.
"Stop worrying," Zack ordered him as they walked. "Either we made it or we
didn't, and worrying about it now won't accomplish anything. Anyway, I'm sure
we both made it."
"Easier said than done," Cloud retorted. "How do you just stop worrying about
something like this?"
"You distract yourself, which is what we've been doing all afternoon," Zack
said, glancing around. "Short of giving in and dragging you to that hotel,
though, I'm not sure what else we could... oh, hey, that's perfect!"
Following his friend's line of sight, Cloud frowned as he saw a garishly
decorated tattoo parlour. "Zack, no," he said, dismayed. "I don't know what
crazy idea you have in your head, but we are not getting tattoos."
"Nah, that can wait until after we make it into SOLDIER," Zack teased him,
grinning. At least, Cloud thought he was teasing. With Zack, it could be hard
to tell. "Something a little less permanent, for the moment. Come on!"
Not giving Cloud any further chance to object, Zack hauled him along into the
building. The walls were covered with samples of the tattoo artists' work, and
there was a man in a chair getting an addition made to his already heavily
tattooed body. Looking around nervously, Cloud wondered just what the hell Zack
had in mind.
"Here," the older boy said, leading him to a glass case where little bits of
colour gleamed against a black background.
Earrings, Cloud realized. "You want to get our ears pierced?" he asked,
stunned. Regulations permitted troopers to wear one small stud, and he'd seen
some of the SOLDIERs wearing more elaborate ones, but he'd never really thought
about getting one for himself.
"Yeah, sure," Zack nodded. "It's like, a bonding ritual or something. Not that
we really need to be much more bonded," he grinned, "but still. You pick one
for me, I'll pick one for you."
Studying the case, Cloud thought about it. All things considered, he actually
thought Zack would look pretty damn hot with an earring. He couldn't picture
one on himself, but he didn't think it would look horrible. "Why not?" he
shrugged, and pointed. "That one," he said, indicating a pale amethyst stone
set in silver that he thought would look good on his friend.
"Looks good," Zack agreed. "And you're totally getting that sapphire one. It'll
match your eyes and your uniform."
"Not that I'm going to be wearing this uniform much longer," Cloud reminded him
with more confidence than he felt.
"True enough," Zack laughed. "All right, let's do it." He waved the attendant
over.
Cloud watched a little nervously as the woman loaded the sapphire stud into
something that looked disturbingly like a gun. "Now, just hold still," she
said, swabbing his left earlobe with alcohol. "It'll sting for a second, and
then it'll just be a bit of an ache for a few days."
Closing his eyes as she lifted the gun to his ear, Cloud braced himself. There
was a snap as the spring-loaded needle pierced his ear, and the promised sharp
stinging pain washed over him. The woman lowered the gun, and smiled at him.
"There! Perfect," she proclaimed. "Take a look."
Glancing at the indicated mirror, Cloud blinked at his reflection. The sapphire
and gold stud actually looked pretty good on him, despite the redness of his
ear around it. "My turn!" Zack declared, all but shoving him out of the way.
Cloud was happy to see that Zack flinched a little as the piercing gun went
off, too, but when the woman lifted it away the amethyst stud shining there
looked good. "I like it," he said, smiling when Zack opened his eyes to grin at
him.
"Told you," the older boy said, hopping off the stool they'd used. "Thanks!" he
said to the attendant, flipping her a gil piece that was more than enough to
cover the charge. "So now that we've got our badges of courage, let's go make
sure they didn't accidentally leave our names off the list!"
By the time they reached the base again the pain in Cloud's ear had settled to
a tolerable ache, though he couldn't resist reaching up to touch the stud every
so often. It felt strange to have it there, but he thought he was glad Zack had
talked him into it. At least concentrating on it gave him something to think
about other than the exam results.
There was a crowd around the bulletin board when they reached it. Those
participating in the exam wanted to know their results, of course, but most of
the candidates had support from their units as well. Zack and Cloud had to
shove and elbow their way close enough to the front to see the list, and by the
time they got there Cloud was shivering with nerves.
"There you are!" Zack crowed, pointing to the top of the list. Cloud's name was
third from the top, as the list was organized alphabetically. All the air
rushed out of his lungs as he saw it, and was replaced by a giddy feeling of
joy. He'd passed!
"And there I am," the older boy finished, his finger dropping to the end of the
list and a note of triumph in his voice. "We did it!"
Exuberant as always, he grabbed Cloud around the shoulders and ruffled his hair
vigorously. For once Cloud didn't even try to protest, too busy laughing with
relief and happiness. The first hurdle had been passed; now all they had to do
was get through tomorrow's physical exam.
***** Chapter 13 *****
If Cloud had actually gotten any sleep the night before, he hadn't been aware
of it. As far as he could tell he'd tossed and turned all night long. Even so
he felt restless and charged with nervous energy as he, Zack, and the two
others from alpha company who'd made it this far headed for the parade ground.
It was still an hour before reveille; their captain had come to wake them
early, telling them the SOLDIER candidates were to meet out here. Cloud
couldn't imagine what they could possibly be doing at oh-dark-hundred, but he
wasn't going to argue.
More yawning examinees wandered in behind them, falling into place in the ranks
as they waited for whatever was going to happen. 'Hurry up and wait' really was
a truism in the military, Cloud reflected as he tried not to fidget.
Thankfully, for once the brass didn't leave them hanging too long. Fifteen
minutes after the last candidate arrived, Heidegger himself led a little trail
of junior officers up to the front of the square. Everyone snapped to
attention, and Cloud bit his lip in anticipation. This was it.
"Gya ha ha! Congratulations on making it this far," the portly man chortled -
there was really no other word for it. Cloud stared in a kind of morbid
fascination. He'd never gotten any closer to Heidegger than seeing the man's
signature on the paperwork admitting him to the army. This was the head of
Shinra's military department?
Well, maybe he was some kind of military genius or something. Surely President
Shinra wouldn't have put him in charge of such an important department if he
wasn't more competent than he seemed to be.
"This year, we're going to be doing something a little different with the
exams," Heidegger continued, sounding much like the proverbial cat that ate the
chocobo chick. "Dio, the owner of the new Gold Saucer amusement complex, has
graciously offered his facilities to us, gya ha ha! We'll be taking the
Highwind to the Western Continent, and the testing will begin once we arrive.
Move out!"
The ranks stayed orderly as they marched towards the airship field, but once
Heidegger and his subordinates were out of hearing range, soft murmurs broke
out among the candidates.
"Oh great, just what I needed. I'll still be recovering from being airsick all
the way there by the time the tests start," Cloud groaned.
"You and your motion sickness," Zack said, clearly bemused by the whole thing.
"At least you won't have anything to throw up; they haven't said anything about
breakfast yet. I'm starving!"
"I wonder where General Sephiroth is?" someone said from their left. "I thought
he always at least made an appearance before the physicals, to study the
candidates?"
"Maybe he's waiting at Gold Saucer," another man suggested, shrugging. "I've
heard about that place. Dio isn't the kind of guy to do anything out of the
goodness of his heart, or a sense of civic minded charity. They're probably
already laying odds on the outcome of the tests."
"You think they've turned it into a spectator sport?" Cloud asked, startled and
dismayed. It wasn't - exactly - that he didn't have confidence in his ability
to pass, but he didn't want to make a spectacle of himself for the
entertainment of a bunch of strangers, either! And the idea that people would
be betting on the outcome of something that was so important and personal to
him just didn't sit right with him.
"Want to bet the general's absence is a protest?" Zack said quietly to Cloud
alone. "He didn't strike me as the type to appreciate a move like this. He's
too dignified."
"Would you stop thinking I'm stupid enough to take bets like that?" Cloud
demanded, exasperated. Zack just chuckled softly.
The trip wasn't as bad as he'd expected; they had calm winds the whole way
there, and Cloud wasn't as sick as he would have been in a truck or on a boat.
Once they'd crossed the ocean, he and several others made their way up to the
deck to exclaim and marvel over the tiny scenery below, and that took his mind
off it entirely.
Still, he was grateful to be back on solid ground once they reached the Gold
Saucer. Even though he hadn't felt like this much of a hick since he'd first
arrived in Midgar. He couldn't believe the sheer decadence of the place, not to
mention the garish over-the-top quality to everything. There was loud, overly
cheerful music playing, flashing lights and neon signs in every direction, and
the crowds were unbelievable. Even the method of getting from one place to
another was through an odd set of connecting tubes that whisked you along as if
you were falling down a slide.
The SOLDIER candidates were led to the section called 'Chocobo Square', which
seemed to be designed for chocobo racing events. Once they'd gathered in what
appeared to be the jockey's room, crowded in so tight they couldn't even hope
to stay in formation, Heidegger addressed them again.
"You will be competing in first an endurance run, then an obstacle course," the
fat man informed them. "The race track has a virtual system that can simulate
any terrain or environment. In each event, only the top two thirds of
participants will be allowed to continue." He smiled, an oily smile that didn't
endear him at all to Cloud. "After that, we've got a special event for those
remaining, but it's a secret for now! Gya ha ha!"
"It's boot camp final exam all over again," Cloud said, wincing at the thought.
Except this was going to be much harder, and there would be hundreds of people
watching and betting on him, and he was starting to seriously doubt his sanity
for even attempting this.
"No problem," Zack replied confidently, flashing him a grin. "We aced that,
didn't we? Despite running into Sephiroth himself. What could be harder than
charging the Demon of Wutai, huh?"
"True," Cloud admitted, feeling a little better. Granted, they hadn't exactly
fared well in their brief foray against the general, but he doubted even a
SOLDIER 1st Class would be able to easily take on Sephiroth. The man was really
in a class all by himself.
They were given an opportunity to change into clothing more appropriate for the
workout, which was provided for them. Cloud grimaced at the sight of the
garishly coloured tunics, each a different colour and printed with a big white
number on the front and back. "We're going to look like we're trying to imitate
the chocobos," he said in disgust.
"Aw, I think they look pretty snazzy," Zack said, showing his off.
"That's because you got something approaching a reasonable shade of blue!"
Cloud replied, waving his own puke-green tunic. Zack just laughed again, and
took the opportunity to ruffle his hair while Cloud didn't have room to dodge.
As they gathered at the starting line, Cloud felt his nerves threatening to
swallow him. Zack had a much lower number than he did, so the older boy wasn't
even nearby to help calm him as they waited for the endurance run to start. "I
can do this," he told himself under his breath, trying to psych himself up the
same way Zack would have. "It's not like I need him around like some kind of
good luck charm. I can do this, and when it's over we'll both be SOLDIERs."
He sounded more confident than he felt, but it was something. The warning
buzzer sounded, and he fell into his place in line. There were so many
participants they needed three rows of starters, but for such a long race it
wouldn't matter in the end whether you started in the front or not.
There was a countdown, then a ringing bell, and Cloud's body started moving
before he was even consciously aware the race had started. He tried to pace
himself, but the crowd of bodies was still too tight for anyone to set their
own pace. That was okay; they would probably be strung out with plenty of space
by the time they finished the first of the twenty laps.
Cloud stopped trying to keep track of how many laps had gone by after the third
or fourth. The landscape was never the same from one time to the next, and the
constant changes were distracting. They ran through fields, over beaches, up
and down mountain paths, and even through the vast emptiness of space. The
level of reality was unbelievable; Cloud would have sworn he could feel the
surf tugging at his ankles as he ran through the edges of the crashing waves.
Here, all the training he'd been doing with Zack started to pay off. There were
people passing him, but not so many that Cloud worried he would be in the
bottom third. As he settled into his stride, his confidence started to grow. He
really could do this.
Zack passed him twice over the course of the race, flashing him a breathless
grin and a thumbs up each time. Cloud had expected that; Zack had shot up again
over the last month, and his legs were longer than Cloud's. Plus he'd always
been better at endurance tests. If anything, the fact that he only went by
twice did more for Cloud's confidence than everything else combined.
Finally, as he turned a corner and started down another straight stretch, he
saw one of the race officials waving him over. Reluctant to break his stride to
find out what the man wanted, but worried that ignoring him would bring
trouble, Cloud veered over to where he was standing.
"You're done, kid," the man said, and for an awful moment Cloud thought he'd
been disqualified for breaking some unknown rule. Then someone pounced him from
behind and pounded him on the back, and he recognized Zack's familiar scent.
"Cloud! We did it!" the older boy shouted, pulling back and shaking him by the
shoulders, his grin so bright it could have powered Midgar all by itself.
"I... I made it? It's over?" Cloud gasped, exhaustion starting to set in as his
body realized he wasn't moving any more.
"With tonnes of time to spare," Zack confirmed, gleeful. He pointed up at a
scoreboard that hung over the area where those already finished were waiting,
and Cloud saw a list of names that shifted and changed as runners passed each
other. A bit less than half of them were static, with little crowns next to
their names to indicate the runners had finished. His was now fifth from the
bottom of that section, and Zack's was up in the top five.
"I did it!" Cloud exclaimed, and if he hadn't been so tired he'd have been
jumping up and down in excitement. "Zack, I did it!"
"You sure did, kid," his friend agreed. "Too bad we don't have a chance to bet
on ourselves, we'd have made a bundle on you. Check out your odds."
Scanning over the rest of the information next to the names of the runners,
Cloud scowled as he saw how high the odds against him had been set. "Shows what
they know," he grumbled. "As if I'd let you leave me behind."
Knowing better than to stand still after that much effort, Cloud joined Zack in
pacing slow, small circles. At least they got the chance to cool down and rest
while the stragglers trailed in. Watching the looks on their faces as the last
third saw the board and realized they hadn't made it was painful. Some of the
younger ones even broke down in tears at the disappointment.
By the time the last candidates had crossed the finish line and the losers had
been shuffled off to wait out the rest of the test somewhere, Cloud felt like
he was starting to get his breath back. That was good, because they were
promptly herded right back to the start line again for the obstacle course.
This time they were lined up according to their finishing times from the last
race, but it still meant Cloud was near the back and Zack was at the front. In
this race it did make a difference where you started, as the course was much
shorter. Cloud resolved to do his best to pull ahead and get into a clear space
as soon as possible, because he also had no doubts that there would be
surreptitious attempts by some of the candidates to interfere with the other
participants.
The bell sounded, and they were off. Almost immediately Cloud realized he
wasn't as recovered from the last race as he'd thought he was; his legs felt
rubbery and didn't want to do what he was asking of them. They really should
have done the obstacles first, and the endurance run second.
Well, to be fair, in the field they wouldn't often be facing battle when they
were already fresh and rested. It would come after they'd already tired
themselves, and this was probably meant to simulate that. Grimly Cloud dug in
and forced his body to do what he wanted, pulling ahead of the back ranks one
inch at a time.
He lost ground on strength-based obstacles like rope climbing or going hand-
over-hand across a chasm on a pole. Thankfully, he gained it right back again
and then some on the agility-based obstacles, his small lithe form an asset for
a change. He wasn't sure, but he thought he was somewhere near the middle as he
rounded the final bend and the finish line came into sight a hundred yards
away.
Then he hit the wall of water, and floundered. The area around him had been
changed to look like an underwater scene, but he hadn't actually expected to
end up swimming! How did they keep the water from spilling out over the rest of
the course?
He hadn't had a chance to take a full breath, and his lungs ached with the need
for more air. It took him a moment to realize that he was not, in fact, wet at
all; what he was moving through was air that had somehow been made to resist
his motions just as if it really was water.
Even so it took him a moment to convince his hindbrain that it really was okay
to breathe. The air left his lungs in an explosive gasp, and his body
instinctively thrashed as he took in the next gulp of air. It was only air,
though, and he had no problems breathing it.
Once he'd convinced his body it was okay, he set to swimming in earnest.
Swimming wasn't something he'd had any chance to do in Nibelheim, and he hadn't
learned how until after he'd left. His motions were awkward and ungainly, but
they got him moving forward. At least, he saw as he risked a glance back, most
of the others were having the same problem adjusting to the change in
environment that he had.
Kicking and stroking for all he was worth, Cloud approached the finish line.
This time he noticed the line that delineated the ocean area, a good ten feet
from the finish line. He dove towards the ground, and when he burst free of the
'water' he managed to hit his feet and keep running.
It was all he could do not to collapse as soon as he crossed the line, his
stride turning to a stagger. "Did I make it?" he gasped out to no one in
particular. He had no doubt Zack would already be there waiting for him, just
like before.
"You bet you did," the familiar voice answered, and a hand at his shoulder
tugged him into a quick, triumphant embrace. Cloud let himself savour the
strong feel of Zack's body against his for just a moment, before they pulled
away again. "You had me worried, though. You lost a lot of time adjusting to
the water."
Glancing up at the board, Cloud shuddered as he saw that only two lines below
his name, there were no crowns next to the names of those who had finished. A
few more seconds, and he would have been eliminated.
"But you made it, that's the important thing," Zack forged on, clapping him on
the back and nearly sending him sprawling. "Oops! Sorry. Anyway, there's only
one thing left. Probably a mission scenario just like in boot camp, and we're
sure to ace that." The sight of his excited smile was enough to give Cloud just
a little energy back.
"I just want to sit down for a while," the exhausted boy said, shaking his
head. "And eat something! I can't believe they made us do all this on an empty
stomach!"
"I know, it's gotta be late afternoon," Zack grimaced. "Probably more of the
usual 'the enemy won't always give you time to eat' propaganda. Well, it won't
kill us, and having a full stomach would probably do us more harm than good."
They were allowed back into the jockey's room, and this time there were few
enough of them that they could all take a seat at the table. Looking around,
Cloud counted eight other people besides him and Zack. How many people had
started out taking the written the day before? At least fifty, maybe more.
Small wonder some people tried their whole lives to get into SOLDIER without
succeeding.
Heidegger entered, and they all did their best to leap to their feet and snap
to attention. Even Zack's movements were sluggish, though; they were all
exhausted.
"Gya ha ha! Congratulations," Heidegger said, seeming even more self satisfied
than before. It occurred to Cloud to wonder if the fat man had been placing any
bets on his candidates. "We've got field rations for you, and you'll be given
half an hour to rest and recover before the third test. Eat up!"
The rations were barely edible as usual, but they at least stopped the worst of
the empty ache in his stomach. Leaning back in his chair, Cloud closed his eyes
and tried to centre himself, ignoring the noise of the others around him.
The next thing he knew Zack was shaking him awake. Groggy, he sat up and rubbed
his eyes, looking around in confusion. "Wha..?"
"It's time," Zack told him. There was a tension in the older boy's shoulders
and a tightness around his mouth that told Cloud he was nervous too, though
anyone who didn't know him as well as Cloud would never have seen it. "Let's
go. Just this one last thing, and then we've made it."
"Yeah," Cloud nodded, trying to put conviction into his voice. He could do
this. They could do this.
This time they were led, not back out to the race track, but off to another
area of the Saucer entirely. 'Battle Square', the sign proclaimed, and as they
dragged themselves up a long set of steep stairs Cloud wondered just what they
were in for.
There was an older man with impressive muscles, wearing shockingly little to
Cloud's small-town sensibilities, waiting for them with Heidegger. "Welcome,"
he said jovially. "I am Dio, the owner of this establishment. You are the lucky
participants in the grand opening of the newest section of Gold Saucer; the
Battle Square. Each of you will enter separately, with the equipment provided
by your officers. You will face up to eight battles, with a chance to stop
after each battle. Since this is a test and you are entering with limited
equipment, you will not be assigned a random handicap between each round." He
smiled, his teeth flashing far too bright to be natural. "Good luck."
"Gya ha ha!" Heidegger laughed. That sound was really starting to grate on
Cloud's nerves. "Each fight you win gives you a certain number of points," he
said. "The points increase exponentially with each battle. If you defeat all
eight battles, you automatically pass. Otherwise, the top five scoring people
will be admitted to SOLDIER; the rest of you will be disqualified. Remember, if
you lose then you receive zero points and are automatically disqualified. Gya
ha ha!"
Trying to take deep, steady breaths, Cloud looked at Zack. "At least they're
not making us fight each other," he said, which had been one of his very real
fears. He could face Zack in a sparring match easily enough, but he wasn't sure
he'd be able to do it when it meant that one of them losing would mean one of
them not making it into SOLDIER.
"Yeah, piece of cake," Zack said confidently. "Just keep an eye on your
strength, and tap out as soon as you think you might not get through the next
battle. Don't worry about how many points you have; I almost guarantee at least
five of these guys will push themselves too far and end up with no points.
You'll be fine."
Nodding, Cloud surveyed the others, trying to gauge from their expressions who
would be too stubborn to give up when they couldn't be certain of winning the
next fight. He couldn't help but wonder what they thought of him. A kid who
would wimp out after the first round? Or someone too determined who would end
up losing?
Judging by the odds that were already flashing up next to their names on a
screen, not many people thought he was going to make it. Scowling, Cloud
resisted the urge to make a rude gesture at the screen and turned his attention
to the arena.
They were each given a standard issue sword, bracer, five potions and an ether,
and their choice of one basic mastered materia. Most people chose one of the
three elementals, to give them an offensive magic. Zack picked out a Seal,
which Cloud thought was probably smart of him. He would be able to Silence any
enemies who tried to cast on him. For himself Cloud finally decided on a Time
materia. He could caste Haste on himself at the start of the battle, and then
Slow on at least a couple of enemies.
"Oh, just one more thing," Dio said as they filed into the rows of benches set
up for spectators around the arena. There was already a crowd waiting, but a
small area had been set aside for them. Heidegger went off to join another man
who, Cloud realized after a startled moment, matched the portrait on the back
of a gil piece. President Shinra himself.
"The battle arena opponents are not ordinary people," Dio continued cheerfully.
"We have carefully captured and trained dozens of the new monsters appearing
around the world." There was an alarmed murmur among the candidates, and
Cloud's eyes went wide. Monsters? They were going to be fighting monsters?
People could at least be counted on to stop fighting if you lost the battle and
collapsed. What would stop losers here from being ravaged by the monsters
before anyone could stop them?
"They're really playing it up, aren't they," Zack murmured, glancing around at
the cheering crowd. "Still no sign of Sephiroth, or any other SOLDIERs for that
matter. This is going to be interesting."
"At least we get a bit of a chance to see what we're up against," Cloud said,
pointing at the scoreboard. They were apparently being alternated; first the
lowest score from the last race would go, then Zack as the top score, then
Cloud as the second lowest, and so on. "Not much time, but some."
"I guess they want to make sure there are enough interesting fights sprinkled
in to keep the crowd's interest," Zack nodded. "Well, we won't have to wait
long, anyway!"
The first contestant was summoned out of the stands, and walked down to the
area floor with his hand clenched around his sword. It was one of the
civilians, and he looked scared half out of his mind. Feeling a little more
sympathetic to him, Cloud figured he'd probably never been in a real fight
before in his life. He almost certainly wouldn't have faced any of these
monsters before. Maybe the whole mess in Mideel would turn out to have been a
blessing in disguise.
The first battle was, in fact, three of the same bats they'd faced there. The
civilian clearly panicked as the first one swooped down on them, swinging his
sword with more fear than finesse. After a gruelling minute or so he managed to
kill the last of the bats, but when the referee asked if he wanted to continue
to the second fight, he shook his head frantically.
"I wonder if civilians ever make it?" Cloud wondered aloud, watching as the
shaken man staggered out of the arena. He wasn't disqualified, but having
gotten through only one fight he was almost guaranteed to fail.
"Probably, or they wouldn't let them keep taking the exams," Zack said,
shrugging as he stood. "Wish me luck!"
"You don't need it," Cloud asserted, and got a flash of a grin in return.
"That's the spirit! Neither do you." Zack ruffled his hair, which this once
Cloud allowed without trying to get out of it, and then the older boy was
bounding gracefully down the steps to the arena.
It felt like his heart was pounding in his throat as he watched Zack walk to
the centre of the square and wait, his sword held ready and a casual expression
on his face. Cloud wasn't close enough to get a good look at his friend's eyes,
but he was certain they would be blazing with a determination that would put
the lie to his expression.
This time the first monster looked like nothing so much as a walking house, and
it very nearly ended the battle with its first attack as the dark-haired boy
stood staring at it with a dumbfounded look. Once Zack managed to wrap his mind
around the fact that yes, a house was attacking him, he was able to cut it down
with only a few attacks.
Next up were the bats, and Cloud had to grin as Zack took care of them without
so much as blinking, dodging their attacks with the ease of practice. He went
on to the third round still without a mark on him.
After that, things got tougher. There were dragons and wolves, plants and
insects, even things Cloud couldn't even begin to figure out what they were
supposed to be. Zack started using the Seal judiciously, putting the toughest
opponent in a group to sleep while he took care of the rest. Even so he was
taking damage, and Cloud mentally ticked off each of the potions as he saw his
friend drink it.
Going into the seventh battle, Zack had only one potion left and he'd used up
his ether. He was clearly tiring, his reactions slowed considerably and the
sword drooping in the air like it was too heavy for him to hold up. He'd been
poisoned at some point, and the extra drain on his energy was started to show.
The seventh fight was against one of the red dragons they'd seen in the lab and
in Mideel, and Cloud winced as he remembered the way the trooper's sword had
glanced right off the monster's tough scales. Zack could have shot it in the
eye or the mouth easily enough, but with a sword he was almost helpless against
it. And it could fry him in a heartbeat, before anybody would be able to stop
it.
Panting, Zack threw out his off hand and used the last of his magical energy to
cast Sleep once more. Cloud wasn't sure what that was going to accomplish,
since the first physical attack would wake the creature, but maybe Zack was
planning to position himself so he could stab it in the eye or something.
Unfortunately the spell failed, and Cloud's hands clenched so hard on the edge
of his seat he was afraid the wood might splinter. Holding his breath, he
watched as Zack regrouped and evaluated his chances... and charged with a
fierce yell.
The dragon roared, but thank Odin did not breathe flame at the attacking boy.
It swiped at him instead, its claws catching Zack squarely in the side and
raking deep furrows in his torso. Staggering, the boy swung his sword in a
desperate move, and Cloud squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn't bear to watch the
weapon skitter off the scales, and the dragon tear Zack to pieces.
Instead there was another roar, a pained one this time, and a spontaneous cheer
from the audience. Daring to look, Cloud peeked through his fingers and saw
Zack standing triumphant over the thrashing and dying dragon, his sword
dripping with thick, dark blood. Shaking, Zack fumbled with his last potion and
nearly dropped it, but finally managed to swallow it.
He set his sword tip against the cobbled floor of the arena and leaned against
it as the referee approached him once more. "One more fight to go," the man
said. "Are you in?"
Glancing up at the scoreboard for a long moment, Zack seemed to consider it.
One more win would guarantee him entry to SOLDIER... but a loss would
disqualify him. Slowly, he shook his head. "No," he rasped, coughing and
spitting a bit of blood. "I'm out. Knowing when to make a strategic retreat is
important too, right?" He grinned, and the audience cheered, while Cloud's
heartbeat slowly returned to something approaching normal. Zack had made it,
for sure.
Then his heart sped right back up again as he realized that meant it was his
turn. Trying hard not to let his nerves show, he made his way down to the
arena.
"You can do it," Zack cheered him on hoarsely as they passed in the aisle.
"I'll be cheering you louder than anyone else."
Giving him a smile that he hoped didn't look as sickly as it felt, Cloud nodded
once. Then he was past, and the only thing in front of him was the empty arena.
Bracing himself, he stepped out into the centre and drew his sword. Although he
was part of the rifle corps, anyone who intended to try for SOLDIER practiced
obsessively with the sword. The feel of the hilt in his hand was comforting and
familiar, and he felt himself calming just a little bit. Zack had done his
part; now it was up to Cloud to follow suit.
The first opponent was a pair of slug-like creatures. One of them spun a cocoon
of silk around Cloud before he could even try to use his Haste spell, and the
entangling threads made it hard to move quickly. Deciding there was no point in
Hasting himself if he was just going to be slowed down by this crap anyway,
Cloud attacked instead. The slugs were surprisingly easy to kill, and the
relatively easy victory did a lot to boost his morale.
He nodded to show that he was willing to continue, struggling to get free of
the sticky threads. Two of the wolves prowled out of the tunnel that led to the
cages just as he shook the last of it off, and he quickly cast the Haste. The
spell seemed to slow down everything around him rather than speeding him up;
Cloud had used it a few times in the past and he always loved the feel of it.
His accelerated reflexes allowed him to deal with the wolves without taking
more than one minor bite to the shoulder and another to his forearm.
Nodding again, he grabbed for one of his potions and drank it quickly to take
the worst of the sting out of his wounds. The next group of creatures to come
forward consisted of two flying creatures that looked like birds with no
feathers, and an odd little round porcupine-like animal.
Deciding to get the easiest thing out of the way first, Cloud attacked the
porcupine. He had to duck and dodge diving attacks from the birds as he slashed
at the ground-bound monster, but it didn't take much to finish it off. To his
surprise, though, when he finally ran it through, it didn't just collapse like
the other monsters had. It actually vanished, fading away and leaving his blade
untouched.
Something dropped down over him, and it wasn't the birds. Cloud suddenly felt a
wave of despair crash through him, and it was a struggle to move through the
intense feeling of impending doom. It had to be some sort of spell, he realized
as he slashed at the wing of one of the birds. He took a moment to drink
another potion, hoping that would help, but the sense of approaching disaster
increased with every moment that went by.
He attacked the birds again, trying to concentrate on them rather than the
choking despair. He hacked the wing off one of them and ran it through when it
fell, and it stayed properly dead like it was supposed to. His breath coming
short in his chest, he turned on the last one.
Duck, parry, dodge, slash, parry again, stab. The bird was fast, but Cloud had
the power of desperation behind him. He had to win this fight. If the spell
didn't end after the bird was dead and he still felt this bad, he could opt out
of the next fight and keep the points he already had, but if he lost here then
he was finished.
A lucky thrust stabbed into the bird, and it squawked and flapped helplessly,
spitted on Cloud's sword. He had just a split second to enjoy the feeling of
triumph, before 'impending' suddenly became 'immediate', and the whole world
turned to black.
***** Chapter 14 *****
The darkness around him was comforting, like a warm blanket you could snuggle
into when it was cold enough to make your breath frost. He could have stayed
there for hours, maybe forever, and been happy.
Something was nagging at him, though. A sense that he'd left something undone,
something important. He couldn't finish it without leaving the darkness, so
despite his reluctance he forced himself out of it.
It wasn't until light struck him and made him blink that he realized the reason
everything had been dark was that he'd had his eyes closed. Dazed, he squinted
against the harsh brightness and trailed his gaze over his surroundings. Bed,
dresser, another bed, a chair, Zack, a door...
Zack! Realization hit him like a Bolt 3 spell, and he wrenched himself up to a
sitting position with a gasp. "Did I kill it? Did it count?"
"Hades!" Zack yelped, dropping the book he'd been reading and jerking half out
of the chair with surprise. Staring back at Cloud with overly wide eyes, the
dark-haired boy visibly tried to calm himself. "Don't scare me like that,
Cloud! I thought you were still asleep."
Impatient with trivialities, Cloud gestured sharply with one hand and winced as
the motion pulled at sore muscles. "Never mind that. Did it count?"
Sighing, Zack unfolded himself from the chair, raking a hand through his hair.
"I don't know," he admitted as he walked over to sit on the edge of the bed.
"It was a mutual knockout, essentially. They were still debating it when the
medics brought you up here to sleep it off. Said that would be better for you
than forcing you awake with a spell or a phoenix down."
Fists clenching in the sheets, Cloud looked back at him with his heart in his
mouth. "Then... then I might have failed?" At that moment he realized that
although he'd been nervous, some part of him had always been sure he would
pass. That part of him had been fuelled largely by Zack's continued lack of any
doubt that Cloud would be with him in SOLDIER, and the mere idea that he might
not be was enough to make him want to scream.
"Whoa, hey, take it easy," Zack said soothingly, resting his hands on Cloud's
shoulders to help steady him. "We don't know yet. Just calm down, okay? I don't
want you knocking yourself back out again. Here," he handed Cloud a familiar
little bottle, and Cloud blinked at it. "I got it off the first guy, the one
who left after his first round," Zack said in response to the younger boy's
bewildered expression. "Resting should have put you back good as new, but just
in case. You didn't sleep as long as they said you should."
Uncorking it, Cloud drank it down without even really tasting it. It didn't
seem to make much difference, though when he moved again he noted he wasn't
quite as sore as he had been before.
Once he was satisfied that Cloud wasn't about to collapse on him, Zack nodded
and stood. "Come on," he said, offering the younger boy his hand. "They've
probably posted the results by now. I didn't want to leave you to find out."
Despite himself, Cloud couldn't help a brief moment of uncharitable bitterness.
Of course Zack hadn't been frantic to see the results; he was almost guaranteed
to have made it in. Shaking it off, Cloud took his friend's hand and scrambled
out of the bed.
Instead of letting go, though, Zack tugged him in close and kissed him
fiercely. "I've wanted to do that since the endurance run," he said when he
pulled away, smiling down at Cloud. "You are amazing, you know that?"
Normally Cloud would have leaned in and luxuriated in the rare opportunity to
be able to touch the older boy without fear, but at the moment there was only
one thing his mind could focus on. Celebratory kisses could wait until he knew
for sure they had something to celebrate.
"The results, Zack!" he said urgently. Nodding, Zack released him and followed
him to the door.
It didn't take him long to realize he must have been brought to whatever hotel
serviced the patrons of the Gold Saucer. The lobby was crowded with guests as
they came down the curving stairs, most of them talking loudly and gesturing at
a television screen mounted on the wall.
By the time they were halfway down the stairs, Cloud could see what was on the
screen as well. He froze, his knees threatening to give way beneath him, as the
impact of it hit him. They were showing replays of the highlights of the races
and the battles, but beneath that there was a scrolling marquee that showed the
results of the top ten candidates and the odds placed on them. His was the
second to scroll by as he watched, and it was written not in the bright mako
green they'd highlighted the winners with, but in a dark blood red.
Failed. He'd failed. All the effort, all the studying, all the pain and fear
and struggle... all for nothing. He'd failed.
"Cloud..." Sounding like he didn't know quite what to say, Zack put his hands
on Cloud's shoulders from behind. Probably bracing him, just in case the
younger boy really did collapse.
"I... I didn't make it?" Cloud whispered, the words disbelieving. As he watched
the list came to the end before looping back to the beginning, and Zack's name
went by in gold rather than green. First place, Cloud realized when he saw the
little crown next to his friend's name. Zack had been the top scoring
candidate.
And Cloud had failed.
"Look, do you even realize how amazingly well you did?" Zack was saying, his
words hardly registering in Cloud's fevered brain. "Out of fifty candidates,
you're one of only ten who made it to the finals."
"But I failed," Cloud repeated, in shock. What difference did it make how far
he'd made it, if he didn't make it all the way? It wasn't like there was any
kind of consolation prize. He stifled a hysterical laugh at the very idea.
Here, you didn't make it into SOLDIER, but have a ribbon to show you made it
this far.
"Cloud, you're barely fifteen," Zack said, trying for reason. "They don't let
you into the army until you're sixteen for a reason, you know. Any younger than
that and your body is still developing, not strong enough yet for what they ask
of it. Odin's blood, other than Sephiroth I think I might be the first person
to make it into SOLDIER younger than eighteen. If you did this well now, just
wait until next year. You'll be the top score for sure."
Some part of that managed to register with Cloud, but it probably wasn't the
part Zack had been hoping for. "You..." he said, panic and disbelief slowly
curdling into anger inside him. "All this time, for months, you've been telling
me over and over that you knew I could do it. And you were lying?"
"What?" Blinking, Zack shook his head. "Hey, no, wait, that's not what I..."
"You never believed I could do it!" Cloud shouted, uncaring that he was making
a scene and drawing the attention of the crowd below them. In his pain and fury
and shame he lashed out at the nearest target, unwilling and unable to listen
to comforting platitudes. "You bastard! Were you laughing at me the whole time,
or did it just make you feel good to be able to look at me and know you were
that much better than me?"
"Cloud!" Now looking more than a little hurt himself, Zack frowned at him. "You
know that isn't..."
"Shut up!" Cloud yelled, tears forming in his eyes and making Zack's image
waver. Suddenly he was desperate to get out of there before he started crying
in front of everyone, in front of Zack. "Shut up! Just leave me alone! Go... go
celebrate with the rest of them. Congratulations." He spat the last word more
like a curse.
Turning, he bolted back up the stairs. All he wanted was to get away; away from
Zack and his triumph, away from the crowd and their smirks or laughter, away
from his own overwhelming shame. The latter wasn't possible, but at least he
could manage the first two.
"Cloud! Hey, don't... Cloud!" Zack called after him, but desperation lent wings
to Cloud's feet, and he quickly outpaced the older boy's voice.
He slammed back into the room they'd just left, locking the door behind him and
leaning against it. Tears ran freely down his face, though he stifled his sobs
as best he could. He remembered the way the people who finished too late in the
races had looked, and suddenly he had all the sympathy in the world for them.
He couldn't imagine how they'd restrained themselves from killing everyone who
had passed and left them behind.
"Cloud!" Zack rattled the doorknob, then pounded on the door hard enough to
make it vibrate against Cloud's back. "Come on, don't be like this. Let me in.
Please?"
Frantic, unable to face the thought of having to deal with Zack and pretend
that he wasn't horribly jealous of the older boy's success and hurt by his
friend's true lack of belief in him, Cloud scanned the room for a hiding place.
In the closet and under the beds were both far too obvious, but the window at
the far side of the room caught his eye.
Darting over, he threw open the window and looked outside. There was a three-
story drop to the base of the building, and a steep hill down from there.
Heights had never bothered him; he'd been born and raised on a mountain, after
all.
Scrambling out the window, he hung from the sill by the fingers of one hand
while he shut the window again with the other. He had few illusions about
Zack's ability to get into the room if he was really determined, and he was
hoping the older boy would waste time searching for him inside.
Climbing down the outside wall was easy enough, and shortly Cloud was on the
ground and running. It took him a moment to realize that the transport tubes
had been disguised as grave markers, but he picked one at random and jumped in.
He emerged to find himself in what seemed to be an amusement park. Well, the
whole Saucer was one big amusement park, but this area fit the more traditional
definition of one. Dominating the landscape was a roller coaster, the wooden
framework towering over everything else.
Like a carrier pigeon instinctively homing in on his roost, Cloud headed
straight for the coaster. He dodged the security around it easily enough,
concentrating on that so he wouldn't have to think about how devastated he was
by the exam results and Zack's betrayal. When he reached the base of the
tallest part of the track, he started to climb.
He knew he shouldn't be out here, that Shinra would probably be gathering up
the exam participants soon and heading back to Midgar. If he wasn't there he'd
be listed as AWOL, and that was a black mark on his record he didn't need.
At that moment, he found he really didn't care. He'd failed the SOLDIER exam.
What difference did a black mark make? He would never achieve his dream, no
matter how spotless his record was. He wasn't even sure he wanted to go back,
to have to face everyone in his platoon and company, and tell them he'd failed.
He wasn't sure who would be harder to deal with: the ones who pitied him, or
the ones who were smug.
And worse, to have to go back and watch Zack pack his things and head off for
SOLDIER training. Except for the first few miserable days of boot camp, and
that far more horrid week in Mideel, Cloud had never been far from Zack's side.
They were something of an inseparable unit in the minds of their fellow
troopers; he'd heard more than one person refer to 'ZackandCloud' as if they
were one entity. Now that would change; he and Zack would be living in entirely
different worlds.
Reaching the last crossbeam before the track itself, Cloud paused and took
stock of the area, panting for breath and still struggling against sobs. The
whole structure rattled every time the car went by overhead, and he could hear
the screams of the riders clearly as they plunged down over the other side of
the hill, but the beams were wide enough for him to curl up on one with his
back against a support.
There, finally, he gave in to his pain. He pulled his knees up to his chest and
buried his face in them, wrapping his arms around them to hold them close. And
he cried like he hadn't since the days when Tifa had been in a coma and nobody
knew if she would wake, and everyone had blamed him. Harder, maybe.
He'd been focused so hard and for so long on making SOLDIER that he'd never
even really considered what he might do if he didn't get in. How could he ever
go home and admit that he'd failed? He'd never be able to look Tifa in the eyes
again, let alone all the other people who'd always scorned him. He would only
be proving that they had been right when they'd predicted he would never make
anything of himself.
Shoulders wracked with sobs, he sat there curled in a ball and tried to decide
what to do. None of his options seemed appealing; his dream had been crushed,
his best friend had turned out to have doubted him all along, and he couldn't
even go home.
"Cloud." So lost was he in his misery, Cloud didn't even jump at the sound of
the familiar voice or the hesitant touch on his shoulder. "Cloud. Look at me,
please?"
Belatedly realizing Zack had somehow found him, Cloud scrubbed at his face with
the back of one hand. "Go away," he said, trying to sound fierce and only
managing miserable. "Just... just go away, Zack. I don't want to see you right
now." Him or anyone else, but especially him.
"Cloud, I wasn't lying when I said I knew you would make it into SOLDIER," Zack
said firmly, swinging himself up to sit on the other side of the support Cloud
was leaning against. He kept his hand on the younger boy's shoulder, squeezing
in a way that was probably meant to be reassuring.
"Then why did you say all that, about me being a kid?" Cloud spat at him,
turning his head far enough to glare. "You condescending bastard, you never
expected me to be able to pass!"
"I knew the odds were low, but I figured if anybody could beat the odds, it
would be you," Zack countered, his gaze level. "I still believe it."
"I failed, Zack," Cloud grated out, shaking his head. "There are no more
chances. The odds beat me. There's nothing to believe in."
Now Zack lifted his hand, but it was only to smack Cloud across the back of the
head hard enough to sting. "Now you're just being self-pitying," the older boy
said, though his voice was still gentle. "It's not like there will never be
another SOLDIER exam held again, you know. Most people don't make it the first
time. Did you give up when you got to Midgar and they told you that you were
too young? Hell, no. You told them to go fuck themselves, and you stuck it out
until you got what you wanted. And now you're going to just give up and slink
home with your tail between your legs because you lost once?"
"It's not the same!" Cloud half shouted, his voice cracking with strain.
Lifting his head, he snarled. "It's not at all the same! Don't you get it? We
were supposed to go together! Now that's gone. We'll be separated, we'll
probably never even see each other, and... and..." His voice broke again, on a
sob this time.
Shifting so he was straddling the beam, Zack moved forward until his chest was
pressed against the support beam, and wrapped his arms around both it and
Cloud. "I will not leave you behind," Zack promised fiercely. "I'm just paving
the way for you. We won't see each other as often, that's true. And believe me,
I hate the thought of it. But it's only for a year, maybe two at most. Then
we'll be SOLDIERs together, running around having adventures and being heroes
and becoming as famous as General Sephiroth. You'll see."
"You're an idiot," Cloud said, but there was no heat in his words. "You'll
forget all about me. I'll just be that kid in your unit from before you were a
SOLDIER."
"I will not," Zack shook his head. "I will never forget you, Cloud. You're my
best friend. The best friend I've ever had." He made a frustrated sound, and
shoved at Cloud's shoulders. "Move. I want to hold you, not this stupid post."
Reluctantly Cloud shifted forward, and Zack carefully swung over to his beam,
settling in straddling it with his back against the post. "How did you find
me?" Cloud asked as Zack tugged him back again, until he was leaning against
the older boy's strong chest with Zack's arms around him.
"You have a habit of heading for the high ground whenever you're upset," Zack
said, shrugging. "Must be the mountain boy in you. Me, I go looking for a tree
to climb. Not many of those around Midgar, so you've got the advantage there.
But I just checked the highest spot in every area until I saw you up here."
Zack really knew him far too well. A fresh pain stung Cloud as he was reminded
that Zack wouldn't be around enough to know when Cloud was upset any more.
"It's not fair," he choked out, shaking his head. "I'm losing my dream and my
best friend at the same time."
"Stop that," Zack smacked him on the head again, harder this time. "Your dream
is only delayed, and you're certainly not losing me. It'll just be a little
harder for us to find time together. We'll still have leave, and off-duty
hours. If one of us had been transferred to another unit, would you have just
given up and decided you would never see me again?"
Cloud wanted to protest again that it was different, but... it wasn't, really.
It was just an extreme case. "You swear you really believe I can do it?" he
asked, not entirely mollified on the issue of Zack's attempt to 'comfort' him
on his loss earlier.
"May Odin strike me down if I lie," Zack promised solemnly. "There is not a
doubt in my mind that you are 1st Class material. Provided, of course, that you
get your head out of your ass and don't stop trying just because you feel sorry
for yourself!"
Sighing, Cloud turned sideways and let his legs dangle over one side of the
beam, tucking his head under Zack's and wrapping his arms around the older boy
in turn. "Aren't we going to get in trouble for being out here?" he asked, not
willing to apologize for his earlier behaviour. All things considered, he
thought he'd earned a tantrum or two.
"Nah. Well, I might, but I don't want to have to sit around and smile through a
million congratulations ceremonies anyway." Zack shrugged, the muscles of his
shoulder rippling under Cloud's cheek. "Dio gave the ten finalists and the
officers a free night's stay here. They've already shipped everyone else back
to Midgar, but that was actually our room you snuck out of. Unfortunately we've
got a roommate, or I'd totally suggest heading back there and seeing what it
feels like to make out on a bed for once."
For once, Cloud honestly wasn't sure he was in the mood for messing around.
There was still too much emotional turmoil twisting him up inside.
Then again, maybe it would get his mind off everything. Screwing around with
Zack had always been guaranteed to distract him in the past. Without warning,
he lifted his head and caught Zack's lips with his, kissing the other boy with
a fierceness that was more desperation than passion.
It seemed like Zack understood, because he didn't resist or try to protest the
precariousness of their position. He just kissed back, running his hands slowly
over Cloud's shoulders, urging him closer still. It had been an emotionally
charged day, and Cloud felt the heat between them build faster than ever
before.
"Zack," he gasped when the older boy pulled back enough to trail his mouth over
Cloud's neck. "Please... oh please. Make me stop thinking about it." It still
hurt too much, the wound was still too fresh, no matter how many assurances
Zack tried to give him. If he could lose himself for a while, maybe it wouldn't
be so raw afterwards.
"Fuck, Cloud," Zack groaned, dropping his hands to the younger boy's hips and
holding him tight. "Shit, I want you so bad. Damn it, why couldn't they assign
us two to a room?" He nipped at Cloud's neck, making the blonde shiver.
"At least we don't have to worry about anyone walking in on us," Zack muttered,
the fingers of one hand slowly tracing their way around Cloud's waistband. They
were both still wearing their clothes from the tests, the horribly coloured
shirts looking even more garish under the artificial lights in Gold Saucer's
'night'.
Squirming, Cloud shook his head and fumbled to get under Zack's tunic as well.
"Just touch me," he demanded, pleaded. "Make it good. Please."
"Yes, sir," Zack replied with an irreverent grin, and dipped his fingers
beneath Cloud's waistband. The younger boy was still only a little hard, too
tired and wrung-out to respond as fast as usually did to Zack's touch. Not
seeming to mind, Zack stroked him slowly, teasing him to life as Cloud panted
in his arms.
"These pants have got to go," Zack said decisively as he tried to work his hand
in further and couldn't. "Think you can get them down without falling off the
beam?"
It took some cautious manoeuvring, but somehow they managed to get Cloud's
pants off without either of them falling, or losing the pants. Zack reached
back and draped the fabric over the beam he'd been sitting on earlier, then
tugged Cloud towards him again. "Here, swing your leg over so you're straddling
it too," he said, tapping Cloud's thigh.
"I'm going to get splinters up my ass," Cloud said dubiously, shifting
cautiously. Grinning, Zack shook his head.
"Can't have that," the older boy agreed. "Swing your leg over."
Cloud obeyed, and as he did Zack grabbed him by the hips and lifted him. He
found himself pressed chest to chest with the older boy, his legs draped over
Zack's thighs in a way that left him embarrassingly spread open. He didn't
touch the beam at all; he was literally sitting in Zack's lap.
From there he could feel it every time Zack breathed or shifted, and more
importantly he could feel Zack's hard length pressed up against him through the
older boy's pants. "Shouldn't we have gotten your pants off first?" Cloud asked
with a groan.
He yelped when Zack ran his hand down over Cloud's ass and the older boy's
fingers brushed over his hole. "Zack?" he asked breathlessly.
"I'm sure I don't need to ask, but you're not afraid of heights right?" Zack
asked him idly, his eyes alight with the look Cloud had come to recognize as a
sign that his friend was about to propose something wild. "Do you trust me?"
"Usually, but it makes me nervous when you feel the need to ask," Cloud replied
warily, squirming as Zack rubbed a finger over him again. It was an odd
sensation, pressure in a place that didn't normally get much in the way of
stimulation. When Zack carefully pushed just the tip of his finger inside,
Cloud gasped and shuddered. It felt weird, but not entirely unpleasant.
"I was hoping we'd find a way to slip off and celebrate, so I came prepared,"
Zack murmured into his skin, the words almost lost as another set of cars went
rattling by overhead. He was fumbling with something in his other hand, and
made a frustrated noise as he almost dropped it. "Damn it. Help me, will you?"
"What..." Cloud reached out and took the small object from him, and his eyes
widened as he read the label on the small tube. "Zack... you can't be serious.
Here?"
Zack just grinned at him, the expression tinged with more than a little
frustrated lust. "We'll see how far we get. Odin only knows when we'll get
another chance, at this rate. Don't you want to?"
There was something of a thrill to it, Cloud had to admit. One wrong move and
they could go tumbling down off the beam to fall a very, very long way. Anyone
could look up here and spot them, though they were probably high enough to be
unrecognizable.
Well, he'd wanted a distraction. This definitely qualified. Unscrewing the cap
Zack had been struggling with, Cloud squeezed some of the cool oil out onto
Zack's outstretched fingers. He braced himself as the older boy slipped his
hand back around and under Cloud's body, and gasped as he felt strong fingers
smoothing the oil onto and around his hole.
"Relax," Zack murmured, kissing him gently and supporting him with his other
hand cupped over Cloud's ass. "Don't tense up, I don't want to hurt you."
"I'm trying not to," Cloud said through gritted teeth as he took deep breaths
in an attempt to relax. He hissed as Zack slid one oiled finger inside him, and
with the lubrication this time the sensation was more pleasurable. Still weird
as hell, but an intriguing sort of weird.
Zack kissed him again to distract him as he worked a second finger inside
Cloud. Now the stretching sensation burned a little, but Cloud had more or less
expected that. He'd gone a bit soft again, but he rocked forward to rub himself
against Zack's stomach. The motion reminded him that Zack was still fully
dressed, his straining cock trapped by the fabric of his pants. Reaching down,
Cloud worked to free him.
To his surprise, Zack withdrew his fingers and caught Cloud's hand, shaking his
head. "You touch me now, and I'm done," the older boy said, a rare blush
staining his cheeks. "The way you looked just now... it's too much."
"You don't want to be, you know... inside me?" Cloud asked, feeling suddenly
awkward. They'd never really talked about it, not in detail. Just general
statements like 'I want you' or even 'I want to fuck you'. It wasn't an easy
subject to discuss, especially since they tended to spend their few moments of
privacy messing around rather than talking.
"More than you can imagine," Zack groaned, rocking up against him slightly. He
returned his fingers to Cloud's ass, pushing inside him slowly and curling them
to rub against Cloud's insides.
"Then what are you waiting for, an order from the general himself?" Cloud
demanded, his impatient words covering the nervousness he still felt. He
reached down again and rubbed Zack through his pants, and this time the older
boy didn't try to stop him.
"Cloud," Zack gasped, thrusting up against his hand. "Fuck, Cloud. Oh, fuck."
Something Cloud did must have felt particularly good, because his whole body
tensed and shivered. Inside Cloud, his fingers curled again, and this time the
motion sent a wave of fire and lightning shivering over the younger boy.
"Shit!" Cloud exclaimed, throwing his head back, startled. "What was that?"
"That would be the reason it's not just the guys on top who keep coming back
for more," Zack said with a grin that was only a little shaky. "You liked
that?" He did it again, and got an incoherent groan from Cloud this time in
response.
"Do it, Zack," Cloud said, his voice low and intense. "Do it, fuck me. Please."
Maybe if they could get as close as it was humanly possible to be, he would
stop feeling like he was about to lose Zack forever.
Fumbling, he freed Zack's cock from the prison of his pants, and poured more of
the oil over him. He used his hand to slick the cool fluid down over Zack's
length, and discovered he liked the easy way his hand was able to move over the
heated flesh. "We should use this stuff more often," he said. "Not just for
this."
"Yeah," Zack agreed, shivering again. "Here, you'll have to lift yourself up,
then come down on me."
When Cloud had pictured them doing this, it had usually been in a hotel on a
bed and there had been nothing awkward or ungainly about it. Trying to move him
so Zack could press inside him was a bit of an exercise in frustration in
comparison.
Finally Zack managed to tug his hips into the right place, with Cloud holding
the post above Zack's head to keep himself high enough. Zack's cock rubbed
against him, and a little tendril of panic and apprehension wound through
Cloud. That felt a lot bigger and harder than Zack's fingers had been. This was
going to hurt.
"Relax," Zack admonished him when he tensed up, his voice thin with strain.
"It's okay. Just relax."
"Just... just do it," Cloud panted. He figured it was kind of like taking a
bandage off; you could do it slow and torture yourself, or you could do it fast
and get it over with.
Zack seemed determined to do it the slow way, though, easing Cloud down over
him as his cock felt like it was literally tearing Cloud in half. Gritting his
teeth, Cloud ignored Zack's guiding hands on his hips and shoved himself down.
He was the one with all the leverage in this position; there was nothing Zack
could do to stop him.
A pained cry escaped him despite his best efforts, and Cloud came to rest
shivering against Zack's chest. He felt like his ass was on fire, and it wasn't
the sort of mind-blowing pleasurable fire he usually felt when messing around
with Zack.
"Shit, Cloud!" Zack sounded dismayed, holding him tight and not letting him
move further. "Damn it! What'd you do that for?"
"Give me a second," Cloud gasped. "Let me adjust." If he could adjust. It was
like trying to work through the pain of a wound so you could keep fighting; you
just gritted your teeth and rode out the waves of agony until you could ignore
it a little.
He wasn't really paying attention to what Zack was doing, so he was startled
when a warm hand closed around his now mostly limp cock. Zack's hand was still
slick from the oil, and the feel of it stroking over him would have been
unbelievable if Cloud hadn't been distracted by pain. They were definitely
going to have to put that stuff to good use in the future, but he wasn't so
sure he wanted to do this again.
Refusing to give up until Cloud was hard again, Zack kept stroking and rubbing
his cock. Cloud could feel the way his friend's body was shaking with the
effort of restraining himself; clearly the experience was more than just 'good'
for Zack.
Only when Cloud was mostly hard again did Zack finally give in and rock his
hips upward. The worst of the pain had faded, Cloud realized; he still felt
stretched to the point of breaking, and the movement burned a bit, but it
wasn't agonizing. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding
and relaxed a little, and that helped more. Zack was still stroking him, and
the position they were in meant he couldn't thrust much. Overall, it wasn't as
bad as Cloud had thought it was at first.
"Damn it, I have no leverage," Zack muttered, panting into Cloud's shoulder as
he continued to rock upwards. "Cloud..."
Deciding at least one of them ought to get something good out of this, Cloud
tensed his legs and lifted himself up a few inches, dropping back down again.
The movement drew a gasp from Zack and nearly wrenched a startled scream from
Cloud; whatever it was Zack had been touching inside him earlier, the angle of
their position meant his cock was rubbing over it if he moved far enough.
"Do that again," Zack pleaded, his other hand clenching on Cloud's hip, and
Cloud obeyed. He lifted himself further this time, and when he dropped back
down the shocking wave of heat and pleasure was almost enough to make him
forget about the pain. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
They settled into a rhythm, the thrusts becoming faster and deeper as Cloud's
body started to respond at last. Zack stroked him in time to their motion, and
before too long Cloud forgot about hesitating and threw himself into it with
abandon.
Tension began to coil deep inside Cloud's body in a familiar way, but stronger
and more intense than he was used to. If messing around with Zack was a hundred
times better than just jerking off by himself, this was a hundred times better
still. Cloud was crying out with every thrust now, leaning back against Zack's
supporting hand to try to get more pressure against that amazing place inside
him.
At first he thought the bursts of colour and noise that flared across his
vision were just a reaction of his body to reaching orgasm, but then he
realized the tension inside him hadn't snapped yet. "Fireworks," Zack said,
strangled laughter in his voice. "That's... way too... appropriate... oh fuck,
Cloud..."
Panting, Cloud threw his head back. His legs were getting tired; he wasn't
going to be able to keep this up much longer. With an effort he lifted himself
until Zack was almost entirely out of him and thrust himself back down again,
as Zack rubbed his thumb over the tip of Cloud's cock.
It was enough, and Cloud's whole body convulsed as he came hard. He shouted,
glad the sound was lost in the noise of the roller coaster and the booming of
the fireworks. He'd never felt anything this intense in his life.
His body clenched down around Zack, but he didn't have the strength or
coordination to lift himself again. Zack rocked up into him as hard as he could
manage in their awkward position, groaning wantonly into Cloud's shoulder as he
shuddered. As Cloud began to recover from his intense orgasm, Zack lost his
rhythm and cried out sharply, stilling as he came hard. Cloud imagined he could
almost feel it inside him.
They sat there like that for what seemed like a long time, neither of them
really wanting to move and break the spell of drowsy contentment that had
fallen over them. Cloud forgot to feel exposed, and more importantly he forgot
to be hurt by or ashamed of his earlier failure. All he could think about was
the way Zack felt against him and in him, and how much better this would
probably be in a bed.
Though there was something to be said for the thrill of danger, Cloud admitted
as he glanced over Zack's shoulder and down to the ground far away.
The fireworks were still going off, beautiful bursts of colour against the sky.
"You want to get back?" Zack asked as he finally pulled away from Cloud.
Wincing as Zack's withdrawal reminded him that he was more than a little sore
down there, Cloud shook his head. "Not really," he muttered, trying to hang
onto that dazed contentment and not think about reality for another few
minutes. "I do want my pants back, though," he added with a grimace as a breeze
ran over him and made him shiver.
"Here," Zack said, fumbling in his belt and handing him another potion. Cloud
blinked at it in surprise as the older boy cautiously reached back to retrieve
Cloud's pants.
"Did you clean the guy out?" Cloud wondered after he'd gulped the potion. It
made the stinging burn in his ass fade, turned it into a tolerable ache.
"More or less," Zack agreed with a laugh. "I have my ways."
Getting Cloud back into his pants proved to be even more awkward and dangerous
than getting him out of them in the first place, but they managed somehow. They
settled down again with Cloud's back pressed to Zack's chest, leaning together
against the support post and just quietly enjoying each other's warmth. If he
didn't let himself think about what was waiting for them when they finally did
leave, Cloud could almost be happy.
At least the fireworks were beautiful. Cloud turned his eyes up to watch them,
and did his best to ignore everything but the flowers in the sky and the feel
of Zack behind him.
***** Chapter 15 *****
The skies over Midgar had been overcast for weeks now, though it hadn't rained.
Cloud honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the sun. He wasn't
sure if it was a natural rainy season for the climate, or something to do with
the rapidly increasing air pollution problem, or both; frankly, he didn't care.
The dull skies and weak light suited his mood perfectly.
The new SOLDIERs had been separated from the failures before they'd even left
Gold Saucer. Not having expected that, Cloud and Zack hadn't had a chance to
say goodbye. The last Cloud had seen of his friend had been as Zack turned back
to smile and give him a thumbs up, just before vanishing into the helicopter
that had been chartered for the new SOLDIERs.
At first Cloud had done his best to cling to Zack's reassurances, reminding
himself again and again that he could make another attempt next year, and that
Zack had faith in him. It had been hard, harder than he'd even thought.
Although the attitude among his toonmates had been more along the lines of
'wow, you made it really far, way to go!' than 'you failed, you're such a
loser', it had been difficult to face them all knowing he'd left telling them
he was going to be a SOLDIER and returned still an ordinary trooper.
In truth he'd been a little relieved when his transfer orders had come a few
days after he'd gotten back. He'd apparently managed to impress the brass
enough to earn himself a promotion and a transfer to the sword corps. In the
beginning, just glancing down at his bright new corporal's insignia had been
enough to comfort him. It helped that the troops in his new unit had no idea
he'd been a SOLDIER candidate; they'd simply accepted him and treated him as
they would have any other transfer.
As one week went by, then two, he'd told himself that Zack was probably just
trapped in the SOLDIER equivalent of boot camp, and too exhausted to seek Cloud
out in his free time. Or maybe he was getting his mako enhancements; none of
the regular troops really knew exactly how that was done, though there were all
kinds of ghoulish rumours.
When the third and fourth weeks went by and there still was no sign of Zack,
not even so much as a relayed message, the private reassurances started to wear
thin.
Maybe if he'd had any kind of support it wouldn't have seemed so awful, but
even after weeks of working together he still barely knew any of his new
toonmates. He'd never realized just how much it had been Zack who had created a
place for them among their unit, with Cloud trailing along and content to stay
in his friend's shadow. Without Zack there to break the ice and smooth the way,
Cloud found he had absolutely no idea how to go about making friends of his new
unit.
They seemed to take his shyness as a natural reticence, and left him to
himself. They didn't tease or torment him, but they didn't go out of their way
to include him in anything either. As time went by and Zack still didn't show,
Cloud withdrew more and more into himself and that only made the problem worse.
Until now, more than two months after the SOLDIER exams had finished.
Everything seemed dull and grey to Cloud, not just the skies. He drifted
through the days, doing his duties to the best of his abilities but without any
sort of heart in it, alone even among the crowd of his toonmates. He felt like
he was only existing, not really living.
Damn Zack anyway. He was the one who'd befriended Cloud despite the younger
boy's protests, and he'd gotten Cloud used to having a close friend around all
the time. Before Zack came into his life it wouldn't have bothered Cloud to
find himself alone in a group and friendless; it was simply what he expected.
Now, though, he was achingly lonely and miserable. It was worse than the week
in Mideel when they'd been fighting, because every day that went by made it
harder to believe that Zack would come back at all.
Today they were getting out of the city, at least. Maybe in the wide spaces of
the plains around Midgar he'd be able to find a measure of peace. He didn't
think life in the big city would ever really appeal to him.
The monster appearances around Midgar had gotten frequent enough to endanger
travellers coming to and from Junon and Kalm. Shinra had started sending troops
out to patrol the main roads, keeping them clear and safe so trade wouldn't be
restricted. 5th sword battalion's charlie company had been assigned the duty
today, and Cloud was looking forward to it. Well, as much as he looked forward
to anything these days.
Since they were going to be patrolling on foot just outside the city, they
didn't bother with a troop transport. Just before they reached the gate of the
army compound their captain waved them off to the side, sending them scurrying
to form up to one side of the road as a line of SOLDIERs came in through the
gates.
Standing at attention and saluting with the others, Cloud automatically looked
for some sign of Zack as the SOLDIERs went by. They weren't marching; they were
clumped in groups, and most of them looked completely exhausted. They were all
3rd Class except for the 2nd Class who was leading them; Cloud wondered if
they'd been in some kind of major battle somewhere. But why were they walking?
He hadn't actually expected to see Zack, so he was more than a little surprised
when he caught sight of familiar dark spikes and a laughing face he'd missed so
much it actually hurt to see it again. Trapped behind his helmet, unable to
call out to get his friend's attention because he was in formation, Cloud drank
in the sight of him the way parched earth drank in the rain.
Zack looked tired, Cloud noted immediately. Like all the other SOLDIERs his
face was drawn and his movements weary, though his expression was as lively as
ever. He was talking and gesturing to another of the SOLDIERs, laughing every
so often in the irrepressible way he had. He looked good in the 3rd Class
uniform, his broad shoulders filling out the tunic and carrying the shoulder
plates well. He laughed at something his companion said, and the sound made
Cloud's heart squeeze with longing.
And then it stopped beating altogether, as he watched Zack sling a casual arm
over the other man's shoulder and ruffle his light brown hair. It was a
familiar gesture; it ought to be, considering how often Zack had done it to
Cloud. He tried to think if he'd ever seen Zack do it to anyone else, and
couldn't remember. It had become a sort of coded gesture between them, the
closest they could get to an intimate touch in public.
That, and Zack just loved to see Cloud blush and sputter when he did it.
Two months without a word. Two months, and his first glimpse of Zack was of him
treating someone else exactly the same way he'd always treated Cloud. It felt
like something died a little inside Cloud, something important. Zack had
promised he wouldn't forget Cloud... but from the looks of it, it hadn't taken
him long to replace his 'best friend'.
The SOLDIERs had passed now, and Cloud's company started moving again. He
marched along numbly, putting one foot in front of the other and staying in
step more by habit than on purpose. His eyes watered and his throat closed up,
and for once he was grateful for his helmet.
Any appeal the patrol had held was gone now. Cloud performed his duties by
rote, not really paying attention. He was lucky that the monsters seemed to
have learned enough to stay away from the main roads, or he'd probably have
gotten himself and others killed with his apathy. All he could think about was
that brief glimpse of Zack, and his chest hurt a little more every time he saw
the mental image.
By the time their patrol ended and they all headed back to the barracks Cloud
wanted nothing more than to curl up on his bunk, pull the covers over his head,
and shut out the world for as long as possible. His toonmates were already
planning a poker game, though, and he knew from past experience that it would
be far too bright and noisy for him to have any hope of finding oblivion.
So he did the next best thing. "I'm going to practice," Cloud announced to the
room in general as they entered their barrack and everyone started stripping
off their armour. He wriggled out of his with the ease of practice, then
buckled his sword belt back on over his tunic. The others waved him out, their
attention already on setting the ante for the game. Cloud's obsession with
practicing every chance he got, to prepare him for next year's SOLDIER exams,
was well known.
They wouldn't question it if he was gone until curfew, wouldn't even mention it
except perhaps to ask him if it had gone well. This was a time when he was
grateful for the way they seemed content to leave him to his own devices; if
he'd been back in alpha company, he'd have had to explain why he wanted to be
alone. If Zack had been there, Cloud would never have gotten away with going
off to 'sulk', as the older boy put it.
Of course, if Zack had been there, Cloud wouldn't have needed to go 'sulk'.
Zack wasn't there. From the looks of things, he'd better not count on Zack
being there ever again. Cloud had been replaced.
Choking down the pain and anger that thought brought him, Cloud headed straight
for the building that housed the small indoor training salles. The clerk who
kept track of the use of the rooms smiled at him and waved him in, and he
headed for 'his' practice room.
Really it was 'their' practice room. The indoor rooms were in high demand and
were supposed to be booked at least twenty-four hours in advance, with forms
filled out in triplicate and signed by your commanding officer to explain why
the time for private training was required. Zack had long ago charmed the
clerks, male and female alike, into keeping a room open for him and Cloud to
practice in.
Stepping inside, Cloud closed the door behind him and stood there looking
blindly into the small space, not bothering to turn the lights on. For the
first time, he found he really didn't want to be there. This had been their
place, and not a few of their rare opportunities to touch each other had
happened here. If the walls had been a little better soundproofed and the doors
had a lock on them, they'd probably have done it more often and gone further.
The room held all kinds of memories, and they weren't things Cloud really
wanted to think about. He'd come out to try to get away from thoughts of Zack,
but was there anywhere on the base he could go that wouldn't bring back
memories of his friend?
Probably not. So here was as good as anywhere. At least here he could vent his
rage and pain without anyone questioning it. Flipping the lights on, he drew
his sword and flung himself at the practice dummy.
"Stupid," he scolded himself as he made the first cut. The dummy was tough,
made of a polymer created by Shinra, and he was only able to hack off little
bits of it at a time. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course he's made friends. Of
course he's happy. Of course he's forgotten all about you! He's Zack. He's
probably never gone a day without a friend in his whole life."
There were tears on his cheeks and in his eyes, blurring his sight. It didn't
matter; it wasn't like he was trying for finesse, just brute strength. "He's
got people around him now who are at his level," he taunted himself bitterly.
"Not stupid little hangers-on like you. They can keep up with him. They can
train with him, match him, help him get better. They are right there with him,
not someone he has to waste hours of precious free time on!"
He'd believed Zack's promises, he really had. Even though some part of him had
always been afraid this would happen, he'd still believed. How long had it
taken Zack to replace him, he wondered? He'd seemed pretty comfortable with
that other SOLDIER. A month? A week? Or had they already been chatting and
making friends as the helicopter left Gold Saucer?
It was petty and childish of him to resent his friend's happiness, he knew. But
he'd been so lonely and miserable, clinging to that last hope that Zack would
show up eventually. He'd even mustered enough courage to go to the SOLDIERs'
part of the compound a few times and ask after him, but the SOLDIERs all just
brushed him off. Now he even had to wonder if Zack had maybe asked them not to
tell Cloud where he was.
By the time he'd reduced the dummy to tiny little pieces, he was breathing hard
and fighting off sobs. He'd hoped taking out his emotions on the dummy would
help, but if anything he'd only made it worse. Glancing at his watch, Cloud
swore as he realized he only had about fifteen minutes until curfew. He needed
to clean up and hurry back, or he'd be late.
Struggling, he forced his expression under control with an effort of will. His
emotions still roiled inside him, but at least his face wouldn't give him away.
He washed tears and sweat alike off at the small basin in the room provided for
that purpose, shivering as the cold water trickled down his neck.
The running water masked the sound of the door opening, but not the cheerful
voice that followed. "There you are! I'm an idiot, I should have checked here
first." Startled, Cloud nearly bashed his head on the faucet as he jerked
upright and spun around to see Zack standing in the doorway.
"The guys in alpha company weren't sure where you'd been transferred to," Zack
continued, leaning against the door jamb and grinning. "It took me a while to
find your new unit, and even then they weren't sure where you'd gone. I was
about to give up for the night when it occurred to me to look in here."
All the hurt and anger Cloud hadn't successfully rid himself of with the
practice dummy came boiling up, and he turned away before Zack could see it in
his eyes. The last thing he wanted was for the older boy to know just how
pathetic he'd been, hanging around waiting for some sign that Zack still
thought of him. "I need to get back," he muttered, his voice gruff but
thankfully steady. "I'll be late for curfew." He was going to have to brush
right past Zack to get out of the room, and it made him feel trapped.
"Nah, don't worry about it," Zack shrugged, and from the corner of his eye
Cloud saw the older boy's grin widen. "I'm an officer now, remember? You can
just say I co-opted you for something, you won't get in trouble. Still feels
weird, getting saluted."
If this had happened even yesterday, Cloud probably would have just smacked his
friend for going so long without contacting him, and they'd have moved on. As
it was, all he could think of was the way Zack had slung his arm over that
other SOLDIER's shoulder.
"I bet," he said listlessly. "I need to go. I've got early patrol tomorrow, I
need to sleep." He didn't, actually, but he doubted Zack would have any idea
what his schedule was like. There was nothing for it; he moved to walk past the
older boy and leave the room, hoping Zack would at least move out of the way.
The bastard actually had the gall to sound hurt. "C'mon! I haven't seen you in
two months, and you want to go sleep? Where's your sense of adventure gone?"
Zack reached out and ruffled Cloud's hair as he passed, his arm a heavy weight
over the smaller boy's shoulders.
It was too much. Patience snapping, Cloud lashed out. "Leave me alone!" he
shouted, shoving Zack's arm off and swinging at him. Cloud caught him enough
off guard that his punch connected hard, staggering the older boy and driving
the breath out of his lungs.
"Oof!" Clutching at his solar plexus, Zack coughed and glared at him. "What the
hell was that for?" he demanded, wheezing.
"You!" Cloud yelled, almost incoherent with fury. "You promised, you bastard!"
You promised not to forget me. You promised not to leave me behind. Growling,
he swung at Zack again, aiming for the face this time.
Zack dodged and grabbed his wrist, scowling. "I don't know what the hell your
problem is, Cloud, but... hey!" Cloud had lifted a foot and kicked - not at his
shin, which had been one of his standard responses to Zack's teasing, but at
his kneecap. He didn't have the right angle to dislocate it, but the impact
must have hurt like Ifrit's fire anyway. "Son of a bitch!" Zack swore. "Fine,
you want a fight? You got it."
He punched at Cloud, who twisted to one side to dodge it. They'd sparred
together often enough to be able to predict one another, but in those fights
they'd never been trying to inflict real damage. This wasn't a fight so much as
a brawl, and neither of them was pulling their punches.
Zack had always been better at hand-to-hand than Cloud, but the weariness the
older boy had shown earlier was obviously slowing him down. That, plus the
strength born of Cloud's anguish, put them on more or less even footing.
Within a few exchanges neither of them was thinking about why they were
fighting any more. It was just about trading pain for pain; Cloud managed to
black Zack's eye and split his lip, and Zack broke his nose in return. Zack
tripped Cloud at one point and wrenched his ankle badly; Cloud retaliated by
driving him back into the nearest wall and dislocating his shoulder.
Nobody came running; you expected to hear sounds of fighting in the training
rooms, after all. At some point the door had swung closed again as they moved
farther into the room, giving them privacy.
Cloud's breath was coming in harsh pants, burning in his throat and lungs. His
whole face felt like it was on fire, and every movement sent spikes of pain
shooting up from his broken nose. He'd started crying again at some point,
making it harder to aim his punches, and finally that was enough to let Zack
get the better of him.
Catching a wild swing with his good hand, Zack twisted it up and around behind
Cloud's back and wrenched it upwards. Cloud cried out in pain and tried to
struggle, but there wasn't much he could do without hurting himself further. If
Zack pulled his arm up any further he'd dislocate it; a sharp jerk and it would
break. He kicked back, trying to hit Zack's injured knee again, but the older
boy evaded it and used his captured arm to frog-march him up against the wall.
Once there, Zack leaned in and used his taller, heavier body to pin Cloud down.
Hurt, exhausted, and still shaking with suppressed sobs, Cloud gave up and
stopped struggling.
"All right," Zack said cautiously when Cloud stopped fighting. His voice was
strained with pain, which gave Cloud some small satisfaction at least. "You
wanna tell me what the hell that was all about?"
"You bastard, I believed you," Cloud choked out, his voice thick with the blood
that had run down his throat from his broken nose. "Two fucking months! It
hasn't been that hard to find me!"
"Well, it would have helped if I'd been anywhere near Midgar," Zack snapped
back. Looking over his shoulder Cloud could see Zack scowling at him, though
the effect was somewhat spoiled by the black eye and split lip. "If you'd just
bothered to ask anyone, they'd have told you new SOLDIERs get shipped off to
Junon for 'orientation'."
"Junon?" Cloud repeated, surprised enough that some of the angry tension bled
out of his shoulders. "You've been in Junon all this time?" He shook his head.
"But I did ask! Often enough that the SOLDIERs told me to quit bugging them and
stay out of their area! I thought..." he choked again, on fresh tears this
time. "I thought you'd told them not to talk to me," he admitted in a whisper.
"Ah hell, Cloud." Zack let him go and stepped back, giving him room to turn.
They were both battered and bruised and much the worse for wear, and Cloud
dreaded having to explain these injuries to his toonmates and officer. "I
wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't do that to anyone, but especially not you."
He grimaced. "One thing I'm learning is that an awful lot of SOLDIERs are
arrogant asses who like lording it over the troopers. Odin strike me down if I
ever get like that."
"You couldn't have written me to tell me what the hell was going on?" Cloud
demanded, not really satisfied. It helped to know that the reason Zack had
never sought him out was because the older boy hadn't been in the city, but
that didn't explain why he hadn't made any effort to reach Cloud at all.
To his surprise, Zack's expression turned sheepish and he raised his good hand
to rub at the back of his head. "Yeah, well, I kind of suck at writing
letters," he said. "I kept meaning to write you, really I did! I'd have it all
planned out in my head, but then I never got around to putting pen to paper."
He winced. "I haven't even written to my parents since I left home. Hades, they
probably think I'm dead by now. I really ought to get around to doing that."
That was just such a Zack thing to have a problem with that Cloud couldn't help
snorting with laughter even though it made his nose hurt again. Of course Zack
was a terrible letter writer. That would involve sitting still at a desk
somewhere voluntarily, when he could be out doing active things instead.
Most of Cloud's anger had drained away now, but it left a dull sort of ache
behind in its place. The memory of Zack laughing and touching that other
SOLDIER was still fresh in his mind's eye. "All right, I'm sorry I punched
you," he said wearily, turning away again. "But maybe this was all just as
well. We don't exist in the same world any more, Zack. Maybe you..." He
stumbled over the words, but forced them out around the constriction in his
throat. He was mature enough to want his best friend to be happy even at the
expense of their friendship, really he was. "Maybe you should forget about me.
Go be with your friends in SOLDIER. That's where you belong now."
"I don't want to go spend time with them, dumbass," Zack said with the
exaggerated patience you used to correct a particularly slow child. "Believe
me, I see more than enough of their ugly mugs every day. And I did promise you
I wouldn't forget you, and you know I keep my promises."
That made it sound almost like Zack had only sought him out because of the
promise, a thought that hurt Cloud worse than anything else had yet. He had to
wait a moment to reply, or a sob would have escaped him. "I can take care of
myself without you hanging around to baby me," he said harshly, still not able
to look Zack in the eyes. "You've obviously already made close friends there.
You don't need me any more."
"What in the name of the Ancients are you on about?" Zack asked, shaking his
head. He caught Cloud's chin in his good hand and forced the younger boy to
look up. When he saw the tears in Cloud's eyes, he looked astonished. "What
made you think I could ever replace you?"
Impatient, Cloud made a sharp gesture as if to brush away the question. "I saw
you, Zack," he said. "As you came in the gate this morning. My company was
going out on patrol; you didn't see me because I had my helmet on." Despite his
best efforts, his voice turned bitter. "You seemed more than friendly enough
with that guy, you don't need me hanging around as a third wheel."
Zack blinked, clearly trying to recall just who he'd been talking to as he came
into the base that morning. "You mean Adri?" he asked. "He's a decent guy and a
good friend, but he's not you. For one thing, he doesn't..."
He paused, and gave Cloud a speculative look. It transformed quickly into a
grin; the expression looked a little gruesome on his bruised and bloody face,
but Cloud had seen it often enough to know Zack was laughing at him. "Cloud,
are you jealous of Adri? Is that what all this is really about?"
"I am not jealous!" Cloud practically yelled, wincing as his nose protested.
His ears felt hot, and he knew he was probably blushing scarlet.
Laughing, Zack reached out and ruffled his hair. Still trapped between the
older boy and the wall even though he wasn't pinned any more, Cloud couldn't
dodge so he had to settle for growling and batting at the offending hand. "You
little twit," Zack scolded him affectionately. "Don't you have any faith in us
yet? There's nothing for you to be jealous of. Not only is Adri happily
married, but the only one I want to be fooling around with is you." He eyed the
mess of Cloud's nose thoughtfully. "Though not when you're that damaged. Here."
Cloud took the little bottle Zack dug out of his belt, but he had to stare at
it for a minute to realize what it was. "Is that a hi-potion?" he asked,
momentarily distracted from the topic at hand by his astonishment. He hadn't
seen one since that final battle in Mideel.
"Yeah, we get a couple issued every day, or we'd all have collapsed in
training," Zack said, grimacing. "Man, if you thought boot camp was bad, it was
like a candle to the sun compared to SOLDIER basic training. And we haven't
even gotten the mako treatments yet! Drink it, or you're going to look like a
raccoon in a few minutes. And I've been dying to kiss you for two months, damn
it, I don't want you to pass out from pain when I finally get a chance."
Those words, spoken in such an offhand but passionate manner, did more to
reassure Cloud than everything else Zack had said. He downed the hi-potion and
braced himself against the wall as the magic-laced liquid raced through his
system, repairing all the damage. When the tingling sensation finally faded, he
could breathe freely through his nose again and nothing hurt.
Zack had used a Restore on himself in the meantime, and the moment he saw Cloud
had recovered he leaned down and kissed the younger boy thoroughly. A little
dizzy, Cloud clung to his shoulders and kissed him back. He'd forgotten just
how good this really was, and with every moment that went by a little more of
the hollow ache inside him was filled.
"Sweet Shiva, I've missed you," Zack breathed when he finally pulled away and
leaned his forehead against Cloud's. He'd moved so he was pinning the smaller
boy to the wall again, but Cloud was so not complaining. He rocked his lower
body against Cloud's, brushing their groins together and making them both moan.
Neither of them was fully hard yet, but it wouldn't take much to get there. "I
still owe you a hotel trip. Remind me why I shouldn't just take you here
against the wall, though?"
"We don't have time," Cloud groaned, shivering with lust and regret.
Automatically he lifted his arm far enough from Zack's neck to see his watch.
"It's... holy Alexander, it's almost half an hour past curfew!" he yelped, eyes
widening. "Shit! I'm going to be in so much trouble!"
Chuckling, Zack kissed him again despite Cloud's half-panicked efforts to get
free. "No worries, I'll walk you back and they won't question a SOLDIER," he
assured the blonde. "But we probably shouldn't push our luck by being too
late," he concluded with a sigh. Reluctantly he pulled away, leaving Cloud
leaning dazed against the wall.
"We're okay now, right?" Zack asked, just to make sure. "You got it all out of
your system?"
"Yeah," Cloud nodded, flushing again with embarrassment. Looking back on his
behaviour now, he hoped he hadn't seemed like as much of a child as he thought
he had. Why was it always so easy to realize how immature you were being after
the fact, but never at the time?
"Good," Zack ruffled his hair again. "Because while I'm flattered that you're
jealous, you're not nearly as cute when you're trying to kick my knees in.
C'mon, let's get you back to your unit."
As predicted, the sergeant in charge of Cloud's platoon didn't so much as chide
Cloud for being late when he saw who was accompanying his young corporal. "I'll
see you tomorrow, unless something weird happens with our schedules," Zack said
with a smile and a wave as he turned to go. Cloud nodded, and couldn't resist
staring after him until the door had closed behind him. He was back to feeling
the way he had this morning when he'd first seen his friend; like he couldn't
get enough of looking at him to make up for the two months they'd been apart.
"Hey Cloud, you never told us you knew someone in SOLDIER," one of the others
commented enviously.
Turning back to them, Cloud couldn't help grinning. His toonmates gaped at him,
unused to seeing such a blatantly cheerful expression on him. "He's my best
friend," Cloud replied, the grin widening. Knowing Zack hadn't abandoned or
forgotten him made all the difference in the world.
***** Chapter 16 *****
Usually, at the end of a day of drills and patrols and with the incentive of a
weekend leave about to begin, the pushing and crowding to get back into the
barracks was unbelievable. As small as he was, Cloud generally hung back to
avoid the worst of the crush for fear of accidental injury.
He was more than a little surprised, therefore, to reach charlie company's area
and discover the rest of his platoon piled up outside the open door, none of
them making a move to go inside. "What's going on?" he asked one of the others.
"There's a SOLDIER in there," the older man said absently, straining to see
over the heads of their toonmates.
"So?" Cloud did a quick mental headcount and confirmed that yes, all of his
platoon was out here. And the sergeant was still back with the captain, being
debriefed with the other sergeants. "What does he want? Why is he keeping us
out?"
"He, uh... seems to be passed out on your bed, corporal," one of the men at the
front called back in an exaggerated whisper. "I think it's the same one you
came back with the other day after curfew."
"On my bed?" Cloud repeated, blinking. He shoved at the man in front of him,
and the rest of the platoon parted to let him up to the front. Even without the
man's words he'd have known it was Zack in there; he couldn't imagine anyone
else just making himself comfortable like that. But why would Zack be passed
out?
Sure enough, the familiar spiky black hair was spread out over Cloud's pillow,
Zack lying half twisted on the bed with his feet still on the floor like he'd
been sitting down and toppled over when he fell asleep. There was a deep crease
between his brows, as if he didn't much like whatever dream he was having. It
was such a familiar sight, despite the incongruity of the SOLDIER uniform, that
it took Cloud's breath away for a moment.
"Zack?" he said, pushing past the last of his toonmates to get into the room.
Glancing over his shoulder, he rolled his eyes at the others. "He doesn't bite,
you know. You don't have to be scared to come in."
He didn't wait to see if they came in or not, leaning over his bunk and looking
at his friend instead. Zack hadn't responded to the sound of his name, which
was unusual; the older boy had always been a light sleeper. Maybe whatever
dream had hold of him wasn't willing to let go that easily.
"Hey, Zack, wake up," Cloud said, reaching out to shake his friend's shoulder
lightly at first, then more vigorously when that had no effect.
That got a response, though not the one Cloud had expected. Zack jerked awake,
flailing, and bashed one arm into the bedpost. His still half-asleep brain
seemed to interpret the pain from that as an attack, because he lunged at Cloud
as if he was tackling an enemy.
He was also moving like he was under the influence of a Haste spell, which
didn't make any sense. He impacted Cloud before the younger boy could even
think about dodging, let alone make an attempt to do so, and they both went
down hard on the floor.
"Zack. Zack!" Cloud wheezed as loudly as he could, the breath knocked out of
him by the impact. "Damn it, wake up! It's me, Cloud!"
"Cloud?" That seemed to reach Zack where the sound of his own name had not. He
blinked down at the blonde, and slowly lowered the fist he'd raised to punch at
the younger boy. "Cloud, shit, I'm sorry," he said as awareness of the
situation flooded into his eyes all at once. Mortified, he scrambled up to his
feet and offered Cloud a hand up as well. "You startled me."
Cloud accepted the offered hand, and was nearly yanked off his feet when Zack
tugged at him. "Whoa!" He caught himself with one hand braced against the older
boy's chest, and looked at him. "What the..."
Realization dawned as Zack released him abruptly, taking a step back so fast he
nearly tripped again, and Cloud got a look at his bed. The post was cracked and
splintered where Zack's arm had impacted it; it would have to be repaired
before his bunkmate would dare climb up top.
"You got your mako enhancements!" Cloud exclaimed. The speed, the strength, the
reflexes; all were the signs of a SOLDIER. And, now that he was looking, he
could see that Zack's eyes seemed to glow with a dim light from within.
"Yeah," Zack looked sheepish, reaching out to grab the other bed post -
carefully - to steady himself. "Yesterday morning. They said it takes about a
week to get used to it. Uh... sorry about the bed. I didn't mean to fall
asleep, I guess I was more tired than I thought." He gave the other troops
still gathered around the door an apologetic look. "Sorry if I freaked you
out."
"What are you doing here in the first place?" Cloud asked as the others began
to file in at last. Zack's sheepish look turned into a smug grin.
"We're on inactive status until we can prove to the medics that we've mastered
our new reflexes well enough to go back into training without killing
ourselves," the older boy confided. "When I checked the duty roster and saw you
were up for a weekend leave, it was too good a chance to pass up. You up to
hitting the town for the weekend? Or am I interrupting plans?"
Warmth streaked through Cloud, and he could only hope it didn't show on his
face for his toonmates to wonder about. Finally, they both had leave at the
same time! "I think I can put off practicing for a couple days," he said,
managing to force his voice into an appropriately dry tone. "But only if you're
paying. Your pay scale is a lot higher than mine now!"
"You're gonna bleed me dry for it too, aren't you?" Zack asked him in
amusement. The gleam in his eyes said he at least hadn't missed Cloud's
reaction. Or maybe that was just the new mako glow, it was hard to tell.
"C'mon, let's go! I've missed Midgar." And you, was the unspoken addition that
Cloud heard, and it made the warmth burn more strongly inside him.
Dumping his helmet and sword on the bed, Cloud squirmed out of his armour and
dropped it as well. "I'm ready," he said, running a hand through his hair to
straighten the spikes quickly. Zack slung a companionable arm over his shoulder
and pushed him towards the door, grinning at him.
Cloud could feel an answering stupid grin on his own face, and he thought his
eyes were probably shining with excitement like a little kid going on a trip to
the candy store. He couldn't help himself, and it wasn't all even mostly due to
the idea that they were finally going to have a chance to get some time alone
together somewhere comfortable.
It just felt so good to have Zack at his side again, to be heading out into
Midgar on a weekend leave as if nothing had ever come between them. It still
hurt that he hadn't made it into SOLDIER, but the ache had faded into something
bearable. And when he was looking up at Zack's wide grin, he hardly noticed it
at all.
The arm over his shoulder wasn't entirely an excuse to touch him, Cloud
realized as Zack tried to move too fast and got tangled up in his own feet.
"You're really having trouble with this, aren't you?" Cloud asked curiously as
he paused to give the older boy a chance to steady himself. He'd never thought
about how difficult it might be to adjust to the significant alterations made
to your body by the SOLDIERs' mako enhancement treatments, but of course it
would be confusing to suddenly have your body change on you like that.
"This isn't so bad," Zack replied with a grin that was half grimace. "You
should have seen me yesterday, when I first woke up. I couldn't even sit up
without help, everything was so screwy. That's normal, apparently. Or so the
scientists shooting us up said. I'm actually recovering faster than usual."
"Shooting you up? They actually inject the mako directly?" Cloud asked, eyes
wide. He kept his voice low as they passed through the gate, flashing their
badges at the guards there. "Are you even supposed to be telling me this
stuff?"
"Nope!" Zack replied cheerfully, ruffling Cloud's hair with his free hand.
"It's classified out the ass; I think they're afraid the potential candidates
will be scared off if they hear about everything that's involved in becoming a
SOLDIER. I trust you not to blab, though. Or get frightened off."
"If you can handle it, I can handle it," Cloud said firmly. "And I know you
trust me, but you still shouldn't be telling me classified stuff. Where are we
going, anyway?" he asked, noticing that Zack was headed for the train station.
"Well, see..." Zack turned puppy eyes on him, and Cloud groaned.
"No, Zack! How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to meet your
girlfriend?"
"About as many times as I have to tell you she's not my girlfriend," Zack
replied with a hint of amusement. "It's not that serious."
"Does she know that?" Cloud asked, shaking his head. If there was one thing
he'd learned by listening to his toonmates talk (and complain) about their
girls, it was that women had a tendency to think things were a great deal more
serious than the man had meant to imply.
"She knows about you," Zack said, raising an eyebrow at him. "I told her, last
time we had leave and you didn't want to come with me because I was going down
to see her. She made me promise not to come back unless I brought you along,
she wants to meet you."
"You what?" Cloud yelped, stopping short and nearly toppling them both over
when Zack didn't stop quickly enough.
The bastard had the nerve to laugh at him, too. "She said, and I quote, 'He
must have the patience of a saint to put up with you all day and still want to
spend more time around you. I have to meet him!' And she's probably just as
pissed at me as you were for dropping out of sight for two months like that;
she doesn't even know if I passed the exams or what." He made puppy eyes again.
"So give me a break, won't you? If I show up without you, she'll think of some
suitably devious punishment that I definitely don't want to have to do. She
made me swear on my mother's grave and everything!"
About to continue his objections, Cloud was momentarily diverted by that last
statement. "Zack, your mother's not dead," he said, brow furrowing. At least,
Zack had always talked about her in the present tense, and he was pretty sure
his friend would have told him about something like his mother dying.
"No, but it's the principle of the thing," Zack chuckled. "C'mon, please?" He
tugged at Cloud to try to get him moving towards the station, but once again
forgot to compensate for his enhanced strength. They both staggered, and only
Zack's quick grab for a nearby lamppost kept them upright. Unfortunately, he
also left finger marks behind on the post.
Cloud looked at them in awe. "How strong are you?" he asked. Everybody knew
SOLDIERs were strong, but how strong was 'strong'?
"Not sure yet," Zack said, and his expression was more rueful dismay than awe
as he looked at the indents. "The effects won't finish stabilizing for another
day or so. That would be another reason to go visit Aerith tonight; I think I
want a little more control over my reflexes before we go find that hotel."
"Er." Cloud looked at the post, and imagined what kind of damage the older boy
might have done if it had been Cloud's arm he was squeezing instead. He winced
at the thought. "Yeah. Maybe." Seeing Zack's gaze grow hopeful, Cloud sighed
and ran a hand over his face. "All right, we'll go see her," he capitulated
with somewhat bad grace. "But don't say I didn't warn you!"
"There's nothing to warn about," Zack asserted, dragging him - carefully this
time - towards the station. "You're going to love her, and she's going to love
you. You'll see."
Cloud wasn't nearly as certain of that as Zack seemed to be, but there wasn't
much he could do about it now. He wasn't about to go back on his agreement, and
anyway if he told Zack to go on without him, he'd look a right idiot going back
to his barrack now.
The train was crowded as it always was on a Friday night, but at least three
privates jumped to their feet and offered their seats as soon as they saw Zack.
Knowing his friend, Cloud anticipated that Zack would refuse; the older boy
wasn't the sort to take advantage of his rank like that. Cloud cut him off
before he could say it. "Just take one of the seats," he urged under his
breath. "Otherwise, the first time the train sways and you reach for something
to steady yourself with..."
"Good point," Zack winced, and took the nearest offered seat. Cloud remained
standing in front of him, hanging on to one of the poles nearby.
He'd expected Zack to start chattering like he usually did, but the dark-haired
boy tipped his head forward and ran a hand over his eyes, as if they were
tired. When he still didn't say anything after a few minutes, Cloud got
worried. "Hey, are you okay? You're being kinda quiet." Was Zack worried about
introducing Cloud to his girlfr... to his friend after all?
"Huh?" Zack jerked his head up, like he'd been startled. "Oh, sorry. I think
being sleepy is one of the side effects, or something. I keep dropping off any
time I sit still for a while." He rubbed at his face again, wincing as if the
touch hurt. "And this damn headache won't go away. I think it's getting worse."
"Maybe you should have just stayed at the base and taken it easy?" Cloud asked,
a little concerned.
"Nah, I'll be fine," Zack waved that off, making a visible effort to be more
alert. "Just don't let me doze off, given the way I seem to react to being
woken up. I'd hate to break someone's nose with my flailing around." He
laughed, but to Cloud's ears the sound was just a bit forced.
He trusted Zack to know his own limits, though. Zack liked to push the limits,
any limits, but he rarely crossed them. The older boy was probably afraid Cloud
would change his mind about meeting the girl, given a chance to back out now.
He was probably right, at that.
They reached sector 5 and disembarked, Zack again leaning on Cloud to help
himself stay coordinated. In fact he put a bit more weight on Cloud, perhaps
not as worried about seeming weak now that they weren't in front of the other
troopers. SOLDIERs had a reputation to maintain, after all.
"This way," Zack said, directing Cloud towards a narrow little street. Cloud
hadn't been to this part of Midgar before, so he was forced to let Zack take
the lead entirely.
As they walked Zack's weight slowly grew heavier, and rather than improving he
actually seemed to be more off-balance than he'd started out. He tripped over
his feet several times, stumbling and nearly throwing Cloud off as well. His
expression grew more pained as well, and Cloud was really starting to get
worried.
When they passed a large crack in the wall between sectors, Cloud paused and
looked at it suspiciously. It looked awfully familiar, considering he'd never
been down in this sector before. "Zack, are you sure you know where you're
going?" he asked. "I think we're going in circles."
"I..." Zack sounded hoarse, and a little shaky. "I... I don't feel so good.
Shit. Cloud, leggo."
He pulled away from Cloud's supporting arm and clung to the wall instead, and
was violently sick. Eyes wide, Cloud backed off to avoid getting caught in it.
"Zack! Are you okay? What's wrong?"
Looking straight at his friend now instead of just glancing at him from the
side, Cloud could see the older boy was pale and sweating. His face was pinched
with pain, and he stayed doubled over even after there was nothing left in his
stomach.
"I think... some kind of... delayed reaction," Zack gasped, clearly fighting
back the urge to keep heaving.
"I'm taking you back," Cloud said firmly, suppressing the panic that was trying
to build in his chest. He'd only ever seen Zack sick once before, during that
terrible time in Mideel, and this brought back awful memories. This isn't like
that, he told himself firmly. Nobody died from the mako infusions, at least not
since the early days of the SOLDIER project. All Cloud had to do was get him
back to the base, and the medics there would know what to do.
"Aerith... can help," Zack got out with a groan, trying to straighten. "She's a
healer."
"Yeah, but I don't know where she is and you've been leading us in circles,"
Cloud pointed out. "I do know how to get back to the station, though, so that's
where we're going. Come on. We'll go meet her some other day."
"Gonna be sick on you," Zack warned him with a shaky grin as Cloud wormed his
way back under the older boy's arm.
"That's only fair. How many times did I get sick on or near you on the boat
back from Mideel?" Cloud joked weakly, getting them moving in the direction he
was fairly certain the station was in. Zack had almost all his weight on him
now, and the older boy was significantly taller than Cloud was at the moment.
It was hard to carry him, and they ended up staggering like a pair of drunks
through the alleys of sector 5.
Cloud concentrated on putting one foot in front of another, and trying to
remember exactly how they'd gotten here from the station. They'd turned left at
that rusted out rain barrel, so he needed to turn right to go back. This jumble
of pipes and other debris was something he remembered passing, so that meant
they were on the right track. Had they turned right or left at the intersection
with the garbage bin?
They had to stop a couple of times for Zack to be sick again, though he wasn't
heaving up anything but bile at this point. He was shaking and sweating, and he
clutched at the hand Cloud was using to steady Zack's arm over his shoulder
hard enough that the bones ground together. Cloud gritted his teeth and said
nothing, knowing Zack probably couldn't help it and not wanting him to feel
guilty.
When they turned a corner and he caught sight of a now familiar crack in the
wall, though, Cloud knew they were in trouble. "Odin's blood," he swore,
kicking at the wall in frustration. "We're still going in circles! This place
is a damn maze!" He hadn't even seen anyone else he could ask for directions,
as this area of the slums seemed to be more or less abandoned. Which could be a
very bad thing; he didn't like to think of the target a couple of incapacitated
Shinra troops would present to anyone looking to cause trouble. Especially
someone who wanted the prestige of being able to say he'd beaten up a SOLDIER,
since Zack's rank was clearly identified by his uniform.
"Just... go straight," Zack suggested, leaning against Cloud's shoulder and
panting. His eyes were glazed and distant, as if he wasn't actually seeing what
was right in front of him, and the glow was stronger than ever. He wasn't
feverish; far from it, his skin was cold and clammy. Cloud was getting
seriously worried. Zack had a Restore and a Heal in his bracer, he'd seen, but
he wasn't sure either of those would actually help.
Well, going straight was as good an idea as any. Though 'straight' was a
relative term, down here. Cloud got them moving again with an effort, though he
was all but dragging Zack at this point. He was positive at least one bone in
his hand had to be broken, and the waves of pain from it made him light-headed
and more than a little nauseous himself, but he ignored it with sheer strength
of will.
They didn't encounter the crack in the wall again, but neither did they come to
the station or anything else resembling civilization. Cloud was fairly certain
they were just moving in different circles now, though there weren't any
landmarks that stood out enough for him to be sure. He was about ready to give
up in utter despair and start panicking when a deep voice came from behind
them.
"I'm fairly certain there are regulations about being drunk and disorderly
while in uniform," the unknown person said, his voice heavy with disapproval
and contempt. Cloud tried to look over his shoulder to see who it was - an
officer presumably, with that tone of voice - but Zack clutched at his hand
again and his vision went white with a haze of pain.
" 'M not drunk!" Zack exclaimed indignantly, though his voice was slurred
enough to convince anyone that he was lying. " 'M just... oh, shit..." Getting
himself worked up had apparently caused his stomach to rebel again, and Cloud
barely managed to hold him more or less on his feet as he doubled over.
"He's really not, sir," Cloud said desperately. The last thing either of them
needed was to be written up on drunk and disorderly charges. "Honest, neither
of us has had anything to drink and... oh shit." He echoed Zack's earlier
profanity, because he'd finally managed to turn far enough to catch a glimpse
of the officer behind them.
Why did they always manage to run into the man both of them would most like to
impress under the worst possible circumstances? Cloud couldn't imagine what
Shinra's Silver General was doing down here in the slums, but there he was,
standing at the end of the alley like a disapproving angel.
He couldn't even salute, because that was the hand Zack was currently crushing
into little bits of bone. "General Sephiroth, sir!" he said, swallowing the
sharp taste of fear that was trying to crawl up his throat. Or maybe that was
just bile; between the pain and the panic, he was pretty close to joining Zack
in throwing up.
The general quirked an eyebrow at him, and recognition filled those cat-green
eyes. "Corporal. And... lieutenant?" he made it almost a query, eying Zack's
new uniform. "Some day I hope to encounter the two of you under circumstances a
bit less trying. I must admit neither of you struck me as the irresponsible
type. So if you're not drunk, then what..."
Sephiroth had moved forward, and Zack had finally stopped being sick again.
Cloud managed to shuffle them around enough that they were more or less facing
the general, and the tall man put two fingers under Zack's chin and lifted his
face.
"Ah. I see." Something in the man's bright eyes became shuttered, his face
closing off in a way that made his normal expression seem downright open and
easy to read. Next to the fire of Sephiroth's gaze Zack's eyes hardly seemed to
glow at all, but it was apparently enough for the general to make the
connection. "Your first mako injection?"
"Yesterday... morning," Zack gasped out, squeezing Cloud's hand a little harder
to help steady himself. Cloud couldn't keep from making a small pained grunt,
though he managed to swallow the rest of his cry. Sephiroth's eyes flicked from
Zack's face to their hands to Cloud's face and back.
"Didn't anyone warn you about the side effects?" the general asked, sounding
dispassionate. At least he wasn't disapproving any more.
"It's been... thirty hours," Zack replied, forcing the words out. "Thought I
was... okay. Was starting... to get the hang of it."
"The adjustment to your body's enhancements is the least of the reasons why new
SOLDIERs are off active duty immediately following the injections," Sephiroth
said. "And the worst of the side effects generally manifest as much as seventy-
two hours after the initial dose. Here, corporal, give him to me before he
crushes your hand any further."
With an ease that made Zack's recently increased strength seem like an infant's
weak grip, Sephiroth bent and scooped up the other SOLDIER. He held Zack like a
husband would hold a bride, a pose that looked more than a little ridiculous
with the two of them. Sephiroth was taller, but Zack's shoulders were wider and
he probably matched the general in terms of mass.
Gasping as the pressure on his hand suddenly let up, Cloud swayed and had to
steady himself with his good hand. The rush of pain was intense, and for a
moment he thought he might black out.
This time the wash of cool, soothing energy was almost expected, though he
hadn't heard the general murmur the trigger spell. Objectively Cloud knew that
it was the level of the materia that determined the power of the spell, not the
power of the caster, but he'd had enough healing spells cast on him now that it
seemed to him he could sense a difference in Sephiroth's. Maybe it was just his
imagination, or because the times when the general healed him seemed to always
be extremes.
"You're a good friend to him, corporal," the general murmured, and Cloud
flushed with embarrassed pleasure at the compliment as he straightened. "Let's
get him back to the Shinra medics."
Glancing at Zack, Cloud was surprised to see his eyes were closed. "Did he pass
out again?" he blurted out, worried. "Uh, sir," he remembered to tack on after
a moment.
"Again?" Sephiroth looked at him sharply. "He should have been warned not to go
far if he was feeling over tired or blacking out. But no, this time I cast a
sleep spell on him. He's likely to become delirious, given his other symptoms,
and I'd rather not have to fight with him."
"Oh." Cloud felt oddly reprimanded, as though he somehow should have known
enough to keep his friend from going out, even though he didn't think that was
what Sephiroth had intended with his words. "He'll be okay though, won't he
sir?"
"He'll be fine," Sephiroth assured him. "A strong reaction generally indicates
a strong adjustment to his body, which means he possibly has the potential to
go as far as 1st Class." He glanced down at Cloud, and raised an eyebrow. "I
would have expected you to be suffering the same problem."
Well, that was confirmation that the general had not attended or otherwise
observed the SOLDIER exams. At least Cloud could console himself that his
public humiliation hadn't been that public. He clenched his jaw, and had to
look away. "I'll make it next year," he growled. It actually didn't hurt as
much to acknowledge that he'd failed as he'd expected it to; knowing that
General Sephiroth was surprised he wasn't a SOLDIER now was more than a little
soothing to his wounded spirit.
"Ah." This time Sephiroth's tone was ever so slightly amused. If it had come
from anyone else Cloud would have bristled at the implication that his
assertion was humorous, but from Sephiroth he didn't think it had been meant as
derision. "Hopefully you will be warned by your friend's example, rather than
following it. I'll expect to see you next year."
If there had been any lingering doubts in Cloud's mind about whether he would
even attempt the tests again next year and risk failing again, they were erased
in that moment. If the general expected you to do something, you did it. It was
that simple. And Sephiroth not only expected him to take the tests, he expected
Cloud to pass. "Yes, sir," Cloud said, and he'd never been happier to accept an
order in his life.
***** Chapter 17 *****
For once reveille couldn't come early enough to suit Cloud. He was up out of
bed before it had even finished playing, much to the astonishment of the rest
of his platoon. "You feeling all right, corporal?" his bunkmate asked him,
bemused.
"I'm fine," Cloud muttered, waving off their concern and ducking his head so
they wouldn't be able to see the flush on his cheeks as clearly. Damn his pale
colouring, anyway. "Just couldn't sleep, and I figured I might as well not be
late to inspection for once."
That was true enough, as far as it went, and he hurried into the showers before
they could question him any further. He still wasn't very close to any of his
toonmates, so thankfully there wasn't anyone who knew him well enough to be
able to guess why he was so wound up today. If any of them figured it out, he'd
be in for a world of teasing.
How could he not be excited, though? He'd finally found a friendly SOLDIER 3rd
Class who was willing to pass on the duty schedule of Zack's unit to him, and
Bence had told him that today was the day they were supposed to be back in
Midgar.
Cloud hadn't so much as caught a glimpse of his best friend since the weekend
leave gone wrong, when Zack had collapsed and Sephiroth had brought him back to
the base. Cloud had spent the whole weekend sitting by Zack's bed in the
infirmary, refusing to budge until he knew the older boy would be okay.
Attempts to forcibly remove him had been stopped by a quiet word from Sephiroth
when the man had checked in on Zack on Saturday afternoon, for which Cloud had
been grateful.
By Sunday night Zack had been awake and aware enough to recognize Cloud and
make a few feeble attempts to joke with him to reassure him. Cloud would have
fought to stay with him even after his weekend leave was up, but Zack had
insisted Cloud go back to his unit and report for duty on time. Reluctantly
Cloud had gone, and by the time he got a chance to get back to the infirmary
his friend had already been released.
Since then it had been one thing after another. The new SOLDIERs were shipped
out again for more training as soon as they'd all recovered enough, and that
lasted another two months. Then, a week before Zack was due back, Cloud's
company had been sent out with a group of scientists to collect monster samples
from around the reactor south of Junon. By the time they returned Zack had been
gone again, on his first real mission as a SOLDIER.
Four and a half months, and it felt like years. At least this time Cloud knew
it wasn't that Zack was deliberately avoiding or ignoring him. He'd written to
the older boy whenever he had a chance, and a couple of terse and hastily
penned notes in return let him know his letters were appreciated.
Now, finally, they were going to be in the same city again for a while. Cloud
didn't have leave for another couple of days, but there was no reason he
couldn't at least head over to the SOLDIER compound tonight and welcome Zack
home.
Just a few more hours, one day's worth of patrols or sentry duty or whatever
was on the roster for them today, and he'd be able to see his friend. How could
he not be excited and eager to start the day? The sooner it started, the sooner
it would be over.
Of course, the day itself was going to drag on forever, Cloud realized as he
lined up with his squad for morning inspection. Impatient, he resisted the urge
to fidget as he mentally urged the captain to hurry up so they could move on to
the next part of the day.
Instead of dismissing them to breakfast, though, the captain stood at the front
and surveyed the gathered platoons. Cloud's heart sank to his boots as he saw
the expression on the man's face. No, he begged, pleaded with whatever deity
might deign to listen to him. No, nottoday. Please. Tomorrow, but not today!
Nobody was listening, apparently, or if they were then they were being amused
at Cloud's expense. "5th sword and 8th rifle have been chosen for deployment to
the Northern Glacier, to investigate reports of monster activity in the ice
fields," the captain announced. "We will be shipping out by transport airship
at oh-nine-hundred today. Make sure you include your cold weather gear in your
kits, and you will be issued additional special gear upon arrival. The general
himself is leading this expedition, boys; make sure you show him why 5th sword
is the best battalion in the army! Dismissed."
"You've got to be kidding me," Cloud groaned as he turned and trudged back to
the barracks to start packing his kit. "We're all going to freeze. It's still
winter up there!" Spring had come to Midgar, though the season hardly seemed to
deserve the name in the area around the city. That far north, however, it would
be a different story.
The weather wasn't why he was upset, of course, though he probably had a better
sense of healthy respect for that kind of cold than most of his toonmates. It
gave him an excuse to bitch, though, and that was what he really wanted.
At least they were going by airship. It wouldn't take more than half a day to
get there, and he wouldn't be nearly as sick. Cloud was still getting teased by
the men in his squad about his motion sickness from their last mission.
Once his own kit was packed, he took a moment to double-check the rest of his
squad's gear. He'd slowly gotten used to the idea of being in charge of other
troops, and the men in his squad had come to accept and even respect him, young
as he was. That done, they joined the rest of the platoon heading for the
airstrip.
The trip out wasn't too bad, all things considered. As a corporal Cloud was
allowed up on deck, which helped his motion sickness further, and the rest of
his unit had long since learned to recognize when he didn't want any company.
He knew he was sulking, but he felt he was at least a little entitled to it.
Bahamut only knew when they'd be back from this assignment, and by then it was
almost guaranteed Zack would be gone again. Sword and rifle companies could
spend weeks or months stationed in Midgar, but SOLDIER units rarely stayed at
the base for long. There wasn't enough for them to do in Midgar, and not enough
of them available for everything outside of Midgar that required them.
Frigid air blasted them the moment they landed and stepped off the airship.
Cloud shivered, even wrapped up in his winter gear, and he heard a few people
around him cursing. It was no worse than winter in Nibelheim, but Cloud was
rapidly reminded just why nobody in their right mind left their warm house more
than was strictly necessary when the icy winds were coming down off the
mountain.
They'd set down on a grassy plateau that ended in a cliff overlooking the ocean
on one side, and a rapidly deepening snowfield on the other. If it was this
cold here where there was still grass, Cloud shuddered to think what it would
be like once they got out onto the snow.
Sephiroth and his unit of SOLDIERs had apparently beaten them there, or perhaps
they'd already been here scouting and determined there was a need for further
backup. There was a neat line of tents set up on the plateau, with plenty of
room left for the two new companies of troops.
The general was waiting to brief them, the SOLDIERs lined up behind him. As the
two companies of foot formed up in front of him, Cloud took a moment to glance
over the SOLDIERs he could see. They were mostly 1st Class, but he was a little
surprised to see a mix of 2nd Class and even a handful of 3rd Class included in
the ranks. Usually if all three classes were present, the ratio was the other
way around. This must be Sephiroth's personal unit, not just a group of
SOLDIERs he'd assigned to come with him. Everybody knew only the best of the
best made it into the general's direct command, and all of the 2nd and 3rd
Classes present were probably on the fast track to 1st Class.
On the rare occasions Cloud had dared to dream beyond simply making it into
SOLDIER, he'd pictured himself as part of that unit. He and Zack had talked
about it, plotting various things they could do to make enough of a name for
themselves to be assigned to that post. Seeing them and getting to work with
them was almost as exciting as getting to work with the general himself.
Seeing they were assembled, Sephiroth nodded once and swept his eyes over them.
"For those of you not familiar with the climate here, let me make this clear
right off," he began. "The weather here is as much or more your enemy than any
monsters you might encounter. A man can freeze to death out on the plains in
mere minutes, without the right protection. Even with the best gear we can
provide, getting lost out in the snowfields means certain death."
Gesturing behind him at the waiting SOLDIERs, he continued, "My troops have
been here for weeks already, and have learned the pitfalls and dangers. I have
assigned a SOLDIER to each platoon, and they will have ultimate command over
your own lieutenants. I trust this will not cause any problems."
There was a note of warning in the general's deep voice, and Cloud winced
mentally. There was often a bit of unfriendly rivalry between the SOLDIERs and
the higher ranking regular troops. SOLDIERs were rarely put in direct command
of regular troop units, for exactly that reason. This could indeed cause
problems, though hopefully Sephiroth's presence would offset some of the worst
of it.
"Go with your commanders for now, and set up camp," Sephiroth ordered them.
"We'll be moving out for an initial recon foray in three hours. Dismissed."
The SOLDIERs moved forward, gathering up their assigned troops and pulling the
officers and NCOs off for briefings. "Sword company D platoon, over here!"
Cloud heard someone say, and he turned to try to find them. "I want corporals
and above with me; the rest of you start setting up your tents and gear. You
know the drill, move!"
The man's voice was familiar, even over the noise of the rest of the crowd. At
first Cloud had been certain he was hearing things, but when he joined the rest
of D platoons NCOs and the SOLDIER who'd taken charge of them pulled off his
helmet, his heart leapt. "Yo," Zack greeted him with a wink and a grin, before
turning his attention back to business. "All right, you all heard the general.
I'm Second Lieutenant Zack, SOLDIER 3rd Class, and I'll be helping you to get
organized and teaching you to survive out there."
Looking over all of them, he turned serious for a moment. "Trust me on this,
nobody wants to get lost out there. Storms can sweep in on a minute's notice,
and they're killer. Our main priority on any foray is two-fold - keeping track
of each other, and keeping track of our direction. The snow all looks the same,
and when you can't see the mountains for the clouds it's really damn easy to
get turned around."
He gestured at a pile of gear behind him. "When we're out in the big open
spaces, we'll be planting flags to help us keep track of where we're going and
where we've been. There's a limited number of them, but we just pull up the
last one as the tail end of the unit goes by and move it up to the front. All
marching is done single-file, so only one person has to break trail at a time,
and the front position will be traded off regularly. Just like a flock of
geese," he added with a grin meant for all of them. "Any questions?"
"Sir, what about the monsters themselves?" another corporal asked. "What are we
dealing with, more of the same sort that are in Midgar? How did they get here?"
"No," Zack shook his head, his eyes dark. "These aren't like any we've found
anywhere else. They're specifically adapted to the extreme cold; most of them
have some form of ice elemental attack, whether spell-based or otherwise.
Thankfully we do have one advantage; many of them are weak to heat and fire, so
everyone will be issued a Fire materia. Used judiciously, they'll be the best
defence you'll have. As for how they got here..." he shrugged eloquently.
"That's what we're here to find out. Anything else?"
Nobody said anything, so Zack nodded. "All right, then. We'll meet back here
ten minutes before we head out; triple-check your equipment and the equipment
of everyone in your squad. Lives depend on this, gentlemen. Dismissed."
They saluted him, Cloud feeling very odd doing so, and the others broke up and
drifted off to find their squads. Cloud hung back, and was rewarded when Zack
promptly grabbed him around the neck and ruffled his hair vigorously.
"You!" Cloud exclaimed, fighting him off with a laugh. "You made it into
General Sephiroth's private unit and you didn't tell me?"
"I got the transfer orders halfway through my last mission," Zack said
cheerfully, his grin every bit as bright as Cloud had remembered. "Can you
believe it? And I've got you to thank for it, you know."
"Me?" Cloud repeated, astonished. He couldn't imagine what he could have done
that would have caused Zack to get such a prestigious assignment.
"Yep!" Impossibly, Zack's grin widened further. "What you told him about me
carrying you back to camp in Mideel even though I was hurt impressed him,
apparently. Between that, our performance in the attack that night, and the now
infamous paint gun incident, we both caught his attention. Did you know he
arranged for us to be in the same unit after boot camp?"
"I did, actually," Cloud blinked, reminded of something the general had told
him. "He said so when I first saw him in Mideel, when he asked where you were.
I forgot about it, with everything that happened."
"Yeah, so, that put us on his radar," Zack told him. "When he saw us in the
alley that day and realized he didn't know why I was a SOLDIER and you weren't,
he went back and looked at the tapes of the exams."
"He did?" Cloud's voice was dismayed, and his ears burned with embarrassment.
Damn it, so much for Sephiroth not having seen his humiliation in the battle
arena.
On the other hand, it seemed to have gotten Zack a position he knew the other
boy had dreamed of, and the pain of failing the exam was distant enough now
that Cloud could be glad for his friend's sake. "You have the luck of the
gods," Cloud accused his friend with an exaggerated sigh. "At this rate you'll
be 1st Class before I even have a chance to take the exams again."
"I don't think the 'fast track' is that fast," Zack said, squeezing Cloud's
shoulder in sympathy. "So the bad news is, Sephiroth's unit is almost never in
Midgar, even if he is." His sigh was no less deep than Cloud's had been, but it
wasn't exaggerated. "The good news is, I've got the authority to make sure I'm
always the one in charge of your unit when we do get to work together. And I'll
bet you anything that you'll be assigned here when you pass the next exams; you
impressed him as much as I did."
"How, by falling flat on my face in the arena?" Cloud asked, his flush
deepening. Zack ruffled his hair again before he could dodge, and Cloud changed
the subject hastily. "Anyway, isn't it some kind of conflict of interests or
something to be in charge of your friend? I mean, won't people end up accusing
you of favouritism and stuff?"
"I think it's just that Sephiroth is smart enough to know that having you in my
unit means I'll be working five times as hard to make sure you all get through
it alive," Zack shrugged. "Anyway, he knows we work well together. And I
checked around, I'm not the only SOLDIER who's got standing requests about
assignment preferences on record, not by a long shot. It's all on the up and
up." He grinned again. "Now come on, get your ass in gear or you're not going
to have time to get your squad organized. Move it, corporal!"
The last was barked in true drill sergeant style, and Cloud rolled his eyes at
his friend even as he saluted. Zack returned the salute and waved him off,
turning to go rejoin some of the other SOLDIERs.
Feeling so light he almost worried the wind would pick him up and toss him over
the cliff, Cloud went to go check on his squad's tent and gear. They teased
him, of course; he couldn't expect them to pass up such a prime opportunity.
Despite the envious overtones, though, the teasing wasn't malicious, and as
good as Cloud felt at that moment, it would have taken a great deal more to
hurt him at all.
The rifle and sword platoons were mixed up and assigned in groups, with the
higher-ranking SOLDIER in charge. In their case that meant Zack deferred to the
1st Class who had charge over the rifle platoon they were working with, but
that just freed him to volunteer to take rearguard with Cloud.
As they walked out onto the snow plains from the grassy area, the difference in
temperature was immediate and marked. "Hades, it's colder than Shiva's tits out
here," one of the riflemen exclaimed, and Cloud had to agree. The wind was
bitterly cold, and found every crack and seam in his armour and clothes to get
to his body.
"Wait till you've been out here a few hours," Zack called up the line to
whoever had complained. "Or for a night patrol. You'll be sure you're never
going to get warm again."
Grinning, though the expression was mostly hidden by the scarf he'd wrapped
around his neck and lower face, Cloud shook his head at his friend. "I seem to
recall a conversation in Mideel where you referred to me as a 'mountain-bred
wimp', or something along those lines. Care to eat your words, lieutenant?"
"Hey, that argument assumed habitable conditions," Zack protested. "This is not
habitable!"
"Oh yeah? There's a settlement farther up the mountains, isn't there?" Cloud
countered, his eyes sparkling as for once he was able to get the best of Zack
in a debate. "If they're living in it, then by definition it's habitable.
You're just a tropic-bred wimp, instead of a mountain-bred one."
Grumbling to himself, Zack flashed Cloud a rude gesture that was somewhat
hampered by his heavy gloves, and Cloud laughed.
"All right, we're about to pass the outer sentries," the 1st Class called back.
"We're going to circle around behind the town, and head down the mountains to
the area they call Gaea's Cliff. That's where the patrols have been finding the
highest concentration of monsters. The sky's clear, so we won't bother with the
flags for now, but once we get down onto the glacier you can't orient yourself
by the mountains any more. Pull in close to each other and start planting the
markers once we get there."
There was a chorus of 'yes, sir!'s, and Cloud and Zack turned their attention
to their flanks and rear. Teasing and catching up and generally enjoying being
together could wait until they got back to camp; they were on duty now, and
lives could depend on how alert they were.
A couple of monsters decided to try their luck on the group as they marched
through the snowdrifts, but they were able to dispatch the threats without any
problems. Cloud didn't even get his sword bloody; the riflemen took care of
them from a distance, with a bit of backup from well-placed fire spells cast by
the two SOLDIERs. Zack pointed out the town as they passed below it, though
Cloud couldn't make out much other than the solid shapes of a couple of
buildings.
Getting down into the valley was an adventure all in itself; they'd been
equipped with skis, but the hill was steep enough to cause problems for all but
the most experienced skiers in the group. Cloud had no trouble, and Zack's
enhanced reflexes were clearly enough to make up for his relative inexperience,
but the group suffered half a dozen wrenched joints, two broken legs and a
badly sprained wrist by the time they made it to the bottom. Zack and the other
SOLDIER used their Restore materia to cure the injuries each time, and Cloud
shook his head as he looked back up the slope.
"How do we get back up there?" he asked, disbelieving.
"There's a motorized lift that goes up to the town from farther to the east,"
Zack said, stepping off his skis now that they'd reached the bottom. The skis
would have helped them move faster, but they cut manoeuvrability down
drastically and that could mean the difference in a battle. "Or there's a place
that's more of a switchback than this slope, where we can climb up if we're
careful. We try to avoid disturbing the town more than we have to, which is why
we take this way down."
"That, and their idea of a 'good' way down is throwing themselves off the side
of a cliff with a board strapped to their feet," the other SOLDIER muttered as
he passed them on his way back from healing the last injury. "And they make the
slope down as difficult as bloody possible. Crazy bastards."
"Oh, snowboarding," Cloud nodded, understanding. "Come to think of it, I think
I heard about that. They're trying to increase the tourist industry here by
appealing to the adrenalin junkies, aren't they?"
"You would be into that kind of stuff," Zack rolled his eyes. "Well, feel free
to try out the slopes if we get a leave day. The locals will love you forever
if you're any good at it. As far as they're concerned, we're 'cheating' because
we've got the enhanced reflexes."
Laughing softly, Cloud strapped his skis out of the way on his pack and took
his place in line again. The snow wasn't as deep here, since there were enough
trees to break up the wind and keep the worst of the drifts out.
Unfortunately, the monsters seemed to appreciate the easier conditions as much
as they did, because they began to encounter them with increasing frequency.
"Bunnies?" Cloud exclaimed as he hacked down one of the animals in question.
Behind him Zack was a blur of motion, graceful and deadly. He now wielded with
one hand the same sort of buster sword he'd once had to drag behind him, and
Cloud felt a twinge of jealousy. "We're being attacked by rabid rabbits?"
"Just about anything can be a monster these days," Zack said as he glanced
around once to make certain there were no more enemies, and slung the sword
across his back again. He wasn't even out of breath, Cloud saw with a sort of
amused not-quite-resentment. "Check out the teeth on those bastards. Whatever
animal they look like, those are carnivores."
"Keep your eyes peeled, we're going to hit the open snowfield soon," the 1st
Class shouted back down the line. "The temperature's going to drop sharply, and
once we're out of sight of the forest there are no landmarks. The mountains are
all around, they're useless for navigation. Get the markers ready."
Cloud wasn't carrying any of the flags; as rearguard, it would be his and
Zack's job to pick up the last flags and pass them back up to the front to be
replanted. They would be the least likely to wander off course, with a full
line of markers in front of them, but they would also be vulnerable to attack
with nobody to protect their rear.
As promised, the temperature difference as they came out of the tree line was
significant. Cloud started shivering despite himself, and the first gust of
wind in the open nearly staggered him. Zack caught him by the sleeve and
steadied him for the moment it took to get his feet back under him. Cloud
grunted a thank-you; in air this cold, speaking was just asking for your lungs
to freeze.
Careful to only breathe through his scarf, ignoring the way the deflected
moisture turned to ice almost immediately on his face, Cloud slogged through
the path left in the snow by the man in front of him. He could see right away
why they were supposed to switch trailbreakers frequently; tramping down a path
in these drifts would wear you out in no time.
For now the SOLDIER had point, though, and he wasn't likely to get tired any
time soon. They kept their positions, doing their best to set a straight course
through the snow. Twice the wind gusted and swirled around them, kicking up
snow and completely turning Cloud around, but with the markers there to guide
them they never lost their way.
In concentrating on fighting the elements, though, they almost forget that the
weather wasn't their only enemy. The attack came out of another strong gust of
wind, the monsters using the swirling snow to hide themselves until the last
moment. The first shout of alarm from up front was lost in the howl of the
wind, so Cloud and Zack had no warning when they were suddenly charged from
both sides.
Swearing, Zack cast a fire spell over all the enemies on one side, and they
screamed and writhed in pain. Cloud tried to put his back against his friend's
to protect them both, but a lunge from some kind of ridiculously oversized
flying wasp forced him away. Another one stung him from behind; the actual
wound didn't go very deep, but it felt like the thing had injected liquid ice
into his veins.
Cloud slashed at them with his sword, wishing for a moment that he was still in
the rifle corps. They were much too fast for him to hit, even when they stayed
low enough to be in range. Finally he remembered the Fire materia in his
bracer; not the low-level one that had been given to everyone else, but the
same mastered one he'd carried with him since Mideel. He'd managed to acquire a
low-level All to go with it; he could only cast the first level spell if he was
targeting multiple enemies, but it was enough to send the insects screaming
into the snow.
He'd lost track of Zack, but the winds were starting to die again and he
thought he could see the markers to his left. He turned to head for them,
keeping a wary eye out for more enemies, and his eye was caught by a dark,
humanoid figure in the snow. "Zack?" he called, thinking it was his friend for
a moment.
Only for a moment; the figure was too slender to be Zack. It could be one of
the others, though, and it seemed to be beckoning to him. He slogged through
the snow in that direction, careful to keep the flags in sight. "Hey! Are you
okay? Who's there?"
The wind kicked up again, and he lost track of the markers. He stopped moving
instantly, waiting for it to die down so he could see them before he continued.
The figure beckoned again, and when he didn't move it approached him.
He had just a moment to realize that it wasn't one of the other troops; it was
in fact a blue-skinned woman dressed in so little she should have been frozen
solid. Then she beckoned again, and suddenly Cloud couldn't remember why it was
even important that she wasn't a trooper. She was lost, and helpless in the
snow, and he was supposed to help her, right?
Taking a step closer to her, Cloud lost even that train of thought. Everything
was spinning, and he felt like he was tumbling around in a strong current under
water, unable to tell which way was up.
Something hit him hard and knocked him face first into the snow. He floundered,
the powdery white drifts higher than he was, trying to find his way back to the
surface. He lashed out with his sword as he struggled to his feet, not sure
what he was doing but fairly certain that if something was hurting him, he was
supposed to hurt it back. There was a shrill scream of pain, and suddenly his
head cleared again. He found himself standing over the frozen body of the blue-
skinned woman, his sword hacked halfway through her chest.
Except for the colour of her skin she looked enough like a human to make him
sick at the sight of her death. By sheer strength of will he managed not to
throw up, jerking his sword out of the body and staggering back.
Coughing, hardly able to breathe in the frozen air, he quickly tugged his scarf
back up over his face and looked around. The wind was blowing again, and he had
no idea what direction he was facing or how far he'd come from the rest of the
group. Even when the wind dropped, visibility was still poor more than ten feet
away; he couldn't see anything but the falling snow.
"Zack?" he called hoarsely, his voice cracking with cold. Clearing his throat,
he tried again. "Zack? Zack! Trey, Adam, where are you? Zack! Colin! Zack!"
There was no answer, his voice ripped to shreds and carried away by the wind.
Turning slowly in a circle, he strained to catch sight of something, anything,
in the snow.
Only blowing white met his eyes. He was cut off from the group, with no idea
how to get back to them or even to the forest. He could feel the chill creeping
under his clothes to leach the heat away from his body.
In short, he was lost... and they'd already been warned that getting lost out
here was as good as being dead.
***** Chapter 18 *****
No matter where he looked, all Cloud could see was blowing snow. The wind had
continued to pick up, rather than dropping again, and it didn't take him long
to realize that not all the snow in the air was being kicked up from the
ground. There was a storm moving in, and it looked like it was going to be a
bad one.
Shivering, Cloud stood in the knee-deep drifts and tried to decide what to do.
He'd shouted himself hoarse, but if there had been an answer he hadn't heard it
over the rising noise of the wind. He was well and truly lost.
Wracking his brain, he tried to remember any advice he'd ever heard of for a
situation like this. You were supposed to stay in one place if you were lost,
he was pretty sure. Otherwise, if someone came looking for you they could miss
you entirely as you wandered around in circles.
There were two problems with that, though. One, he wasn't sure anybody would be
coming to look for him. Oh, he had no doubts that Zack would want to, was in
fact probably on the verge of going ballistic as he realized Cloud was missing.
But Zack was a good enough SOLDIER and a responsible enough officer to realize
that his first priority was to the thirty or so people in the platoon he was in
charge of who were still where they were supposed to be. With a storm blowing
in, he and the 1st Class would be pushing everyone hard to get off the open
plains and find shelter somewhere. That took precedence over a likely futile
search for one lost trooper, even if the trooper was his best friend.
Two, the wind was literally cold enough to freeze a man where he stood. He was
shivering badly, which was a good sign and he knew better than to try to stop.
Shivering was his body's way of trying to generate heat; if he stopped, it
meant his body had given up and was just trying to conserve what little he had
left in his torso, and he would be in severe risk of frostbite.
It wouldn't take long to reach that point at these temperatures. Looking around
again, Cloud bit his lip. He could dig a shelter in the snow and settle himself
in to wait out the storm, it was more than deep enough in the larger drifts.
The problem was, even when the storm was over the winds would still be blowing
enough to keep him from finding his way back. Without any way to mark his trail
he would wander in circles forever. And if anyone was looking for him, or if
another patrol happened to come this way, they'd never see him.
The only thing for it was to keep moving, he decided. He was in a contained
valley; if he could use his footprints as markers to keep him going straight,
eventually he would fetch up against either the cliff or the forest.
Briefly he debated using his skis, but he needed the depth of his footprints to
leave a trail the wind wouldn't erase in moments. Plus, if the monsters
attacked from out of the snow again he didn't want to be hampered by the skis.
Hunching in on himself to try to present as little surface to the wind as
possible, Cloud started slogging his way through the snow. He checked behind
him frequently to try to make sure his trail was staying straight, though as
the storm worsened he quickly became unable to see more than a few inches
behind him.
Still, at least moving was keeping him relatively warm. He made an effort to
make his motions as big as possible, trying to keep the blood flowing to his
extremities. It wouldn't take long before he started to get tired, and then he
wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he did his best not to think of it.
He was attacked twice; once by more of the little stinging insects, which he
managed to dispatch with his sword this time, and once by an odd sort of flying
snake. Cloud would have expected a snake to be the last sort of creature to
make its home out here, but apparently this one took the idea of being 'cold-
blooded' to an extreme.
It was too fast and agile for him, and in the end he had to resort to using his
Fire materia again. Unfortunately that used up the last of his magical energy,
and he didn't have any ethers with him. He had his bedroll, but if he once lay
down to sleep he knew he'd never get up again.
Panting, trying not to breathe in more of the frigid air than he had to, Cloud
sheathed his sword and tried to summon enough energy to start moving again. One
foot at a time, that was the key; don't think beyond the next step.
Something made him pause before he'd gotten more than a few feet away. He knew
he shouldn't stand still, but he circled slowly in place as he tried to figure
out what had caught his attention. There was a lull in the wind although the
snow was still falling thickly; it was possible he'd heard another monster
trying to creep up on him.
Distantly he heard it again, or thought he did. A shout, barely audible over
the wind, but that sound hadn't come from any animal's throat. Heart pounding,
Cloud started struggling through the snow in the direction of the shout. If
there was another patrol somewhere nearby, they could march right past him and
never know he was there if he didn't move fast. "Hey!" he called as loudly as
he could. "Is someone there? Hey!"
This time, the shout was barely recognizable as a word. "Cloud!" At the sound
of his name, Cloud's heart beat faster and his eyes went wide. Had someone come
looking for him after all? They'd have to be suicidal.
"Zack? Zack!" he shouted back. It couldn't possibly be anyone else.
"Cloud! I hear you, keep shouting!" Zack called, a little closer this time.
"Don't move, or we'll miss each other!"
"I'm here, over here!" Cloud said, his voice cracking with cold and exhaustion.
"Zack!"
A snow covered figure stumbled out of the wall of white that was the blizzard,
nearly trampling Cloud. "Zack!" Cloud exclaimed as his friend pushed his helmet
up to reveal familiar grey-violet eyes that glowed dimly with the power of
mako. "How did you find me?"
"Sheer dumb luck," Zack replied, catching Cloud in a tight hug. "I've been
wandering around looking for you, and I was about to start panicking when I saw
the energy from the fire spell you cast back there. Dumbass, didn't you hear me
tell everyone to stay together no matter what?"
"I think I got hit by a confuse spell," Cloud admitted, hugging back as best he
could with limbs that felt like they'd turned to wood. He'd stopped shivering
at some point, he realized. Not a good sign. "The next thing I knew I was in
the middle of the snow and had no idea how to get back."
Looking around and not seeing any sign of markers that Zack had been leaving,
he added, "So how were you planning on getting back? Now we're both just lost
out here."
"Markers wouldn't have done me any good while I was looking for you," Zack said
with a shrug. "Now we'll start leaving them, and if we keep going straight
eventually we'll make it to shelter. Get your skis out, we'll make better time
on them."
They scrambled onto their skis, and Zack produced four of the collapsible poles
that they'd been using for markers. As they moved forward they leap-frogged
past each other, each one taking the lead to plant two new poles, then staying
still while the other uprooted the last two and moved past. It was slow, but it
was progress, and Cloud was pretty sure they were moving in at least a
relatively straight line.
It wasn't long before Cloud started falling behind, though. He was still more
than half frozen, and his movements became more and more sluggish. When Zack
noticed he skied back to Cloud, pulling up alongside him. "You okay?"
"I can't... I can't go much further," Cloud gasped, leaning heavily on his
poles in the snow. "I'm so tired, Zack. I just need to rest..."
"Don't you dare!" Zack sounded shrill, and if Cloud hadn't known better he'd
have described the older boy's tone as 'panicked'. "Don't you dare fall asleep
on me, Cloud. Come on, we've gotta be getting close to something. The glacier's
not that big. Just keep moving, one ski in front of the other, that's it..."
He coaxed Cloud along, and the blonde did his best, but it was clear to both of
them that he wasn't going to last much longer. Almost Cloud wished the monsters
would attack them; the adrenalin would have helped wake him up, and the
movement would have warmed him a little. Of course, the one time they actually
wanted to run into monsters was when the beasts decided to leave them alone.
"Wait. There!" Zack suddenly exclaimed, skiing up beside Cloud and pointing
into the snow. "See? I told you we'd make it if we just kept going!"
Cloud squinted in the indicated direction, but he couldn't see anything beyond
the blank white flakes. "What are you talking about? There's nothing there but
snow." He wondered if Zack was seeing things; it could happen to people left
out too long in the odd sort of sensory deprivation created by a blizzard.
"You don't see it?" Zack glanced at him, then back to where he was pointing,
and shrugged. "It's a Fire 3 spell, somebody shot it straight into the air. I
guess I must be seeing the heat or something. Same way I found you. Come on,
we're close!"
Nudging Cloud forward, Zack took a moment to send up a spell of his own to let
the other trooper know the signal had been seen. Cloud could only follow the
path of the spell up a few feet before it was hidden by the snow, but Zack
seemed to be able to see it all the way up. Maybe the older boy really could
see some sort of energy out there.
Even with the signal they almost missed it. Something made Cloud look twice at
the oddly shaped drift just barely visible to their right, and after a moment
he realized the reason it looked strange was because of the dark patch that had
to be some kind of opening. "Zack! There!" he croaked, gesturing. His hands
were too frozen for something like pointing.
"I see it!" Zack agreed, abandoning the poles and heading for the structure. It
turned out to be a sort of rocky outcropping, so covered in snow it was almost
indistinguishable from the surrounding landscape. They kicked off their skis
and staggered up to the opening, where they had to crawl on all fours to get
inside.
Inside it was markedly warmer, not just because they were out of the wind. From
the looks of it a Fire spell had been cast on a pile of rocks in the centre of
the floor, and now they were radiating a gentle heat as they slowly cooled.
Cloud pushed off his helmet and quickly started stripping out of the outer
layer of his clothes. It was more important to be dry than to have lots of
layers, at least for the moment.
"So you found him after all." Some part of Cloud had known that somebody else
had to be in here with them, because somebody had been here to send up the
signal and heat the rocks. Even so, the deep voice startled his cold-muddled
brain, and he jumped. A moment later he froze, recognizing the long-haired
figure in black crouched on the other side of the cave.
"Yes, sir," Zack said, and his voice was cheerful despite being hoarse from the
cold. "You doubted me? I told you I'd bring him back."
"Given that you were more than half hysterical and insisting on going back out
into the storm after bringing your unit to safety, forgive me for not putting
much faith in your words, lieutenant," Sephiroth said dryly. "Judging by the
state you're both in, I daresay neither of you would have made it back if I
hadn't come out here to provide a signal for you to follow." Glancing at Cloud
where he was still motionless to one side, the general lifted an eyebrow. "You
had the right idea, corporal. You need to get out of the wet clothes, quickly."
"Y-yes sir," Cloud stammered, the stutter caused as much by embarrassment and
awe as chattering teeth. He returned to fumbling himself out of his gear with
fingers made clumsy by the cold.
"Thank you, sir," Zack added, more subdued as he also stripped his outer gear.
"You shouldn't have had to come out here after us. I'm sorry I ran off like
that. Is everyone else okay?"
"At last count there were still about a dozen people unaccounted for, including
the two of you," Sephiroth informed them as they moved further into the cave.
"The rest of the SOLDIERs are sweeping the area, using fire spells to stay in
contact, but frankly I doubt we'll find anyone alive at this point."
The mildly curious look he gave Cloud made the blonde flush and stammer, unable
to get the words out. How horribly embarrassing, to get drawn away from his
platoon and force his best friend and the general himself to come out after
him.
"I told you he'd still be alive, sir," Zack said over Cloud's sputtering. "He's
from the mountains, I knew he'd know what to do. Besides," he grinned and
reached over to ruffle Cloud's hair with an ungloved hand, "the little
bastard's too damn stubborn to just lie down and die. He was still moving and
fighting when I found him."
"Zack!" Cloud snapped, shoving his hand away and blushing even harder. Did Zack
have to treat him like a little kid in front of the general of all people? The
word was hardly out of his mouth before he remembered just where he was and who
he was with. "Uh. I mean, lieutenant. Sir."
To his shock, Sephiroth chuckled softly. "At ease, corporal. We're going to be
trapped in here for quite some time, until the worst of the storm passes. Even
I don't want to attempt to navigate in these conditions. I hardly expect you to
refer to a close friend by his rank when you're not on duty."
"Technically we are on duty, sir," Zack pointed out with another grin. "But I'm
not going to complain. I still look around to see where the officer is lurking
every time he calls me that."
Zack had stripped down to his sleeveless uniform top and pants, and to Cloud's
amazement Sephiroth was still wearing the same shirtless uniform he always did.
Both of them seemed perfectly at ease in the warmth radiating from the rocks,
but even in a heavy sweater and two layers of clothing Cloud was still
freezing. He inched closer to the heat, holding his hands towards it and hoping
he hadn't suffered too badly from frostbite.
"You're shivering, corporal," Sephiroth noted quietly. "Are you warming up or
still cooling down?"
"Warming up, sir," Cloud assured him, clenching his teeth so they wouldn't
chatter. "The shivering is a good sign. I'll be fine, sir."
"Since when is shivering a good sign?" Zack asked, blinking. "If you're not
shivering then that's better, isn't it?"
"You've been here weeks already and you haven't learned the signs of danger
from cold?" Cloud asked his friend incredulously. "When you stop shivering,
that's bad. The fact that I've started again means I'm warming up."
"If you say so." Zack looked doubtful, but was apparently willing to take his
word for it. "General, sir, forgive me for asking, but what's the situation
here? Do you think it's just a coincidence that the worst storm yet hit just as
we were bringing in reinforcements?"
"I hesitate to assume our enemy has the ability to control the weather,"
Sephiroth replied quietly, "but I also can't deny the possibility. Certainly it
seems beyond coincidence that the monsters in the area were intelligent enough
to attack when the visibility was poorest. Someone is directing them."
"It's the same guy from Mideel, isn't it?" Zack asked shrewdly, leaning back
against the wall of the cave and tapping one foot thoughtfully. "The one who
got away, the scientist. This is the same pattern he had; attack in force and
by surprise."
"All information from that mission is classified," Sephiroth reminded them
mildly, but Cloud thought there was approval in his tone. "I can neither
confirm nor deny the possibility of it relating to the current events. If it
were the same man, however, we would do well to be on guard at all times. He
was Hojo's primary assistant; he is brilliant, and that makes him both
dangerous and unpredictable."
Listening to them, Cloud huddled in on himself and stared at the faint red glow
of the heated rocks, marvelling that he would ever find himself in such a
situation. Sitting here listening to his best friend casually discuss
classified matters with Sephiroth, talking as if they were practically friends.
That was Zack, though. It shouldn't have surprised Cloud that he would be able
to make friends even with the general. He'd managed to make a friend out of
Cloud, after all.
"This pretty much shoots down the theory that the monsters are related to the
reactors, doesn't it sir?" Zack tried a different topic. "I mean, the ones in
Mideel were the same type we'd seen in Hojo's labs, so the guy could have just
brought them with him. But these are totally different, and obviously
specifically adapted for this environment."
"The matter of the monsters' connection to the reactors is classified as well,"
Sephiroth said, and this time Cloud was sure there was a glint of amusement in
his eyes. "As are the results of Professor Hojo's attempts to duplicate the
effects on normal animals. The existence of which is also classified."
"Right, okay," Zack nodded, clearly stifling a grin. Cloud wondered idly if
that meant the wolf-like monster really had been a Nibel wolf, altered by mako.
Had it been captured in the wild, or was it something Hojo had created in his
experiments? "So, is there anything we can talk about that isn't classified?"
"Certainly. We can discuss the weather," Sephiroth replied in a perfectly even
tone, and Zack cracked up. Cloud remembered their awe and disbelief when the
general had made a joke back in the boot camp exam, and a faint smile curved
his lips. He wondered if there was anyone other than him outside the general's
elite unit who knew that Sephiroth had a sense of humour. For that matter, he
wondered how many people in the unit knew. Zack had a unique ability to draw
people out of their shells.
"You're being awfully quiet over there, Cloud," Zack observed. "You've stopped
shivering, at least. I could hear your teeth chattering from all the way over
here. Warm enough?"
"Mmm. Tired," Cloud replied, somewhat indistinctly. With an effort, he roused
himself to more coherency. "It was exhausting out there." At least he wasn't
cold any more. He wasn't exactly warm, but he supposed he could only expect so
much. Though he still had no idea how Zack and Sephiroth could be comfortable
sitting around wearing so little.
The general gave him a sharp look, but Zack just laughed and reached over to
ruffle his hair. Cloud didn't have the energy to dodge, or even try to bat him
away. "Yeah, I bet. You're so little, those drifts must have been halfway up to
your... Hades, Cloud, you're frozen solid!" he broke off with a yelp as his
hand brushed over Cloud's cheek. "Why didn't you say you were cold?"
"Not cold," Cloud countered, his words sluggish and his mind refusing to
process things at anything resembling normal speed. Vaguely he wondered when
he'd been hit by the Slow spell, and why.
The word General Sephiroth bit off in the middle sounded suspiciously like a
curse as he reached over and discovered for himself how cold Cloud's skin was.
"I'm not used to working with non-SOLDIERs," he said, shaking his head. "I'd
forgotten how vulnerable normal people are to temperature extremes. Look at me,
corporal."
Slowly Cloud lifted his eyes to meet Sephiroth's, though it took a massive
effort of will. "Do not fall asleep," the general ordered him sternly. Obeying
him was an ingrained reflex, and Cloud struggled to wake up more in response.
"Lieutenant, get him down to his last layer and get in behind him, curl up
around him."
"Shit, Cloud, you stupid idiot," Zack said, his voice shaking as badly as his
hands as he fumbled to get the younger boy's tunic and the sweater beneath it
off. That left Cloud in only his thin cotton undershirt and some part of him
was aware that he should have felt cold, but he didn't. "You should have said
you weren't warm enough when we first got here!"
"You an' th' general were fine," Cloud said, his voice a little slurred with
the effort of speaking. Zack was working on his pants now, tugging Cloud's
boots off so he could remove the pants and leaving behind only the thermal
underpants beneath. " 'F a tropic-wimp like you c'n handle it, so c'n I."
"We're SOLDIERs, stupid," Zack scolded him, settling in behind him and tugging
Cloud back against his chest, his legs on either side of the younger boy's
hips. "We're resistant to extreme cold and heat. Didn't you notice that none of
the SOLDIERs was wearing half as much gear as the troopers? Yeah, it's colder
than Shiva's tits and I'm happy to bitch about it, but unlike you I'm not in
any immediate danger of dying from it!"
"How w's I s'ppos'd to know?" Cloud demanded, sleepily indignant. Damn it, so
much for his moment of superiority over Zack. "I... shit!" He gasped in pain,
wriggling to try to escape the sudden stabbing needles of pain that washed over
him. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't a physical attack, just the
backwash of heat from the Fire 3 Sephiroth had cast.
The general directed the flame over the outer walls of the shelter, heating the
rocks there so they would give off warmth as well. He spent the last of the
spell on the stones in the centre, bringing them back to red-hot temperatures.
"There," he said, dropping the hand with his bracer. "I know it's painful,
corporal, but you're going to have to endure it. You need to get warm quickly."
Then, before Cloud could even think to protest or object, the general swept off
his long jacket and draped it sideways over Zack's shoulders like a blanket,
tucking it in around Cloud. The leather was warm and smelled like spice and
winter; Cloud wasn't sure if that was just from the environment, or whether it
was Sephiroth's own scent. He was dizzy at the very thought that he was wearing
the general's jacket.
"What about you, sir?" Zack asked, looking at the older man in concern as
Sephiroth settled in near the rocks in the centre again. "I mean, I... I
wouldn't mind having to warm you up like this, but it's not going to do us much
good if the two of you are just taking turns being frozen." Cloud was slightly
gratified to discover that not even Zack could say something like that to the
general without blushing.
"Thank you for your concern, lieutenant, but I'm fine," Sephiroth shook his
head. "I can withstand temperatures far more extreme than even the SOLDIERs 1st
Class. The warmth from the rocks is more than enough for me."
"If... if you say so, sir," Zack said, sounding slightly awed. "Uh, thank you.
Since he doesn't seem to be in any shape to say it for himself."
Cloud was huddled in against Zack's chest, no longer sleepy thanks to the pain
of the warmth, but unable to say anything past the teeth he'd clenched on a
scream of agony. He would not embarrass himself further in front of Sephiroth
by shrieking like a little girl, damn it.
The general was watching them with an odd look on his face, an expression Cloud
couldn't even begin to interpret. Belatedly it occurred to Cloud that they
might seem just a little more familiar with each other in this position than
two men should be, and he tried to pull away a bit.
"Don't," Zack whispered, barely loud enough for Cloud to hear him as he held
the younger boy in place against him. "I don't think he cares, and it's more
important for you to get warm, anyway. Stay put."
Settling back again, Cloud glanced at the general and discovered the man was
looking away now; not deliberately, but simply as if he didn't want to twist
his neck to look at them and so he'd turned his gaze to the heated rocks in
front of them. There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Sephiroth
cleared his throat softly.
"So," he said, in a perfectly bland tone. "I believe the traditional opening to
discussions of non-classified weather is something along the lines of 'Cold out
today, isn't it?' "
Zack started to laugh helplessly, and even Cloud gave a raspy chuckle. It was
going to be a long couple of hours while they waited for the storm to abate,
but at least they could still find the humour in the situation.
***** Chapter 19 *****
A soft but persistent beeping drew Cloud out of sleep. It was very odd to wake
up without reveille playing loudly somewhere nearby, and for a moment he was
disoriented. The fact that his 'bed' was warm and solid and apparently
breathing didn't help his confusion.
It was Sephiroth's voice that reminded where he was, as the general picked up
his PHS and said "Report." Blinking sleepily, Cloud lifted his head and
discovered that he was still tucked against Zack's body with Sephiroth's jacket
draped over them both like a blanket. Zack had at some point leaned back
against the wall and dozed off as well.
Either they hadn't been asleep very long, or Sephiroth had renewed the fire
spell heating the walls, because it was still comfortably warm in the cave.
Given the ruddy sunlight spilling in from the entrance, Cloud was betting on
the latter. It must be sunset, or close to it.
"Guess the communications network is working again now that the storm is past,"
Zack murmured in his ear, shifting to stretch slowly. "None of the PHS units
were functioning yesterday. Better get up, we'll probably be leaving soon."
Stifling a yawn, Cloud sat up and worked his way out of the nest created by
Zack's body and the jacket. He was stiff and a little sore from sleeping in
such an awkward position, but not bad all things considered. Once he got moving
again his body would warm and loosen up. Outside of the warmth of the thick
leather jacket he started shivering again, and quickly reached for the rest of
his clothes and equipment.
The sound of a soft but heartfelt curse from Sephiroth startled Cloud into
dropping the sweater he'd been about to put on. Looking over, he saw the man
closing his PHS with a dark look on his face.
"Bad news, sir?" Zack asked, his voice worried. "How many did we lose?"
"Surprisingly few, all things considered," Sephiroth said, standing gracefully
and moving to take his jacket back. "Unfortunately it seems our quarry used the
cover of the storm to make an escape. Two of the SOLDIERs stumbled across his
base while out searching for survivors, and it's completely empty."
"Damn!" Zack's curse was no less heartfelt than the general's had been. "That's
at least twice he's gotten out as soon as reinforcements he knew he couldn't
handle arrived. He's got to have an inside informant somewhere. Someone who can
monitor troop movements."
"Classified, lieutenant," Sephiroth reminded him with an oblique glance at
Cloud. "And yes I know you were there as well, corporal, but if you'll recall
none of you were cleared to know the information you received then."
"I understand, sir," Cloud shrugged. "Uh... for what it's worth, though, the
sword and rifle companies assigned here aren't the same ones that were in
Mideel. As far as I know Zack and I were the only troopers who were in Mideel
who are here now."
"And quite a few of the SOLDIERs here," Zack told him. "We were a little too
distracted at the time to realize it, but that was a unit of the Specials that
came with the general to Mideel. But you don't really think it's one of us
tipping the guy off, do you sir?"
Sephiroth opened his mouth, but Zack waved him off before he could say
anything. "I know, I know. Classified. Damn it, how are we ever supposed to
figure anything out if everything is classified?"
"It's not your job to 'figure things out', lieutenant," Sephiroth said,
amusement once again clear in his voice. "That falls to those of us who have
the clearance to know the classified information. Your job, at the moment at
least, is to focus on getting back to camp."
"Yes, sir," Zack said, though his salute was a bit flippant. Cloud sighed
quietly and shook his head, hiding his smile by pulling his sweater over his
head. Zack would be Zack, even with Sephiroth. He was clearly stilled awed by
and respectful of the man, but it was 'respectful' in Zack's own unique way.
Thankfully Sephiroth seemed to take it in the spirit in which it was intended,
rather than taking offence as many officers would have.
"Well, at least it's bright and sunny out there, and our goggles will protect
us from going snow-blind," Zack said cheerfully as he tugged his coat on and
slung his sword over his back again. "Sounds like the wind has died down, too.
We shouldn't have any trouble finding our... uh." The dark-haired boy had
crouched to crawl through the opening, and paused. "Um. Sir? We have a small
problem."
Cloud was closer, so he got there first, leaning down to peer outside. It
didn't take long to figure out what Zack had seen. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, eyes
wide as he surveyed the rows and rows of monsters arrayed in front of the door,
waiting patiently. "You've got to be kidding me!"
Tugging him back as Sephiroth approached, Zack got them both out of the way so
the general could see. "That's got to be every damn monster on the glacier! And
they're just sitting out there, waiting. That's not natural."
"Very little about these beasts is natural, lieutenant," Sephiroth said dryly,
crouching to see out the portal. "Though this is certainly confirmation that
they're being controlled by..."
He broke off suddenly and snapped out the words of an Ice 2 spell, jerking back
out of the entrance. The spell froze over the opening, creating a thick shield
of ice. Moments later Cloud heard the dull impact of bodies on the other side.
"It seems they were waiting for me to put in an appearance," the general said,
his glowing green eyes narrowed. "Our enemy knew or guessed at my presence
here, and sent them to wait for me. They ignored both of you, and attacked the
moment they saw me."
Wincing at the sound of a much louder thud, accompanied by the cracking of ice,
Cloud looked at Zack and the general. "That won't keep them out for long."
"Another few hits, and it'll be gone," Zack agreed. "We can call for
reinforcements, but by the time they get here it'll all be over. It takes hours
to get here from camp."
"There should be at least one group still here in the valley," Sephiroth said,
pulling out his PHS again. It only took a moment for him to issue the necessary
orders, but in that time Cloud could see the ice shield was already falling
apart.
"One more good hit, and they're through," Zack warned, one hand on the hilt of
his buster sword.
"Stay behind me," Sephiroth ordered, straightening and putting a hand on
Masamune. "At all times, both of you. I don't want you caught in the blast
radius of an area effect spell."
"We've got your back, sir," Zack said, his eyes glowing brighter than usual
with the anticipation of a fight. "Right?" He tilted his head and winked at
Cloud.
Nodding once, firmly, Cloud drew his own sword. "Right." He was more than a
little nervous about going to battle against a sea of monsters, knowing he
wouldn't be able to keep up with Zack or the general, but he certainly wasn't
going to cower in here while the other two fought!
"Let's do it!" Zack cheered, and Cloud thought he caught a glimpse of a small
smile on the general's face before the man was obscured by a rising green glow
of powerful magic.
The ground shook, and a large chunk of the side of the cavern fell away. Cloud
had to squint against the sudden bright light, even through the dark lenses of
his helmet, but that didn't stop him from charging out with Zack right behind
the general. Masamune swept a clear path through the monsters in front, while
Zack and Cloud chopped at the ones trying to come in on their flanks.
Everything slowed down, as if he was watching the world in slow-motion. At the
same time the air in front of him shimmered momentarily with colour, and Cloud
realized the general had caste Haste and Wall on all three of them. The
protection of the Barrier and MBarrier would wear off soon enough, but the
Haste would remain and it would give them an advantage they would need.
Taking the opportunity while the protection lasted, Cloud let himself be a
little more bold than he usually would be in attacking the monsters. Sephiroth
had manoeuvred them so their back was mostly protected by the undamaged part of
the rock outcropping, so they only had to deal with attacks from three sides.
Cloud's world narrowed to the uneven rhythm of a sword fight. Slash, block,
thrust, parry, slash again. Keep moving, because standing still was just asking
for something to take you by surprise. Don't let your guard down, don't let
yourself get drawn too far from your group, and above all, don't die.
The flying creatures were the most difficult to deal with. Thankfully they
didn't seem to have much in the way of long range attacks, so they had to get
within reach of a sword in order to hit. They liked to hover just out of reach,
waiting for you to look away to defend yourself from a ground strike before
they darted in to bite or sting. If you kept an eye on them, though, then the
rabbits or golems or other land monsters would take advantage of your
distraction. The only thing for it was to dodge them as best you could, and
hack away at the beasts on the ground.
Sephiroth moved like lightning in human form, sunlight flashing off his blade
and his long silver hair. Cloud couldn't help but wish he had the time to just
watch, because he was sure it would be a mesmerizing sight. Every so often the
general would clear enough space around him to allow him to sheath his sword
briefly and concentrate on a spell, and then lightning or fire or even a summon
would rain down on a group of enemies.
At his back Zack was less graceful and deadly than the general, but still a
terror in his own right. Cloud couldn't see much of him, but he could sense
Zack's movements as they fought back to back, covering each other and the
general as well. It really was like an odd sort of dance, trying to anticipate
your partner so you didn't leave gaps in your defences.
As the bodies piled up around them, the monsters couldn't charge them as fast.
On the other hand, Cloud at least was starting to get tired, his swings growing
sloppy and uncontrolled as his muscles protested the abuse he was putting them
through. He'd sustained half a dozen minor injuries, any one of which was
barely significant but which taken together were slowing him down. The Haste
was still in effect, but the Barrier and MBarrier had long since faded.
Panting and trying to get his breath in the frozen air, Cloud firmed his grip
on his sword and grimly continued to fight. If he gave up, if he fell, then
Zack and Sephiroth would be unprotected for a crucial minute until they
realized what had happened. There was no way Cloud was going to let anything
get through him to hurt his friend and the general, not while he was still
alive.
One of the flying snakes dive-bombed him, and he took a step back to dodge and
give him room to thrust up at it. He managed to skewer it and the weight of the
body pulled his sword down and off-centre, breaking his defence. Two of the
golems rushed in to take the opportunity, slashing at him and nearly knocking
him over. His armour kept him from being cut in half but he still felt the full
crushing force of the blows. With a wild yell he wrenched his sword around and
slammed it into their sides, snake carcass and all.
The golems were nearly impossible to kill with physical attacks, but he'd
damaged one of them enough previously that it fell apart under the impact. The
other was staggered and fell, promptly lashing out at Cloud's legs from its
prone position.
He tried to hop over the attack, but he wasn't fast enough. Crying out a
warning to Zack and Sephiroth he went down, rolling in the snow to avoid the
blow he knew would be coming. The golem's arm plunged deep into the snow,
trapping it long enough for Cloud to reposition himself beneath it. With a
grunt of effort he kicked up and flipped the thing off him and onto its back,
and staggered to his feet.
The golem was struggling to get upright again, but there were plenty of enemies
willing to take its place. He was hurt, badly enough that he wasn't sure he'd
be able to stay standing, let alone move and dodge. Taking deep breaths to help
him ignore the pain, he moved back to his place at Zack's back and braced
himself for the next rush.
Something tingled as it descended over him, and for a moment he thought it was
an attack by one of the fliers. He flailed to try to throw it off, but even as
he moved he saw that his arms were covered in dull red magic that was rapidly
spreading over the rest of his body. In his distraction one of the insects
managed to jab him, but the sting of the injury barely even registered before
it was gone.
Regen was a spell Cloud knew only from his textbooks; he'd never seen it cast
before. He recognized it when he saw it, though, and felt strength flooding
back into his limbs. "Thanks!" he called to whichever of them had cast it on
him, and waded back into the fray. It wouldn't last forever, and a strong
enough blow could still knock him out, but for at least a few minutes he was
more or less invulnerable.
He slashed at the largest creatures, ignoring the small ones for the moment
since they couldn't cause more damage to him than the Regen spell could heal
almost instantly. Desperately he wished for a stronger sword; the standard
issue sword was good enough for drilling and even fighting humans, but some of
these things had tough armour. Zack wasn't having nearly as much trouble as he
was, and the Masamune cleaved through everything it touched as easily as Fire 3
could melt snow.
If he couldn't have a better weapon, a crate of ethers would have been an
acceptable substitute. Cloud had been hoarding his own magic since he had no
way of recharging his energy. Sephiroth either had plenty of restorative items
with him, or just had so much magic energy that he wasn't worried about running
out.
To say that the attack from behind caught him by surprise was an
understatement. If anyone was going to break and let the enemy get at their
vulnerable backs, Cloud had assumed it would be him, not Zack. The blow was
hard enough to knock him to his knees, and his numb fingers dropped his sword
into the snow. Only the Regen spell let him stay conscious at all, and somehow
he managed to gather enough wits to roll away in case another attack was
coming.
His armour was dented badly enough to make it hard for him to draw breath. He
was almost amazed his spine was still in one piece. As he rolled onto his back,
Cloud struggled to his feet again and looked to see what had made it past
Zack's defence.
Only to find himself barely able to dodge a swing from the massive buster
sword. It wasn't an enemy at all; it was Zack.
Zack was attacking him. Zack was attacking him. It took Cloud's poor
beleaguered brain a few moments to work through that astonishing revelation,
but thankfully his reflexes and the Regen spell kept him in one piece as Zack
hit him again. Blocking the next thrust desperately with his own sword, Cloud
tried to draw enough air to shout. "Zack! What are you doing?"
The older boy hesitated, drawing back for a moment, and Cloud saw the way he
was reeling as if he was in a daze. Zack's steps were unsteady, his expression
confused, and when he turned to hack at a golem that had swiped at him, it was
clearly a reflexive action.
Looking past his friend, Cloud caught sight of a familiar blue figure standing
safely out of sword range behind another group of monsters. For a wild moment
he thought it was the same woman he'd killed earlier, but then he spotted
another one further out. They were absolutely identical, as was the third one
he saw on the other side. That more than anything reassured Cloud that they
were indeed monsters, not just mutated humans.
Quickly averting his eyes, hoping that would keep him from being trapped as
well, Cloud ducked another attack from Zack. The tingling feel of the Regen
spell had worn off now; one good blow from his friend and Cloud would be out of
the fight, if not dead. "General!" he shouted. "The blue women, they cast
Confuse or something similar to it! Be careful of them!"
Reaching for the energy in his materia, Cloud mentally unhooked the All from
his Fire and targeted the blue woman closest to them, presumably the one who'd
gotten Zack. She went down in a screaming column of flame, but her death didn't
free Zack as Cloud had hoped. The older boy was attacking a monster again, but
it was clear that he wasn't in control of his actions.
Something impacted Zack on the chest and broke open, releasing the sharp smell
of herbs and chemicals. Cloud recognized the distinctive scent of a remedy, and
a moment later Zack blinked and shook his head. "What the..."
"Keep away from the blue ones if you can," Sephiroth said tersely, targeting
another of the women with a burst of flame. "I'll take care of them; they can't
reach me past the protection I have equipped. Concentrate on the rest of them."
"Watch out!" Zack said, his eyes wide as he lunged past Cloud like a human
lightning bolt. He swung his massive sword and cut right through the rabbit
that had been about to strike Cloud from behind.
Cloud didn't even have a chance to say thanks before he had to counter an
attack from a snake. Shrugging to himself, Cloud figured they might as well
stay where they were, and he settled in to fight on the other side of the
group.
There was no way to tell how long they fought after that. Cloud didn't exactly
have time to check his watch between enemies, and the Haste spell made
everything seem to drag on endlessly. Every time one of them started to flag
from exhaustion or injuries Sephiroth would cast Regen on them, and they just
kept right on fighting. Cloud's sense of time passing blurred and shrank down,
until all he could focus on was whatever he was currently fighting.
For all that, though, the last of the sunlight hadn't faded from the western
sky by the time the sounds of fighting and gunfire reached them. Cloud looked
around from his last kill and saw troops running up through the snow in the
distance, the SOLDIERs in front targeting the monsters with spells and the
rifle corps firing from behind. The sight of reinforcements was immeasurably
cheering to Cloud, especially since the remaining monsters broke and ran before
them.
Panting, Cloud spiked his sword into the ground and leaned on it, trying to
ignore the shaking in his limbs. Spells and potions could keep you going almost
endlessly in a fight, but they were a drain on your body's resources that had
to be paid for eventually. Zack was resting against the wall of the shelter
with his eyes closed and the buster sword dragging on the ground, and even
Sephiroth looked tired as he knelt to wipe Masamune's blade clean before
sheathing it.
"Well, whatever else we know about our enemy, we know he's good at breeding
monsters fast," Zack said, cracking his eyes open. "If he keeps moving around
like this, every area in the world is going to be swarming with them before
long. And that's not even accounting for the ones in the wild which may or may
not be caused by the reactors." He gave Sephiroth a sardonic salute. "If
nothing else, I guess it keeps us in business without Shinra having to find
another rebellious country to 'liberate'."
"Speak softly when you say such things, lieutenant, and be wary of who might be
listening," Sephiroth warned him quietly. He moved towards the reinforcements
now heading more slowly for them, and the weariness Cloud thought he'd seen
before vanished. The general was moving as if he'd just rolled out of bed,
fresh and rested.
"Well, that's interesting," Zack said, staring after him with a bemused look on
his face. "Every time I think I'm starting to figure him out, he throws me for
a loop again. I'm not sure I'll ever understand him."
Groaning, Cloud picked his way over to a relatively clear patch of snow and
sank down to sit, giving his weary legs a rest. "I don't know if anybody can,"
he replied. "Nobody else has ever gone through the sorts of things he has. I
mean, think about it. He's not as old as I thought he'd be, so that means he
couldn't have been any older than we are during the war in Wutai, but he was
already a general. He's the prototype for the SOLDIER program, and he's way
stronger than any other SOLDIER."
"Yeah, I know." Zack shrugged, and gave Cloud a lopsided grin. "The more time I
spend around him, the more grateful I am that I've got you. If he's got anyone
he considers a friend, I've never seen them. Must be lonely at the top."
"Well, unlike him, you need someone around to keep your head from swelling so
much you can't fit through doorways," Cloud muttered, scooping up a handful of
snow and throwing it at the older boy.
"Corporal. Lieutenant." Sephiroth beckoned to them, indicating they should join
him with the rest of the group.
"Sir!" they both replied, and Zack gave Cloud a hand up out of the snow before
saluting. Cloud was somewhat amused to note that now Zack was crisply
professional, the perfect lieutenant to the core. At least the older boy was
smart enough not to dare to be relaxed with the general in front of other
people.
"The two of you will return to the base camp with the rest of the troopers,"
Sephiroth informed them as they halted three paces away and saluted again.
"Lieutenant, you'll have charge of the group. The SOLDIERs and I will be
continuing on to investigate the empty encampment the others found."
"Yes, sir!" Zack said smartly. He hesitated, then added boldly, "Be careful,
sir. It could be another trap." Beside him Cloud nodded slightly, knowing
Sephiroth would catch the minute gesture and understand that Cloud was as
worried as Zack. Surely even the Silver General would be low on resources after
a battle like the one they'd just been though, and Sephiroth had seemed tired
before the rest of the troops had come close enough to see.
Once again he caught a spark of amusement in Sephiroth's eyes, even as the
general lifted an eyebrow at Zack. "I'm quite aware of the possibility,
lieutenant. Your concern is unnecessary. Dismissed."
Unnecessary, but not unappreciated, Cloud thought to himself as they saluted
again and turned to join the crowd of troops. He couldn't help but wonder how
many people had ever seen even the slight signs of exhaustion Sephiroth had
showed in front of them.
"You know, if we're not careful, one of these days you and I could end up being
his right-hand men," Zack murmured cheerfully as they walked away, echoing
Cloud's thoughts. "We just have to keep running into unlikely, deadly
situations, worming our way out of them somehow, and impressing the hell out of
him. No problem."
Cloud was too tired to laugh, but he could chuckle. "You're delusional," he
told his friend with fond exasperation. Trying to picture himself being that
close to and trusted by the general was frankly laughable. "I'll settle for
being a SOLDIER, and if I make it into the Specials I'll be ecstatic."
"Bah, you think too small," Zack scolded him, ruffling his hair. "C'mon, let's
get everyone back to the camp. There's hot food and a warm bedroll there with
my name on it."
***** Chapter 20 *****
It was a weary and half-frozen group of troopers who trailed their way down to
the barracks from the airstrip. They'd spent another week on the glacier
attempting to mop up the monsters, only to discover there seemed to be an
endless supply of the damn things. Finally they'd been sent home to Midgar, but
morale among the troops was low.
Cloud was especially miserable. The SOLDIERs had left the day after confirming
their quarry had fled the area; their mission was to track the scientist down
and capture or kill him, not to harry monsters. That was the whole reason the
companies of troops had been called in the first place, to occupy the monsters
and free up the SOLDIERs for the real search. So he hadn't even had the
consolation of getting to spend some time with Zack.
Worse, the story of his battle at the side of Zack and the General had made the
rounds quickly, and once people realized Cloud had actually spent hours in that
cave with the two of them he was swamped with curious troops wanting to know
every minute detail. Never comfortable with being the centre of attention at
the best of times, Cloud had retreated into himself and used surliness to keep
the worst of the gossip-mongers at bay. That did nothing for his reputation of
being unfriendly and snappish, and it wasn't long before he started hearing
rumours that he thought he was too good for ordinary troopers and was only
willing to be friendly to SOLDIERs.
None of the men in his current unit had any idea that he and Zack had been so
close long before Zack became a SOLDIER, of course. To them it looked like
Cloud was just sucking up, ingratiating himself in order to get ahead.
Walking alone in the crowd of his company, Cloud wondered sourly exactly what
they thought he was trying to ingratiate himself for. It wasn't as if being
friends with a SOLDIER was going to make it any easier for him to get in.
He supposed it could get him granted special favours - and had already, in a
way, if you counted Zack's insistence on going back out into the storm to find
him. Not that the other SOLDIERs hadn't gone out looking for the rest of those
who'd been lost, but Cloud was the only one brought back alive.
It all added up to create a very uncomfortable environment for him, and of
course the more they resented him the more he pulled into himself, creating a
vicious circle. Cloud had never been so grateful to see charlie company's
barracks come into view; at least in Midgar there were places he could go to
get away from everyone else, even when Zack wasn't around.
They piled into the barracks, dumping their gear haphazardly for the moment as
people collapsed into their bunks. Some of the more ambitious started changing
into fresh uniforms with the intention of heading out into the city, since
charlie company had been given a three day furlough to allow them a chance to
recover from their time in the frozen wastelands. Cloud had no intention of
joining them; he didn't have any friends in the city and had no interest in
going out barhopping or whoring. He just wanted to curl up in his cozy bed and
try to rid himself of the half-frozen feeling that had never quite left while
they were on the glacier.
The sergeant sorted through the stack of papers left on his desk, calling out
names as he came to each piece of mail. Mail time was always a big event in the
army, but never more so than when they were returning from a mission that had
taken them far from home.
Cloud was surprised when his own name was called; Zack was the only person who
ever wrote to him, and never when they'd seen each other as recently as a week
ago. Hauling himself back out of his bunk he went to go retrieve the letter
from the sergeant.
It was not one but two pieces of mail, he saw. The first was a hastily
scribbled note in Zack's handwriting that had just been folded in half with his
name on the outside. Cloud's heart leapt as soon as he saw it, because no
envelope or stamp meant it had been hand delivered. Sure enough, the brief
message inside was that Zack's unit of the Specials had been posted to Midgar
for a week for R&R and resupply. It was dated only two days past, which meant
the older boy was still here.
Ecstatic, Cloud nearly shouted aloud with glee. He contained himself with an
effort, rushing back to his bunk and quickly shedding his worn and dirty
uniform. Screw sleeping, he and Zack finally had leave at the same time while
they were in the same place! It was still early in the evening; if he hurried
he was pretty sure he would be able to catch Zack in his room before the older
boy went out into the city to entertain himself for the night.
In his excitement he almost forgot about the second piece of mail, a plain
brown envelope with Shinra's logo stamped in one corner. It looked like every
other piece of official army mail he'd ever gotten, and if not for the fact
that he was the only one who'd gotten one he'd have just assumed it was a
statement of his latest pay period.
Well, it probably wasn't anything important; Shinra's clerks seemed to have
some sort of unholy fondness for generating completely unnecessary paperwork.
Still, if he ignored it then it was guaranteed to be something that he was
supposed to have responded to right away, and that was always a pain even if it
was a totally innocuous issue. Reining in his impatience, Cloud tore open the
envelope and pulled out the sheaf of typed documents inside.
It took him a moment to make sense of what he was seeing, and another minute or
two before he could convince himself that it wasn't a mistake. The papers he
was holding were a transfer order, identical to the one he'd received when he'd
been transferred from the rifle corps to the sword corps after the SOLDIER
exams.
That in and of itself wasn't too surprising. Troops were transferred between
units all the time, as people were injured or killed or retired or transferred
elsewhere. For all Cloud knew enough people in his current unit had complained
about him that he'd been transferred out for that reason.
It was where he was being transferred to that made him reread the papers
repeatedly to ensure he wasn't misunderstanding somehow. It had to be a prank.
There was no way he would have been assigned to omega company.
The two missions he'd been on with a unit of SOLDIERs were the exception rather
than the norm. Very few missions required an entire unit of SOLDIERs, rare and
precious resources that they were for the company. Usually only one or two
SOLDIERs would be assigned to a mission, with ordinary troopers for backup or
to cover the grunt work.
Also unlike the missions Cloud had been on, entire companies of troopers were
almost never required to accompany SOLDIERs. Generally they only brought a
handful of troops with them; SOLDIERs were used for precision strikes like a
scalpel, not blunt force trauma like a hammer.
And since the companies of troopers were usually engaged in larger missions as
a complete unit, the groups the SOLDIERs took with them were drawn from a
smaller pool of troops who were assigned only to that purpose. Omega company
was the non-SOLDIER equivalent of Sephiroth's Specials; the best of the best,
neither assigned to a battalion nor composed entirely of one type of trooper,
but instead a mishmash of skills and specializations so that there would be
someone available to cover anything that was required. They answered to no one
but the SOLDIERs, and it was the most prestigious position a trooper could
aspire to outside of the SOLDIER program.
"Hey Cloud, you look like someone just slapped you with a dead fish," one of
the other corporals observed, pausing beside him. "You okay, kid? Did somebody
die?" That was the one piece of mail every trooper dreaded receiving, the
notification that a friend in another unit had been killed in the line of duty,
but those envelopes always had a thin border of black to warn the recipient of
the impending bad news.
"No, I... I've been transferred," Cloud replied a bit indistinctly, still
trying to absorb the shock. Belatedly it occurred to him that it might not be a
good idea to tell the others exactly where he'd been sent to; they were already
accusing him of sucking up in order to get preferential treatment, and this
would only confirm their worst opinions of him. He folded the papers over
quickly before the other man could read over his shoulder, and stuffed them
back into the envelope with shaking hands.
"Transferred?" the other corporal sounded surprised but not dismayed, which was
a stark contrast to the disappointed reactions of B platoon when Cloud had been
transferred here. It only drove home the fact that he wasn't really a part of
this unit, just someone who happened to participate in the same activities they
did.
"Yeah. I don't have to report in until tomorrow, so I guess I'm still bunking
here for the night," Cloud said, feeling numb. "I, uh... I'm gonna head out,
though. Who knows, my new unit might be shipped out somewhere first thing. I'd
better take advantage of my leave while I've got it."
"For sure," the other man shrugged and turned away. "Have fun, kid. Good luck
with your new unit."
That was all, and Cloud allowed himself a moment of self-pity as the man walked
away. He hadn't even asked where Cloud was being transferred to, and the
implication that nobody cared was hard to miss. Well, he had only himself to
blame. He was the one who'd resisted their initial attempts to make him part of
the group, however miserable he'd been at the time. Hopefully he wouldn't make
the same mistakes with his new unit.
His new unit. Gods, this had to be some kind of prank. He couldn't think of
anyone who could pull off something that looked this official other than Zack,
and he didn't think the older boy would be that cruel. But maybe Zack hadn't
thought about how much something like this would mean to Cloud if it was real.
Well, there was only one way to find out, and he'd intended to go find Zack
anyway. Now he really hoped he wouldn't be too late to catch up with the older
boy; the last thing Cloud wanted was to have to spend the night here in the
barrack. Sooner or later the truth of where he was being sent would get out,
since the sergeant would have received a copy of the same papers Cloud had. He
didn't relish the idea of trying to deal with the inevitable resentment and
hostility that would be generated.
Clutching the envelope tightly in one hand, Cloud finished changing and hurried
out of the barracks area. The SOLDIERs were quartered in a different building
entirely; there weren't enough of them to form whole companies, and anyway they
got much better quarters than the regular troops. Even the SOLDIERS 3rd Class
got a room with only one other person in it, and the 1st Class quarters were as
private and luxurious as a major's. So rumour said, anyway; Cloud hadn't
actually seen it for himself.
The troopers who stood guard at the SOLDIER building recognized him on sight by
now. Usually he just stopped at the door and asked for either Zack or, if his
friend was out of the city, he'd ask for Bence, the SOLDIER who had taken pity
on him and agreed to pass him information about where Zack's unit was. Today
one of the guards just grinned and waved him in. "Lieutenant Zack said you'd be
showing up soon," the man commented when Cloud blinked at him in surprise.
"He's been waiting for you all day, since he got the news that your unit was
due back. Second floor, third door on your right."
"Thanks!" Cloud called back over his shoulder as he bolted up the stairs.
Belatedly it occurred to Cloud that these men were surely part of omega
company, and he probably could have gotten some valuable information from them
about his supposed new unit. On the other hand, the last thing he wanted to do
was start spreading the word of his new posting in case it turned out to be a
joke after all.
"Zack!" he called as he knocked loudly on the indicated door, a little winded
from having run the whole way there. "Zack, it's me, open up..."
The door was practically flung into the wall; Zack had apparently forgotten his
enhanced strength in his excitement at seeing Cloud again. "Cloud!" Zack stood
in the doorway, dressed in civvies and grinning like an idiot. "You finally
made it back! I was starting to think maybe I'd misread the schedule and it was
some other company that was due back today."
"We hit some bad winds over the ocean between the north island and the
mainland," Cloud said absently, shaking his head. "Zack, I've been
transferred!"
"Transferred?" Raising an eyebrow at him, Zack stood aside and indicated Cloud
should come in. The room was more than spacious enough for two people to be
comfortable in, and clearly divided down the middle by two sets of identical
furniture arranged in mirror image. It wasn't hard to figure out which side was
Zack's; Cloud was more than familiar with the way the older boy somehow managed
to leave the impression of clutter even though his belongings were tidy enough
to pass inspection. There was no sign of Zack's roommate aside from his
belongings.
Obviously trying to figure out why being transferred would have Cloud so upset,
Zack frowned. "Don't tell me your new unit is being shipped out?" he asked,
dismayed. "Damn it, who do I have to kill to get us a couple of days alone
together to relax?"
"No," Cloud shook his head, thrusting the envelope out towards him. Zack took
it with a curious look as Cloud continued to babble helplessly. "I mean, maybe,
I don't know. I haven't actually reported in yet, I'm not due to present myself
until tomorrow. So we've got tonight, anyway. But that's not the point!"
"Omega company?" Zack's shocked delight was clearly unfeigned, and that put
Cloud's fears that this might be a tasteless joke on his part firmly to rest.
"Cloud, that's fantastic! Holy crap, congratulations kid! You know what this
means, right? Given Sephiroth's tendency to let SOLDIERs choose who they want
to work with, you and I will be assigned together more often than not!"
"Don't you get it?" Cloud demanded, still upset. "It's got to be some kind of
mistake, or something. Omega company is the best of the best. You have to work
for years to earn enough commendations to be assigned there! There's no way it
can be for real, I haven't done anything to earn this. They don't even take
anyone below sergeant rank, do they?"
"So maybe you'll be promoted as well as transferred," Zack laughed, waving the
papers at him. "It wouldn't be the first time. Sergeant Cloud has a nice ring
to it, don't you think? Though I suppose it's not as nicely alliterative as
Corporal Cloud."
"They can't promote me again, I'm too young to be a sergeant!" Cloud protested.
"You're still too young to be in the army at all, kid, in case you've
forgotten." Zack snorted in amusement.
"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Cloud exclaimed. He stamped his foot in a
childish gesture, frustrated that Zack wasn't taking this seriously enough and
inadvertently proving his point. "It was hard enough to get my squad to accept
having a kid as their corporal. There's no way anybody would respect a sergeant
my age. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't even respect a fifteen-year-old sergeant."
"Well, that's true," Zack agreed, relenting. He dropped down to sit on the edge
of his bed, waving for Cloud to take the desk chair. Studying the transfer
orders again, he finally shrugged. "It doesn't say anything about a promotion,
anyway. I'm sure they don't have a rule that you have to be a sergeant, it's
just that normally by the time you attract that much notice chances are good
you're going to be a higher rank. The front line grunts may be the ones doing
most of the dangerous work, but they're not the ones who get the credit for
it."
"So how could I possibly have earned this transfer?" Cloud demanded, brought
right back to his initial concern. "It's got to be a mistake or somebody's idea
of a joke, Zack. It just can't be for real."
To his surprise, the look Zack gave him was something close to sympathy. "You
never give yourself enough credit, you know that? Hades, Cloud, I can tell you
exactly why you got this transfer. You impressed the hell out of General
Sephiroth in that fight, and it's not even the first time you've attracted his
attention."
"But... but I didn't do anything impressive!" Cloud said, stunned at the idea.
"He had to cast Regen on me at least a dozen times, and before that my most
notable achievement was nearly freezing to death because I was too stupid to
realize that the only reason the two of you were comfortable was because you're
SOLDIERs! And that fight only happened in the first place was because I was
gullible enough to be caught by a Confuse spell and led away from my platoon."
"The same Confuse spell that caught me and turned me against you," Zack pointed
out dryly. "Which I never got a chance to apologize for, by the way. I don't
really remember what happened, but I saw your body armour afterwards. Anyway,
he's hardly going to hold it against you that you needed to be healed more
often than we did, since that's just because you don't have mako enhancements.
It's the fact that you fought at all that impressed him, Cloud. A lot of
troopers would have hung back and let us do all the hard work, figuring they
wouldn't be able to keep up with us anyway, but you waded right in there with
us."
"I wasn't going to let you go out and fight while I cowered in the cave!" Cloud
said, stung. "Even if you weren't my friend, there's no way I would have done
that. I may not be a SOLDIER, but I'm still a soldier."
"See, that right there is why you impressed him," Zack told him, pointing in
triumph. "You're dedicated, you're loyal, and you take your responsibilities
seriously. You'll throw yourself against impossible odds if it's needed, and
you don't give up until you physically can't keep going. You've got the courage
to attack the Silver General himself with nothing more than a paint gun, and
the determination to ream out a superior officer if that's what it takes to get
what you need. You're going to fit into omega company just fine, trust me."
"Assuming they don't all resent me for being fast-tracked into the unit when
they all had to work that hard to get the assignment," Cloud muttered, still
uneasy but starting to believe it might actually be for real.
"It's not as unusual as you think, you know," Zack told him with another grin.
"You'll be the youngest one there, but that's just because there probably
aren't more than a handful of people in the army as young as you. You do
realize omega is essentially a training ground for potential SOLDIERs, right?
You might have been transferred on the basis of your exam results alone, if it
weren't that Heidigger turned the whole mess into a spectator sport and
therefore Sephiroth didn't observe them as a protest. It's not a matter of
getting enough commendations in your record. Everyone in omega company was
scouted either by the Turks or by Sephiroth himself."
"What? Are you serious?" Cloud stared at him, astonished.
"Don't go spreading it around," Zack cautioned him. "It's not public knowledge,
partly because they don't want any accusations of favouritism in the SOLDIER
exams and partly because otherwise every half-assed loser who thinks he
'deserves' to be a SOLDIER would be harassing their commanders for a transfer.
Not that they don't already, but it would be a lot worse."
"Why weren't you sent there straight out of boot camp, then?" Cloud asked,
frowning. "Everybody knew the officers had marked you as SOLDIER potential."
"I don't know," Zack shrugged. "I've heard people say that SOLDIERs tend to be
better commanders if they spent some time in the regular troops first. Or maybe
it was just because Sephiroth wanted the two of us assigned together, we know
that's true, and you hadn't publicly done enough to warrant being sent to omega
company yet. Does it matter?"
"I guess not," Cloud murmured, still reeling from too many shocks in one day.
"This is all so crazy. I can't believe it's really happening."
Standing, Zack moved to drape himself over Cloud's shoulders from behind,
holding him in a loose embrace and rubbing his cheek against Cloud's. "The
important thing is that we won't be separated nearly as often now. I'd say the
whole thing is cause for a celebration." Zack's voice turned low and husky,
making Cloud shiver. "I think it's about time we tried out that bed we keep
talking about, don't you?"
Glancing involuntarily at Zack's bed, Cloud choked back a moan. How did the
older boy manage to take him from stunned numbness to the spreading warmth of
desire with just a few words and an innocent touch? "Here?" he asked, his voice
more than a little gruff as well.
"Nah." Zack sighed and sounded regretful. "Randy's out on the town, but he
always comes back here to sleep and he doesn't always stay out all that late.
No sense in taking chances. But there's nothing stopping us from going out and
availing ourselves of Midgar's amenities as well, is there?"
Giddy, Cloud laughed. He shoved aside all his worries about the transfer and
its possible ramifications, and let himself just enjoy the chance to be with
his best friend. "Sounds good," he agreed breathlessly. "So what are we sitting
around here for?"
Releasing him, Zack moved to stand in front of him and pulled him up by the
hands. The moment Cloud was standing the older boy leaned in and kissed him
hard. It was hot and demanding, his tongue probing for entrance immediately and
Cloud willingly granted it. They tangled themselves up in each other, arms
twining around bodies as they pushed to be as close as possible while still
clothed.
It had been so long that Cloud had forgotten just how good it really was.
Fantasies and treasured memories couldn't begin to replace the real thing. He
moaned, rocking his hips up against Zack's and cursing the fact that Zack had
gotten significantly taller than him again.
"Right, that's enough of that," Zack declared, pulling away abruptly. They were
both flushed and breathing hard, and the glow of mako in Zack's eyes seemed
more pronounced than usual. "Let's get out of here before I forget I'm not the
only one with a key to that lock."
"Where are we going?" Cloud asked as Zack grabbed him by the wrist and tugged
him out of the room.
"Don't know, don't care," Zack declared cheerfully. "We'll hit the main road
out of town, there's dozens of hotels there for visitors from outside the city.
It won't be hard to find something." Laughing again, Cloud followed him out of
the building towards the gates.
By the time they ran across an inn that had a vacancy, Cloud was absolutely
certain that somebody had come in and lengthened the roads of Midgar while he'd
been away. He and Zack had wandered down the main strip all the time back when
they were both in the 3rd rifle, and it had never taken anywhere near that long
to get there before.
"Finally," Zack muttered as he grabbed the key from the bored-looking clerk and
they clattered up the stairs to their room. "I thought I was never going to get
a chance to keep that promise." He smiled, a wicked look that made heat curl
low in Cloud's body. "You remember the rest of the promise, right? The part
about what I was going to do after we got the hotel?"
"I think it had something to do with fucking me into the wall," Cloud replied,
his voice rough with barely leashed need.
"Into 'next week' was the phrase I think I used, but into the wall works for
me," Zack said with a husky chuckle.
The first time was going to be wild beyond words, Cloud knew; they'd both gone
too long without to be patient when they finally had a chance to be together
again. But they had the room for the whole night, and neither of them had to be
anywhere until Cloud needed to report in to his new commander tomorrow. There
would be plenty of time for exploring and really enjoying the bed after they'd
gotten the worst of the urgency out of their systems.
The moment the door shut behind them Zack pulled Cloud into his arms for a
heated kiss, and Cloud surrendered with a groan. He couldn't remember ever
wanting something so badly in his entire life, and the desperate desire just
added spice to the pleasure of being embraced by Zack.
"Clothes. Off," Zack demanded against Cloud's mouth, not bothering to pull away
as he tugged at the younger boy's uniform. Cloud fumbled at the fly of Zack's
jeans, his fingers brushing over the hard warmth of the older boy's trapped
erection and making him groan. They were forced to separate briefly to get
Cloud's tunic and Zack's shirt off, but then they were plastered together again
like a pair of magnets.
Zack's hands were gripped almost painfully tight on Cloud's hips, pulling him
up to balance on his toes in an effort to get their bodies to line up properly,
and under other circumstances Cloud would have protested the force that was
probably going to leave bruises. Right now though, the reminder of Zack's
strength was thrilling, making Cloud rock up against him harder and moan in
frustration when he still wasn't tall enough to press his cock against Zack's.
They were still wearing their pants, though Cloud had managed to get Zack's
unfastened at least. Apparently tired of waiting, Zack tightened his hands a
little more and lifted Cloud right off his feet, muscles bunching in his arms
and shoulders but with no other evidence of effort. Cloud's pained half-protest
was immediately buried in his cry of desire as he finally felt Zack's cock
against his. He could handle a little pain if it was going to get him pleasure
like this.
Locking his legs around the older boy's waist helped shift his weight enough
that Zack relaxed his grip, and Cloud was almost dizzy with passion. "Bed,"
Zack groaned, trailing his mouth away from Cloud's and down over the column of
the boy's throat. He took a few staggering steps in that direction, but it was
all the way across the room and Cloud honestly didn't think either of them
would last that long.
"Not going to fuck me into the wall after all?" he murmured, tipping his head
back to give Zack better access. There would be time for the bed later.
Growling, Zack bit at his shoulder hard enough to make Cloud shudder with need.
"Fuck, Cloud, you little tease," Zack gasped around a snarl. "Fine, you asked
for it."
Kissing him hard again, Zack bore Cloud back into the nearest wall. Streaks of
pain shot across Cloud's vision as his head impacted the solid surface hard,
but that was nothing compared to the sharp jolt that came a second later when
his back struck the wall. Something cracked audibly, and passion was suddenly
lost in the fiery agony of just trying to breathe. Zack had misjudged his
strength, or else forgotten himself in his desire, and used far too much force
to slam Cloud against the wall.
It took Zack a second longer to realize something was wrong, but he pulled back
when he felt Cloud go rigid in his arms. "Cloud? What...."
Cloud had started to choke out an answer, but managed only a breathless cry
that was almost a shriek when Zack's movement made his weight shift against the
wall. Pain washed over him in a crashing wave, and blackness crept up to eat at
the edges of his vision.
"Cloud? Cloud!" Zack's frantic voice sounded like it was coming from far away
as Cloud lost his grip on consciousness. "Shit, shit, Cloud, I'm sorry! Are you
okay? Cloud!"
But Cloud was beyond the ability to answer him, lost in the darkness of
oblivion.
***** Chapter 21 *****
For an indeterminate amount of time Cloud drifted through blackness, conscious
of the bright flare of pain at the fringes of his awareness but not really
feeling it as long as he stayed safely in the darkness.
At some point, something from outside of him roused him enough to make him pay
attention. It was the sound of a panicked male voice and a soothing female one,
followed by the wash of cool green energy that meant somebody had used a
Restore materia on him. The magic dulled the worst of the pain, dimming it
enough that Cloud could make out what the voices were saying.
"...enough that you should be able to safely move him somewhere a bit less
incriminating, if you're very careful. Don't jostle his head or his spine," the
woman was saying.
"Can't you just fix him the rest of the way?" the man demanded, and Cloud was
vaguely aware of hesitant fingers brushing through his bangs.
"No. I don't have the energy for something that major, for one thing. And don't
you try it on your own! Because the second reason I won't do it is that spine
injuries are very delicate. It's not like a wound or a normal broken bone; you
can't just slap a Cure spell on it as a bandage and expect it to work. You
could end up causing permanent damage by fusing the bone in the wrong position,
and once that's done it can't be undone."
"Shit." Now the man sounded shaken as well as panicked. "Fucking Hades. Never
thought I'd be glad I didn't think to bring a Restore with me! If I hadn't had
to go get you, I would have..."
It occurred to Cloud that they were talking about him, and maybe he should let
them know he was listening. Opening his eyes was too much effort, but he
thought maybe he could speak. It took him a couple of tries before he finally
managed to shape the barest whisper of a word. "Zack?"
There were startled exclamations from both of the speakers, and a delicate hand
rested gently on his forehead. "Don't move," the woman cautioned him.
"Goodness, Zack, he's even tougher than you said he was! I can't believe he's
awake."
"Told you," Zack - it had to be Zack - replied with a faint trace of amusement.
"You're sure it's safe to move him? I don't want to protect our careers at the
cost of his spine!"
"As long as you're careful," the woman assured him. "I'll go with you to help.
You might want to put him to sleep if you can, though, to keep him from
moving." She stroked her hand from his forehead to his cheek in a caress. "And
you, stop being so shy! I do want to meet you, preferably under circumstances
where I can actually talk to you and see your face properly. I don't bite...
unless you ask nicely."
She giggled, and the realization of who she must be struck Cloud all at once.
Before he could say anything - a protest or an apology, he wasn't sure - there
was a soft 'pop' of an item casing being broken, and the sharp smell of magic-
laced herbs drifted down over him. It wasn't an item he recognized by scent;
not a healing item or a remedy, then.
"Sleep won't do any good, he'd just be knocked out of it every time we moved
him enough to cause him pain," Zack was saying as Cloud started to fall away
into the darkness again. "This'll paralyze him, keep him from moving..."
That was the last thing he was aware of for quite some time, floating once
again in the pain-edged darkness.
At some point he slipped over the edge from unconsciousness to true sleep, and
when he woke again he felt immeasurably better. Blinking, he stared up at an
unfamiliar ceiling, trying to figure out where he was.
He wasn't at a hundred percent just yet, he quickly discovered when he tried to
move and sharp spears of agony shot up from his spine. Not only that, but he'd
been tied down so he couldn't move even if he was able to ignore the pain. He
must have made a noise, because a moment later hurried footsteps approached and
a man in a medic's uniform leaned over him.
"Ah, you're awake," the man said, and he sounded pleased. "Excellent. Don't try
to move, as I'm sure you've already discovered. Can you speak?"
"Yeah," Cloud rasped, his voice breaking in his parched throat. "Water?"
"Yes, I'm sure you're thirsty," the medic agreed sympathetically. "Just a
moment."
He helped Cloud sip water from a straw, and that helped a lot. "Where am I?" he
asked, looking around. Almost immediately he realized it was a stupid question;
the room might be unfamiliar, but he recognized a hospital when he saw one and
the uniform the medic was wearing meant he must be in Shinra's infirmary.
"Scratch that. Why am I tied down?"
"You cracked a couple of vertebrae in your back, as well as breaking some ribs
and picking up a nasty concussion," the medic informed him. "We've healed most
of the damage, but the healing of the spine injury can only be accelerated, not
instantly fixed. Can you tell me your name, rank and company?"
"Cloud Strife, corporal, 8th..." he hesitated, uncertain, and the medic made a
concerned noise.
"You can't remember your company? The concussion may have been more serious
than we thought."
"No, it's just..." Cloud would have shaken his head, but thankfully the
restraints stopped him before he managed to hurt himself. "I'd gotten transfer
orders, and I was supposed to report in the next day, but... how long have I
been unconscious?" Gods, if he lost his transfer to omega company because of
this, he'd never get another chance.
"Ah, yes, I see the note in your file now," the medic agreed, checking the
papers he had on a clipboard. "The captain of omega company left word that he
was to be contacted as soon as you woke, so I'd say your transfer went through
just fine. Congratulations - though next time you go out roughhousing with your
SOLDIER friend to celebrate, I suggest not getting so carried away."
Almost, Cloud asked what he was talking about, but a hazy memory of a
discussion about moving him stopped him just in time. Zack must have gotten him
out of the hotel, and then claimed they'd just been play-fighting and gone a
little too far. Smart.
"Is Zack here?" he asked, scanning the part of the room he could see even
though he was sure the older boy would have said something by now if he was
present. "Can I see him?"
"Talk to your captain first, then we'll see about calling your friend in," the
medic said. "He was pretty worried about you, I'm sure he'll come running."
Impatiently Cloud waited as omega company was contacted and informed that he'd
woken. As eager as he was to confirm that he really was part of omega company
now, he was more anxious to talk to Zack. He just knew his friend was going to
be blaming himself for what had happened, probably thinking that Cloud would be
angry or upset with him.
The medic agreed to undo his restraints and shift his bed to a sitting position
as long as Cloud promised to only move slowly. It was a promise that was easy
to keep, since any movement faster than a snail's pace brought sharp stabbing
pains to remind him. At least being able to sit up meant he could see more of
the room, and he wouldn't feel quite so helpless when talking to his new CO.
Finally an unfamiliar man in a captain's uniform strode into the room and came
to a stop beside the bed. To Cloud's intense relief, the man didn't look angry
or upset with him at all.
"Congratulations," the man said wryly. "You may actually have avoided the
traditional hazing of a new recruit by doing it to yourself. You've certainly
broken the record for the fastest SOLDIER-induced injury. Before this it was
twelve hours, but you've managed to put it into the negatives."
"SOLDIER-induced injury?" Cloud repeated, confused and a little lost. This
wasn't at all what he'd been expecting.
To his surprise, the captain chuckled. "The bastards are forever forgetting
their strength when they get worked up about something. Omega troops spend so
much time working with them that sooner or later everyone winds up injured to
one degree or another as a result. More than one person has requested a
transfer back to less hazardous duties, as well. Do you want to be sent back to
your old unit?"
"Sir, no sir!" Cloud exclaimed promptly, biting down on a hiss of pain when he
automatically tried to straighten his back to come to attention. "It's not as
if it's the first time it's ever happened. Za... I mean, Lieutenant Zack
crushed my hand the first time I saw him after he got his mako injections, and
he attacked me once under the influence of a Confuse spell." He started to
shrug and aborted the gesture quickly. "It's just an incentive to work harder
so I can be a SOLDIER too, then we won't have to worry about the fact that I'm
more breakable than he is."
"Good!" the captain barked a laugh, and grinned at him. "If you've been hurt by
one of them before and were still willing to roughhouse with a SOLDIER, you're
not afraid of them. That's important for working in omega company. I wasn't
sure about you, corporal. We've never taken anyone as young as you before, and
that's assuming your official age is actually correct which I'm certain it's
not. I should have known better than to question the general's judgement,
though. The Turks are sometimes wrong, but Sephiroth never is."
So it really had been the general who had recommended Cloud for the transfer.
Cloud still didn't really understand just what it was that he'd done that was
so impressive, but he wasn't going to argue with the general. A flush of pride
and accomplishment suffused him.
"The medics tell me you'll be fit for duty in another week," the captain
continued. "I'm Captain Edmund. You won't see much of me except in the field,
but I'll send some of the sergeants over to get you up to speed while you're
recovering. Welcome to omega company."
"Sir!" Cloud would have saluted if he could, but the captain seemed to
understand. He saluted Cloud just as if the boy had done it first, then turned
and left.
"Can I see Zack now?" Cloud asked eagerly when the medic came back in to check
on him.
"I've notified his unit that you're awake, but he hasn't responded," the medic
replied. "He's probably on duty, it's the middle of the day."
Except Cloud knew Zack couldn't be on duty, because he was on leave. "How long
was I unconscious?" Cloud asked as a terrible thought struck him. Zack's unit
had only been stationed in Midgar for a week, and it was already the third day
of that week when this had happened.
"Three days," the man informed him, and Cloud sighed with relief. He'd cut it
close, but Zack still had one more day in Midgar before he was shipped out
again. If he'd had to leave before Cloud woke up, Cloud was sure it would have
eaten at his friend until he got a chance to see Cloud again.
So Cloud contented himself with that, and settled in to wait for Zack to get
the message and come see him. Probably the older boy had gone out to do
something to get his mind off it; he wasn't the kind of person to sit around in
his room and brood.
Not being able to move much made waiting terribly boring. Cloud wasn't really
interested in what was playing on the tiny television up in one corner of the
room, and holding a book up hurt too much. He ended up dozing through the rest
of the day, letting his body get the rest it needed to recover from the
advanced healing that had been done on him.
Every so often the medics would wake him for another healing session, slowly
and carefully repairing the damage done to his spine. Unlike most healing, each
of these sessions was painful in the extreme because the whole reason they had
to go slowly was to avoid doing too much damage to the extremely delicate
nerves in the spine. Frankly Cloud was amazed he'd managed to remain
unconscious through three days worth of these sessions.
Before he knew it night had fallen, and he woke from a nap to discover it was
almost curfew. Bewildered, he looked around and wondered if Zack had come some
time when Cloud was sleeping, and not wanted to wake him up. He couldn't think
of any other explanation for why the older boy wasn't here yet. Surely Zack
wouldn't have gone out into Midgar for the night, not when he knew Cloud could
wake at any time.
Well, maybe... maybe... something. Cloud couldn't think of any good reason for
the older boy's continued absence, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. He'd
learned that lesson from their fight after Zack's two-month absence when he'd
first made SOLDIER. The only thing jumping to bad conclusions got him was a
fight he couldn't win, and he didn't particularly relish the idea of ending up
right back in this hospital bed for fighting with Zack now.
So he continued to wait, allowing the medic to sedate him so he wouldn't move
too much in his sleep. That got him through to the next morning, at least.
When there was still no sign of Zack by mid-morning, though, he started to
panic. He had no idea when the older boy's unit was shipping out, just that it
was today. Could they have been sent back into the field early? It was
possible, and Zack might not have thought to leave a note.
"Are you sure he got the message?" Cloud asked when the shift changed and the
same medic from the day before came on duty. "Could you find out if he's even
still here? Please? He's supposed to be shipping out today."
"I'll try," the medic promised, and that was the best Cloud could hope for.
Finally, just before dinner, the medic returned with news. "Your friend's unit
left an hour ago, by airship," he informed Cloud sympathetically. "He was
probably so busy getting ready that he never had a chance to come by. Or maybe
he was under disciplinary action, for hurting you in the first place."
Cloud was stunned, and the man's words weren't terribly comforting. He knew
Zack, and he knew that if the older boy had been determined to see Cloud then
nothing would have stopped him. Certainly if their positions had been reversed,
Cloud would never have just gone off with his unit without so much as checking
on Zack.
He spent the evening flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling and trying to
make sense of it. He felt horribly abandoned, and it was a struggle not to let
himself slide into the same kind of miserable brooding he'd done when he'd been
certain that Zack had replaced him with that other SOLDIER.
The next day the promised sergeant from omega company arrived, bearing manuals
for Cloud to read to familiarize himself with the procedures that his new unit
used. They were different than for any other company in the army because of
their unique status as a group of mixed specialists rather than a homogenous
unit of basic footsoldiers.
"You look like somebody just shot your dog," the sergeant observed as he handed
over the thick books. He was a young man in his early or mid-twenties, and he
could have served as a poster boy for the army. He was the perfect image of a
trooper; strong, clean-cut and square-jawed. His face was open and friendly,
and he reminded Cloud a little of Zack.
"It's nothing," Cloud said hastily, easing himself up to a sitting position and
reaching for the books. He had more mobility now, but he still had to move
carefully. "A friend of mine was shipped out yesterday, and I was hoping he'd
get a chance to come see me first."
"Yeah?" The sergeant gave him a shrewd look. "Same guy who put you in here in
the first place?"
"Well, yes," Cloud admitted, biting his lip. "Which is why I was surprised he
didn't at least come to check on me. But I'm sure he was just busy."
"SOLDIER's guilt," the sergeant informed him ruefully. "Happens all the time
when they hurt someone badly by accident, especially if they know the person.
He's afraid if he so much as looks at you he'll break you, and that you'll be
angry with him. Or worse, afraid of him." He shook his head. "A lot of people
get scared after the first time they really understand just what the SOLDIERs
are capable of. Most of them hide it well, but you can see it in their eyes.
Nothing worse for a SOLDIER than seeing that look in the eyes of someone they
care about."
"That's stupid," Cloud objected. "It's not even the first time he's hurt me."
Though it was, he realized, the first time it had happened when Zack was
actually aware of what he'd done. The older boy had been too out of it to
realize that he'd crushed Cloud's hand that one time, and the Confuse spell had
left him with no real memory of the damage he'd done by attacking Cloud.
"So how do I get him to stop being stupid?" he wanted to know, and the sergeant
laughed at him.
"You're gonna fit right in with us, kid," the man declared. "It ain't easy, but
it's simple. You chase him down, and you refuse to go away or give up until he
stops treating you like you're made of glass. He'll get over it eventually, as
long as he can see you're not scared of him."
"I could never be scared of Zack," Cloud shook his head as much as he was able
to. "It's not like he did it on purpose. But he's gone, I can't get to him
now."
"He'll be back," the sergeant assured him. "You're omega company, now. We work
with all the SOLDIERs sooner or later, and if you know this guy then chances
are good you'll be assigned to him more often than not. He won't be able to
avoid you even if he wants to."
Well, if there was one thing Cloud knew he was good at, it was being stubborn.
There was no way he was letting Zack throw away their friendship for a stupid
reason like that. He had enough time to recover fully and learn the ropes of
his new unit before Zack got back; by the time the older boy returned, Cloud
would be ready for him.
***** Chapter 22 *****
Life in omega company was the most difficult thing Cloud had ever experienced.
It made boot camp look like a walk in the park, by comparison. They worked hard
and trained harder; almost everyone in the company was actively gunning to make
SOLDIER at some point, and the ones who weren't were the ones who'd decided to
stop trying the exams and dedicate themselves to omega company instead. Cloud
was the new kid, and as a result he was assigned the dirtiest, nastiest jobs
possible.
At the same time, he couldn't remember ever being this happy in his life. He
was the least among an entire company of exceptional people, but he was one of
them. There was a lot of pride associated with being in omega company, and
having their badge on his uniform made Cloud feel like he could do just about
anything.
Better yet, he'd finally had it driven home to him that it really wasn't the
end of the world that he'd failed the exams. With a few exceptions everyone in
the company had tried and failed the exams at least once. Most of them were
fairly impressed when they heard how far Cloud had made it.
For the first time ever, Cloud really felt like he was part of a group. Even in
3rd Rifle he had mostly been attached to Zack and Zack was part of the group.
In 8th Sword he hadn't been part of the group at all, thanks to his own
surliness in the beginning of his time there. Here in omega, there was no Zack
to overshadow him and he wasn't anywhere near as upset going in.
The only thing marring his happiness was Zack's continued absence. After a
month the lack of contact from his friend had settled into a dull, persistent
ache just beneath his breastbone. Only his squadmates' continued reassurances
that this was normal behaviour for a new SOLDIER who'd hurt a friend
accidentally kept him from sinking back into the same sort of despair he'd felt
after the exams.
Cloud missed Zack terribly. He'd found friends among his new company, but none
of them were the sort of close friend Zack had been from the very start. He
wrote to Zack a couple of times, but didn't even get the sort of terse notes
he'd previously received as a reply.
The older boy's unit hadn't returned to Midgar, though, so all Cloud could do
was keep ploughing on and not lose his resolve.
At least being worked half to death every day helped him keep his mind off it.
Dragging himself off the obstacle course where he and three of his squadmates
had been training, Cloud leaned against the wall and did his best not to
collapse while he waited for the scores to come up.
"Not bad, kid," Daniel said, clapping Cloud on the shoulder as the numbers
flashed onto the screen. Cloud hadn't beaten his record, but he had beaten his
average. He was improving, slowly but surely.
"Yeah, and that's a personal best for at least two of us," remarked Kaine,
ruffling Cloud's hair while Daniel was holding him still. "We should make sure
to always train with you in the group, kid. You're good luck or something."
"What, am I the company mascot now?" Cloud asked, batting the offensive hands
away in irritation.
The three sergeants looked at each other for a moment. "Yep." "Uh-huh." "Pretty
much, yeah."
"Oh, stuff it," Cloud muttered, blushing furiously as the others laughed. There
were some serious downsides to being the youngest, smallest, lowest-ranking -
and, according to at least half the company, cutest - in the unit. "The only
reason you all perform better when I'm around is because it would be too
galling to have to admit that a scrawny runt like me is better than you."
"We'll see who's better than who in a few months at the exams," Orin retorted.
"Yeah, and then you're all going to regret teasing me when I'm your new
commanding officer," Cloud promptly shot back. The words were still largely
bravado, but there was a part of him that was really starting to believe that
he would make it this time.
He had to, for one thing. Zack was waiting for him. And Sephiroth had said he
expected to see Cloud there.
They continued to tease and harass each other as they walked back towards the
omega company barracks, and Cloud gave as good as he got. There were plenty of
people in omega company who were full of their own importance and would have
meant the harsh remarks seriously, but Cloud was lucky enough to have several
people in his platoon like these three. Though it was a good thing Zack had
gotten him used to the idea that friends could tease each other and not
actually mean it, or he'd probably have assumed this was just more bullying
like the kind he'd endured all his life in Nibelheim.
Thinking of Zack as always made the ever-present ache in Cloud's chest
intensify momentarily. For a second he thought the glimpse he caught of his
friend in the crowd was only wishful thinking, until Kaine said, "Wow, get a
load of those poor bastards. Looks like somebody put them through the wringer.
Hope none of ours got caught in the crossfire."
'Bastards' was the affectionate term for SOLDIERs used by almost everyone in
omega company, sometimes right to the SOLDIERs' faces if they thought they
could get away with it. Blinking, Cloud looked again and realized that it
really was Zack he was seeing. Kaine hadn't been exaggerating; the older boy
looked drawn and miserable, even though he was marching in formation with the
rest of his unit and couldn't show much expression on his face.
"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed in delight, though he managed to keep his volume low
enough not to reach the other boy. He didn't want Zack to get in trouble for
being distracted while in formation.
He also didn't want to give the older boy a chance to realize he was there and
find a way to avoid him. Cloud had been waiting too long for this confrontation
to take any risks.
"Is that your friend?" Orin asked. "Finally back, huh? Guess we won't be seeing
much of you for a bit."
Somehow Cloud managed to fight down his blush reflex, reminding himself that he
and Zack were only supposed to be friends, not... what was the term Zack had
used once? Friends with benefits. "Yeah, that's him," he confirmed, grinning.
"And I'll still be seeing more of you jerks than I ever want to. We've still
got to work together, and who knows how long he'll be here."
"Good luck knocking some sense into him," Daniel laughed. "If you're lucky
you'll be assigned to him on his next mission, and he won't be able to get away
from you."
"You know where to find us if you get bored hanging out with the bastards,"
Kaine added, waving him off. "Hurry up, before he bolts and you can't find
him."
Taking his squadmate's words to heart, Cloud jogged off in the direction of the
SOLDIERs' barracks. This wasn't exactly how he'd hoped to see Zack again; he
was still dirty and sweaty from the training he'd been doing, but going to wash
and change would potentially mean losing track of Zack. There were a lot of
places an off-duty SOLDIER could hide if he was avoiding someone until his next
out-of-city assignment. Right now, though, Zack would have to go back to his
room at least long enough to drop off his gear once he'd been debriefed. He
wouldn't be expecting an ambush from Cloud, not yet.
One of Cloud's frequent duties over the last few weeks had been playing
messenger boy between omega company and the SOLDIERs, so the guards at the gate
just waved at him as he trotted into the building. Heading up the stairs, he
found Zack's door and planted himself nearby, leaning against the wall beside
it. If Zack had somehow done the impossible and beaten Cloud to his room, there
was no way he'd have had time to leave again yet. Either way, coming or going,
he wasn't going to be able to get through the door without running into Cloud.
And since this door wasn't visible from the stairs, Zack wouldn't have a chance
to see him and back off quietly.
Sure enough, a few minutes later there was a clamour of voices from the
stairwell as half a dozen weary SOLDIERs dragged themselves back to their
rooms, and within moments his friend rounded the corner. Zack froze when he saw
Cloud standing there, and under other circumstances Cloud would have laughed at
the shocked dismay in his eyes.
"Cloud." Zack's voice was hoarse, and he couldn't quite meet the younger boy's
eyes. "How did you... what have you been doing, camping out on my door every
time you're not on duty? We just got back!"
"I got lucky and spotted your unit coming in," Cloud told him. "I wasn't sure
if you were still planning on avoiding me, so I figured I'd better pre-empt
you."
"I'm not avoiding you!" Zack protested, but even he didn't sound convinced.
"Oh yeah?" Cloud gave him a Look. "I know for a fact you were told I was awake
a full day before you shipped out." Zack winced, and Cloud let his tone soften.
"I'm not mad at you, stupid. It was an accident, and I'm fine now. No big
deal."
"No big deal?" Zack's voice rose in volume and cracked at the end, and he
stared at Cloud like he was seeing a ghost. "You... look, get in here, I'm not
having this conversation in the hallway."
He moved past Cloud to open the door, and Cloud was both amused and saddened to
note the way his friend was careful not to so much as brush against him. He
remembered Kaine telling him at their first meeting that Zack would probably
act like he was afraid looking at Cloud would break him; apparently that wasn't
as much of an exaggeration as Cloud had thought.
Once they were both inside, Zack closed the door and leaned against it, eyeing
Cloud warily. Cloud moved to lean against the desk, not wanting to sit and give
the impression that he was even smaller than he was. He needed Zack not to be
thinking of him as helpless and vulnerable. "Where's your roommate?" he asked,
glancing at the other side of the room. "Are we likely to be interrupted?"
"His ribs were shattered; he's in the infirmary so they can piece them together
again before fusing them with magic," Zack said, and Cloud winced at the
thought. SOLDIERs weren't just stronger than normal people, they could take a
lot more damage too. A blow that could shatter a SOLDIER's ribs would crush an
ordinary trooper.
"That sucks, but at least we've got the room to ourselves." That was even
better than Cloud had hoped for. He'd assumed he was going to have to work on
just repairing their friendship, and worry about the rest of it later when they
had some privacy. It also meant they didn't have to dance around the subject of
how Cloud had really gotten hurt.
"Look, Cloud..." Zack sounded helpless, hopeless, and it was such an unusual
reaction from him that Cloud's heart squeezed in sympathy. "I'm sorry. I can't
even begin to apologize. I never should have let myself get carried away like
that, but I can't be sure it won't happen again. I've adjusted to the
enhancements enough to let me function, but I don't really know my own
strength."
"Yeah, so, we'll have to be careful not to get worked up like that again,"
Cloud said regretfully. He'd really been looking forward to Zack fucking him
into the wall, or next week or any other place. "The SOLDIER exams are in a few
months; once I've passed and gotten the enhancements, you won't have to worry
about breaking me any more. Until then..."
"Until then, I am staying the hell away from you," Zack interrupted him
harshly. "I won't risk hurting you like that again, damn it."
"You're not even going to offer to be just friends?" Cloud asked, a little
stung. He'd been counting on being able to get that much with relative ease,
figuring it would only be closer contact that Zack would be afraid of. How
could being friends hurt?
"Oh, we'll still be friends," Zack shook his head. "Nothing will ever change
the fact that you're my best friend, Cloud. I'm just not coming near you. I
don't trust my self-restraint around you that much. Sooner or later we'll be
alone and you'll... you'll just look at me and my resolve will break. And the
longer I manage to control myself, the more likely it is that I'll forget and
hurt you when I do lose it. So no. I'll tell your CO not to assign you to me
and... what are you doing?"
Cloud kept moving towards him, undaunted by the half-panicked babbling. Later,
he thought he might look back on this and laugh at the odd role-reversal;
usually he was the one running at the mouth while Zack was trying to calm him.
He stopped just in front of his friend, well within reach, and looked up into
the familiar glowing grey-violet eyes. Zack had made a major tactical error in
putting his back to the door; there were cupboards on either side to hold the
SOLDIERs' uniforms, forming a 'hallway' that was just deep enough to trap Zack
there if Cloud stood in front of him. He couldn't even open the door and
retreat into the hallway, because the door opened inward.
"It was an accident, Zack," Cloud told him firmly. "It happens all the time
apparently; the guys in omega are full of horror stories. All it means is that
we have to be careful not to get that carried away, not that we can't see each
other at all."
Reaching out, he moved to touch Zack's chest, wanting physical contact as a
reassurance. In a lightning fast movement Cloud didn't even see coming, Zack
caught him by the wrist and held his hand in the air between them. "The fact
that it's a frequent occurrence means I'm less likely to relent on the issue,
Cloud," the older boy told him. "That means it's not just a matter of time
until I learn total control, I'll always have this problem!"
As upset as he was, Zack was proving his own point with the strength of the
grip he was using on Cloud's wrist. The younger boy was going to have a bruise
there for weeks, and he could feel the bones grating. He had to bite his lip to
stop a cry of pain from escaping him, but he held his ground and refused to
back down.
Something must have shown in his eyes, because Zack's grip loosened momentarily
as a stricken look crossed his face. Then suddenly it firmed again, clamping
down hard. There was a horrible cracking noise and nausea washed over Cloud.
He'd experienced enough broken bones in his life to recognize the sensation
now; Zack had snapped his wrist.
"Do you even understand how close you came to dying?" Zack snarled at him. "If
you'd hit your head any harder, your skull could have been broken and the
concussion would have killed you or left you brain damaged. If you'd hit your
back just a little more forcefully you'd have broken the spine instead of just
cracking the vertebrae. Damage to the spinal cord is something they can't fix
with magic!"
Still Cloud continued to stare fearlessly up into his friend's eyes, struggling
to keep his breathing as level as possible. "I won't let you drive us apart,
Zack. Last time it took you almost dying to fix things between us, and I won't
let it get that far this time. I need you too much. You're supposed to be
watching my back, remember?"
"I am watching your back, you stupid little shit," Zack exclaimed, shaking him
by the broken wrist hard enough that Cloud couldn't bite back his cry of pain.
"I'm protecting you from your own apparently suicidal tendencies!" Cloud kept
glaring up at him, and something close to despair came into Zack's eyes. "Don't
you have any sense of self-preservation at all? Why the hell aren't you scared
of me?"
He finally released Cloud, pushing on the younger boy's other shoulder so Cloud
had to back up a few steps. Cradling the injured wrist to his chest, Cloud
gasped for air and fought to steady himself. "I'm not scared of you. I will
never be scared of you, Zack. I trust you."
With a cry that was as much agony as anger, Zack turned and put his fist
straight through the solid wooden side of the cupboard. "I just deliberately
crushed your wrist and you still trust me?" he snapped incredulously.
"You think I don't realize you're hurting me to try to drive me away?" Cloud
retorted. "You think I can't see how much it's killing you to do it? I'm not
fourteen anymore, Zack. I've been through a lot in the last year, and I'm not a
naive little kid now. I will not let you do this to us!"
Closing the distance between them before Zack could free his hand and escape,
Cloud grabbed the older boy by the shoulder and leaned up to kiss him hard.
Zack fought him, refusing to open his mouth, pushing at the younger boy's
shoulder with his free hand. Cloud just hung on more tightly, not letting
himself be pushed. Zack would have to use his full strength to get Cloud off
him, and he was counting on his friend not wanting to hurt him again.
"Cloud," Zack groaned when the younger boy finally pulled back, but it wasn't a
sound of passion. It was the noise a dying animal made when it realized it
couldn't fight any more.
"Trust me, if you don't trust yourself," Cloud told him firmly. "I was
deliberately provoking you that day, remember? You had control of yourself
until I told you to let go. Now I know better. It won't happen again."
"You're crazy, you know that?" Zack said, but he'd stopped pushing at Cloud.
"Isn't that my line?" Cloud asked, smiling despite the agonizing pain in his
wrist as he remembered his accusations to Zack the night the older boy had
befriended him. "I guess you're rubbing off on me."
"Or something," Zack agreed, relenting with a sigh. "Hold still." He murmured a
quick spell, and Cloud was standing so close he could actually feel the rush of
magic around Zack before it flowed into his body in the form of a healing
spell. The pain in his wrist faded, and then vanished completely.
Flexing his fingers a few times to make sure everything was still connected
properly, Cloud leaned against Zack's chest and looked up at him. The older boy
had pulled his hand out of the wall and was looking at the shattered board
ruefully. "Too bad there isn't a Cure spell for inanimate objects," Cloud
chuckled. "At least you hit your own cupboard and not your roommate's."
"Yeah." Carefully, his movements cautious enough that Cloud knew Zack was still
terrified of breaking him by accident, the older boy embraced him and buried
his face in Cloud's shoulder. "All right, you win. I've been miserable all
month, even though it shouldn't have been any different than every other time
we were stationed in different places. How'd you get so good at arguing me into
submission, anyway?"
"By remembering how you did it every time I was the one pitching a fit and
being stupidly sulky," Cloud said wryly. He held Zack tightly in return,
revelling in the feel of the older boy against him. Zack laughed despite
himself, his breath gusting warm over Cloud's throat and making him shiver.
"You should go," Zack finally murmured, pulling away again. "It's got to be
getting late, and I'm completely exhausted. I guess you're probably on duty
tomorrow, but we can meet after you get off?"
"And leave you here to talk yourself right back into being determined to avoid
me?" Cloud asked, scowling at him. "I don't think so. I'm not going anywhere.
The whole damn company knows I've been waiting for you to get back for a month,
and Kaine and Dan and Orin will tell them where I am. As long as I report for
inspection on time tomorrow morning, I won't get in trouble."
"Cloud, I really am wiped out," Zack pleaded with him. "I'm not going to do
anything but sleep."
If Cloud hadn't been standing so close he'd never have seen the fine tremors
that wracked Zack's shoulders, the only visible sign of the strain Zack was
holding himself under. Sighing, Cloud realized he hadn't really gotten through
to his friend at all.
"No," he said, putting every bit of stubbornness he possessed into his voice so
Zack would know he meant business. "Damn it Zack, I'm not going to let you pull
away from me." He leaned up and kissed Zack again, and though the older boy
didn't fight him this time he didn't participate either.
"Kiss me back," Cloud demanded, pulling back slightly. He glared into Zack's
eyes from an inch away, utterly determined. "I won't go away until you've
kissed me like you really mean it. Do it, and I'll leave you alone until
tomorrow. Just one kiss, but you have to convince me you mean it." He didn't
think Zack could kiss him, really kiss him, and not get lost enough in it that
Cloud would be able to push him into more.
"Fine," Zack rasped, and pulled him close again. "Just one."
This time the kiss was fiery and passionate, threatening to burn Cloud up from
the inside out. With a moan he surrendered to it completely while responding
just as fiercely in return. The symmetry between this and the last time they'd
kissed wasn't lost on him, and he lifted himself to his toes so he could rub
against Zack the same way he had then.
Groaning, Zack started to tighten his hands on Cloud's waist, but then jerked
his hands away. Cloud wouldn't let him go when he tried to stop the kiss,
though, following him back and pressing harder against him.
"Stop," Zack murmured desperately against his mouth, and Cloud pulled back a
little. "Stop, Cloud, we can't... we can't do this. Not yet. I need to...
to..."
"To what? Nothing's going to change by waiting except you'll be even more
certain you'll do something to hurt me," Cloud insisted. "It's just like
getting thrown by a chocobo, Zack. You have to get up and get right back on, or
you'll be scared of them forever. The only one here who's afraid of you is
you."
"Like riding..." Zack trailed off and gave Cloud a very odd look, then shook
his head. "Never mind. You're really weird sometimes, you know that? But we
still shouldn't... Nnh!"
Whatever protest or excuse he'd been about to make was cut off as Cloud ran his
hand over Zack's cock through his pants. The older boy wasn't all the way hard,
but he wasn't soft either. He wanted this as much as Cloud did, he was just
scared.
"We've got the room to ourselves for the night, and there's a perfectly good
bed right there," Cloud pointed out, his voice going husky. "When will we get
another chance like this? You might be on leave, but I'm standing duty for at
least the next five days. By then you'll probably have been sent out again."
"But..." Zack's continued protesting would have been a lot more convincing if
he hadn't been leaning back against the door with his eyes half closed,
shuddering under Cloud's touch. "I don't want..."
"You're not going to hurt me," Cloud asserted. "Trust me, Zack."
Of course, now he had to make sure he kept that promise. If Zack so much as
left a bruise Cloud knew the older boy would never agree to touch him again.
Cloud knew as well as anyone the sort of frustration that accumulated after
weeks in the field, close quarters as the tents were. And it had been months
since he and Zack had a chance to do much of anything together, more months
than Cloud liked to think about.
He needed to take the edge off, or Zack really might lose control and hurt him
when they got down to it. Cloud didn't particularly want to end up in the
hospital again, any more than Zack wanted to put him there.
Well, there was an easy answer for that. Tugging at Zack's uniform belt, Cloud
got it and his pants open and pulled the older boy's cock free. From there it
was just a short drop to his knees and he was able to wrap his mouth around the
heat and hardness of it.
Zack was still soft enough that Cloud could get all of him into his mouth,
though he was rapidly awakening under Cloud's touch. They'd done this a few
times before but it had always been hurried and furtive. This time Cloud
intended to enjoy himself, and make sure Zack did too. The appreciative moans
the older boy was making told him he was starting out on the right foot, at
least.
Cloud drew back and licked at Zack's cock, his hands pinning the other boy's
hips to the door. It wouldn't stop him if he really wanted to thrust, but it
was enough to remind Zack not to. When they'd done this before Zack made
SOLDIER the older boy had always run his hands through Cloud's hair, but this
time Cloud was just a bit grateful that he chose to hang onto the doorknob and
the hole in the cupboard instead. He trusted Zack, but you could only ask so
much of a person.
"Cloud, fuck, Cloud," Zack whispered harshly, clearly struggling to keep his
voice down. "You're gonna make me embarrass myself. Been too long..." He gasped
when Cloud grazed his teeth very gently over the tip, and shuddered.
"Do it," Cloud murmured against him, licking at him again. "That's what I
want." He took as much of Zack's cock into his mouth as he could, feeling it
harden further still under his lips. Zack's hips made little jerking motions
like he was just barely restraining himself from snapping forward, and Cloud
let that tell him what rhythm and speed he should use.
It worked better than he could have hoped. He heard something crack sharply
above him, and then Zack was coming in his mouth in spurts of bitter fluid.
Cloud swallowed it all, making a face as he did so but knowing from experience
that it felt better that way. When Zack finally collapsed back against the
door, most of the tension drained from his body, Cloud pulled away and looked
up at him.
He found Zack ruefully contemplating the section of cupboard wall that had
broken off in his hand. "Remind me again why you trust me not to get carried
away and hurt you?"
"Because it's wood in your hand, not my hair," Cloud said promptly, pulling
himself to his feet. He was achingly hard, pressed far too tight against the
front of his uniform pants, but that was fine. It wasn't like he could hurt
Zack at all, so he could be as worked up as he wanted to be. "At least it
wasn't the doorknob."
"I'm still going to have a bitch of a time explaining it," Zack sighed, and
tossed the wood aside. His hand was shaking a little as he ran it through
Cloud's hair and pulled the blonde towards him for a kiss.
This kiss was less urgent, though no less heated. Cloud moaned into Zack's
mouth and arched up against him, his body trembling with need. Zack ran his
hands up and down Cloud's back, soothing him and further enflaming him at the
same time.
"Are you sure?" Zack asked against his mouth, and Cloud pounded a fist into the
older boy's shoulder.
"What did I tell you right at the start about talking too much?" he demanded,
half amused and half exasperated.
Chuckling, Zack cupped his hands under Cloud's ass and lifted him right off his
feet. Cloud wrapped his legs around the older boy's waist instinctively,
groaning as that made his trapped cock rub up against Zack. Unlike the last
time in the hotel, Zack's hands were gentle and not bruising at all as he
carried Cloud the few steps over to the bed.
They tumbled down together, Zack's heavier body pressing Cloud into the
mattress. His hands were tugging at the blonde's clothing, but from this
position he really didn't have any leverage. Cursing softly, Zack pulled away
so he could do the job properly, and Cloud helpfully squirmed to get the
clothes off him. "You're wearing too much," he promptly accused Zack.
"Yeah, in a second," Zack replied distantly, his eyes fixed on Cloud's body as
if he wanted to make sure he saw every inch of it. Cloud blushed at the intense
scrutiny, but made no attempt to cover himself. This was the first time he'd
been naked in front of Zack when they were in private, he realized. Communal
showers just didn't count, since there was no time to look and appreciate. Zack
was certainly looking and appreciating now, and it made Cloud burn hotter
still.
"Zack," he said breathlessly, and the name was a plea. For what, Cloud wasn't
sure, but whatever it was he was more than willing to beg for it. "Please,
Zack."
Heat flared in Zack's eyes, intensifying the mako glow, and the older boy
shuddered. "Shit, Cloud, don't do that," he said hoarsely, pulling farther back
despite Cloud's dismayed protest. "No, stay still. I'm just getting my clothes
off."
He stripped out of his uniform with no care for where it landed, and Cloud
drank in every inch of revealed flesh hungrily. Zack was tan all over, he
discovered, though the colour was closer to pale honey than bronze on the parts
of his body that didn't often see sun. The muscles beneath his skin stood out
in stark relief, and he looked like a statue to some god of sun and war. Cloud
actually forgot to breathe for a moment, just staring like he'd never get to
see it again.
"If you keep looking at me like that, you really are going to end up back in
the hospital," Zack warned him, his voice strained. "How can you do this to me
with just a look? I'm hard again already."
"That might have more to do with being sixteen and about to get some for the
first time in months," Cloud replied wryly. "Unless there's something I don't
know about?" At this point, after so many months apart, he honestly wouldn't
even blame Zack if the older boy had sought temporary release elsewhere. Either
with the whores that were always available to anyone in uniform, or another
SOLDIER in his unit. Cloud never had, but then he just couldn't imagine being
that close to anyone but Zack.
"No," Zack shook his head. "I was tempted a time or two, believe me. But it's
just been me and my hand, when I could even manage that much." He dropped to
his hands and knees again, leaning over Cloud and slowly lowering himself down.
"I've wanted this so damn long," he moaned as their bodies made contact.
Arching up against him and rubbing his cock into Zack's hip, Cloud gave an
incoherent cry of need. He clung to his restraint fiercely, knowing that if he
lost control now then Zack would never trust him to keep it together in the
future, and Cloud had promised to be the one who made sure things didn't get
too out of hand.
"I wanted it too," Cloud gasped, trembling beneath him. "Gods, Zack, you have
no idea how often I would dream about being with you, like this. Do it, please,
please, I'm not going to last much longer."
Reaching out, Zack fumbled in the drawer of the stand by his bed and emerged
with a small tube. "You're lucky I keep this around," Zack muttered, unscrewing
the cap and letting the slippery gel spill onto his fingers. Cloud stole enough
to coat his hand and wrapped it around Zack's renewed erection, stroking slowly
to spread the oil over his length. Taking the edge off was all well and good,
but if he didn't get Zack at least a little worked up again then Cloud was
never going to last long enough.
"Fuck, Cloud," Zack hissed as his cock twitched in Cloud's hand and his hips
jerked. "Damn it, when you are a SOLDIER I'm going to pay you back for every
time you've ever teased me, with interest."
"I guess I'll have to... oh, gods," Cloud momentarily lost his train of thought
as Zack slid two slick fingers inside him at once, stretching him almost to the
point of pain. Panting, Cloud rode out the sensation as Zack worked his fingers
in deeper, willing himself to relax around them. "I guess I'll just have to
tease you as much as possible before then," he almost purred. "S-sounds like
I'll enjoy the payback."
"You," Zack twisted his fingers inside Cloud and hit the spot that made Cloud
cry out and arch his back, "are totally out of your mind. Gods, you're so
tight."
"Be tighter... around your cock," Cloud choked out, doing his best to sound
inviting and mostly just ending up desperate. He remembered how good it had
felt that night after the SOLDIER exam, the sensation indelibly inked on his
brain, but he just knew it would be even better now.
"Too tight," Zack replied, twisting his fingers again. "I'd hurt you like this
even if I wasn't a SOLDIER."
"Hurry up, then," Cloud pleaded. His cock was already leaking clear fluid, and
he wasn't going to last long at this rate. He tugged on Zack's cock to
encourage him, but only got another maddening flick of fingers in return.
Despite Cloud's best efforts, Zack insisted on preparing him as thoroughly as
possible. By the time he finally slid his cock slowly inside Cloud's body they
were both panting and shaking, but Cloud took him in easily.
Coming to rest against Cloud's body, Zack paused for a long moment with his
weight pressing Cloud into the bed. At last he began to move, giving them what
they'd both wanted for so long, and Cloud clutched at his back hard enough to
leave bruises even on a SOLDIER.
The rhythm and speed picked up quickly, neither of them able to deny themselves
now. Cloud moaned with every thrust, arching his hips up to meet each one and
driving Zack as deep inside him as possible. He tilted his head back to let
Zack bite at his neck and shoulder, and the older boy growled and thrust into
him hard.
Cloud gave a sharp cry as the rough motion caused a stab of pain, and Zack
froze above him. "Fuck, this isn't going to work," Zack gasped and shifted his
weight.
Frantically Cloud clung to him, refusing to let him pull out. "I can handle it
Zack, really, don't go, you can't leave me like this..."
"I'm not leaving," Zack promised softly, gathering Cloud against him. Twisting,
he rearranged them so that he was the one lying flat on his back on the bed and
Cloud was sitting above him.
The new position somehow meant Cloud was able to take just a bit more of Zack's
cock inside him, and he cried out at the sensation. Now he was the one
controlling the pace and the angle, and he was reminded sharply of the way it
had been up on the supports of the roller coaster.
He'd been enjoying having Zack thrusting over him, but he could see the wisdom
of this position. It would have been easier to move if Zack had been supporting
his waist, but seeing the way the older boy had fisted his hands tightly in the
sheets Cloud wasn't surprised that Zack wasn't touching him.
Instead Cloud put his hands flat on Zack's muscled chest and used that to
steady himself as he lifted and lowered himself. It meant he couldn't lean back
as far as he wanted to, but it still felt unbelievably good. The only problem
was that he wasn't getting any stimulation to his cock this way, and he didn't
dare ask Zack to do it.
Well, if he couldn't come from this alone, he could always finish himself
quickly once Zack had come again. Closing his eyes to mere slits, Cloud
struggled to watch the expressions flitting over Zack's face as the older boy
neared the edge. Breathing hard, Cloud sped his pace a bit more, the muscles in
his thighs burning but not threatening to give out just yet.
Zack was breathing in ragged gasps and the cords in his neck stood out in stark
relief as he threw his head back and tensed. Cloud heard something tear,
probably the sheets, and then Zack was bucking beneath him and coming hard into
Cloud's body.
Quickly Cloud moved one hand to his own cock, but to his shock Zack beat him
there by half a second. Eyes now more violet than grey with mako glow watched
him as Zack stroked him carefully, visibly fighting for control. Feeling Zack
slowly relax beneath him, Cloud tossed his head and straightened his spine,
trusting that Zack would steady him.
Sure enough Zack lifted his other hand to Cloud's waist, and the blonde was
able to lean back far enough that Zack's still mostly-hard cock hit that
amazing spot inside him. With a cry that was almost a shout Cloud was finally
pushed over the edge, spilling over Zack's hand.
He lost track of reality for a few moments, not blacking out but simply lost in
the haze of pleasure. When he came back to himself he found Zack had tugged him
down to lie draped over the older boy's chest, rising and falling with the
rhythm of Zack's still somewhat ragged breathing.
"See?" he managed to say drowsily. "No problem. Aren't you glad I'm more
stubborn than you?"
Zack's chuckle rumbled under Cloud's cheek and made his chest shake oddly.
"Yeah," he agreed, sounding completely exhausted. "Now are you going to let me
sleep? I wasn't kidding about how tired I was, you know."
"Only if you promise I don't have to move yet," Cloud mumbled in reply. He was
far too content to want to go anywhere. Zack laughed again.
"No, you can stay. I'll wake you up before reveille so you can get back in time
for inspection," Zack promised.
A feather light touch brushed against Cloud's cheek, and he smiled in response.
"Sleep well, Cloud," Zack whispered, wrapping one arm around the younger boy's
back. "Thank you for being you." Cloud might have protested such an absurd
statement, but he was already too far into sleep.
***** Chapter 23 *****
The one downside to having a company made up mostly of potential SOLDIER
candidates was that the entire unit pretty much ground to a halt around the
time of the exams. Cloud was far from the only one going through the motions of
his duties while mumbling bits of trivia to himself. Nobody assigned any
missions or duties to omega company that might be mentally taxing in the week
before the written.
It also meant that the SOLDIER exams tended to be scheduled at the most
convenient time for omega company. Since they were generally scattered across
the globe in smaller units along with the SOLDIERs, it took a concentrated
effort to get everyone who wanted to take the exams back to Midgar for the
duration. This year they were being held just a few weeks before Cloud's
sixteenth birthday, rather than a month or so after as they had been last time.
Most of them had been through it before, so they knew what they needed to study
for - which was to say, pretty much everything that was in the manual, and
quite a lot of stuff that wasn't. When they weren't all studying, they were
paired or grouped together for physical training. Minor concerns like sleep and
food were low on the list of priorities, and it fell to the minority of the
company not taking the exams to ensure their comrades-in-arms stayed alive long
enough to make it to the exam at all.
Cloud might have passed the written exam last year, but he was far from willing
to assume that he would remember enough to pass again this year. He was
treating it as if he'd never taken the test before, and starting from scratch
with his studying.
It was at times like this that he missed Zack the most. Working in the same
unit with his best friend was a million times better than hoping they would
occasionally have leave at the same time in the same place, but it still didn't
replace the closeness they'd enjoyed when they were both the same rank in the
same platoon. Studying for the written by himself or with his current toonmates
just wasn't the same as huddling up on Zack's bunk with a flashlight and a
textbook.
Worse, Zack wasn't even there to help coach or drill him, or just figuratively
hold his hand. The SOLDIER 1st Class they were both assigned to as support had
decided that since they all needed to come back to Midgar for Cloud to take the
exams anyway, now was an opportune time for Zack to get his next set of mako
enhancements. Zack hadn't exactly been able to say 'no', though he had managed
to talk Captain Marek into returning a few days ahead of schedule so he would
be over the worst of the effects by the time the exam actually started. He'd
promised to be there to distract Cloud while he was waiting for the results of
the written, and to cheer him on in the physical.
First Cloud had to get that far, though. So he threw himself into preparing
with everything he had, being even more obsessive about it than he had the year
before. Even most of omega company remarked on his strength of focus with awe
in their voices.
They didn't understand. Failure wasn't an option for Cloud, not this year. Not
only would not passing mean disappointing himself, Zack and even General
Sephiroth, but it would mean a whole year more before Zack would be able to
touch him without worrying about breaking him. Cloud was already heartily sick
of the fear in his best friend's eyes, however deeply hidden, whenever they had
a chance to be together. He wanted things back the way they had been before,
when they could be carelessly rowdy with each other if they wanted to be.
Having Zack treat him like he was made of glass only reminded Cloud how far
beneath Zack he was in standing and ability.
He wanted them to be equals again, and that was the need that drove him to
continue studying or training long after the others had given up for the day.
Never mind that Zack would now be 2nd Class while Cloud was only 3rd. They
would both be SOLDIERs, and that was the important part.
And when he lay aching and exhausted in his bunk late at night, his eyes
hurting from all the reading and muscles protesting the abuse he put them
through, he comforted himself with the other promise Zack had made just before
heading off to the labs. Thanks to the fact that they'd been at opposite ends
of a minefield for that whole week they hadn't had a chance to do anything to
celebrate Zack's seventeenth birthday, nor had there been any opportunities
since. Zack had promised a chance to make up for that combined with a
celebration for Cloud's victory - in the new, single room he would have as a
2nd Class. Cloud still wouldn't have his mako enhancements yet, but he was
looking forward to it anyway.
The day before the exams, all of omega company was given leave. Captain Edmund
was a wise enough commander to realize that asking his troops to concentrate on
anything else today was a waste of his time and theirs.
Cloud had retreated to a corner of the mess, staking out his territory with his
notes and books spread around him. Today was his day to double check that he
still remembered everything he thought he did. He'd learned his lesson from
last year; once he went to bed tonight, he wasn't going to touch another piece
of paper until the exam started. No last-minute cramming for him.
Bemused, he wondered how the other exam participants would react if he tried to
start a drill session again this year, like Zack had. Hell, enough of them had
probably taken it last year to remember, he might even be able to get away with
it.
Not everyone had come to the mess to do their studying, since it tended to be a
noisy and busy room. Many had found other more private places to hole up in,
but Cloud had enough focus to be able to tune out all the bustle around him and
the mess was the only place where he could sit at a table and still be able to
spread all his stuff out.
In fact, he had been so successful at absorbing himself and ignoring his
environment that he almost missed hearing someone call out, "Officer in the
room! Attention!"
It was the sudden scrape of benches across the room that alerted him to what
was going on, and he hastily jumped to his feet and saluted. Mentally he cursed
whoever it was and hoped they wouldn't be staying long; this was one
disadvantage to studying in a public area that he hadn't considered.
"As you were," a now-familiar deep voice said, and Cloud started. Turning, he
saw that it was indeed none other than General Sephiroth standing at the door
to their mess.
While omega company certainly had more contact with the general than the rest
of the regular troops, usually that was after they were already in the field,
not here in Midgar. Cloud couldn't think of a single good reason the general
would be here, unless maybe he was just checking up on the SOLDIER candidates.
To his further surprise, the general continued, "Is Corporal Cloud present?"
For a moment Cloud was almost too shocked to react, but he pulled himself
together and saluted again. "Sir!"
"Ah, good." There was a faint hint of a smile on the man's face, quickly gone.
"I was afraid you might be the type to squirrel yourself away just before the
exams. Come with me, please."
"Sir, yes sir!" Cloud acknowledged. He spared a bare moment to consider what to
do with his books and notes, and finally decided to leave them as they were. He
had no idea what the general wanted him for, but he doubted it would involve
studying.
The others in the mess gave him curious and even envious looks as he passed,
and he shrugged slightly at them to indicate he had no idea what was going on,
either. When he reached Sephiroth's side he stopped and saluted again, and the
silver-haired man nodded. "This way."
Sephiroth led him into one of the nearby briefing rooms, used for meetings with
small units of the company when they were either going out to or coming back
from a mission. Indicating that Cloud should take a seat, the general closed
the door behind them.
Perched nervously on the edge of his chair, Cloud studied the general and tried
to decipher the man's purpose in bringing him here. Sephiroth looked grim, his
green eyes narrow with an emotion that Cloud couldn't read but was certain
wasn't good. Had Cloud done something to get himself into trouble? Frantically
he reviewed everything he'd done in the last few days, trying to figure out if
he'd broken any rules or stepped on any toes. He couldn't think of anything;
he'd been absorbed in studying, and he'd been officially on leave since the
moment their unit returned to Midgar so he hadn't neglected any duties.
"You haven't done anything wrong, corporal," Sephiroth assured him, probably
reading his fears on Cloud's face. Cloud relaxed marginally, but stiffened
again as the general continued. "I wanted you to hear this from me, first. Your
friend is suffering from a severe negative reaction to his latest round of mako
injections."
Heart pounding, Cloud stared at him and swallowed hard. "Like the last time,
sir?" he asked, though he didn't think Sephiroth would be so grim if that was
all it was. Zack had been delirious back then, but Sephiroth hadn't seemed
overly concerned at the time. In fact, Cloud remembered he'd said it was a good
indication that Zack might be able to go all the way to 1st Class.
"Considerably worse, I'm afraid," Sephiroth said. His voice was calm, but
something that looked suspiciously like anger flared in his eyes. "It's very
dangerous to receive the injections less than a year apart. Captain Marek
mistakenly assumed that Lieutenant Zack's presence in the Specials meant he
must have been 3rd Class for some time already, and apparently none of the lab
techs thought to check the lieutenant's file."
"Dangerous?" Cloud's voice cracked embarrassingly, something it hadn't done for
quite a while, and he cleared his throat. His hands were gripping the edges of
the seat tightly enough that if he'd been a SOLDIER he'd probably have broken
pieces off by now. "How dangerous? Why? Is he going to be okay?"
"The injections are essentially a controlled dose of mako poisoning," Sephiroth
told him frankly. "It takes approximately a year for the last of it to work its
way out of the system. Adding more before that happens means creating an
overdose, and it can have... adverse effects on the human body and brain.
People have survived it in the past, but not everyone and not always as they
were before."
Most of Cloud's brain was spinning in neutral, in a state of shock so profound
he literally couldn't connect one thought to another.
Finally he pinched himself hard enough to give him something to concentrate on
other than the shock. Closing his eyes, he drew a deep breath and looked up at
the general again. "Thank you for telling me, sir." How awful would it have
been to get this news from some impersonal lab tech, or worse, to hear about it
through the grapevine.
"I'm sorry I have to give you such bad news so close to the exams, corporal,"
the man apologized sincerely.
"No, I'd rather know now, sir," Cloud said, though his voice wavered slightly.
"Is there anything I can do for him?"
"He's been calling for you, actually," Sephiroth admitted. "Ordinarily you
wouldn't be allowed anywhere near him; he's in the labs, not the infirmary. But
in my experience having someone or something nearby that means a great deal to
the victim can make a difference." Cloud had to resist the urge to squirm and
blush under the dry look Sephiroth gave him, wondering just how much the
general knew or guessed about his real relationship with Zack.
"Can I go to him, sir? Please?" Cloud pleaded, unable to stand the thought of
Zack calling for him and believing that Cloud had abandoned him.
"I was hoping you would ask." Sephiroth nodded. "I'm sure I don't need to tell
you that everything in this conversation, and anything you might learn from
this point on, is highly classified. I'm trusting your discretion, corporal.
Don't make me regret it."
"No, sir," Cloud said fervently. Somehow he thought a court martial would be
the least of his worries if he ever broke Sephiroth's trust.
"Come with me, then." The general gestured, and led the way out of the room.
Cloud marched along at his heels, worry winding him tighter with every step
they took.
Sephiroth led him into the main Shinra building, and Cloud could feel the
curious looks they drew from everyone around. He wondered what they thought was
going on, watching the Silver General himself with a mere corporal tagging
along like a faithful puppy. Once they got into the elevator and Sephiroth
swiped his keycard to give them access to the higher levels, Cloud had to fight
just to keep his breathing steady.
He was worried, more worried than he'd been since Mideel. Zack's collapse in
the alleys after his first injections had scared him, but Sephiroth had come
along and assured him everything was fine before he'd had a chance to really
panic. Now even Sephiroth seemed worried, and Cloud figured anything that could
get to the general had to be pretty bad, indeed.
What could he do? Cloud was just a kid, when it came right down to it. What if
he couldn't help Zack enough? If the best scientists and experts in Shinra
couldn't do anything, how was Cloud supposed to fix it?
But he had to do it, somehow. The alternative was too horrible to contemplate.
When Cloud had left Nibelheim all those months ago it had been with the
intention of proving his worth to himself and everyone else by becoming a
SOLDIER. At some point along the way the dream had shifted and changed, and now
Cloud literally couldn't imagine doing it without Zack at his side.
He forgot to even be nervous about the spooky atmosphere of the lab as he
followed Sephiroth off the elevator and into parts of Hojo's territory he'd
never been in before. You had to have a high security clearance to stand guard
up here, Cloud knew. Under ordinary circumstances he would never have seen this
area until it was time for him to get his own mako enhancements. He resisted
the urge to look around curiously, focused on getting to Zack.
The room the general led him to could have passed for any high-tech hospital
room. There was only one bed, but Cloud couldn't see Zack for the crowd of
white-coated technicians bustling around. At the front of the group was none
other than Professor Hojo himself, hands tucked behind his back as he calmly
gave orders to his subordinates.
A cry of pain and fear came from the middle of the crowd, and Cloud's heart
clenched as he recognized Zack's voice. The older boy sounded almost
hysterical, and his voice was hoarse as if he'd been screaming enough to wear
it away. His words were mostly unintelligible, but Cloud could tell it was a
plea for something. Release, perhaps, or begging someone to end the agony he
was obviously in.
Without waiting for direction or permission from the general Cloud darted into
the crowd and wormed his way between the scientists. His small stature stood
him in good stead here, letting him work his way through the group with
relative ease. He emerged at Zack's side and drew a sharp breath at the sight
of his friend.
Zack was sweating and struggling, fighting the restraints that bound him to the
bed. The straps were metal reinforced and looked heavy enough that Cloud wasn't
sure he would even be able to lift one of them, but they seemed barely strong
enough to contain the delirious SOLDIER. The older boy's eyes were open but it
was obvious that he wasn't seeing what was actually in front of him, his
expression filled with panic and suffering.
He cried out again, wrenching at his arms hard enough that Cloud was surprised
he hadn't dislocated his own shoulders. This time Cloud was close enough to
make out some of his words. "No! No, no... please, gods... Cloud! Noooo..."
"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed, and grabbed for his friend's hand without thinking. If
he'd thought the older boy's grip had been crushing after his first mako
injections, that was nothing compared to the way he clamped down on Cloud's
hand now. Hissing in pain Cloud braced his body against the side of the bed and
forced himself not to jerk away. "Zack!" he called again, praying his voice
would reach his friend's fevered brain. "Zack, I'm here, it's okay!"
"What is this?" Hojo sounded annoyed, as if Cloud had interrupted him in the
middle of an important experiment. "Where did it come from? Remove it at once,
it's interfering."
It took Cloud a moment to realize that the 'it' in question was him, but he
resisted when the technicians grabbed him by the arms and shoulders and tried
to pull him away from the bed. "No! Let go, damn it! I'm not leaving him!"
Not that they could have gotten him away anyway, at least not without removing
his hand from his arm. Zack had a death grip on him, and as painful as it was
Cloud took it as a sign that his friend knew he was there.
"Release him," he heard Sephiroth order behind him, and the hands on him
faltered. Some part of Cloud that wasn't focused entirely on Zack marvelled
that they didn't back off immediately. He couldn't imagine anybody disobeying
an order from Sephiroth, especially not when it was delivered in that tone of
voice.
Of course, the techs weren't ultimately answerable to Sephiroth or the army, he
was reminded when Hojo spoke again. "Sephiroth. Why are you here? Are you the
cause of this? Take it away this instant. It doesn't belong here."
"Professor." Once again Cloud thought the title sounded more ironic than
genuine when Sephiroth said it, as if there was no real respect behind it.
"This is the friend the lieutenant has been calling for. I'm sure I don't need
to remind you of the positive response to the presence of such friends in past
cases of overdose."
It definitely wasn't Cloud's imagination; there was significant tension between
the general and the professor. Hojo pushed his glasses up, staring at Cloud and
Sephiroth with a cold gaze. "You have no authority here," the professor said
bluntly to Sephiroth. "This is my purview, and I don't want any outside
influences possibly damaging the subject's psyche further."
"On the contrary, professor." Cloud shivered at the low, dangerous tone in
Sephiroth's voice, and he was amazed the techs still had the fortitude to hold
their ground. "The lieutenant is a member of the Specials and therefore under
my direct command, as well as being my responsibility as the general of
Shinra's forces. That puts him very much under my authority. He is a SOLDIER,
not a research subject."
Zack was muttering to himself, tossing his head and bucking against the
restraints as spasms wracked his body. He coughed wetly, and vile green liquid
ran down from the corner of his mouth as he shuddered. He'd subsided somewhat,
no longer fighting the straps quite as hard, but Cloud wasn't sure if it was in
response to his presence or not.
Deciding the continuing politely scathing argument between the general and the
professor wasn't anything he could affect, Cloud leaned over his friend and
brushed Zack's sweaty bangs off his face as he had in Mideel. "Zack, it's
Cloud," he murmured, keeping his voice low enough that only Zack would hear it.
"It's okay, everything is going to be fine. You'll be okay." He forced
confidence into his voice, not wanting his terror to be communicated to his
friend.
"Cloud?" For a moment Cloud thought the older boy was actually responding to
him, but Zack wasn't looking at him. "Cloud? Gods, it hurts, it hurts, don't...
Cloud..." He coughed again, harder this time, on and on until Cloud was afraid
he might suffocate. His hand tightened on Cloud's again, and the younger boy's
knees went weak at the surge of pain.
He really needed to stop putting himself in this position, Cloud reflected as
he struggled through the pain. Well, the easiest way would be to become a
SOLDIER himself, so Zack wouldn't be able to hurt him so easily. At the moment
he was more worried about getting Zack through this alive than with passing the
exam tomorrow, though.
A strong hand tugged at Zack's, prying the fingers loose from around Cloud's.
For a horrible moment Cloud thought that meant Hojo had won the argument and he
was going to have to leave, but when he looked up he found General Sephiroth
was the one working him free. "I suggest that if you're going to touch him to
reassure him of your presence, corporal, you find somewhere to do it such that
he can't get hold of you in turn," the general said wryly. "I can't remain here
to cast Cure on you every time he breaks something, and you won't do him any
good if you're incapacitated by pain as well."
Once he had Cloud's hand free he cast the healing spell and released him, and
Cloud sheepishly moved so his newly restored hand was resting on Zack's upper
arm instead. "Yes, sir. Does that mean I can stay?"
"Yes. Stay out of the way of the technicians," Sephiroth ordered him. He
glanced at Zack, who had subsided after the bout of coughing and was now lying
quietly, staring blankly up at the ceiling as his chest rose and fell in ragged
breaths. "It looks like he's slipped into the catatonic stage. That's good in
that it means he won't fight and injure himself, but it's also the most
dangerous response in terms of his sanity. He wouldn't be the first man to be
lost in his own mind as a result of mako poisoning. Talk to him, see if you can
draw him out of it."
Heart pounding with fear in his chest, Cloud nodded and tightened his grip on
Zack's arm, saluting the general with his free hand. "You can count on me, sir.
I won't let him slip away that easily."
"I know you won't, corporal," Sephiroth agreed with the faintest trace of a
smile. "I'll have some rations and your manuals sent up, and I'll make sure
someone comes to fetch you before the exam starts. Good luck." He returned
Cloud's salute briefly, then turned on his heel and was gone.
Looking around, Cloud saw that Hojo had already left, presumably once he'd lost
the argument with the general. Most of the techs had gone with him and the few
remaining were studiously ignoring Cloud, as if they were afraid that
acknowledging him would bring their boss's wrath down on all their heads.
That suited Cloud just fine. He left Zack's side just long enough to steal one
of the stools from the monitoring station, moved it to the side of the bed and
settled in to wait. And while he waited, he talked, in a low smooth voice that
revealed none of his internal worry and panic.
At first he couldn't think of anything to say, stammering over whatever
trivialities came into his head. He repeated the gossip currently circulating
among omega company, which mostly had to do with the upcoming exams. Once that
topic was exhausted he rehashed the popular battle stories and legends told
among all the troops, most of which had to do with the war in Wutai and the
Silver General. From there it was a natural progression to reminiscing over the
battles and adventures Cloud and Zack had had, together and separately.
When his voice grew so hoarse from talking that he could barely squeak out the
words, one of the techs dared to take pity on him and fetched him some water.
Cloud acknowledged the kind gesture with a nod and stopped talking only long
enough to gulp the water down.
For the most part, though, the sound of the beeping monitors and Cloud's soft,
steady chattering were constant in the room. In the beginning Cloud wasn't sure
if he was even making a difference. Zack's breathing had evened out, but the
older boy continued to stare blankly at the ceiling no matter what Cloud talked
about. It wasn't until Cloud could ignore the needs of his body no longer and
was forced to seek out a bathroom that he got confirmation that his presence
was noticed; when he returned, Zack had grown restless and was moaning softly
in pain again. He stilled when Cloud hushed him, and the blonde grew more
determined than ever not to leave his friend's side.
At some point someone brought a bag containing all his books and notes from the
mess to him, and he found a sealed field ration packet in the bag as well. "You
said you wished you could help me study," Cloud told Zack with an uneven smile,
settling back onto the stool with one of the books and the rations. "Now's your
chance. Let me know when I make a mistake, okay?"
He started reviewing the material aloud, snatching gulps of the rations between
sentences. Once or twice he deliberately made blatant mistakes, out of a
wistful desire to see if Zack might not correct him after all. The older boy
didn't stir, but it made Cloud feel obscurely better that he was able to study
'with' his friend.
More than a year as a trooper had taught him how to stay awake through the
night when it was necessary, even on the most boring patrols or watch duties.
Cloud kept reading and talking as the hours wore by, mostly oblivious to the
movement of other people around him. Nobody interrupted him, and that was all
that really mattered as far as he was concerned.
Unfortunately, they couldn't remain undisturbed forever. When somebody did
finally rest a hand on Cloud's shoulder and shake him slightly to jolt him out
of the almost trance-like state he'd fallen into, he turned on them and
snapped. "What?"
Too late, the silver hair and bright green eyes of the man leaning over him
registered, and Cloud nearly bit his tongue off. "Sir!" he exclaimed,
scrambling off the stool and saluting. "I'm sorry sir, I thought you were one
of the techs."
"Understood, corporal," the general nodded. "As you were. How is he?"
Glancing at Zack, Cloud bit his lip. "The same," he admitted. "He gets restless
if I leave or stop talking longer than it takes to grab a drink, so I think
he's aware that I'm here. But otherwise he hasn't changed condition at all."
"The fact that he's even responding that much is encouraging," Sephiroth said,
and something relaxed in Cloud that had been tight enough to choke him until
that moment. The general didn't look as grim as he had the day before, and if
he said things were encouraging then Cloud believed him.
"At any rate, the written exam begins in an hour," the general continued. "I
wanted to check on him, so I thought I would remind you myself rather than
sending someone."
Cloud blinked in shock. The exam was starting? Already? That couldn't be right.
It couldn't be starting now... Zack wasn't awake yet. "I can't leave!" he
blurted out, wide-eyed. "Zack still needs me!"
That earned him a sharp look from Sephiroth. "Your loyalty is commendable,
corporal, but I think the lieutenant will understand, once he wakes. If you
hurry, you can grab breakfast before the exam starts."
Torn, Cloud looked from the general to Zack, and back again. Slowly he shook
his head. "I can't, sir," he said, his voice hardly louder than a whisper. "He
gets agitated if I leave even for a few minutes. He could hurt himself, or slip
away entirely. I have to stay with him."
"I'll find someone to stay with him, corporal," Sephiroth assured him. "One of
the other SOLDIERs he went through training with, perhaps."
Swallowing hard, Cloud shook his head. "With all due respect, sir, they're not
the ones he was calling for. What if it makes a difference?"
"Corporal, you do realize I can't make any exceptions for you in this matter,"
Sephiroth insisted, frowning. "If you don't participate in the written exam,
you won't have another opportunity to get into SOLDIER until next year."
Frankly Cloud was shocked that Sephiroth might even think he would expect some
kind of exception to be made, and it showed on his face. "I would never ask for
something like that, sir," he said, lifting his eyes and meeting the general's
glowing gaze head-on. "There will be other opportunities to take the exam.
There's only one Zack. I can't risk it."
Sephiroth studied him, perhaps judging his resolve, and finally nodded. He had
the same odd expression in his eyes that Cloud had seen in the cave on the
glacier, when he'd been watching Zack and Cloud huddle together for warmth. "As
you wish," the general acknowledged. "If he wakes or you change your mind you
may join the rest of the exam participants, but you won't be granted any extra
time to finish."
"Understood, sir," Cloud said, and saluted again. He was proud that his hand
shook only a little as Sephiroth returned the salute and left. Inside he was
dying a little with each passing moment, picturing another whole year as a
regular trooper. His dream was slipping from his grasp once again, this time by
his own choice.
What other decision could he make, though? Sinking back onto the stool, Cloud
buried his face in his hands and forced himself to swallow the sobs that
threatened to escape him. He knew it was the right thing to do, but that didn't
make it any easier to face.
It wasn't until Zack started to whimper again that Cloud took a deep breath and
sat upright, reaching for the book he'd been reading from before Sephiroth had
interrupted him. His voice was a little unsteady with pain and regret, but it
worked to comfort Zack anyway and that was the important thing.
Cloud nearly changed his mind half a dozen times in the first hour, before the
exam started. Twice he even set his book aside and moved towards the door, but
both times he couldn't resist glancing over his shoulder before leaving. The
sight of Zack, pale and sweating and helpless in the restraints, reminded him
that some things were more important than the exams and he returned to his seat
both times.
After the second hour he covered the clock on the wall so he wouldn't have to
see it ticking away the minutes, taping a blank sheet of paper from his
notebook over it. By the end of the third hour he'd abandoned his books and
notes altogether, stacking them in a haphazard pile out of sight on the other
side of the bed and returning to just talking off the top of his head. He
deliberately chose a topic that had nothing to do with the military, reciting
every folk tale and children's story he could remember.
It all helped, and after a while the tightness left his throat and he was able
to speak easily again. Maybe it was just the knowledge that even if he left now
he wouldn't have time to answer enough questions to pass, and so the decision
was out of his hands. Whatever it was, Cloud was grateful for it since it let
him concentrate better on his friend.
Eventually he ran out of stories, and he cast about helplessly for another
topic. He didn't want to go back to reading out of his manuals, but it was that
or start telling stories about his own childhood and he didn't really want to
go into that. Not that he didn't trust Zack with that kind of thing, but he and
Zack weren't alone in the room.
He was so focused on thinking of something else to talk about that he was
hardly aware of the quiet murmur from one side. "What, you're not going to tell
the one about the golden chocobo that had a whole line of people stuck to it
and trailing along behind?"
"Right! I forgot about that one!" Cloud exclaimed, perking up. "Once upon a
time, there was a... Zack?" Belatedly the fact that he recognized the voice
registered with him, and he whipped his head around to stare at his friend.
Zack's eyes were focused on him, and though he looked too tired to even lift
his head there was a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Once
upon a time there was a Zack?" he repeated in a cracked whisper. "Didn't know I
had a namesake in this story."
"Zack!" Cloud choked up on the name, and couldn't get out any of the other
words that he'd meant to come after it. Instead he threw himself forward and
wrapped his arms around his friend's neck, struggling not to end up crying into
Zack's shoulder. Finally he found his voice. "Oh merciful Alexander, you're
awake! I thought I was going to lose you."
"Whoa, hey," Zack said hoarsely, sounding surprised. "What are you on about?"
The straps creaked as he tried to move, and the surprise turned to shock. "Why
am I tied down?"
"You were delirious, thrashing around and hurting yourself," Cloud explained,
pulling back enough to see Zack's face and hastily wiping his watering eyes. "I
think they were afraid you might attack them, too."
"Shit, I had a bad reaction again?" Zack grimaced. "Sounds like it was even
worse this time; they didn't tie me down last time. I was hoping that wouldn't
happen again."
Shaking his head, Cloud tried to figure out how much he should tell Zack of how
close the older boy had come to death or possible insanity. All of it, he
finally decided. Zack deserved to know. "You're not supposed to get the
injections closer than a year apart," he said, his voice nearly as hoarse as
Zack's. "It causes an overdose. Even the general was worried."
He wasn't sure if it was his words or the obvious signs of his fear that
reached Zack, but the older boy looked shaken. "Shit. That's the second time
out of two that I've run into trouble because somebody was careless. Remind me
to get the full disclaimer before I agree to the third set, if they offer
them."
Laughing, because he had to or he really was going to cry, Cloud shook his
head. "Right now I just want to concentrate on being glad you survived to make
it to 2nd Class."
"Hey, shit, speaking of which, what are you doing here?" Zack asked, startled.
"Shouldn't you be studying for the exam?"
Cloud's breath hitched, but he managed to force a smile onto his face. "Don't
worry about it. I've got plenty of time," he lied. Well, technically it wasn't
even a lie - he had a whole year to study, now. Plenty of time, and then some.
Some of the techs came forward to run various tests on Zack, and finally one of
them consented to unstrap him when he'd remained lucid for some time. He had to
be assisted to a sitting position, his body once again completely uncoordinated
because of the extreme enhancements. "Hades, I'm going to have to get used to
moving all over again!" Zack said, grimacing. "You'd better pass that exam,
Cloud, or I really am going to break you one of these days." Cloud bit his lip
and said nothing, grateful for Zack's preoccupation with trying to figure out
how to use his body.
Cloud had been half afraid that Professor Hojo would get the report from the
techs than Zack was awake and come in to kick Cloud out, but thankfully
Sephiroth beat him there. "Good," he said as he walked in and saw Zack sitting
up and carefully sipping from a cup of water. "You had everyone worried,
lieutenant. I literally couldn't tear your blonde shadow from your side." Cloud
flushed brightly as Zack chuckled at him.
"My apologies, general," Zack said, sketching a weak salute that nearly hit him
in the eye thanks to his lack of coordination. "I'll do my best not to repeat
the trend next time. Can I get out of here soon? I'd rather do my recovering
somewhere else, no offence intended to these fine gentlemen," he flicked a wry
glance at the techs still present. "Besides, I have a promise to keep." He
started to reach out to ruffle Cloud's hair, but thought better of it and
returned his hand hastily to his lap before he ended up hurting the younger
boy. "After interrupting his studies like this, the least I can do is be his
cheering squad."
Looking at Cloud, Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "You didn't tell him, corporal?"
Cloud couldn't meet his or Zack's eyes, picking at a snagged thread in his
uniform pants. "I see. Well, I hope you don't end up regretting your decision."
That made Cloud snap his eyes to meet the general's, his expression stubborn.
"I know what my priorities are, sir," he said firmly. "There's nothing to
regret."
The half-unspoken conversation had clearly gone mostly over Zack's head, but
suspicion was starting to creep into his eyes. "Wait," he said gruffly to
Cloud. "You said you had plenty of time left."
"At least a year," Cloud replied, shrugging. The gesture wasn't as casual as he
would have liked it to be, but it would do. When Zack turned a horrified look
on him, Cloud punched him in the shoulder. "Don't look at me like that. And
don't you dare blame yourself. Do you really think I could have just sauntered
off to go write the exam when you needed me here? What the hell kind of friend
would that make me, huh?"
"But...!" Zack looked back at him helplessly, clearly distraught. Cloud shook
his head.
"It's only another year, not the end of the world. We'll deal. At least now
that I'm in omega company we actually get to work together. Besides. I probably
ought to be old enough to join the army before I make it into SOLDIER. Right,
sir?" Greatly daring, he gave the general a hesitant smile, and the man
chuckled in response.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, corporal," Sephiroth replied. "I'll see about
getting you transferred to the general infirmary now that you're out of danger,
lieutenant. Congratulations on making 2nd Class."
"Thank you, sir," Zack saluted again, more carefully, though his eyes were
still sad. "I just wish it could be a double celebration."
"You can only celebrate so many things at a time," Cloud said, shaking his head
and shoving the regrets that did nibble at him firmly to the back of his head.
"Next year it will be my turn, wait and see." And by all that was holy, he
swore privately, nothing short of an act of the gods was going to keep him from
passing next year.
***** Chapter 24 *****
If Cloud had been inclined to keep a list of places throughout the world that
he least wanted to ever go back to, the desert around Gold Saucer would have
been top of the list. The North Glacier and Mideel were vying for a close
second, but the desert had one thing those two places didn't. The desert had
sand.
The snow of the glacier and the insects of Mideel couldn't even begin to
compete with Cloud's newfound loathing of sand. It got into everything, no
matter how hard you tried to keep it out. It gummed up machinery, got into the
food and water, and before you'd spent a full day in the desert you could feel
it gritting between your teeth. There was nowhere you could go and nothing you
could do to be free of it.
At the moment Cloud was doing his level best to get as much of it as possible
out of his rifle. It was something of a losing battle, since he had to take it
apart to get the sand out and that just gave the damn stuff more chances to get
in. He'd taken to cleaning it in the morning before going out on patrol and
again as soon as he got back, but the sand was still winning. The gun jammed
more often than not now, and mostly he was just relying on his sword and
materia.
At least omega company didn't specialize in a weapon, so he did have other
options. If he'd still been in the rifle corps and in this situation, he'd be
screwed. Blowing his bangs out of his eyes with an irritated breath, Cloud eyed
the pieces of the rifle that he'd spread over his neatly made bed and wondered
if it was even worth the effort.
The sound of a helicopter coming in to land made him look up briefly, but a
quick glance at his watch told him it was probably just the supply chopper that
came in three times a week. The desert perimeter was quicksand for a good half-
kilometre band, so the only way in or out was by air. That left the small unit
of Shinra troops somewhat isolated, but Cloud didn't mind that so much. Unlike
the others in Captain Marek's unit the only mail he ever got was from Zack, and
there was precious little of that.
The older boy had only written once so far, just a brief note that mentioned
that the training for 2nd Class was even more brutal than for 3rd Class.
Thankfully the acclimation period would be over soon, and Zack would be
rejoining the unit. Cloud had missed him, even though he was sure things were
going to be strained between them for a while. Zack probably still blamed
himself for Cloud missing the exams, even though Cloud didn't.
For the moment, though, he still had to deal with the sand. With a sigh Cloud
started reassembling the rifle, cursing as he felt the grit caught in the oiled
mechanisms. No, the damn thing was definitely going to be useless until he
could clean it somewhere else.
Someone scratched at the flap of the tent, the equivalent of knocking, and then
stepped in without waiting for a response from Cloud. Captain Marek would have
waited, so it had to be one of the two others here from omega company. Not
looking up from the somewhat delicate piece he was trying to put together,
Cloud mumbled, "If it's not urgent then come back later, and no I am not
trading shifts with you!" He had the much-prized early morning patrol, when the
desert was still cool enough from the near-freezing night temperatures to be
bearable. The others were forever trying to con or bribe him into giving it up.
"Oh, well, if you're busy then," a teasing voice said. "I guess I'll just find
somewhere else to bed down." Cloud jerked his head up, and found grey-violet
eyes glowing at him from within a very familiar face.
The rifle pieces were promptly dumped to the ground as Cloud scrambled to his
feet and threw himself at his friend. "Zack! You're back! Did you come in on
the chopper?" Almost immediately Cloud blushed and chided himself. Of course
the older boy had come in with the supplies, how else would he have gotten
here?
Laughing, Zack hugged him back carefully, mindful of his new strength. "Yeah.
They finally got sick of me and shipped me off out here to annoy all of you
instead. Man, is this the world's biggest sandbox, or what?"
The light in Zack's eyes wasn't all from the mako; he was like a little kid
being presented with a shiny new toy. "We'll see if you're still happy about it
by tomorrow, when you've got sand in every conceivable crevice in your body,
and quite a few that shouldn't be," Cloud muttered, burying his face against
Zack's shoulder. He knew he shouldn't, knew one of the others might walk in any
minute, but it had been too damn long since he'd gotten to hold his friend like
this.
Chuckling, Zack wound his fingers through thick strands of blonde hair.
"Irritable as always. What would I do without you?" Looking around, he raised
an eyebrow. "Full-size tents, cots instead of bedrolls, and only two people
each? What'd we do to rate the royal treatment?"
Pulling away, Cloud moved to gather up the scattered pieces of his rifle.
"After we'd been here a week, Captain Marek radioed back to Midgar and said if
they were going to keep us out here, they'd damn well better start sending
supplies to match the conditions. The little four-man tents were totally
unbearable, way too hot and stuffy."
"That's our captain," Zack exclaimed with a grin. Marek was well-liked among
the SOLDIERs and especially omega company, because he was known for taking good
care of his troops. "So you've had this one to yourself?"
Cloud shrugged, and dumped the rifle pieces back on his bed. "Sean and Colin
claimed one, and the captain gets his own, of course. Technically I suppose you
should, too, since SOLDIERs don't usually bunk with troops."
"Yeah, but that would require me requisitioning one, and why should I bother?"
Zack laughed. "Not like I'm going to complain about bunking in with you." His
grin became more of a leer, and despite himself Cloud flushed. At least the
perpetual sunburn he suffered from out here helped hide the colour in his
cheeks.
"Just remember that tent walls are not exactly soundproof!" Cloud reminded him.
Despite his own warning, suddenly night couldn't come fast enough to suit him.
Too bad Zack had come in the morning, and they still had a full patrol and an
afternoon of chores to get through first.
Well, he had a patrol. "Have you got a duty assignment, yet?" he asked. "I go
on duty about ten minutes from now."
"Not yet, but I'm sure the captain will assign me to you," Zack shrugged. "He
usually does. I tried to report in, but Sean said he wasn't in the camp. What
are we doing here, anyway? I didn't even get a briefing, just my transfer
orders." He dumped his duffle on the extra bed and started digging through it
to find his combat gear.
"Shinra's given up on trying to contain the monsters or hide their existence,"
Cloud explained as he strapped on his armour as well. "They're everywhere now,
new ones popping up all over the place. They are denser near the reactors, but
they're not limited to those areas. So they've started sending smaller units of
troops out to study and hopefully contain them. Keep them from interfering in
travel, that kind of thing. So we go out and patrol, try not to get lost, and
kill as many as we run across."
"How tough are they?" Zack wanted to know, double-checking his materia.
"Not nearly as bad as the ones in the glacier, but worse than the ones around
Midgar," Cloud told him. "We've been doing one- and two-man patrols in the
area, and bigger sweeps once a week with the whole unit. It's almost as easy to
get lost out there as it was on the glacier, by the way, and just as deadly."
"Yeah, I bet," Zack agreed. "Bet this armour gets hot as Ifrit's fire, too.
Can't you see the Saucer, though? It's a hell of a big landmark."
"The wind kicks up the sand, and visibility isn't great," Cloud said as he led
them out of the tent. "It's not strong enough to blow you off course like the
gales on the glacier, but it's enough that you can't see the Saucer more often
than not. I've got a compass," he lifted his hand to indicate the little
magnetic needle that had been modded into all their bracers. "That should be
enough to keep us on track."
"Lead the way, then," Zack said with a grin. "I'll follow you. Might as well
make myself useful until the captain gets back."
The desert was a seemingly unbroken stretch of sand that went as far as the eye
could see in all directions. It looked flat, but in fact it was full of gentle,
constantly shifting dunes. They'd had to build a wall of sandbags around the
camp to keep from being buried under the drifts. As Cloud and Zack walked their
feet kicked up little puffs of sand that hung in the air, blown this way and
that by the wind.
In minutes Zack was coughing softly into his gloved fist, and Cloud smiled to
hear him trying to clear his throat of the grit. "Told you," he couldn't resist
saying, safe behind the barrier of the thin scarf he'd pulled up over his mouth
and nose. It didn't keep all the sand out, but it did help to reduce the amount
he ended up breathing.
"Yeah, yeah, you're the all-wise guru of the desert," Zack replied, laughing
between coughs. "Next time I shall heed your wisdom, oh Wise One."
A roar cut off any reply Cloud might have made, and he winced. "Great, a
harpy," he muttered, recognizing the sound. "Watch out for their water-breath
attack."
"Water-breath?" Zack repeated, bemused, but he didn't let his distraction keep
him from unslinging his sword at the same time Cloud unsheathed his. A moment
later the giant chimera appeared, and Zack had even more reason to look
confused. "What the hell is that?" he demanded.
"Dunno," Cloud replied, dodging a swipe from the creature's tail at hacking
back at it in turn. "We sent a couple back to the Shinra labs, but if they've
made any conclusions they haven't bothered telling us."
"Typical," Zack grunted, chopping off a limb that got a little to close to him.
"We're the ones that have to face them, but the brass decided we don't qualify
as 'need to know'. You have no idea how sick I am of the word 'classified'!"
He was a blur of motion; Cloud could hardly even follow what he was doing. The
difference between 2nd and 3rd Class was nearly as great as the difference
between 3rd Class and an ordinary trooper. Cloud had seen better fighters, of
course; Captain Marek for one, and Sephiroth made even the SOLDIERs 1st Class
look like raw recruits. But somehow it was more impressive when it was Zack
that he was watching improve by leaps and bounds.
The monster drew in a deep breath, and Cloud hastily did the same as he braced
himself. When the water struck him it battered him around, but he didn't end up
half-drowned as he had the first few times he'd been caught in this attack.
Zack was coughing and sputtering to his left; the older boy didn't have enough
experience yet with this monster to recognize the signs of an oncoming attack.
Despite that, between the two of them they made short work of the harpy.
Panting a little in the hot, dry air, Cloud cleaned his sword off and sheathed
it again. "See? No problem."
Zack was still coughing to try to get the last of the water out of his lungs,
or maybe the sand was just irritating his throat again. "Right," he said, his
voice a little rough from the coughing. "No problem at all. That thing
shouldn't even be possible. How many different heads did it have? I saw at
least three. It must have been created. The waste from the reactors may or may
not be mutating normal animals, but 'mutation' does not include mashing
together a bunch of random animals and creating one new one!"
"They're all the same combination of animals, too," Cloud said as they resumed
their patrol. "You're right, it can't possibly be a natural effect. And what's
more, they're all fertile! Shouldn't most of them be sterile if it's a mutation
effect?"
"Yeah," Zack nodded grimly. "There should be a lot more variation within each
type of animal too, not just exactly the same creature over and over. It's got
to be deliberate. You know what I think?" He let Cloud take the lead, following
passively along behind while he worked it out in his head. "I think it's all
the same guy, that renegade Shinra scientist that we can never catch. He's
creating the things and setting them loose... why, I have no idea."
"Maybe just to prove he can," Cloud suggested, shrugging. "Scientists are weird
that way. There're rumours in Nibelheim that the old Shinra mansion on the
outskirts of town was being used as a lab by a bunch of scientists, way back
before I was born. The older people still tell stories of how strange they
were."
"Maybe," Zack agreed. "Whatever the reason, I think he's gotta be behind them
all. It's the only thing that makes sense. If we don't catch up to the bastard
soon the whole damn world is going to be covered in monsters."
"I think that's inevitable at this point, anyway," Cloud replied. "There's too
many of them, we just can't kill them all and they seem to breed at a
ridiculous rate. But if we don't stop him soon it could easily reach the point
where we can't even control the problem any more."
"And since we lowly frontline troops aren't cleared to know any of this stuff
anyway, there's not a damn thing we can do about it except speculate," Zack
sighed. "C'mon, let's go find some more monsters to beat up. Thinking about
this just makes me frustrated."
They slogged through the sand for another hour or more, spiralling out away
from the camp. Every so often Cloud stopped and checked his compass, just to be
sure they were going in the direction he thought they were. At all times he
kept a mental map of which way the camp was in case they needed to return in a
hurry.
"Man, they should include walking through deep, loose sand as a training
exercise," Zack complained at one point. He hadn't yet quite mastered the trick
of walking on the sand in a way that didn't send it sliding out from under you
when you were going up or down a hill, and he'd had to cast Cure on a wrenched
ankle twice already. "This is ridiculous."
"Oh, shut up," Cloud panted, struggling up another hill. He might not be in as
much danger of twisting his ankle, but it was still hard to get up the hills
when the ground slipped away from under you. "You're not having nearly as much
trouble as I am, you bastard. You're not even breathing very hard!"
"SOLDIER stamina," Zack explained with a sympathetic shrug. Cloud saw rueful
shadows flit through the older boy's eyes, but thankfully Zack didn't start
apologizing again for Cloud missing the exams "Why aren't we all riding
chocobos, anyway? I bet they wouldn't have nearly as much trouble."
"They don't, but they don't take well to actually living out here," Cloud
explained. "We can ship in feed for them, but they tend to get sick from all
the sand within a couple of days. And we can't just keep them on the grasslands
outside because we'd need a whole unit stationed out there just to care for
them. Me, I think we should bring in snowshoes. It's the same principle as
walking on snow, isn't it?"
"You know, it just might work," Zack said, laughing. "I wonder if anyone's ever
tried it. Hey, what's that? Another monster?" He pointed towards the horizon.
"Damn big dust cloud. A whole herd of them, maybe?"
Squinting in the direction Zack indicated, Cloud tried to make out the distant
smudge on the horizon. It could have been dust kicked up by a group of large
creatures like the harpy, but it looked more like a...
"Cloud," he blurted out, and Zack gave him a funny look. Before the older boy
could say anything else, though, Cloud shook his head and clarified. "It's a
storm cloud. There's a sand storm coming. We've got to find shelter!"
"What shelter?" Zack looked at him blankly. "None of these dunes are big enough
to hide behind."
"I know! Run!" Cloud grabbed him by the hand and started running in a straight
line back towards where his compass said the camp should be. They weren't all
that far out, as straight-line distances went; if they'd been running on solid
ground he'd have said they had almost no chance of not making it back in time.
On sand, however, it was another matter altogether. They stumbled along at an
agonizingly slow rate, though Zack was clearly holding himself back to Cloud's
speed. "What's the big deal about a storm, anyway?" Zack asked as they ran. "A
little water never... well. It probably has killed some people. But not us."
"There won't be any water," Cloud gasped out. "It's just a wind storm, but it
picks up the sand and acts like sandpaper. The first unit patrolling out here
was a platoon of the sword corps, and they lost half a dozen men to the storms.
The sand can tear your clothes to shreds and then flay your skin and muscles
right off your bones."
"Urgh." Zack looked a little nervous. "Sounds like my idea of a party. How fast
do they move?"
"Fast," Cloud said grimly. Already he could feel the wind picking up around
them. It was blowing at an angle from behind them, and he had to keep a
constant eye on his compass to keep them from being driven off course. If he
looked behind him he knew he'd see the dark cloud of sand massing higher and
higher on the horizon, heading towards them at a horrific speed. Missing the
camp would be fatal; they wouldn't get a second chance.
It was hard to tell how much progress they were making, with no landmarks to
use as markers. Not enough, was all Cloud knew. The wind was getting stronger
with each passing moment, and already he could feel the sting of the sand as it
hit his sunburned skin. It wasn't getting through his clothes yet, but the main
body of the storm wasn't upon them.
They weren't going to make it, he realized in despair. "Go!" he shouted over
the noise of the wind, releasing Zack's hand and shoving at his shoulder. "You
can run faster than I can, get the hell out of here!"
"Are you nuts?" Zack grabbed for his hand again. "I'm not going anywhere
without you, so get your ass moving!"
"You stupid, stubborn idiot!" Cloud cried, trying to shake his hand loose even
as he struggled to run faster. "There's no reason for both of us to die out
here!"
"I told you once, and I'll keep repeating it until I drive it into that thick
skull of yours!" Zack called back, refusing to let go. "I will never leave you
behind!"
There was no arguing with that, so Cloud saved his breath for running. The
leading edge of the storm was just behind them now; he could hear the deadly
hiss of the sand as it rushed through the air and scoured its way over the
dunes. He'd been through one storm already, safe in the bunker in camp, and
even with the reinforced walls he'd been able to hear it there. Up close and in
the opening, it was deafening.
Heart pounding, Cloud stumbled at the crest of a dune and nearly pulled them
both down into the sand. He kept his feet by some miracle, forcing his burning
muscles to keep going. The full force of the wind finally struck them, and he
couldn't keep from crying out as the sand drove into them with all the force of
a thousand bullets.
Shielding his face with his sleeve, Cloud followed blindly along in Zack's
wake. The only thing that saved his eyes was the goggles of his helmet, but the
sand in the air was so thick it was like a brown blizzard. He couldn't even see
Zack now, only knew where the other boy was by the touch of his hand.
Then suddenly that touch was gone, sliding away with the faint sound of a
startled yelp from Zack. The older boy had been holding onto him loosely,
perhaps still afraid of hurting Cloud by hanging on too tight. Panicked, Cloud
lunged after him even though he'd been urging Zack to let go just a moment
before.
As a result he ended up horribly off balance when the sand beneath his foot
slid away and there was nothing beneath it. With a yelp of his own Cloud went
tumbling over the unexpected precipice, hands snatching at the steep slope to
try to slow his descent.
The bottom came as suddenly as the edge had, and Cloud struck it back first.
All the air went out of his lungs at the impact, and he could feel the ache all
the way through his body. His whole back was going to be black and blue.
Assuming he survived the storm, of course. But, oddly, though he could still
hear the howl of the wind and the hissing of the sand, he couldn't feel it any
more. Wondering if his skin had been flayed away to the point where his nerves
were gone, Cloud stared upwards and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
Several dozen feet above him the storm raged, a deadly roof of shifting brown.
Sand drifted down, falling on him like gentle snow, and coating the steep rocky
walls of the ravine he seemed to have fallen into.
Coughing as his breath came back to him, he forced himself to sit up. The fall
had saved their lives, taking them out of the path of the storm, but he still
wasn't sure exactly what had happened. There weren't any ravines in the desert,
just endless miles of sand dunes with quicksand at the edges and the Gold
Saucer in the middle.
"Zack?" he croaked, triggering his Restore materia to deal with the worst of
his injuries. "Zack? Where are you?" Surely his friend must have fallen as
well.
"Here," came a groan, and something stirred to Cloud's left. The storm left
everything in a dim sort of twilight, and the shadows were thick at the bottom
of the gorge. "Shit, I was not expecting that. You okay?"
"Yeah," Cloud assured him, tugging his scarf off and shaking the sand from it.
His uniform was worn thin on the back and side that had been facing the wind,
and he could feel the burn of similar scouring on the skin of his neck despite
the Cure spell. He was so covered in fine sand that his blue uniform looked
brown, but he was alive.
"Now what?" Zack asked, crawling over to Cloud and leaning against the wall to
sit beside him. There was only about three feet between one side of the ravine
and the other down at the bottom, though it was considerably wider at the top.
"Where are we, anyway?"
"Wait for the storm to pass and then climb out, I guess," Cloud said, shifting
to press against him from shoulder to hip. The contact made him feel better, a
reaffirmation that they had both survived. "I have no idea where we are,
though," he confessed, bewildered. "There aren't any ravines near the camp, and
unless I was completely turned around we shouldn't be that far away from the
tower. I don't understand why this isn't on the map."
"Huh, yeah, that is weird," Zack said. "It's a pretty big geological feature,
you'd think they'd have at least spotted it by air. Well, we're going to be
down here a while, do you want to explore?"
"We probably should," Cloud agreed, sighing and scrambling back to his feet.
"Figure out where it goes, if anywhere, and make a report to the captain once
we get back to camp. They'll be surprised to see us after that storm."
"No kidding. All right, you go left and I'll go right, and we'll meet back
here," Zack stood and slashed at the rock with his sword, gouging a clear mark
in it, "in fifteen minutes. Sound good?"
In all honesty Cloud would have preferred to stick together, but there wasn't
much point. There wasn't enough room for them to walk abreast, and what was the
point of one trailing after the other? They could cover twice as much ground
this way. "Sounds good," Cloud affirmed, and turned to walk in the indicated
direction.
Sand trickled off him in little puffs of dust as he moved, falling to join more
just like it underfoot. Cloud figured the ravine probably went down even
further, but the sand that fell into it was slowly filling it up. It made
walking easier, at least; he only had to deal with the shifting sand, not rocky
and uneven ground.
He moved cautiously, keeping his ears open and straining to hear the warning
signs of monsters over the howl of the wind above. Maybe there weren't any down
here, but he'd rather assume there were and be proved wrong. After all, they
had to have somewhere to hide from the sandstorm, too. In fact, it should have
occurred to them before this that there had to be somewhere for the monsters to
take shelter. Not all of them had hides tough enough to survive up there.
The rock walls gradually grew further apart, until he couldn't touch them both
at the same time. Then further still, until it was like walking down a broad
corridor of sand and stone. The ravine twisted and turned, and he paused at
each corner to listen hard before proceeding.
That was the only thing that kept him from walking straight into trouble. A
lull in the storm allowed him to overhear the sound of voices; human voices.
"...almost finished here," one man was saying. Cloud didn't recognize the
voice. "And Shinra is getting too close again. You can't distract them forever,
sooner or later one of the little idiots will stumble over this place. I'll be
gone by tomorrow."
The reply was too soft for Cloud to make out. He pressed himself against the
rock and listened hard, eyes wide. Unless he was mistaken, the man speaking
might well be the very rogue scientist they'd been hunting all this time!
"Is that enough of the storm, do you think?" the first man spoke again. His
voice was getting closer, and Cloud tensed, ready to run if he had to. "I don't
want to do too much damage to my creations."
This time they were close enough for Cloud to hear the reply, though thankfully
they stopped moving again. "If he's not dead by now, it's only because he made
it back to the camp in time. I doubt it, though. Thanks for your help on that,
by the way. If I can't take that damn SOLDIER out of commission directly, at
least I can debilitate him by getting rid of his little boytoy."
Everything seemed to freeze for a moment for Cloud, as if he'd been hit by a
Stop spell. The stunning realization that they were talking about him, that the
sandstorm had somehow been created specifically to kill him, was unbelievable.
And there was only one SOLDIER they could be talking about
But why would they want Zack out of commission? He was just one lone SOLDIER
2nd Class, and he hadn't even been that for very long. He'd only just arrived,
and from the sounds of it the two men didn't realize he'd been out on the
patrol with Cloud. Why was he a threat to them?
Then again, Zack was the sort of person who refused to leave a mystery alone
until he'd solved it. He'd been picking away at the issue of the rogue
scientist since they'd first encountered the bastard in Mideel. Maybe he was
getting too close to something, and the inside informant they knew had to exist
was getting nervous.
Which meant that if the first man was the scientist, then the second man had to
be the mole. Time started moving again, and Cloud remembered to breathe. He
stifled his gasp with his hand, his heart pounding in triple time.
The two men were still talking. "It was the least I could do, for all the help
you've given me," the scientist was saying. "After all, it's in my own best
interests to keep you from being discovered. Without your assistance I'd never
have been able to keep out of Shinra's clutches."
"I should go," the informant said. "I can't be away from my duty too long,
people will get suspicious. Write me when you get to your next location, you've
got the new codebook."
There was the sound of heavy boots on metal; the man was climbing a ladder,
Cloud realized after a moment. Once he was gone they would have no way of
finding him again, and he would be able to keep passing information to the
scientist. Cloud had no illusions about his chances if he attacked them
directly at that moment, but at least he could find out who the informant was.
Crouching so his head wouldn't be at eye level, Cloud peered cautiously around
the corner. He'd seen the pictures of the rogue scientist that had been
circulated among the army, and the man in a lab coat walking away from him now
definitely resembled the photograph. The informant was nearly at the top of the
ravine; unfortunately Cloud couldn't see his face, just his dark hair and
uniform. And they'd never come close enough for Cloud to be able to positively
identify him by the sound of his voice.
Cursing mentally, Cloud hastily withdrew again. At least he could confirm that
the informant was definitely a SOLDIER 1st Class, and there weren't all that
many of them. Sephiroth could handle the rest.
Of course, if he hurried, he might be able to tell Zack what had happened in
time for the older boy to chase after the informant. The man had to have come
in by chocobo; they'd have seen an airship from the camp, considering how close
this ravine had to be. They'd been sitting right on top of their enemy the
whole time, and they'd had no idea he was there.
Turning, Cloud headed back the way he'd come. He moved quietly at first, not
wanting to attract the scientist's attention, but as soon as he was certain
he'd gotten out of hearing range he broke into a run.
The sand was packed down hard enough here that he was able to run with a bit
more speed. Overhead the storm had died out, as suddenly as it had begun, and
now he was able to hear the sounds of his own footfalls and laboured breathing.
He hadn't come all that far before encountering the two men, so hopefully he'd
be able to catch up with Zack quickly enough. With an effort, he put on an
extra bit of speed.
As a result, he ran directly into the dark figure that dropped straight down
into the ravine ahead of him. With a pained grunt Cloud rebounded and landed on
his ass.
Looking up and expecting to find a monster, he was relieved to see a familiar
face instead. "Captain Marek!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet again. The
others must have come out looking for his remains after the storm abated, and
finally stumbled over this ravine. "Back that way, hurry, the informant was
here and if you run you can catch him and find out who he is! I'll tell the
others about the scientist, he's leaving tomorrow but we should be able to
catch him by surprise and erk..."
His frantic babbling was cut off abruptly when the captain's arm shot out in a
movement too fast to follow and grabbed him by the neck. Just as Sephiroth had
that day in boot camp, he lifted Cloud right off his feet as if the boy weighed
nothing.
Struggling for air, clutching at the captain's hand with his in a futile
attempt to pry it loose, Cloud couldn't speak. His eyes asked the question for
him, shocked and confused.
"I thought I heard someone else out here," the captain said softly. "Didn't
your mother ever tell you nothing good ever comes of eavesdropping?"
***** Chapter 25 *****
Choking, Cloud kicked out in the hopes of hitting the captain and maybe getting
some leverage. The SOLDIER was faster than he was, though, and evaded the
pitiful attacks with ease. Black spots were starting to gather at the edges of
Cloud's vision, and he tried not to panic. Somehow, he didn't think Marek was
going to let him go once he'd passed out.
There was only one possible explanation for this; Captain Marek was the inside
informant Shinra had been searching for. Cloud couldn't imagine how that was
possible, but he also didn't have time to worry about it at the moment. Not if
he wanted to survive long enough to tell someone what he'd discovered.
He doesn't know Zack is out there, Cloud reminded himself. We can't be that far
from the meeting point. If I can just get enough air to yell, or make some
noise somehow...
A stray beam of sunlight, trickling down into the ravine now that the storm was
over, flashed off his bracer and made his materia glow for a moment. Cloud
hadn't even consciously registered the light before his mind was already
reaching out, searching for the familiar energy of the spells. He knew he
didn't have enough power to seriously injure or even deter the captain, but he
might be able to get himself loose.
Somehow he managed to croak out the words to the Fire 1 spell on the whisper of
his last bit of air. Marek's eyes widened, but it was too late for him to cast
MBarrier or Reflect on himself. The Fire spell hit him right where Cloud had
intended it to; not in the face, which Marek was already moving to try to
dodge, but focused on the wrist of the hand that was holding Cloud by the
throat.
With a curse Marek let go and Cloud fell to the ground, coughing and gasping
for air. He didn't stay still, already rolling back out of range of a kick or
punch before Marek could recover. One good blow from the SOLDIER and Cloud
would be finished, he knew. He couldn't afford to let him get that shot.
He had one advantage. In the narrow ravine the massive buster swords the
SOLDIERs carried would be all but useless. There just wasn't any room to swing
it. Cloud, on the other hand, could use his much smaller sword to fairly good
effect if he was careful not to jam it on the rock. That left only two ways
Marek could damage him from outside his reach; magic, and items.
There wasn't much he could do to protect himself against items except hope
Marek wasn't carrying any, but he could do something about the threat of magic.
Scrambling to his feet, Cloud ignored his aching throat and used every last bit
of magical energy he had remaining to cast Reflect. It was a gamble; it meant
he wouldn't be able to cast any healing spells, and if Marek had Dispel
available then Cloud was screwed.
From the sound of the captain's curse as he saw the spell form around Cloud,
though, it seemed he was in luck. Having caught his breath as much as he was
able to past the bruising in his throat, Cloud drew his sword and charged the
SOLDIER with a hoarse yell.
The narrow confines kept Marek from being able to dodge effectively, so he did
the next best thing. Instead of tripping himself up trying to avoid the blow,
he chose where to take it and allowed Cloud to make the hit. That wasn't what
Cloud had been expecting, and he wasn't able to compensate for the movement
quickly enough. The blade entered Marek's side just below the ribs in a non-
vital area, and jammed briefly in the man's body.
Before Cloud could yank it loose, the captain closed one gloved fist over the
base of the blade and wrenched it out of Cloud's hand and free of his body with
the same motion. Cloud was stunned that the man could just casually rip a sword
out of himself in one bloody spray. He'd known that the SOLDIERs 1st Class had
a ridiculous ability to take damage and keep going as though nothing was wrong,
but this was the first time he'd seen it demonstrated quite so blatantly.
Distracted, he didn't see the blow coming until it was too late. Marek's free
hand caught him in the shoulder and shoved, sending Cloud flying back to impact
hard against the ravine wall. Once again Cloud had the wind knocked out of him,
and this time he couldn't get it back because of the bruising that almost
closed off his throat. Wheezing, he slid to the ground and collapsed to his
hands and knees, struggling for air.
"Pathetic." Marek took his time walking up to Cloud. The boy forced himself
into a defensive crouch despite his difficulty in breathing. He refused to just
lie there and let Marek kill him without a fight, no matter what.
"Absolutely disgusting," Marek said again, stopping just out of reach and
studying Cloud with a look of contempt on his face. "The standards for the
Shinra army have fallen so low, I'm almost ashamed to call myself a SOLDIER.
First that brat making it to the Specials before he'd even been a SOLDIER for a
year, and then you being brought in to omega company. It's a joke, that's what
it is. Neither of you would have lasted a week in the Wutai jungles." He
sneered. "All because Zack is the general's golden boy. I thought Sephiroth was
above being bribed or sucked up to like that, but I guess he's just got a thing
for little boys."
It was exactly the same thing Cloud had always been most afraid of; that he
hadn't really done anything to deserve the promotion to omega, that it had all
been a mistake of some kind. That people wouldn't respect him, or believe he
could have made it this far on his own merits. Fear and doubts rose up and
threatened to choke him more surely than any injury ever could.
Even so, it wasn't hard to find an answer for Marek. "The only person bringing
down the standards of SOLDIER is you," Cloud choked out, glaring fiercely at
the man. He might have doubts about his own worthiness, but there was not a
thought in his mind that Zack didn't deserve everything he'd earned. "You
backstabbing asshole, we trusted you! You're our captain, you're a SOLDIER 1st
Class, how could you sell us out?"
"There was a time when being a SOLDIER meant something, and if I have my way it
will again." There was an unholy light in Marek's eyes as he lifted Cloud's
sword in one hand and aimed it at the boy's heart. "People all over the world
will be counting on us to protect them from the monsters. And there's no room
for useless wastes of space like you!"
He thrust forward almost faster than Cloud could see, and despite himself Cloud
closed his eyes on a wave of fear. He threw himself desperately to his right,
knowing there was no way he could avoid the blade entirely but hoping he could
at least cause Marek to miss his heart.
There was a fierce yell and the sound of a heavy impact, and Cloud felt a line
of fire spread across his bicep at the edge of his shoulder armour. He hit the
ground and rolled without thinking, feeling more stinging impacts as stone
chips flew everywhere. It took him a moment to figure out what had happened,
but when he staggered back to his feet he found that Marek had been slammed
into the rock wall hard enough to make a depression. The captain looked dazed,
struggling to turn and confront the new threat with Cloud's sword still in his
hand.
And standing in front of him, eyes blazing with mako-enhanced fury and fists
clenched, was Zack. "You son of a bitch!" the older boy yelled, swinging at the
captain again and landing a solid hit to the man's face. "Don't you dare lay a
finger on him. You traitor, I'll tear you apart!"
"You!" Captain Marek stared in shock. "You're supposed to be in Midgar for
training!"
"First Lieutenant Zack reporting for duty, sir," Zack snarled, sketching a
mocking salute with one closed fist. "Let me show you just how much I've
improved."
He punched again at the captain, but the man had recovered enough to dodge.
Marek evaded Zack's strike and lashed out with the sword catching Zack low on
the side. It was a minor wound, and Zack didn't even pay attention to it.
Cloud watched with a sense of awe as the two SOLDIERs continued to trade blows,
moving at a speed that would have required a Haste spell for anyone else. They
both ignored wounds that would have dropped Cloud where he stood, and the level
of the magic that flashed back and forth between them made the hair on Cloud's
body stand on end.
Searching for a way to help Zack, Cloud clung to the rock wall and mostly tried
to stay out of the way. He had no hope in a battle of this level and he knew
it, but he couldn't just stand around and do nothing like a damsel in distress.
He was supposed to be watching Zack's back.
Especially since Zack was losing. Marek had the advantage; he was 1st Class to
Zack's 2nd, had years of experience, and most tellingly he was armed. Zack
hadn't even bothered to try bringing his buster sword into play, realizing how
useless it would be in the narrow confines of the ravine. Marek had no such
problem, and it was Cloud's own sword he was using to hurt Zack.
Then Zack turned too fast and the massive sword strapped to his back got jammed
into a tight spot, leaving him pinned for a critical moment. With a shout of
triumph Marek drove the sword through the older boy's chest and right out his
back. Zack managed to twist enough in his sword harness that it missed his
heart, but he was choking up thick blood from where the sword had gone through
his lung.
Cloud screamed an anguished denial as Marek wrenched the sword out and thrust
again, trying to finish Zack off. Somehow the older boy managed to pull off a
miracle and tore himself free of the sword harness, leaving it behind as he
ducked and rolled out of the way. He came to his feet, his breathing making a
horrible bubbling sound in his chest, but obviously far from out of the fight.
Lunging after him, Marek slashed again and was drawn further into the ravine
when Zack backed off. They were almost back to the mark Zack had made in the
wall; Cloud could see it ahead.
Still struggling for air, Cloud ran after them. Marek was between him and Zack
now and there wasn't a lot of room to manoeuvre. Maybe he could jump on the
man's back while he was occupied by Zack. Cloud wouldn't be able to do much
damage without a weapon, but if he could just distract Marek long enough for
Zack to get a good shot in...
He passed the buster sword where it was still hung up on the wall, and some
instinct made him pause. Looking at it, Cloud's eyes lit with a fiery
determination that was almost a match for the SOLDIERs' mako glow.
Reaching out, he grabbed the sword by the hilt with both hands, planted one
foot on the rock beside it, and heaved with all his strength. It took three
tries, but he finally managed to get it loose from the rock. Of course the
effort of it sent him tumbling head over ass when it did finally come out, and
the heavy sword landed on him hard enough to leave him aching and bruised. He
was just lucky it was the flat of the blade that hit him and not the edge.
Neither of the two combatants seemed to have noticed what he was doing. Marek
had blood dripping down over one eye from a nasty cut; Cloud realized why when
he saw the jagged bit of rock Zack had broken off to use as a weapon. It was
slowing Marek down, but not enough. He was still going to win the fight unless
Cloud did something to turn the tide.
Staggering to his feet, Cloud got both hands on the hilt and tried to lift the
sword. His eyes widened as he was barely able to drag the hilt up off the
ground, let alone raise the whole sword. He'd never handled one of the buster
swords before. The easy way the SOLDIERs swung them around made it seem like
they couldn't be as heavy as they looked, even though Cloud still remembered
Zack dragging one along during the fight in Mideel. Now he knew why.
There was no way he could lift the sword and bring it crashing down on Marek's
head or shoulders, which had been his first thought. And even assuming he could
lift it high enough to drive it through Marek's back, there was nothing that
said it wouldn't go too far and hit Zack as well.
Grunting with the effort, Cloud dragged the sword after him as he moved down
the ravine towards Zack and Marek. His injured arm burned with the strain and
threatened to give out on him, but he hung on. They'd passed the mark on the
wall now, and Cloud could see that the ravine was continuing to slowly narrow
as they went. Pretty soon Zack would be boxed in and unable to move, if he
continued giving ground.
So it was just that much more urgent that Cloud get his ass in gear. He did his
best to move quietly; if Marek realized he was there, he would only have to
turn and one quick swipe of the sword would finish Cloud. Zack might be able to
overpower him in that moment of distraction, but Cloud was kind of hoping to
come out of this fight alive if he could. If it came to that he'd die
willingly, knowing he'd helped save his friend, but if he played this right he
wouldn't have to.
Zack didn't betray him by so much as a flicker of his eyes over Marek's
shoulder, but Cloud knew his friend had seen what he was doing when Zack
started dodging with purpose. He was keeping Marek facing straight ahead as
much as possible now, so the captain wouldn't see Cloud coming. It meant Zack's
range of movement was restricted and he started taking more and worse hits, but
if he could keep it up for just a few more moments, then Cloud could make his
move.
Assuming he could get the damn sword off the ground. Grimly determined, he
clenched his hands on the hilt and heaved with all his might, bringing the
heavy sword up and around in an arc from the ground to about knee level. That
was enough; the blade cut across Marek's calves and the backs of his knees,
severing muscles and tendons and making him cry out in shock and pain.
As Cloud had hoped, it worked as a distraction. Marek stumbled and swore, then
hastily cast a high-level Cure spell. In the moment when he was engaged in the
spellcasting, Zack shouted wordlessly and drove the jagged rock into the
captain's temple with all his enhanced strength.
It made a sound like a fallen melon bursting open on impact. Cloud gagged at
the sound of it, and Marek collapsed with the last word of the Cure spell still
on his lips. The green magic that had gathered around him turned into blue
sparkles that sealed most of the visible wounds on his body. If he was dead it
wouldn't help, but if there was even a last gasp of life in him it might be
enough to bring him right back into the fight.
Both Cloud and Zack held their breath, waiting to see if the man would move.
After a long moment when nothing happened, Zack sighed in relief and sagged
against the wall. "He's dead," the older boy croaked with a bloody grin in
Cloud's direction. "We did it. Fucking Shiva, Cloud, we just beat one of the
SOLDIERs who served with Sephiroth in Wutai, do you realize that?" Triumph and
pride glittered in the older boy's glowing eyes.
"He was... he was..." Cloud's voice was as hoarse as a chocobo's cry, forced
past the bruising of his throat. "How could he?" he finally settled on. The
question encompassed everything about this whole mess that didn't make any
sense to him. How could Marek, so favoured among his troops as a fair and
generous captain, have turned out to be the traitor? How could he have
deliberately tried to kill Cloud and Zack, just because he thought they didn't
deserve the positions they'd been promoted to? How could he work with this
scientist, spreading horrible monsters all around the world just so the
SOLDIERs would have something that would let them look good killing it?
"I don't know." The gleeful light in Zack's eyes faded as the reality of the
situation struck him as well. "I don't know, Cloud. It doesn't make sense to me
either. When I saw him skewer you like that, I couldn't believe it. I heard the
last part of what he said to you. It must have been growing inside him for a
long time. Maybe since Wutai; a lot of the troops that served in the war ended
up suffering disorders from the trauma later, going crazy. I guess he just hid
his issues better than most."
"Now what?" Cloud wanted to know. He felt lost and adrift, with no idea of how
to proceed from here. The scientist was still out there somewhere, assuming he
hadn't heard the fighting and fled. Colin and Sean were still back at camp, or
maybe out searching for some sign of Cloud after the storm. Had they known what
was going on? Surely not. They needed to radio back to base for help... and to
report that they'd just killed their commanding officer. "We're going to be
facing a court martial!" Cloud realized with a groan.
"Shit, yeah, probably," Zack agreed, dismayed. "Ah, Hades. Well, catching that
scientist would do a hell of a lot for our credibility, so let's get moving. We
can't go after him in this state; we'll take Marek back to the camp and get
Sean and Colin, and radio for backup at the same time."
A quick search of the captain's body revealed a couple of potions and hi-
potions that both Cloud and Zack gratefully drank. Neither of them had enough
energy left for a Cure spell. It didn't fix them completely, especially not
Zack, but it was enough that Cloud could be confident they would actually make
it back to camp.
Getting Marek's body up out of the ravine was the toughest part; after that,
Cloud was shocked to realize just how close to camp they really were. The tower
of Gold Saucer loomed up over them to one side, glimpsed occasionally between
drifts of airborne sand. "We must be right outside the limit of the perimeter
patrols!" Cloud exclaimed, staring at the landmark. "Why didn't we ever find
this place?"
"Do all the patrols work in spirals?" Zack asked, and Cloud nodded. "And they
all start from the same side of camp?"
"No, every other patrol starts from the opposite side, and they go in the other
direction," Cloud said, struggling to picture it in his head. He'd always taken
it for granted that the patrol pattern was set up to cover the whole area, but
if the captain was the traitor then that wasn't a safe assumption. "That leaves
a big blind spot on one side of the camp, doesn't it?" he asked slowly. "That
must be where we are. None of us ever realized." Shaking his head, he pointed.
"The camp must be that way."
Zack slung the captain's body over his shoulders, and they slogged through the
sand towards the camp. They didn't have to go very far before Cloud could see
the tents in the distance, and he cursed softly to himself. He couldn't believe
they'd all been so gullible.
When they staggered into camp with the captain's body Sean and Colin
immediately assumed the worst. "Are we under attack?" Sean blurted out, eyes
wide and face pale as he stared at Zack with Marek slung over his shoulder. "Is
the captain okay?"
Cringing, Cloud opened his mouth to explain and await the inevitable questions
and accusations, but Zack beat him to it. "We found the rogue scientist," Zack
explained tersely. "The informant was there with him and we were attacked.
Captain Marek is dead, so I'm in command. The scientist may still be out there
- you two come with me. Cloud, find the medical supplies, take care of yourself
and then get ready for potential casualties. I'll radio Midgar while you two
are gearing up."
"Yes sir!" the others chorused, and Cloud had to admire the older boy's quick
thinking. Nothing Zack had said was a lie, but he'd deftly led the other two
troops to believe that it had been the informant who killed the captain. The
truth would come out eventually, but for now it was more important that they go
after the scientist quickly.
By the time Cloud found the medical supplies in the captain's tent, Zack had
finished reporting in by radio. The older boy found him in the tent and stepped
inside, dropping the flap behind him to give them a moment of privacy. "We're
in luck," he said quietly. "Or maybe out of luck, depending on how you look at
it. Sephiroth was out with a unit of the Specials trying again to track the
scientist, and I guess they were getting close because they're not very far
out. I'm still going to take the others into the ravine, we don't want the
sight of the chopper to scare the bastard off if he's still out there, but they
should be here before we get back."
"Oh, yay," Cloud sighed, picturing himself facing General Sephiroth alone and
trying to explain why exactly there was a dead SOLDIER 1st Class that Zack and
Cloud were responsible for.
"You'll be okay." Zack tugged him into a quick, fierce hug, forgetting for a
moment not to treat the younger boy like glass. "Sephiroth's a good commander,
remember? He'll listen, and he'll believe us."
"Captain Marek was a good commander too, or so everybody thought," Cloud
pointed out, his words muffled in Zack's tunic. He hugged back just as tightly,
reaction setting in as the adrenalin from the fight wore off. "Here," he said
when they finally pulled away, handing Zack a satchel full of ethers and hi-
potions. "Take these, you might need them. He's probably got monsters guarding
him. Be careful."
"I will. All right!" Zack raised his voice as he pushed the tent flap open
again and strode out into the bright desert sunlight. "Let's get moving! I want
this guy dead or our prisoner sooner rather than later. The general is on his
way; I think it'd look pretty impressive if we can present him with the guy
we've all spent so long searching for."
"Yes, sir!" Colin and Sean saluted, sounding enthusiastic at the prospect, and
Cloud couldn't blame them. This was the sort of thing that could make your
career. Assuming you hadn't killed your CO in the process, of course.
"Corporal, you stay here and meet the general," Zack gave him the official
order. "You know where we'll be if he lands before we get back and wants to
send reinforcements."
"Yes, sir," Cloud saluted as well, biting back the fear that was trying to rise
inside him. If Sephiroth didn't believe them, they could be in a world of
trouble. At least it wasn't a case of their word against Marek's, since the
captain couldn't exactly defend himself.
There was nothing Cloud could do but watch as Zack led the others back towards
the ravine at a trot, swords and rifles held ready. Marek's body was in his
tent; it had seemed a bit much to leave him just lying out in the brutal
sunlight. Once the dust trail from Zack's group had faded out of sight, Cloud
went to pace in nervous circles as he waited for the general.
At least he didn't have to wait very long. Not fifteen minutes later he heard
the sound of rotor blades, and when he shaded his eyes with his hand he could
see an incoming Shinra helicopter flying low over the desert sand. It was
coming in from the wrong approach to pass over the ravine - just as every other
Shinra chopper or airship did, Cloud realized. Yes, Marek and the scientist had
set this up perfectly. What better place to hide than right under Shinra's
noses?
By the time the chopper set down on the flattened area that served as a landing
zone, Cloud was waiting at the edges. General Sephiroth was the first to step
out, and Cloud snapped to attention and saluted.
"As you were, corporal," Sephiroth instructed him. A moment later he smiled
faintly. "And may I say it's nice to actually be able to give you that order in
the field. I'm glad to see you in one piece, for a change."
"Yes, sir," Cloud nodded. He couldn't figure out what to do with his hands, so
he went to parade rest even though he hadn't been ordered to. "Z... Lieutenant
Zack asked me to stay behind and meet you, sir. He's still out with the others
chasing down the rogue scientist - at least, we believe it's him, he matches
the pictures..." Realizing he was babbling, Cloud bit down on his lip and cut
himself off. He really, really needed to break the habit of babbling under
stress.
Nodding, Sephiroth gestured to the SOLDIERs who'd climbed out of the chopper
behind him. "Zeke, Brian, and Austin set up a perimeter guard. Jeremy, take the
others out and track them. They may need reinforcements."
"Yes, sir!" The SOLDIERs snapped a salute in unison, then broke up to go to
their assigned tasks. Cloud watched with a sense of relief as the small group
of SOLDIERs headed out after getting directions from him. He'd been worried
about Zack and the others.
"Now, corporal," Sephiroth caught his attention once more, raising an eyebrow.
"I want to see Marek's body, and I want the full story in your own words. The
lieutenant was not terribly forthcoming over the radio, which may be just as
well. The details are undoubtedly going to be classified."
Despite himself, Cloud's mouth twitched. "I'm sure Lieutenant Zack will be
happy to hear that, sir."
Sephiroth chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure he will. Lead the way, corporal."
Once inside the captain's tent, Cloud related the whole story from the moment
the sandstorm hit to their return to the camp, while Sephiroth studied Marek's
body. By the time he was finished Cloud was a nervous wreck, hanging on to his
dignity by clinging to military protocol and absolutely certain there was no
way anyone was going to believe them. Sephiroth's silence throughout the report
hadn't exactly bolstered his confidence, and the cool look he was giving Cloud
now wasn't helping either.
"It's quite the story," Sephiroth said quietly when he was sure Cloud was done.
"I hope for your sake they do return with the good doctor or some other
evidence. Marek was a good man and a good SOLDIER, he's been in the Specials
for years. A military tribunal will find it difficult to believe he would be
the one to turn on us."
Swallowing, Cloud forced himself to speak up. "With respect sir, is there
anyone in the Specials that you would easily believe could have been an
informant? You already knew it almost had to be one of them, didn't you?"
"Point taken, corporal," Sephiroth inclined his head. He still wasn't showing
any sign of whether he personally believed Cloud or not, but at least he wasn't
openly condemning them.
There was a shout from outside the tent, and Sephiroth shoved back the flap and
strode out to meet the returning patrol. Lacking any orders to the contrary,
Cloud decided to follow him. He was desperate to know what they'd found in the
ravine.
At first he thought the scientist had escaped them after all, as he saw nothing
but a wall of SOLDIERs. Then the group split to reveal Zack, Colin and Sean in
the middle, somewhat the worse for wear but leading a man gagged and bound
tightly in rope.
"Dr. Lins," Sephiroth said as the group came to a halt before him. "I'd say
it's good to see you again, but I doubt you'd believe me even under better
circumstances." Once again Cloud was forced to wonder about the apparent enmity
between the general and Shinra's scientists. Was it only them, or did Sephiroth
dislike all scientists?
"Take him to the chopper," Sephiroth ordered one of the SOLDIERs. "We'll be
bringing him back to Midgar for trial. Jeremy, Brian, you'll be staying here
with the omega troops. Continue the regular patrols and gather any evidence
that can be used against the good doctor. Lieutenant Zack, Corporal Cloud, you
will be returning with us for the trial as well."
"Yes sir," Zack and Cloud chorused. Cloud felt like his heart was in his
throat, and it was all he could do not to be sick. So capturing the scientist
wasn't enough to acquit them. Lins wouldn't exactly be happy with the two of
them for being so instrumental in his capture; what if he decided to take
revenge by implicating Cloud and Zack as his informants and claim they'd killed
Captain Marek when he discovered them? It wouldn't explain why they'd come
straight back to camp to report in, but it would cast suspicion on both of them
that could be the end of their careers.
Perhaps - no, almost certainly - reading Cloud's worries in his eyes, the
general unbent enough to nod at them. "Once you've testified in the trial
against the doctor and Captain Marek, I'll see to it you have a few days of
leave to recover," Sephiroth said. "Gather your things, the helicopter will be
leaving in fifteen minutes."
The release of worry was so intense Cloud was almost amazed his legs were still
holding him up. "Yes, sir!" he said again, and turned and all but fled back to
his tent.
Once inside, he stood staring at the cot he'd been sleeping in for weeks,
trying to get his mind to start working again. He thought he might be in shock;
nothing was connecting in his brain.
Strong arms slid around him from behind, and Zack tugged him back to lean
against the older boy's chest. "It's okay," Zack said when Cloud automatically
started to protest. "The SOLDIERs are all busy, and the troops are too shocked
by everything to bother us. It's all right, Cloud. Relax, it's over."
"The trial," Cloud gasped, finding his voice again. "Hades, I thought he meant
we were still going to have to stand trial for Marek's death."
"Yeah, me too," Zack confessed, and Cloud was somewhat gratified to hear that
his voice was shaking nearly as much as Cloud's. "Sounds like we're just
witnesses, though. And we're getting leave, did you hear?"
Turning in his arms, Cloud rested his head against Zack's shoulder and just
breathed in the familiar scent of his friend. It was somewhat masked by the
smells of blood and sweat and mako, but those were familiar too. "Something
will happen," he predicted in a feeble attempt at a joke. "The universe doesn't
like it when we get leave at the same time in the same place, haven't you
noticed?"
"Maybe," Zack shrugged, resting his cheek against Cloud's hair. "Doesn't
matter. Leave or not, we'll still be together and that's the only thing that
counts. They can't keep us apart for long." Cloud could hear the smile in his
voice as he added, "Wouldn't have been so bad taking the fall for Marek's
death, as long as they'd put us in a cell together. At least it would have
meant we wouldn't keep getting posted to different places!"
"You're an idiot," Cloud told him gruffly, trying to keep his own reluctant
smile hidden.
"Yeah, but you like me that way. Right?" Zack pulled back and grinned down at
him, then kissed him quickly when Cloud just rolled his eyes. "C'mon, you heard
the general. My stuff's mostly still in my bag, but you need to pack."
He turned and tugged Cloud towards his cot, and Cloud followed him willingly.
They had a lot to face before this mess would be over, and he had no illusions
that their lives would ever be simple, but still he couldn't help but feel that
things were right with the world. Here he was, at Zack's back as they narrowly
wormed their way out of trouble once again...
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
***** Chapter 26 *****
It didn't turn out to be quite as simple as Sephiroth had implied. Cloud had to
fight his airsickness the whole way back to Midgar, of course, desperately not
wanting to embarrass himself in front of Sephiroth. As soon as they touched
down in Midgar they found themselves hustled away by the Turks who were waiting
for them there. When Cloud tried to ask Zack what was going on, the Turk who
had him by the arm shook him and ordered him to be quiet.
Frightened again, Cloud swallowed and fell silent. Looking around he could see
that the highest concentration of Turks was around Dr. Lins, and that Sephiroth
didn't look terribly happy about it. The Turks weren't under Sephiroth's
control, though, so there wasn't much the general could do about it.
They took him to what was unmistakably a cell, somewhere high up in the Shinra
tower. There were two bunks in it, but when they closed the door behind him he
was alone in the room.
For a long moment Cloud just stood there in the dimly lit room, his heart
pounding as he listened to the muffled noises coming through the door. He could
hear more doors slamming shut, and low voices as either the Turks or the Shinra
guards took up their stations outside.
"Cloud?" a familiar voice called, sounding like it came from the right. "Cloud,
you there? Are you okay?"
"Zack!" he exclaimed, and all but threw himself against the door. It was solid,
no way to see out into the corridor, but apparently it wasn't thick enough to
keep them from hearing each other. "I'm okay, but what's..."
"No talking!" a harsh voice barked, and something slammed against Cloud's door.
He jumped back, startled, and the guard moved away again.
There was no question that they were being treated as prisoners. Whatever
Sephiroth had said in his report back to Shinra, it had caused them to decide
to put Zack and Cloud on trial after all. Sometimes, being in the army, it was
easy to forget that Sephiroth wasn't actually the final authority in these
matters. Their only hope now was if Dr. Lins didn't attempt to implicate them
in revenge, or better yet if the scientist admitted the truth about Marek.
Sweating with fear and trying not to shake, Cloud stretched out on one of the
hard bunks and stared up at the ceiling. It was still only about mid-day or
early afternoon back in the desert, but it had been late night in Midgar when
they'd landed. After everything that had happened that day Cloud was exhausted,
but he was also too keyed up to sleep.
What was going to happen to them now? It was going to be their word against,
well, everyone else's. Everyone who would testify that Marek had been a good
captain, well liked and respected among the troops and SOLDIERs alike. Everyone
who would swear that there was no way they could ever believe that Marek had
been the traitor.
Thinking like this was going to get him nowhere, Cloud knew. There was nothing
he could do about it now, and if he worked himself into a nervous fit then he
wasn't exactly going to seem believable in court.
He'd chosen the right-hand bunk to lie on, just to make him feel a little
closer to Zack. On impulse he reached out and knocked softly on the wall, just
once.
Almost immediately there was another knock in return. It was quickly followed
by a warning thump on the door by the guard, but Cloud hadn't intended to try
actual communication this way. It was enough just to know that Zack was right
there on the other side of the wall.
If he closed his eyes and imagined hard, he could almost convince himself he
was back in B platoon's barrack. Lying in his bunk there, he'd never been able
to see Zack either, but the older boy's presence was always there just above
him.
That had been a simpler time, when he and Zack were both just privates together
and still full of dreams of taking SOLDIER by storm. He wished they could go
back to that, to the days when they hadn't had to struggle just to find time to
be together, let alone time alone together. Back before Zack had been forced to
treat Cloud like he was breakable, because he was breakable. Before there had
been that anguished look deep in Zack's eyes every time he looked at Cloud.
One hand pressed against the wall between them, Cloud drifted off to sleep with
memories of that time firmly in his mind. He just had to hold on to that sense
of peace until the trial, somehow.
It was three days before the Turks finally came for him, and by then Cloud
really was a nervous wreck. He and Zack had never been allowed to speak to each
other in all that time, nor had they been permitted to ask their guards about
what was going on outside. For all Cloud knew, Dr. Lins had already been tried
and named them as his accomplices. He was pretty sure Zack had been taken to
testify the day before, but that was all he knew.
Someone had told him once that civilians had to wait weeks or even months
before their trial would come up in court. Cloud couldn't imagine having to
wait that long, if he was already this nervous after just three days. Thank
Bahamut the military's unofficial motto of 'hurry up and wait' didn't extend to
courts martial.
It wasn't what he'd expected. Cloud's only experience with courts up to that
point had been on TV or in the movies, with a judge and jury set up in a fancy
room. The court martial was simply a group of high-ranking officers and Shinra
officials lined up at a table, and one smaller table across from them where the
prosecutor and his assistant sat. There was no jury and no witnesses, no
elaborate stand for the judges. There wasn't even a 'defence', simply the
captain who was to serve as the prosecution and examine the witnesses.
At the long table Cloud was startled to realize he recognized most of the
people. Heidigger was there, and President Shinra. A blonde woman Cloud had
never seen before and who looked terribly out of place in an evening gown sat
beside the president, and on her other side was Dr. Hojo. Sephiroth sat next to
Heidigger, his face as expressionless as if he was on parade. Cloud could take
no comfort or reassurance from him. The last two were the head of the SOLDIERs
and the head of the troops, Sephiroth's two second-in-commands.
That, more than anything, scared Cloud. Usually courts martial were conducted
with officers no higher than perhaps a major as the judges. High-ranking
officials like this didn't have the time to waste on military policing
problems. Of course, they were probably here more for Dr. Lins' trial than for
Zack and Cloud, but their presence was still more than a little intimidating.
The Turks led Cloud to stand to one side, so that everyone would be able to see
him. He saluted towards Sephiroth from sheer habit, and for some reason that
made Heidigger, the president and the strange woman chuckle. Sephiroth merely
nodded. "At ease, corporal," the general murmured, his voice as neutral as his
expression. Cloud moved to parade rest, staring straight ahead at the opposite
wall and not letting himself look at either the judges or the two military
lawyers.
"State your name, rank and company for the record," the prosecutor said.
It took Cloud two tries before his voice would work, and it still cracked
embarrassingly when he spoke. "Cloud Strife, corporal, omega company," he
replied, still not looking away from the wall.
"In your own words, corporal, report on the events that occurred three days ago
in the Gold Saucer desert," the prosecutor ordered him.
This time Cloud's voice didn't break, though it did shake a little as he went
through the story once again. Three days with nothing to do but think had given
him a lot of time to go over it all in his mind, trying to keep the details
sharp so he wouldn't forget some bit of information that would be crucial to
proving their innocence.
It was a long story, made longer by the fact that the prosecutor continually
interrupted him with questions. How had he known the sandstorm was coming? How
exactly had they come across the ravine? Why hadn't anyone previously
discovered its existence? Why had he and Zack split up? What made him decide to
hide and listen to the conversation? Could he confirm that Captain Marek was
definitely the man who had spoken to Dr. Lins? What exactly had the captain
said to him?
On and on, until Cloud's voice was cracking from dryness rather than fear. The
judges' reactions, when Cloud dared to glance at them, covered a range of
emotions. Sephiroth and his 2ICs remained impassive; Heidigger seemed to find
the whole thing one big joke, and the unknown woman was amused by it all as
well. The president seemed bored more than anything, and distracted as if his
mind was elsewhere. Hojo...
Hojo made Cloud nervous, even more so than usual. The scientist was watching
everything as if he was examining a new and somewhat unpleasant sample on a
slide under a microscope.
Finally he'd made it through the whole story, answering the prosecutor's
questions as best he could. When they reached the end Cloud breathed a quiet
sigh of relief that he'd managed to get through it all without tripping over
himself or making it sound like he was making everything up.
Unfortunately, he'd relaxed too soon. "Corporal," the prosecutor said as he
studied Cloud, "you said the captain claimed to be helping Dr. Lins in an
effort to return the SOLDIER program to its former position of glory, is that
correct?"
Struggling to remember Marek's exact words, Cloud cleared his throat. He'd been
a bit too caught up in the fact that he was probably about to die to memorize
Marek's speech word for word. "He said the standards for SOLDIER had fallen to
the point where he was almost ashamed to call himself one," he replied, "and
that being able to save people from the monsters would make being a SOLDIER
mean something again."
"A logical fallacy if I've ever heard one, but then from the way you describe
him he was clearly not sane." The lawyer smiled, an oily kind of smile that
made Cloud even more nervous. "Interesting that none of his psych profiles ever
showed evidence of such a thing."
Not sure if that was a question or not, Cloud chose not to answer. What could
he say? Obviously Marek had been very good at hiding his instability. He had
been a good captain; there was a reason his troops liked him so much. But it
was his very dedication to his troops and to SOLDIER in general that had caused
him to regard Cloud and Zack as such a threat to what he saw as the declining
standards of the Shinra military that he was so proud of.
"You also claim that Captain Marek implied that he deliberately set 1st
Lieutenant Zack up to receive his mako injections too early," the prosecutor
continued smoothly. Cloud blinked. Had he said that? It made sense, now that it
had been pointed out to him. Marek had mentioned not being able to rid himself
of Zack directly, and they knew conclusively now that Marek had been aware that
Zack had been a SOLDIER for less than a year. Surely he'd known about the
potential consequences of receiving the second injections too early.
"Yes sir, I guess he did imply that," Cloud agreed. It made him even more angry
at the captain, that he could have deliberately inflicted that kind of agony on
Zack.
"And then he went after you when he was unable to rid himself of the
lieutenant," the prosecutor continued, and Cloud nodded. "So basically you're
saying that the captain had it in for the two of you, specifically."
"Yes, sir," Cloud agreed again, cautiously. The man was too smug, there was
some kind of trap here that Cloud wasn't seeing. "It does seem that way."
"Tell me, corporal. And please remember that your oath of service to Shinra
compels you to speak the truth in this court. Are you or have you ever been
involved in an inappropriate relationship with Lieutenant Zack, your commanding
officer?"
Choking at the unexpected question, Cloud broke parade rest and turned his head
to stare at the man. "What?" Even in his first report to Sephiroth, Cloud had
said that Marek had referred to him as Zack's 'friend' rather than the far too
incriminating 'boytoy'. Besides which, Cloud had been certain he would never be
able to get that word out without dying of embarrassment.
Still smiling, the prosecutor repeated his question. "Are you and the
lieutenant engaging in sexual relations, corporal? It's a simple yes or no
question."
Cloud's mind spun in frantic little circles, and he stared helplessly back at
the man. If he told the truth, Zack could be facing a whole new set of charges.
Homosexual activities of any kind were officially strongly frowned upon by the
military, though in practice Zack and Cloud were hardly the first squadmates to
fool around. Fraternizing with a subordinate was an entirely different and much
more serious matter, however. The moment Zack had been promoted to SOLDIER his
relationship with Cloud had become strictly illegal by Shinra's rules.
Worse, what if they'd asked Zack the same question? If Zack had lied and
convinced them and then Cloud turned around and told the truth, it would make
things worse still for Zack. On the other hand if Zack had admitted it and
Cloud tried to bluff, it would show Cloud up as a liar and nothing else he'd
said would be given credit.
Standing there staring stupidly wasn't helping his case, either. Finally Cloud
decided there was only one thing he could do that he would be able to live with
later. Drawing himself back into a textbook parade rest position, he answered
the question. "Yes, sir." He wasn't ashamed of what he and Zack had done
together, and he wouldn't act like it. Hopefully they either hadn't asked Zack,
or he had also told the truth. Cloud was pretty sure he would have, for the
same reasons Cloud was doing it now.
There weren't any shocked or scandalized murmurs from the judges' table, at
least. That probably meant they were already aware of it, one way or another,
and if Cloud had lied they'd have known it. That made him feel marginally
better.
"Then isn't it true, corporal, that the real reason you killed Captain Marek
was because he knew of or was close to discovering your relationship, and you
didn't want him to report it to Shinra?" the prosecutor asked.
"Huh?" Cloud looked at him again, completely shocked at the very idea. The
prosecutor was already continuing, ploughing right over Cloud's sputtered
attempts at denial.
"Captain Marek was in fact out investigating the ravine when you came across
him that day, wasn't he corporal?" the man demanded, not giving Cloud a chance
to answer. "You encountered him just after discovering Dr. Lins in the ravine,
and decided it was a prime opportunity to rid yourself of him. Didn't you?"
Finally Cloud found his voice. "Sir, no sir," he said, and this time his voice
was shaking with outrage. "I'm fairly certain Captain Marek did know about us,
sir. If he was going to report us for it, he'd have done it a long time ago."
"So why didn't he, then?" the prosecutor asked with a raised eyebrow. "If he
had it in for the two of you, as you claim. Surely that would have been a
convenient way to rid himself of you."
"I... I don't know, sir," Cloud admitted. "Maybe because something like that
would have just lowered public opinion of SOLDIERs even further. Or maybe it
wasn't personal enough."
"You're not here to speculate, corporal, just to answer questions," the lawyer
told him. "You can't give a concrete reason why he would have failed to report
your relationship if he'd already known about it and had it in for you as you
claim, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir," Cloud was forced to say.
Satisfied, the man nodded. "Dismissed, corporal. Take him back to the cell
block," he ordered the Turks.
Cloud's heart felt like it had sunk to about the level of his feet as the Turks
not-so-gently 'guided' him back to the cell level. It was just as he'd feared;
the idea that Captain Marek was the mole was too farfetched for people to
believe in. Much easier to believe that Cloud and Zack had killed the man for
their own reasons and then attempted to cover it up by taking the opportunity
to claim Marek was the informant.
To his surprise, however, the Turks led him to Zack's cell instead of his own.
"Cloud!" the older boy exclaimed as the door slammed shut again behind him, and
Zack caught him in a hug.
"What?" Cloud replied intelligently, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Why'd they put me in here?" Not that he was complaining. He wrapped his arms
around Zack in turn and clung tightly, half afraid the Turks would realize
they'd made a mistake and come to remove him again.
"I convinced them there was no reason to keep separating us now that they
didn't have to worry about us 'getting our stories straight'," Zack said as he
pulled back with a grin.
"What did you have to bribe them with?" Cloud asked suspiciously.
"Bribe them?" Zack gave him an innocent look. "What makes you think they didn't
do it out of the goodness of their hearts?"
"Zack, they're Turks," Cloud replied in exasperation. Zack laughed, and tugged
him over to one of the bunks.
"Zack! They're probably watching us," Cloud protested when the older boy tried
to get him to sit with his back to Zack's chest, cradled between Zack's legs.
"So? They already know," Zack shrugged. "Didn't they ask you about us? You
didn't try to lie, did you?"
"No, I told the truth," Cloud said, sighing with relief that Zack had
apparently done the same. He relaxed and let Zack pull him down into the
embrace, tilting his head back to rest it on the older boy's shoulder as Zack's
arms closed around him. It was times like this that he was a little glad he was
still smaller than Zack. This wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable if
they'd been the same size.
"Me, too," Zack confirmed. "I figured they wouldn't have bothered asking unless
they had proof of it anyway. Besides, the worst they can do to me for sleeping
with you is a dishonourable discharge, not jail. That's something Sephiroth
does have final say on, and I don't think he'd sign off on it. He's known about
us since the glacier, I'm pretty sure, and he's never seemed to disapprove."
Closing his eyes, Cloud breathed deeply of the scent of his best friend and
tried to forget the fact that they were locked in a cell and possibly facing
murder charges. "I just hope this whole mess doesn't kill my chances of getting
into SOLDIER," he said. "Even if they acquit us, it could still be a pretty big
black mark on my record. And it's Heidigger that has final say about SOLDIER,
isn't it?"
"Him and Hojo, yeah," Zack agreed. He sighed, his chest rising and falling
beneath Cloud and his breath stirring Cloud's hair. "But Sephiroth's word
carries a hell of a lot of weight. One thing Marek was right about; with all
the monsters around the SOLDIERs really are going to be necessary again.
They'll need everyone they can get."
His voice turned apologetic. "Cloud, I never got a chance..."
"Don't," Cloud cut him off firmly, thumping him on the thigh with one fist.
Zack made a startled noise, and Cloud shook his head. "You think I don't know
what you were about to say? Don't apologize about me missing the exams. Even if
I'd left you to go write it, I'd still have failed because I'd have been too
busy worrying about you to be able to concentrate."
"But that's still my fault," Zack murmured, burying his face in Cloud's hair.
"I..."
"Stop it!" Exasperated, Cloud thumped him again, harder this time. Twisting so
he could look up at the older boy, Cloud glared at him. "Just stop, Zack. The
only thing you're going to do by dragging around being sorry about it is to
keep rubbing my nose in the fact that it happened at all. Do you want me to end
up as bitter and morose about it as I was last year when I failed? Like you
told me then, there's always next year, right?"
"Yeah, but now I'm 2nd Class, and even stronger than I was before," Zack said.
"If I hurt you again, I'll never forgive myself."
"We managed before, we'll be fine now," Cloud said firmly. "So just stop
bringing it up, and stop looking at me like you're afraid I'm going to resent
you. You're too important to me for me to let something like this make me hate
you."
Impulsively Zack hugged him tight, though he was still careful not to hurt
Cloud. "See? What did I tell you from the very start? I knew I needed you
around to knock me over the head when I'm doing something stupid." He laughed
softly.
"You need somebody to do it, anyway," Cloud muttered, elbowing him gently in
the ribs. "You're just lucky you're almost as good at talking yourself out of
trouble as you are at talking your way into it in the first place."
"Yeah. Hopefully that luck holds in this situation," Zack grimaced. There was
nothing to say to that, so Cloud laid his head back on Zack's shoulder and
stayed quiet.
They sat there like that for a long time, just enjoying each other's presence
in a way they didn't often have a chance to do. When the door finally opened
and interrupted them, Cloud assumed it was the guard bringing their meals.
Instead he felt Zack go tense against him, and when Cloud glanced up he was
shocked to see none other than the Silver General standing in the cell doorway.
"General Sephiroth!" They both scrambled to their feet and snapped him a
salute, which he returned.
"At ease," Sephiroth said, and they went to parade rest. Cloud's heart was
pounding in his chest again, so hard he was almost surprised it didn't burst
right out of him.
"The court martial has been concluded," Sephiroth continued, and Cloud tensed
further. "The evidence was sufficient to convict Dr. Lins as the perpetrator of
the monsters spreading, and Captain Marek as the informant."
Beside him Cloud heard Zack let his breath out in a rush, as if the older boy
had been holding it. The sound reminded Cloud that it would probably be a good
idea if he started breathing again too, and he had to stifle a gasp. Sephiroth
smiled slightly.
"Does that mean we've been acquitted of all charges, sir?" Zack asked boldly.
"Not exactly," Sephiroth replied. "Captain Marek's death has been determined to
be self defence on your parts. Certain... other matters brought up during the
investigation are still outstanding, however."
Wincing mentally, Cloud prepared himself for the worst. Zack was going to be
facing another court martial for his relationship with Cloud after all.
To his surprise, Sephiroth's next words weren't a formal charge against Zack.
"The entire matter has been classified at the highest level, of course," the
general informed them. "In order to preserve public opinion of Shinra and the
SOLDIERs, Shinra can't afford to let this become public knowledge. Officially,
none of this ever happened. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!" Zack said gladly, saluting again.
It took Cloud a moment longer to work through it, but he finally got what the
general was getting at. If none of it had ever officially happened, then they
couldn't use Zack and Cloud's admissions in the court martial against them.
After all, according to the record, there had never been any admissions. Zack
couldn't be prosecuted on the basis of what had happened during the trial.
"Yes, sir," he echoed Zack, saluting as well. They would all have to continue
acting as if nobody knew the truth about him and Zack, but so long as they did
so there would be no reprisals against them.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my promise about getting the
two of you leave," Sephiroth said. "There's been a minor insurgence in one of
the southern parts of Wutai, a group of rebels the government claims to have no
knowledge of. We'll be heading out as soon as the two of you have collected
your gear."
With that he turned and left, leaving Cloud staring after him. "We?" he
repeated weakly, shocked. "We get court martialed for killing our CO, and end
up under Sephiroth's direct command?" He'd been expecting to be assigned to the
worst duties for quite a while as a result of all this, maybe even to be split
up from Zack.
"Who else would take us?" Zack shrugged, grinning. "Acquitted or not, a lot of
the 1st Class will be nervous about having us in their command for a while.
This way he doesn't have to split us up, or put us under the command of someone
who doesn't want us."
"But...!" Cloud shook his head, unable to come up with a coherent objection.
"Working directly with Sephiroth? That's... we're... holy shit, Zack!"
"I know," Zack agreed, his eyes sparkling with more than just the mako glow.
"Now come on, let's not keep him waiting. And I for one am sick of these four
walls!"
He grabbed Cloud around the shoulders and ruffled the younger boy's hair
vigorously, despite Cloud's protests and the fist he got in the ribs in
response. Laughing, Zack finally released him and ducked out the door into the
corridor, giving their surly-looking guard a jaunty wave as he passed.
There was nothing Cloud could do but follow him. He didn't think he would ever
get used to Zack's seeming endless energy, but he wasn't sure he wanted to get
used to it either. It was kind of nice to be surprised by it at times.
"Oh yeah! Happy birthday, kid," Zack said as they entered the elevator. When
Cloud stared at him blankly, he chuckled. "You're really bad at keeping track
of dates, aren't you? Congratulations, you're finally old enough to sign up for
the army."
"I am?" Cloud asked, bemused. Could it really be his birthday already? Trying
to add up the days in his head just got him hopelessly confused, but he
supposed he could probably take Zack's word for it. So he was finally sixteen,
and he wouldn't have to lie about his age any more.
"Should we stop by a recruiting office on our way out of town?" Zack teased
him, still laughing. "After all, you've been waiting so patiently to be old
enough..."
"Oh, stuff it," Cloud replied, shoving the bigger boy hard enough to make him
stagger into the wall. He was laughing too, though. How could he not? There was
something horribly funny about being assigned to Sephiroth's direct command on
the day he should have been signing up for the first time. He'd already
achieved more in his military career than most people ever would, and he hadn't
even been officially old enough to be there.
Which just went to show that maybe he really was cut out for it, after all. He
was as old now as Zack had been when they'd first met, hard as it was to
believe. He might not have accomplished everything he'd wanted to when he set
out from home, most notably that he wasn't a SOLDIER yet, but he still had
time.
"Let's go," he said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "We've got a
mission to do."
"That's the spirit!" Zack exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder as he stepped
past Cloud out the door. "Race you to the SOLDIER compound!" He took off
running before Cloud had a chance to answer.
Laughing, knowing there was no way he would ever be able to outrun a SOLDIER
but not willing to just concede the race to Zack without even trying, Cloud
chased after him. "You jerk! One of these days I'm going to beat you, and you
won't be so smug then!"
"One of these days, I'm sure you will," Zack agreed over his shoulder with a
grin. "And I'll be right there at your back to see it."
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