027
Just a very quicky Final Fantasy VII fic, because the game's been out for ten years today. :)
Title: Ahead On Our Way
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: G
Word count: 707
Characters Cloud.
Summary: A motion sick Cloud thinks of all the things to come as he makes his way from Nibelheim to Midgar.
The trek from his little village to the illustrious Midgar takes Cloud thirteen hours, three modes of transport and approximately eight paper bags in which to throw up in. It's not so bad in the back of the van that takes the boys from Nibelheim to the port in Costa Del Sol - even if the roads are bumpy, there are windows for him to focus his attention on and keep his scattered thoughts elsewhere - but the moment he steps on the boat, even before it sets sail, Cloud feels as if he'll never be okay again. His stomach plummets with the waves, and his head spins every time he tries to get comfortable.
It's during this time that Cloud decides that he's going to join the foot infantry squadron of Shinra's troops. No tanks. No helicopters. Just until he becomes a SOLDIER, he thinks with a grin, because then he can decide how they travel. The look of happiness that spreads across his face just doesn't match the sickly shade of sea-foam green he's turned, but thoughts of future fame, and the excited whispers about battles and warfare from the other boys makes the rocking deck beneath him that little bit more bearable.
When he steps off the ship with a bag holding everything he owns slung over one shoulder, the solid ground beneath him feels strange and oh-so welcome. He makes the most of it before their train pulls up, taking grateful strides across the platform and stretches his cramped limbs out.
The motion sickness doesn't leave him, even on something as smooth as a train. They never had these in Nibelheim, and the whole structure amazes him - and most of all, they don't even run on steam. Just pure, rich mako, drawn out from the ground. He smiles; he's going to be part of that, and soon. He's on the same continent now, and every time the train jerks and ties his stomaches in knots he knows he's that little bit closer.
Nibelheim feels like a dream away, and as his fingers dig into the brown paper bags, Cloud thinks of all the things he can do; all the things he will do. Thoughts of fame and fortune run through his mind, but most of all - out of every earthly possession and temptation his imagination can conjure up - he knows that more than anything he wants to meet General Sephiroth. SOLDIER's number one, and the man who drove him to this: drove him to making something of his life and set out to prove just what he could do. He doesn't allow himself to think how amazing it would be to fight along side him.
And even though Cloud knows he's not as strong as the other boys, he knows he's more determined than all of them put together. It's on that very train that someone first notices.
A boy who's never had any interest in talking to him before is stuck sitting besides him, and raising an eyebrow he sneers as Cloud grabs for another paper bag.
“If you knew you were gonna be this sick, you shouldn't have come,” he says dryly, not disguising his desire to be rid of Cloud all too subtly, “But I guess you just don't give up, huh?”
He's already turned his attentions back to the more favourable company of the scenery that flies by, but Cloud replies anyway. “Yeah,” he says, “I'm going be a SOLDIER. First class!”
Cloud sinks back in his seat once he has the sneaking suspicious that the boys around to him are laughing under their breath. He knows that he's just a boy from the mountains, and that he'll never be a real hero. If he's lucky, he'll wind up second best - try as he might, he's never going to slay real monsters, save the world or anything else equally as ridiculous. He shakes his head and dismisses the thoughts; whatever happens happens, and he's not going to regret a moment of it.
Cloud wonders where he'll be in five years, and if he'll be strong. Idly he wonders what he'll have achieved in ten years time, and just how many people will know his name.
Title: Ahead On Our Way
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: G
Word count: 707
Characters Cloud.
Summary: A motion sick Cloud thinks of all the things to come as he makes his way from Nibelheim to Midgar.
The trek from his little village to the illustrious Midgar takes Cloud thirteen hours, three modes of transport and approximately eight paper bags in which to throw up in. It's not so bad in the back of the van that takes the boys from Nibelheim to the port in Costa Del Sol - even if the roads are bumpy, there are windows for him to focus his attention on and keep his scattered thoughts elsewhere - but the moment he steps on the boat, even before it sets sail, Cloud feels as if he'll never be okay again. His stomach plummets with the waves, and his head spins every time he tries to get comfortable.
It's during this time that Cloud decides that he's going to join the foot infantry squadron of Shinra's troops. No tanks. No helicopters. Just until he becomes a SOLDIER, he thinks with a grin, because then he can decide how they travel. The look of happiness that spreads across his face just doesn't match the sickly shade of sea-foam green he's turned, but thoughts of future fame, and the excited whispers about battles and warfare from the other boys makes the rocking deck beneath him that little bit more bearable.
When he steps off the ship with a bag holding everything he owns slung over one shoulder, the solid ground beneath him feels strange and oh-so welcome. He makes the most of it before their train pulls up, taking grateful strides across the platform and stretches his cramped limbs out.
The motion sickness doesn't leave him, even on something as smooth as a train. They never had these in Nibelheim, and the whole structure amazes him - and most of all, they don't even run on steam. Just pure, rich mako, drawn out from the ground. He smiles; he's going to be part of that, and soon. He's on the same continent now, and every time the train jerks and ties his stomaches in knots he knows he's that little bit closer.
Nibelheim feels like a dream away, and as his fingers dig into the brown paper bags, Cloud thinks of all the things he can do; all the things he will do. Thoughts of fame and fortune run through his mind, but most of all - out of every earthly possession and temptation his imagination can conjure up - he knows that more than anything he wants to meet General Sephiroth. SOLDIER's number one, and the man who drove him to this: drove him to making something of his life and set out to prove just what he could do. He doesn't allow himself to think how amazing it would be to fight along side him.
And even though Cloud knows he's not as strong as the other boys, he knows he's more determined than all of them put together. It's on that very train that someone first notices.
A boy who's never had any interest in talking to him before is stuck sitting besides him, and raising an eyebrow he sneers as Cloud grabs for another paper bag.
“If you knew you were gonna be this sick, you shouldn't have come,” he says dryly, not disguising his desire to be rid of Cloud all too subtly, “But I guess you just don't give up, huh?”
He's already turned his attentions back to the more favourable company of the scenery that flies by, but Cloud replies anyway. “Yeah,” he says, “I'm going be a SOLDIER. First class!”
Cloud sinks back in his seat once he has the sneaking suspicious that the boys around to him are laughing under their breath. He knows that he's just a boy from the mountains, and that he'll never be a real hero. If he's lucky, he'll wind up second best - try as he might, he's never going to slay real monsters, save the world or anything else equally as ridiculous. He shakes his head and dismisses the thoughts; whatever happens happens, and he's not going to regret a moment of it.
Cloud wonders where he'll be in five years, and if he'll be strong. Idly he wonders what he'll have achieved in ten years time, and just how many people will know his name.