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[herobydefault]

Who: Cloud Strife and Simon
What: Rescue
When: Just after Simon's arrival.
Where: The forest
Summary: Cloud noticed poor baby Simon's entry and was all, "Arg, what. That is a tiny child and I run an orphanage back home, this will not do SDLFKJSD THAT'S RIGHT FOREST IS FULL OF MONSTERS." And bby Simon is all, "lol what are trees okay I dig nao

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[dawndigger]

The dirt had been soft around the tree he'd selected, thankfully. Simon had always had a gift for that - knowing exactly where to dig, knowing which areas were soft and which were too hard to break through. Even before he'd begun to dig on his own, his parents had occasionally taken him to work to point out the best starting points. It was, in essence, all he knew

[herobydefault]

Were it not for the Mako-enhanced hearing, the small cry would have gone completely unnoticed. As it were, Cloud spotted the boar snuffling at the base of the tree, pawing the ground with its hoof before putting two and two together and realizing that more than likely, Simon was down there. Jogging forward and giving the boar a firm smack with the broad side of his blade, Cloud watched the beast jump and squeal before charging back into the woods.

He dragged a hand through his hair with a sigh and crouched down near the hole; it was deep. Very deep. How had the kid managed to do something like that without any tools...? Regardless, Cloud scooped leaves and soil away and peered inside curiously. "Simon?"

[dawndigger]

Simon was huddled in the back of the hole, hugging himself and peeking out around the root he'd been hiding behind. The boar was gone, finally, and in its place was a face he didn't recognize. The person knew his name, however, so after a moment's hesitation he lifted his goggles off his face and blinked owlishly. "...I... I'm Simon. Are you Cloud...?"

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Cloud nodded, holding out a hand for Simon to take, if he needed the help. "That's me. It's safe to come out."

Dear God, he was just a child. He couldn't be much older than seven or eight, judging by his size. Cloud shook off a flash of hot anger; that these monsters would kidnap and alter a little boy who, by the sound of his voice, couldn't have done anything worse than squashed a bug occasionally -if that- made his blood all but boil. They were monsters, and they were sick.

[dawndigger]

Simon hesitated once more, then crawled forward a little, reaching out to take Cloud's hand, allowing himself to be pulled out of the hole. He was covered in (and smelled like) fresh earth, and as he emerged from the dark he squinted, free hand lifting to cover his eyes. "It's so bright... where's all the light coming from...?"

Jiha's electricity was so weak and scarce... he couldn't imagine how much power was needed to make so much light.