Fic - First Impressions
I come bearing fic once more!!
It seems as though everytime my neighbours have a bbq and attempt to blast my eardrums out with their choice of music (although I happen to be 7 floors above the common area) I suddenly feel inspired to write. -_-"
Oh well, here goes.
When Cloud met Sephiroth.
Warnings for random crack and OOCness (sort of).
First Impressions
The first time Cloud met Sephiroth, he had been blown away.
Literally.
If getting caught in the blast of a magic-induced explosion and flying through four walls counted as such.
After the ringing in his ears disappeared and his vision stopped swirling around in a blend of psychedelic colours, Cloud shook his head and wondered what would have happened if he had been blown apart instead. He wondered if his scattered limbs would crawl towards each other and regroup with his torso in some sort of macabre fashion. He shook his head again, harder, to clear it of the weird thoughts. Probably thanks to too many late night horror films with Zack.
He sat up slowly and stretched, wincing as his spine, probably fractured, protested. He did a mental check of his status. His skull felt cracked, his spine was feeling less than stable, his left shoulder was dislocated, and his legs felt non-existent. Other than that, everything seemed perfectly peachy.
Then Sephiroth appeared.
He stepped elegantly through the last hole Cloud had made, the dust swirling around him giving him an ethereal appearance. He stopped and stared at the sight of Cloud sitting on the floor with his back against the fifth wall that bore a dent and deep cracks that had a vague Cloud-like outline. He turned back to look at the holes in the previous four walls, all in a direct line from where Cloud was sitting.
He looked down at Cloud and raised a pale eyebrow. “Impressive.”
Cloud glared sullenly up at him. “You just tried to blow me up and that’s all you can say? Bastard.” He took a deep breath and wrenched his left shoulder back into its original position, swearing as the pain shot through his abused body.
Sephiroth snorted delicately. “For your information, I was not trying to blow you up. In the first place, you have no business being in this building, and therefore it is not my fault that you happened to get caught in the blast when I’m practicing. So I’d like to make it very clear now that I’m not going to pay for any of your insurance claims or whatever.”
They glared at each other for a long time more before Cloud shrugged, wincing again as his shoulder complained at the rough treatment. He could feel the bones, muscles and nerves knitting back together, but it was a slow painful process and he hated having to wait for it all to end.
Sephiroth sighed almost inaudibly before he stepped forward and crouched down next to the blonde. “Here, let me.” He held up a hand to Cloud’s shoulder and muttered a short incantation. There was a green glow and his shoulder suddenly felt as good as new. The warm feeling spread throughout his body and before long, he could feel his toes once more.
“Hmm, so you can do other things besides blow people up,” Cloud commented wryly as he rotated his shoulder carefully, pleased that it didn’t twinge anymore. The ache in his skull was gone as well.
Sephiroth growled, “As I said before, you - ”
“Have no business being in this building etc.” Cloud waved his hand dismissively. “Alright. I’m sorry for walking in on your little practice session, you’re sorry that you almost blew me up. So I guess we’re even then.” He hauled himself to his feet and brushed himself off, ignoring the little voice in his head that was screeching about how his little speech sounded almost like Zack speaking, and held out his hand. “I’m Cloud.”
“Sephiroth.” The silver-haired mage shook his hand almost reluctantly.
Sephiroth… why did that name sound so familiar?
“So, those were some pretty impressive spells you were casting,” Cloud said as he inspected the wall he had landed on. “I’m surprised that as mage of your caliber, you haven’t been hunted down by one of the Royals yet. They’d probably be falling all over each other to have you among their armies.”
Sephiroth snorted as he turned and walked back through the holes to the room he had been practicing in. “They were.”
Cloud raised an eyebrow as he followed the mage, appreciating the fine lines of his back that the black shirt accentuated. “What happened?”
Sephiroth stopped in the middle of the room, held out his arm and flicked his wrist. A long silver blade appeared in his left hand. “I didn’t like it.”
Cloud heard a soft scuffling behind him and knew, without turning, that a group of people had just appeared in the doorway and around the hole in the wall, effectively cutting off any path of escape. He sighed.
“And since they couldn’t have me, they decided to eliminate me.” A feral smile appeared on Sephiroth’s face. “So a word of advice: get out of my way if you don’t want to die.” He launched himself towards the nearest assassin, a black and silver blur as the crackles of magic started to hum through the air.
Cloud sighed again and pulled out his sword. Why was it that when he went on walks by himself, he never seemed to be able to have some peace and quiet? He took a deep breath, and then attacked.
He had to admit, the mage was good. His spells were precise; his swordplay was beautiful and deadly. He used his gifts well in a lethal combination, but the enemies just kept coming. He also noticed that Sephiroth was sneaking glances towards him every few moments, as though making sure that he hadn’t been killed.
Then, too late, he saw an assassin at the corner of the room, taking aim at the mage with something that looked like a razor-edged disc. Cloud’s eyes narrowed. He was too far away to make the dash before the disc was released and Sephiroth was currently battling with his back to them. He made up his mind in a split second.
Sephiroth stumbled slightly when a felt a heavy weight hit him across his back. Spinning round, he almost unleashed a fire spell instinctively, but managed to hold it back enough to catch Cloud as he toppled over, a razor-edged disc impaled deep in his chest. He stared in disbelief as the blonde actually had the guts to smile up at him before his eyes went blank and he sagged, lifeless, in his arms.
The cold fire that he had been clamping down on for so long roared in his heart. The mage looked up, his pupils narrowed to black slits in sea of cold, cold green. He bared his teeth at his attackers as he flung out his hand. The room seemed to go still as the space contracted around him, and then suddenly there was a roar, an explosion and everything disintegrated.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Cloud felt as though his head was full of cotton wool. He lay on a cold, hard surface. His chest hurt, as though someone had ripped it apart. Oh wait, someone did rip it apart. What on earth was he thinking, jumping in front of someone he barely knew? What had happened after he died? He vaguely remembered seeing a green flash of fire… but, fire wasn’t green in colour, was it? Unless someone had been casting some sort of modified spell.
Speaking of that someone, he thought he could hear someone muttering and pacing. He could only catch an occasional swear word, but it was nice to know that there was someone there he could scare when he finally worked up the strength to open his eyes and sit up.
“Holy. Mother. Planet.”
Cloud grinned sheepishly at the mage, who had come to an abrupt halt in mid-pace and was now staring at him.
“You died.”
Cloud scratched his ear and shrugged. “I died.”
“You’re alive.”
“I’m alive.”
“You’re not being very helpful here.” The mage was beside him in a flash, puzzled green eyes raking over him. “Your wound healed.” A black-gloved hand prodded at his chest.
“Stop that, it tickles.” Cloud slapped his hand away. His gaze fell on the bloody disc on the floor beside him. Sephiroth had probably removed it from the wound. “What happened to the rest? You managed to beat all of them?”
Sephiroth’s lips twisted up into an arrogant smirk. “Of course. It’s not like they’d be able to take me out so easily.”
“Why didn’t you kill me? I would have thought that you would have assumed I led them to you or something.”
“I didn’t sense that you wanted to kill me. Not even when you were standing outside the room when I released the spell. You felt… safe.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before realization dawned in the mage’s eyes. “You’re Cloud Strife.”
Cloud raised his eyebrow.
“I’ve heard of you from some of the people at the… court I was at. They said that you’re immortal. Of course, there was some speculation as to whether or not that’s true, but apparently, it is.”
“Ah. I see.” Cloud stood up slowly and stretched. Sephiroth stood along with him, watching him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. “Well, you have an advantage over me, since you know who I am, whereas I only know your name and that you’re a fire mage.”
They stared at each other again as the silence stretched between them. Then, this time, the realization dawned in Cloud’s eyes.
“You’re the one who blew up one of the military centers near the Gold Saucer.” It was in the news a few months back. No wonder the name had sounded familiar.
“They deserved it. I didn’t do anything that justified them detaining me. Besides, it’s not as if anyone died.”
“No, all the staff just landed in, and totally flooded, the emergency department at the nearest hospital. The building on the other hand…” Cloud personally agreed with the mage, he never liked the way that particular camp was run, they tended to arrest first, ask questions later.
Another long silence as Cloud thought about how to word his offer.
“Those assassins can be a real pain huh?” Cloud commented finally.
“Hardly a workout for someone with skill,” Sephiroth agreed nonchalantly.
“Competent and skilled mages are pretty hard to come by in mercenary groups.”
“It’s always more interesting not to have a set routine.”
“The pay is pretty good too. Well, most of the time.”
“As long as it’s not restrictive.”
Cloud held out his hand. Sephiroth took it.
“Well, guess we’d better be going, I can introduce you to the rest of the pack.” Cloud glanced over at Sephiroth. “By the way, is that your real hair colour?”
Sephiroth glared at him.
Cloud flashed him a mischievous grin. “Just a warning, Zack has an unholy obsession with all things shiny. But other than that he’s a good kid. Come on, let’s hurry. That way we’ll have enough time to move your things over to our place if you decide to stay with us.”
Sephiroth stared at the retreating figure of the blonde man, wondering what on earth had made him take up the offer to work with him and… live with him? Oh well. At least life was going to be more interesting than drifting through cities, disposing of his assassins and causing some occasional mayhem. He shook his head and followed Cloud.
The End
AN: So... how was it? I think i was getting progressively high on lack of sleep towards the end so, forgive the babbling. Sephiroth talks too much here. -_-" I wanted to make him swear or something when Cloud came back to life, but I couldn't think of a suitably elegant phrase. So I improvised, but that didn't turn out that spectacularly either... oh well.
Off to bed then!
ps: did anyone get the pun on the title? ^_~
It seems as though everytime my neighbours have a bbq and attempt to blast my eardrums out with their choice of music (although I happen to be 7 floors above the common area) I suddenly feel inspired to write. -_-"
Oh well, here goes.
When Cloud met Sephiroth.
Warnings for random crack and OOCness (sort of).
First Impressions
The first time Cloud met Sephiroth, he had been blown away.
Literally.
If getting caught in the blast of a magic-induced explosion and flying through four walls counted as such.
After the ringing in his ears disappeared and his vision stopped swirling around in a blend of psychedelic colours, Cloud shook his head and wondered what would have happened if he had been blown apart instead. He wondered if his scattered limbs would crawl towards each other and regroup with his torso in some sort of macabre fashion. He shook his head again, harder, to clear it of the weird thoughts. Probably thanks to too many late night horror films with Zack.
He sat up slowly and stretched, wincing as his spine, probably fractured, protested. He did a mental check of his status. His skull felt cracked, his spine was feeling less than stable, his left shoulder was dislocated, and his legs felt non-existent. Other than that, everything seemed perfectly peachy.
Then Sephiroth appeared.
He stepped elegantly through the last hole Cloud had made, the dust swirling around him giving him an ethereal appearance. He stopped and stared at the sight of Cloud sitting on the floor with his back against the fifth wall that bore a dent and deep cracks that had a vague Cloud-like outline. He turned back to look at the holes in the previous four walls, all in a direct line from where Cloud was sitting.
He looked down at Cloud and raised a pale eyebrow. “Impressive.”
Cloud glared sullenly up at him. “You just tried to blow me up and that’s all you can say? Bastard.” He took a deep breath and wrenched his left shoulder back into its original position, swearing as the pain shot through his abused body.
Sephiroth snorted delicately. “For your information, I was not trying to blow you up. In the first place, you have no business being in this building, and therefore it is not my fault that you happened to get caught in the blast when I’m practicing. So I’d like to make it very clear now that I’m not going to pay for any of your insurance claims or whatever.”
They glared at each other for a long time more before Cloud shrugged, wincing again as his shoulder complained at the rough treatment. He could feel the bones, muscles and nerves knitting back together, but it was a slow painful process and he hated having to wait for it all to end.
Sephiroth sighed almost inaudibly before he stepped forward and crouched down next to the blonde. “Here, let me.” He held up a hand to Cloud’s shoulder and muttered a short incantation. There was a green glow and his shoulder suddenly felt as good as new. The warm feeling spread throughout his body and before long, he could feel his toes once more.
“Hmm, so you can do other things besides blow people up,” Cloud commented wryly as he rotated his shoulder carefully, pleased that it didn’t twinge anymore. The ache in his skull was gone as well.
Sephiroth growled, “As I said before, you - ”
“Have no business being in this building etc.” Cloud waved his hand dismissively. “Alright. I’m sorry for walking in on your little practice session, you’re sorry that you almost blew me up. So I guess we’re even then.” He hauled himself to his feet and brushed himself off, ignoring the little voice in his head that was screeching about how his little speech sounded almost like Zack speaking, and held out his hand. “I’m Cloud.”
“Sephiroth.” The silver-haired mage shook his hand almost reluctantly.
Sephiroth… why did that name sound so familiar?
“So, those were some pretty impressive spells you were casting,” Cloud said as he inspected the wall he had landed on. “I’m surprised that as mage of your caliber, you haven’t been hunted down by one of the Royals yet. They’d probably be falling all over each other to have you among their armies.”
Sephiroth snorted as he turned and walked back through the holes to the room he had been practicing in. “They were.”
Cloud raised an eyebrow as he followed the mage, appreciating the fine lines of his back that the black shirt accentuated. “What happened?”
Sephiroth stopped in the middle of the room, held out his arm and flicked his wrist. A long silver blade appeared in his left hand. “I didn’t like it.”
Cloud heard a soft scuffling behind him and knew, without turning, that a group of people had just appeared in the doorway and around the hole in the wall, effectively cutting off any path of escape. He sighed.
“And since they couldn’t have me, they decided to eliminate me.” A feral smile appeared on Sephiroth’s face. “So a word of advice: get out of my way if you don’t want to die.” He launched himself towards the nearest assassin, a black and silver blur as the crackles of magic started to hum through the air.
Cloud sighed again and pulled out his sword. Why was it that when he went on walks by himself, he never seemed to be able to have some peace and quiet? He took a deep breath, and then attacked.
He had to admit, the mage was good. His spells were precise; his swordplay was beautiful and deadly. He used his gifts well in a lethal combination, but the enemies just kept coming. He also noticed that Sephiroth was sneaking glances towards him every few moments, as though making sure that he hadn’t been killed.
Then, too late, he saw an assassin at the corner of the room, taking aim at the mage with something that looked like a razor-edged disc. Cloud’s eyes narrowed. He was too far away to make the dash before the disc was released and Sephiroth was currently battling with his back to them. He made up his mind in a split second.
Sephiroth stumbled slightly when a felt a heavy weight hit him across his back. Spinning round, he almost unleashed a fire spell instinctively, but managed to hold it back enough to catch Cloud as he toppled over, a razor-edged disc impaled deep in his chest. He stared in disbelief as the blonde actually had the guts to smile up at him before his eyes went blank and he sagged, lifeless, in his arms.
The cold fire that he had been clamping down on for so long roared in his heart. The mage looked up, his pupils narrowed to black slits in sea of cold, cold green. He bared his teeth at his attackers as he flung out his hand. The room seemed to go still as the space contracted around him, and then suddenly there was a roar, an explosion and everything disintegrated.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Cloud felt as though his head was full of cotton wool. He lay on a cold, hard surface. His chest hurt, as though someone had ripped it apart. Oh wait, someone did rip it apart. What on earth was he thinking, jumping in front of someone he barely knew? What had happened after he died? He vaguely remembered seeing a green flash of fire… but, fire wasn’t green in colour, was it? Unless someone had been casting some sort of modified spell.
Speaking of that someone, he thought he could hear someone muttering and pacing. He could only catch an occasional swear word, but it was nice to know that there was someone there he could scare when he finally worked up the strength to open his eyes and sit up.
“Holy. Mother. Planet.”
Cloud grinned sheepishly at the mage, who had come to an abrupt halt in mid-pace and was now staring at him.
“You died.”
Cloud scratched his ear and shrugged. “I died.”
“You’re alive.”
“I’m alive.”
“You’re not being very helpful here.” The mage was beside him in a flash, puzzled green eyes raking over him. “Your wound healed.” A black-gloved hand prodded at his chest.
“Stop that, it tickles.” Cloud slapped his hand away. His gaze fell on the bloody disc on the floor beside him. Sephiroth had probably removed it from the wound. “What happened to the rest? You managed to beat all of them?”
Sephiroth’s lips twisted up into an arrogant smirk. “Of course. It’s not like they’d be able to take me out so easily.”
“Why didn’t you kill me? I would have thought that you would have assumed I led them to you or something.”
“I didn’t sense that you wanted to kill me. Not even when you were standing outside the room when I released the spell. You felt… safe.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before realization dawned in the mage’s eyes. “You’re Cloud Strife.”
Cloud raised his eyebrow.
“I’ve heard of you from some of the people at the… court I was at. They said that you’re immortal. Of course, there was some speculation as to whether or not that’s true, but apparently, it is.”
“Ah. I see.” Cloud stood up slowly and stretched. Sephiroth stood along with him, watching him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. “Well, you have an advantage over me, since you know who I am, whereas I only know your name and that you’re a fire mage.”
They stared at each other again as the silence stretched between them. Then, this time, the realization dawned in Cloud’s eyes.
“You’re the one who blew up one of the military centers near the Gold Saucer.” It was in the news a few months back. No wonder the name had sounded familiar.
“They deserved it. I didn’t do anything that justified them detaining me. Besides, it’s not as if anyone died.”
“No, all the staff just landed in, and totally flooded, the emergency department at the nearest hospital. The building on the other hand…” Cloud personally agreed with the mage, he never liked the way that particular camp was run, they tended to arrest first, ask questions later.
Another long silence as Cloud thought about how to word his offer.
“Those assassins can be a real pain huh?” Cloud commented finally.
“Hardly a workout for someone with skill,” Sephiroth agreed nonchalantly.
“Competent and skilled mages are pretty hard to come by in mercenary groups.”
“It’s always more interesting not to have a set routine.”
“The pay is pretty good too. Well, most of the time.”
“As long as it’s not restrictive.”
Cloud held out his hand. Sephiroth took it.
“Well, guess we’d better be going, I can introduce you to the rest of the pack.” Cloud glanced over at Sephiroth. “By the way, is that your real hair colour?”
Sephiroth glared at him.
Cloud flashed him a mischievous grin. “Just a warning, Zack has an unholy obsession with all things shiny. But other than that he’s a good kid. Come on, let’s hurry. That way we’ll have enough time to move your things over to our place if you decide to stay with us.”
Sephiroth stared at the retreating figure of the blonde man, wondering what on earth had made him take up the offer to work with him and… live with him? Oh well. At least life was going to be more interesting than drifting through cities, disposing of his assassins and causing some occasional mayhem. He shook his head and followed Cloud.
The End
AN: So... how was it? I think i was getting progressively high on lack of sleep towards the end so, forgive the babbling. Sephiroth talks too much here. -_-" I wanted to make him swear or something when Cloud came back to life, but I couldn't think of a suitably elegant phrase. So I improvised, but that didn't turn out that spectacularly either... oh well.
Off to bed then!
ps: did anyone get the pun on the title? ^_~