Wutaiverse - 1986 - 1/2
Wutaiverse 1986 in its entirety, not much else to say right now, hope everyone up north is nice and tosty!
Title: Wutaiverse - 1986 - 1/2
Author: Scrolls
Rating: PG-13?
Fandom/Pairing: FF7/None (eventual Aeris/Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack)
Disclaimer: SqaureEnix Owns, I'm just having some fun.
Notes: In which both Hojo and Godo are Plotting Something, Zack meets the Shiney of his dreams, Cloud and Aeris are cute and bond, Tifa and Yuffie both Come To A Decision, Tseng hammers home a point, and someone finally notices that Cloud has talent.
Summary: What if Momma Strife had taken Cloud and Aeris and gone to Wutai?
Constructive criticism will be hugged while flames will be used to line the bunny hutch.
Enjoy Ladies and Gentlemen.
Wutaiverse - 1986 - 1/2
1986 - 01 - Hojo’s Attempts
TO: Sergeant Sephiroth, Project Jenova, 6th Squad
FROM: Professor Hojo, Director of Shinra Research Department
RE: Current Standing Orders
In addition to your current standing orders to aide and assist the 6th Squad, you are also hereby ordered to report to Professor Hojo the next time your unit is in Midgar, no matter the reason or the length of stay.
Signed,
Professor Hojo, Director of Shinra Research Department
They had just arrived in Junon and hadn’t even finished bedding down their birds when the communications technician had arrived with the envelope. They were waiting to escort the Anwat Trader Caravan from Junon across the ocean to Costa Del Sol and then down to the southern holdings. The caravan was due to arrive in three days when they would take over from the third in its protection.
Sephiroth reread the letter, eyes trailing Hojo’s scrawling signature alone at the bottom. In every order concerning him, Shinra’s signature was always present and after joining the 6th Heidegger’s was added. The fact that they were missing was a telltale of how impatient Hojo was getting. This missive was just the latest try by Hojo to get him back to the labs, and knowing Hojo once he was in the lab, he would never leave again.
He had long since gotten used to keeping a near-subconscious track of his surroundings; as such it was no surprise to him when Captain Bradley stopped beside him on his way to check in with the base Administration. Bradley held out his hand and Sephiroth gave him the papers. Reading the message the Captain made the same noise he did whenever he got what he called “Bureaucratic crap from a Malboro’s ass.” Looking back up at him the Captain eyed Sephiroth for a moment before folding the papers up.
“I doubt that Shinra or Heidegger signed off on this. But I’m going check anyway, just to make sure. You go and get back to your bird. Tell Lieutenant Farley that I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He said giving Sephiroth’s bird a scratch before heading down the aisle.
Said avian gave him a rather pointed look about how patient it had been, and that it would really like to get back his grooming please. Turning back to his bird, Sephiroth automatically finished what was left while allowing his mind to wander, pondering the potential results of Hojo’s letter.
Over the past year and a half Hojo had tried several methods to have Sephiroth returned to him. One of the first was finding out which research facility the 6th would be assigned to next and getting the bulk of his lab transferred to the same place. As such when the 6th had finally arrived Hojo had become so settled in that no one objected when he ordered that a high-level containment transport be prepared to leave at a moments notice and then barged right into the barracks and calmly stated that Sephiroth would be coming with him for a ‘much needed and much missed regular checkup.’ That day was the very first that he was so glad that a monster had attacked. He had been only feet from the main entrance to Hojo’s newest domain when the horde of zemzelett’s had triggered the alarms. Afterwards, due to the amount of damage caused and Shinra’s concern for Hojo’s ‘safety’ he and his lab were moved back to Midgar.
A few months later, Hojo had attempted to convince Heidegger that the 6th should be rotated back to Midgar for ‘Resupply, Remanning, and Rest.’ Unfortunately for Hojo the 6th was already doing that in Costa Del Sol, and this was promptly pointed out by the base Commander who had overheard the conversation via speakerphone.
The last memorable attempt was when Hojo tried to trade Sephiroth for another fighter who Hojo had claimed would at least match Sephiroth as he was now. Instead of taking Hojo’s hints of replacement, Heidegger had leapt at the chance to have another so-called ‘Dragon slayer’ and immediately had the man transferred to the 11th.
He was dead three missions later.
Tucking away Runner’s grooming supplies, he hefted both saddle and bags onto one shoulder, gave his bird one last scratch under his chin with his other hand, and headed outside for the barracks.
Sephiroth knew that he would return to the labs one day. All he wished, all he hoped for, was that he will have seen enough of the world by then.
That he will have enough to stave off whatever Hojo had planned for him.
1986 - 02 - Fishing for Moonbacks
“This was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“At least we finally get to see what this ‘Shinra’ is all about.”
“I heard they’ll arrive tonight, and that they’re even going to take out some of the older infestations.”
“Now we’ll know what all the traders have been talking about.”
Leaving the market square and its usual cluster of gossips, Zack maneuvered through the crowd making sure not to bump into anyone, his basket of purchases carefully tucked under his arm. Eggs were fragile enough, they didn’t need his usual rough and tumble ways as well.
Now out of the crowds of the night’s last minute shoppers, Zack could relax a bit and pay more attention to what was going on. Around him he could see people already boarding up their homes, though it was still at least an hour till evening, the fear making them prepare early.
The foresters were the first to notice it, how the number of monsters was increasing, and how close they were getting to town. No one had paid their warnings any mind at first. But after a time, when it was obvious they were getting into the fields, only then did they heed the warnings and strengthen walls and doors, build shutters for their windows. Slowly people stopped leaving town and even the foresters pulled back to jungle just around town. And for the past month, as soon as the sun set, everyone stayed indoors, and barricaded themselves inside while the monsters sniffed at the cracks.
The farmers had it the easiest; their crops were all in, and now was the fallow time. The craftsmen as well; with a festival soon they had many projects to keep them busy. The herders-who spent nerve racking days on watch, rushed evenings securing their beasts, and tense nights listening and wondering what they would find come morning, and the foresters-who could go no further than an hour into the forest, who were well into picking the area clean, had it the hardest.
Zack's parents had always saved some money, not a lot, just a little here and there. But now after so long, it was starting to dry up, even with Zack adding his own feeble savings to the mix. That’s why he had decided to breach the wall; tonight he would hunt the Moonbacks. Moonbacks; as long as the hand and forearm of a grown man, a silvery-blue color with crescent moons running down their sides. Tonight was the first full moon after the Ohrizez orchids bloomed, and tonight the fish would be spawning. They, along with whatever else he picked up along the way would be his prey, and one less thing for his family to purchase come the morrow.
It would be the first time he had been out alone in the jungle at night. The handful of times so far he’d been with one of his parents or a larger group. And with so many monsters around he would have to be extra careful, more than he’d ever been, his family couldn’t afford it if he came back injured.
Finally coming to his home Zack totted up the stone path, still careful of the eggs. The house wasn’t the biggest, but it wasn’t the smallest either. It had two floors; the top all bedrooms, the bottom floor kitchen and sitting area, bathroom, and workroom. A small stone wall that came up to his father knees and the same color as the walkway surrounded the plot. Inside was a slightly disorganized looking garden, creepers and vines clung to the walls and roof, and had to be cut back once a year from doorways, windows, and anyplace else they pulled. All around were beds and small plots of various plants, only a handful were decoration, the rest were herbs for teas, potions, and tisanes.
The inside was all lighter woods, taken form trees that fell in a massive storm in his great-grandfathers time, wide windows always seemed to catch a breeze, and attached to the kitchen back door was a wide deck, perfect for eating on the hottest of days.
“I’m home!” Zack called, eyes blinking as he came in, readjusting to the darkness. The main room was split between the kitchen and the sitting area. The furniture was made of darker woods and colored fabrics that contrasted the pale walls and floor. On the right wall was a steep set of stairs and two doorways, the closer leading to the workroom, the farther the bathroom.
“Hi honey, just leave the basket on the counter and go get your father for me okay?” Zack’s mother was the classic Gongaga, bronze skin and spiky black hair that trailed down to her waist. Brilliant blue eyes looked out of a soft but angular face.
“Okay.” He answered, placing the basket beside her and heading for the workroom. Opening the door Zack stuck his head in. “Dad, dinner’s almost ready.”
“Okay kiddo; just hold this for me a sec, will ya?” His father was of lighter skin than his mother, with short brown hair. But it was from him that Zack inherited his eyes and easy smile
“Sure.” He said seeing the bow in his father’s hands. Holding the smoothed wood Zack watched his father reattach the leather of the handle with a few last stitches.
“Alright, now that’s done let’s go eat.”
***
The sun had set, the windows were shuttered tightly, the doors braced by the tables and chairs. It used to be he could run around for another hour or so before his mother or father would call him in for bed. Now it was board up the house, watch the last of the sun fade through the cracks, and then head for bed.
Zack couldn’t wait for this to end.
“’Night Mom. ‘Night Dad.” Zack told them, grabbing the railing to head upstairs. He was stopped however by his mother’s hand on his. Looking at him, she seemed to be working out what she wanted to say; as if how she said it was just as important as what she said.
Finally she just smiled at him. “Zack, try not to anything foolish, alright?” giving him a quick kiss she turned and walked to the bathroom door.
Zack stared after her for a second before he scrambled up the stairs. His mom knew, dangit, she knew. Shaking his head Zack briefly wondered why he even tried; it wasn’t like he had ever been able to put anything past his mother in the first place!
“Oh heck, too late to not go.” He told himself out loud as he went into his room. Stripping down to his boxers he waited. Waited until he heard his parents go to bed, waited until the evening birdsong faded, waited until the gagighandi howled their claims into the night. It was only then that he moved, reaching under the bed for the clothes he had stashed there earlier. All blacks and dark grays with leaves and ferns printed on them. The clothing of those who walked the jungle at night, given to him just this year; pants, sleeveless shirt, knee-length tunic, elbow gloves, all patterned to break up the outline of the human body, make it harder to see.
As he got dressed Zack tried to review what he had been taught of night hunting so far. His own trips had eventually been cancelled when it got to dangerous. He knew that the night rules were a little bit different than the day rules; that some of the flowers used to hide ones scent faded in strength when night fell, how different tactics were needed to move safely from location to location. How at night you never hunt straight forward, instead setting traps or using nets to catch your prey. And that when you are close to water never, ever, ever turn your back on the jungle for more than a few seconds. To look away longer was to invite attack.
And the last and ultimate rule to go by when you are night hunting: always assume that you yourself are being hunted.
Tying the last strap on his boot Zack picked up his hunting belt. Wide, designed to carry a large pouch, two smaller pouches, a small water bottle, and his knife. Finally dressed, he pulled the stool over to his dresser, and clearing the top, used the stool to get up on it. Slow fingers traced the edges of each board, counting carefully until he finally got to the right one.
The latch was hidden well, unless you knew it was there, it was hard to spot. Slowly Zack pushed the panel up, He didn’t know who made it, but the hidden door had been done well, there were even vines nearby for him to grab a hold of, and more on the top to hide it. Quietly shutting the door Zack waited until he heard a click, and then began the careful task of climbing down the vines.
It took only a few minutes to get to the trees, but with all the hiding and dodging he had to do it seemed to take forever. Reaching the tree line he pulled out his treeclaws and climbed. His parents had told him that most found climbing and walking the trees hard, but Zack had never found it to be much of a problem. Jumping from branch to branch, flying through the air, treeclaws and hands the only things keeping him from falling.
Pausing to catch his breath and sip from his canteen, Zack eyed the area below him. Normally he would have gotten here in half the time, but with the lack of light and the difference the night had made he had gone slower. As such the moon was almost at its zenith, he would have to hurry and get setup, otherwise the Moonbacks would start spawning before he was ready.
The spot was a bend in one of the many streams that fed the river running by town, here if formed a broad pond, home to a handful of jagged rocks speared up into the air. No one knew what had created such stones, but their presence caught the water, pulling at it until this house-sized pond had been made.
Sliding down to the ground he quickly began to set up, carefully anchoring his nets to the bottom and bank of the pond and the sharp rocks. The waist-high water would be perfect for when things started. When the Moonbacks began to spawn he would splash and drive the fish into the nets, the smaller ones could swim right through while the larger ones got tangled in the strings.
Finished and shaking the last few droplets from his hair, Zack settled in to wait; tucked beside the very flowers he had been waiting to bloom. A bit longer, maybe an hour at the most, and the fish would start. He knew he would get in trouble for this, but despite the scolding-and automatic grounding-Zack knew his parents would be grateful for the fish and perhaps a little proud of him. That is if he came back unharmed, he reminded himself, beginning a check on his surroundings.
That was when he heard it, not the silence, which had become so pronounced as the year passed, but something else. A rasping noise, like someone with a deep chest trying to quickly calm their breathing after a hard run. To his left and a little behind, the leaves rustling helped, but he couldn’t figure if it was moving or settling its feet, whatever it was.
Slowly Zack drew his knife and brought it up to use as a mirror. It took him a few seconds to find it. There, tucked underneath the open root of one of the jungles true giants was a grand horn. From the size of both its body and horn he judged it to be a yearling, just kicked out of the nest this year.
And from the looks of it, it wanted to give human a try.
The distance between the two was too great for a single leap; it would have to make a second jump, most likely off one of the exposed roots from another tree. If he could get under it during that second jump he could do damage, maybe even kill it if he was lucky.
Seconds stretched into minutes as he waited for the grand horn to move. Not even the splashing signaling the start of the spawning got a twitch-despite how badly he wanted to start fishing. In fact the only reason he was even considering moving was the cramp just beginning to tingle in his leg-
It jumped, aiming for the highest of the roots to leap again. Zack turned to face it, knife out and ready to roll. The grand horn landed but he still waited. He had to wait until it started using its back legs, until it was committed to the jump. And jump it did, roaring fit to wake the dead, meaning to intimidate, to freeze its prey. And now he rolled; right leg out to stop his movement, hands cupped around the knife hilt, thrusting it upward and catching the monster just below the ribs, its own momentum pulling it across the blade. The knife was finally pulled from his hands when it reached the tail, blade getting caught on the longer scales.
Ignoring his wrenched hands Zack rolled again, shoving his back against the very tree whose root had acted as the grand horn’s springboard. He turned in time to see it land, to hear it grunt, whine, to hear the sound of something thick and wet hit the ground, and finally the monster itself crumple to the forest floor.
“In-ter-es-ting”
Zack’s reaction was the combination of an adrenaline caused knee-jerk and the warning’s ingrained into him by his parent of what he should do if a voice he didn’t recognize addressed him out in the jungle.
He climbed.
Hands, feet, and treeclaws got him up the tree he had been leaning against faster than any he had before. He climbed until he got to those branches that were thick enough he could treewalk, but high enough he would have a few seconds to get away if whoever was below came up after him.
After taking a second to catch his breath Zack stretched his foot down, moving aside one of the smaller leafy branches in order to see below.
On some level he noted the dozen or so men scattered in the clearing. Three were by the pond looking at his nets; another pair by the monster corpse-one was holding his knife, cleaning it off. But what caught his attention, what held it, were the eyes.
Eyes a crystalline green, a color he’d never seen in any dye before. Eyes like new-born materia, eyes like the purest of magic’s, the rawest life.
Eyes Zack would never forget.
1986 - 03 - Walking Home
The jungle was quiet, as were all places that stood witness to a massacre were. The 6th had been hunting since early evening and running strong. Even with all the blood and corpses they were leaving, this section of the woods would be fairly safe for a while yet.
Despite the boy’s attempt at silence, they had been able to track him. The way he moved through the trees, it had been obvious he knew where he was going. And using the trees themselves as a road, none of them had ever seen that before. He had been moving too fast for them to stop him without causing a fall, and since he seemed to know where he was going, combined with the orders passed down last year to watch for any suspicious individuals, they had decided to see where he would lead them.
They had not expected a clear pool of water, pierced in the center by sharp rocks. They had not expected the boy to pull out and setup nets, and do so in such a way as to indicate that he knew exactly what he was doing. They hadn’t expected him to detect the grand horn sneaking up behind him, using the raised roots as cover.
They had watched the boy measure the distance between himself and the monster. Watched him wait; patient as stone for the grand horn to attack. Watched as the boy’s patience paid off when the beast made the first move. Oh, if his life had been in danger they would intervene, but until they knew who he was, they would wait and watch.
He knew he shouldn’t have spoken, but Sephiroth was glad he had, watching the boy climb had not only been fascinating, but rather educational. And despite it taking a quarter of an hour for the Captain to coax him back down, Sephiroth remained unrepentant, and couldn’t help being curious of the amused looks been exchanged by his squad mates.
However, after hearing him talk to the Captain-saying that he was here to fish the creatures that were starting to spawn in the lagoon-he had the distinct feeling that something was going unsaid, something that Sephiroth wanted-no, needed to understand. What was the boy not saying, and why wasn’t he saying it? And why was it that his squad mates seemed to understand what was going on?
Blinking at the silence, he turned back to the boy; Zack Fair of Gongaga Village, and the Captain, who was now staring at him, the look on his face telling of the scenarios running through his mind as he now took the child’s presence into account.
“Even if you washed it off, you’d still smell of blood. I hate to say it kid, but need or not, with blood in the air, it’s too dangerous for you to be out tonight. Even if you handled this one, it was a yearling, a full adult would snap you right up. You’ll need someone with you to make sure you get home safe.” The Captain looked around the clearing, trying to decide who to send back with the child.
“I’ll escort him back to the village.” Since the boy seemed to be the source of what was going on, perhaps by spending time with him, he could learn what it was. The Captain looked at him with no small amount of surprise in his eyes, but since he didn’t immediately disapprove it meant he was considering.
“Actually, that might be for the best, you on your own can easily handle anything this jungle can throw at you. All right then Sergeant, you escort young Fair here home, we’ll leave you a trail so you can catch up after.” Nodding in acknowledgement, Sephiroth watched as the 6th got themselves reorganized to handle his absence, and within a minute they were gone, leaving him alone with the boy.
“Umm…it’s not that I mind someone walking me home, but would it be okay if I did some fishing first? I mean it is why I’m out here and all, and it’d be a waste to go back without any right?” the boy peered up at him, hands behind his head, smiling up through spiked black hair that seemed not to understand gravities call, smiling as if he weren’t looking at the most dangerous creature in the jungle.
“I don’t mind waiting, but I suggest you hurry. The fresh blood will attract predators, and if too many arrive, there will be no time for you to dress the carcass.” The boy blinked, if anything his smile getting bigger.
“Okay!” Sephiroth watched with some curiosity as the boy dashed off towards the pool, only to stop halfway and turn back to look at him. He couldn’t suppress raising an eyebrow as the child observed him for some moments before finally speaking.
“What’s your name?” He was…surprised. Surprised that the boy would ask such a question.
“Sergeant Sephiroth, Shinra Security Division, 6th Squad.”
“Okay Mr. Sephiroth, I’ll be finished soon!”
***
He had watched the boy fish, chasing the creatures around the pool until the largest were well entangled. The boy then patiently, carefully, detangled all but the largest, those he bashed on the head with his knife hilt, and tossed onto shore. Once done with that he collected his nets, tucked them away, and gutted the fish, tossing the offal into the water for the others to eat. The fillet’s he packed into a backpack that he pulled out from his back pouch.
Then with the backpack in one hand he had turned to the carcass, weighing his current load to decide how much more he could fit and still travel. Sephiroth had simply told him to add what he could, and that he would carry the rest for him. The boy’s look of surprise had been…disquieting, also confusing. What he suggested made sense, after all the child was unenhanced, and thus couldn’t carry all of the fish and grand horn combined. The 6th didn’t need the meat, if the boy didn’t take it, it would go to waste, and enough food had been wasted tonight. Sephiroth’s solution was perfectly logical, so why was the boy surprised?
‘Perhaps he did not expect me to help.’ He had though, waiting as the boy finished preparing the monsters’ flesh for transport. ‘Perhaps he thought that I would only guard as I was told to by the Captain.’ It was a possible reason.
***
They had been walking for at least and hour, the boy Zack carrying the fish and a few pieces of grand horn meat, Sephiroth with the rest of the grand horn. Despite the time they had spent walking, they had only gotten about a fifth of the way back. This was because every dozen meters or so, Zack would climb one of the trees, use the stars to check in which direction the village was, and pick a new landmark to aim for. While he had known that seafarers navigated by the stars, he hadn’t realized that jungle foresters did the same.
That wasn’t the only delay of course. They kept bumping into scavengers, several of the smaller monsters, and many, many kiss me’s. Sephiroth was starting to realize why the locals considered the small jumping frogs more dangerous than any other creature in the jungle.
‘In fact…’ halting, he raised a hand to stop the boy while he listened. Yes he could hear another monster just ahead, hissing and growling. “Wait here.” He told the boy, removing his pack and slipping ahead.
He only needed to move a dozen meters before finding it, an adult grand horn. Large, scales almost a pure black instead of the yearlings green, three long scars covered its right eye and cheek. Its tail was also a patchwork of scars.
And it perfectly matched the descriptions given to the 6th by several other villages that they had come through, descriptions of a grand horn that had killed at least seven people. While normally, to save time he might leave it be and slip by, however, with a known man-eater around, he had to assume that any grand horn that matched the description was the culprit. It was the only way to make sure that they got it.
The grand horn was marking its territory, scratching the trees and urinating on the roots. As it moved from tree to tree it came closer and closer towards Sephiroth’s location. Considering where it had marked in the past, and the angles available to him, Sephiroth carefully chose his plan of attack. It just meant waiting for the monster to get into the right-
He lunged, blade coming down on the creature’s neck. Thus ending its days of feasting upon human flesh.
“Amazing! You were so fast, and you got it in one shot!” He turned, blade swinging the moment the boy spoke, checking his swing two thirds through when he realized who it was.
“Do not do that, I could have hurt you or worse.” Sephiroth told the child sternly, wiping and sheathing his sword.
The boy blinked, as if just now realizing the danger of what he had done. “Oh, sorry, my bad.” He apologized, hands back behind his head.
“As long as you are aware and do not do that again. And where is your cargo?” Sephiroth asked, not seeing the pack he should have been carrying. If the child dumped it to watch him…
“Don’t worry; I stashed it up a tree before I followed you.” He reassured. “And most of the tree hunters are day-time, so it should be pretty safe up there for a while.” His eyes sidled over to the monster, and surprise grew in them. “Wow! This one was old, over twenty easy.” Sephiroth was surprised; he didn’t know Zack would realize the significance of the grand horn’s color.
“Zack, is there anymore room in the packs?”
“Uh, sure, I think there’s a bit more room. Why?”
“It would not be wise to let all this go to waste, if you will go get the packs, I will begin dressing this beast.”
“Really? Okay, I’ll be right back.” Zack said dashing off though the undergrowth.
Within minutes Zack had brought both packs to the clearing, Sephiroth had cleaned the meat, and both packs were as full as they could carry. Zack climbed a tree to get their location, and they were moving once more.
“Hey, why do your eyes glow? And how did you get so strong?”
“Shinra’s SOLDIER program, the eye glow is a side effect of the process that enhances ones strength.” It was the basic answer, what they told everyone who asked. Zack fell silent, as if thinking over what he said.
From what Sephiroth had observed of Zack so far was contradictory. He took risks, sometimes he thought them through, and sometimes he didn’t. Or perhaps it was that he ignored any danger and took those risks anyway. He also smiled, a lot; it was a smile that was different from any he had ever seen, which made him both wary and curious. Then there was his knowledge of the jungle, it was quite clear that Zack had received some training, but that that training was incomplete. Despite this and what else he had observed, Sephiroth still felt as if he hadn’t learned everything. He had yet to find out what had gone unsaid when Zack had first met the 6th. He wanted to know, to understand what he had not been able to pick up when all of his squad mates had obviously understood what it was.
It was another couple of hours before he smelled their goal. Dung, beast, and the other scents he had long ago learned to associate with human settlements. They were perhaps half and hour to 45 minutes from Gongaga. But as they approached he couldn’t help but notice the quiet. Where were the watches? Gongaga was known for its foresters, why were none around the village watching for danger? Why was there no sign of any patrols being done?
“Zack, why is there no night watch? Why have we not been challenged?” Sephiroth scanned the forest for danger, if the night watch had been attacked and killed while the 6th was away…Zack’s mumbled answer caught his attention, and his “What?” caused the boy to jerk his head back up to meet Sephiroth’s eyes.
“It’s like this.” Zack sighed, “For the past month, as soon as the sun starts to set, everyone boards themselves up inside their homes. It was after the monsters started coming into town, especially after they started sniffing at the doors and windows, and some were having hysterics when we found they were scent-marking some of the buildings.”
“This must have been building for quite some time, why didn’t you send for help?” Sephiroth couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.
“We did, eight months ago when the farmers started to find footprints and spore in their fields, and again when the herders found traces by the livestock pens.”
“I see.” He felt…uneasy, it should not have taken so long for a squad to be dispatched, so why had they gone eight months without the help the villagers so obviously needed?
Walking through the town was unnerving. With temperatures this hot, every window should have been thrown open to catch the breeze, instead they were shut tight. He could detect no animals, not even a house cat out hunting mice; he couldn’t even detect any mice!
Finally they came to Zack’s home. Sephiroth noted the low stone wall, the matching walkway, the garden crammed with herbal plants, the vines and crawlers covering the house. It was small, and like all buildings in the village, tall.
“Zack, why is there no one awake to watch for your return? I doubt you would wish to wake your neighbors yelling for your parents.”
“Well you see,” His hand was rubbing the back of his head, looking up a Sephiroth from beneath his bangs; Zack gave him another of those smiles. “You see, my parents don’t know I out here. I snuck out.”
“I’m assuming you did so without detracting from the fortifications that protect your parents sleep?” He made it more a question than a statement. Wondering why he would have gone out without permission.
“Oh yeah, C’mere.” Zack waved for Sephiroth to come around to the right side of the house. “There’s a hatch in the roof of my room. The vines hide it, and I know they don’t look it, but they’re strong enough to climb.” Looking at the roof above them he could see a grouping of vines that was ever-so slightly higher than the rest of the foliage.
“But in the morning, when your parents find the meat, won’t they realize it was you?”
“Yeah, I’ll be in trouble. But I had to so something, I had to help.”
“True. But if you knew you would get in trouble, why did you go out anyway? Why purposely put yourself in danger?”
Zack looked at him as if he had just said something in a foreign language. “Because you’re supposed to look after your family, even if it means getting into trouble.” Sephiroth let that roll around in his head for a few minutes; Zack knew that if he went out he would be punished, despite this he still went out to get the supplies his family needed, because…because, you were supposed to take care of your family? But still…
But he had to finish this task, and standing here woolgathering wouldn’t get it done. “Zack, if it will bear the weight, go ahead and climb up. I’ll keep watch.” The youngster nodded, and after shrugging his shoulders to adjust his pack, carefully made his way up the vines. Zack, it seemed, could climb vines as well as he climbed trees.
“Okay, I’m up.”
He eyed the vine, judging by the way it moved when Zack had climbed it, even himself unburdened would be too much for the plant. Fortunately, there was a different route he could take.
Crouching down till his fingers touched the ground, he gauged the distance, and jumping upwards neatly landed beside Zack. His method of ascent however, was definitely not expected, as evidenced by the other start of surprise.
“Wow! You guys really can do some serious stuff. Even dragons I bet!”
“Only occasionally.” He told Zack, raising an eyebrow when the youngster gave him a look of astonishment. When it seemed he wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon, he tapped the roof with his foot to remind Zack of the task at hand. “Get below and I’ll pass the rest down.”
“Oh right, sorry.” Zack reached under the vines, and after searching for a moment, opened up the hatch. Below the opening was furniture of some sort, probably some low shelves or a dresser. Zack eased himself down onto it, then to the floor where he removed his pack and hopped back up for the rest. Being careful not to overburden him, Sephiroth passed down the rest of the meat.
Standing Sephiroth gave his surroundings a quick scan before looking back down at Zack, now standing half out of the hatch. “I imagine you have done enough hunting for one night.” He paused, trying to decide what else to say but settled for “I wish you well, and suggest that you do no night hunting for a while.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Goodnight Sephiroth, and good hunting.” Zack replied, smiling another smile that he had no name for.
“Goodnight.” Sephiroth nodded, closing the hatch after Zack had descended. Taking a moment to make sure the vines were in their proper place, he dropped down to the ground.
Retracing his steps was simple; he had made sure he remembered the landmarks they had used to navigate their way to the village. All he had to do was follow them back to the pool where the 6th had had run into Zack, and from there, follow the marks and cairns left by his squad mates to catch up with them.
Because your supposed to take care of your family.
Of all the reasons Sephiroth had ever heard to do something, it was perhaps, the most…unbeneficial? Yes, the most unbeneficial to themselves he had ever heard.
Sephiroth couldn’t help but wonder; what it would be like, to have someone who cared about him enough that they would not only break the rules to help him, and accept without complaint the punishment, but expect nothing in return?
He also couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to so the same for another, to, care for them, that much.
Stepping out into the clearing where Zack had fished for Moonbacks, Sephiroth shook his head at his folly. He needed to focus, find the trail his squad had left for him and catch up to them quickly before they had to stop and wait, or retrace their own steps to find him. And wouldn’t Hojo love using that to get him back in the labs?
Besides, he knew better than to dwell on what would never be.
1986 - 04 - Listening in the Wind
The gong rang, announcing the hour; it was late, not so late that the sun had set, but late enough that the classrooms were empty and the training fields abandoned. The birds were beginning to tune up, getting ready for their evening chorus. Not all the birds though, several were busy nest building. Creating new homes in the wisteria that curled and clung to the patch-work of roof, lattice, and support beams.
In reality the only thing holding the building together was the vine itself. It had taken over this place long forgotten by the palace. Perhaps once a temple, a dojo, a tea house, or maybe a simple storage room. It didn’t really matter what it once had been, it belonged to someone else now.
Now, it was Aeris’s Garden.
Cloud carefully closed his hand around the weed’s stem and gently pulled-only to have it snap right off. Sighing he tossed the greenery behind him and plunged his fingers into the dirt to get the root. He had been released from the hospital two days ago. And this time it had taken him a lot longer to pass the release test, the test that anyone who’d gone through a Process had to pass in order to get out. It made Cloud uneasy, not being able to control his own strength, his mother had told him that it was okay that it took longer this time; it just meant he had gotten a lot stronger this time around. But he wasn’t so sure.
Especially since while he may have passed the hospitals standard, he had yet to pass Aeris’s, and her standard was a whole ‘nother plate of rice balls.
“Pull 100 weeds straight without breaking a single stem.”
In principle it sounded easy enough, just grip the weed between 1/4 to 1/3 up from the root and pull with just the right amount of force to get the whole thing out. In practice it was much harder, Cloud had been working on this since his first morning out of the medic’s hands.
His longest run so far was 39.
He was hopping to get past 40 before dinner.
They were out in the western area of the garden; Cloud was ‘weeding’ while Aeris was moving the stone footpath that ran through this side. Aeris kept the hardier plants outside, as they had a greater chance of surviving the rotation of which side she allowed to go wild for a year. The more delicate ones were inside, where he was currently banished from until he could pass Aeris’s test.
Aeris claimed letting parts of the garden go wild was good for it, made the surviving plants stronger. Cloud figured it was something else, not only with the timing of her taming the areas left to go wild, but also while he was here he seemed beyond the bullies reach. As far as he knew, none of them had ever come here, and Cloud knew it wasn’t because they weren’t invited.
Aeris had her own way of keeping unwanted thing from getting into her garden.
Feeling the wind stir the hairs of his nape, Cloud rubbed the back of his neck, soothing the blond strands back into place. As he did so he automatically looked over at Aeris and noticed how she was sitting.
Kneeling on the scruffy lawn, one hand outstretched towards the ground, fingers just brushing the blades of grass. Her other hand was folded picture perfect into her lap, her head was tilted back a little and cocked to the side, as if listening to someone whisper beside her.
Its not the first time he’s seen her do this, no matter if she was sitting, standing, or walking, and always, only when the wind blew. If anyone remembered this habit, it was because of what would happen after, when she would say things. Things about Shinra and its activities. Things about happenings both far away and within the very court itself. Also strange things that made no sense at all.
“The dragon and the wolf-pup had a nice walk through the jungle. But while the pup stayed, the dragon returned to his Thunder.”
“Hey Aeris?”
“Mmm?” She responded, not changing her pose a hair.
“What are you listening to?”
That was what broke her composure. As she turned to him, he could she a myriad of emotions running across her face. They came and went so fast all he caught was surprise and worry.
And for the first time ever, she didn’t look at him, and her hands, no longer perfectly folded, clung to each other, as if to let go was to lose everything.
“Do…do you really want to know Cloud?”
Did he? Her listening wasn’t the only thing he kept noticing. There was the way the priests and nobles-especially those from the south-treated her, how it seemed the plants sang for her when she touched them. These and more, he noticed, he wondered.
He did want to know.
“Yeah-I mean. Yes. I do.”
She inhaled slowly, her hands clenched even harder. “When I do that, I’m listening in the wind.” Her eyes looked at his for only a second, and then went back down, flitting from flower to flower, as if trying to look everywhere but at him. And for some reason, Cloud had the distinct feeling that Aeris was trying to perform the Mini spell, but without any magic involved.
Okay. She could listen in the wind. He’d never heard of that, that was…Huh, listening in the wind, that was, wait, wha-
“What?” He should have been embarrassed, but at the moment he really couldn’t care less about the expression on his face perfectly matching that one chocobo who’d gotten picked up, tack and all, by processed samurai, and then trotted around the practice yard on the man’s back.
“Wait-How do yo-That dosen-“ Knowing that he was trying to say too much at once, and that him waving his arms around wasn’t helping, he shut his mouth and brought both palms flat to his thighs. Then he raised his left arm, and waving his hand over his head once, made a whooshing noise. He figured Aeris would get the idea.
Still not looking at him, Aeris continued. “Sometimes when the wind blows, it brings me things; snippets of conversations, little flashes of things happening, both close and far away. And if I grab onto those pieces, the wind will open for me, showing me, or letting me hear someplace else.”
Aeris cold use the wind to see and hear things else ware, huh. Something kept tickling at the back of his mind as Cloud thought about it. So when Aeris took that pose, when she looked like she was listening to something that wasn’t there, she was really listening to what the wind had brought her. But if that happened when the wind blew…
“But the wind blows all the time; doesn’t it give you a headache?”
She stared at him now, plain astonishment on her face. “Aeris?” Cloud couldn’t help the tone of worry in his voice as he wondered what he had said-
Then she was hugging him, her face buried in his shoulder, shacking as she clung to him. With knowing only what his mother did to comfort him when he was upset, he copied his memories of what she would do as best he could. He rubbed Aeris’s back and held her close and made soothing noises as best he could.
Eventually she stopped crying, but stayed curled up next to him. “Um, Aeris? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just wasn’t sure how you would react when I told you about the wind, that’s all.”
“But it does-blow a lot-the wind I mean, and why wouldn’t I be okay with it? If this wasn’t a part of you, you wouldn’t be able to do it right?”
“That’s why I’m happy. And no it doesn’t give me a headache.” She told him, finally looking at him and smiling that smile that told him he had done something really, really right.
“Oh good.” He said as she sat up. Reaching behind him Cloud grabbed one of the napkins from the remains of their lunch and handed it to her so she could wipe her face. It was watching this that finally turned the tickle of an idea that had been bugging him into a full blown thought.
“Hey Aeris, can you have the wind look at something you want?”
“Well, if the wind doesn’t bring me anything and I concentrate hard enough. But the wind doesn’t like being told what to do, so it’s tiring.” She looked at him curiously, dropping the napkin back into the basket. “Why?”
“I think the bullies are Up To Something again.”
1986 - 05 - Questions and Answers
The air, which only minutes ago had been filled with the sounds of mock-combat, was still. The leaves now fell unimpeded to the ground; the trees-which seemed to be getting used to being used as springboards-were allowed to stop vibrating.
Four months into her training Zangan had declared that the village-especially her backyard-were not good training areas. So while they jogged to increase Tifa’s endurance, they had kept their eyes out for a suitable location. Eventually they had found this little clearing, just big enough for their needs; with a rows of rocks to act as benches, and a couple of downed trees for balance practice.
Stretching her legs to keep them from stiffening, Tifa unscrewed her canteen and swallowed a mouthful. She couldn’t suppress a wince when her arm refused to lift no higher than her shoulder. While Zangan had gone easy on her, he made sure that when she failed to block, it hurt.
“Tifa, how long have we been student and teacher?” She blinked in surprise; time was a topic that had never come up before.
“About a year.” She answered, watching him closely, Zangan had never told her at what point he started weaning his students into their own independence.
“Really? Then it’s just the right time to ask.” Running a hand through his hair, the expression on his face telling her that his thoughts had turned to the past. Either of his past students or his time with his own teacher.
“Zangan?”
“Tifa, I have a question for you. And I want you to think about it.”
She relaxed a little at hearing that phrase. Usually what followed those words was a puzzle or a piece of wisdom he wished her to understand. Zangan called them ’Mental Exercises’ Tifa called them what they were; the experience of the elders, knowledge to be passed down from one generation to the next.
“A question you want me to think about?” She prompted, knowing her part. “What is it?” but before, each one had been based on her progress, not on the passage of time.
“The question is this: What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?”
“Huh?” The look Tifa gave him was one of pure bewilderment. Strength? Why would he want her to think about strength? And what did he mean about the last part, how she perceived it towards herself.
Standing, Zangan brushed the dust form his pants and headed for the trail. “I’ll be gone for a few days; I want you to think it over while I’m gone: What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?”
Watching him walk out of the full sun and into the shade of the trees finally pulled Tifa out of her shock. Grabbing her towel and canteen she scrambled to her feet-once again wincing as her body protested the sudden movement so soon after their workout, and moved to follow.
Only to jerk to a halt, seeing that Zangan had stopped at the head of the trail to look back at her. “I’ll get your answer when I get back, there isn’t any rush. Finish cooling off and then head home.” Giving her a wave he vanished into the trees, leaving her gaping in the clearing.
What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?
How was she supposed to answer that?
***
Zangan had left the following morning. Reminding Tifa of the question, and that he would want her answer upon his return. Tifa had seen him off, watching him walk the trail leading down the mountain until she couldn’t see him anymore.
That had been three days ago, and though she had done much thinking, she was no closer to the answer.
In an effort to get some ideas, or maybe just understand the question better, she had started asking some of the other villagers. The responses were varied, but they helped in that they gave her another’s point of view.
From the Blacksmith she got that true strength was to be able to do what you needed to do.
From the Mid-wife Tifa was told that knowing when not to fight was true strength.
From the Teacher that had replaced Mrs. Strife when she vanished; she was told that knowing yourself was the key to true strength.
From her father…Well, the answer her father gave wasn’t one that Tifa really liked to think about.
Now sitting at the training spot, watching the sunset begin, she thought back to the day when she had tried to climb the mountain, to the few memories she had of that disastrous event.
The world was a haze fractured in black, and ringed with red. But through all that she could still tell it was Zangan in front of her, holding her, doing something that made the pain both easier to bear and yet so much worse.
“Hang on Tifa! Your a strong girl, you’ve gotten this far, I know you can go farther!”
If what Zangan had said was right, then she was already strong. Then what was the difference between being strong and true strength? From the sound of it, everyone had a different true strength, then, what kind of true strength did she want?
Nibbling on her thumbnail-the one bad habit Zangan had yet to train out of her-Tifa continued to stare into the sunset. Thinking of many things; of the kinds of strength that existed, what kinds she wanted for herself, and ultimately, what kind of person she wanted to be.
***
Muscle flexed under skin, hands whipped back and forth, leather and cotton ruffled and shifted as Tifa ran through her drills. Yesterdays drills had gone horribly, but his one was gong just fine. This morning she had finally decided on an answer to Zangan’s question. Well, it wasn’t a complete answer, that would probably take some more years for her to truly figure out. But for now, she would use what she had.
She heard his footsteps before he spoke, she knew it had to be him, if only for the fact that they were the only people to come here.
“Have you thought it over?”
“Yes, but its not a complete answer, I think its going to take me a few years before I can fully answer your question.”
“And what do you have so far?
“What is true strength? I don’t know; that is going to take me more than three days to answer. But strength in relation to myself, the kind of strength I want for me, that I have an answer to: I want a strength I can be proud of, a strength that I can use to do what I need or want to do, to protect what I care for, but I also want it to be a strength that I can use and no one will be scared of me for it.”
Zangan gave her that small smile, the one he gave her when she finally got a kata just right and he could teach her a new one.
“Very good Tifa. Sometimes knowing what you don’t know is just as important as what you do. And it’s alright if it takes you a while to answer this one, it certainly took me long enough. Now, let’s see if you’ve been practicing while I was away.”
On to the rest
Title: Wutaiverse - 1986 - 1/2
Author: Scrolls
Rating: PG-13?
Fandom/Pairing: FF7/None (eventual Aeris/Cloud/Sephiroth/Zack)
Disclaimer: SqaureEnix Owns, I'm just having some fun.
Notes: In which both Hojo and Godo are Plotting Something, Zack meets the Shiney of his dreams, Cloud and Aeris are cute and bond, Tifa and Yuffie both Come To A Decision, Tseng hammers home a point, and someone finally notices that Cloud has talent.
Summary: What if Momma Strife had taken Cloud and Aeris and gone to Wutai?
Constructive criticism will be hugged while flames will be used to line the bunny hutch.
Enjoy Ladies and Gentlemen.
Wutaiverse - 1986 - 1/2
1986 - 01 - Hojo’s Attempts
TO: Sergeant Sephiroth, Project Jenova, 6th Squad
FROM: Professor Hojo, Director of Shinra Research Department
RE: Current Standing Orders
In addition to your current standing orders to aide and assist the 6th Squad, you are also hereby ordered to report to Professor Hojo the next time your unit is in Midgar, no matter the reason or the length of stay.
Signed,
Professor Hojo, Director of Shinra Research Department
They had just arrived in Junon and hadn’t even finished bedding down their birds when the communications technician had arrived with the envelope. They were waiting to escort the Anwat Trader Caravan from Junon across the ocean to Costa Del Sol and then down to the southern holdings. The caravan was due to arrive in three days when they would take over from the third in its protection.
Sephiroth reread the letter, eyes trailing Hojo’s scrawling signature alone at the bottom. In every order concerning him, Shinra’s signature was always present and after joining the 6th Heidegger’s was added. The fact that they were missing was a telltale of how impatient Hojo was getting. This missive was just the latest try by Hojo to get him back to the labs, and knowing Hojo once he was in the lab, he would never leave again.
He had long since gotten used to keeping a near-subconscious track of his surroundings; as such it was no surprise to him when Captain Bradley stopped beside him on his way to check in with the base Administration. Bradley held out his hand and Sephiroth gave him the papers. Reading the message the Captain made the same noise he did whenever he got what he called “Bureaucratic crap from a Malboro’s ass.” Looking back up at him the Captain eyed Sephiroth for a moment before folding the papers up.
“I doubt that Shinra or Heidegger signed off on this. But I’m going check anyway, just to make sure. You go and get back to your bird. Tell Lieutenant Farley that I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He said giving Sephiroth’s bird a scratch before heading down the aisle.
Said avian gave him a rather pointed look about how patient it had been, and that it would really like to get back his grooming please. Turning back to his bird, Sephiroth automatically finished what was left while allowing his mind to wander, pondering the potential results of Hojo’s letter.
Over the past year and a half Hojo had tried several methods to have Sephiroth returned to him. One of the first was finding out which research facility the 6th would be assigned to next and getting the bulk of his lab transferred to the same place. As such when the 6th had finally arrived Hojo had become so settled in that no one objected when he ordered that a high-level containment transport be prepared to leave at a moments notice and then barged right into the barracks and calmly stated that Sephiroth would be coming with him for a ‘much needed and much missed regular checkup.’ That day was the very first that he was so glad that a monster had attacked. He had been only feet from the main entrance to Hojo’s newest domain when the horde of zemzelett’s had triggered the alarms. Afterwards, due to the amount of damage caused and Shinra’s concern for Hojo’s ‘safety’ he and his lab were moved back to Midgar.
A few months later, Hojo had attempted to convince Heidegger that the 6th should be rotated back to Midgar for ‘Resupply, Remanning, and Rest.’ Unfortunately for Hojo the 6th was already doing that in Costa Del Sol, and this was promptly pointed out by the base Commander who had overheard the conversation via speakerphone.
The last memorable attempt was when Hojo tried to trade Sephiroth for another fighter who Hojo had claimed would at least match Sephiroth as he was now. Instead of taking Hojo’s hints of replacement, Heidegger had leapt at the chance to have another so-called ‘Dragon slayer’ and immediately had the man transferred to the 11th.
He was dead three missions later.
Tucking away Runner’s grooming supplies, he hefted both saddle and bags onto one shoulder, gave his bird one last scratch under his chin with his other hand, and headed outside for the barracks.
Sephiroth knew that he would return to the labs one day. All he wished, all he hoped for, was that he will have seen enough of the world by then.
That he will have enough to stave off whatever Hojo had planned for him.
1986 - 02 - Fishing for Moonbacks
“This was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“At least we finally get to see what this ‘Shinra’ is all about.”
“I heard they’ll arrive tonight, and that they’re even going to take out some of the older infestations.”
“Now we’ll know what all the traders have been talking about.”
Leaving the market square and its usual cluster of gossips, Zack maneuvered through the crowd making sure not to bump into anyone, his basket of purchases carefully tucked under his arm. Eggs were fragile enough, they didn’t need his usual rough and tumble ways as well.
Now out of the crowds of the night’s last minute shoppers, Zack could relax a bit and pay more attention to what was going on. Around him he could see people already boarding up their homes, though it was still at least an hour till evening, the fear making them prepare early.
The foresters were the first to notice it, how the number of monsters was increasing, and how close they were getting to town. No one had paid their warnings any mind at first. But after a time, when it was obvious they were getting into the fields, only then did they heed the warnings and strengthen walls and doors, build shutters for their windows. Slowly people stopped leaving town and even the foresters pulled back to jungle just around town. And for the past month, as soon as the sun set, everyone stayed indoors, and barricaded themselves inside while the monsters sniffed at the cracks.
The farmers had it the easiest; their crops were all in, and now was the fallow time. The craftsmen as well; with a festival soon they had many projects to keep them busy. The herders-who spent nerve racking days on watch, rushed evenings securing their beasts, and tense nights listening and wondering what they would find come morning, and the foresters-who could go no further than an hour into the forest, who were well into picking the area clean, had it the hardest.
Zack's parents had always saved some money, not a lot, just a little here and there. But now after so long, it was starting to dry up, even with Zack adding his own feeble savings to the mix. That’s why he had decided to breach the wall; tonight he would hunt the Moonbacks. Moonbacks; as long as the hand and forearm of a grown man, a silvery-blue color with crescent moons running down their sides. Tonight was the first full moon after the Ohrizez orchids bloomed, and tonight the fish would be spawning. They, along with whatever else he picked up along the way would be his prey, and one less thing for his family to purchase come the morrow.
It would be the first time he had been out alone in the jungle at night. The handful of times so far he’d been with one of his parents or a larger group. And with so many monsters around he would have to be extra careful, more than he’d ever been, his family couldn’t afford it if he came back injured.
Finally coming to his home Zack totted up the stone path, still careful of the eggs. The house wasn’t the biggest, but it wasn’t the smallest either. It had two floors; the top all bedrooms, the bottom floor kitchen and sitting area, bathroom, and workroom. A small stone wall that came up to his father knees and the same color as the walkway surrounded the plot. Inside was a slightly disorganized looking garden, creepers and vines clung to the walls and roof, and had to be cut back once a year from doorways, windows, and anyplace else they pulled. All around were beds and small plots of various plants, only a handful were decoration, the rest were herbs for teas, potions, and tisanes.
The inside was all lighter woods, taken form trees that fell in a massive storm in his great-grandfathers time, wide windows always seemed to catch a breeze, and attached to the kitchen back door was a wide deck, perfect for eating on the hottest of days.
“I’m home!” Zack called, eyes blinking as he came in, readjusting to the darkness. The main room was split between the kitchen and the sitting area. The furniture was made of darker woods and colored fabrics that contrasted the pale walls and floor. On the right wall was a steep set of stairs and two doorways, the closer leading to the workroom, the farther the bathroom.
“Hi honey, just leave the basket on the counter and go get your father for me okay?” Zack’s mother was the classic Gongaga, bronze skin and spiky black hair that trailed down to her waist. Brilliant blue eyes looked out of a soft but angular face.
“Okay.” He answered, placing the basket beside her and heading for the workroom. Opening the door Zack stuck his head in. “Dad, dinner’s almost ready.”
“Okay kiddo; just hold this for me a sec, will ya?” His father was of lighter skin than his mother, with short brown hair. But it was from him that Zack inherited his eyes and easy smile
“Sure.” He said seeing the bow in his father’s hands. Holding the smoothed wood Zack watched his father reattach the leather of the handle with a few last stitches.
“Alright, now that’s done let’s go eat.”
***
The sun had set, the windows were shuttered tightly, the doors braced by the tables and chairs. It used to be he could run around for another hour or so before his mother or father would call him in for bed. Now it was board up the house, watch the last of the sun fade through the cracks, and then head for bed.
Zack couldn’t wait for this to end.
“’Night Mom. ‘Night Dad.” Zack told them, grabbing the railing to head upstairs. He was stopped however by his mother’s hand on his. Looking at him, she seemed to be working out what she wanted to say; as if how she said it was just as important as what she said.
Finally she just smiled at him. “Zack, try not to anything foolish, alright?” giving him a quick kiss she turned and walked to the bathroom door.
Zack stared after her for a second before he scrambled up the stairs. His mom knew, dangit, she knew. Shaking his head Zack briefly wondered why he even tried; it wasn’t like he had ever been able to put anything past his mother in the first place!
“Oh heck, too late to not go.” He told himself out loud as he went into his room. Stripping down to his boxers he waited. Waited until he heard his parents go to bed, waited until the evening birdsong faded, waited until the gagighandi howled their claims into the night. It was only then that he moved, reaching under the bed for the clothes he had stashed there earlier. All blacks and dark grays with leaves and ferns printed on them. The clothing of those who walked the jungle at night, given to him just this year; pants, sleeveless shirt, knee-length tunic, elbow gloves, all patterned to break up the outline of the human body, make it harder to see.
As he got dressed Zack tried to review what he had been taught of night hunting so far. His own trips had eventually been cancelled when it got to dangerous. He knew that the night rules were a little bit different than the day rules; that some of the flowers used to hide ones scent faded in strength when night fell, how different tactics were needed to move safely from location to location. How at night you never hunt straight forward, instead setting traps or using nets to catch your prey. And that when you are close to water never, ever, ever turn your back on the jungle for more than a few seconds. To look away longer was to invite attack.
And the last and ultimate rule to go by when you are night hunting: always assume that you yourself are being hunted.
Tying the last strap on his boot Zack picked up his hunting belt. Wide, designed to carry a large pouch, two smaller pouches, a small water bottle, and his knife. Finally dressed, he pulled the stool over to his dresser, and clearing the top, used the stool to get up on it. Slow fingers traced the edges of each board, counting carefully until he finally got to the right one.
The latch was hidden well, unless you knew it was there, it was hard to spot. Slowly Zack pushed the panel up, He didn’t know who made it, but the hidden door had been done well, there were even vines nearby for him to grab a hold of, and more on the top to hide it. Quietly shutting the door Zack waited until he heard a click, and then began the careful task of climbing down the vines.
It took only a few minutes to get to the trees, but with all the hiding and dodging he had to do it seemed to take forever. Reaching the tree line he pulled out his treeclaws and climbed. His parents had told him that most found climbing and walking the trees hard, but Zack had never found it to be much of a problem. Jumping from branch to branch, flying through the air, treeclaws and hands the only things keeping him from falling.
Pausing to catch his breath and sip from his canteen, Zack eyed the area below him. Normally he would have gotten here in half the time, but with the lack of light and the difference the night had made he had gone slower. As such the moon was almost at its zenith, he would have to hurry and get setup, otherwise the Moonbacks would start spawning before he was ready.
The spot was a bend in one of the many streams that fed the river running by town, here if formed a broad pond, home to a handful of jagged rocks speared up into the air. No one knew what had created such stones, but their presence caught the water, pulling at it until this house-sized pond had been made.
Sliding down to the ground he quickly began to set up, carefully anchoring his nets to the bottom and bank of the pond and the sharp rocks. The waist-high water would be perfect for when things started. When the Moonbacks began to spawn he would splash and drive the fish into the nets, the smaller ones could swim right through while the larger ones got tangled in the strings.
Finished and shaking the last few droplets from his hair, Zack settled in to wait; tucked beside the very flowers he had been waiting to bloom. A bit longer, maybe an hour at the most, and the fish would start. He knew he would get in trouble for this, but despite the scolding-and automatic grounding-Zack knew his parents would be grateful for the fish and perhaps a little proud of him. That is if he came back unharmed, he reminded himself, beginning a check on his surroundings.
That was when he heard it, not the silence, which had become so pronounced as the year passed, but something else. A rasping noise, like someone with a deep chest trying to quickly calm their breathing after a hard run. To his left and a little behind, the leaves rustling helped, but he couldn’t figure if it was moving or settling its feet, whatever it was.
Slowly Zack drew his knife and brought it up to use as a mirror. It took him a few seconds to find it. There, tucked underneath the open root of one of the jungles true giants was a grand horn. From the size of both its body and horn he judged it to be a yearling, just kicked out of the nest this year.
And from the looks of it, it wanted to give human a try.
The distance between the two was too great for a single leap; it would have to make a second jump, most likely off one of the exposed roots from another tree. If he could get under it during that second jump he could do damage, maybe even kill it if he was lucky.
Seconds stretched into minutes as he waited for the grand horn to move. Not even the splashing signaling the start of the spawning got a twitch-despite how badly he wanted to start fishing. In fact the only reason he was even considering moving was the cramp just beginning to tingle in his leg-
It jumped, aiming for the highest of the roots to leap again. Zack turned to face it, knife out and ready to roll. The grand horn landed but he still waited. He had to wait until it started using its back legs, until it was committed to the jump. And jump it did, roaring fit to wake the dead, meaning to intimidate, to freeze its prey. And now he rolled; right leg out to stop his movement, hands cupped around the knife hilt, thrusting it upward and catching the monster just below the ribs, its own momentum pulling it across the blade. The knife was finally pulled from his hands when it reached the tail, blade getting caught on the longer scales.
Ignoring his wrenched hands Zack rolled again, shoving his back against the very tree whose root had acted as the grand horn’s springboard. He turned in time to see it land, to hear it grunt, whine, to hear the sound of something thick and wet hit the ground, and finally the monster itself crumple to the forest floor.
“In-ter-es-ting”
Zack’s reaction was the combination of an adrenaline caused knee-jerk and the warning’s ingrained into him by his parent of what he should do if a voice he didn’t recognize addressed him out in the jungle.
He climbed.
Hands, feet, and treeclaws got him up the tree he had been leaning against faster than any he had before. He climbed until he got to those branches that were thick enough he could treewalk, but high enough he would have a few seconds to get away if whoever was below came up after him.
After taking a second to catch his breath Zack stretched his foot down, moving aside one of the smaller leafy branches in order to see below.
On some level he noted the dozen or so men scattered in the clearing. Three were by the pond looking at his nets; another pair by the monster corpse-one was holding his knife, cleaning it off. But what caught his attention, what held it, were the eyes.
Eyes a crystalline green, a color he’d never seen in any dye before. Eyes like new-born materia, eyes like the purest of magic’s, the rawest life.
Eyes Zack would never forget.
1986 - 03 - Walking Home
The jungle was quiet, as were all places that stood witness to a massacre were. The 6th had been hunting since early evening and running strong. Even with all the blood and corpses they were leaving, this section of the woods would be fairly safe for a while yet.
Despite the boy’s attempt at silence, they had been able to track him. The way he moved through the trees, it had been obvious he knew where he was going. And using the trees themselves as a road, none of them had ever seen that before. He had been moving too fast for them to stop him without causing a fall, and since he seemed to know where he was going, combined with the orders passed down last year to watch for any suspicious individuals, they had decided to see where he would lead them.
They had not expected a clear pool of water, pierced in the center by sharp rocks. They had not expected the boy to pull out and setup nets, and do so in such a way as to indicate that he knew exactly what he was doing. They hadn’t expected him to detect the grand horn sneaking up behind him, using the raised roots as cover.
They had watched the boy measure the distance between himself and the monster. Watched him wait; patient as stone for the grand horn to attack. Watched as the boy’s patience paid off when the beast made the first move. Oh, if his life had been in danger they would intervene, but until they knew who he was, they would wait and watch.
He knew he shouldn’t have spoken, but Sephiroth was glad he had, watching the boy climb had not only been fascinating, but rather educational. And despite it taking a quarter of an hour for the Captain to coax him back down, Sephiroth remained unrepentant, and couldn’t help being curious of the amused looks been exchanged by his squad mates.
However, after hearing him talk to the Captain-saying that he was here to fish the creatures that were starting to spawn in the lagoon-he had the distinct feeling that something was going unsaid, something that Sephiroth wanted-no, needed to understand. What was the boy not saying, and why wasn’t he saying it? And why was it that his squad mates seemed to understand what was going on?
Blinking at the silence, he turned back to the boy; Zack Fair of Gongaga Village, and the Captain, who was now staring at him, the look on his face telling of the scenarios running through his mind as he now took the child’s presence into account.
“Even if you washed it off, you’d still smell of blood. I hate to say it kid, but need or not, with blood in the air, it’s too dangerous for you to be out tonight. Even if you handled this one, it was a yearling, a full adult would snap you right up. You’ll need someone with you to make sure you get home safe.” The Captain looked around the clearing, trying to decide who to send back with the child.
“I’ll escort him back to the village.” Since the boy seemed to be the source of what was going on, perhaps by spending time with him, he could learn what it was. The Captain looked at him with no small amount of surprise in his eyes, but since he didn’t immediately disapprove it meant he was considering.
“Actually, that might be for the best, you on your own can easily handle anything this jungle can throw at you. All right then Sergeant, you escort young Fair here home, we’ll leave you a trail so you can catch up after.” Nodding in acknowledgement, Sephiroth watched as the 6th got themselves reorganized to handle his absence, and within a minute they were gone, leaving him alone with the boy.
“Umm…it’s not that I mind someone walking me home, but would it be okay if I did some fishing first? I mean it is why I’m out here and all, and it’d be a waste to go back without any right?” the boy peered up at him, hands behind his head, smiling up through spiked black hair that seemed not to understand gravities call, smiling as if he weren’t looking at the most dangerous creature in the jungle.
“I don’t mind waiting, but I suggest you hurry. The fresh blood will attract predators, and if too many arrive, there will be no time for you to dress the carcass.” The boy blinked, if anything his smile getting bigger.
“Okay!” Sephiroth watched with some curiosity as the boy dashed off towards the pool, only to stop halfway and turn back to look at him. He couldn’t suppress raising an eyebrow as the child observed him for some moments before finally speaking.
“What’s your name?” He was…surprised. Surprised that the boy would ask such a question.
“Sergeant Sephiroth, Shinra Security Division, 6th Squad.”
“Okay Mr. Sephiroth, I’ll be finished soon!”
***
He had watched the boy fish, chasing the creatures around the pool until the largest were well entangled. The boy then patiently, carefully, detangled all but the largest, those he bashed on the head with his knife hilt, and tossed onto shore. Once done with that he collected his nets, tucked them away, and gutted the fish, tossing the offal into the water for the others to eat. The fillet’s he packed into a backpack that he pulled out from his back pouch.
Then with the backpack in one hand he had turned to the carcass, weighing his current load to decide how much more he could fit and still travel. Sephiroth had simply told him to add what he could, and that he would carry the rest for him. The boy’s look of surprise had been…disquieting, also confusing. What he suggested made sense, after all the child was unenhanced, and thus couldn’t carry all of the fish and grand horn combined. The 6th didn’t need the meat, if the boy didn’t take it, it would go to waste, and enough food had been wasted tonight. Sephiroth’s solution was perfectly logical, so why was the boy surprised?
‘Perhaps he did not expect me to help.’ He had though, waiting as the boy finished preparing the monsters’ flesh for transport. ‘Perhaps he thought that I would only guard as I was told to by the Captain.’ It was a possible reason.
***
They had been walking for at least and hour, the boy Zack carrying the fish and a few pieces of grand horn meat, Sephiroth with the rest of the grand horn. Despite the time they had spent walking, they had only gotten about a fifth of the way back. This was because every dozen meters or so, Zack would climb one of the trees, use the stars to check in which direction the village was, and pick a new landmark to aim for. While he had known that seafarers navigated by the stars, he hadn’t realized that jungle foresters did the same.
That wasn’t the only delay of course. They kept bumping into scavengers, several of the smaller monsters, and many, many kiss me’s. Sephiroth was starting to realize why the locals considered the small jumping frogs more dangerous than any other creature in the jungle.
‘In fact…’ halting, he raised a hand to stop the boy while he listened. Yes he could hear another monster just ahead, hissing and growling. “Wait here.” He told the boy, removing his pack and slipping ahead.
He only needed to move a dozen meters before finding it, an adult grand horn. Large, scales almost a pure black instead of the yearlings green, three long scars covered its right eye and cheek. Its tail was also a patchwork of scars.
And it perfectly matched the descriptions given to the 6th by several other villages that they had come through, descriptions of a grand horn that had killed at least seven people. While normally, to save time he might leave it be and slip by, however, with a known man-eater around, he had to assume that any grand horn that matched the description was the culprit. It was the only way to make sure that they got it.
The grand horn was marking its territory, scratching the trees and urinating on the roots. As it moved from tree to tree it came closer and closer towards Sephiroth’s location. Considering where it had marked in the past, and the angles available to him, Sephiroth carefully chose his plan of attack. It just meant waiting for the monster to get into the right-
He lunged, blade coming down on the creature’s neck. Thus ending its days of feasting upon human flesh.
“Amazing! You were so fast, and you got it in one shot!” He turned, blade swinging the moment the boy spoke, checking his swing two thirds through when he realized who it was.
“Do not do that, I could have hurt you or worse.” Sephiroth told the child sternly, wiping and sheathing his sword.
The boy blinked, as if just now realizing the danger of what he had done. “Oh, sorry, my bad.” He apologized, hands back behind his head.
“As long as you are aware and do not do that again. And where is your cargo?” Sephiroth asked, not seeing the pack he should have been carrying. If the child dumped it to watch him…
“Don’t worry; I stashed it up a tree before I followed you.” He reassured. “And most of the tree hunters are day-time, so it should be pretty safe up there for a while.” His eyes sidled over to the monster, and surprise grew in them. “Wow! This one was old, over twenty easy.” Sephiroth was surprised; he didn’t know Zack would realize the significance of the grand horn’s color.
“Zack, is there anymore room in the packs?”
“Uh, sure, I think there’s a bit more room. Why?”
“It would not be wise to let all this go to waste, if you will go get the packs, I will begin dressing this beast.”
“Really? Okay, I’ll be right back.” Zack said dashing off though the undergrowth.
Within minutes Zack had brought both packs to the clearing, Sephiroth had cleaned the meat, and both packs were as full as they could carry. Zack climbed a tree to get their location, and they were moving once more.
“Hey, why do your eyes glow? And how did you get so strong?”
“Shinra’s SOLDIER program, the eye glow is a side effect of the process that enhances ones strength.” It was the basic answer, what they told everyone who asked. Zack fell silent, as if thinking over what he said.
From what Sephiroth had observed of Zack so far was contradictory. He took risks, sometimes he thought them through, and sometimes he didn’t. Or perhaps it was that he ignored any danger and took those risks anyway. He also smiled, a lot; it was a smile that was different from any he had ever seen, which made him both wary and curious. Then there was his knowledge of the jungle, it was quite clear that Zack had received some training, but that that training was incomplete. Despite this and what else he had observed, Sephiroth still felt as if he hadn’t learned everything. He had yet to find out what had gone unsaid when Zack had first met the 6th. He wanted to know, to understand what he had not been able to pick up when all of his squad mates had obviously understood what it was.
It was another couple of hours before he smelled their goal. Dung, beast, and the other scents he had long ago learned to associate with human settlements. They were perhaps half and hour to 45 minutes from Gongaga. But as they approached he couldn’t help but notice the quiet. Where were the watches? Gongaga was known for its foresters, why were none around the village watching for danger? Why was there no sign of any patrols being done?
“Zack, why is there no night watch? Why have we not been challenged?” Sephiroth scanned the forest for danger, if the night watch had been attacked and killed while the 6th was away…Zack’s mumbled answer caught his attention, and his “What?” caused the boy to jerk his head back up to meet Sephiroth’s eyes.
“It’s like this.” Zack sighed, “For the past month, as soon as the sun starts to set, everyone boards themselves up inside their homes. It was after the monsters started coming into town, especially after they started sniffing at the doors and windows, and some were having hysterics when we found they were scent-marking some of the buildings.”
“This must have been building for quite some time, why didn’t you send for help?” Sephiroth couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.
“We did, eight months ago when the farmers started to find footprints and spore in their fields, and again when the herders found traces by the livestock pens.”
“I see.” He felt…uneasy, it should not have taken so long for a squad to be dispatched, so why had they gone eight months without the help the villagers so obviously needed?
Walking through the town was unnerving. With temperatures this hot, every window should have been thrown open to catch the breeze, instead they were shut tight. He could detect no animals, not even a house cat out hunting mice; he couldn’t even detect any mice!
Finally they came to Zack’s home. Sephiroth noted the low stone wall, the matching walkway, the garden crammed with herbal plants, the vines and crawlers covering the house. It was small, and like all buildings in the village, tall.
“Zack, why is there no one awake to watch for your return? I doubt you would wish to wake your neighbors yelling for your parents.”
“Well you see,” His hand was rubbing the back of his head, looking up a Sephiroth from beneath his bangs; Zack gave him another of those smiles. “You see, my parents don’t know I out here. I snuck out.”
“I’m assuming you did so without detracting from the fortifications that protect your parents sleep?” He made it more a question than a statement. Wondering why he would have gone out without permission.
“Oh yeah, C’mere.” Zack waved for Sephiroth to come around to the right side of the house. “There’s a hatch in the roof of my room. The vines hide it, and I know they don’t look it, but they’re strong enough to climb.” Looking at the roof above them he could see a grouping of vines that was ever-so slightly higher than the rest of the foliage.
“But in the morning, when your parents find the meat, won’t they realize it was you?”
“Yeah, I’ll be in trouble. But I had to so something, I had to help.”
“True. But if you knew you would get in trouble, why did you go out anyway? Why purposely put yourself in danger?”
Zack looked at him as if he had just said something in a foreign language. “Because you’re supposed to look after your family, even if it means getting into trouble.” Sephiroth let that roll around in his head for a few minutes; Zack knew that if he went out he would be punished, despite this he still went out to get the supplies his family needed, because…because, you were supposed to take care of your family? But still…
But he had to finish this task, and standing here woolgathering wouldn’t get it done. “Zack, if it will bear the weight, go ahead and climb up. I’ll keep watch.” The youngster nodded, and after shrugging his shoulders to adjust his pack, carefully made his way up the vines. Zack, it seemed, could climb vines as well as he climbed trees.
“Okay, I’m up.”
He eyed the vine, judging by the way it moved when Zack had climbed it, even himself unburdened would be too much for the plant. Fortunately, there was a different route he could take.
Crouching down till his fingers touched the ground, he gauged the distance, and jumping upwards neatly landed beside Zack. His method of ascent however, was definitely not expected, as evidenced by the other start of surprise.
“Wow! You guys really can do some serious stuff. Even dragons I bet!”
“Only occasionally.” He told Zack, raising an eyebrow when the youngster gave him a look of astonishment. When it seemed he wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon, he tapped the roof with his foot to remind Zack of the task at hand. “Get below and I’ll pass the rest down.”
“Oh right, sorry.” Zack reached under the vines, and after searching for a moment, opened up the hatch. Below the opening was furniture of some sort, probably some low shelves or a dresser. Zack eased himself down onto it, then to the floor where he removed his pack and hopped back up for the rest. Being careful not to overburden him, Sephiroth passed down the rest of the meat.
Standing Sephiroth gave his surroundings a quick scan before looking back down at Zack, now standing half out of the hatch. “I imagine you have done enough hunting for one night.” He paused, trying to decide what else to say but settled for “I wish you well, and suggest that you do no night hunting for a while.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Goodnight Sephiroth, and good hunting.” Zack replied, smiling another smile that he had no name for.
“Goodnight.” Sephiroth nodded, closing the hatch after Zack had descended. Taking a moment to make sure the vines were in their proper place, he dropped down to the ground.
Retracing his steps was simple; he had made sure he remembered the landmarks they had used to navigate their way to the village. All he had to do was follow them back to the pool where the 6th had had run into Zack, and from there, follow the marks and cairns left by his squad mates to catch up with them.
Because your supposed to take care of your family.
Of all the reasons Sephiroth had ever heard to do something, it was perhaps, the most…unbeneficial? Yes, the most unbeneficial to themselves he had ever heard.
Sephiroth couldn’t help but wonder; what it would be like, to have someone who cared about him enough that they would not only break the rules to help him, and accept without complaint the punishment, but expect nothing in return?
He also couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to so the same for another, to, care for them, that much.
Stepping out into the clearing where Zack had fished for Moonbacks, Sephiroth shook his head at his folly. He needed to focus, find the trail his squad had left for him and catch up to them quickly before they had to stop and wait, or retrace their own steps to find him. And wouldn’t Hojo love using that to get him back in the labs?
Besides, he knew better than to dwell on what would never be.
1986 - 04 - Listening in the Wind
The gong rang, announcing the hour; it was late, not so late that the sun had set, but late enough that the classrooms were empty and the training fields abandoned. The birds were beginning to tune up, getting ready for their evening chorus. Not all the birds though, several were busy nest building. Creating new homes in the wisteria that curled and clung to the patch-work of roof, lattice, and support beams.
In reality the only thing holding the building together was the vine itself. It had taken over this place long forgotten by the palace. Perhaps once a temple, a dojo, a tea house, or maybe a simple storage room. It didn’t really matter what it once had been, it belonged to someone else now.
Now, it was Aeris’s Garden.
Cloud carefully closed his hand around the weed’s stem and gently pulled-only to have it snap right off. Sighing he tossed the greenery behind him and plunged his fingers into the dirt to get the root. He had been released from the hospital two days ago. And this time it had taken him a lot longer to pass the release test, the test that anyone who’d gone through a Process had to pass in order to get out. It made Cloud uneasy, not being able to control his own strength, his mother had told him that it was okay that it took longer this time; it just meant he had gotten a lot stronger this time around. But he wasn’t so sure.
Especially since while he may have passed the hospitals standard, he had yet to pass Aeris’s, and her standard was a whole ‘nother plate of rice balls.
“Pull 100 weeds straight without breaking a single stem.”
In principle it sounded easy enough, just grip the weed between 1/4 to 1/3 up from the root and pull with just the right amount of force to get the whole thing out. In practice it was much harder, Cloud had been working on this since his first morning out of the medic’s hands.
His longest run so far was 39.
He was hopping to get past 40 before dinner.
They were out in the western area of the garden; Cloud was ‘weeding’ while Aeris was moving the stone footpath that ran through this side. Aeris kept the hardier plants outside, as they had a greater chance of surviving the rotation of which side she allowed to go wild for a year. The more delicate ones were inside, where he was currently banished from until he could pass Aeris’s test.
Aeris claimed letting parts of the garden go wild was good for it, made the surviving plants stronger. Cloud figured it was something else, not only with the timing of her taming the areas left to go wild, but also while he was here he seemed beyond the bullies reach. As far as he knew, none of them had ever come here, and Cloud knew it wasn’t because they weren’t invited.
Aeris had her own way of keeping unwanted thing from getting into her garden.
Feeling the wind stir the hairs of his nape, Cloud rubbed the back of his neck, soothing the blond strands back into place. As he did so he automatically looked over at Aeris and noticed how she was sitting.
Kneeling on the scruffy lawn, one hand outstretched towards the ground, fingers just brushing the blades of grass. Her other hand was folded picture perfect into her lap, her head was tilted back a little and cocked to the side, as if listening to someone whisper beside her.
Its not the first time he’s seen her do this, no matter if she was sitting, standing, or walking, and always, only when the wind blew. If anyone remembered this habit, it was because of what would happen after, when she would say things. Things about Shinra and its activities. Things about happenings both far away and within the very court itself. Also strange things that made no sense at all.
“The dragon and the wolf-pup had a nice walk through the jungle. But while the pup stayed, the dragon returned to his Thunder.”
“Hey Aeris?”
“Mmm?” She responded, not changing her pose a hair.
“What are you listening to?”
That was what broke her composure. As she turned to him, he could she a myriad of emotions running across her face. They came and went so fast all he caught was surprise and worry.
And for the first time ever, she didn’t look at him, and her hands, no longer perfectly folded, clung to each other, as if to let go was to lose everything.
“Do…do you really want to know Cloud?”
Did he? Her listening wasn’t the only thing he kept noticing. There was the way the priests and nobles-especially those from the south-treated her, how it seemed the plants sang for her when she touched them. These and more, he noticed, he wondered.
He did want to know.
“Yeah-I mean. Yes. I do.”
She inhaled slowly, her hands clenched even harder. “When I do that, I’m listening in the wind.” Her eyes looked at his for only a second, and then went back down, flitting from flower to flower, as if trying to look everywhere but at him. And for some reason, Cloud had the distinct feeling that Aeris was trying to perform the Mini spell, but without any magic involved.
Okay. She could listen in the wind. He’d never heard of that, that was…Huh, listening in the wind, that was, wait, wha-
“What?” He should have been embarrassed, but at the moment he really couldn’t care less about the expression on his face perfectly matching that one chocobo who’d gotten picked up, tack and all, by processed samurai, and then trotted around the practice yard on the man’s back.
“Wait-How do yo-That dosen-“ Knowing that he was trying to say too much at once, and that him waving his arms around wasn’t helping, he shut his mouth and brought both palms flat to his thighs. Then he raised his left arm, and waving his hand over his head once, made a whooshing noise. He figured Aeris would get the idea.
Still not looking at him, Aeris continued. “Sometimes when the wind blows, it brings me things; snippets of conversations, little flashes of things happening, both close and far away. And if I grab onto those pieces, the wind will open for me, showing me, or letting me hear someplace else.”
Aeris cold use the wind to see and hear things else ware, huh. Something kept tickling at the back of his mind as Cloud thought about it. So when Aeris took that pose, when she looked like she was listening to something that wasn’t there, she was really listening to what the wind had brought her. But if that happened when the wind blew…
“But the wind blows all the time; doesn’t it give you a headache?”
She stared at him now, plain astonishment on her face. “Aeris?” Cloud couldn’t help the tone of worry in his voice as he wondered what he had said-
Then she was hugging him, her face buried in his shoulder, shacking as she clung to him. With knowing only what his mother did to comfort him when he was upset, he copied his memories of what she would do as best he could. He rubbed Aeris’s back and held her close and made soothing noises as best he could.
Eventually she stopped crying, but stayed curled up next to him. “Um, Aeris? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just wasn’t sure how you would react when I told you about the wind, that’s all.”
“But it does-blow a lot-the wind I mean, and why wouldn’t I be okay with it? If this wasn’t a part of you, you wouldn’t be able to do it right?”
“That’s why I’m happy. And no it doesn’t give me a headache.” She told him, finally looking at him and smiling that smile that told him he had done something really, really right.
“Oh good.” He said as she sat up. Reaching behind him Cloud grabbed one of the napkins from the remains of their lunch and handed it to her so she could wipe her face. It was watching this that finally turned the tickle of an idea that had been bugging him into a full blown thought.
“Hey Aeris, can you have the wind look at something you want?”
“Well, if the wind doesn’t bring me anything and I concentrate hard enough. But the wind doesn’t like being told what to do, so it’s tiring.” She looked at him curiously, dropping the napkin back into the basket. “Why?”
“I think the bullies are Up To Something again.”
1986 - 05 - Questions and Answers
The air, which only minutes ago had been filled with the sounds of mock-combat, was still. The leaves now fell unimpeded to the ground; the trees-which seemed to be getting used to being used as springboards-were allowed to stop vibrating.
Four months into her training Zangan had declared that the village-especially her backyard-were not good training areas. So while they jogged to increase Tifa’s endurance, they had kept their eyes out for a suitable location. Eventually they had found this little clearing, just big enough for their needs; with a rows of rocks to act as benches, and a couple of downed trees for balance practice.
Stretching her legs to keep them from stiffening, Tifa unscrewed her canteen and swallowed a mouthful. She couldn’t suppress a wince when her arm refused to lift no higher than her shoulder. While Zangan had gone easy on her, he made sure that when she failed to block, it hurt.
“Tifa, how long have we been student and teacher?” She blinked in surprise; time was a topic that had never come up before.
“About a year.” She answered, watching him closely, Zangan had never told her at what point he started weaning his students into their own independence.
“Really? Then it’s just the right time to ask.” Running a hand through his hair, the expression on his face telling her that his thoughts had turned to the past. Either of his past students or his time with his own teacher.
“Zangan?”
“Tifa, I have a question for you. And I want you to think about it.”
She relaxed a little at hearing that phrase. Usually what followed those words was a puzzle or a piece of wisdom he wished her to understand. Zangan called them ’Mental Exercises’ Tifa called them what they were; the experience of the elders, knowledge to be passed down from one generation to the next.
“A question you want me to think about?” She prompted, knowing her part. “What is it?” but before, each one had been based on her progress, not on the passage of time.
“The question is this: What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?”
“Huh?” The look Tifa gave him was one of pure bewilderment. Strength? Why would he want her to think about strength? And what did he mean about the last part, how she perceived it towards herself.
Standing, Zangan brushed the dust form his pants and headed for the trail. “I’ll be gone for a few days; I want you to think it over while I’m gone: What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?”
Watching him walk out of the full sun and into the shade of the trees finally pulled Tifa out of her shock. Grabbing her towel and canteen she scrambled to her feet-once again wincing as her body protested the sudden movement so soon after their workout, and moved to follow.
Only to jerk to a halt, seeing that Zangan had stopped at the head of the trail to look back at her. “I’ll get your answer when I get back, there isn’t any rush. Finish cooling off and then head home.” Giving her a wave he vanished into the trees, leaving her gaping in the clearing.
What do you believe true strength is? And how do you perceive it in relation to yourself?
How was she supposed to answer that?
***
Zangan had left the following morning. Reminding Tifa of the question, and that he would want her answer upon his return. Tifa had seen him off, watching him walk the trail leading down the mountain until she couldn’t see him anymore.
That had been three days ago, and though she had done much thinking, she was no closer to the answer.
In an effort to get some ideas, or maybe just understand the question better, she had started asking some of the other villagers. The responses were varied, but they helped in that they gave her another’s point of view.
From the Blacksmith she got that true strength was to be able to do what you needed to do.
From the Mid-wife Tifa was told that knowing when not to fight was true strength.
From the Teacher that had replaced Mrs. Strife when she vanished; she was told that knowing yourself was the key to true strength.
From her father…Well, the answer her father gave wasn’t one that Tifa really liked to think about.
Now sitting at the training spot, watching the sunset begin, she thought back to the day when she had tried to climb the mountain, to the few memories she had of that disastrous event.
The world was a haze fractured in black, and ringed with red. But through all that she could still tell it was Zangan in front of her, holding her, doing something that made the pain both easier to bear and yet so much worse.
“Hang on Tifa! Your a strong girl, you’ve gotten this far, I know you can go farther!”
If what Zangan had said was right, then she was already strong. Then what was the difference between being strong and true strength? From the sound of it, everyone had a different true strength, then, what kind of true strength did she want?
Nibbling on her thumbnail-the one bad habit Zangan had yet to train out of her-Tifa continued to stare into the sunset. Thinking of many things; of the kinds of strength that existed, what kinds she wanted for herself, and ultimately, what kind of person she wanted to be.
***
Muscle flexed under skin, hands whipped back and forth, leather and cotton ruffled and shifted as Tifa ran through her drills. Yesterdays drills had gone horribly, but his one was gong just fine. This morning she had finally decided on an answer to Zangan’s question. Well, it wasn’t a complete answer, that would probably take some more years for her to truly figure out. But for now, she would use what she had.
She heard his footsteps before he spoke, she knew it had to be him, if only for the fact that they were the only people to come here.
“Have you thought it over?”
“Yes, but its not a complete answer, I think its going to take me a few years before I can fully answer your question.”
“And what do you have so far?
“What is true strength? I don’t know; that is going to take me more than three days to answer. But strength in relation to myself, the kind of strength I want for me, that I have an answer to: I want a strength I can be proud of, a strength that I can use to do what I need or want to do, to protect what I care for, but I also want it to be a strength that I can use and no one will be scared of me for it.”
Zangan gave her that small smile, the one he gave her when she finally got a kata just right and he could teach her a new one.
“Very good Tifa. Sometimes knowing what you don’t know is just as important as what you do. And it’s alright if it takes you a while to answer this one, it certainly took me long enough. Now, let’s see if you’ve been practicing while I was away.”
On to the rest