32FINAL FANTASY VII: Destiny's Call
Chapter 1 written by Noble...
Moving Onward
He stands alone on the outskirts of Kalm gazing at the heavens. His thoughts lost in the stars above, his eyes glowing an unnatural colour of blue...brighter than anything around him. As he stood there, the cool night air began blowing against his body, gently passing through his hair, soothing him, calming him...giving the man nothing more than a small fraction of peace. The atmosphere was no different. There was no noise, no danger- nothing more than the blue velvet of the night sky and the gentle wind.
The warrior standing in peaceful bliss was none other than the leader of AVALANCHE, Cloud Strife and he felt no comfort from the wind. It had only been an hour since meteor's destruction and yet so much had changed. Sephiroth, Jenova, WEAPONs, even most of the very monsters that roamed the planet were gone, destroyed by AVALANCHEs' best efforts to protect their planet with the power and aid of Holy. Since then Clouds friends were at the nearby pub in Kalm, celebrating their victory. He should be with them celebrating like the rest of the planet. Cloud quickly pushed that thought aside and continued to look upon the stars.
Suddenly Cloud's thought's began to turn to her...Aeris. She cared for Cloud and he felt the same about her. Aeris could always make Cloud smile, he thought, her presence alone was enough, but now Aeris was gone; murdered by Sephiroth, and Cloud was left with nothing more than guilt and sorrow. Then as he continued to think more of Aeris and the memories that she left him, his eyes began to burn and his fingers began to tingle as tears began to flow freely from his eyes, "Aeris I...I'm sorry".
Back at the pub in Kalm, "whadda ya mean 'no more' vodka?" shouted a disgruntled Cid.
"I'm sorry sir, but I'm afraid you and your friends drank what was left of our supplies", replied the barmaid.
In hearing this the pilot was about to explode, letting out every violent curse he could think of but he decided to calm himself and said, "Ok gimme 2 beers an a whisky!"
The barmaid left in seconds to gather Cid's order, leaving him to look around. He found the place to be fuming with the scent of cigarettes, giving him the urge for a smoke, he placed his hands in his pockets, fumbling for his own smokes as he continued to look around. The place was also filled with the distant cluttering of empty beer glasses as they were placed on the tables, disgarded by the nearby drinkers. The pilot got sick of looking round as he fumbled deeper within his pockets but to his horror and disbelief Cid found he had none.
"Shit, shit,SHIT! I'm outta smokes?! DAMN IT now I'm pissed!"
As he vented his anger around the room, the nearby crowds jumped at the sight of the obviously pilot and bolted for the door.
"Hey what happened to my customers?" asked the barmaid as she returned with Cid's order.
Cid being the only one at the bar looked at the women in embarrassment, "Err, guess it's my fault. I got *£$^% angry cause I ain't got no smokes, and them spineless cowards legged it!"
"What?...oh never mind! By the way there's a machine over in the corner but I'm afraid we charge 10 gil here".
"10gil?! £#^%*! You gotta be shittin' me?! I could get screwed for less!" belowed Cid.
"Yo Cid, if your finished chattin' up the lady, get our drinks an get your pilot ass over here!"
Cid began to blush harder as he looked at the barmaid, who couldn't help but burst into hysterical laughter. He then gathered the drinks and walked back to the table cursing all the way.
"Yo Cid, didya get her PHS? Cause if ya did Shera might be angry widya sorry ass!" laughted Barret.
The pilot shot a cold glance at his tormentor, and then as he narrowed his eyes on him, Cid smacked Barret upside the head and handed him his drink, "Here ya go, ya lousy lump a charcole!" Cid was about to drink his beer with satisfaction when he heard a voice from the darkest corner of the room.
"...And what has become of my vodka?"
"Shit Vincent you scarred the hell outta me! Sorry ain't none left, hope you like whisky?"
Vincent did nothing but observe the glass in front of him and then spoke in a calm manner, "It is inexcusable yet understandable...I guess it wouldn't hurt to try?"
"Hehe...So Vince whadda ya goin' to do next?" questioned the big man.
"...I'm afraid after this night is through I shall retire to this town's inn. I shall then discuus with you all tommorrow on what we should do next...perhaps when we are in a more sober state", replied Vincent in a dark but always logical tone.
"Yo not a bad idea. But I'm gonna be stayin' at Elmyra's...Marlene misses her daddy! An what about you grumpy?"
"Sorry fellas, but I'm gonna pass. I'll be stayin' with the Highwind burnin' the midnight oil. My poor baby took a beating ever since we got outta that shithole up north, she needs fixin!"
"...I nearly forgot, the crewmen aboard the Highwind told me you might need this".
"Smokes! Damn sam, I'm glad those wacko's are with us!"
"I'll be goddamned Vince, you jes' full of suprises! What's next? Bats outta da cape?!"
It didn't take Cid long to unwrap the packet and within seconds he was smoking to his heart's content, "Ahh now THAT feels good!"
Seconds later the three continued their conversations but it didn't last long as they were approached by the sounds of giggles.
"Aw GAWD, how many drinks have you old farts had?"
Strangly enough Vincent was the first to speak, "Yuffie, how did you aquire that beverage?"
"Hah! Ther's more than one way for a ninja master to get what she want's! hic!"
"What the &$ £? Old fart's? I ain't that old ya liitle brat! And where in sam hill did you get that?!" grunted Cid.
"Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful and your NOT!" laughed the ninja.
Before Cid could reply, Barret cut in, "Ain't you underage?"
Of course Yuffie's only reply was "Shaddup!" She then chucked the contents of the glass down her throat in one shot. Unfazed she slammed the glass down hard on the table, while glaring at Barret and Cid with a defiant look in her eye's.
Yuffie wasn't exactly the most welcome member of AVALANCHE, unlike Cait Sith, her ulterior motives at first was to steal their materia. But she was found out and caught. Ever since then the ninja changed her ways and became a great asset to the team...even though Yuffie was the biggest pain in the ass they could ever ask for.
"Damn kid! Well if your drinking ya might as well join us...the more the merrier!"
On the other side of the room was Tifa, accompanied by an exhausted tiger like creature known to them as Red XIII or Nanaki. Although Red may look like a common household pet, he was not. Nanaki was infact another member AVALANCHE like the others, but he was also the protector of his home and tribe...Cosmo Canyon. He never knew much of his origins or that of his species for that matter, but he knew little things that made him proud. Nanaki was once part of a highly intelligent tribe that was close to extinction. Back then there were many but now only he remains. It didn't bother him much that he was the only left, but he was afraid of losing his friends. Nanaki unfortunetly would outlive them all in time and once again only he would remain. It was best decided by Red that the best way to celebrate was to rest, he earned it. As he slowly succumbed to sleep, with Tifa by his side watching over him, his last thoughts were of his father, the brave warrior Seto and he knew as he rested peacefully that he finally made peace with his father's soul.
Tifa on the other hand was deep in thought, like Nanaki she too was thinking about the past and of him...Cloud Strife.
Years ago in a small town called Nibelheim, Tifa and Cloud were childhood friends. Unfortunetly neither she or Cloud had fond memories of their town. They both lost the only family they had, who were murdered by an insane madman bent on destroying everything to become an almighty god, supposedly destined to rule over every soul. His name was Sephiroth. Sephiroth?...strange how one man started everything, that brought them all together. His name was first mentioned long ago, back in Nibelheim, where Cloud beckoned to Tifa...asking her to join him at the well. On that special night, the heavens were filled with stars. The dark cosmos was illuminated by those very stars above them, each one a glistening jewel, shining with fragments of light, in the blanket of darkness.
It was there at the well, Cloud told his childhood friend of his ambition to join SOLDIER.
"Sorry I'm late...you said you wanted to talk about something?"
"Come this spring, I'm leaving this town and heading for Midgar".
"All the boys are leaving this town".
"I'm not like the other boys, looking for a job...I want to join SOLDIER! I'll be the best there is. Just like Sephiroth!"
"Sephiroth, the great Sephiroth?"
"Yeah, that's right".
"Isn't it hard to join SOLDIER?"
"Yeah, I might not be able to come back to this town for awhile".
"..."
"Will you be in the papers if you work hard?"
"I'll try!"
"Hey, why don't we make a promise?"
"Huh?"
"Erm...if you ever get real famous and I'm in a bind, you come save me alright?"
"What?"
"Whenever I'm in trouble my hero will come and save me! I just want to experience that once!"
"Huh?"
"Come on...promise me!"
"Alright...I promise!"
And with last words, the stars shone brightly as they held witness to the solemn vow that they made on that night...so long ago.
Tifa suddenly awoke from her daydream with the urge to find him, "Cloud...I wonder where he is?"
Comments/Suggestions and idea's on what you think of my story so don't forget to review my fic and be a responisble reader or feel free to send them to: Noblekaleomnislash1
I will await your replies...and if you think I should continue with this fanfic...my thanks!
P.S the first chapter is called 'moving forward' each character decides what will become of the team and how they shall go onward with all the joy's and tragedy each has faced. But more importantly how they handled it as a team, a family.
Signed Noble...