Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Moment's in life ❯ Part two:Chapter twenty-three ( Chapter 23 )

A/n: heheh well dark dragon I will try my best to make my chapter's longer. I usually aim for 3 and3/4 pages and atleast 1000 words per chapter, but I will try to make them longer. I got a pretty good shading tutorial form a chick at fanart-central.net. I used it on some of my werewolf warrior people that I draw all the time. I drew a werewolf ninja he looks cool I posted him on that site. If you want to see him go to that site and look up the name amerowolf in the artist's directory. I can't color worth a crap either, everyone just says to experiment and find your own style.

Part two

Chapter twenty-three

My sword trembles with tears of excitement-gogandantass onimusha2

"Time to stop for the night." Zak said swerving off the road and dropping cloud by a tree. The sun had started to set and daylight was fleeting fast. Zak quickly built a fire while he still could see in front of him. Several broken matches later Zak laid in from on a roaring fire. He laid his head back and stared at the stars in thought. The way he figured it if they hitched a ride they could be in Midgar by tomorrow evening if a ride came in the later morning. Plenty of trucks came down this road it was just a matter getting someone to pick them up. If they were both common folk that wouldn't be much of a problem but they were both dressed in SOLDIER uniforms.

"Ne. it's better not to worry about things…" Zak said to himself as stared into the burning embers of the fire. Zak had problems sleeping that night. The fire crackling and the natural noises of the night were of course relaxing but the thing that kept him awake was the intense growling of his stomach. He tried everything to silence it. He even chewed on some of the grass, but that just made his pain worse. Zak soon turned to whimpering like a puppy this made him feel slightly better and after awhile he fell asleep. Cloud awoke the next morning the grass and trees were covered with dew. Zak laid several yards away curled up in the fetal position next to the smoldering ember of what was a fire. Cloud got up and walked around he didn't feel great, but he felt ok. He needed to stretch his legs so he walked over to the road. Since Zak carried him most of the time he figure he mind as well get them a ride. So he stuck his thumb out and waited occasionally whistling a tune or walking a little down the road.

"Hey are you trying to ditch me?" Zak said sprinting out of his make shift campsite.

"I was trying to get us a ride." Cloud said somewhat coldly.

"It doesn't look like you had much luck. Let's just walk and try and hitch with anyone who comes by." Zak said walking down the road. They walked for hours trying to get a ride, but there was no such luck.

"Next car that comes I'm jumping in front of it. And It better be a food truck." Zak to cloud who was looking equally as tired and hungry as Zak was.

"Well here's your chance…" cloud said laughing a small red truck drove crookedly down the road.

"If he runs me over cloud I want you to know that…you're a short sissy boy and I'm better than you at everything!" Zak yelled quickly as he jumped out in the middle of the road. The truck swerved to a stop with it's license plate barely touching Zak's knees. Zak swallowed hard and let out a breath that he had been holding in all the while.

"For that last comment I was hoping it would hit you." Cloud said pretending to be disappointed.

"And I am not short!" he added.

"Hey what is the big idear here ya'll jumpin' out in front of my truck." Said an old graying man.

"Hey gramps we need a ride. Where are you driving to?" Zak said smoothly.

"I ain't your `gramps' boy. I'm going to kalm but since you look like SOLDIER boys I can drop you off near Midgar I s'pose." The old man said somewhat angrily.

"Midgar sounds good." Zak said hopping in the back of the truck cloud reluctantly followed. Even the sight of the truck stirred up some unwanted sickness.

"I hate trucks, and boats, and pretty much anything that moves." Cloud said as he took deep breaths trying to stifle the sickness.

"Hey pops you got any food?" Zak asked receiving a cold `no!' from the older man.

"It was worth a try." He said tapping his finger on the top of the cab.

"So cloud what are you going to do when we get to Midgar?" Zak asked only to receive a shrug and `urk' from cloud.

"Me I don't I know a place I could stay…ah but wait her mom's there too…nah!" Zak said mostly talking to himself.

"Hey old man what do you think I would be good at?" he asked the older man that was driving.

"That's your decision people are good at different things." The old man said crankily.

"I know I'm strong and good in battle and can do all kinds of unique thing. I'll be a mercenary!" Zak said not really realizing how stupid he sounded.

"That's not what I meant…" the older man said quietly.

"Yep you and me cloud…mercenaries!" he said excitedly banging on the roof of the cab.

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Zak asked continuing his banging.

"shaddup yer lucky I picked you up in the first place." The old man yelled.

"And I wouldna if you hadn't of jumped in front of me truck." He added angrily.

"We had to get a ride some how…" Zak said in hopes of irritating the older man.

"Oh yeah just what I wanted splattered SOLDIER all over my grid." He yelled angrily. They continued to say odd thing to each other for a good couple of hours. Soon the black plains near Midgar came into view.

"This is your stop. Them black plains always give me the creeps. Your city should be over those hills." The older man said overjoyed to be rid of them. Before either of them could say anything he drove off leaving them in the dust.

"Well he was nice. He was right these plains are really creepy though." Zak said feeling the black grass crunch under his boots. Cloud stretched and followed him.

"My sword is bored…" Zak said out of the blue.

"What?" cloud asked baffled ask from where that question originated.

"My sword…it's bored I need to fight something." Zak said humming happily.

"Uh huh your sword needs to exercise…if you start saying things like `it's trembling with excitement' I'm going to have to kill it." Cloud said joking around.

"But it does…she has a name too!" Zak said acting in a mood as if he was in pure ecstasy.

"Ookaaaay…you gave it a name?" cloud asked still wondering what had brought this topic up.

"Yep Sheila." He said in an amused voice.

"Sheila. Well that's a very…interesting name." Cloud said trying to stifle a laugh.

"What would you name sword if you had one?" Zak asked smirking.

"I wouldn't." cloud said simply.

"Oh come on it has to be a girls name though." Zak said nudging him.

"Any name?"

"Any name!" Zak answered excitedly.

"… Tifa!" cloud said after a bit of thought. Zak started laughing.

"What?" he asked in an annoyed voice.

"I knew you were going to say that. You are so predictable. Of course most people with an obsession are." Zak said smirking.

"I DON'T HAVE AN OBSESSION!" cloud yelled at him agitatedly. Zak shook his head and then stopped.

"Shhh! Someone's there." Zak said pulling cloud to the ground.

"Come on troops move it!" the drillmaster said marching his soldier's up the hills.

"Hey you guy's stop right there!" he yelled at cloud and Zak who were crouching low to the ground.

"Stay here." Zak said to cloud as he drew `Sheila'. The troops nervously drew their sword and approached him. They ran at him, but with one slash of Zak's mighty sword sent two men back tumbling down the hill with rather large and fatal wound. One got close enough to slash at him but Zak instinctively blocked it with the hilt of his sword and countered by kicking him in the gut. Zak cockily gestured for the next one to come. As he did he felt a really had hit in his chest plate. He looked down to see a hole that had started to fill the surround cloth with blood. He slowly looked up at the drill sergeant who was holding a pistol out in front of him. Zak took several wobbly steps back past cloud that was sitting there in shear shock. Zak felt extreme pain racking his whole body. A droplet of blood poured from his mouth onto his dirt and blood stained clothes. Zak collapsed near the ridge of the hill his head dropped back and he was able to see the city of Midgar.

"So close…I was so close to you…" he said as he raised his head to see cloud getting the crap beat out of him and several men approaching him. He turned back to stare at the city. It was right there he was so close to reaching it. It was laughing at him because it was right there and he would never reach it. They men had reached his inattentive body with their pistols drawn. He just continued to stare at the city. Each man fire bullets into him until their clip was empty. The men ran off and a very beaten cloud crawled over to him.

"Zak…?" he asked unsurely. There was no answer, no smartass remark, no cockiness. Zak was really dead. Cloud picked up his sword and scampered to his feet.

"Come on Sheila. Let's go." He said sadly walking away. Cloud stopped he just didn't have it in him to leave his best friend dead without any kind of a burial. The thought of putting him in a river came to mind, but then that led to the thought of someone pulling him up all blue and decomposed. Cloud knelt down and started to dig with his bare hands. He dug until it was dark. When he thought the hole was sufficiently deep enough he put Zak's body in it. After he buried him he stuck a knife in the fresh dirt for a grave marker.

"I'm sorry for the shallow grave, but I'll take car of Sheila." Cloud said laughing weakly.