Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ sore kara... ❯ mezameru ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: awwaw 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.11.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.11.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.1K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
Standard disclaimers apply.
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
mezameru
As a result of sudden downpour, by the time Cloud and Kuja managed to get back to the Chocobo Sage's house, all four of them had had their share of being beaten all over by the rain and blown all over by the chill. After throwing Zidane down somewhere near the fireplace, Kuja heaved his armour off without a second word and set them in front of the fireplace as well. Cloud had a bit more of a difficulty trying to get his gold chocobo to sit still in the stable while balancing the dark-haired teenager on his left shoulder. He pouted slightly when he saw Kuja plopping down on the floor beside the fire. He was hoping for *at least* a little help.
"Hey," Kuja was saying, without turning his head from the fireplace, "why didn't you just fly your gold chocobo here instead of running up the mountains with it?"
He heard a noise, which sounded like Cloud falling over an array of household furniture. A while later, Cloud replied, "Chocobos don't fly, they only run. Even if they ARE gold chocobos."
This caused Kuja to instinctively raise an eyebrow - something he'd been doing since starting a conversation with Cloud on his way back. For some weird reason or another, nothing they talk about seem to tally, from the physical location of certain places in the world to now, even the functions of the different breeds of chocobos. Something was wrong with either the world, Cloud, himself, or all three of the above at the same time, as unlikely as it might seem.
He looked around for anything that might amuse him while Zidane and his armour dried. As promised, it was a humble, simple house. The fireplace was situated on a platform which was adjoined to the lower floor (which housed the chocobo and all it's necessities) by a small flight of steps.
There was a narrow but long table which protruded out of the second floor to overlook the first, with railings to prevent things from slipping down, apparently. The one and only chair in the small house was stacked ceiling high with volume upon volume of books and magazines - some of which were rather dusty and old. Towards the far end of the table, where it joined the stone wall to make a small corner, there were several plates and dishes. Whoever stayed here had probably anticipated guests only once in a long while, by the look of the condition of some of the plates. The small shelve between the fireplace and the oblong table had more books, but those were relatively seasoned. Kuja found his eyes wandering to look at some of the names on the spines of the books as well as the picture of the chocobo hanging above the small shelve, and wondering if Cloud was a rabid chocobo fan.
"This isn't my house," Cloud spoke up from behind, as if on cue, with a gigantic pile of chocobo hay in his arms, "I'm only staying here until the Chocobo Sage comes back."
"The Chocobo Sage?" Kuja found himself asking almost incredulously.
"He's a hermit who lives all by himself in this little house, until Choco Billy managed to pull him out and get him to help out with some of the chocobo breeding stuff at his farm." Cloud helpfully offered, arranging the hay into four neat stacks across the top platform. "I'm not surprised you don't know him."
"Oh," was the semi-convinced reply. Then, "Are we going to sleep on those piles of hay tonight?"
He almost regretted asking, when he saw Cloud looking at him with that 'what are you talking about?!' look on his face. "Unless you wanna sleep on the ground, or the grass outside," Cloud shrugged, "doesn't really bother me. I've always been sleeping on hay."
If he saw Kuja pout royally, he did a good job of hiding his reaction.
"But I'm NOT going to stand for smelling like a chocobo in the morning!" Kuja whined. He then proceeded to examining his nails and scratching his hair. "Don't you have ANY clean water around here I can use to wash my wounds or something? I'm developing dandruff!"
Cloud turned around from setting the other two on the hay stacks with a Look on his face which might have made Sephiroth take 3 steps back, but was completely lost on the whining Kuja, needless to say. "Since you're so adamant on water, actually, there's a well at the back yard you could use." He pointed towards the door. "Hey, and get a few buckets while you're at it, eh?" He grinned. "Can't let you guys stay here without asking something out of you, can I?"
The once-world-destroyer-to-be stared at space mildly, for a while, before picking himself off the floor, grabbing one of the trenchcoats hanging on the hangers near the door, and trotting out in search of the well in the backyard.
"..." went Cloud. *Just how does he walk around in those thongs anyway??* He mused silently to himself, wondering not for the first time, at Kuja's choice of... or rather, lack of clothing; especially when they were at the nothern continent. Those were the kind of things he'd only wear to Costa del Sol, for crying out loud! He picked up the purple-and-gold armour and shook some rain off it. At least this was a decent piece of armour, though it looked expensive and weighed a ton.
Cloud put the armour down and sighed.
Maybe if he could get the other two to wake up, things would be much easier to figure out. Right now, he and Kuja were working cordially well together on an intangible piece of goodwill they'd somehow written for each other. That wasn't going to last for long until they could find something more tangible to work on. For now, it seemed like the fact that they had to take care of the casualties was doing it, but really, this wasn't the kind of thing that was going to eventually help in the long run.
One step at a time perhaps? A little voice inside of him said. He smiled slightly.
Yeah, one step at a time.
-------------------------------
The pails filled up one by one, every bucketful making the apparatus groan with old age. After a while, Kuja stopped tugging the pulley, the bucket still halfway within the darkness of the well. He looked up beyond the starry night, beyond the high mountains surrounding them. He wasn't admiring the scenary, that was for sure. There was something else on his mind. From out of nowhere, a smile appeared on his lips. He hurled the bucket right back into the well, then started chanting.
When he finished the water spell, the 5 spare empty buckets arranged around the stone well were filled to the brim. With a wave of his hand, just like he did to the Gulug Stone, the buckets floated easily into the air and trailed after him obediently as he made his way back. Kuja nearly laughed out loud to himself. He could get used to this.
-------------------------------
The silver-haired ex-villian strolled casually into the cozy little house and arranged the buckets neatly side by side in front of the chocobo's drinking bay. Halfway towards the second floor on the stairs, he could see his host with eyes closed in concentration, towering over the two unconscious beings comfortably laid out on the hay stacks. Although curious about what he was doing, it didn't feel appropriate to ask at the moment. He quietly got his dried out armour on the floor and put it back on.
Needless to say, he was entirely startled when Cloud cast Full Cure on the two unconscious beings. When the stars of restoration faded away into the background, the spikey-headed mercenary scratched his head at the apparent failure of the spell. The unconscious beings were still unconscious. He shut his eyes and prepared for another round.
Kuja turned away, pretending to be interested in something else. *I didn't know Cloud was a white mage.* He frowned, noticing the size of the Ultima Weapon and a few other assorted, oversized swords that hung at the far end of the room. The Ultima Weapon in particular caught his eye. Where had he seen that weapon before... ?
"Hey," came a voice from behind him. Kuja turned around just in time to catch a green orb flung at him from Cloud, "give me a hand here, will you?"
Kuja's face plunged into everlasting confusion, as his head started mushrooming with question marks.
"You know," Cloud pointed at the green orb, which was pulsating with a weird glow, "use my restore materia to help hand out some cure spells."
*Your restore what???!* Kuja thought to himself ludicruously, but didn't make his thoughts known. Instead he said, "Cure spells huh?"
Cloud nodded, but stared at Kuja for a trite bit longer. "Speaking of cures, I think you need some yourself." He smiled lopsidedly, pointing a finger at him. Green light emancipating from his armoured hand and travelling gently towards Kuja. The lattar started, almost jumping when the cool green sparkles touched him and began randomly repairing whatever had been broken or sore. Soon, however, he felt infinitely better than ever. Even water wouldn't have been so helpful.
The light-headedness of the cure spell was cut off when Cloud stopped it. "You better now?" The mercenary asked. Kuja merely smiled in his own artful sort of way. Quick to note the success of the spell, Cloud proceeded to focus on the other two subjects on hand, beckoning for the other to come and help as well.
Kuja, however, found himself being able to do nothing but observe Cloud hand out cure after cure. Although he *was* feeling better, and was comfortable enough to use his Curaga spell, he didn't want to. The more interesting thing on hand here was the green orb and the matter of Cloud's abilities. No white mage ever carried swords *that* huge around. And this green thing... it felt strange holding it. Just what in the world was it... some kind of a 'materia'? He sighed. None of this was making any sense. He then put the green orb onto the rectangular desk, turning to look at some of the books in the house.
"Hmm," he heard Cloud say, and could almost picture him stroking his chin in confusion, "no effect at all... just what's bitten these guys anyway?" Kuja chuckled and almost wanted to say something about the sentient roots of a raving Iifa Tree, but thought the better of that. Besides, he had NO IDEA who the other guy, other than Zidane, was. But since Cloud had been so happy about being nice guy of the year... well, he could save anybody he wanted. It was none of Kuja's business. He turned the page of the book.
"Hey!"
The silver-haired man turned slightly.
"I thought I told you to help out!" Cloud frowned and put his arms akimbo. His glance then turned to the green materia orb lying on the table. "You're a magic user aren't you?" He asked, almost hesitantly.
At this, Kuja turned his head and lifted a finger. Sparkles danced around it until they grew into a full sized vortex, ready to spew magic on it's target. Cloud nearly jumped as the Curaga spell hit the two people on the floor. He paused for a good 3 seconds, then looked up at his guest with shock written all over his face.
"How did you do that?"
Kuja frowned, turning another page of the book. "How did I do what?"
"*THAT*!" Cloud expounded, leaving Kuja speechless at his expansive vocabulary. Cloud then continued, "Cast magic... without materia!"
The ex-villian tilted his head and wrinkled his nose, looking up at the ceiling in semi-thought. Here it was again... this whole thing about materia was really creeping him to no end. Putting the book aside, he turned and struck a pose, looking at Cloud at the same time.
"... I've been having doubts since speaking with you at the... Bone Village." He said the words as if they had been a new concept in Maths. "... the names you provide, the things you do, the places you go... even the chocobos you ride! Tell me, is this, or is this not Gaia? Or have I simply tangoed into some tangent of time and space; landing in a land I know nothing of?"
It took Cloud a while to absorb all of that. He *had* sensed something out of place with Kuja since meeting him, but at that time, he hadn't exactly put much thought to it. But now that the subject of the matter was questioning him about it, all the more it forced him to think logically about it. All the while, he had thought maybe they were just talking about the same thing but referring to it using different names. Now, however, he wasn't so sure.
"You know," Cloud finally said, "I'm not putting ANYTHING beyond you and me, right now." He paused, searching for the right words. "For a fact, you and I cast magic differently. I can't explain that, and I don't think I ever will, without more research. But let's look at it this way, to be *able* to cast magic in the first place, implies that there's something common in both our... worlds, that we draw from... no?" He waited for Kuja's reaction. When there was none, he continued anyway. "Anyway, we speak the same language, we cast the same spells. That puts us on the same level for a lot of things. And, really... does anything else matter?" Cloud scratched his head. "As long as we're not trying to destroy the world or anything?"
Kuja cleared his throat, just to be courteous.
"Maybe if your friends wake up, we can get down to talking about it more." Cloud smiled. "I don't see what's more important right now."
As much as he'd hate to admit it, and therefore postpone this confrontation until a later time, Kuja had to agree. Before he had time to answer, a figure on the hay stack stirred. Immediately snapping his head around, he had hoped to see Zidane sitting up, clutching his head and mumbling a string of curses. At least it would have been comforting to have someone you knew by your side, nevermind he was your mortal enemy.
But it was someone else who had stirred.
"............" went the dark-haired teenager as he flip-flopped around the hay stack deliriously. He opened his mouth a few times, and finally managed to say, "....... Rinoa......" before coming to a halt with his movements.
Cloud and Kuja turned and looked at each other.
"Hey, don't look at me like that," Cloud shook his head and quickly stepped back, "I have absolutely no idea what a Rinoa is."
Kuja chuckled, "Maybe it's martian for 'water'."
They laughed.
"Okay. Let's test the theory." Cloud rose and went down the stairs to grab one of the buckets of water Kuja had brought back. Soon, he had it positioned directly above the sleeping teenager with a sort of evil grin on his face. The ignorant victim merely turned to his side and murmured for more Rinoas.
"Sorry dude," Cloud said, and tilted the bucket over, "no hard feelings, 'kay?"
- SPLASH! -
"................. !!!"
"Ahahahahahahah! AAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!"
The first coherent sentence after the deed was actually Cloud's, "Woah, it worked! The dude is up!" He then took two steps back.
The victim, for his part, utterly failed to see the point of it all. He leapt to his feet quickly and did a familiar horizontal slash kind of movement with his right arm, in silent demand for an explanation.
"You know, you'll have to tell us what you want so we can help you." Kuja stopped laughing, said that, then went back to laughing.
"..................." went the stranger. Then, "What the hell did you do that for?!"
"..................." Kuja mimicked the stranger, and said, "All the easier to wake you up with, my dear!" then relapsed into his laughing streak. The stranger grew more sullen than he already was. He pouted. And looked really hilarious.
Cloud, on the other hand, was cheerful as usual. "Don't be so blue," he said. After all, he was one step closer to collecting his debt back. Tossing the boy a dry towel, he asked, "You might need that. What's your name, by the way? You can call me Cloud."
"........................................" went the stranger, in an even longer silence. Finally, he said, "... Squall."
Cloud nodded in a funny sort of way, "So, what's this Rinoa you keep murmuring about?" he asked, then observed as Squall turned red, obviously not believing this. The first thing he comes across after all that time compression nonsense just HAD to be two idiots!
"... Rinoa's not a thing. She's a girl." Squall offered. Cloud immediately perked up as he caught on, while Kuja; also catching on, merely used it as an excuse to keep on laughing. Squall was visibly irritated. He pointed at the silver-haired ex-villian. "Can you get your friend to stop laughing? He's beginning to annoy me."
There was silence. Except for Kuja laughing.
"My friend?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Isn't he YOUR friend??"
There was silence. Even Kuja stopped laughing.
"You must be kidding!" Kuja vainly flicked his silver tresses around. "Zidane, you could call him my friend, but Squall over here..." he turned and looked at the sullen teenager, "... may feel familiar," he added, although unsure of where it came from, "but this is definitely the first time I've ever met him."
This forced the three of them into some sort of a hiatus. Even the air stood still. Cloud slowly leaned over, fingers twiddling, feet tapping, eyes serious. Kuja drummed his fingers impatiently against the wooden table, obviously in deep thought. Squall was reduced to looking back and forth at the two of them. "Can someone tell me just what the heck is going on?" he asked, almost demanded.
"Squall," Cloud looked at the younger boy, a strange intensity visible within his eyes, "Kuja," he then added, surprising the ex-villian, who hadn't expected to be addressed, "I have a favour to ask - of both of you, and your friend... Zidane?" His last word went out as a question, to which he got a slight nod back from Kuja. He nodded back appreciatively.
"Let's go to Midgar," he said, ignoring the 'whattheheckismidgar' looks on both Squall and Kuja's faces, "once everybody is ready enough to travel."
-------------------------------
mezameta
20/ 5/2001
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
mezameru
As a result of sudden downpour, by the time Cloud and Kuja managed to get back to the Chocobo Sage's house, all four of them had had their share of being beaten all over by the rain and blown all over by the chill. After throwing Zidane down somewhere near the fireplace, Kuja heaved his armour off without a second word and set them in front of the fireplace as well. Cloud had a bit more of a difficulty trying to get his gold chocobo to sit still in the stable while balancing the dark-haired teenager on his left shoulder. He pouted slightly when he saw Kuja plopping down on the floor beside the fire. He was hoping for *at least* a little help.
"Hey," Kuja was saying, without turning his head from the fireplace, "why didn't you just fly your gold chocobo here instead of running up the mountains with it?"
He heard a noise, which sounded like Cloud falling over an array of household furniture. A while later, Cloud replied, "Chocobos don't fly, they only run. Even if they ARE gold chocobos."
This caused Kuja to instinctively raise an eyebrow - something he'd been doing since starting a conversation with Cloud on his way back. For some weird reason or another, nothing they talk about seem to tally, from the physical location of certain places in the world to now, even the functions of the different breeds of chocobos. Something was wrong with either the world, Cloud, himself, or all three of the above at the same time, as unlikely as it might seem.
He looked around for anything that might amuse him while Zidane and his armour dried. As promised, it was a humble, simple house. The fireplace was situated on a platform which was adjoined to the lower floor (which housed the chocobo and all it's necessities) by a small flight of steps.
There was a narrow but long table which protruded out of the second floor to overlook the first, with railings to prevent things from slipping down, apparently. The one and only chair in the small house was stacked ceiling high with volume upon volume of books and magazines - some of which were rather dusty and old. Towards the far end of the table, where it joined the stone wall to make a small corner, there were several plates and dishes. Whoever stayed here had probably anticipated guests only once in a long while, by the look of the condition of some of the plates. The small shelve between the fireplace and the oblong table had more books, but those were relatively seasoned. Kuja found his eyes wandering to look at some of the names on the spines of the books as well as the picture of the chocobo hanging above the small shelve, and wondering if Cloud was a rabid chocobo fan.
"This isn't my house," Cloud spoke up from behind, as if on cue, with a gigantic pile of chocobo hay in his arms, "I'm only staying here until the Chocobo Sage comes back."
"The Chocobo Sage?" Kuja found himself asking almost incredulously.
"He's a hermit who lives all by himself in this little house, until Choco Billy managed to pull him out and get him to help out with some of the chocobo breeding stuff at his farm." Cloud helpfully offered, arranging the hay into four neat stacks across the top platform. "I'm not surprised you don't know him."
"Oh," was the semi-convinced reply. Then, "Are we going to sleep on those piles of hay tonight?"
He almost regretted asking, when he saw Cloud looking at him with that 'what are you talking about?!' look on his face. "Unless you wanna sleep on the ground, or the grass outside," Cloud shrugged, "doesn't really bother me. I've always been sleeping on hay."
If he saw Kuja pout royally, he did a good job of hiding his reaction.
"But I'm NOT going to stand for smelling like a chocobo in the morning!" Kuja whined. He then proceeded to examining his nails and scratching his hair. "Don't you have ANY clean water around here I can use to wash my wounds or something? I'm developing dandruff!"
Cloud turned around from setting the other two on the hay stacks with a Look on his face which might have made Sephiroth take 3 steps back, but was completely lost on the whining Kuja, needless to say. "Since you're so adamant on water, actually, there's a well at the back yard you could use." He pointed towards the door. "Hey, and get a few buckets while you're at it, eh?" He grinned. "Can't let you guys stay here without asking something out of you, can I?"
The once-world-destroyer-to-be stared at space mildly, for a while, before picking himself off the floor, grabbing one of the trenchcoats hanging on the hangers near the door, and trotting out in search of the well in the backyard.
"..." went Cloud. *Just how does he walk around in those thongs anyway??* He mused silently to himself, wondering not for the first time, at Kuja's choice of... or rather, lack of clothing; especially when they were at the nothern continent. Those were the kind of things he'd only wear to Costa del Sol, for crying out loud! He picked up the purple-and-gold armour and shook some rain off it. At least this was a decent piece of armour, though it looked expensive and weighed a ton.
Cloud put the armour down and sighed.
Maybe if he could get the other two to wake up, things would be much easier to figure out. Right now, he and Kuja were working cordially well together on an intangible piece of goodwill they'd somehow written for each other. That wasn't going to last for long until they could find something more tangible to work on. For now, it seemed like the fact that they had to take care of the casualties was doing it, but really, this wasn't the kind of thing that was going to eventually help in the long run.
One step at a time perhaps? A little voice inside of him said. He smiled slightly.
Yeah, one step at a time.
-------------------------------
The pails filled up one by one, every bucketful making the apparatus groan with old age. After a while, Kuja stopped tugging the pulley, the bucket still halfway within the darkness of the well. He looked up beyond the starry night, beyond the high mountains surrounding them. He wasn't admiring the scenary, that was for sure. There was something else on his mind. From out of nowhere, a smile appeared on his lips. He hurled the bucket right back into the well, then started chanting.
When he finished the water spell, the 5 spare empty buckets arranged around the stone well were filled to the brim. With a wave of his hand, just like he did to the Gulug Stone, the buckets floated easily into the air and trailed after him obediently as he made his way back. Kuja nearly laughed out loud to himself. He could get used to this.
-------------------------------
The silver-haired ex-villian strolled casually into the cozy little house and arranged the buckets neatly side by side in front of the chocobo's drinking bay. Halfway towards the second floor on the stairs, he could see his host with eyes closed in concentration, towering over the two unconscious beings comfortably laid out on the hay stacks. Although curious about what he was doing, it didn't feel appropriate to ask at the moment. He quietly got his dried out armour on the floor and put it back on.
Needless to say, he was entirely startled when Cloud cast Full Cure on the two unconscious beings. When the stars of restoration faded away into the background, the spikey-headed mercenary scratched his head at the apparent failure of the spell. The unconscious beings were still unconscious. He shut his eyes and prepared for another round.
Kuja turned away, pretending to be interested in something else. *I didn't know Cloud was a white mage.* He frowned, noticing the size of the Ultima Weapon and a few other assorted, oversized swords that hung at the far end of the room. The Ultima Weapon in particular caught his eye. Where had he seen that weapon before... ?
"Hey," came a voice from behind him. Kuja turned around just in time to catch a green orb flung at him from Cloud, "give me a hand here, will you?"
Kuja's face plunged into everlasting confusion, as his head started mushrooming with question marks.
"You know," Cloud pointed at the green orb, which was pulsating with a weird glow, "use my restore materia to help hand out some cure spells."
*Your restore what???!* Kuja thought to himself ludicruously, but didn't make his thoughts known. Instead he said, "Cure spells huh?"
Cloud nodded, but stared at Kuja for a trite bit longer. "Speaking of cures, I think you need some yourself." He smiled lopsidedly, pointing a finger at him. Green light emancipating from his armoured hand and travelling gently towards Kuja. The lattar started, almost jumping when the cool green sparkles touched him and began randomly repairing whatever had been broken or sore. Soon, however, he felt infinitely better than ever. Even water wouldn't have been so helpful.
The light-headedness of the cure spell was cut off when Cloud stopped it. "You better now?" The mercenary asked. Kuja merely smiled in his own artful sort of way. Quick to note the success of the spell, Cloud proceeded to focus on the other two subjects on hand, beckoning for the other to come and help as well.
Kuja, however, found himself being able to do nothing but observe Cloud hand out cure after cure. Although he *was* feeling better, and was comfortable enough to use his Curaga spell, he didn't want to. The more interesting thing on hand here was the green orb and the matter of Cloud's abilities. No white mage ever carried swords *that* huge around. And this green thing... it felt strange holding it. Just what in the world was it... some kind of a 'materia'? He sighed. None of this was making any sense. He then put the green orb onto the rectangular desk, turning to look at some of the books in the house.
"Hmm," he heard Cloud say, and could almost picture him stroking his chin in confusion, "no effect at all... just what's bitten these guys anyway?" Kuja chuckled and almost wanted to say something about the sentient roots of a raving Iifa Tree, but thought the better of that. Besides, he had NO IDEA who the other guy, other than Zidane, was. But since Cloud had been so happy about being nice guy of the year... well, he could save anybody he wanted. It was none of Kuja's business. He turned the page of the book.
"Hey!"
The silver-haired man turned slightly.
"I thought I told you to help out!" Cloud frowned and put his arms akimbo. His glance then turned to the green materia orb lying on the table. "You're a magic user aren't you?" He asked, almost hesitantly.
At this, Kuja turned his head and lifted a finger. Sparkles danced around it until they grew into a full sized vortex, ready to spew magic on it's target. Cloud nearly jumped as the Curaga spell hit the two people on the floor. He paused for a good 3 seconds, then looked up at his guest with shock written all over his face.
"How did you do that?"
Kuja frowned, turning another page of the book. "How did I do what?"
"*THAT*!" Cloud expounded, leaving Kuja speechless at his expansive vocabulary. Cloud then continued, "Cast magic... without materia!"
The ex-villian tilted his head and wrinkled his nose, looking up at the ceiling in semi-thought. Here it was again... this whole thing about materia was really creeping him to no end. Putting the book aside, he turned and struck a pose, looking at Cloud at the same time.
"... I've been having doubts since speaking with you at the... Bone Village." He said the words as if they had been a new concept in Maths. "... the names you provide, the things you do, the places you go... even the chocobos you ride! Tell me, is this, or is this not Gaia? Or have I simply tangoed into some tangent of time and space; landing in a land I know nothing of?"
It took Cloud a while to absorb all of that. He *had* sensed something out of place with Kuja since meeting him, but at that time, he hadn't exactly put much thought to it. But now that the subject of the matter was questioning him about it, all the more it forced him to think logically about it. All the while, he had thought maybe they were just talking about the same thing but referring to it using different names. Now, however, he wasn't so sure.
"You know," Cloud finally said, "I'm not putting ANYTHING beyond you and me, right now." He paused, searching for the right words. "For a fact, you and I cast magic differently. I can't explain that, and I don't think I ever will, without more research. But let's look at it this way, to be *able* to cast magic in the first place, implies that there's something common in both our... worlds, that we draw from... no?" He waited for Kuja's reaction. When there was none, he continued anyway. "Anyway, we speak the same language, we cast the same spells. That puts us on the same level for a lot of things. And, really... does anything else matter?" Cloud scratched his head. "As long as we're not trying to destroy the world or anything?"
Kuja cleared his throat, just to be courteous.
"Maybe if your friends wake up, we can get down to talking about it more." Cloud smiled. "I don't see what's more important right now."
As much as he'd hate to admit it, and therefore postpone this confrontation until a later time, Kuja had to agree. Before he had time to answer, a figure on the hay stack stirred. Immediately snapping his head around, he had hoped to see Zidane sitting up, clutching his head and mumbling a string of curses. At least it would have been comforting to have someone you knew by your side, nevermind he was your mortal enemy.
But it was someone else who had stirred.
"............" went the dark-haired teenager as he flip-flopped around the hay stack deliriously. He opened his mouth a few times, and finally managed to say, "....... Rinoa......" before coming to a halt with his movements.
Cloud and Kuja turned and looked at each other.
"Hey, don't look at me like that," Cloud shook his head and quickly stepped back, "I have absolutely no idea what a Rinoa is."
Kuja chuckled, "Maybe it's martian for 'water'."
They laughed.
"Okay. Let's test the theory." Cloud rose and went down the stairs to grab one of the buckets of water Kuja had brought back. Soon, he had it positioned directly above the sleeping teenager with a sort of evil grin on his face. The ignorant victim merely turned to his side and murmured for more Rinoas.
"Sorry dude," Cloud said, and tilted the bucket over, "no hard feelings, 'kay?"
- SPLASH! -
"................. !!!"
"Ahahahahahahah! AAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!"
The first coherent sentence after the deed was actually Cloud's, "Woah, it worked! The dude is up!" He then took two steps back.
The victim, for his part, utterly failed to see the point of it all. He leapt to his feet quickly and did a familiar horizontal slash kind of movement with his right arm, in silent demand for an explanation.
"You know, you'll have to tell us what you want so we can help you." Kuja stopped laughing, said that, then went back to laughing.
"..................." went the stranger. Then, "What the hell did you do that for?!"
"..................." Kuja mimicked the stranger, and said, "All the easier to wake you up with, my dear!" then relapsed into his laughing streak. The stranger grew more sullen than he already was. He pouted. And looked really hilarious.
Cloud, on the other hand, was cheerful as usual. "Don't be so blue," he said. After all, he was one step closer to collecting his debt back. Tossing the boy a dry towel, he asked, "You might need that. What's your name, by the way? You can call me Cloud."
"........................................" went the stranger, in an even longer silence. Finally, he said, "... Squall."
Cloud nodded in a funny sort of way, "So, what's this Rinoa you keep murmuring about?" he asked, then observed as Squall turned red, obviously not believing this. The first thing he comes across after all that time compression nonsense just HAD to be two idiots!
"... Rinoa's not a thing. She's a girl." Squall offered. Cloud immediately perked up as he caught on, while Kuja; also catching on, merely used it as an excuse to keep on laughing. Squall was visibly irritated. He pointed at the silver-haired ex-villian. "Can you get your friend to stop laughing? He's beginning to annoy me."
There was silence. Except for Kuja laughing.
"My friend?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Isn't he YOUR friend??"
There was silence. Even Kuja stopped laughing.
"You must be kidding!" Kuja vainly flicked his silver tresses around. "Zidane, you could call him my friend, but Squall over here..." he turned and looked at the sullen teenager, "... may feel familiar," he added, although unsure of where it came from, "but this is definitely the first time I've ever met him."
This forced the three of them into some sort of a hiatus. Even the air stood still. Cloud slowly leaned over, fingers twiddling, feet tapping, eyes serious. Kuja drummed his fingers impatiently against the wooden table, obviously in deep thought. Squall was reduced to looking back and forth at the two of them. "Can someone tell me just what the heck is going on?" he asked, almost demanded.
"Squall," Cloud looked at the younger boy, a strange intensity visible within his eyes, "Kuja," he then added, surprising the ex-villian, who hadn't expected to be addressed, "I have a favour to ask - of both of you, and your friend... Zidane?" His last word went out as a question, to which he got a slight nod back from Kuja. He nodded back appreciatively.
"Let's go to Midgar," he said, ignoring the 'whattheheckismidgar' looks on both Squall and Kuja's faces, "once everybody is ready enough to travel."
-------------------------------
mezameta
20/ 5/2001
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/