Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Stargazers ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

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Stargazers

Chapter Five

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"Augh-!" Cloud hit the ground, letting out a curse under his breath. Breathing heavily, he pushed one palm against the ground to help himself to his feet, and gave his head a shake.

"Swear to god, Spike, if I gave you one good hit you'd just break. You really are built to be a mage, you know that?"

Cloud brushed some dirt off his shoulder and scowled. He was tired of being a pushover. He very suddenly dove in to throw a strike at Zacks who blocked it nonchalantly, a brief backhanded counter attack sending Cloud right back a few feet.

Zacks gave another of his Cheshire grins, "You're built for a mage, but you've got a well of ambition somewhere inside you. That and the fact that you're a speedy little bugger give you potential."

"I'm not even close to being on the same page you speed-wise-"

"Of course not. But you're one hell of a lot faster than I was when I first started, I'll tell you that much. More flexible, too. The thing really slowing you down is that your moves aren't reactions yet- you take time to think about it, I don't."

It was morning, and just as Cloud had predicted the night previous, the day was already looking gorgeous. The two had both gotten a fair decent amount of sleep. Cloud woke at the usual hour he did at home; Zacks still being asleep, he had gotten himself dressed and then picked up his new weapon, getting himself used to it. When Zacks finally did wake up, and then finally drug himself out of the bed, it was still fairly early, and seeing Cloud with the sword had inclined him to spend a few hours training before they really had to get moving.

And so, after heading outside into the crisp morning air, ground still a bit wet from the morning's dew, he had begun by teaching him defensive stances and basic attacks. This had gone on for several hours now, and Cloud's backside was getting sore from getting sent to the ground so often. He was also out of breath, and his arms were tired of moving, but he absolutely refused to complain- he wanted to improve, and he wanted it bad.

Zacks, at this point, took the hint that Cloud was being stubborn as a mule, and would keep going until he dropped dead or Zacks said they had to get going. And thus, chuckling lightly to himself, he began walking back towards the establishment they were staying in, running a hand through his dark, messy hair, "Let's get some food before you keel over and then get moving, eh? …Ah, food…happy thoughts…"

Cloud rolled his eyes, shaking his head and brushing himself off one last time before following.

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The duo soon found themselves walking through the outpost, which was somewhat calmer at this hour then when they had arrived the day before. After a bit of walking, Zacks carrying the usual bounce in his step, they finally arrived at the small residence with just enough land behind for a small stable-like structure.

"Head on out back and take a look at 'im while I tell the guy I'm back, eh? I'll be right there." Zacks bounded off to the entrance, and Cloud paused a moment before going on ahead behind, stepping somewhat cautiously. He was hoping this wouldn't turn out to be a bad experience…

He entered the small stable and peered around. It appeared to be rather empty, but he could hear what clearly sounded like a horse snorting coming from somewhere near the back. Entering further, the animal finally came into view, making Cloud stop in his tracks.

It was huge.

It was huge, it was pitch black, and it was without a doubt very powerful. It was also gorgeous.

Its gaze was currently locked on him, and it had grown quiet, right ear flickering backwards every now and then. Cloud slowly took a few steps closer, pausing when it tossed its head, sending small waves down its mane. He felt compelled to reach out to the animal and feel its coat, or brush its cheek, though the intimidation factor and his common sense were more then enough to hold him back. In fact, this animal was very intimidating. Cloud found himself taking a step back as it took a step forward, and jumped as his back hit someone behind him, letting out a yelp.

"A real beauty, isn't he? Name's Velo."

Cloud quickly pulled away, regaining his personal space, "Don't do that!"

Zacks just grinned, and continued, "At any rate, good to know he likes you; thought 'e would. He wouldn't have let you come so close without making one hell of a fuss otherwise."

Zacks strode forward and patted the horse's cheek, who in turn gave him a light head butt, snorting. "Enough with the attitude; sorry about leaving you on your own for a bit there, but its time we get you outta here, hm? Yeah, thought so, you look bored as anything… by the by, this'll be our new companion: Cloud." Zacks reached over and grabbed Cloud's forearm, tugging him over before he had time to protest. Cloud found himself shrinking back against Zacks a moment, "C'mon kid, say hi."

…And so he did. He stepped closer, and reached out a hand, gently, albeit a bit stiffly, setting it against the horse's cheek, and rubbing lightly, "…Hello, Velo."

"There we go, looky that, good as gold! He's normally such a bitch with strangers. Just gotta saddle 'im up and we can bust out of here."

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Now that Cloud had gotten comfortable with being at Velo's side, it was time to progress a little further, and deal with the matter of actually riding him.

The trio stood at the edge of the outpost, and Zacks rubbing the horse's neck lovingly. "S'a good thing you hardly weigh anything, Cloud. We'll still be able to make fair decent time, even with the extra weight. …It's really easy to get, just slip your foot in here and swing yourself over, like this-"

Zacks demonstrated, and Cloud watched, feeling rather unsettled. He was mildly worried about keeping his balance once on, but was more so bothered by the prospect of a complete lack of personal space.

"-Piece of cake, see? C'mon now- up you go, I'll help you over…"

"…Zacks…"

"Hm?"

"Erm…"

"Hey, you want to find out where your friend is and get home as soon as possible, ne?"

"…"

"Yep, so you've got to. Now stop stalling, c'mon…"

Cloud stepped up, and for a moment stepped back down again, feeling as though he wouldn't be able to swing himself over the way Zacks had. He then tried again, and this time, before had had time to think, Zacks grabbed his upper arm and yanked him up, and he barely checked a surprised yelp. "There we go, see? Now hold onto me, and you'll be fine."

Cloud felt his cheeks burn, but ignored it, and rested his arms lightly at Zacks's sides, glancing down at the ground as he felt Velo shifting his weight. He didn't feel very balanced at all…

"There we go, not so bad, is it, Spike? Now you'd best hold on tight."

Cloud's grip tightened, encircling Zacks's waist as they started moving, "Zacks, I feel like I'm gonna fall-"

"You won't fall, not if you hold on, stop worrying, all right? Just trust me, Cloud. I promise you'll be fine."

They picked up a decent speed, and Cloud clung onto Zack, closing his eyes and burying his face just below the older man's shoulder blades, feeling like any minute now he was going to get thrown off.

…But despite the fact that he kept feeling uncomfortable little surges of fearful adrenaline spike up inside him, and was incredibly unnerved being this close to someone else, there was something about the situation he didn't entirely abhor. In fact, ludicrous as it sounds, a strange sensation in the pit of his stomach almost made him feel like laughing.

And after a bit of time passed, the cool wind brushing over his shoulders, Cloud creaked open his eyes, watching the light of the clear day's early afternoon sun illuminate the surrounding landscape. No, no, perhaps- just perhaps, the situation wasn't as entirely detestable as he had first perceived.

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The sky had begun to take on that orange gleam at its edges that lets you know the day is worn out, and will give you one last show of color before letting night take over.

They were both currently walking, Zacks holding Velo's reins, as while the horse had monumental abilities, it was still mortal and did need its own periodic breaks every now and then.

"Once we get over these hills, we'll be able to see Gavriel's lights- you'll love it there, I'm telling you- it might seem crowded and noisy and too hectic for what could possibly be considered healthy- but there's a something in the air there that makes you feel really awake as you walk its streets. Ah, I can't wait- I've been waiting forever to see those lights again. …Hey, you listening?"

Zacks had been going on about Gavriel and the various sights and experiences Cloud would have to witness for quite some time now, and at some point, Cloud had grown so quiet that Zacks was now inclined to turn around and see that wasn't in fact sleep walking or something.

When Zacks did turn around his brows darted up in surprise, "Holy sh- you went and did it! I'll be damned, just look at that! You went and did it!"

Cloud blinked, looking up at Zacks for the first time in a while. An orange glow glistening in his eyes and dating across his features from the meager flame he currently cradled in his cupped hands. "Oh- yeah. Yeah… I suppose I did, didn't I?" He looked back down as the flame flickered, and diminished. He then brought it back, and frowned-he was having quite a bit of trouble getting it to stay. Zacks stared a moment, then started laughing, as Cloud finally let the flame diminish for good, and shot him a brief glare, "…What's so funny?"

Zacks shook his head, "I've been trying to do that for god knows how long, that's what. You just figured it out in what- ten, twenty minutes? Heh." He seemed to rather enjoy musing over this, so Cloud just rolled his eyes, grumbling.

"I can barely get the damn thing to stay anyway. Come on, let's keep going- it's getting darker fast."

"Of course it's hard to keep going, when it comes to fire magic it's a hell of a lot harder to generate heat then to take it away- that's why if you have good control with fire magic, but a lack of power, you'll be good with ice spells. …Unless, of course, you're retarded, like Seph, and you think it's easier to generate it. Then you get your kicks turning ice bergs into puddles.

Zacks did indeed start walking again, but now he seemed to be in another world, reminiscing, with an unusually soft expression on his features. "… y'know…I never would've imagined when I first saw you. You looked like such a scared little thing- granted, that was appropriate for the situation. I never would've guessed you had so much talent packed into ya- seriously, and you never had any idea, really, the potential you have… Amazing…"

Cloud, at this point, had stopped walking himself, watching the older man's back. He wasn't sure how to respond when Zacks said those sorts of things anymore- he didn't know whether to just say thanks, or to tell him stop-he was finding he really didn't like compliments at all. His hopes rose whenever Zacks started talking like that, but only briefly before he reminded himself that it would only make them fall harder later.

…Once he got home…once he had found Tifa, and made his way home, none of this would matter anyway, right? He'd have a normal life again, he wouldn't be anything special again, and he wouldn't receive any undeserved praise again. He'd live normally again, alone with his mother. And he wouldn't ever see Zacks again.

Cloud's gaze focused on the back of ridiculous older man he continued up the hill. For a moment, he had seemed to of forgotten that this was all a big mess that would soon be cleaned up and forgotten. He blamed this to the fact that the way Zacks talked, and learning how to use magic abilities and learning how to fight, had gotten his hopes up for something more exciting to come out of his life, and shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts as he picked up his pace to catch up. He was going to find Tifa, he was going to return to his small village, and everything would return to the way things were meant to be- the way things were just supposed to be.

"Hey look- look Cloud, y'can see it! Get up here, come on- look! There's Gavriel!"

Cloud stepped up next to him, and his eyes widened. Suddenly, from this sight, a large cluster of lights and the dark silhouettes of tall structures became visible. No, large wasn't quite right to describe it- monstrous? Unimaginably vast?

He was speechless for a moment- the meager orange light left now at the day's end wasn't enough to reach into the shadows of the valley, and the lights of Gavriel shown brilliantly. It almost seemed as if the city itself was made up of many small facets, and that there was a single brilliant source of energy illuminating all their faces.

Zacks smiled, and softly interrupted his thoughts, "…It's a rather nice view from up here, isn't it?"

"…Yeah. Yeah, it is."

They stood wordless for a moment, admiring it. Cloud noticed that many lighted structures didn't seem to stay still, particularly the taller ones- of at least, the tops of them didn't. They all most seemed to be bobbing up and down, though very slowly. The buildings themselves, from what would be seen of them, appeared to come in all shapes and colors.

"…Well, not getting very far admiring it, though I can't count how many times I've stood here and decided everything else was second on the priority list. It's getting dark, and we've still got to make our way into the heart of the city. C'mon, Velo's up for it." Zacks mounted the horse as he spoke, then patted his side.

"…Right." With a last look, Cloud followed suit. Zacks's words had just reminded him exactly what they were doing in Gavriel, and who they had to meet, and he found he suddenly didn't feel like thinking anymore. His thoughts just lead himself around in circles convincing himself he was really here, and was really getting involved with rather important people, and every time it just made him feel worse.

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The streets of Gavriel were overwhelming. People moving, yelling, pushing, laughing, from all sides. The sky above was dark, but the surrounding lights lit the streets as bright as day. Colorful buildings, colorful signs, and just as colorful personalities surrounded him, and if he had been there alone, he would have been hopelessly at a loss, which is why he offered no protest when Zacks grabbed his hand and warned him to stick close.

"What d'ya think? Might take a bit to get used to, especially when you've never really spent time in a city, but this Gavriel is great once you get to know her!" Zacks had to raise his voice to be heard clearly even though he was right next to him. There was an excited, adventurous tone to his voice, that usual comes about when someone has had too much sugar. "Seriously, there's so much to see here- you ever been to a bar before? Awesome around here, I'm telling ya…"

They weaved through the various people, making their way towards the city's heart, Cloud numbly listening to what Zacks was saying, staring at his surroundings. The colorful buildings they passed often appearing to be made out of a strange, crystal-like substance that apparently came in all shades. "…Hey- …Hey Zacks, what are the buildings made out of?"

"Crimity, you really have been living in a bubble, haven't you? Gavriel is built up from the remains of an ancient city- magic used to be a lot more common a good long time ago, y'know, used to be a lot more knowledge about it too, but somewhere along the lines, it got lost. Anyway, even though most of the time people aren't quite sure how it works, magic is still used to power a lot of Gavriel- the crystal buildings have been around for ages. No one's figured out what sort of spell was used to make the things, but sometimes, they still grow, so the city can still expand outwards and, a lot of the time, upwards! That's why everything's so tall. Neato, ain't it?"

Cloud looked upwards a moment, looking at the tall colorful structures. It was then that he noticed that some of the large crystalline buildings had upon occasion reached out and connected to crystals next to them creating several bridges that had been turned into high up walkways between neighboring buildings. "Yeah…Neato…"

"Ah- there's our destination, see it? Right up there, the real heart of Gavriel!"

Cloud would see that further down the roads circled around a huge, towering crystal spire, one that stood apart from the rest. It was a regal white shade, metallic glints of silver and blue streaking through different portions, and reached high enough to seemingly pierce the sky above it. It was rather breathtaking, and Cloud found himself staring in awe as Zacks continued dragging him along towards it.

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