kickitover | (no subject)

moseyin posting in

[It happens in the middle of nowhere.

Just another nondescript hole Zack's found to curl them up into. Sometimes they're lucky enough to get a bed in the slums somewhere, the outskirts of some crappy little village or the deep, dank alleyways of a larger city. Most of the time they have a tent, if they're lucky, if Zack manages and money allows, and sometimes they're not lucky and they forfeit shelter for food, for potions for when Zack gets a wound that grit and gumption can't close.

Well- Zack does all of these things. They're a 'they' in bodycount only.

It's Zack dragging himself and Cloud across the countryside, it's Zack finding them shelter, finding them food, tearing into monsters to scrape together enough gil to keep them alive. It's Zack looking after the few wounds Cloud acquires during their journey, it's Zack who talks to him, who feeds him, who carries him on his god damn back for days and days and days on end. Weeks. Months.

Cloud isn't often awake, but sometimes he is. Things are hazy like a dream, sloppy like slumber, slips and strips of memory, of experiences that barely thread together to make something patchwork. And that's how it is when it happens too, because it was only a couple times, fighting to break the surface of a pool of tar. He emerges not with a gasp but an awareness, only for a few moments before he's pulled under. Each time Zack was gone, or asleep, clutching Cloud to his chest for protection but too exhausted to hear his breathless whispers of Zack, Zack as Cloud tries desperately to rouse him, if only to reassure him of I'm here, I hear you, I see you, you're not alone until the mako curls around and into him and pulls him back under.

And then, that middle of nowhere.

Cloud wakes to the sun on his face; weak morning sun, wobbly, not yet hot. They'd slept outside. Zack is already awake, humming to himself, murmuring something, fiddling with a fire. He's going to make a hot breakfast for them. A luxury.

Cloud waits those few minutes, tense and unnerved, waiting for the coils of mako to pull him back under. His limbs still feel weak but something is...different this time. Things feel sharper. He can hear things more than Zack this time, more than the beat of his heart and the hush of his breath; he can hear the crackle of the fire, the chirp of far off birdsong. Cloud can feel the humidity clinging to his skin, sticking his clothes to his chest and back. He can smell the outdoors around them.

He is present. At last, he is.

Zack's turning around towards him, probably to collect him and bring him closer to the fire, to feed him again and once Zack reaches for him, once Cloud is sure he'll see he reaches, just barely, and closes a hand around Zack's wrist.] Zack.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

moseyin

[Leans in, froggily, his own amphibious limb coming up to circle Zack's spotted back conspiratorially.]

Of course. Rbbt. We just needed more sword. Lesson one of SOLDIER class: get a sword, and then get another, bigger one.

From:

zacrifice

[Hey, you know what this calls for? A froggy high-five.]

Now you're talkin' my language. [That language is frog + violence.] So there we go. Goal one, steal those sweet kisses. Goal two, steal some steel. Goal three, liberate Gongaga from the Turks by liberating Turks from their heads.

[Or they could just beat them senseless, but if they want to win this, they can't be too gentle about it. And he wants to go home.]

From:

moseyin

[Good thing Cloud's going to take that last part literally!

As Zack suspected, a couple of frogs hopping around the backside of town are given a wide berth. A couple people spot the one with the sword on its back and shake their heads; a couple of dumb mercs who got frogged, obviously. Nobody ever listens.

After finding a couple of loose slats in the siding that helps them squirm into the storage room of the item shop, pocket a few maiden's kisses, and wiggle back out, Cloud and Zack find an overgrown alley dripping in vines and ferns that shield's them pretty clearly from view to divvy up the goods and go over their plan.]

We should make sure everybody knows to stay indoors, [Cloud insists, poking his green snout around a large elephant ear leaf as another foot patrol stomps down the main pathway in town...pretty much the only pathway, actually. Gongaga really is in the boondocks.] And you gotta go check on your parents. Let me keep using the Buster for now; if I go out there swinging it around, the Turks will think something happened to you and I just took it off you or somethin'. They probably know good as the rest of us that you wouldn't let this thing go for anything.

From:

zacrifice

[Zack grimaces, as much as a frog can. The thought of going home leaves him feeling torn; of course he wants to see them, but...]

I don't know if that's such a good plan. I mean- most of it, yeah. But my parents? They know who we are, so the house is gonna be crawling with Turks. If I show up, even if you've got a distraction going, my folks could get caught in the crossfire.

[No point in being grim about it. Even if he can't see them, at least he knows they're still alive- he can see the smoke coming from the chimney, and the telltale signs of familiar decor on the property, even at this distance.

He crosses his arms thoughtfully, opting for a more lighthearted route.]

...Plus, you don't know what my mom's hugs are like. Even a SOLDIER couldn't escape that hold. I'd never get out to back you up!

From:

moseyin

Zack- no way, you've gotta see your folks. That's the biggest reason we even came here. [There is no future in this timeline or any other where Cloud doesn't figure out a way for Zack to see his family. Even if they weren't crazy close, even if Zack insists it's okay, it's not.

What if something happens? What if this is his only chance? What if this is the one good thing Zack gets to have, to keep him going? Zack deserves that comfort, gods damn it.]

Ribbt... [Cloud folds his froggy arms and crouches on his haunches, big frog mouth making his thinking scowl look even more severe. -wait a minute.] D'you think you could convince your parents it's you even if you don't change back? If you go see them like this? [They're Gongagan, after all.]

From:

zacrifice

[Cue froggy eyes going very wide.]

Oh, shit. Spike you are a genius! Hell yeah we can do that- we can sneak in and out, I can let them know I'm alive, and then once we're somewhere safe I can write them a letter or something to give 'em more details.

[Well, some details. He's not going to share the gruesome story of Nibelheim or their time in the labs, that's for sure. Either way, he's... actually letting himself get a bit excited, now. He might actually see his parents again, after so long! He'd practically given up on that happening for several more years, depending on how long they ended up on the run.]

It's perfect! We just need to make sure that when they see us, we're between them and where Dad stores the shotgun.

From:

moseyin

Us- What. No, I'm- I'll stand watch, or something. Or go steal the sword. You meet with your parents.

From:

zacrifice

Are you crazy? You think Mom would let me live if I showed up with a guest and didn't introduce them?

[At least let her give you dinner.]

From:

moseyin

Zack Fair I'm not meeting your parents for the first time ever when I'm like this-!! [GESTURES TO SELF]

From:

zacrifice

Um, dude. There'd be no faster way to prove that you belong in the family than this.

From:

moseyin

[Stares for a moment, torn between the following:

1) must appear cool to outside parties at all times
2) must also be accepted and adored immediately within every social circle
3) must ALSO make good impression on best friend's/savior's/????'s parents
4) belong in family?? BELONG???? in ZACK'S family??? ?? (sub goal: figure out what that means and how he is supposed to feel about it)

Eventually Cloud reaches critical mass and croaks, probably way too loudly given the alarmed looks a local is giving the thicket they're hiding in,] OKAY. I guess I don't- You're obviously not gonna without- Let's just go. Get going, let's go.

Edited Date: 2020-05-13 06:36 am (UTC)

From:

zacrifice

[Zack laughs, slapping Cloud on the shoulder and hopping through the bushes, leading the path towards his parents' place.

All things considered, it... actually goes pretty well, when they get there. It's guarded by Turks from the outside of course, but inside is the same as ever, so they're able to sneak through a cracked window in the back. Zack's mother shrieks at them on sight, first as a demand for a carving knife, then in shocked delight as she recognizes him even in the monster form, because of course she did. He spent half his life here as a frog. (They have to hide in a closet for a while when a Turk bursts in at the noise, but when the whole house is examined top to bottom and no SOLDIERs are found, the Shinra goons retreat outside once more.) There's admittedly not much conversation, between Zack's parents quietly expressing concern and relief and Zack cheerfully croaking back, trying to (poorly) mime out some sort of explanation for his whereabouts before giving up and smacking a flipper against a piece of paper. He'll write to them later, it's fine!

He also tries (and equally fails) to introduce Cloud to them, dragging him to the forefront, and considering he's the one wearing the sword, Zack's mother tearfully thanks him for saving her baby from whatever horrible circumstance he's been trapped in. Zack offers up a froggy grin and no corrections; in his mind, it's accurate.

It's a short visit to lower the risk to his folks, and it ends with a promise from Zack to at least write this time, as well as a little bundle of fresh cookies tethered around Zack's neck and (if allowed) a warm hug for each of them. Then it's back out the window and a short hop into the bushes to wait for an opportunity to cross the path to the weapon shop.

Zack is unusually quiet as they settle in, bouncing a little on his feet.]

Hey, uh... thanks for pushing it. It was... really good to see them.

From:

moseyin

[Cloud glances over at Zack; even like this, he can see the unnatural curvature of his spine. Zack does that, Cloud's realized over the past few months; curls up, gets small. Wilts like a starved plant. Sometimes it's in jest, a joke, a playful reaction to being scolded-

Maybe. Maybe that's what it was before.]

Don't mention it, [Cloud murmurs, looking back over at the path and waiting for a street vendor loading up crates into a chocobo-pulled cart to finish so they can make it to the shop without any issues. The whole thing had been uncomfortable, painful and stinging in a way that Cloud will never admit to Zack if only to fend off the guilt he'd inevitably feel. Cloud and his mother were never close, but given the chance to see her again...]

You look a lot like your mom. The hair. [Cloud gestures to his own wide, green face.] Your jaw and your nose. You take after her.

From:

zacrifice

[Zack glances back at Cloud, a subtle smile crossing his lips; frog he may be right now, but some expressions are universal. He's grateful for those words, quietly touched that Cloud noticed and recognized features from one to the other despite having no human-Zack to compare at the time. Knowing what Cloud's lost... it can't have been easy to witness the reunion. Maybe he shouldn't have pushed so hard to drag Cloud along, but he hadn't wanted to leave him out of it, either.

Maybe he should apologize.]

Cloud. Are you saying my mom looks like a frog?

[Maybe later- when he can see him face to (actual) face.]

From:

moseyin

Even as a frog she'd be ten times prettier than you. [A wild sense of humor emerges!!! Where did that come from

The chocobo driver clicks his tongue and starts to lead the cart away, so Cloud hops forward and over to the floor grate they'll be using to sneak into the general store. Boys need kisses]

From:

zacrifice

Wow, wow! [One last affronted ribbit as they hop out into the road while no one's looking.] See if I let her keep you!

[Despite his complaining, he absolutely thrilled. A joke! With confidence! As if Cloud wasn't hot enough already... it's almost unfair.

He wriggles through the grate alongside Cloud, helping to twist and rotate the miniaturized Buster Sword so it fits and the two can hop their way through the simple duct path and into the heart of the shop. There's a bit of a wait in frustrated silence as the shopkeeper does his rounds and waits sleepily for customers, until finally it comes up to a break time (or he's pretended to work long enough) and he wanders outside for a smoke. A long series of moments after the door closes and locks behind him... Zack straight-up kicks the inside grate off and hops down.]

Okay! We should have a few minutes. One Kiss each, and if you find any potions, take one of those too, yeah? Might need it in an emergency. [A beat, and then-] Just one, though.

From:

moseyin

[Zack breaks into the place with such easy familiarity that Cloud has to wonder how often an occurrence it was before he left town.

Still, though...time to address the elephant-sized frog in the room.] While we're being conservative...

[Cloud nods to the limited but neat assortment of weapons displayed on the wall. There are some swords, nothing as impressive as the Buster naturally, but among them a claymore heavy enough to make good use of Cloud's enhanced strength.] That one'll work. What's the plan? We bust out together, or try to split up their forces?

Edited (I forgot we already confirmed this earlier in the thread) Date: 2020-05-20 09:07 pm (UTC)

From:

zacrifice

[He was a teenager here last, he's just glad the infiltration method actually works. Some things really never change.

Zack spiderclimbs up a cabinet like a goddamn tree frog, wrestling to get the door open to access the potions and medicines held within.]

Gonna be honest with you, buddy, even with us both armed I don't like our chances against the Turks if we fly solo. Together is better, that way we can watch each others' backs, and if one of us got caught how'd the other know if we split up, right?

[And there's no way in hell he's letting either of them go back there. Not a chance.]

From:

moseyin

[Cloud scowls; they're gonna do this a hundred times aren't they, the 'split up' vs. 'stick together' methods, push and pull until either Zack accepts that Cloud can handle himself and will come back, or until Cloud stops trying to throw himself recklessly into a fight without considering the consequences first.

And as predicted Cloud once again opens his mouth to argue, except something shatters all the windows and Cloud is thrown right across the shop along with Zack like someone had picked up the entire thing and shaken it. His little froggy head collides with something hard and he loses time.

--

When he's back he knows it hasn't been long, because Zack is there with him, still a frog, and there's a ringing in his ears that doesn't stop even when Cloud shakes his head. Glass pricks at his frog hand when he reaches shakily for the nearby Kiss laying on the floor, struggling with the cork before he can down it and go through the uncomfortable sensation of his bones changing as he swells back into his human size.]

Zack, [Cloud gasps, turning to see if Zack is out or if he's recovered, already feeling around the glass shards for the other Kiss to take it to him. Splitting up is no longer even a whisper of an option.]

From:

zacrifice

[He'd been on the brink of waking up when Cloud calls his name, and it's the shove off the edge he needs to snap awake, take a handful of seconds first to recognize where he is, what he is, and grab the Maiden's Kiss offered to him and restore his normal form. With Cloud now armed he makes sure the Buster is in position on his back, then rushes to one of the broken windows to check outside. It's... chaos, in short. People are shouting and running from their houses, the Turks are snapping orders and vanishing down the path leading into the jungle. In the distance, smoke billows into the sky in huge dark plumes, tongues of fire flickering just above the treetops. The lights in down have all gone out: the homes, the lamps, even the store they're in has gone dark.

It's just a fire, he thinks for a moment, until it clicks-]

Cloud- that's the reactor-

From:

moseyin

[Cloud's already at his side, staring at the fire (tinged an eerie green), the fat swells of oily smoke spreading, as mountains twist up out of the jungle, spiked and crooked, as wood crackles and burns as it bursts apart, flinging sparks into the sky like stars-

Flinches- shakes his head and grips it for a moment.

Reactor. Something happened to the reactor, here in Gongaga. There's going to be mako contamination, monsters, and this place is probably going to be covered in mako-tainted ash in less than an hour, depending on the direction of the winds. They need to evacuate the townspeople; it doesn't matter if they're seen now, they have to do some-]

We can't, [Cloud whispers, and grabs hold of Zack's arm as if to keep him from running off. Gut boiling with anger, with shame, Cloud starts pulling Zack toward the door of the shop.] Zack- we need to leave, right now.

From:

zacrifice

[It's a familiar sort of panic that shines clearly on Zack's face, but on the opposite side of things- back in Nibelheim, Zack had had to run off to the reactor, leaving the pieces of the town - and the family that couldn't be saved - in Cloud's hands. Now it's his hometown that's going to burn, his family in danger. He takes a step towards the front door, resisting the grip Cloud has on his arm, but not enough to break it. His parents' home, the one they'd only just left, is on the outskirts. Close to the reactor, but not too close. They might be okay, but they'll still need to evacuate, and there are monsters in the jungle-]

The Turks won't be enough, [is his responding mumble, strained, fists clenched at his sides, staring angrily at the door.] Not enough to save everyone.

[It's perfect timing for their escape, the distraction they'd needed precisely when they needed it. It's also the worst thing that could have happened.]

From:

moseyin

Fuck the Turks, [Cloud's shaking his head before Zack even finishes, circling around, moving so he's between Zack and the store's front door. He reaches up to rest a hand on Zack's chest; not shoving him back, not even pushing with any weight, just...there.

He hates this. He hates this so god damn much, but-] If Shinra sees you and me here, they'll kill everybody and cover it up.

[That's why they have to go. That's why they have to sneak out, to stay unseen. They could go out there, yes. Kill monsters, carry people to safety- but someone will see them, and someone will call it in. The Turks are too good not to. Shinra in all its cold, merciless efficiency, will know that if a nobody town with a busted reactor sees a SOLDIER and a trooper who should be dead helping the townsfolk, it'll be the end of the company, and they'll send in a cleanup crew to do what they do best. Zack and Cloud- they can't protect Gongaga from all of Shinra, not for long. Not on their own.]

Zack, [Cloud says lowly, leaning in,] I know. I know, believe me. [Cloud wasn't really awake but his brain had stored pieces; his town burning, and then his town fine. Strangers in his house. Shinra bodies trying to drag him back to the labs while Zack fought for their lives in a town that somehow still smelled like a drowned campfire.

Tifa's body in the reactor. Cloud's eyes sting, from the memory or the mako starting to stink up the air, or both. His brain and focus starts to swim.] But we gotta go.

From:

zacrifice

[He can hear it in Cloud's voice, the unspoken implication, a reminder of what happened the last time chaos exploded around a mako reactor and there were witnesses to see it. Nibelheim. Of course he remembers Nibelheim, fire and blood and the clinical, ugly phrasing in status reports that he'd seen in the past like "witnesses purged", "area secured and cleaned", buzzwords to inform the Shinra superiors that people were murdered and everything so neatly covered up. Nibelheim burned, Banora was bombed, and if given the opportunity Shinra wouldn't hesitate for a second to wipe Gongaga from existence. It's nothing to them. A podunk little spot on the map, hardly worth remembering. The people here, sweet and kind and cantankerous and so very set in their old ways, are barely a statistic.

Cloud's right.

Cloud's right, and he hates it, too. Zack's gaze shifts urgently between Cloud and the door, back and forth, desperation rising, until by some miracle - or mostly due to the steadying hand on his chest - the logic wins out, and Zack practically snarls and twists away, fists balling so tightly at his sides that his knuckles are stark white, pale beneath the shadow of his gloves. Instead of moving to the door (and the open street beyond, where his old neighbours and the Turks will see him coming) he stalks towards the back, to the only window that would fit them. He wrestles with the lock for a moment, but his SOLDIER strength only snaps the old wood and sealant- damn thing's probably been locked for decades to keep the worst of the bugs out, the screen long-rotted. The Zack of this morning would have been careful with it, experienced hands finding something sharp to slide under and pry open with, freeing them with minimal damage to the property of an innocent man who at worst threw a book at him for sneaking sweets from the cabinet while no one was looking. This morning it was fun, they had time.

Right now the window is a barrier and a target for his fury, and they don't have time anymore, we gotta go, so he grabs the shopkeeper's wobbly old stool and smashes it right through the glass, shards and wood splinters scattering outwards. The sound is barely noteworthy over the chaos in town, lost in a sea of screams and violent crashes in the distance. He braces both hands on the sill and hops out, waiting only the handful of seconds needed for Cloud to follow before taking off for the jungle at a dead run. He can't breathe right now, he can't think, he can't stop, and he won't until Cloud tells him to halt. If he stops within range of the town, he- god, he doesn't know. He'll go back. He'll scream. He'll find something - someone - to kill.

So he doesn't stop. He runs, and runs, and he tries desperately not to think about the fire and the smoke and the voices shouting for help that he's abandoning to save his own skin. Some hero.]

From:

moseyin

[For a second Cloud thinks Zack is going to go anyway, going to shove past him and burst through that door and he'd follow and help, no doubt about it-

But then Zack growls and spins away, shakes for a moment before barreling over to an old window behind the counter that they could maybe squeeze through. The brutality Zack exercises on it is outside the norm- or rather, what Cloud's used to, even as he scrambles to grab the broadsword from where it had fallen off the wall and attach it to his harness while Zack takes a sitting stool to the glass. Zack had been too good to show it, trained with military precision to let it out in little slivers to enemies who won't be around very long to talk about it. Zack always wielded his strength like a shiv; efficiently, quickly, putting it away as soon as it was no longer needed to make room for smiles and warmth and easy-going laughter.

Something was knocked loose by the labs. Zack punches out the glass and vaults out the window, doesn't look back to make sure Cloud's behind him (whether because he trusts he is or because he doesn't trust himself not to stop if he looks back), but Cloud is and he's somehow managing to keep up.

They reach the edge of town without brushing past any Shinra personnel and someone calls Zack's name, cut off like they hadn't meant to; Zack is already too far to hear it bud Cloud stops, sees Zack's mother and goes to her long enough to pass over the only hi-potion he'd grabbed from the store. The Fairs are whole, they look uninjured but terrified, and Zack's mother holds his hand when she takes the potion.] "Please- look after-"

[Cloud has to cut her off but squeezes her fingers,] I will, [he promises, too little for what he wants to say but it'll have to be enough as he tears after Zack, boots squelching in the mud when he kicks against the earth in a desperate attempt to keep up.

He spots Zack again near the east entrance to the jungle pathways, where they'd spotted the two troopers posted to signal for intruders and as he watches Zack's hand go to the hilt of the Buster over his shoulder Cloud knows, without a doubt, that Zack is about to cut both of those troopers in two.

So he slows down, just a touch, and lets it happen with his own cold, detached sense of satisfaction.]