[ His vision blurred. He had stayed strong, mostly, though the week. Bloodlust was something any good SOLDIER had to learn to temper in the heat of battle. He had fought monsters before. He just hadn't banked on becoming one.
The voice had become more overpowering as the days wore on. Here, as the clock ran down, as Cloud ran on less and less sleep, as he more and more could not tell where he was— the old Aldrip? The new Aldrip? Nibelheim? Midgar? — it was overpowering. The urge to draw his sword and kill.
But not just any death would do. Something in his body yearned for a particular death. One he had put out of his mind all week. Intentionally got himself separated from the others all week. But that was a Cloud thinking with much more reason than instinct.
He shambled forward. He couldn't find her. No, she was good at hiding, when she needed to... but he didn't have to find her, did he? He could find someone else. Someone who he knew would have not strayed far from her.
Aerith could hide, if she wanted, but Tifa? Tifa was a relentless protector, and he could feel her presence better than he could feel Aerith's.
He stumbled forward, eventually finding his posture. It was so difficult to exert even this much control. To not shamble forward, at the beckoning of the man who seemed at the corners of his blurred, sleep-deprived vision.
He would be able to find Tifa. And when he found Tifa, he'd find Aerith.
And then... and then, this terrible false world would break, and he'd be able to go home. ]
AERITH & TIFA
The voice had become more overpowering as the days wore on. Here, as the clock ran down, as Cloud ran on less and less sleep, as he more and more could not tell where he was— the old Aldrip? The new Aldrip? Nibelheim? Midgar? — it was overpowering. The urge to draw his sword and kill.
But not just any death would do. Something in his body yearned for a particular death. One he had put out of his mind all week. Intentionally got himself separated from the others all week. But that was a Cloud thinking with much more reason than instinct.
He shambled forward. He couldn't find her. No, she was good at hiding, when she needed to... but he didn't have to find her, did he? He could find someone else. Someone who he knew would have not strayed far from her.
Aerith could hide, if she wanted, but Tifa? Tifa was a relentless protector, and he could feel her presence better than he could feel Aerith's.
He stumbled forward, eventually finding his posture. It was so difficult to exert even this much control. To not shamble forward, at the beckoning of the man who seemed at the corners of his blurred, sleep-deprived vision.
He would be able to find Tifa. And when he found Tifa, he'd find Aerith.
And then... and then, this terrible false world would break, and he'd be able to go home. ]