A Final Fantasy VII Story

Final Fantasy VII - To the journey!

Cid gave the flowerbed a look and scratched himself behind the head. "Yeah. We had a good run back then. Wished we could've done more for her. But man...", he lowered his voice to and almost sounded like Barret. "We gave that lunatic and his Jenova a proper role call." Both laughed at the friendly imitation of a missing friend. "And think about it for a moment: From flight school to fighting some demigods, now we are talking career development."
Cloud smiled and nodded, turning his back on the small patch of flowers. Both headed back to the Bronco. Cid jumped into the pilot seat and began the prestart sequence by flipping some switches. Both engines started up and the propellers slowly began turning. Gras bend down gently under the constantly increasing airflow, when one of the flowerheads next to the memorial bobbed a bit, as if it was struck by an invisible hand. It shook itself again, when a glowing green orb, like a firefly, dropped out and hovered a second in the air. It beelined after Cloud, who was still walking around the plane and checking the landing gear. The small orb spun itself around his leg and vanished in the seam of his shirt. There it pulsated a few times more and as if it had exhausted itself, its glow fainted. Cloud shivered, as he felt a warm touch in the cool breeze of this night. He turned around and gave the wreckage one last look before settling himself down in the copilots seat, fastening his seatbelt and put on the headset. He looked over to Cid, who was still busy doing some preflight checks and making a brief announcement on the radio for any other plane around on where they are going. He listened to some chatter that came back and gave Cloud a thumbs up. "Looks like we got the airspace all for ourselfs tonight. Its just a Gelnika heading towards Junon, but it won't cross us. Next stop, Cosmo Canyon!"

He pushed the levers forward, the Bronco lifted up, turned and took to the sky. Some turbulences shook the plane while it glided through the clouds, before it settled into a gentle flight. The wind brushed the outside of the plane, while Cloud was still peering into the stars above him and some memories started to flood back, which gave him a deep inner warmth. He glanced over to Cid, who had just grabbed a bottle of water and seemed to have his own thoughts, as he was starring at the picture of an old rocket.

Pirates and seafarers of the old times called the early hours of the day the nautical twilight. Stars would slowly fade away during that time, with an every growing sliver of red on the horizon, heralding the beginning of a new day. The Bronco was in the air for hours, and it was a rather uneventful flight. Cloud stretched himself, studied again the electronic map to his right. It confirmed the Bronco still on correct course. They had passed the ocean with some tailwind, the jungles of Gongaga were left behind and the landscape changed from jungle into barren plateaus and deep canyons. The lights of Cosmo Canyon came in sight, situated on a plateau between two chasms. It was the home of planetologists and those who wanted to learn from them, curious visitors and tourists, and also those who like to seek a drink and a place at a bar. In short, its a place where you would find all kinds of people. 

"Enough adventure for a lifetime", Cloud thought when looking at this place. The barely illuminated airstrip came in sight. "See anything?" Cid asked while going in a wide circle around the airfield. Cloud shook his head, after glancing over the dark and empty airstrip. "Thank you for flying Bronco Airlines" he grinned when the plane hit the rocky strip and came to a halt. Cloud unbelted himself, grabbed his backpack and climbed out of the plane. "It was nice seeing you again, Cid." This earned him a broad smile. "Yeah, time to hang around is short those days. Anyways, time for me to head home. Give me a shout if you need a lift or want to help with some shipments again. Can always use an extra hand." He gave a thumbs up. "And best regards to Tifa. Maybe i'll pop in those days for a drink." Cloud nodded, then grabbed and held his hand briefly, before jumping out of the plane. Behind him, the door closed and the Bronco rolled back to the airfield. Half a minute later, it ascended into the sky. The sound of the engines turned into a whisper, then Cloud was alone. He shouldered his bag and began his walk back to Cosmo Canyon, where Tifa was probably was getting up, ready to meet with the Calisthenics Group she had set up. While he was walking down the dusty airstrip, with the early dawn above him, the feeling of inner warmth grew stronger again, together with a hint of nostalgia. His feet started to carry him automatically towards Cosmo Canyon while still being lost in some thoughts, which somehow derailed towards his final confrontation with Sephiroth. "Sword without scratches, after all those beats" he thought, as he remembered the warm touch of one hand dragging him, then another, the one of Tifa. "Kweh!" He turned his head, and as far as a Chocobo can express displeasure, she looked at him without much pleasure. Cloud grabbed into his bag and threw some greens, which earned him a slightly happier response. He ruffled the feathers at her neck and smiled when he felt his Chocobo rubbing against his hand. "We will come back tomorrow morning. We got some work cut out for us."

Tifa had indeed already started the day. She had just jumped out of her hammock in the small house they occupied. It wasn't much, but something to call home. A living area with a kitchen and space to hang around, a bedroom with a hammock large enough for a couple and terraced balcony with a stunning view over the vale. She gave it a look and saw Nanaki dozing next to the observatory tower. He didn't move yet, but would soon, as he always took part in the morning excercise. Cloud was also supposed to come back today, so she took the gear with the datapad and the Mako Detector. While she was running the local version of the Seventh Heaven's Pub, there was also some work for the planetologists to be done. Part of that work would be to monitor the Mako Springs here around Cosmo Canyon. During the past years, their strength had increased, but it varied. The recovery of the lifestream was the subject of current interest here, but access to all the springs remained dangerous. Aggressive fauna was still emerging and posing a threat to travelers. This meant, that there were always requests for patrols along the common routes which visitors and pilgrims took to check if there was something in the sand that needed to be taken care of. "And plenty of work for the both of us."