Sephiroth's soul redemption

A/N i'm a total sucker for the relationship between Seph and Zach. I like Cloud, but I just find him too young and fragile to 'feed' to Seph, as he is quite a hostile prick at times. (Dont worry, he'll soften up later) Cloud will come along in this fic, but as Iam several chapters more into the story than is published, his character gets more attention as I am still developing him. Enjoy! please review, as english is my second language, and I can always do better!


Just as we hit the green,
I’ve never been so happy to be alive
Only seven miles behind
You could smell the child
The smell of the front lines survival

With my silver Buddha, and my silver bullet
I pull the pin
* Pulling on the pin, Kate Bush*

Once up on the top of the rock he could see the sun rise over the eastern mountains, distorting the light, and making it hard to make things out. He did have a great view from up here, the General mused, his neck and shoulders now burning from the prodding and poking Shiatsu treatment. He could feel the blood pulsing, and the headache had now retreated to a low throb. A good sleep would cure that, no doubt.

As he scanned the surroundings, he could only see the rough layers of the rock, the hard smooth surface shining in the rising light.

As he and Graduate Seng had spent about twenty minutes alone below, the troops had managed to go to ground, disappearing form sight. He looked again at the young man, who was now pulling his boots off, and started to dig his toes around on the smooth rocky surface.

It was quite nice to be out of the office, away from all the additional tasks the Shinra Power Company managed to land on him. And it was quiet out here, so very quiet. He looked at the young man, who squatted down, and indicated with his head toward a higher reaching level, now casting shadows as the sun was rapidly gaining in strength. The caught a slight glimmer of eyes there, and saw the older Master Tsuba motion for him to come closer.

They had found places for them to lay down in, covered by the Yukata's they were wearing before, forming a very effective camouflage. He could see that the Unit members were all curled into pairs, preserving body heat.

“I have put them all to sleep. Sir. They will need the strength for the simulation tonight.” Master Tsuba whispered. “I have set guards up on the Pinnacle and on the higher points of the rock. It would be good for you to get some rest too.”

Sephiroth nodded, signalling his approval. It was nice to have a senior officer with him who realised what had to be done without endlessly having to ask. He allowed himself to sink to the ground between the silent sleeping forms of his men, listening to the wind that softly whistled between the rocks. Master Tsuba gave the younger man beside him an approving nod, the other accepted with a slight smile.

The General was aware of all the subtle communications going on all around him. These people seemed to read eachother’s minds, and were in total alignment with eachother. He had to admire their cohesiveness as a unit, even though they all looked like they were just thrown together at random, not having any uniformity to them at all.

He was indeed very tired, and now having a lot of his discomfort eased away, soon gave in to his body’s need for rest and his ghost’s need for oblivion.
The next thing he knew was that someone had softly said his name, and he woke with a start, seeing Enak opposite him. Momentarily he felt confused, seeing someone who so closely resembled him it was almost like a mirror, with the exception of the skin and eye colour, that was. The sun had already passed its highest point, and was making its way down toward the west.

“Any news of the Commander?” he asked, getting to his feet, shaking off the last remnants of sleep. He hadn’t in fact slept so deeply in days, now finally feeling rested and able to face the night, which would be long and tiring.

“Jeh-ri has been scanning for more than an hour, analysing the commanders movements. According to him, Nathan will start his assault at dusk.

“You agree with him?” Sephiroth asked his look- alike.

“Jehri is one of the most gifted earth readers I have ever seen, Sir.” Enak answered, not liking the way the General questioned his friend’s capability. “And begging your pardon, Sir, judging by the looks of you, he had something else right, too.” He added, just trying to make a point.

What was it with these people. They seemed to be able to see things through all the carefully erected walls he had always had in place around strangers, or was he just becoming paranoid?
He decided to let Zach fish out more about these strange abilities of this Jeh-ri, and the others, once back on their own turf.

He looked around for the young man, who was sitting on the highest point of the rocky shelf, one of the others with him, and several of his own SOLDIERs at his side.
He was moved to stand just behind the three, enabling him to hear what they were talking about.

“.. So how does it work? ..”

“ I can feel his feet, his hands, everything he puts on the ground, and that of the other ones of my people.

“So you can’t feel our SOLDIERs?

“No, not really, but I can feel them moving. If they stand still, they become invisible to me.”

“Why did he jump in the river?”

“Because water is a different element., it acts like a barrier to my abilities, he knows this.”

“So if you were in the water, you would be able to feel him then?’

“Only if I were in the same body of water though, if he is in a different river, of a lake or something, I wouldn’t”

Interesting , very interesting, the General mused. Now he was getting a clearer picture of things.

“Could you find someone if they were dead? I had a brother once who got killed at Wutai, but we never found his body.”

“No, my sense works through reading living energy. When you die, that goes back to the life stream, and you pass beyond my senses. There are some of us who can sense presences there.”

“He is on the move, General, What are your orders?” The young man asked.

“Notify the archers, get everyone ready.” He said to Master Tsuba who was already at his side.

Jeh-ri pulled the Yubi from the strap around his shoulder, and fastened the Tsuruwa tendon at its top after bending the wood with his knee. Then selected an arrow from his quiver, and fished around in the obi around his waist for a squealer, which he slid on the tip of the shaft. He pulled back on the string, and aimed upwards toward the pinnacle. Then released the arrow, the Tsuruwa sending it on its way with a resounding twang. As it climbed it gave off a high pitched squeal, alerting the troops positioned on the pinnacle.
The game was on as he could sense Nathan closing in, but he couldn’t see him.

“Where is he?” The General asked, not being used to the subtlety of Nathan’s approach.

“He rides the earth, General, he will break cover soon enough.” The answer came in the shape of an arrow, that imbedded itself on the rock a few feet away from where they stood.

“Take cover!” Master Tsuba roared and they jumped down from the vantage point into the trench below. The arrows fired at them from the ground could easily be blocked, using their katanas, as they were forced to send them up in a wide arch, enabling them to see them coming from a large distance.

Their archers where quite adapt at keeping the men Nathan tried to send up the narrow path from getting anywhere, picking each one off quite easily. All arrows had been tipped with a tough rubber stamp, that would make a bright red mark on the clothing of that person that was hit. When they were marked, they had to lie down where they had been hit, as they then would be ‘dead’. After several bodies were now blocking the path, and no way to get up without being picked off, Nathan redirected his energy. Firing arrows at the place most of his adversaries were concentrated. Enak and Erik nodded at eachother, and stood up.

They each unsheathed two katanas, and started spinning the four blades around fast, forming a very effective shield. The Generals archers on the shelf took up position and returned fire, and the unabated rain of arrows wavered, and lessened. Suddenly a call of alarm reached Jeh-ri from the pinnacle as Nathan’s troops had managed to scale the rock from behind and had taken out the archers positioned there.

“General, the pinnacle is disabled! The path upward is unprotected.” He nodded, he had expected this. Troops were now rapidly climbing up to the surface of the rock, but as they were forced into a bottleneck, didn’t have a very large chance of getting anywhere. Jeh-ri could feel them sitting in the relative cover just below the flat of the shelf, waiting for something. Then he saw it. The rain of arrows stopped suddenly as they were getting ready to launch them selves onto the surface, boosting them over the rock’s edge. They came flying up the shelf from all directions, too fast for the archers to take them out. Landing into their opponent with a resounding crash, knocking them to the ground, and tagging them with their marker gloves, the same way as the arrows worked.

“Very inventive.” The General said, and Jeh-ri heard the metallic rasp as he unsheathed his Masamune. Jeh-ri leapt back up to the higher ground, still wanting so spend his quiver, and managed to take down some of the advancing opponents. One soldier came flying at him katana raised high, but got hit square in the chest as he came at him. He landed lightly on his feet, then laid down with a grunt of disappointment.

Jeh-ri pulled out his katana and jumped to the aid of several of the trainees who had been pushed back against the rock, Siona at his side. They went into them, fighting side by side, drawing their attention, giving the younger people the chance to fight back. Not having the skills yet with their swords, they went about it using their feet, landing blows quite effectively. Their forced combined, they managed to isolate the group attacking them, encircling them in turn, and tagged them all, but not without having lost some of their own too.

Master Tsuba had witnessed the fray, and sent the twins to protect the younger people, pulling Enak away from the General, and motioned for Ian to take up position at Sephiroth’s side.
Now the path was unguarded, Nathan’s troops threatened to overpower them, and went to join Erik, who was holding his own, but was feeling somewhat exposed with out his brother at his back. “ 
“Let's dance, Sensei.” Jeh-ri said. And he grinned wildly at him.

Backs against eachother, keeping within the circle of protection he drew the redhead in as they were beset on by many opponents, but managing to keep then at bay. Then Zach came into view, fighting side by side with Nathan. It was strange, seeing his Commander paired off with someone else. Together they took down Siona and several of the other SOLDIERs.

“Let’s get that one” Erik said, eyeing Zach, and attached him, roaring a horse battle cry. Jeh-ri followed in his wake, beating away anyone who would try to attack Erik from behind.

After several hours, both camps had been severely depleted, and most were piled on the ground, cringing, hoping no one would step on them.

Now the senior and most experienced men were having it out. Jeh-ri distanced himself somewhat, and dragged the beaten combatants out of the way, creating more room. He watched as Enak took down Master Samune with the help of the pupils who jumped him from all sides, dragging him down, allowing Enak to tag him. The pupils however, wanted to take credit for besting their hand-to-hand teacher too, and tagged him till he was covered with red stamps.

Master Tsuba had been taken down by Zach and Nathan, and he had fallen with his back against the wall of the rise. He had a good view from where he sat, and watched as Erik rained a series of blows to Zach so brutal he was forced to yield. Erik tagged him in the middle of his forehead after planting a noisy kiss on the same spot.

Now Nathan and Erik faced off, both brutal and unrelentingly beating away at eachother, and suddenly Enak emerged again, coming to his brother’s aid. Together they encircled their former commander, who drew himself up, and separated the two blades of his Souba.
Then the twins laid into him, attacking and parrying counterblows, but never coming within reach.

Then Nathan performed a blow, allowing the blades of his opponents glance off, resounding weirdly, causing a spasm in the sword arm of first Erik, than Enak, forcing them to drop their weapons. Then he dealt Erik such a blow with this shoulders, it caused him to fly for ten feet, then crashed into a rocky wall, where he laid quite still, beaten. Enak watched his brother go flying, then attached Nathan using his hands and feet, dancing out of reach of Nathan’s blades, but got pinned against the same wall, and was tagged, slowly, deliberately.

Then suddenly Leisa launched herself at Jeh-ri, and he was so surprised he hadn’t seen her coming as she fell on him, sword held high. He blocked and parried away, the two of them locked in a savage dance of steel upon steel, He lost sight of Nathan who now faced off against his ultimate adversary, who had been waiting patiently for his turn. Leisa was good, but not good enough as he ducked under her guard suddenly, and tagged her in the lower abdomen.

Nathan rejoined his Souba, and faced off against Sephiroth, who emerged from the stack of defeated bodies surrounding the spot he had been standing on. Jeh-ri regretted not having had the chance to look at him in battle. Now they could all see.

“General, you and I are the only ones left.” He said, “Care to dance?”

“Hm, when ever you’re ready.” He said quietly.

At that the two titans flew at eachother, leaping high in the air, sparks flying as the Masamune and the Souba clashed into eachother, they jumped and bounded around the rock, raining blow after blow, testing eachothers strength, appreciating it, than moving on to another level, seeking a way in.

Suddenly Sephiroth vaulted away form the rock, into the sun that was now rising again over the eastern mountains, blurring light and shadows, distorting every ones vision. Having guessed why he did this, Nathan followed him down, and continued on racing around the desert floor, unrestrained by the bodies scattered on the surface of the rock, bounding and leaping, but finally landing emerging on each side of the shelf again, and storming to meet again in the middle, blades crossed, unyielding holding in equal binding, breathing hard into eachothers faces, both on the verge of total exhaustion.

“Good fight, General.” Nathan panted.

Sephiroth’s youth gave him an edge however, as he slowly but surely pressed Nathan to the edge of the rock.

“Glad you approve, Commander. Yield?.” As Jeh-ri saw Nathan soften,and thought: sure, for now you win.

Nathan knelt, and nodded. “I Yield, Sephiroth, you are a worthy adversary. I don’t mind losing to you.” Sephiroth withdrew his Masamune, and held out a hand to Nathan, helping him up. Nathan grabbing the chance, and drew him into a rough embrace. He watched the younger man's face finally break into a hesitant smile.
Everyone on the rock roared as Sephiroth emerged victorious, every one relieved and happy as the simulation was over, now everyone still left untagged was counted, it turned out that it was a completely even number, and even though Sephiroth had managed to force Nathan to surrender, in Jeh-ri and his friend's view, the battle was still a bit undecided.

Now the tension and the fighting was over, They all headed out back to the Midgar buildings as one group, still talking and sharing battle stories, happy and relaxed. Nathan was bantering happily with Zach and Ian. Enak beside Sephiroth, their heads bowed slightly.

Jeh-ri could see their energies come together somehow, they seemed to have found common ground, and were talking witheach other but not really using too many words. Hazel bounded out to meet her partner, and planted a big wet kiss on his mouth.

She began telling him that the Shinra troops had completely taken them by surprise. And they didn’t have the room to use their swords properly. It would be better if they had had firearms to defend them selves in the confined spaces of the caves they were perched in. He agreed. They should integrate that into their way of fighting, become more modern. She nodded.

“Did you see Enak getting all nice and sociable with old Silver hairs, there?” Ian said, falling in pace with him and Hazel.

He did indeed. Enak had taken off the metal shoulder plates and had stowed them into his pack. He had also tied his hair back in a ponytail, but the colour was slowly getting darker and darker returning to his usual deep ebony colour, but he somehow maintained one white stripe just behind his ear.

Midgar was already back in sight, and they started to pick up the pace, wanting to rest and get clean.

Once inside they were beset up on by the novices and lower ranking cadets and other officers wanting to speak to the General about all that had transpired in his absence. Master Tsuba called all together who had put the armour on him and Enak returned the General’s shoulder guards to him. Indicating he wanted to take the armour off that had been given him, Master Tsuba shook his head, and told him it was a gift, being honoured having fought beside him, partaking in his strength and presence.

Then they all bowed their heads to him, and he inclined his head, in acknowledgement of their respect. The look he gave them all, was one of genuine gratitude, without the slightest hint of sarcasm or resentment. They watched the silver haired man being swept away, and caught a glimmer of regret as he briefly watched over his shoulder.

Nathan ordered them all into the showers, and they did gladly, after sending the girls off to another wing where there they could have some privacy. Having been in the same clothes for over four days, they stepped into the showers still wearing their armour, cleaning it off, and stripping layer by layer, and finally standing in the undershirt and sleek pants and feeling light and clean. Ian came over to stand beside Jeh-ri and wrapped an arm around his waist. He started to sing.

Lo there do I see my father
Lo there do I see my mother, my sisters and my brothers
Lo there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning
Lo they call out to me
They bid me take place in the halls of my ancestors
Where the brave live, forever.

Then all the Althean people joined in, chanting it, soon they were all side by side, standing in the hot fog of the showers still running. Even the boys and young men of Shinra joined in after having caught on to the words of the chant. Then they were all saying it over and over again, made a circle, and another one inside that one when it became too big, and another one inside it. Sidestepping to the beat they all made to accompany their song, turning in slow circles again and again.

Jeh-ri spotted Zach, who had been called away, and gestured for him to join them. He had been given similar armour as the General and he looked awesome. It must have been an odd sight to behold, most of them naked, some still wearing parts of armour. Erik saw him and pulled him in, water streaming off his head through his thick eyebrows and beard, looking like wild man.

“You have to get it wet, then it will mould to your body like a second skin.” He said, Zach still all wide eyed at the scene in the shower, all calling him in, ‘get wet, get wet!’ Erik grabbed him by the straps across his chest and held him under the hot water.

“Enak, Jeh-ri, get into your clothes, we need to initialise him still.” Jeh-ri
quickly walked up to him as they held the lightly struggling Zach under the shower.

Erik na kat sha me di at et keh nu ta ne fer iat e ka.
-Erik, you are not going to use his ignorance for your personal amusement. He won't appreciate it!-

The tjer reh ka ut sha a ma sad shima ti yo tha
-it wont be any use to him if he doesn’t break it in, little one-

Yad ho te she ri ney ao gou uut –
- You just want some one to kick around, it has nothing to do with the armour.-

Tha ney na she lo! ki at ne tho te mey ya, Jeh-ri
-Let me have some fun, Don’t be such a spoilsport, Jehri-

Pai te ke kuh tah kata she Ian me pau ha. Teh ak kat ne she na Enak te ha uut.
-Ian and I will take care of him. You go play with Enak if you have some energy to burn-

“Will you two stop that damn gibberish and tell me what is going on?” Zach yelled, getting sick of trying to get out from under the streaming water, but being pushed back by Erik every time he moved.

“Yeah, I suppose that is a better idea, Nathan will get mad again, wouldn’t he?” Then he finally let go of Zach, who gratefully came out from under the downpour of hot water.

“Erik, would you put the kids to bed before you do go play?” He asked, after watching the big hairy redhead shake himself like a dog while drying himself off. He left with a huge smile on his face, then he ordered his people out of the showers before leaving.

“The Borronix hide is extremely tough, but becomes very pliable when made wet in hot water. If you move now, you will see what I mean.” Zach moved his arms and legs, feeling that it indeed had become a lot more flexible.
Ian and I will do some exercises with you, and when the armour is dry again, it will fit you perfectly.” He said.

He took two mops and unscrewed the handles, so he could use that while he, Ian and himself did some kata exercises with him, then moved on to just a slow sparring session, making him switch from me to Ian, bending and twisting slow and easy in the armour which had become dry after about one hour.

“You managed to order that big hairy brute around quite well, he outranks you, doesn’t he?” He said, rapping his mop handle, parrying Jeh-ri’s movements.

“I know how to handle big babies, Zach, and he might outrank me with experience in battle, but I outrank him in age. He was just looking for a way to cause mischief,”

“By drowning me or something? Zach asked.

“No, by beating the living crap out of someone close to the one who bested his commander.”
Jeh-ri said. “I just have enough diplomatic sense to not let things get out of hand. He would have ruined it for all of us if I hadn’t given him a suitable alternative.” He explained.

“So now he is going after his brother?”

“It has been a long time coming. It is about time that boil got lanced.” He said, as Ian approached, and stared to knead and poke the different layers of armour.
He nodded, satisfied. The hide was dry now, and so were they.

"This is quite amazing! I had the same thing happen to my trousers when we were running in the river, the water just runs off you.”

“The fabric is made to let water through, but repels it outward at the same time. If you have to live in your armour it isn’t an advantage to smell like a horny Wapet bear when you’re stalking or hiding.” Ian said, “You can just jump in any water and clean yourself off.”

This is dry now too, see?” Jeh-ri said pulling on one of the sleeves of his undershirt.
“I think I’ll go check on the brats for a bit.”

Zach wished them a good night, and walked off, going about his own business.

“Oh? I thought you were going to check on the twins?” Ian asked assuming the copper haired man meant the younger ones of our group.

“That is what I meant.” He said poking him in the stomach. “I think I’d better go find the spare Nutria we brought too.” Ian nodded gravely in agreement.
He gathered the drying parts of his armour up, and hung them in a room next to the showers where all the weapons and other combat gear was stowed.

Then pulled on the soft brown Yukata and Hakama he always wore at the temple. It felt good, comfortable.

The General had been locked in the Shinra boardroom for a couple of hours, then roped into some very unimportant paperwork which absolutely couldn’t wait until the next day. Thank Gaia it wasn’t much, and he was done in less then one hour. He encountered a wild and wide-eyed Zach in one of the corridors as he had been heading up to see him.

“What have you been doing, Zach? You look just like you have heard a dog speak or something.” He asked.

“Nathan’s people were in the showers singing and doing some weird ritual or something, every one joined in, our men too! The whole place is buzzing with it! Haven’t you heard, Seph?”

“No, Zach, Some of us have responsibilities and obligations to office work and stuff.” He said sarcastically. Zach made a dismissive gesture as he ignoring the spite in his friend’s voice.

“That big guy, the one with all the dreadlocks, he grabbed me and held me under the shower, till I was completely soaked through, then Ian and Jehri did some exercises me to break in this armour. It actually feels great now!” Zach said brimming with enthusiasm, bouncing around on the balls of his feet.

“I’m glad to see you are becoming so comfortable with them, Zach.” The older man said, feeling tired as his headache had returned, and felt in no mood for so much energy. One of the senior officers came down the corridor, greeted them both and urged them to follow him, as something was going on in the great hall.

Oh, now what! Sephiroth longed for his bed and for silence, he didn’t want to cope with any more problems right now, but he allowed himself to be pulled along anyway. They followed the officer into the observation room which allowed them to overlook the trainings that were given there. The dome was dark, as all the lights were turned off, but something in the middle of the floor kept catching what little light still came in through the large windows. Something shiny was moving incredibly fast.

“I think I know what that is.” Zach said. “Jeh-ri said something about checking on the twins.”

Enak and Erik were having it out, now that every one had gone to sleep, and there would be no one to stop them. They both joined their Katanas to form a Souba, and were hacking into eachother, pushing and shoving, to and fro, Erik bearing down upon Enak with all his brute strength, Enak easily parrying the blows, and counter attacking, jumping and cart wheeling around his slightly slower, bigger twin. Sephiroth spotted Jeh-ri sitting quite calmly with his back against the wall, not looking very impressed. Then the fight broke, and the shouting match began. As they were both talking in that bizarre language of theirs, Sephiroth lost interest.

“Let me know how it turns out, will you? I’m going to bed.” He said to Zach, who wished him a good night. After the older man had left, he made his way down and quietly sat down beside Jeh-ri.

“What are you doing here, Zach?” He asked, as he sat down beside him. “This is a private matter.”

“Your people are fighting in my academy, Jeh-ri. I am just as responsible for them as you are.” Zach retorted, reminding him of his place.

“I’m sorry, Zach.” He said quietly, “I know they haven’t exactly chosen the most perfect moment for this, but after this event is over, they will go their separate ways again, and nothing will be solved.”

“At least they have stopped trying to kill eachother.” Zach said, laughing softly.

He couldn’t see that both Enak and Erik were both in fact bleeding badly from several slashes made across their bare chests and back. They had been trying to kill eachother before, but the scent of each others blood had made them calm down. He didn’t want Zach to get too worried about this situation, and chose to keep his mouth shut.
They continued to hurl accusations at eachother, opening old wounds that never really had healed. Enak started in on him now, spitting like an angry cat, listing the things he had and hadn’t done, how Enak had always been made responsible for all Erik’s mischief.

Erik rebuked at him about him not being a child, and very capable of carrying responsibility for his actions. He accused Enak of running away, about being narrow minded and a lapdog to their father.

Jeh-ri stopped listening, knowing they wouldn’t start fighting again and left the hall, Zach in his wake. “You okay?” he asked he shook his head in answer, not having been okay for a very long time.

”I’ll speak to you in the morning, goodnight, Jeh-ri.” He said, and walked off quietly, having taken his queue to leave matters be.

Then Enak’s voice broke. They finally had reached the point in which all hurts had been said. Now they had to look, and face the injuries they both had caused eachother. He glanced around to door, opening it just a little, Enak was on his knees, sobbing miserably, and Erik stood there, his head bowed in shame.

All these years of their father bearing down upon them both, trying to keep his family together after their mother and his wife had passed away, how he had tried to integrate them into the Project Ark family, as it was the only family life he knew. but failed time and time again. Only succeeding in alienating them both to him and eachother. Finally, desperately surrendered raising the wayward young men to his cousin Nathan, who seemed to have a much better feel for them.

Erik sank down on his knees, and gathered his shaking twin into his arms, and held him tight. They sat there together, arms wrapped around eachother sobbing quietly. Then he walked to the door, carrying Enak like he was no more than a child. Jeh-ri steered them both into the room they all shared, and dressed their wounds. He gave them both a vile of the Nutria, which healed the cuts and slashes in a few moments. Then they curled up together, their heads resting on the other’s leg, in a perfect Yin yang symbol. Jeh-ri just watch them sleep for a while, for the first time in years feeling hope for them both.

Nathan entered the room, and saw how the twins were positioned. He sighed deeply.
“They were in the womb like that, you know.” He said.

“They still have a long way to go, but it is a start.” The copper haired man said quietly, as Nathan sat down beside him.

“Do you think it was a mistake for me to bring them?” Nathan asked.

“No. They have to come to terms with eachother. They cannot keep running away, it won't solve anything. I wished we had more room for privacy. It isn’t very handy for hem to sort things out when there are many eyes watching.” He said, sifting around so he sat with his back toward the Commander who untied the obi around his waist, letting the Yukata fall in a puddle around his hips. He was very grateful to feel his large, rough hands knead the muscles around his neck and shoulders. After a while he started to feel sleepy, and kissed his big hairy knuckles as a thank you. Then he snuggled up beside Hazel, who briefly stirred, but then they were both asleep.

Continues in ‘The Challenge’