Decadence and debauchery, the lost chapters

Cloud slowly opened his eyes. It had to be about dawn, as he always woke just before sunrise. He had it drilled into him when he was still at the academy, and it had never left him. Yazoo was still firmly tucked in his bedroll, both his hands folded under his cheek as he mostly slept on his stomach. Cloud couldn’t help but notice how much he looked like a sleeping cat when he did that.

He gently ran the back of his fingers over one delicate cheekbone to wake his lover up, who lazily opened one eye, yawned, then stuck his behind in the air as he languidly stretched his spine and arms.

Maybe I should offer him a saucer of milk or something… Cloud thought, as Yazoo moved forward on his arms and stretched his legs one after the other.

“What are you going to do today?” He asked, as he watched Cloud busy himself making breakfast. He crawled toward him on all fours and preened as Cloud ran his hands over his back.
“Want me to purr for you?” Yazoo asked as he pressed his rump against Cloud’s thighs as the blond haired man just smiled at his antics.

“I don’t have any deliveries for today.”

“Maybe we could go out looking to check on Loz.” Yazoo ventured carefully.

“We could do that.” Cloud said as he handed Yazoo a bowl of boiled rolled oats.
The silver-head eyed the bowl of greyish slightly slimy matter suspiciously, than poked it with his spoon. “What is this?” He asked.

“It’s porridge. Here, add some of this.” Cloud poured some sweetened condensed milk out of a can in the bowl.

“It still looks like snot, though.” Yazoo complained.

“Just eat it. Its really nutritious, and we have quite a ways to go if we want to reach the Forgotten City before dusk.”

Yazoo began eating, and discovered that it actually tasted better than it looked.
Half an hour later, they had packed several supplies that would allow them to stay out and about for four days.
Cloud filled several large bottles with water from the spring, and packed them into his saddlebags. “I have no idea if the water will retain its healing qualities.” Cloud said as he caught Yazoo’s questioning glance. “There is no harm in trying.”

“I suppose.” Yazoo said, then embraced his lover, taking in his scent and warmth.

Yazoo had been helping out with the deliveries, but had stayed out of sight of the rest of his friends at the Seventh Heaven bar. Cloud just wasn’t ready to share his little secret yet with them, and Yazoo still had a lot of adjusting to do now that he was leading a relatively normal life.

He still had a lot to learn, one of them being that he wasn’t allowed to use the pigeons roosting on the church roof for target practice, and that almost everything, including ammunition for his guns, food, and fuel for his motorbike, cost money.

Cloud could tell that Yazoo had some trouble adjusting to the fact that he needed a job, and being a courier just wasn’t his thing. He would have to find some other way to make his existence make sense, but now all he really focused on was finding out what had become of Loz.

“We ride together?” Yazoo asked as Cloud indicated for him to hop on the back with him.

“Yup. Saves on fuel. Its kinda rare since Shinra isn’t supplying anymore, so we have to save on it when we can.” Cloud explained. “Besides, I like having your arms around me.”
Yazoo poked him in the side as he nested his head between the other’s shoulder blades, and they were off into the sunrise.

~*^_^*~

Enak was annoyed. Erik had disappeared some time during the previous day, and should have returned ages ago. He hated it when his brother went off on one of his scouting sessions, sometimes not showing up for days on end. Usually he returned with something completely useless while he was stuck here at their semi- permanent campsite with nothing better to do than to tend the vegetable gardens and the animals.

He was about to take out his phone dial Erik’s number when the person in question appeared on the horizon. He noticed Christine, the huge fox-coloured warhorse he rode, was plodding along, being burdened with not one, but two riders. Well, one was riding, the other was tied unceremoniously across the large saddle.

Erik dismounted and untied his find, then he hauled him over his shoulder, and lumbered along with his burden into the Gurt.

“Please tell me you didn’t bring home another stray, Erik.” Enak said, as he watched the slightly taller man carry the other inside and dump him on the ground like a sack of potatoes.
“Where did you find him?”

“Forgotten city. There has been quite a lot of activity there recently. I found traces of lots of little footprints, probably children, several gun and sword fights, motorbike tracks of about four different bikes, and footsteps of about two more like him.”

“What is so special about him?” The black haired man asked as he gave the body on the floor a disapproving glance.

“Try lifting one of his arms.” Erik said, as he plonked himself down on a chair, and started to take his boots off.

Enak did, and found himself struggling to lift it. “He is one solid guy alright, isn’t he?” Erik concluded. “Build like a tank, this one. I think he has seen al lot of action too, but he has no battle scars on him. Non what so ever.”

“Really? That is odd. Even the best of the best has a few close shaves in his or her career.”

“I think he has some kind of amazing regenerative abilities. See that mark on the side of his head?” Erik said as he knelt beside the large comatose body, and turned the head sideways. “When I found him, this mark was very red and there were powder burns all around. Now it is almost gone.”

“You mean, he shot himself?” Enak asked, as he took out a magnifying glass and took a closer look at the skin on the man’s temple. “He has a very unusual hair colour too.”

“You like him, Nakky? Handsome devil, isn’t he” Erik teased, knowing his brother’s preference. “Scan him for me, will you. See what you can find out.”

Enak started to undress the man, peeling away the stiff layers of black leather. “He has been in the water, this leather is ruined. It feels like concrete paper.”

“I will get him something else to wear.” Erik said, “or would you prefer him to stay naked?”

Enak gave his twin a look that made his skin crawl, so he left to give Enak some peace and quiet he would need for the scan.
He took out a small digital recorder, inserted a new disk, and attached the microphone to the lace around his neck.

“Subject is male, age is unknown, I guess between twenty and twenty five, skin Caucasian, and very pale, probably due to non exposure to direct sunlight. There are no scars, or birthmarks, or other natural skin discolorations, with exception of two large geo-stigma induced welts on the upper chest and upper thighs. Respiration and pulse are within normal perimeters for someone who is sleeping. His build is very muscular, and seems to be shaped for combat” Enak sighed. Very muscular.. very beautiful. The Gods certainly used all the best when he was made..

He lifted one of the man’s eyelids, he noticed one thin elliptical pupil, thin and fixed, while the other was widely dilated.
“Damage to the brain, compression on right hemisphere due to self inflicted gunshot wound. Shape and colouring of eyes is most unusual. It indicates a high level of genetic enhancement of some kind. Let us see just how much..”

Enak stood up, and straddled the body under him. Then he placed his forehead against the other and one hand at the top of the silver coloured head, the other hand he placed between the man’s legs, just on the blank patch between his scrotum and his anus.
Then he let his mind sink into the unconscious man under him.

~*^_^*~

Yazoo held on tight as Cloud pulled out of town. Now that there was very little other traffic around he could really open the throttle and give Yazoo a thrill. He could feel the smaller youth’s arms tightening around his waist and imagined Yazoo’s heart pattering against his ribs as they accelerated even more. Cloud laid the bike into some tight corners, around stranded vehicles and other debris blocking the relative ruined roads, and drove out into the desert surrounding the city. Yazoo’s stomach tingled with excitement as the roared along the desert floor, sending up a large cloud of dust in their passing.

They rode until dusk, then the Ancient forest came into view, its huge white trees arising in the distance, quietly glowing like misty pillars in the darkening sky. A strange feeling of homesickness stole over Yazoo as they slowed down and moved slowly along the uneven forest road. He could sense his brother’s presence still in the aura between the white trunks, the energy of past battles still ghosting in the still mist-swirled air.

The Forgotten City came into view, and as Yazoo pointed out some very strange fresh prints on the ground. Yazoo checked Velvet Nightmare’s ammo clip just as Cloud selected several blades out Fenrir’s side compartments, and stuck them in the holster across his back.

“Bring the whole sushi set, did you?” Yazoo teased.

“You just make sure you don’t blow you own toes off, brat!” Cloud countered, and poked him in the stomach.

As they approached the tall shell like structure, the sun had completely set, leaving only the small sounds of night animals to be heard.

“I’ve never seen prints like this before, have you?” Yazoo said, as he squatted down and looked at the crescent shaped impressions in the damp soil. Cloud slowly shook his head.

“It has four legs, and it’s big! Check that out.” Cloud said as he pointed to a large pile of rounded droppings on the side of the track. They approached the city and as the ground was a lot more solid, the tracks could no longer be read. Yazoo slowly walked inside and entered the cave that lay beyond. He wasn’t at all surprised to see the slab he had left his big brother on to be empty.

“He is gone.” Yazoo said, and ran back outside looking for more tracks. Then he noticed the boot prints approaching the entrance, and leaving again, but the tracks leading out were twice as deep at least. “Someone has taken him.” Yazoo concluded, and trotted along the track to where the alien tracks started again. As he looked up, he noticed rope marks on the tree trunk.
“Who ever took him, must have loaded him up on that weird thing he was riding, that was tied to this tree, and them took him South.”

“There is a small town that way. We could find a Bed-and-Breakfast there and ask around to see if anyone has seen anything.” Cloud said as they walked back to the waiting motorbike.
He turned as he noticed Yazoo didn’t follow him. “You okay?”

“It looks like he is alive, doesn’t it?” Yazoo asked, half looking for a confirmation. “I mean, why bother dragging a four hundred pound corpse around otherwise?”

“Yeah.. I sup-he was how heavy?” Cloud asked as he spun on the silver-head who smiled.

“You aren’t exactly made of feathers yourself you know.” Yazoo said, as he dropped his head.

Cloud sighed. Good old Shinra engineering, we’ll enhance you up to the point were your bones won’t break and your muscles won’t strain. You’ll have eyes and the ears like a bat, and be faster and stronger than anything else on the planet. If only they would teach you a way to be able to live with yourself once you have outlived your usefulness to the company, so you won’t have to feel like a freak-show the rest of your unnatural existence.

He walked up to Yazoo and put one gloved hand to his cheek. “You are not alone, love. Not anymore. Whether Loz is alive or not.” He kissed him, full and solid, hugging him close. “Come on, lets get moving. Those clouds look like rain.” He said as he indicated towards the clouds now racing to cover the moon.

~*^_^*~

Enak left the Gurt, struggling to stay upright. He kept his eyes shut as he felt his way along the felt-and –trellis covered side of the tent. As he reached the back he heaved, and emptied the entire contents of his stomach out on the ground.

“By Althea! That guy must have some serious shit going on in his body for you to loose your breakfast, brother.” Erik observed, as his younger twin leant against the cut-off stump of a tree.

“You have no idea. He has been experimented on from.. conception, I think” Enak panted
then heaved again. Erik moved to catch the reeling black haired man, to stop him from falling into the puddle of his own vomit. He reached for his canister and poured some of the cold water into his brother’s neck.

“His mind.. it is a storm of violence and conflict. There are more blocks and walls in there than a prison. It is a miracle he can actually communicate at all. His mind is like that of an autistic child. It is like they only focused his entire upbringing on combat and atrocity, but did nothing to stimulate him intellectually. He has the mind of a ten year old in the body of a grown man.”

“Sounds pretty much like your average male then.” Erik sniggered.

“Speak for yourself, shithead.” Enak panted. “He is also put together, engineered, not grown like a regular person.”

“You mean, cloned?”

“Something like that, parts of him have been enhanced, like his physical strength. I don’t get the idea he has developed inside a human body, though. There are also some very powerful emotions in there, but they are very enlarged and basic, and very primitive.”

“Like; sad-cry! Angry-fight! Happy-laugh!” Erik suggested.

Enak nodded. Something whinnied, long and loud. “I better go and check on Christine. She had a hard time hauling the both of us here.” Erik said, and sauntered off.

~*^_^*~