Warped Perspective

Chapter 6

They hurry back to Wutia, not caring who saw them board the ship or enter the town. They find out they were too late. Cloud has already gone through the village. A couple of the villagers were hurt and Yuffie was in critical condition. They find her in her home, laid out on her bed. She looked very fragile. Yuffie looks at them before speaking in a soft voice.

Yuffie, “You just missed him. . “

Madnol, “No kidding you old bitch.”

Yuffie laughs some and then coughs, “I think I will be with the planet by nightfall. That bastard broke my insides.... "

Zackery, “I am sorry I failed you.”

Yuffie, “No, you didn’t fail anyone yet. He would have been found and this would have occurred anyway. You must stop him before he kills monnocnnocent people. . . before Jenova is reborn through him. Go to Nanaki in Cosmo Canyon and make sure Cloud doesn’t try to kill him next.” Her son ushers them out so she can give her last words to the family.

Yuffie is pronounced dead. Her injuries were too serious to cure. The three leave the village during the night and travel over to Cosmo Canyon. It takes some time to travel from Wutia, across the sea, and over land to reach the canyon. There they are greeted by Nanaki. With Nanaki is one of his cubs, Halkona. Nanaki is a huge cat of some sort. His reddish fur slightly gray. Not much is known on his race. Nanaki already knew both Zackery and Madnol, but he was pleased to meet Chancey. Once in private, they tell him the bad news.

Nanaki, “This is not good. . .”

Chancey, “Cloud may be after you too.”

Nanaki, “I hope not, for he was once one of my good friends. You may be right though.”

Zackery, “Then we will stay here for a few days.”

Madnol, “This is freaky. All this time we thought Cloud was dead.”

Nanaki, ”Same was once thought of Sephiroth. He proved many wrong.”

Chancey, “Do you think Cloud will show up here?”

Nanaki, “I do not know.”

Some days pass. No word from Vincent and no news on Cloud. This meant alot of sitting around. Zackery felt a strange pull during this time. This made him fidgety and irritable. Madnol meanwhile was playing poker with the locals. He rarely played for keeps since he didn’t want to alienate the whole canyon. Then one night Cloud finally appears.

The night guard would have reported a clear night, if he was alive to his job. The first to find the dead guard was Madnol, who raised the alert throughout the canyon. Zackery goes to the observatory at the top of the cliffs to check on Nanaki. The other two try to search the rest of the place for any more dead bodies or the intruder. Zackery finds Nanaki in the observatory. He tells Zackery that Cloud is in the next room. Nanaki walks into the room, followed by Zackery. Cloud is on the device observing the heavens.

Zackery, “What is he doing?”

Nanaki, “Struggling with himself maybe.”

Cloud comes back down. Zackery notices his eyes an even blue-purple color.

Zackery, “I can’t allow you to kill Nanaki.”

Cloud, “I will fight you for his life, Zackery. It doesn’t matter to me if he dies. But it seems to matter to you.”

Nanaki is silent, watching Cloud intensely.

Zackery, “Fine, I will fight you outside.”

The fighters go outside the building. By now some of the people are coming to check on Nanaki. Cloud draws a sword he stole from the guard and waits for Zackery to also get ready. Zackery is pulling his sword out when Madnol and Chancey arrive.

Madnol, “Great! Another chance to kick your ass!”

Zackery, “No, this is between Cloud and me.”

The two fighters take their positions. Cloud takes the offensive. He pounds away at Zackery’s defenses. Zackery barely holds him off. By now several people got up the ladder were watching. Their fight brings them along the cliff’s edge. Cloud then uses his full skill and disarms Zackery. He looks around at the crowd with little interest. Cloud chooses someone and throws his borrowed sword into the person. The victim is pinned to part of the cliff. This causes the crowd to really back up. Cloud steps off the cliff and s ons on the ground below. He quuckly leaves the canyon.

Nanaki, “I don’t think he was after me.”

The villagers are trying to unpin the dead man from the wall, but the sword is too deep.

Chancey, “Then why was he here?”

Nanaki, “He seemed more interested in Zackery.”

Vincent runs up to the top of the cliff. For an instant, he looks relieved to see Nanaki was fine. Then, he get back his composure.

Nanaki, “Before we have that talk, can you pull the sword out of that poor man? We would like to give him a decent burial.”

Vincent pulls the sword out of the cliff with one hard tug. The other people of the canyon carried the man down the steps.

Nanaki, “What has happened to Cloud? He has changed . . . ”

Vincent, “First I need to know what happened here. I expected more casualties.”

They go somewhere private to talk. Zackery gives Vincent an update.

Nanaki, “He didn’t seem to be after me.”

Vincent, “Why was he here then?”

Nanaki, “He was interesting in Zackery. Now, tell me about Cloud.”