Titanium Wolves

Title: Titanium Wolves
Author: Reichi
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Cloud/Kadaj, little bits of Vincent/Tseng and Cid along the way.
Comments: Another Advent Children-based story. I told you all it was coming, were you doubting me? I love this couple more and any other in the FF kingdom, simply because they are such powerful opposites and cut-throat at times, but in the movie, they seemed to have such a understanding for each other, no matter how out of hand things progress. This fanfiction, I am glad to say, with be longer than the other, and take place directly after the movie and its proper ending. ^^; Sorry, not a sequel to Birds of Prey. I might do a one-shot crazy sex night with that one eventually. So yeah. This story here follows the movie closely. Lol. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: O_O ITS NOT MINE. FINAL FANTASY VII AND FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN DONT BELONG TO ME. NONE OF THIS IS MINE!!! NONE! I SWEAR! FFVII AND FFVII:AC BELONG TO SQUAREENIX. NOT MINE. ALL THEIRS. DISCLAIM DISCLAIM!! -passes out-






Chapter One: Repercussion.





Everything was absolutely calm and silent. It had been for a week, and after years of excitement, daring and thrill, it was completely –annoying-. And it annoyed no one else more than Reno. Kicking his feet up on his new eroded desk in the makeshift Turk headquarters, the Redhead grimaced and crossed his arms. His forest-green eyes flickered over to his Turk-pal, Rude, who appeared as equally bored as he felt; doing the equivalent of twiddling his thumbs and staring at the cracks in the ceiling through his ever-present tinted shades.


Finally, Reno sighed exaggeratedly, “Holy –fuck- man, what the hell are we going to do now? “


“I don’t know. “ Rude shrugged, nudging the stack of paper beside him, “I guess we could begin the paperwork Tseng assigned us to do. “


“Our great resurrected leader. How the did he live being shanked by Sephiroth anyway? “ Reno asked, glaring at the work whole-heartedly.


“Because he’s our boss. “ Rude finally looked at him, the glasses in the dim light making him look insectile. At least, to Reno’s active imagination, “I guess it’s in his job description; living through everything. “


“Turk for life. “ Reno exclaimed, “How much paper work –did- leader-sama assign anyway? “


Rude delicately lifted the first sheet and shifted his shades about, as though they doubled for reading glasses. His nose scrunched, “Two years worth, it seems. He wants documented events of everything Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo did in his absence. “


“Are you –FUCKING- me? “ Reno sat up bolt straight and wheeled over to Rude, snatching the paper away and reading it in awe, “ Two years of rolling an incapacitated president around and guarding his dying ass and THIS is what we get? “


“I guess so. “ Rude looked indifferent, “But what else is there to do? “


Reno continued ranting, “Two years of being gone, doing –who knows what-, and then coming back here and barking orders at us again! Little fucking prick. “


“Reno. “ Rude said, clearing his throat to catch the rampid redhead’s attention and gesturing vaguely over his shoulder. Reno merely raised an eyebrow and looked at him as though he were insane.


“What? What is it? “Rude continued to point, the gesture becoming a little more erratic, “Just say it. Did you forget how to speak or something? What? “


“As blunt as your weapon, I see. “ Murmured a voice from behind Reno. The Redhead paled and clenched his fists, back stiffening. He refused to turn around though, and face Tseng, “Not much has changed or improved. You’re still a useless liability. “


“What do you want? “ Reno snapped a little too suddenly, a little too loudly, and he could nearly –feel- the Wutai bastard’s eyebrows raise slightly, “Err… I mean. Boss… what is it? “


“We have a disturbance. “ Tseng’s highly-polished shoes clicked against the ground as he wandered between them, hands behind his back, straight and stiff as a board as usual. His sharp, hawkish eyes stared them both down, “Just outside Gongaga. I want you two to see what it is. “


“Gongaga? “ Reno snorted, easing up a little, “What do we care what’s happening there? It’s on a whole different continent than us. “


“It’s moving this way. “ Tseng stared down Reno for being insubordinate, causing him to sink down in the chair and cross his arms with a little sneer, “We’ve been tracking it; it’s leaping miles at a time, and has already traveled fifty miles in the last hour. “


“We’ll leave as soon as possible. “ Rude intervened, because it appeared as though Reno was about to snarl something out at their superior that may not roll off his back so easily this time. He stood and straightened his neatly ironed black suit. “Coordinates? “


“In the Shinra Helicopter. “ Tseng turned to Rude and completely ignored Reno, who took to making vulgar faces at him behind his back, “Our satellites are watching it, and beaming information there. You two should find it easily. “


“Right boss. “ Rude inclined his back slightly; a show of appreciation and thanks. Tseng returned the gesture appropriately and spun around on his heel, glaring down Reno.


“ Don’t fuck up. “ Tseng said, specifically to the Redhead, who merely blinked up at him, “Rufus has given you lee-way for what you have done for him, but that won’t save you if you blow anything valuable up. It’ll be a pleasure to toss you out, Reno. “


“Yeah, yeah. “ Reno rose with his boss towering above him still, stretching his arms out until his joints cracked and grabbing his electro-rod from the desk; where he had tossed it when arriving here days ago, “ Too bad you wont get that chance, -Boss-. Come on, let’s go, Rude. “


Leaving Tseng to stand there along, Rude curved about him and followed Reno to the rusted double doors, leading outside of the Healin Lodge and clanking down the plank leading to the old, chemically damaged ground that refused to prosper. They both wandered in the direction of the ground Helicopter, paint chipping from the old Turk insignia on the side; something that could make people tremble… or used to. Their influence had become dauntingly ‘do-gooder’, what with their role of obliterating Yazoo and Loz to smithereens. Little good that did though; the Bastards still managed to crawl away and live long enough to commence in more trouble.


“You shouldn’t talk to him like that. “ Rude said, pushing his dark shades up the slim bridge of his nose, “You’ll get in trouble for that. He’s only trying to keep you out of it. “


“ Ehh, there’s no more damage to be done, “ The Redhead slid the door of the Helicopter open and eased inside, slouching into the pilots seat, “ I mean, -fuck-. Look around. Everything was practically destroyed because of Sephiroth anyway. And whatever hadn’t been demolished, Kadaj’s little gang took out in a heart beat. “


“Nibelheim survived. “ Rude clambered past Reno, and the Redhead did very little to move out of his way. The larger Turk fell into the seat beside him and struggled minimually with the straps there, “ And a couple of other places. “


“ Yeah, well, I don’t even –care- about those places. They could be tossed onto a violent storm and blown off the face of Gaea and I wouldn’t give two shits about it. “ Reno turned the egnition and started the engine, propeller orbiting above them and rapidly gaining speed. The Redhead sat back while he waited.


“ You should care. “ Rude cleared his throat again and peered out the window, at the tiny fiends gathering around the Lodge’s entrance and sniffing around there. If he had a gun right now, he’d blast each one for target practice, “ Its our job now. “


“ Well I liked the way things were before. I liked hunting down and assassinating people. That was fun. “ Rude took the joystick after a moment and moved it ratically to the left, making the whole thing lurch and catch air. It drifted in the wind for a moment, then slowly begun to rise.


“ You can be really sick and twisted sometimes, you know. “ Rude watched the fiends grow smaller as they rose and gripped the side railing attached to the door; Reno tended to be a little spastic when driving the Helicopter, spare for the few times President Rufus graced them with his almighty presence.





Death, pain and suffering.


Years worth of agony hardly left a dent on anything; though it was avidly apparent whenever someone passed by a ruined Item store or collapsed home. True, the President was rebuilding the city into a glory more presitgeous than what his sinister father had ever imagined, and for the first time he actually seemed to –care-. Perhaps contracting Geo-Stigma and having the deathly virus taken from his body had brought out the goodness hiding just below his surface


It seemed that the haunting presence of Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz had changed the people of the city, because there were no longer vicious crimes and hostile threats from gangs to gang, not even in Wall Market. People were respecting the lives that the Lifestream had so graciously given them, and the quality of that life was intending to be increased twice-fold than before with Mako Energy.


Naturally, things were still in increasingly low demand; Gil was sparse and saved at will for a rainy day, food was even more so, and people got whatever they could get. Still, every day, more and more orphans appeared on the street and gathered to Tifa for help and care they’d only recently been denied.


Cloud remained unmovingly indifferent. The world appeared blank to him, sitting on top of Fenrir and absently holding the spot the Geo-Stigma had afflicted on his arm. The city around him moved, thrived with the precious gift Aries had rained upon them, and though Cloud felt as though he should have been remarkably pleased with himself… something was gnawing at his mind more and more.


Returning to the Seventh Sector after the most recent delivery job, it played through his avid mind again; Kadaj was dying. Dazed, he had tripped and Cloud had caught him with a sudden rush and emotion coursing through him; It was over. The most recent plague of Sephiroth… but he didn’t exactly –want- it to be over.


Kadaj had stared upwards toward the grey heavens, almost… happy to be dying, despite the tear of pain that had eased its way down into his snowy-white hair. The Blond couldn’t help but feel the exact same agony; dying so young, under the influence of false truths, in the same way Sephiroth had.


He reached toward the heavens then, the voice above compelling him onwards, and his youthful body glittered away into sparkling pieces illuminated by flakes of sunlight pouring through the clouds, drifting upwards, warmly brushing past Clouds cheek. Something inside of him had ached then, even when the rain soothed his tired muscles and eased him mind. It was the way his heart throbbed, almost attempting to break free of his chest. Something that made him incredibly sad, mournful even.


Cloud spun out of the memory when Fenrir came to rest outside of Tifa’s Seventh Heaven, slipping off the seat numbly and dropping the kickstand. Pushing the door open, he lowered his eyes to his long shadow on the floor, fading as the old oak door swung shut behind him.


He didn’t –want- to thinking about Kadaj anymore, but he couldn’t –stop- himself either.


Tifa, behind the bar, looked up from where she was cooking something that smelled watered-down and dull. Probably a quick stew to feed everyone. Cloud wasn’t hungry that much anymore though.


“ Did it go well? “ She asked him, stirring the large pot. Cloud said nothing, reaching into his pocket and dropping a cluster of Gil there, that clanged against each other as they sprawled over the counter-top. She eyed it.


“ Whats this for? “


“ The children. “ He responded, easing his ungloved hand into his front pocket and shifting his footing about, “ They need food, don’t they? “


“ Well… yes. “ Tifa’s dark eyes flickered up to him, and then returning to the lightly steaming pot on the stove, returning to tentatively stirring it, “ What about you, though? Every time you’ve gotten Gil in the past week, you’ve given it to us… “


“ I don’t need the money. “ He said resolutely and sat on a barstool that shifted around unsteadily with his weight, “ You guys need it more than I do, so I give it all to you. “


“ You don’t have you, you know. “ Tifa looked at him, and smiled, “ But thanks. It really does help. “


“ No problem. “ Cloud watched the blue flame heating the pot flicker before shutting off. The boiling died down after a moment and faded back into some uncomfortable silence. The blond stared at the old floor in silence.


“ I don’t know. “ He murmured and rose, boots creating a heavy thunk when they touched the ground, a sigh heaving his chest, “ Maybe… I’ll go for a walk. “


“ Going to the Church then, I suppose, “ Tifa gave him a wiley look when she begun ladeling the food into small bowls, “ You don’t need to lie to me. Just tell me if your going to visit Her Spot. “


“ Yeah. “ Cloud muttered, watching for a moment and turning around almost gracefully, running a hand down his once-afflicted arm thoughtfully as he went to the door, pushing it open easily with his shoulder and into the rusty Sector Seven outside.


All around him, there was poverty still. But people were happy… the –children- were happy, smiling at him brightly as he went by and waving. Cloud shoved his hands deeply into his pockets and cast his gaze downwards again. He didn’t –want- hero worship, or even for someone he didn’t know to chant his name as he went by, speeding his pace just to get away.


He always wanted to be left alone; danger and thrill always found him. And over the years, it had become a natural part of his life. He thought the adventure was over after killing Sephiroth, and then Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo showed up, racing his Fenrir like bats out of hell and yelling at him, ‘ where is mother? ‘.


It took them a year and a half to finally find her, hidden with Rufus in a rigid metal case containing whatever remained of her. Whatever had not been slaughtered mercilessly. And because she had been allowed to live, even such a miniscule part, she had wreaked a new havoc on the world by punishing it for what they had done to her.


Sent Kadaj after him… the gravel path beneath his feet faded into a single grey blur.




: One and a Half Years Earlier :



Kadaj had shown up out of no where, when Cloud was called back to the Seventh Heaven after a delivery mission, just outside of Midgar to the Healin Lodge. Someone there called for medicines, and a gloved hand had snatched away the parcel when Cloud knocked, threw Gil at him, and closed the door with a metallic clank.


He remembered it powerfully… Tifa needed help with the children. They were growing ill for no reason at all, and it was worrying her. She wanted his second opinion on what was afflicting them. He was returning to them when Kadaj spun at Fenrir on his own motorcycle, hitting the front tire with intentions of knocking him off balance. Cloud had struggled to remained upright and turned back onto his given path, rather shocked.


The Teen sped the motorcycle up close to him and leaned over on it, his eyes startling Cloud morbidly; their gleam was tinted brightly with Mako, so infused that yellow sparked the middle and made them shine. The pupil was feline and flexed with his malicious tone, matching the nasal voice, “ Hello there. “


-Sephiroth?! – Unknowingly, Clouds hand had tightened and Fenrir lurched, leaping up a couple of miles and passing Kadaj for a moment, “ Who the –fuck- are you? “


“ Surprized? “ Kadaj yelled through the wind whipping past them, smirking, “ I’m Kadaj, and I am going to kill you. “


“ Go away! “ Was the best response Cloud had at the moment; He’d rebuilt Buster and kept it in the safety of his bike, the real one marking the spot of his best friends death. He’d grown too used to the weight of the blade and its performance to leap to a different weapon, and simply replicated its dimensions. A simply flick at the small button and what typically would be storage compartments wielded the improved sword. He swiped it out and the bike wobbled as he drove single-handedly.


“ Your exactly how I’ve been told you’d be. “ Kadaj reached around to the sheath on his back and pulled out the weapon Cloud would soon know all-too-well; Souba, twin sword, shadow blade. It gleamed in the sun and launched at him, slashing at the fuel tank.


“ Hey! “ Cloud reflected the attack and swung Buster down. Its mighty attack was blocked by the Teen, whose devilish smirk made the Blonds heart thunder.


“ Fuck you. “ The Teen snarled suddenly, angered, and swerved his bike into Clouds, making it tip over onto its side and roll over on top of him once, the Buster clanking somewhere.


“ Mother has given me strict orders to kill you, Traitor. “


Cloud coughed, rolling onto his back and breathing heavily; it felt as though he’d broken a couple of ribs right in half, and his breathing crackled every now and then. Looking up, the leather-clad body was standing directly over his head, the Souba placed over his chest, yet not touch. Cloud narrowed his eyes.


“ Traitor? “


“ Mother doesn’t desire your presence anymore. You’ve abandoned her. “ Kadaj bent until one knee touched the dusty ground and leaned over Cloud, his silvery white hair smoothing around his face and framing it, the lovely shape of his face that Cloud was shaken to notice. Since when did he actually –notice- these things, especially about a new enemy?


“ Mother? “ Cloud breathed in a breaking breathe, “ You mean Jenova? “


“ We know that you have her; its only a matter of time before we get her back in time for the Reunion. “


Clouds eyes fluttered shut for a moment and he breathed out, opening them again when a dizzy spell passed, “ Your picking up where Sephiroth left off, so suddenly? “


“ Naturally. Mother requires immediate attention. “ Now the point of the two swords were pressing just over his heart, that gave a nervous flutter. Kadaj had grabbed his jaw rather painfully, the clean leather smooth. He leaned in, eyes narrowed savagely. Like staring down a very angry panther.


“ We –will- get her. Don’t try anything stupid, Traitor. “ Kadaj let go harshly and stood, reaching back and sheathing the sword again with the smooth glide of clean metal, “ Until next time. “

And then he left Cloud there, and there the Blond remained until the roar of the bike disappeared into the distance, after Tifa had tried calling him once or twice, long after he was initially due home, and past when Barret would arrive home and demand that he challenge him to a game of pool. The wind cascaded by like tides of the ocean, and Cloud had kept his eyes shut, reeling in what had just happened, and what it meant for him.




: Present :




Thunk!


Cloud jolted backwards a couple of steps and held his forehead, which was pounding now with cold pain. He must have been dazing… he ran right into a pipe that spread from one building to another, in an alley somewhere near the center of Midgar. He rubbed the spot fiercely, absently looking around when spots of yellow and blue caught his eye.


It looked like… it must’ve been.


He stepped over the crumbled remains of the ShinRa Headquarters and to where the weak light had caught the gleam of a katana handle. And reaching down to pull it out, the Souba made itself known.


Cloud had never touched the weapon before, and was surprised with its maneuverability and ease, yet all he could do was stand and hold it, like a dead rat. Most likely, it was created to only be wield by its Master, much like the Masamune to Sephiroth.


Dimly, he looked around, his heart suddenly feeling much heavier now. The Souba without Kadaj was a true testimate that the Teen was truly gone. Only this piece of him remained, in the way the handle curved for his slender yet strong hands. If Cloud closed his eyes, he could imagine the way that Kadaj would look at him during battle, waving the blade mightily before himself. This blade…


Cloud suddenly had an idea; lowering his head, he took it to a spot where no one would ever bother it, and stabbed the smooth tip into the cement ground. It stood there solidly, the shadow blade winking at him in the setting sun. It was the best that he could do… Kadaj was nothing more than a fond memory that multiplied every day with ‘ what ifs… ‘ and ‘ maybes… ‘, and to honor his pointless and young death, he left the Souba there as a marker.


Someone would probably steal it. Cloud touched the handle again, with the intricate and traditional weaving, immaculate, as though the event only happened hours ago.


“ See ya around. “ Cloud murmured and turned, heading back toward the Seventh Heaven; thoughts of venturing back into the Church having completely fled him. He wanted to be alone, and that included the haunting presence of Aeries.


As night fell and shadows cast the streets of Midgar into threatening darkness that not even orphaned children dared to tread into, the glint of the Souba suddenly disappeared from where it had been placed, leaving behind a single white dove feather.





To be Continued.

Ooo, shifty-shifty, ne? Btw, this one will most likely be updated as rapidly as Birds of Prey. Hope you enjoy my newest perspective.