( @nimbuster )

[vehementi]

Sephiroth (vehementi) & Cloud (nimbuster)
Warnings: TBD

A future without Cloud is no future at all. All he needs is a little push in the right direction to defy his fate, even if Sephiroth has to be his guiding beacon.

Cloud denied his hand at the Edge of Creation, it's true.

But Sephiroth is nothing if not persistent, and he'll do what he must to save Cloud from his own destruction. While Cloud's will is among his favorite traits, he bears an impeccable tendency towards flirting with death. For example... Now trapped in the steely coils of Midgardsormr's body, Cloud writhes and struggles, straining not to gasp water into his lungs. If the gargantuan beast doesn't crush him first, he'll surely drown. Or he would-- had Sephiroth not kept his watchful eye on him. A flurry of elegant strikes is all it takes for Masamune to carve the serpent into ribbons and relinquish its hold on Cloud.

As Cloud sinks lower into the swamp waters, there's something almost ethereal about the way he drifts, reaching his hand up.

Sephiroth smiles, and its not unlike the predatory curve of the Midgardsormr's mouth. It's beautiful, he thinks-- that this time, Cloud is the one asking for a hand.

Out of one serpent's jaws and into another.

But Sephiroth meets Cloud's outreached hand with his own, whisking him away from his gaggle of companions and into a more secluded place. He'll return him soon enough. There's still so much work to do, after all... But for now, what harm is there in savoring the moment? Perhaps Cloud will even be... receptive. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Before long, Cloud is deposited on the rotted wood floor of a ruined building, where Sephiroth will leave him to cough and spit water.

Watching. Waiting.

"Such carelessness, Cloud... I wonder: do you think you're ready?" he'll say, spreading his arms-- and he doesn't just mean for him, but for this journey in its entirety.