Surrender to the Infinite

[Cloud // Cid]

(better than mine)

"If we're searching for something that is death, then we really are useless vessels. To be nothing more than to harbour objects and mechanisms like a machine, fueled by viscious emotions and desires..." Cloud said bitterly as the cold wind blew into his face, closing his eyes as it's cold touch tensed his skin.

"Rid yourself of emotion and desire, and you become the ultimate weapon. You require no fuel, no input...just a constant flow of output and action. No emotions to care of consequences or any desire to think of them. If you obtained that, then death would be overthrown. Most people who wish for their fate and demise usually back out of it at the last minute...just when they realise how foolish they where to cling to the emotion of regret and dispair." Cloud explained.
He smirked, before chuckling under his breath.
Quickly, the chuckling turned into menical laughter...the blonde slapping one of his hands to his forehead as the laughter continued...until, as random as it started, it suddenly stopped.
And with that, he just smirked slyly and chuckled again, opening his eyes slightly to glance at Pledge.

"Imagine the power you could weild...when you rid yourself of those chains...the very things that make you 'human'..."

[Pledge]

"Not useless vessels. We're tools of the planet, born of the planet's Lifestream to gather memories... memories that, when we die, return to the Lifestream, and will allow the planet to grow. Because our planet is a child, still learning its place in the universe. That is the reason we exist. To live, to remember, and to die. For the planet."

As Cloud broke out into crazed laughter, Pledge lifted his head, staring at the blonde warily, and with mild disdain. Before, he had believed with the things that Cloud had said, had agreed with them... but now... now it was a madman talking.

"You don't know what you're talking about. It is impossible to live without emotion. Emotion is Lifestream, Lifestream is emotion, without one, there is not the other, and without either, we would be nothing but empty shells, void of life. We would be dead. 'Casting off' the things that make us alive will not allow you to 'overcome' death, it will only mean you have succumbed to it." Pledge's voice seemed strained, as if he was suppressing an outburst of anger. "The only 'ultimate weapon' I could imagine is the one which weilds the Lifestream. Lifestream is the source of all energy, and all power, in this world. Control Lifestream - control all conciousness and memory and emotion, that ever was and is and will be - and you control the cycle of life and death itself. But no human would be able to weild that power. It's far too great."

There was no logic in Cloud's words. There was none of the knowledge of the planet and cosmos, of life and death and existance, that Pledge had been taught as a child. To hear someone speaking so carelessly and with no real knowledge of what he was talking about was extremely frustrating.

And the way Cloud spoke of 'power'... Slowly, painfully, he dragged himself to his feet, grimacing at his aching muscles. For a moment, as he straightened fully, swaying slightly on his feet, he paused, silent. Then, his tone quiet, controlled, but forceful, he spoke again.

"You're insane. Don't speak that way of something you don't understand."

[Cloud // Cid]

Cloud chuckled lightly once again, before skimming his left hand through his hair.

"Weilding the power of the lifestream is not impossible. It can be done if you know what you're doing." he purred, smirking as if pleased with something as he gazed over to the vastness of the sea.
And Pledge's remark on him being insane, that was just the bullet required to hit a raw nerve in the blonde...NOBODY, called him insane.

"Am I insane?" Cloud growled quietly, before slowly easing himself off the rock he was sat on..glaring at the floor, his face covered by his silver-golden hair...his eyes glowing under the darkness cast by his locks "Or are you the one who's gone mad!? What kind of moron takes a break on a beach...lying down like a corpse...begging for monsters to savage them!? If you so wish to die, then why don't you just dive into the sea and let the monsters have you!!?" he hissed harshly, clenching his fists tightly in a fit of blind rage.

"Everyone said I was crazy when I said I saw him, oh, but they'll see! They'll ALL see! He's just waiting for them to mess up, just waiting in silence and out of sight! Waiting for them to slip up! Then, he'll have them! But I won't let him get to me, oh no..." Cloud began to twitch violently...before making quiet choking sounds...clasping his chest with his right hand.

"...but he knows where I am...always there...the pain...he knows..."

[Pledge]

Watching Cloud silently with narrowed eyes, Pledge considered what would turn a seemingly quiet, thoughtful man into a complete raving lunatic. Was it the Materia he sensed earlier? Maybe most people couldn't hear the memories trapped inside the crystallized Lifestream, but Pledge had always had a feeling that those memories still affected the person who used their power, even if only slightly, and even if that person never realised it.

And whatever Materia the blonde had, it was very different from most. The memories were intense and powerful... and the remnants of conciousness seemed more active than any other Materia he had ever "heard" before. It had seemed to forcefully search out and impress itself on his mind... almost as if it was searching out potential wielders to use its power... As though it wished to inspire the same desire for destruction in others that had possessed the being whose memories had formed it.

The blonde seemed to be in pain, seized by convulsions and making strange noises. And although Pledge seemed generally cold and distant, he had been brought up to care for anything that was alive... even half-mad strangers with multiple personalities who were undoubtedly dangerous and possibly even possessed by whatever intensely dark Materia it was they carried.

Taking a step towards Cloud, Pledge half-raised a hand, his concern showing on his face, but luckily the more sensible half of his mind made him hesitate. Glancing down at where Akashic Record lay on the sand, he bit his bottom lip anxiously. Stooping to retrieve the weapon, he forced himself to ignore the complaints from his aching muscles at the weight of the three blades.

Gripping it in one hand, he held it low to his side in a neutral position, that generally would be interpreted as neither desire to attack nor fear of one, and took another wary step towards the blonde.

"Are you... are you alright?" he called, his voice, although quiet and level, sounding genuinely worried... although whether he was worried for Cloud or about him was debatable. "Who's waiting? Who knows? Who are you talking about?"

[Cloud // Cid]

Cloud's sudden fit of panic and paranoia was haulted by Pledge's voice, breaking the shifting of thoughts within the blondes head.
One track seemed to say 'Run mad and PANIC!' where as another would say 'Draw your weapon and prepair for battle!' but they seemed to create more conflicts within his mind than solve anything...the main track of thought was Cloud's usual 'thoughts and judgement', but there where multiple other tracks weaving in and out of the main one...some staying within the main track for longer and longer periods of time. Almost as if whatever the thoughts where or who they origionally belonged to, Cloud made them his own and left them sticking in his head.
Almost without complaint.

"Am I...a...alright!?" he growled before leaning forwards, his left hand clasping his chest harder, his breathing strengthened in severity...so hard that the blonde even began panting.
Suddenly, after hearing Pledge ask who he was talking about, the blondes eyes widened and the pain in his chest suddenly intensified.

You know NOTHING! Say anything, and he'll surely kill you! a voice pleaded in almost sheer terror, causing the blonde to stagger backwards as Pledge came that tiny bit too close.
Even if the gap between them was huge, Cloud's paranoia was almost through the roof. It was difficult for him to snap out of it too.

"Moron. I would have killed you ages ago if I didn't have any use for you..." muttered a very familiar voice.
The voice caused Cloud's pupils to dilate almost entirely to cat-like slits at recognition of the voice.

"If you where smart, you'd have killed yourself after hosting the black materia. The only way ANYONE will be able to take it out now, is by ripping your chest clean open...not that I wouldn't mind that. Ha-ha." the voice informed, almost in a mocking manner.
Cloud almost slipped as he backed away even more, sweat dripping lightly from the tip of his nose as he stared in complete and utter shock at the ground below him. His breathing had eased, the pain in his chest soothed but remained, and all he did was stand there cletching his torso with his left hand...as he stared blankly at the floor...almost ignoring Pledge.

"It's...S-Sephiroth..."

(crap post, sorry. Sephiroth is toying with Cloud. Yum! )

[Pledge]

Pledge tilted his head to one side, his eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of the name "Sephiroth". He'd heard that name somewhere before... Where was it? Of course, the first-class SOLDIER that Nanaki has spoken of when he was in Cosmo Canyon years before... But he didn't remember the details of what had been said... Most of it he'd been too young to understand fully. Then, something hit him. Frowning, he brushed his hair out of his face again. He did recognise this man.

"You came to Cosmo Canyon... with Nanaki... years ago..." he muttered, more to himself than to Cloud, but still loud enough for the blonde to hear. "I thought I recognised you."

He'd been a child back then, but the rag-tag group that Nanaki had been travelling with weren't easy to forget. Sighing, he rubbed his forehead distractedly. Memories of his home always depressed him, because he knew he could never go back there. He pushed them away. He didn't have time to mope.

"I thought... I remember Nanaki saying that Sephiroth was dead." Taking another step towards Cloud, concerned by the fact that blonde seemed eager to stay as far away from him as possible, he shrugged. "How can he be... I don't understand."

[Cloud // Cid]

Cloud raised his head slowly, just high enough for him to see Pledge.
His vision was rapidly deteriorating...the image he saw of the being before him was blurring and distorting...feint colours of red damaged his sight, almost as if he had sustained a head injury and blood was flowing into his eyes...but no injury was visible.
The pain in his torso was weak compared to how it was earlier, but before Cloud could answer Pledge, his voice locked up and his mouth fell shut.

"You don't need to talk right now." Sephiroth's voice said to Cloud.
The blonde grasped his head and fell down to his knees, screaming in agony, thrusting his head towards the ground and back into the air as if trying to fight off an onslaught.
And then, right after a few short seconds of mad screaming and fits of pain, Cloud stopped...sighed heavily as if releived from whatever caused his pain...his eyes wide and cat-like, breathing heavily as he got back to his feet.
He sighed again before glancing at Pledge.

"Sephiroth lives, and you all have that stupid flower girl to thank. And, of course, the foolish blonde..." Cloud chuckled deeply.

[Pledge]

What was wrong with Cloud? There might be no visible wounds, but he was clearly in pain. Something was going seriously wrong, inside. Pledge was beginning to doubt his original guess that it was something to do with the Materia he had sensed earlier. That might have had a suffocatingly powerful effect on his mind, but surely it couldn't affect someone like this...

As Cloud fell to his knees, Pledge dashed to the blonde's side. But even as he drew near, the dark, violent memories hit him with such strength that it felt almost a physical blow. He gasped, flinching away from Cloud and staggering backwards. And then, Cloud's agonized screams stopped just as suddenly as they had begun.

Pledge stared at the blonde warily as Cloud spoke... There was something different about his voice... In spite of himself, Pledge drew Akashic Record up into a defensive position, taking a step backwards. His mind was clouded by the intense echoes of ancient memory, and he couldn't focus enough to think of any sensible thing to do.

He did, however, have a feeling that it wasn't such a good idea to be near the blonde at this moment in time.

[Cloud // Cid]

Cloud chuckled menacingly as he flung for Nailbat and took an offensive stance.

"Just a small amount was enough for full control. He was weak." Cloud laughed, before getting ready for an attack.

Run! Don't let him try anything like last time! Just run! a weak voice cried out in Cloud's head.

"NO! Kill the warrior! Prove that you are useful!" Sephiroth's voice growled.
He yelled out a harsh battle cry as he dashed forwards...blindly following the voices he hard in his head.
But in almost a split second, the voices stopped and Cloud found himself freezing in mid dash, glancing around him as if unsure of what just happened...before finally making sense of everything.

"He...he couldn't be...!?" Cloud gasped, pondering to himself about what was about to happen.
Simple, he snapped and wanted to attack Pledge.
Oh, and he was talking liek Sephiroth: a total lunatic.
Those masses of voices slowly seeped back into Cloud's though tracks again...and not knowing what to make of them all, as they told him many things about what to do over this situation, he chose to do what he knew instinctvely.
Run.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" he cried out, almost dropping Nailbat as he turned around and high-tailed it towards the Mythril Mines...on his way to Junon.

(sucky post, sorry!)

[Pledge]

Control? Something... or somebody... was controlling him?

Cloud had retrieved his weapon, and suddenly, he'd charged. But even as he got close enough to attack, he stopped in his tracks. Frozen uncertainly with Akashic Record half-way from a defensive position into a guard-sweep, Pledge could feel the muscles in his arms trembling from the tension and the effort of fighting the weapon's momentum. His pale yellow eyes watched the blonde's face warily, the feral gleam having returned to them with the adrenaline coursing through his body.

And, as suddenly as his attack, Cloud was screaming something almost incomprehensible, and fleeing out across the Grasslands plains.

Pledge hesitated, watching his retreating form, before lowering his weapon to his side. Should he follow Cloud? Logic was telling him no... but he didn't feel right just letting someone who was clearly a danger to themselves run off on their own. Sighing, he returned Akashic Record to the ties across his back. What was he doing?

One thing was certain. He wasn't going to chase Cloud on foot. Striding from the beach, he headed across the Grasslands to the Chocobo ranch.