The Cloud Forest (Tifa)

Zack's gaze focused on the blowing snow beyond him. Standing upon the deck of a sturdy, if oddly undersized airship, Zack placed his arms upon the rails and simply watched. The harsh winds blew at his parka, constantly blowing back the hood which Zack had given up on. "Sir, we've got something on the radar, a small ways away from the given coordinates." An older fellow stepped out into the cold, blowing warm air into his hands as he gave Zack the news. "Aren't you finding it somewhat difficult to breathe at this altitude? Even for a young lad like yourself?" The old man continued to blow warm air between his cupped hands, strands of his white beard poking out from between his fingers.

Zack turned to face the man, buffeted by a couple sprays of snow. "Right, that's where we're headed then, tell the captain to change course." He couldn't help but smile at the old man's concern. "No worries pops, ive been conditioned for worse." The old man gave a silent nod before shuffling back inside to inform the captain. "You sure can pick em Reeve" Zack said while he took another look at the vast open space of the Narshe snowfields and the sea of clouds just out of reach.

A couple of hours later...

The ship's propellers came to a grinding halt as it touched down on to the firmament. The landing was oddly soft, unlike the rather rough landings when touching down on earth. "How are we being supported? There isn't a scrap of earth for miles." Asked the old man who had stepped out with Zack, the two approaching the ship's bow. Peeking down below, nothing but thick foamy clouds surrounded them. Fidgeting for a coin in his pocket, Zack tossed it over the ship and watched as it landed with a slight bounce. "Well that's a bet I just lost" Zack said before turning to face the old man, the rest of the crew slowing approaching them, bewildered faces on them all. Zack had been thinking about what he thought was a red herring of a mission, a floating land above the clouds. He would have been more surprised if not for the last few assignments the Turks had given him. "Right, well i'll be off to scout the area, let me know of any changes." Putting his hood down, Zack pat the old man's back before leaping over the ship's bow, down to the clouds below.

It was a couple of minutes of walking before Zack could see anything past his hands in front of his face. For some reason the storm calmed past a certain point and he could begin to make out figures in the distance. He checked to his sides for any trace of life, until he could faintly make out the outline of a tree. "What?" It was a few more steps before Zack stopped and placed a hand upon his head, hundreds if not thousands of trees laid before him. "...A forest of trees...in the middle of a snowstorm...above a cloud." The look of disbelief slowly turned into a grin, which Zack attempted to hold back. "That's more like it"

The sound of mail plopping onto the floor echoed through the hallway as Tifa clattered pots and pans around in the kitchen. She was too busy to collect it immediately, the children were restless, bickering with each other and hungry, her mind was focused on getting breakfast finished in the hopes that peace would follow. Her concentration stalled from the sudden lack of noise, this could only mean one thing; the kids were getting into something they shouldn't be. She quickly wiped her hands on a towel and slipped quietly into the hallway to investigate. She found Denzel and Marlene sitting cross-legged on the floor in the middle of a small pile of ripped open envelopes and letters. "Were they addressed to you?"
The guilty children sharply turned to look at her, Marlene looking sheepishly up at Tifa as she held out a flashy looking letter edged with gold "Hehe. You won a trip!" Tifa took the letter and read over it, a little confused. "Hmm. I don't remember entering a competition..."


Tifa settled into her seat on the small passenger airship and sighed contentedly. She was looking forward to her unexpected getaway, she really needed the break from ledgers, bills, and bar goers. An overly happy flight attendant handed her a glass of something bubbly and offered to adjust her seat, Tifa gladly let her fuss about, it made a nice change. She slipped the complimentary eye-mask on and sat back with a smile.

A few hours later, the flight attendant gently roused Tifa, announcing they had arrived at their destination. She stretched her limbs with a contented groan and glanced out of the window. All she could see was mist. With a little disappointment, she made her way off the airship, thanking the crew as she passed them.

It took a few minutes for her mind to come to terms with what she saw. What she initially thought was mist was in fact, clouds. And she seemed to be standing on them. It made no sense to her, but she had seen many things that made little logical sense in her time - Sephiroth's hair care regime being one. She began walking towards the outline of a person shrouded in clouds, presuming it to be her guide. Slowly, trees began to swim into focus, making this place even more of an enigma. The thing that made even less sense about this place was the person she walked towards, she recognized the outline of the hair and called out "Zack? Zack Fair> Is that you? A Zack amongst the Clouds, how ironic"

Zack continued to walk forward, the wind and snow now slowing to a calm. Raising his hand, Zack rested it on one of the solid trunks. "Its real...so first off how is the weight being supported?" Knocking on the tough bark, Zack paused briefly before turning to face another tree and repeating the same process. Before he was able to dwell on the question any longer however, a sudden call caused Zack to focus his attention far behind him. A familiar figure slowly walked into view, one that caused Zack to blink out of surprise. "...and now there's a cowgirl..."

As Tifa approached he could hear her call much clearer, a slight chuckle coming out as he listened. "I don't think im the kind of cloud you're looking for." Walking towards her Zack paused and raised his finger to tap her gently on the nose. "You're real too. I'll drop the how and why for now, its nice to see you cowgirl." Zack smiled as he took off his parka, holding it up as an offer to Tifa after having noticed that she wasn't exactly dressed for the climate.

While Zack held the parka, he gestured with his free hand towards the sea of trees ahead. "So, what do you think?" Regardless if they were somehow walking on clouds, Zack found it unlikely that the weight of a tree could be supported, much less a forest of them. "They felt lighter than normal trees and warmer than expected at this temperature. Apart from that, I can't make heads or tails of it." He turned to face Tifa once more. "Needless to say im stumped." Zack said, a slight pause coming over him before cracking a smile at his accidental pun.

Zacks quip about Cloud caused her to roll her eyes, he was as corny as ever. "I gave up chasing that Cloud a long time ago. He knows where we are should he feel like checking in." She clasped her arms around herself as she began shivering, the mist clinging to her skin made it feel even colder. She gladly took Zacks parka when he offered it and pulled it on quickly. She zipped it up fully, flipped the hood over her head and stood expressionless as it swamped her. The hem came down past her knees, the sleeves hung freely hiding her hands within them and the hood covered most of her face. She tilted her head back and peeped out of the tiny gap so she could see the trees Zack mentioned. "Lighter and warmer than normal trees, huh? Like living hot air balloons?"

Tifa shrugged, although one couldn't tell for the parka. This whole trip had proved to be more of an enigma than she had bargained for. "So have you got anything to do with picking competition winners?" She waddled over to a tree and flapped her arm up and down to slide the sleeve up and reveal her hand. She tapped on the bark and was rewarded with a hollowish sounding thud. "Doesn't sound like a normal tree. Its a bit weird here, isn't it? Wanna investigate?" She pushed the hood back just enough to poke her face out and grinned up at Zack

Zack watched with amusement as Tifa pulled the parka on, eying how it slumped over her frame. "Im not going to lose you in there am I?" Zack said with a chuckle while Tifa wriggled about in order to look out at the trees. Zack couldn't help but chuckle at the uncomfortable cowgirl, he was glad his mission didn't have to be all business. However, Zack found himself shutting his mouth abruptly once Tifa mentioned the possibility of air balloon trees. Turning his gaze sharply to the forest, Zack cracked a large grin. "Ive had the whole thing the wrong way around."

Scanning the ocean of trees ahead, Zack listened as Tifa revealed how she arrived at this place. "Competition? No, Ive had my hands full running scouting missions for the Turks." Looking back, Zack watched as she shook her arms free from the confines of his parka. "Hell of a prize though...and unusually precise flying I should add. It took me ages to find this place, its hard to find a place that wont stay still." It seems Tifa's curiosity matched his own as he watched her tap the tree, revealing to them both the unusual hollow sound. Zack returned her grin, turning his attention back towards scanning the trees and letting them set on one in particular only a few moments later.

Zack raised his hand and gestured for Tifa to follow. "We seem to be a magnet for weird and im up to poking around." Walking into the mass of trees, Zack cautiously stepped towards a rather thin one, bits of bark and leaves settled atop the white fluff of cloud at its base. Placing his hand upon it, he let his fingers glide past what seemed like a deep gash, one of several that resembled claw markings. "Im not sure we're alone though cowgirl, best to stay on our toes." It seemed that whatever made this, it had cut deep as Zack's finger removed the last speck of bark holding in what looked like steam, which shot out rather violently. Jumping out of harms way, Zack looked to his hand only to stare with a puzzled expression. "As far as I know steam shouldn't feel pleasant..." Placing his hand upon the jet of gas that escaped the tree, Zack only smiled and turned his head to face Tifa. "Count yourself a genius Tifa, you were right on the mark."

Tifa followed Zack towards the tree and watched as he traced his fingers along the gash in the bark. The rush of steam that poured out startled her, her immediate reaction was to grab for Zack to pull him out of harms way, however, the sleeves of the parka scuppered those intentions. Instead, she managed to flap the cuffs in his general direction. To her relief, he was unhurt. "Huh? How is that possible? It doesn't hurt... Let me see that..."

She flapped her arm again to free it from the coat sleeve and managed to expose half of her hand, which she promptly placed in to steam jet. It was warm, and tingled slightly. Determined to explore this further, she shoved the hood back off her face and looked directly into the steam. It didn't sting her eyes as she would have expected it to, in fact it had the opposite effect. She pushed her face nearer the gap in the tree bark and looked inside. What she saw caused her to stumble backwards and trip over an exposed tree root, landing on her rump in a most ungraceful fashion.

"Its alive. It has a face. It smiled at me. The steam smiled at me." Tifa looked up at Zack and scrambled to her feet. She attempted to point at the scratches in the bark, the sleeve flopped over the end of her hand once again. With a roll of her eyes she held both arms out to Zack "can you roll me up? This is getting silly"

The flapping of arms trapped under sleeves was the first thing Zack noticed, his gaze stuck on the stream of gas that came from the tree. As Tifa placed her now free hand on the steam, Zack wiggled his fingers before removing own his hand and examining it, his curiosity was peaked. "It certainly feels nice, like a stream of warm air. What do you think cowgirl?" When his reply went unmet, Zack looked up only to notice that Tifa had now placed her face against the steam. "What are you doing?" Zack asked startled, ready to pull her out as he was unsure whether it was safe to breathe the steam in. Her sudden stumble back shocked Zack, he was afraid she had somehow gotten hurt, reaching quickly in an attempt to grab her arm. Unfortunately his hand fell out of reach as Tifa landed on her bottom, her expression being one mixed with both wonder and pain, although the latter had been caused by the fall.

Zack sighed in relief, her face didn't seem scalded or damaged in any way and she seemed more spooked than hurt. "Alive?" Tifa's comment caused Zack's eyebrows to raise slightly, how could a jet of gas be alive, much less be capable of smiling. "Trees filled with living, conscious gas. What on earth could Turk be wanting this time." This comment Zack seemed to mutter almost under his breath, lost in thought for a moment before looking back down at Tifa who had started to bring herself up. "Sorry about that!" Zack said with a nervous laugh, his curiosity seemed to come over his manners for a moment as Zack now attempted to help Tifa on to her feet.

Now upright, Tifa seemed to gesture something unrecognizable, the flapping sleeves of Zack's parka covering up her hands. Her expression caused Zack to laugh slightly as he reached out to her held out arms and began to roll up the sleeves to her elbows. "How's that?" Zack asked as he tapped her shoulder with a smile before turning back to face the tree. The steam seemed to have lost quite a bit of pressure, releasing from inside the tree as gentle fumes. Holding out his arm, Zack pointed towards the small hole within the gash of the tree's bark. The fumes seemed to wrap around his finger before gently gliding up around his arm, covering it like a thin fabric. Zack suddenly looked behind him, as if something had startled him. His eyes narrowed slightly, attempting to find a culprit for the noise amongst the sea of trees behind him but to no avail. Turning back to the gas around his arm, Zack made a somewhat bewildered face as he turned to Tifa. "I think its talking to me..." Staring into space, Zack attempted to comprehend the words floating inside his mind. "I can't quite make it out..." The tiny whispers in his mind grew slightly louder as Zack concentrated, leaving Tifa to wonder if he had begun to lose his marbles.

Tifa was glad to finally have the use of her hands back and pointed at the gash in the bark. "I think something was trying to get in there. Something with claws. And probably teeth. Big ones. Whatever this is, it seems to have a predator, don't you think?" She turned to Zack expecting him to have an input into her theory only to find his arm being slowly enveloped by the creature. Despite her initial shock, her instincts told her that it was ok, that he wouldn't be hurt.

She strained to hear what Zack claimed to hear but to no avail, all she heard was the whisper of the breeze as is traveled through the leaves of the trees that surrounded them. Puzzled, she looked at him "I don't hear anything. Are you feeling ok?" She found herself drawn to the smoke around his arm, a feeling she wasn't quite comfortable with, she preferred to be in control of her own mind at all times. Yet it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. She held out her hand and touched Zacks arm, the smoke crept up onto her own hand too and suddenly she sensed something tapping at her mind too. Straining to make out the strange wispy sound that now filled her head, she subconsciously asked aloud "What are you, my friend?"

"Vaporentia"

The barely audible reply drifted through her mind, catching her completely off guard. She drew back her arm and flapped the sleeves back down over her hands before looking Zack square in the eye. "Yep. It can talk. Mmm-hmm. It talks to you in your head. Yes, indeed" To say she was flustered would be an understatement

Zack continued to focus on the sound that whispered in his mind, unable to clearly make it out. Tifa's question and concerned tone caused Zack to chuckle nervously. "I feel fine but then again I am hearing voices so that's debatable I guess." Zack let out an awkward smile of reassurance as he looked towards Tifa who seemed to come closer. Her slow and steady movement caused Zack to arch an eyebrow, it seemed as if Tifa had been put under a trance. As she touched his arm, Zack narrowed his brow, the smoke now creeping around her hand and slowly climbing up towards her arm. Suddenly it seemed as if Zack could hear her thoughts as Tifa subconsciously asked her question, the smoke seeming to expand somewhat as if taking a breath before responding.

"Vaporentia"

The response echoed in Zack's mind, his mind now racing with thoughts. Tifa's sudden jolt back caused Zack to jump back a bit himself, leaving the smoke in a curled formation, as if it was still wrapped around his arm. Zack returned Tifa's gaze, and nodded to her words, it seemed it was the only thing he could manage at the moment. "Wha...what do you think they are?" Zack broke the short silence, asking aloud what had been repeating in his head. Looking down at the smoke, which at this point had begun to form into a small dense cloud before them, Zack cautiously stepped towards it and lift his hand up to greet it. "Hey there, are you hurt? Was something trying to hunt you?" Tifa's comments on a potential predator were the focus of his thoughts now. Whatever these things were at least they seemed friendly, whatever left those claw markings were most definitely not.

The cloud floated silently for a moment before the whispers began to flow within their minds once more. "We are unharmed, our predator has been startled momentarily by your presence." Zack had to squint his eyes and focus deeply in order to hear the message clearly, it was his thought that perhaps human communication was not their strong suit. "We're glad you're ok, but why exactly are you being hunted?" The question seemed to linger in the air for a moment, Zack took this opportunity to look at Tifa and gesture for her to try once more.