Final Fantasy VII: His Lifestream

[Overdriven]

His Lifestream

Cloud stared, his unwavering gaze matching the color of their focus. The Lifestream. Holy. Meteor. He watched as they danced together, white and green luminescence rapidly consuming the darkness. The evil. Meteor.

The way his evil, his demons, had been consumed. Cloud watched the scene, and saw himself. He witnessed his own transformation. Cloud thought of himself as Holy. As the well intentioned force that tried to change the world.

Cloud watched as the Lifestream lent power to the spell, strengthening it and supporting its weakness. She had been his Lifestream. His strength and support. She had taken him and changed him, and made him strong enough to change the fate of the world. Cloud had no false modesty. He had saved the planet. Him and the Lifestream. Despite incredible odds, in the end the Lifestream, the light, had prevailed. The only difference was that his light had been taken. He had failed her.

He and his Lifestream would never again support each other. It might as well be the end of the world.

Cloud looked down, into the green and white haze. He would have no happy ending.

He was nothing without her.

Without a word, without a glance to Tifa and the others, Cloud fell from the sky.

-------

He woke in darkness, his body warm and tingling. The warmth lasted scant seconds, as the darkness around him immediately chilled the man to the bone. He opened his mouth in shock of the cold, only to have it filled with liquid. Though his mind was clouded, the man immediately knew his mouth had been filled with salt water. He was underwater.

The man began kicking frantically toward what he assumed to be up, from the barely visible light. His ears popped as he ascended, lungs aching for air he didn’t have. Still he kicked and kicked, not giving a thought to anything except holding his breath. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he broke the surface, coughing and sucking in great gulps of air. It was nighttime, and he would need time to get his bearings and get to land.

Then he was hit by the first wave. About four or feet high, it hit him right in the face, sending the man back under. He had gotten enough air to hold his breath longer, though he had sucked in some water. He came up again, prepared for the next wave. The man put his back to it, letting the strong current carry him with it. Waves moved toward land. He anticipated the waves after that, sucking in a great breath before they hit him, and using the momentum to swim toward shore.

He swam for what seemed like forever. Wait for the wave, take a breath, and swim. Over and over he repeated the process, until his arms felt as though they weight hundreds of pounds, and his legs could hardly move. Still, he did not give up, as he could faintly see light ahead. Land, surely. Then his feet struck sand, and he could stand up. He was thrashed by two more waves as he continued to shore, one almost lifting him off of his feet.

By the time he reached the dark beach, he collapsed to his knees, and began to crawl forward. It was so dark he could barely see his hands in the sand, which still felt so heavy. He lifted one and discovered he wore a thick metal bracelet. Why, he did not know. The man removed it, letting it fall into the sand. He trudged on, dragging his knees onto shore. It was so dark, and he was so tired.

The man fell to his stomach, deciding that he would move more when he had rested, and the sun had risen. He rolled onto his back, and saw stars he didn’t recognize. Constellations that didn’t exist. As he swiftly slipped into the world of dreaming, the man uttered one quiet word.

“Lifestream.”

[Cyanide]

Its a good concept, and it has a solid stucture to it, but the last section confused me a bit... maybe it will be explained if you do anymore... but it seemed he didnt remember anything.

also on more thing

...the man immediately knew his mouth had been filled with salt water. He was underwater.

The man began kicking frantically toward what ...

This just sounds awkward.

But all in all its a good peice, keep it up.

[Overdriven]

It sounds awkward because I didn't want to use names at that particular point in the story.

This entire story is a one-shot, but I'm posting it in smaller increments for ease of reading and more float time.

It was pretty good. Although I agree. The 'man' was pretty awkward at first. Anyways, look forward to more of your stuff.

[Overdriven]

“Let’s see, I know I left my credit card in here somewhere.” The woman said, digging through her red Prada purse.

Aeris watched her as she searched, smiling even though she didn’t much care for the woman. She had become used to rather snide customers, especially in the part of town where she had started her Flower Shop. It was all she knew how to do in this strange and wonderful world. And the only thing that kept her from losing all hope. She had been able to purchase the shop by selling only one piece of the equipment she had worn in her own world, which was made of material that this planet seemed to treasure. Still, even though selling flowers made her happy, she had to deal with people like this. Arrogant, rich, and gaudy.

“Make-up kit, cell phone, tampons…” The woman said, glancing at Aeris with a smile. “A half-used tube of cherry red lipstick. I thought I had lost that! Oh, here we are.”

Aeris accepted the card, processing it and handing the girl the receipt. Aeris sold her flowers for so much cheaper than any other flower shop. She hadn’t been in business long, but already her name could be heard across the small town.

The girl left the shop, and Aeris let her smile fall. She only smiled in front of customers. Every other time, her thoughts wouldn’t let her find solace. She was alone in this world, and would continue to be. Forever.

The young woman walked to the back of the store, intending to check on the temperature of her roses. This world was filled with so many varieties of flowers. Surprisingly some she had known back in Midgar.

“I still think white roses are the best, they remind me of-“ Aeris stopped in mid-sentence, her head snapping toward the direction of what she had felt. The woman gasped.

“Lifestream.”

-----

“Wake up, you can’t sleep here.” A strange voice noted with a deal of disdain.

The man’s eyes slowly opened, squinting at the bright light of a rising sun. A man in red shorts stood above him, a red flotation device and a whistle around his neck.

“Did you hear me? You can’t sleep here. Get a job bum.” The lifeguard began to walk away.

Sitting up, the still soaked man pushed damp blonde hair from his eyes. He stood slowly, taking an inventory of the pain he felt. A lot of it was muscle pain from his swim the night before, though more of it consisted of cuts and bruises. He looked like he had been in a fight.

I remember now. I didn’t get a chance to heal after fighting Sephiroth.

That name brought it all back to him.

He had dove from the Highwind, into the Lifestream. Cloud had meant to die, hadn’t intuited that the Lifestream might save him. Apparently, it had. Even as much of a failure as he was, the planet’s life force took pity on him.

Cloud’s outfit was torn and dirty, and his hair was disheveled to say the least. He would have to find an inn, somewhere to bathe. He had enough Gil on him to pay for it, even though most had been left on the Highwind.

He stumbled up the beach, the ocean breeze cool on his back. He had no idea where he was. Cloud didn’t even know if it was the same planet. As he moved from the beach to the street, Cloud was sure he had been thrown into another world. There were strange, and yet familiar vehicles all around, and people in clothing he had never seen before. They all looked at him strangely as he walked down the sidewalk.

Cloud passed a shop that made him stop. In the window of the store were masks and costumes. Some looked strange, some scary, most humorous.

“Where am I?” Cloud asked nobody in particular.

A young girl, who was sipping on a drink of some sort, answered him.

“California silly.” She said lightly, smiling.

“California?” Cloud asked, rubbing his temple.

“Yeah, San Francisco.” The girl replied, as her mother tugged her away from the strange man.

[cetra_aeris]

Wow...Thats cool.I like the story.Its deep and its something a lot of people into final fantasy 7 wished would happen.You should keep it up.I would like to read more and have had thoughts about the whole final fantasy's being other worlds from ours.It could lead into a long debate.

EDIT:Also if you wouldn't mind this coul make a really good rp if you'd like to post it.