Fic: Sunflowers - Day 14
Title: Sunflowers
Chapter: 4/11
Author: xpaperplanex
Rating: G
Word Count: ~900
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud
Genre: slice of life
Warnings: none
Summary: Is it exile? Is it a vacation? It's up to Sephiroth to find out.
***
He had thought to keep the little ones-Cloud and the mayor's girl, Tifa-at the head of the small group so they wouldn't be outpaced. But Tifa kept falling back to talk to the other children, and Cloud would insist on running ahead or off the trail completely to look at a bug or a rock or any number of other things that caught his attention. When they had covered what Sephiroth guessed was a quarter of the distance to the campsite, he gave up on his original plan and sent Ricky to the front with his friend, Sheryl. Tifa seemed content to stay in the middle with Johnny, who was slightly older than her and Cloud. Sephiroth was forced to hold onto Cloud to have any hope of not losing him.
"Why can't you just stay on the path?" Sephiroth asked as Cloud excitedly pointed at a squirrel and tried to bolt after it. "You've seen all of this before, haven't you?"
"I haven't seen that squirrel. Did you see? It only had three legs! I wonder how it lived."
"Animals will adapt to all kinds of situations," he said with a sigh. Much like a person, he supposed. It was hard to believe that it had only been two weeks, and he had somehow been coerced into doing this ‘favour’. He didn't know how he was going to put up with them until tomorrow.
It seemed to take an eternity to get them to the campsite. They had to stop three times for bathroom breaks. The breaks hadn't been made any faster by Ricky, Johnny, and Cloud screaming that they could still see the girls, no matter how far into the bush they went. Sephiroth made them all turn around and cover their eyes the second time, but they still kept at it. It was ridiculous.
The campsite, when they eventually arrived, was little more than a cleared space with a fire pit and an outhouse. There was supposed to be a spring nearby for water, so Sephiroth sent Ricky and Sheryl with a bucket and a jug to fill while he began setting up the large canvas tent Bob had given him.
"You three go gather some wood for the fire," he said to the remaining children. "Stay together, and if you can't see me, you've gone too far. Cloud, I mean it. Don't get lost."
"I never get lost!" Cloud boasted. "And I know the best wood to get. You'll see!"
"I mean it! Stay close!" Sephiroth cringed as Cloud grabbed Tifa and Johnny and dragged them with him. A small part of him wondered if he had just sentenced those two to being lost in the woods forever.
The tent was old and missing more than a few pieces, much like everything else in the village, but Sephiroth did his best to not swear, lest he be overheard, and managed to get the thing upright and looking similar to a tent.
"We're doomed if it rains," he muttered.
"Forecast is good," Ricky said, grinning as they returned from the spring. He set two full buckets down on a rotted old picnic table.
"If it does rain, we can have a race to see who gets back to town first," Sheryl added. "Cloud will be up for it, at least."
"Nah," Ricky said, "Cloud'll want to go hunting water sprites or something stupid like that."
Sephiroth sighed and glanced over at the boy who wasn't more than a year or two younger than him. "If it rains, you take the kids back, I'll help Cloud with the water sprites."
"They live in the spring, you know!" Cloud burst out of the bushes carrying an armload of twigs and other deadfall. He dumped them by the fire pit and brushed himself off with a big grin.
"Water sprites don't exist."
The grin slipped off Cloud's face at Ricky's words, then he gave his head a shake and grinned again. "Yes they do. My mom says so. Just 'cause you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there."
Ricky looked like he was about to argue, but Sephiroth stepped in. "There are a number of creatures who can make themselves nearly invisible to humans. Maybe water sprites do exist."
"Do you really think so?" Cloud asked, tugging on his shirt.
Sephiroth shrugged. "Maybe. I've seen a lot of things that are stranger than a water sprite. Let's go get some more wood, then we'll work out sleeping arrangements so we don’t have to try to do that in the dark."
Civilian sleeping arrangements were far more haphazard than anything he would have expected from SOLDIERs. After an afternoon spent playing in the woods, followed by hotdogs and marshmallows cooked over the fire and ghost stories once night fell, his young charges were exhausted. They fell into the tent and sprawled wherever they found a comfortable spot of ground. Sephiroth was equally exhausted and found himself too tired to care that Tifa's foot was in his face and he couldn't straighten his legs without kicking Cloud. He scratched a line into the ground next to him. A placeholder for the fourteenth tally that would go on his wall. "Forty-six."
"Same to you too," Cloud mumbled in his sleep. "I'll take three."
***
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Chapter: 4/11
Author: xpaperplanex
Rating: G
Word Count: ~900
Characters: Sephiroth, Cloud
Genre: slice of life
Warnings: none
Summary: Is it exile? Is it a vacation? It's up to Sephiroth to find out.
***
He had thought to keep the little ones-Cloud and the mayor's girl, Tifa-at the head of the small group so they wouldn't be outpaced. But Tifa kept falling back to talk to the other children, and Cloud would insist on running ahead or off the trail completely to look at a bug or a rock or any number of other things that caught his attention. When they had covered what Sephiroth guessed was a quarter of the distance to the campsite, he gave up on his original plan and sent Ricky to the front with his friend, Sheryl. Tifa seemed content to stay in the middle with Johnny, who was slightly older than her and Cloud. Sephiroth was forced to hold onto Cloud to have any hope of not losing him.
"Why can't you just stay on the path?" Sephiroth asked as Cloud excitedly pointed at a squirrel and tried to bolt after it. "You've seen all of this before, haven't you?"
"I haven't seen that squirrel. Did you see? It only had three legs! I wonder how it lived."
"Animals will adapt to all kinds of situations," he said with a sigh. Much like a person, he supposed. It was hard to believe that it had only been two weeks, and he had somehow been coerced into doing this ‘favour’. He didn't know how he was going to put up with them until tomorrow.
It seemed to take an eternity to get them to the campsite. They had to stop three times for bathroom breaks. The breaks hadn't been made any faster by Ricky, Johnny, and Cloud screaming that they could still see the girls, no matter how far into the bush they went. Sephiroth made them all turn around and cover their eyes the second time, but they still kept at it. It was ridiculous.
The campsite, when they eventually arrived, was little more than a cleared space with a fire pit and an outhouse. There was supposed to be a spring nearby for water, so Sephiroth sent Ricky and Sheryl with a bucket and a jug to fill while he began setting up the large canvas tent Bob had given him.
"You three go gather some wood for the fire," he said to the remaining children. "Stay together, and if you can't see me, you've gone too far. Cloud, I mean it. Don't get lost."
"I never get lost!" Cloud boasted. "And I know the best wood to get. You'll see!"
"I mean it! Stay close!" Sephiroth cringed as Cloud grabbed Tifa and Johnny and dragged them with him. A small part of him wondered if he had just sentenced those two to being lost in the woods forever.
The tent was old and missing more than a few pieces, much like everything else in the village, but Sephiroth did his best to not swear, lest he be overheard, and managed to get the thing upright and looking similar to a tent.
"We're doomed if it rains," he muttered.
"Forecast is good," Ricky said, grinning as they returned from the spring. He set two full buckets down on a rotted old picnic table.
"If it does rain, we can have a race to see who gets back to town first," Sheryl added. "Cloud will be up for it, at least."
"Nah," Ricky said, "Cloud'll want to go hunting water sprites or something stupid like that."
Sephiroth sighed and glanced over at the boy who wasn't more than a year or two younger than him. "If it rains, you take the kids back, I'll help Cloud with the water sprites."
"They live in the spring, you know!" Cloud burst out of the bushes carrying an armload of twigs and other deadfall. He dumped them by the fire pit and brushed himself off with a big grin.
"Water sprites don't exist."
The grin slipped off Cloud's face at Ricky's words, then he gave his head a shake and grinned again. "Yes they do. My mom says so. Just 'cause you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there."
Ricky looked like he was about to argue, but Sephiroth stepped in. "There are a number of creatures who can make themselves nearly invisible to humans. Maybe water sprites do exist."
"Do you really think so?" Cloud asked, tugging on his shirt.
Sephiroth shrugged. "Maybe. I've seen a lot of things that are stranger than a water sprite. Let's go get some more wood, then we'll work out sleeping arrangements so we don’t have to try to do that in the dark."
Civilian sleeping arrangements were far more haphazard than anything he would have expected from SOLDIERs. After an afternoon spent playing in the woods, followed by hotdogs and marshmallows cooked over the fire and ghost stories once night fell, his young charges were exhausted. They fell into the tent and sprawled wherever they found a comfortable spot of ground. Sephiroth was equally exhausted and found himself too tired to care that Tifa's foot was in his face and he couldn't straighten his legs without kicking Cloud. He scratched a line into the ground next to him. A placeholder for the fourteenth tally that would go on his wall. "Forty-six."
"Same to you too," Cloud mumbled in his sleep. "I'll take three."
***
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter