Amazing. I started writing this...what? The end of my First Year of University? Its now the beginning of second semester Third Year. And then, the day I wake up and go "Okay, enough is enough, you've got January free, finish the damn thing Luki", I turn on MSN, and what do I find?
A review alert. For Circle of Life.

It was fate. End of story.

Oh, and sorry its so short considering how long I've made you all wait, but I swear, this is as much as I could get out in one sitting. I haven't written anything that hasn't been a report or an essay on something in so long it takes time to get back into the swing of things.

Anyway, given that this portion of the story happens in the past of FF7 world, which has never been completely explained, I'm taking information from Wikipedia and adding and my own characters in order to accurately mesh my world and the real world as well as I can.

Enjoy

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Chapter 4 - Braving The Unknown

It was a strange feeling, Zidane felt, to be asleep and awake at the same time. He knew time was passing, on some level he could feel it slip by, but it was like watching a play. You could be enraptured, but you were always on the outside looking in.

The stasis pod had given him a bad feeling the moment he’d laid eyes on it. It was made from both the bright crystal of Terra and the darker metals that reminded him of his first visit. For a while, he’d ignored the voice in his head and stayed far, far away from the thing, allowing time to pass him by in reality. Mostly looking for a way to stop ‘Jenova’, although nothing came up throughout the months. Mikoto and the others hadn’t been helpful before he’d left either on its whereabouts. They’d been content to let it happen, and had no reason to help him stop it.

But he soon realised that life without living would drive him insane long before they reached the expected planet. There was no food, but he was never very hungry. No oxygen, but he never suffocated. There was no rising or setting of a sun, leaving no light but that which seemed to glow from the crystals themselves, making it impossible to decide when it was day or night.

It took him six months before he dragged himself back over to the pod and fixed it with Necron’s guidance. He hadn’t heard from the blue demon since. He didn’t miss him. After centuries letting the endless nothingness go by, it was almost possible to forget that the deal with the devil had ever happened, and that his whole predicament was just a rather hideous dream.

So strong was this illusion, that when the voice echoed through his head for the first time in 500 years, he ignored it as a hallucination. It continued to grow louder and louder, and Zidane drove himself deeper into his subconscious.

Eventually though, he could take it no longer, and the voice hit his mind in full comprehension.

“We’re here…”

The shock forced him to smash the door to the pod, leaving him coughing on the floor, and staring at destruction

---

In hindsight, he should have realised that arriving via a planet crashing into another planet wouldn’t be the kindest landing in the world. Over the centuries, Terra’s bulk had ripped away, dropping its size tremendously. There was no trace of Bran Bal or any other Terran structure in the crater. But it was obvious that this new planet would never fully recover from the scar. Trapped in the bowls of the giant crater, Zidane began his climb outwards, and grudgingly nudged at the mind that had awoken him.

/I don’t suppose you’re willing to tell me the name of wherever this is/ he muttered.

“I don’t believe it has one” Necron replied. “Or at the very least, not one all races have been able to agree upon. However, despite your extra appendage, you should fit in just find. This planet is inhabited by humanoids not dissimilar to Gaians.”

Well, that was one thing Zidane could place on the bright side. Though as he started climbing upwards, he couldn’t help but wonder at the odds of finding another planet filled with similar beings.

“It’s hardly surprising” Necron answered once asked. “Terra has been feeding off planets that had the maximum potential for taking on her race. The bipedal form is actually rather common.”

Zidane’s eyes flinched as he began to see light, and the cold air blew against him.

/So how can we keep Jenova from waking up?/

“It’s a little late for that” Necron answered. “She activated about a month ago.”

/WHAT!/

“I tried to wake you. Surely you noticed the amount of fauna growing in these tunnels?”

He had, but it hadn’t quite registered what it would mean.

/You couldn’t have tried harder?/ Zidane mumbled in frustration.

“Its not my fault you are a heavy sleeper.”

The icy went whipped around Zidane as he finally reached the top of the crater…to see nothing but snow. His arms wrapped around his body instinctively, though the cold barely seemed to bother his bare skin.

/I take it you have something to do with that?/ he asked. Necron never answered, apparently considering it pointless to answer something when he already knew the answer.

Zidane sighed, and stared at the whiteness. He doubted that he could navigate with an alien sky, but the wind was too harsh to see very far in any direction. Nevertheless, he couldn’t very well stay here. Well, given all the adjustments Necron seemed to like making to his body, he probably could. But he’d spent longer along than he dared to think. He wanted to find some form of life. He was a social creature, he didn’t DO solitude.

“Oh well” he sighed. “When in doubt, go in a straight line till you hit water.”

And with that, he began his trudge through knee high snow.

---

He didn’t dare guess at how long he’d been trundling along. The storm was vicious enough to guarantee that he never went in a straight line for long. He couldn’t even be entirely certain that he hadn’t turned around completely at some point.

But on the plus side, he’d come up with a new way to pass the time. Beating the crap out of the monsters that seemed to hunt him down with a 100 success rate.

Thankfully, not only had the stasis pod kept the Ultima Weapon in top shape, his slumber hadn’t seemed to damage his skills. Admittedly, he was a little rusty, but after one lucky creature took a chunk of his arm, he’d quickly picked it up again to rip the carcass to oblivion.

Turned out monster carcasses made great direction posts.

The fighting at least kept his mind off of other things. Like accepting that everyone and everything that he had ever known was dead and gone. In this weather, is was so easy to pretend he had just gotten lost somewhere in the mountains of Ice Cave or Esto Gaza. That he was still on Gaia, that Da…That Garnet was still waiting for him, not buried in the ground half a millennia away.

He had no idea if the amount of monsters was natural for the region, but several of them had borne resemblance to creatures he had seen on Terra, and he doubted that was coincidence.

“Jenova has clearly begun her work” Necron mused. “It would be best if we could find a settlement nearby to learn what you have missed.”

“I am aware of that King Blue” Zidane snapped, yelling it at the sky solely out of irritation. “Might be easier if you could tell me where to go!”

Necron stayed silent, and he was positive it was solely to torment him. Again.

He muttered something intelligible, and began to continue on…only to stop in his tracks.

How something had managed to sneak up on him in this weather, he could only guess. But the serrated edge of a rather vicious spear was millimetres from his throat, the owner hidden in the blizzard.

Slowly, with catlike grace, a hand slid down the spear, slowly followed by its owner’s body. By his side, a large, cat-like creature with red fur stood baring his teeth.

The enemy was wrapped up for the weather, giving nothing a scrap of his face away. Angry green eyes glared at him through the gap. When the stranger was finally in view, Zidane realised he was walking above the snow, rather than through it.

‘Magic user’ he mind decided, when the stranger spoke.

“You” he began. “You are one of hers.”

Zidane swallowed.

“Um…no?”

The eyes narrowed, and the cat began circling Zidane's half hidden body.

“You walk through this weather with no protective clothing. You kill those infected monsters with ease, and you have that physical abnormality. You must belong to that demon.”

“Hey!” Zidane snapped, anger getting the best of common sense. “What abnormality?”

“I think he means your tail” Necron supplied.

\Oh…right/

“And this demon…I believe you have found someone who can tell you of Jenova.”

/Great. Now I just need to convince him that I’m here to stop her, not join her. How in the two moons am I supposed to do that?/

Taking a deep breath, he raised his arms slowly, never breaking eye contact with the man.

“I swear” he began. “I am not a demon, nor am I in league with any.”

The man stayed silent, but was clearly listening.

“I came to this planet to stop a creature called Jenova from destroying it.”

The man lunged, the spear coming close enough to Zidane’s throat to draw blood.

“Why should I believe you?” he yelled. “How do I not know that that body’s true soul has gone and replaced with that things underling?”

‘This is either genius or the stupidest thing I will ever say’ Zidane inwardly moaned.

“Look into my eyes” he started, resisting the urge to roll said appendages at the corniness of what he was saying. “Are these really the eyes of a demon? I was born this way, and I don’t mean you, or anyone but Jenova harm.”

The two remained still for what seemed like another eternity, but Zidane noticed, for a few moments, the man’s eyes seemed to glaze over.

When they finally came back to coherency, he removed the spear from Zidane’s neck, and offered his hand.

“Your eyes are sincere, and the Lifestream does not fear you. I am Shanen, and my friend is Cosmo. Come with us.”

---

To be continued . . .