Title: Winner: Mideel (previously: No Future Vacation in Mideel)
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Rating: G
Length: 2.5k 2.7k
Author notes: This is the rough draft, sorry, because I basically decided today to write/post for the prompt. I'll edit and update the text after a few hours of sleep. Edited and updated!
Summary: A mission in Mideel with the General and two other SOLDIER squads doesn't turn out quite as Third Class SOLDIER Cloud Strife had expected.

-



AO3 link (added after the end of the challenge)

Do you want one?”

Cloud turns around, re-adjusting his backpack. He’s been wearing the Third Class uniform for almost a year now but he’s still not used to it.

“Ah. No, thank you,” he tells Sephiroth who’s holding out a power bar. Their last meal was a while ago, but they’ve only been walking, he’s not that hungry.

“Alright,” Sephiroth answers with a nod. It feels like he has this interaction regularly, Cloud muses, eying the man’s small messenger bag, which he knows is half-full of snacks. Who’d have thought that the great General constantly carried a bag of snacks? He certainly never wears it during PR photo events, Cloud snorts to himself.

“We’ll set up camp in the next clearing,” Sephiroth says in between mouthful. “The report mentioned a large group of monsters, Head Hunters included. We need the full team to take it on.”

“The full team, sir?” Cloud asks, eyebrows reaching for his hairline. They might be two Thirds, but he is First Class SOLDIER Sephiroth.

“I am not infallible,” Sephiroth says with a small blink-and-you’ll-miss-it smile. “We’ve been in the field for two weeks now and those paralysis effects are dangerous. It’ll cost us nothing to wait for the rest to catch up and it’s much safer for you. Mideel is a dangerous area.”

“Of course, sir.”

Cloud suppresses a shiver. Sephiroth is nothing like the serious, unreachable man depicted by the news. A year in the man’s vicinity has done nothing to quell the butterflies in Cloud’s stomach. Especially not since it turns out that Sephiroth actually really does care for his men and it’s not just a PR slogan to bring in more SOLDIERs hopefuls.

-

Mideel, it turns out, is a pain in Cloud’s ass.

It’s humid, it’s full of insects, and it’s full of dangerous asshole monsters. If he sees a snake thing again, he’s going to Fire3 the shit of that beast, overkill or not. They keep sneaking in his sleeping bag, what the hell. It’s not like they’re seeking the heat since it’s summer in the South-Eastern islands.

On the other hand, he also got to admire Sephiroth with his hair fastened in a high ponytail, so there’s that. Which makes sense because Cloud’s hair isn’t even that long, but he’s daydreaming of just shaving it all off, how the hell can the man bear to have all that mass stuck on his neck and back. It must feel like a damn blanket against his back. Cloud has bartered six months of doing Zack’s home chores in exchange for enough money to buy one of those new almost-Ribbons. They don’t protect from almost-everything as the true Ribbons do. Instead, they are more ‘specialized’ depending on the region where you buy them and are not so rare that if you find one in your lifetime, you won the 3 million gil jackpot. They still cost way too much, but Zack has a First Class salary and only spends it on junk food and Aerith’s flowers anyway, he can afford an almost-Ribbon for Cloud.

And Sephiroth might have complimented how good the blue almost-Ribbon looked, used as a headband in Cloud’s hair.

Cloud tries to ignore the blush overtaking his face again, as he thinks of that moment. He’s going to faint at Sephiroth’s feet one of these days, and then Zack will laugh, and laugh, and laugh at him forever and ever.

“ETA on First Class Fair’s squad?”

“Fifteen minutes, sir,” Cloud answers after checking his PHS. “They had to deal with… ‘an attack from a group of sort-of-almost-Zoloms monsters’, in Zack’s words.”

Sephiroth snorts. “Very well. We’ll start without them. Cloud, prepare a fire pit. Orlson, do an inventory of our bags. The next town is two days away, we need to use the fresh food before it rots.”

Despite being the General of ShinRa’s elite army, Sephiroth spends time coaching his men and explaining his orders. It surprised Cloud at first, but as Zack explained, Sephiroth prefers to help training good squad leaders, rather than being a stuck up commanding officer.

Thought Sephiroth is more of a food-worrier than Cloud expected. Granted, they have an enhanced metabolism and SOLDIERs can pack a lot of food in a very short time.

“The canteens are over half-full and we have food for… almost a week between the three of us,” Cloud says after checking. “At least, if we use the disgusting dehydrated stuff.” Which he would much rather not. Disgusting is too simple a word for what that stuff tastes like for enhanced taste-buds.

“Good. Make sure that everyone has the right share of food.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How long until the others get here?” Orlson asks as they prepare a stew. He frowns. “That was the last of the fresh food.”

Cloud nods. “Yeah, it was. We’re down to rations next. Still better than the powder stuff.”

“Damn right.” Orlson gives a not so exaggerated shudder. “Let’s avoid the powder sludge.”

It might pack the necessary vitamins and enough ‘energy’ to keep a SOLDIER going until they can reach a town again (hopefully), but the dehydrated powders are the worst things that Cloud has ever eaten. Even Zack who can eat days old food can’t stand them. Even Sephiroth makes faces at the packaging and that man would eat everything in his reach as far as Cloud can tell.

Cloud’s PHS beeps again. Cloud shares a look with the other SOLDIER and they juggle with the travel pot until Orlson is able to take over the cooking, then he grabs the device.

“Shi- Sir!”

Sephiroth looms over Cloud’s shoulder before he can fully turn around. “Cloud?”

“Zack says they have a problem. They got attacked a second time. By a pack of-” Cloud gives up on making sense of Zack’s description, “something. Might be the monsters we were looking for. He says that there are no casualties. But they sacrificed their bags to distract the beasts when they got overrun.”

Sephiroth stiffens. “Status?”

“A few wounded and several poisoned, but things are under control. Except for the lost backpacks.”

“Orlson, gather everything close to the fire as possible. Cloud, north sentry. I’ll keep watch south.”

-

Zack’s group looks pitiful when they finally turn up. A lot of them have their clothes torn and they are splattered with Mideel’s rich brown mud.

“Zack.”

“Seph. We’re good. Everyone is fine, Esunas and Cures took care of everything except the exhaustion. Though I’m lucky that Kunsel was in my group because I wouldn’t have had the magic reserves to cast it all by myself.”

“Good. You think those were the monsters they sent us after?”

“Pretty sure. They fit the description we got from the civilians and there are a hell of a lot of them.”

“And yet, they didn’t come for the small, weaker group, they attacked your squads. And just after another attack too.”

“Yes, it seems like too many coincidences.” Zack shrugs. “But I think it was just bad luck. The first pack looked like they were hunting for food. As for the others, I think that we stumbled upon the nest of our targets by ‘luck’.”

“You think that they attacked the squads to protect their home and possibly babies.”

“Yup. Might be why the first pack was so hungry too. If our targets’ pack is so large, might be that food is growing scarce around here.”

Sephiroth is silent for a moment, then nods. “Very well. At least we know where to find them. We’ll go resupply in town then come back for the nest.”

“The guys need the rest though. We’ve been pushing a lot for the last week and the men are growing weary. Especially since…”

Zack trails off but everyone knows what he means.

The first few priorities of a SOLDIER are ‘don’t let go of your weapon’, ‘don’t lose your PHS’, and ‘don’t waste the food’. SOLDIERs have a high metabolism and they covered this specific subject many times in Cloud’s classes. ‘Keep several power bars in your pockets’ was a recurrent reminder.

Except that now they’re down to food reserves for barely half a dozen SOLDIERs.

The plan had been for the Zack to lead two squads of five Second Class each, to encircle and push the monsters back toward Sephiroth, who’d deal with them with his usual skill, supported by two Third Class who’d welcome the experience.

They aren’t going to be able to feed fourteen men with what they have left, not when it’s going to take a few days at a steady march to reach the closest town. And that’s hoping that they don’t get attacked again.

Sephiroth falls silent, looking in the direction of the town.

Eventually, he turns back toward the group. “Anyone has fresh food left?”

“Me,” one of the Second says. “I had the last of it in my messenger bag.”

“Give it to Orlson. We’ll share the stew between us tonight, you need to build up your reserves again. Three groups for the night. Cloud, Orlson, you’ll take the last shift. Zack, you’ll lead the last shift. I’ll take the first two. Divide your men.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Kunsel, gather all the food left, every single power bars and the remaining dehydrated powder. We need to stretch it all for as long as we can make it.”

-

The town ends up taking four days to reach. They have to make a detour because their targets’ nest is still stirred up and on high alert.

Zack is more worried than Cloud expected. With the amount of food left, two days marching through the forest should have been fine. Four is going to stretch things a lot more than Cloud prefers, but still. Cloud isn’t sure why Zack is so antsy. Though Cloud doubts that the others recognize it. While he’s often exuberant, Zack has few real friends with whom he spends any length of time. He’s friendly and outgoing, but Cloud is pretty sure that the only ones who know Zack’s tells in the group are Kunsel, Sephiroth, and Cloud himself.

Cloud doesn’t ask aloud though. If Zack wanted anyone to know anything about what’s going on, he would speak up. But Zack’s attention is half on the guys, half on Sephiroth. So much that Cloud ends up keeping an eye on the General too, which isn’t exactly a hardship.

Nothing special happens until the end of the third day.

Luxiere is complaining about his hunger pangs, again, and getting hazed about it by the others, again.

Zack is doing the rounds, making sure that the men are alright, except for the hunger.

And Sephiroth…

Is sitting on a log in a corner almost out of view, his back against a trunk. Cloud isn’t sure what catches his attention. Sure, Sephiroth is usually a lot more hands-on, helping set up camp, checking out their surroundings. But there’s nothing weird about him sitting down for a moment, except maybe that he’s slouching a bit.

A shiver goes down Cloud’s spine but he hasn’t spent a year as a Third Class without learning to trust his instinct.

“Sir?” he asks softly once he’s standing next to the man.

“Cloud.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” Sephiroth says.

The General is most certainly not fine. His eyes are staring in Cloud’s direction but not quite on him. The man is sweating, which Cloud has never seen even during long battles. And his hands are shaking.

“Wha- I’m getting Zack.”

“No, don’t.”

“Sir, you’re not fine.”

Sephiroth sighs. “I know. But there’s nothing to do about it.”

Cloud kneels on the ground in front of the man. “What’s going on?”

Sephiroth stares for a moment then closes his eyes and leans back against the trunk. “Do you remember how your teachers kept reminding you to always keep food at hand with you.”

“Yes, of course.”

“And do you know why?”

“Because our metabolism works faster than an unenhanced person. We consume more calories, particularly during training or fighting. Not to mention, a Second Class expends more and faster than a Third, and so on.”

“Yes, that’s the condensed version. You’re due to get a more complete explanation later, but the main problem is that once your body is out of food, it turns to another fuel. The Mako in your blood.”

“Shi- Sir, your body is burning through your Mako?!”

“Yes. I am afraid that I won‘t be of much use tomorrow.” Sephiroth huffs. “I haven’t been this bad off since Wutai, I shouldn’t have pushed us so much. There’s a reason why they don’t often send SOLDIERs on long-term missions. But I hate Mideel’s weather and we had a good group. I meant to get us through it as fast as possible, so of course, this bullshit is coming back to bite me in the ass.”

Cloud snorts before he can stop himself, then ducks his head, feeling a blush rush to his face. “Zack needs a status update,” he says after a moment. Sephiroth still looks feverish, his hands twitching in his lap. “Here.” Cloud grabs a power bar from his pocket. “Eat.”

“No. We’ve already divided the food, keep it.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve only been marching through the jungle, I‘m used to hiking. Orlson and I barely saw any combat. Plus we’re less than a day out and I’m still only a Third Class, my body burns much fewer calories than you. I’ll be fine until tomorrow.”

Sephiroth takes a deep breath and rubs his face harshly. The symptoms remind Cloud of hypoglycemia, and it makes him wonder how much the General is processing right now.

“Alright. Thank you, Cloud. Please give Zack a heads-up.”

“Of course, sir.”

As if Cloud were to do anything else. The General might not appreciate being seen in a weak position, but Cloud has no intention to leave him without supervision. Not when Sephiroth has trouble concentrating to gather his thoughts in a sentence.

Fortunately, Zack is standing just a few paces away, obviously aware of the problem.

“He took your power bar.”

“Yes.”

“Thank fuck.” Zack squats down and takes a few deep breaths, before facing Cloud again. “Thank you. When he gets like this, he’s twice as stubborn as usual and that’s saying something. He doesn’t always make coherent decisions. I was hoping that he wouldn’t manage to resist your puppy eyes.”

“You ass… Is he going to be okay?”

“I think so. Orlson had one power bar left too. I’m going to try to get Sephiroth to eat it tomorrow morning. Or you will, whichever. We’ll have to hold him up part of the way at least, and I seriously hope that he doesn’t pass out because he’s way too tall to carry easily. It’ll be fine as long as we don’t get attacked.”

“Alright. The guys know?”

“The Seconds yeah. I warned Orlson when I requisitioned the last of his snacks. You two will have to be lookout tomorrow, you’ll be the freshest.”

Cloud takes a shuddering breath then nods, resolute. “We’ve got your back, don’t worry. We’ll be home soon.”

-

When they finally make it to the town, Zack is carrying Sephiroth over his shoulders, one arm between his legs and the other holding onto Sephiroth’s forearm. One of Zack’s squad is even carrying Sephiroth’s hair to keep it from dragging on the floor.

Cloud almost wishes that he could spare some time to watch the villagers’ reaction to their rather pathetic entrance, but he’s too busy rushing ahead to warn the doctor of their arrival.

Sometime much later, after Cloud fretted over Sephiroth’s well being for a while and they bought enough food to feed an army and had a nap, Cloud grabs his messenger bag and heads to the convenience store. And if he stocks his bag with half the store’s shelf of travel food, particularly the brands that he’s seen in Sephiroth’s hands, well, he doubts that anyone is going to call him on it, not after this mission.