A Puppy's Tale

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the FF series! I wish I did, but I don't. Please don't mutilate me. T.T

Note: This is during the FF7 storyline, please enjoy the story of Final Fantasy Seven all over again, the only differences you'll find are the new characters and a few new plot devices. Other than that, pretty much the same story. XD

Genre: Drama/Humor/Adventure/Friendship and totally fantasy and possibly hintings of family? =3

Summary: Zack had died, however, Gaia wasn't going to let him go so quietly into the Lifestream. Sensing that a dangerous threat to the planet was coming, she decides to send Zack back, as a puppy! Thus Zack headed for Midgar, where he knew Aerith and Cloud were waiting. While trying to get inside Midgar, he befriends a friendly orphan, Rene. Can Zack protect those close to him and save Gaia at the same time? Or will he fail yet again?

Chapter 1: Resurrection

The first thing Zack's conscious saw was the void of darkness around him, until he decided to try to open his eyes, as he slowly opened them, the light blinded his eyes for a moment. As the blurry shapes and colours began to sharpen and come into focus, he tried to stand up or at least sit up, for some reason, he found it very difficult to do. After a few failed attempts and groaning in slight pain, he managed to get up somehow.

But why did he feel shorter than before? And wasn't this the place where he died after being swamped by Shinra soldiers? And wait a minute...why did he feel more hairy and seem to have gained an extra two legs?

Looking down, the very first thing he noticed was two front black paws and fur-covered legs. He yelped in shock, relazing that it came out as a high-pitch yelp that a wolf would have. In the corner of his eye, he saw a puddle nearby, struggling to walk in his apparently new body, he managed to somehow drag himself over to the puddle.

What he saw in his reflection, was not cool. He jumped back in horror when he saw what reflected in the puddle was not him, but that of a black wolf pup.

"Oh god, I'm a puppy! Literally!" Zack screamed. "No, wait a minute..." Zack shook his head and looked in the puddle again, hoping he had been mistaken since he had just woken up in a daze previously before. He was so very wrong.

"How did this happen? Why am I-?" Zack tried to scan his memory for any inkling of what happened after he died. He remembered a light, an outstretched hand, white feathers and then... "Ooohhhh...Wait...now I remember...It was back in the Lifestream..." Zack finally recalled slowly, his memory returned to that moment in time, where he agreed to Gaia's deal...

It was so black...and green? There were so many green strains floating all around him, there must have been millions...no...billions of them floating across the black and pale green void.

"...ackary...Zackary..." A voice echoed through the void, Zack was not sure if the voice was male or female, could it be both?

"What? Wait, who are you? And y'know, you could just call me Zack, it's much more easier to say, plus, my full name is usually used when I'm in big trouble with someone." Zack called out.

"Very well, Zack. I am the spiritual manifestation of the Lifestream, the source you call Mako. I represent all life on this planet, I am both it's guardian and nurturer. In essence, I am the planet itself. I am Gaia, but I am also known as Minerva to some."

"Whoa, wait...the planet? I'm talking with the planet? Say does that make me an Ancient now?"

"No, you are not Cetra. You had merely become part of the Lifestream once again, like all life eventually does, therefore, you and I are now connected, at least while you are in the Lifestream." The planet responded flatly.

"Awwww..." Zack whined, before he looked at the 'world' around him. "So...Mako is actually called the Lifestream huh? So this is like heaven, right? Funny, I pictured heaven to be a bit more...cloudy, with angels, pearl gates and everything."

"This not the time for jokes, my champion. I sense a great evil is coming, an evil so great, it might even destroy all life as we know it. Shinra sucking away my strength is bad enough but this new threat...I cannot let this evil reach this place." The planet or rather the spiritual manifestation of it, Gaia spoke in a serious tone.

"What the? Did you just call me a champion? And what great evil? Don't get all cryptic on me. I understand the thing about Shinra sucking away life from this place but...what is this other threat you're panicking about?" Zack looked confused.

"Yes, of course. I apologise for my rashness. I will start from the beginning. Two thousand years ago, a great evil came from the far reaches of space. The Cetra called it the 'Calamity of the Skies'. You should know whom I speak of, you had met her briefly back in Nibelheim..."

"Wait...Jenova?! Seriously?! That

thing really is an alien?" Zack gaped in horror.

"Yes, this being wishes to dominate this planet, controlling it, taking it over as becoming its ruler. In the past, she had nearly killed of the Cetra by unleashing a virus that turned those affected into monsters, by doing so, choking the Lifestream, tainting it with her evil. I had even intervened by creating powerful Weapons, however, the Cetra or what remaining few were left along with the humans of that time, managed to seal Jenova away, burying her deep in the planet's crust. Therefore, I sealed the Weapons into the crater where Jenova first arrived to this planet, just in case, Jenova once again escapes."

"The seal didn't last forever though, did it?" Zack pressed, it wasn't even a question, it was a statement.

"No...what hope I had that Jenova would stay contained forever was shattered when the people you call 'Shinra', discovered her and indirectly broke the seal. The worst thing of all, was the fact they extracted her cells to create the poor souls whom they had condemned to be her puppets."

"Sephiroth..." Zack glanced down sadly.

"While I cannot forgive Sephiroth for all the crimes he had committed in the name of Jenova. I cannot help but pity the poor man for his tragic fate of being tied to that monster."

"Heh, that's kind of you. I could never do that. Not after seeing what he had done with my own eyes." Zack commented.

"...In any case, the evil I sense, could either be Jenova, Sephiroth or perhaps even both. Whatever this evil is, they plan to do something very awful to this planet. Something that might even finish what Jenova started. We cannot let this come to pass, however, as I am the planet itself, I cannot leave this place. You can though, which is why, I will give you a second chance at life." Gaia offered.

"Really?! You're going to send me back?" Zack's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, it is not your time to come here yet. There is still something you need to do. After all, the other champion I had chosen, the one known as Cloud Strife, he will need you more than you or even himself knows for what lies ahead."

"Cloud? Is he alright?! And what about Aerith? Is she okay too? Damn it, you're being cryptic again!"

"Right now, both Cloud and the Cetra you call Aerith, is fine. However, this journey you and those who also caught in destiny's web will take, could put their lives in danger. Which is why I am sending you back, I believe you are the only one who can protect them from those who would either manipulate or harm them. Be warned though, Zackary Fair, I cannot return your original body, for it no longer exists on the planet."

"Fine then! Just give me any body! If you say Aerith and Cloud are in danger, then I'll be damned before I let someone hurt them. Shinra, monster, Jenova or even Sephiroth himself." Zack became determined, more than ever, now that he was aware Cloud and Aerith's lives could be in danger.

"I understand, I will try to procure a body for you by manifesting everything that you are into a solid form. When you awake, you will return to where you first departed from the world. I wish you and your future companions all the luck on the planet. Please...help them...help us..."

And just like that Zack's conscious returned to darkness...

"Damn it, when Gaia said it was going to create a body from by own spirit, this was NOT what I had in mind!" Zack growled, how was he going to help anyone in this body? He was a wolf, a puppy at that!

"Ugh, if Angeal saw me now, I would just die..." Zack groaned pitifully at the thought. "Well, there's no point crying over it. I'm here now, and I got a mission to do, to protect both Cloud and Aerith!" He turned around to see the view of Midgar in the distance.

"Alright! Let's do this! Midgar, here comes Zack Fair!" Zack boldly boasted, before he tripped over his new 'legs' and fell in an ungraceful heap. "Okay, that was humilating...let's try that again, ahem!" He quickly got back up and coughed to gather himself.

After taking a few moments to get used to his new body, he became confident enough to run in his new body. "Okay! Get ready Midgar! Because Zack Fair is back, baby!" With a big sprint, he headed down the cliff and onwards to Midgar.

It was official. Zack already hated his new body, he was struggling to get inside the gate that went into Sector 5. He tried everything, he tried leaping to the keycode panel, that failed miserably, he tried nibbling the metallic fence to make a hole, that also failed and made his mouth sore. He then tried to crawl through an opening in the fence, only to find it was too small even for his puppy form and was now stuck between.

"AHHHH! This is so unfair! Why Gaia...why a puppy? Why not a bird? Or even god damn pussy cat, then I could just either fly over or crawl under the fencing more easily. Where's one of those keycards for these gates when you need them?!" Zack ranted and complained.

As if somehow the planet heard his complaining, he saw someone come out from the automatic gates that went into the city, to Zack's surprise, it looked like a...child?

He looked only twelve years old, but seemed mature somehow, as if he had years of experience. He had auburn hair with one strand of hair standing up like an antenna. He had matching crimson red eyes that burned with life and energy and his skin was slightly tanned.

He wore a blue wutian style robe-jacket that had a swallow-tail cut at the bottom of the robe-jacket with sleeves that went down until they reached the cuffs of his sleeves, which had the insignia of an angelic wing on them. He had blue shorts along with white socks that went up to his knees with blue solider-like boots that had no laces, only a zipper that was on the side of the boots. He also had brown fingerless gloves with his middle fingers on both hands covered by the gloves he wore.

He seemed to have headed over to the junk pile nearby, looking for certain pieces of scrap for some reason...

Considering Zack was stuck and this was probably his only chance to get help, he did what a puppy would do in this situation.

He barked in a high pitch. 'Ugh, someone please kill me...' Zack groaned mentally in embarrassment.

The boy was quick to hear the barking, he looked over to the source and saw a small black wolf pup, trapped in the fencing. "Hey...what are you doing there?" The boy seemed very trusting, especially since he came over to Zack's side right away. "Ah I get it, you got stuck in the fence, huh? Hold on a minute." He was quick to find the problem. He conjured a small ball of fire from his index finger and used it to burn the metal wires.

'Huh? Materia magic? This kid can use materia with that much skill already? Wait a minute! He doesn't have any materia on him! How is he doing that?!' Zack mentally argued with himself. While lost in thought, he took him a while to notice that he could move again and he wasn't as constricted as before. Snapping back to reality, he found that the hole was much bigger now, more than enough for his body to get through.

"There we go. You're free!" The boy smiled, throwing the piece of fencing that he had burnt off to one side before standing up.

"Thanks kid, I owe ya one, big time. I thought I was going to die young again for a moment." Zack thanked, even though he knew the boy wouldn't be able to hear him. It was also a bit disappointing because he wanted to know how the heck the kid could use magic without the aid of Materia.

Much to his surprise though, the boy squeaked in shock. "Y-you spoke...You spoke just now!"

"Wait...what?" Zack tilted his head, until it struck him like a ton of bricks. "WAIT A MINUTE, you can hear me?" Zack cried out.

The boy only nodded, although he looked just as puzzled as Zack was. "I can hear you perfectly, but how is this possible? Ugh, it's just like the voices in my head. I can hear animals now? What's next? Monsters?"

'Voices in his head?' Zack repeated in his mind before asking, "By voices in your head, do you mean the Planet or something?"

"Um...I guess? I don't know who the voices are. All I know is that I've heard them since I was very little, it was just muffles and muttering in the first few years, but they're getting clearer every year. It really scares me, I don't know what's wrong with me and I'm afraid to tell anyone, they'll think I'm a loony and throw me away in some prison. Why am I even telling you this? You're a wolf! I really am going insane, aren't I?" The boy answered honestly.

"I can understand where you're coming from." Zack could understand why the kid couldn't say anything about this. Since when could everyday people hear voices in their heads? From what Aerith had briefly told him in the past. The only ones that Zack was aware who could hear voices like that were...the...Ancients...

Oh Gaia...There's two of them?! If Shinra knew this, they would be having a field day!

"Um...Doggy? Are you okay?" The boy asked quietly.

"Okay, first off, never call me 'doggy', or puppy or anything canine-related," Zack scowled. "Just call me, Zack."

"Okaaayyy...Nice to meet you, Zack. My name's Rene. Rene Zelpher. I have no idea how I can understand you...but you know...it's kind of nice. I don't really have anyone to talk to so...this really makes you the first living being I've ever spoken this much with in a very long time, and that's even including other people." The boy known as Rene introduced himself and lowered himself to Zack's level.

Zack couldn't help but chuckle at this. Rene reminded him of Cloud a little. Besides, knowing his luck, this kid would probably be the only one who would be able to hear him, and he wasn't going to lie, it was nice befriending a new friendly face.

"Friends then? It's for life." Zack lifted his paw. Rene simply took hold of the paw and shook on it.

"Okay then, so...why were you trying to get into Midgar?" Rene asked innocently.

"...It's a long story..." Zack sighed.

How's that for a first chapter? =D

I'm sorry that it's very short, but I promise the next chapter will be longer. I hope you are enjoying the fan fic. Please read and review if you have the time. I hope that I have gotten the characters and some of the lore right, I have done some research on this on parts that I needed help with, but it has been a long, long, LONG time since I touched the original FF7. (I should replay it sometime =P)

Oh, by the way, I decided to use 'Aerith' instead of Aeris. Since it has been used more commonly in the other FF7 spin offs and even in the KH games so...yeah. XD

Anyway, hope to see you in the next chapter, Moogle Empress out!

Moogle: Kupo!