Chapter 2 is up! Providence is almost ready fro posting, too.

Chapter 2

Several days of easy travel later, Cloud took in the small ruin with a sense of almost-amusement. Strider had claimed the hill called Weathertop, and the ruin they were holing up in for the night an old watchtower.

Really, though, the scattered stones and crumbled walls were nothing compared to the massive towers of twisted metal and shattered glass he was used to. The ruins of Midgar still remained, partly grown-over as the recovering Planet reclaimed the area that no humans kept cleared.

Edge flourished, and the new forms of energy harnessed did no harm to Gaia. Had they, Cloud would have been forced to… intervene. As a WEAPON of Gaia, he bent to her will, though—unlike the other WEAPONs—he could resist if he truly wanted to.

Now though… without a purpose in this new-to-him world…

He shook off the thoughts and refocused on Strider.

"I am going to scout the area. I will return within the hour."

Cloud nodded once.

Strider nodded back and left.

Cloud glanced around at the Hobbits making camp and settled himself out of the way, setting First Tsurugi against a pile of stone before sitting and leaning back against the stones himself. Aurin warked softly as he settled next to his master, putting his head in Cloud's lap for scratches.

Cloud chuckled softly and obliged. It had become something of a nightly ritual for the two, Aurin sitting next to Cloud and begging for attention and Cloud scratching along his crest.

The Hobbits found it endearing, but were still a little nervous around the usually-silent blond.

Cloud leaned his head back against stone, one hand's fingers still tangled in Aurin's crest-feathers, and dozed.

xxxx

Shrieks and startled warking had Cloud on his feet and reaching for his combined weapon before any of the others had a chance to move, Aurin scrambling up beside him. "Aurin! Get the little ones behind me!"

Warking, the bird herded four Hobbits towards the center of the ruins while Cloud strode towards the place where he could hear the monsters coming up the hill. Those shrieks had been painful, but they were silent, now, ghosting up the path almost without sound.

Mako-sight picked out five, and Cloud detached Sidewinder from the main blade for a off-hand weapon.

The first to crest the hill and step forward got batted aside by the Cloud's main blade and he was caught off-guard by the shocking chill that jarred up his arm.

In the seconds it took the mako in his blood to counter whatever had just happened, two slipped by him and went for the Hobbits.

Aurin made a valiant attempt at defending them, but the bird was modified for invulnerability, not fighting skill. He was pinned to the ground with a blade through his neck, warking and fighting but unable to get the leverage to free himself.

The other two converged on Cloud, and—thinking of the chill—Cloud snapped off a Fire3.

Twin screams told him that had been a great idea—except the piercing sounds so close had his enhanced hearing ringing so badly he staggered as he turned, moving to defend the Hobbits even as one of them stabbed down at an oddly washed-out Frodo.

First Tsurugi—whole again—bisected that one as the weapon made contact with Frodo's shoulder and another Fire3 had the fifth fleeing screaming as Frodo cried out in pain.

"Mr. Frodo!" Sam cried, hearing his friend but apparently unable to see him as he turned in circles, "Mr. Frodo! Where are you?"

Two swift steps and Cloud was kneeling at the downed Hobbit's side, glancing at the blade dropped from a dissolving hand and cursing softly as he saw the broken end to the strange metal.

And that ring—it glowed to his sight, the same malevolent glow as JENOVA-tainted mako. He reached out and plucked it from Frodo's finger, sensing that it was doing him no good, and cast Esuna upon seeing all the signs of violent fever.

Frodo's shivering eased and his searching eyes fell on the ring in Cloud's hand. The Hobbit held out a slightly shaking hand, and Cloud shook his head, "You'll drop it. Here," he tucked it in the breast-pocket of the Hobbit's coat himself, buttoning the lapel closed. He knew that things like invisibility-causing rings were valuable, and had no intention of keeping that one. It made his skin crawl.

And running footsteps had Cloud on his feet again, combined blade in hand.

"Strider," he acknowledged as the Ranger came up, re-holstering First Tsurugi across his back. He gestured to the broken—and dissipating—black blade. "One of those things stabbed Frodo with that. Esuna helped, but it looks like part of the blade is still in the wound and I can't use Cure until it's removed. Is there anything you can do for him while I see to Aurin?"

The bird was lying limp, now, half-lidded eyes showing that he'd given up on getting out of his predicament himself and was waiting for help. He didn't seem to be in any pain.

A curse, "A Morgul blade! I need athelas."

"Athelas?" Sam asked.

Strider cast about for a moment, "Kingsfoil, it is also called."

Sam nodded, "I know that one! It's a weed!"

"It will help to slow the poison, but he needs Elvish medicine."

Cloud put the conversation out of his mind as he strode over to Aurin and yanked the icy-cold sword upwards, freeing the chocobo.

No mark was on Aurin's neck by the time he scrambled to his feet, shaking himself before checking his master over thoroughly.

Cloud patted Aurin's head and returned his attention to the waiting Hobbits, noting Strider was already some distance away, searching for the plant he needed, but Frodo was growing visibly worse with each breath.

Cloud stepped forward, casting another Esuna, and was relieved when the spell eased the Hobbit's pain once again. He moved to kneel next to the still form, gentle fingertips prodding at the injury.

No, there was definitely part of that poisoned blade caught in the wound. He didn't dare Cure, not until that piece was removed—and he hardly had the tools to make sure it was all taken out. They needed to get him to a healer.

And, from the immediate return of symptoms, they needed to do so quickly.

Unless…

Cloud cast another Esuna, then Stop, hoping that the temporal stasis would keep the Hobbit from growing worse. He scooped up the suddenly completely still body, cradling him gently in both arms despite surprised protests.

"Aurin!"

The chocobo was by his side in an instant as a frustrated and empty-handed Strider returned, "I could not find—what are you doing?"

"He needs a proper healer," Cloud stated, shifting his grip on Frodo as he mounted the gold in a light jump. "I can hold the poison at bay myself, but only for so long. Which way to Rivendell?"

"You will need to go around the mountain—"

"Which way?" Cloud demanded, "Straight line. Mountains are not a problem."

Aurin warked agreement and Strider hesitated a moment more, before bowing his head in defeat. "You are his only hope, then. That way."

Aurin turned and took off at a pace a normal gold could not hold for longer than an hour, but Cloud suspected his enhanced mount would be able to hold it for far longer, perhaps even the two days that Cloud could manage all-out if he needed to.

In hours, Aurin was bounding up the mountainside, leaping small cliffs without difficulty, and Cloud had rarely been as grateful for the gold chocobo's abilities.

He really didn't know how long it was safe to hold a Hobbit under Stop.

xxxx

They crested the mountain, and Cloud's sharp vision caught the glitter of a river winding along the base, wider further upstream—probably an easy fjord. However, a gold chocobo—capable of crossing oceans—hardly needed to follow the river to such shallows. Instead, he scanned the immediate base of the mountain for—there. A city, unlike any he had seen. White stone that almost seemed to grow from the ground, mason-work that was clearly… inhuman.

That, he supposed, was Rivendell. City of the Elves.

Regardless, it was a city, and he could treat the Hobbit himself provided he could get a hold of proper tools, though he'd really rather have a competent healer look at Frodo.

Aurin bounded down the mountainside towards the city gate—a little out of the way, but best to be polite. Once he hit the valley flats, Aurin leveled out into a light jog, sensing his master did not want to startle the gate-guards.

"Halt!" one of the guards called, stepping forward with a drawn bow.

Bow? These people were further behind Gaia than Cloud had thought. He disregarded the blatant threat, doubting that an arrow would be able to do him any serious harm. After Gaia's modifications, it would take Death Penalty or Cerberus to cause him serious projectile-damage. He doubted an arrow would do much more than scratch him, even if he couldn't dodge.

And, though it would probably pass through Aurin's skin fairly easily, the invulnerable chocobo wasn't in any real danger. No—the only danger was to Frodo.

Cloud considered that thought and silently signaled his chocobo to stop, dismounting in a fluid movement. "I need a healer. The little one is wounded."

That was apparently the right thing to say, given the situation. All questions were visibly put aside and the bow instantly lowered, "Lindir! Take them to the Halls of Healing. I will fetch Lord Elrond."

xxxx