The Day Our Lives changed

[Matsi]

Sephiroth had been gone for quite some time now, and life was finally beginning to settle down. Barrett had kept searching for his treasures, but spent more time with Marline. Tifa was working full time at the bar that she owned. Cid seemed to be happy living on his island where he worked on airships for the rich people, while the rest of the gang just sort of vanished in their own lives. He wasn't upset with it all though. He was actually pleased with it. How often did he get to have a normal life? Never. This was the first time in ages that he was able to get up in the morning and live like nothing had ever happened.

After he had found Vincent again, he had just taken it easy. Yet, life didn't seem to favor the easy way for him. About three years had past since he had last seen Vincent, Yuffie and many of the others from the Avalanche gang, when Reeve contacted him in a fury. Panic was in Reeve's voice, and soon, He was on his way to Reeve's headquarters where he met up with the rest of the gang that he had missed. It was a bittersweet meeting though.

"There are new species in the south. New species, that are far smarter than we ever could imagine, and we need someone to go down there and try to keep peace with them."

Of course it didn't make sense to any of them. Nothing they ever did made sense, really. So they agreed to help, without assessing the process of how they would do it.

That night, their lives changed forever.
They were taken into a lab, where they were knocked out without knowing what would happen next.

While they were still out cold, the members of the Avalanche gang were distributed through the south where the new animal species were located.

That had been a couple of weeks ago. Cloud had not been able to keep track of it all, in fact, he was quite overwhelmed still. He had been wandering alone in a form that he was not used to. Walking of four legs, with small, sharp hooves as his feet, and a large weight on his head, he was unused to this form that the science of his world had forced onto him.

He did not know what species he was when he first wandered in his light golden form. Then he met another animal that he didn't know what it was. The species he met was like a feline, but had long legs and furry tufts on his ears. The creature said that he was a Caracal, while he, Cloud, was an Elk. The Caracal was a loner named Mason, and soon kept the Elk-human company.


"Cloud, we are entering the wolf area," Mason said as his brown eyes looked up at the crowned head on the Elk. Cloud only snorted. He didn't care, mostly because he didn't know what a Wolf was. So he walked on. His golden and sandy colored pelt shimmered as he moved, and his large antlers brushed the branches above him. Mason the Caracal followed, slightly nervous.

Cloud stopped walking when a tall creature walked in front of him. It was like a dog, but on long legs. It's pelt was rusty blonde with blonder markings on its eye, ear tips, tail tip and paws.
"Thats a Mained wolf. It's actually a fox, but really tall," Mason said. He didn't know why Cloud didn't know these creature's species, but he was used to informing the Elk.

The Fox looked over at them, ears perked, and just watched them.
"And what are you?" The fox barked out, it's voice oddly familiar to Cloud as he looked at it. Mason looked up at the elk once more, nervous. He didn't want to have a scuffle with a Maned wolf.

"Apparently an Elk. And he's a Caracal Cat," Cloud replied, still trying to grasp why he knew the voice of the Maned Wolf. The fox creature seemed to recognize his voice too, for his ears went more forward and a frown formed on his lupine face.

"Cloud Strife?"

Cloud froze for a moment. Ohholyshitfromhell, it was Genesis. But how did he get stuck in this odd form too? How was he still alive? He hadn't been seen in over five years.

"Gen!" A femanine voice barked as a black and silver creature bounded out of the tree line. She was shorter than the Maned wolf, but held a bulky build that appeared stronger than the odd fox.

"Wolf'' Mason whispered as he lept easily onto the Elk's rump to get out of the canine's way.

"Oh... Why... Why is there an elk here?" The wolf asked Genesis in a low voice.

"We have an odd relationship, Matsi-dear," Genesis replied as he looked back at the large Elk.
"He will be staying for a bit, don't eat him,"

The black female which had silver fire-mark running up her muzzle and over her head to her shoulders, looked confused for a moment, but then only snorted.
"I don't go for the bulls," She huffed as she turned, shook her fur, then wandered to flop under a bush.

Cloud sent the caracal away so that He and Genesis could clear thigns up.


Hour passed and dark covered the land when Cloud and Genesis finally fell silent. THey had shared eachother's story, about how Genesis had been captured by the Soldiers and used as a test subject for the animal project. The two of them seemed to form a truce as they spoke to eachother.

Mason was less than thrilled with the turnout and kept himself highly perched in a tree with the black and silver wolf far below him. Matsi didn't seem to care about the odd company. In fact, she was a loner up until Genesis had found her, and was happy to have any company, no matter the species. She just hated the lone feeling that came with being a loner, though she wouldn't admit it. She wouldn't admit much, though.

[Knight]

The bulky black wolf wandered along, though he was far from silent. The soft clank of his golden 'gauntlet' on the ground sounded far louder in the quiet air than it actually was, broadcasting to all around him that he was on the prowl. Of course, Vincent Valentine wasn't trying to be quiet. There was little purpose in sneaking around when you stuck out like a sore thumb. Ever since he had agreed to help out the Shinra Corporation one last time, he had regretted it. This was not particularly pleasant. And his favored companion, a sly little fox named Aponi, wasn't exactly the most . . . helpful. She gave him information, but Vincent knew she knew more than she told.

Speaking of which, the smooth fox appeared from nowhere (well, behind a bush) and padded up to Vincent, her black tipped tail twitching. "Where did the others go?" Aponi asked smoothly, glancing around curiously. The fox, who had told little about her past, seemed to know a good deal too much about Vincent's past for him to feel comfortable with her. She tried to hide it, but Vincent was a skilled reader of people. Well, animals, in this case. But all the same, he wasn't sure he liked her. But she was helpful, unlike the other animals that they had picked up.

Vincent snorted, glancing up ahead. "We were going too slowly for them." The black wolf said easily, breaking into a lope and leaving Aponi to sprint after him. They caught up with their other companions easily. Amara, the white tailed deer, jumped sideways at the sound of the crashing paws, only to relax slightly when she recognized Vincent and Aponi. She was far from comfortable around the the two predatory canines, but her basic knowledge of the terrain had made her invaluable to the group and she seemed to understand that at least a little bit, as she hadn't run off.

And then there was Ella. A fellow experiment from the labs, she had been an African Wild Dog that the scientists had experimented on. There didn't seem to have been a point to her experiments other than her changed appearance, which wasn't exactly . . . average anymore. Gray with swirling blue markings, Ella stood out easily, but the African Wild Dog wasn't too bothered by it.

Aponi glanced around to make sure that all were gathered there before grinning rather unsettlingly (at least to Amara, anyways). "Well, I've found the 'new species.' There are a few others as well. But at least one of them looks like Vincent. There's one that looks like a larger version of me, one that looks a little bit like Amara there and I don't know what to compare the last one too." Aponi shrugged slightly, not looking too bothered, "But I'm guessing they're the ones that Vincent is supposed to 'keep the peace' with." He had informed them of the basic mission that he had been entrusted with, so Aponi mentioned it only in passing.

Amara blinked her large eyes, scooting back slightly. "If they look like Vincent then they're scary!" She said nervously, "Maybe we should just go somewhere nice and pleasant like a meadow or something where there's nothing scary." Amara said urgently, swinging her head to glance pitifully away from the creatures that Aponi had described.

But Vincent snorted slightly, "We'll need to go contact them. You can stay here if you want." With that, he was wandering away again. Aponi and Ella fell in instantly, not wanting to be left behind. It was only when Amara was alone, however, that she huffed loudly and raced after them, skidding to a stop and falling in at the back of the line, trying to hide as well as she could. It failed miserably, since Amara was a little bit too tall to be hiding behind a wolf, but she was trying her hardest.

In this manner, they proceeded until Aponi's twitching nose picked up the scents. Aponi padded ahead of Vincent, swishing her plumy tail in his face to distract him momentarily as she padded into the leading spot. She guided them forward, pausing only when they reached the gathering area of the other creatures. "Here we are." Aponi said smoothly, stepping neatly aside to allow Vincent to pad forward.

The black male with crimson eyes stepped forward slowly, his gaze focusing on the wolf. It did look like him. Not only did the wolf seem to share his species, it had the same basic color (black) as he did. "Hello." Vincent said coolly, surveying the others calmly. The larger version of Aponi and the two entirely strange looking creatures were mostly written off. They were not the strange species, so they were not worth his notice.

But Aponi was examining them all closely, her gaze sweeping across the four of them smoothly as Ella padded forward, flicking her blue tipped tail as she eyed them all in the gathering darkness. Amara continued to hang back, moving nervously in the seconds, ready to run and flee for a safe spot when the carnivorous creatures turned their gazes on her, the easiest prey in the area.

[Matsi]

Genesis had stopped midword as the sound of foot falls echoed into his large radar ears. He stood up slowly and padded past the elk a few paces, just as the wolf and fox entered the clearing. Genesis craned his neck to see the other canine as she padded forward, then the deer in the back. Well, quite a gang this was, wasn't it?

"Can we help you?" Genesis growled slightly, not really appreciating the intrusion as he was having a nice conversation with the person...animal...that had once been a person and his enemy.

Cloud stood up and shook his crown of antlers just as the black canine...a wolf?... spoke. He then froze and let his nose flare as he hopelessly tried to take in a scent that he would know, not that he knew any scents. Yet, he still knew sounds very well, and unlike Genesis' voice, this one was greatly imprinted on his mind.

"Vincent!" He huffed as he reared up in his excitement and snorted. His hooves hit the ground roughly, but his eyes still shone bright with excitement. Cloud wasn't one for raging emotions of any kind, but he was more than thrilled at this point in time.

"I can't believe it's you!" Cloud huffed as Genesis sat down.
"Vincent Valentine, eh? Well! Last time I heard that name was when he destroyed Nero and Weiss," Genesis hummed as he flicked his tail around his paws.

The female wolf that had been lounging in the bushes finally pushed herself past the brush and stood beside Genesis for a moment as her nose twitched and her ears stayed perked forward. She looked from the back, forward. The deer was insignificant in her mind, and the odd, blue canine was just interesting. The fox was not too much of an eye catcher. She was just curious of them, of course. Yet, she couldn't help but go "stupid" when she met the gaze of the male wolf for that brief second. One ear flopped sideways awkwardly, while the other went back slightly. Her head cocked to the side and her fur fluffed out. Genesis shot Matsi a sideways glance, and shook his head. Women.

[Knight]

Amara, oddly enough, was the first to react when Genesis spoke, flinching and cowering down behind the canine creatures. It was a rather ridiculous notion that a deer could hide behind a wolf, but she tried desperately. Only the fact that it would surely be more obvious to flee kept the doe pinned in her place, her eyes wide and nervous as she peered carefully out, eyeing Genesis nervously, only to flinch back when the other deerlike creature reared up and struck at the ground powerfully with his hooves.

Meanwhile, Vincent shook his head slightly and snorted softly at Genesis. He was preparing to answer the creature when Cloud spoke, and Vincent swung his head towards the deerlike creature, crimson eyes narrowing as he examined it. "...Cloud?" Vincent spoke almost hesitantly, though he was nearly certain that it was, in fact, Cloud Strife who stood before him in a changed form. It wasn't too surprising that maybe Cloud had been changed as well, as he had. And surely others had as well. It would be odd to have only two members of the AVALANCHE gang when all had volunteered be changed. Though that didn't exactly explain Aponi's presence.

"It has been a while Cloud. And you are?" Vincent turned towards the large, foxlike thing, head tilted slightly as he eyed it. It had a distinctly masculine voice, but he wasn't entirely sure who it might be.

He glanced away from the stranger only to find his eyes settling on another who looked like him, oddly enough. A soft snort echoed in the air at the sight of her. She looked a little . . . interesting. Was this all that he was tasked with keeping the peace with? She didn't look like much of a challenge. He could have handled this without being changed by any meddling scientists.

Aponi glanced around, wrinkling her nose as she eyed the others curiously. After a long moment, the fox padded up to Vincent, and when she had snagged his attention, leaned closer to murmur into his ear. "Perhaps you should introduce the rest of us as well?" Aponi hissed, flicking her tail as she eyed the other creatures reluctantly. She wasn't sure this . . . reunion had been Reeve's intention when he'd sent the AVALANCHE members (and herself, of course, along with a few unexpected others) out here.

Vincent nodded slightly, lifting his head carefully. "This is Ella." He said smoothly, gesturing towards the oddly colored african wild dog. "We acquired her in the labs, along with Aponi." There was a slight hesitation as he glanced, crimson eyes narrowed at the fox, who just shrugged and sat down daintily, looking industriously interested in her tail. "And the deer is Amara." The deer tossed her head nervously, moving slowly to stand behind Ella.

The African Wild Dog barely even blinked, glancing idly at Amara. She was amused by how much the nature of the food chain had changed simply because they needed a guide. Now, the deer clung to the predators, expecting them to protect her from the other predators in the area. Such as these ones. Though Amara had truthfully prove invaluable as a guide and Ella was grateful they'd stumbled across her.

"So, uh, you're not going to eat me are you?" Amara asked nervously, glancing from the female wolf to the maned wolf and the elk and back again.

[Matsi]

Cloud couldn't believe it and snorted some more, an action that he really couldn't control to be quite honest. The instincts of this form were strong and made him do bizzare things, but he was coming to accept those. It was just something he had to learn, he understood that.

When Vincent asked about Genesis, Cloud quieted and looked at the maned wolf, then black wolf.
Genesis let out a snickering sound and a wolfish grin appeared lazily on his maw.
"Genesis Rhapsodos, my dear Vincent.," Genesis said as he stood and stretched. He shoved his shoulder lightly into Matsi's side, making her shake her head and glare at him.

Cloud tried to change the subject quickly.
"Nice to meet you Ella, Aponi and Amara," He stated smoothly as he looked from one to the next.
"Mason, come down here," Cloud said to the cerval up in the tree. Mason huffed and climbed easily from his hiding place and to the elk below, only to look at the others with a uneasy look.
"Mason and Matsi are natural born animals. I met Mason and he has become my guide. Matsi and Genesis have become... companions?" Cloud looked at Genesis, who only shrugged slightly and turned to walk away, only to stop when Amara asked her foolish question. Before Cloud could speak, he turned to look at her with a lazy look of amusement on his face.
"Yes, my Dear Deer. You will be devioured as soon as darkness falls once more," He hummed and licked his lips with mock hunger, then proceeded to walk and leap atop of a outcropping rock. Matsi watched him, then rolled her eyes.
Cloud sighed heavily.
"No. None of them will eat you, if I have anything to say about it that is," He shook his antler crown slightly, not exactly amused by Genesis' actions and teasing. Genesis never really was the most... adept,... at being comforting.

"I won't eat the deer. If anyone will be eaten, it will be your friend Vincent." Matsi looked up at the elk.
"He is quite delicious looking," She let out a bubble of canine laughter before retreating towards the river. She didn't really want to be hanging around if the big black male became offended with her words. Then again, she probably had to worry more about Genesis or Cloud getting ahold of her. She really didn't want an antler tine in her belly.