Re: Kingdom Hearts, Sephiroth/Cloud, xeno - Sometimes they reminded everyone of their inhumanity.
Leon was still thinking about her remark later that night: to be more specific, he was remembering a field trip from his days as a cadet. His class had been bought along as support for a SeeD unit working along the edge of a mountain range.
"We do this every year," the instructor explained. "It's not complicated, and with any luck, we won't even have to engage any monsters, because most breeds of dragons are nearing extinction. Our only goal is too keep them from getting to near the villages, as they're very agressive at this time of year."
"Why is that?" asked a cadet, a dark-haired girl whose name Leon could no longer remember.
The instructor grinned wickedly. "It's spring, that's why. The females fight the males to make them prove themselves strong enough to mate with. They don't want any weaklings fathering their brood."
There had been a number of ribald jokes and heated faces in the discussion that followed. They hadn't fought any dragons that year, but Leon had been close enough to see a pair fight, just once. Dragons, it turned out, mated the same way they fought: on the wing.
He was reluctant to ask, but he suspected that certain genetically-altered warriors could probably boast the same.
Just then he heard the door open.
Cloud hesitated when he saw Leon still up. He looked a little battered, but no worse than any of the other times Leon had been awake to see his return. Thankfully, Leon was the only one who tended to keep such late hours.
"You'd better check those are gone before you come down to breakfast in the morning," Leon said, with a nod. "Otherwise the girls will be asking questions."
Cloud reached a hand towards his neck, then let it fall. It was decorated with a number of interesting bruises, and if Leon wasn't mistaken, there were telltale teeth-marks edging a few of them. He nodded, not the least bit self-conscious, and headed for the stairs.
Leon turned back to the paperwork he was sorting through, and shook his head. It was easy to forget there was anything different about Cloud, to overlook the small things that hinted he wasn't quite human. And then he did something that reminded everybody.