Maybe if Zack had had the change come upon him before - before Nibelheim, and the five years after - he would have turned into something more domesticated. A Labrador, maybe. He acted so much like a friendly dog (especially around Aerith, with whom he was playful and attention-seeking and infinitely gentle) that even Cloud almost forgot his friend had fallen into the form and soul of a wild creature. He remembered the day a young man in a suit had sauntered into Aerith's church one day and Zack roused himself immediately, fixing uncanny violet eyes on the stranger with a low, rolling growl of warning. He cast a glance at Aerith - she was outwardly calm, even smiling, but she wasn't scolding Zack, and that probably meant she'd tensed up when the man entered into the room and only Zack could pick up on it. She knew this man, and wasn't happy about his presence, and when Cloud took a second look he could guess why.
"Down, Fido," the stranger said, bemused and seemingly not at all afraid. "Hey, princess, you pick up a Kalm Fang as a pet?" Cloud got to his feet, reaching back to grasp Zack's sword, and the redhead's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, we got two guard dogs, here. And me with no doggy treats."
"I don't remember inviting you to the picnic anyway," Aerith sniffed, prim and disapproving and clearly getting ready to bolt for the nearest exit.
"You heard her. Get lost," Cloud ordered, projecting all the cold hard menace he could into his voice, but even his best efforts paled in comparison to Zack, who snarled and stalked forward. As he moved the earth rippled underneath him, responding to him like no other wolf or wolf-like monster, proof that whatever else Zack was now, he hadn't lost access to magic.
But he wasn't the only one, and their experiences had put some wild, sharp edges on Cloud too. Pulling the sword forward and settling into the stance Zack had taught him back when he was still human, Cloud prepared to fight alongside his lupine friend.
(Zack's case of lycanthropy has more to do with medieval conceptions of werewolves than modern ones, as outlined in this video.)
FF7, Zack, Cloud, Aerith and Reno
"Down, Fido," the stranger said, bemused and seemingly not at all afraid. "Hey, princess, you pick up a Kalm Fang as a pet?" Cloud got to his feet, reaching back to grasp Zack's sword, and the redhead's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, we got two guard dogs, here. And me with no doggy treats."
"I don't remember inviting you to the picnic anyway," Aerith sniffed, prim and disapproving and clearly getting ready to bolt for the nearest exit.
"You heard her. Get lost," Cloud ordered, projecting all the cold hard menace he could into his voice, but even his best efforts paled in comparison to Zack, who snarled and stalked forward. As he moved the earth rippled underneath him, responding to him like no other wolf or wolf-like monster, proof that whatever else Zack was now, he hadn't lost access to magic.
But he wasn't the only one, and their experiences had put some wild, sharp edges on Cloud too. Pulling the sword forward and settling into the stance Zack had taught him back when he was still human, Cloud prepared to fight alongside his lupine friend.
(Zack's case of lycanthropy has more to do with medieval conceptions of werewolves than modern ones, as outlined in this video.)