A/N: Hey Everybody i am TheDK and this is my debut fan fiction. It will be a action/comedy/romance fic based on final fantasy 8. Just to set you up for the fic. Its 18 years after the original final fantasy VIII and many things have changed in the world. There is new towns, new technoligies and most noticeably a new garden in Esthar. A lot of other things have changed to but i would like to reveal them as the chapters go on.
Anyway drop me a comment and let me know what you think. I have never written a full story before so i'm curious to see what reception this will get. Any and all critiques are welcome. Thanks and Enjoy(hopefully)!!
Chapter 1: A New Threat?
Falling asleep while on duty was usually a sure fire to get you fired from your job , but not for Red and Varnes. Red and Varnes where a duo who always slept on the job. Doesn't matter when they where on duty. They slept in the day shift, They slept in the night shift, They slept any time they could. Yet despite all this Red and Varnes where never caught out because according to their boss they always did a damn fine job. Well, who wouldn't with the kind of job they had. Red and Varnes job was easy. Red and Varnes were on patrol guards for the town of Balamb. Now you can see what I mean by easy. The town of Balamb is a quiet and peaceful place. So Red and Varnes never did have much to do. There was no crime and very little monster activity aside from the occasional bite bug. If anyone was in Red and Varnes position they would probably be doing the exact same thing day in and day out, Sleeping all day. However today was no ordinary day as the boys where about to find out.
Out in the hot sun on a beautiful morning Varnes and Red were relaxing and working on their tans. Which seemed to be the only work they ever did.
"Guarding this town entrance is so boring" said Red.
Varnes groaned to himself as he heard reds comment 'Oh boy here we go again, The age old my father the commander story'and sure enough just as Varnes thought about it Red began to talk about his father the commander.
"Y'know my father the commander of the entire galbadian army offered me a spot in as the rank of soldier.. but I declined saying no dad i'll get my own work here in Balamb I'll make a living don't worry about me" Red sighed "I should have listened to him".
Barnes sat quiet and pulled his helmet covering over his face 'If I respond to him now he'll never shut up about it' Varnes thought.
Red turned to Varnes with an angry look on his face"HEY...are you even listening to me"he yelled.
Varnes slowly pulled down his hat saying non chalantly "Listen Red...You have told me this story a gazillion times and I always give you the same advice....If you hate this job then quit"
Red turned away from barnes and stared at his feet "I still don't wanna leave Balamb, Varnes"red uttered with a much more serious tone "I grew up here and I don't think I could live anywhere else".
Varnes simply mumbled "Then quit complaining"while flipping his hat back to his original position.
Red muttered to himself "Lazy Bum"as he too lay down to rest. He wasn't given long to rest though however as about one minute later an earth shattering thud hit the ground knocking them both off their seats. Varnes jumped up immediately all in a fluster shouting "Whose there....Whose there" . A few seconds later Red got up in a similar alarmed fashion. Looking around in a panic the boys looked confused at each other thinking "What the hell was that?"
Regaining his composure a little, Varnes pulled out his rifle and examined the area. Red also pulled out his rifle trying to find where the large bang had come from. Almost in unison the two boys shouted "Over There!"
What the boys saw before them was a flaming blast with smoke rising up through the air and it was coming from Balamb forest. With a strain in his voice Red quivered "It looks like ......a comet just hit over there"
Not wanting to seem fazed by Reds comment Varnes immediately replied "Its probably just another funguar who accidently started a fire".Even as Varnes spoke the words himself he knew it could not be true. A funguar could not create a blaze such as this nor would a funguar be able to create such a bang.
Varnes swallowed hard as he told Red "Ok.....We have to go check it out"he said. Red looked at Varnes as if he was a mad man to which Varnes retorted "We made an oath to protect balamb, If whatever that is over there Is a threat then we must eliminate it all costs".
Red hesitated thinking about the possible scenarios that might occur. With a long pause Red nodded in agreement after thinking about what his father would do in the situation. Varnes took the lead as the two men cautiously approached the forest. Fortunetly as they walked to the forest they did not encounter any monsters.
'That would be the last thing we would need now' thought red 'I don't even have any magic junctioned to my rifle'. Pausing as they came to the entrance Varnes told Red "I'll go in first to check the area". Varnes slowly made his way through a group of trees almost blindly from the black fog that had covered the forest in a thick layer of smoke. Varnes rubbed his eyes as he came in to a clearing.
Red still waiting on the outskirts shouted to Varnes saying "Hey what do you see?"
Varnes just beginning to restore his vision saw a giant crater covered in a ring of fire. Avoiding the blaze Varnes carefully stepped into the crater seeing a red sphere laying in front of him. As Varnes slowly approached the sphere , It began to move. With baited breath and sweat dripping down his forehead Varnes stared in terror as he saw the sphere seemingly transform.
Red hearing no response from Varnes ran through the forest himself attempting to find his colleague. He was met with the same layer of smoke as charged through. Not noticing the crater Red tripped tumbling over the edge and falling flat on his back. Red regained his footing by elevating himself with one knee. Looking around the crater Red saw Varnes standing still. Rushing towards his friend Varnes saw something he hadn't noticed. A dark silhouette as tall as a building was standing in front of Varnes. Red exchanged a frightened glance with Varnes as the dust settled revealing what stood before them.
Their eyes had never seen such a fiend. A beast with brown scaly skin covering his whole body like that of a snake. A red fur on parts of the beasts body resembled the flames of the fire that was burning around the crater. Most terryfing of all was the beasts black horns resembling that of the devil.
Varnes and Red could only stare into the beasts raging eyes burning with intensity. Varnes had heard the legend and so had Red. There was no doubt in their minds anymore. The creature that stood before them was the legendary guardian force, Ifrit.
End Of Chapter 1