A/N: Just to clarify, the prologue to this story takes place 3 years after the events of FF8, which would make the fanfic (from the 2 years later thing onwards) 5 years after the events of the game. I don't own FF8 or the characters, but Ixidor Alucard is one of my original characters. Now enjoy, and read and review please, I'd like your comments and opinions

Squall didn't understand what had happened. He wasn't sure he would ever understand. He looked back at Balamb Garden, slowly burning to the ground.

His Garden. His home.

With a pang of sorrow he thought of the SeeDs that had chosen to stay and fight, so he and his friends would have time to escape. After all, there was no doubt that they were the prime targets of the new Sorceress. He tried to put out of his mind the fact that he had known some of them personally, such as Nida and Xu, and that fact that he would probably never see them again. But he couldn't have stayed. The wind whipped at his face as he looked around at his friends.

Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Rinoa...Would they meet again?

The group marched on through the ruins of Balamb. As they reached the crossroads, all eyes were on Zell. He had chosen to stay in Balamb with his mother and see what kind of resistance they could scrounge together, to try fighting the Sorceress.

Squall had hoped Zell would change his mind, hoped without hope that he would come to his senses and leave like the rest of them. But as Zell wished them luck and walked away, Squall's hopes went up in flames, like his beloved Garden. The group sullenly walked on, through the entrance to Balamb Train Station. The station sign fluttered in the wind, looking like it would fall at any moment. Thank God the trains were still running. This would be their best and possibly only chance to leave Balamb. They all purchased their tickets, and looked around at each other. They all said their goodbyes, trying to look hopeful, happy, for each other. But they all knew that they would probably never be together again.

Selphie's train pulled in first. Squall admired her choice, and sincerely wished her the best; the Shumi Village was a hard place to start a new life. She hugged them all, saying how much she would miss them...Squall looked away. He didn't want to admit he would probably miss her too. Hyper, cheerful Selphie...When she got to Irvine, he held her tight, like he would never let go. Then he did something none of them expected; he kissed her. Even more unexpected was that she kissed him back, with such passion, as if they were hoping that that one kiss would last the rest of their lives. Then it was over, and she ran onto the train, tears of sorrow streaming down her face...or was it joy? As the train to Galbadia Garden pulled in, Irvine waved feebly to the rest of them, as if his mind were still thinking, thinking of Selphie...he picked up his gun and boarded the train with a sad smile on his face.

The train to Dollet arrived next. Quistis looked at Squall and Rinoa. Squall had wished she hadn't. By now tears were falling freely from her face, and she couldn't even bear to say good-bye, and she rushed onto the train. Unlike the rest of the other trains, the trains for Esthar and Deling City pulled in almost simultanoeusly. Rinoa grabbed her bags, smiled at Squall, and got on the train. He felt like calling out to her, to tell her how much he loved her, to not leave him, to do anything but say good-bye...But before he could, she came flying out of the train and threw herself into his arms.

"Please, Squall, please, come with me," she said, "We'll go together, we'll go anywhere we want..."

He put a finger to her lips. "Rinoa, you know we can't...I'd rather take my chances alone..."

"So this really is good-bye?" She asked him.

"Yeah." he replied, hoping she wouldn't object, hoping she wouldn't look into his eyes and see how desperately he wanted to be with her...

"Well, let's make it a good-bye to remember." Rinoa whispered, and she kissed him, to his surprise, and as they broke apart, she whispered in his ear, "Good-bye, Squall Leonhart." And she walked away, through that station and onto the train without another word.

As he boarded the train to Esthar, he looked at his Griever ring, the one Rinoa had wanted to wear a few years ago; Then he remembered his own words at an old stone orphanage years ago:

I'll be all right. I'll be able to take care of myself. He hadn't been all right at all. And now, as soon as he had learned to open his heart to others, they all had to walk out of his life forever! He pulled off the ring and threw it as hard as he could, as though it were his pain and sorrow, and he could just throw it all away...

Two Years Later

There is a bar in Esthar, called the Drunken Chocobo. You will find the toughest, most frightening outlaws in all of Esthar there. Not even Esthar police would go near there, because 6 had tried in the past and were brutally murdered. At least, that's what Squall Leonhart had heard.

A few years ago, there were no dives or bars or anything like that in Esthar; but that was before Sorceress Relena had corrupted everything, and Esthar was no exception. As Squall walked into the room, his first impression was...dirty. Everything, from the busted, scarred wooden tables to the shattered shot glasses were coated with a thick layer of dust.

The clientele wasn't much better; you could smell them from half a mile away, and their clothes were old and tattered. Squall disliked the place almost immediately; but the fact that Esthar police never came here made it a great place to hide, and he had had some close calls already. So the Drunken Chocobo it was. He paid a few thousand gil to the bartender for a drink and the man stopped eyeing him suspiciously.

Apparently, he could buy people's empathy here. He would have to remember that.

He looked around; a couple of men had gone back to their game of cards; a group of men were talking, occasionally glancing in Squall's direction. As he sat down in a table, he noticed that many beady eyes were on him; he DID seem out of place, he supposed.

In fact, the only one that seemed as out of place as he was was a young man across the room. He might have been Squall's age; however, that was the only similarity between the two. He wore a long black cloak, jeans, and black boots. The man had covered his face with his cloak, but Squall could make out a slightly pointed nose, dark-green eyes, and spiky jet-black hair that was matted down over his forehead. He carried a most unusual weapon. It was a long, broad blade, but it had a strange strap on it, and Squall could only guess that it went around his wrist.

Squall thought of his own friends from long ago, and smiled; nunchaku, chakram, even his own gunblade...and he was judging this man's weapon! He had barely thought this when the group of men he had observed walked up to him. Damn! he thought to himself. He didn't want to have to fight anybody...

"So stranger, you seem awfully familiar." said the man who Squall assumed was their leader. "You ever been around these parts before?"

"No. I'm just passing through here." said Squall curtly.

"Really? So, why do the three of us guys think you're so familiar, stranger?" He looked around at his comrades. "What do you think, Draw?"

"Well, Anugal," replied his hefty companion, "Maybe it's because we saw his face on this here wanted poster?" Draw replied as he unfurled a wanted poster for Squall, revealing a bounty of 1 million gil on his head.

Anugal laughed, "That's it! Now maybe you want to tell us again, stranger, you ever been around these parts before?" By now, many of the people in the bar had become restless. They knew a fight when they saw one. When Anugal and his partners took out their weapons, a few men got up and left. The young man Squall had noticed looked on, apparently interested in the fight that was about to unfold. Squall looked around. They had surrounded him...He looked at his gunblade. No way would he able to get to it in time...

BOOM! The table in front of Squall had burst into flames; Anugal and his men jumped back for a second. It was all the time Squall needed; he rolled out of the way of Anugal's bullets, grabbed his gunblade, and fired a shot at Draw. He then swung his gunblade down on Anugal, knocking him out. Out of the corner of his eye, Squall saw the young man enter the fray. The man cut down Anugal's remaining partner with a single stroke. The man gestured to Squall to follow him, and Squall nodded. The two ran out through the back entrance to the bar, not stopping until they were far from not only the bar, but from all of Esthar, into the reaches of the desert.

Night fell. The man stopped and raised an eyebrow at Squall. Squall wasn't surprised; not many people were in such great psychical condition. He was surprised the man seemed to be, though. Squall dropped down onto the sand. The man looked out onto the horizon, and said his first words to Squall:

"Night comes, monsters come with it. We'd better set up a watch. You can go to sleep. I'll wake you up later."

Squall said, "Thanks for your help, but I can handle it from here." He got up to walk away, but the man looked at him.

His eyes seemed dark, dead. "You are tired. What's more, you're injured." Squall blinked at this, and the man pointed to his waist, and Squall realized for the first time that there was a deep gash in his side. Squall got up with a grimace.

"It doesn't matter." Squall said, "I have to find my friends."

The man's eyes softened. "Let's stick together for a while. Consider it paying me back for helping you back there." Squall scowled. The last thing he needed was someone showing him kindness or charity, and definitely not friendship. But the man could be helpful...

"Whatever," said Squall as he lied down on the ground, "Wake me up later."

"What is your name, fellow warrior?" asked the man.

"...Squall Leonhart. Yours?" asked Squall. The man looked out onto the horizon with longing, as though something he had been searching his life for was now within reach.

"Ixidor Alucard."

A/N: Well, that's the prologue, first chapter should be up soon, tell me what you guys think. Btw, for all you yaoi-loving people out there, sorry to tell you this but Squall and Ixidor aren't going to be a pairing in this fanfic, not now and not ever, I realize I might have put some signals out there to be misinterpreted. Pairings in this fic should be the usual Squinoa and Selphine, if at all, I want this to be more of an adventure than a romance.