The Quest For The Griever (A Final Fantasy 8 Continuation)
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All the Final Fantasy 8 original characters, places, and items in this story are copyright Squaresoft. All other characters are my works. Feel free to distribute this story as you like.
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by: curbwakz Chapter 1 Released: 12/23/00
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"What do you mean Timber was attacked?" asked Rinoa.

"...They said a huge dragon of some sort went rampaging through the city. But then out of nowhere came this huger creature. It had a body quite similar to one of those Krystas we fought in Ultimecia Castle. From what we've heard, the bigger one cast some sort of huge electric energy and killed the dragon with a single hit. But then the onlookers say it left and flew towards the Balamb Plains..." Squall replied, concentrating his thoughts elsewhere.

"Was anyone hurt?" Rinoa questioned again.

"Nope...fortunately the other creature got there fast enough to save the city. But there were a few buildings left in ruins...nothing too bad..." Squall said as he finished reading the report from Cid.

"Don't you think we should look into this? I mean, it isn't like all those other weak monsters we've gotten out of the cities before." Rinoa continued.

True, it definitely wasn't like those dumb old Caterchipillers or Ochus. This thing had quite some strength and good magic stats. But it had been a year since they defeated Ultimecia and lacked some of the skills they previously had. He reminisced of how much they had changed over the past year. He and Rinoa had married shortly after Ultimecia and were now living in their own room in the Balamb Garden dormitory. Cid had promoted him to Commander due to his good leadership skills during the times of Ultimecia and not to mention, the fact his face was slapped on newspapers from all over and his name was known around the world.

The others hadn't changed much though. Zell still ran the cafeteria out of their hot dogs and when he was bored, he still shadow boxed in the air. Irvine and Selphie were now totally in love and were instructors at Trabia Garden. They had recently finished all the repairs on it and were now fully functional. Quistis was still an instructor, but she taught in one of the new classrooms they had added on to the second floor of Balamb Garden. Cid was still headmaster, yet each day he seemed to get even more bored than the day before. Squall now stood there in the middle of the cafeteria telling her the report Cid had just gotten in.

Squall thought to himself before answering.

"If we're going to go to Timber and check this out, we'd better train and bring Zell and Quistis with us. I have a feeling that we'll need their support."

Squall had indeed changed a bit himself. He now found it easier to tell his feelings to Rinoa, yet, she was the only one he could really let himself out on.

"Ok. That sounds good. I'll gather them up while you go tell Cid our plans." Rinoa said. And with a small nod gesture from Squall, she headed out to the dormitory.

As he walked to the infirmary were Cid was staying, since he had hurt his leg on the stairs at the front gate, Squall remembered the time he had been impaled by a ice shard Sorceress Edea had shot at him during the first fight. The thought of it had always convinced him that he should never underestimate a sorceress, or any creature for that matter.

When he got to the Infirmary, Dr. Kadowaki had just finished putting on Cid's cast.

"How are things going, Squall?" Cid asked upon seeing him enter.

"...Fine.." he replied unemotionally.

"Did you get that report on Timber?" he shot again.

"Yes...that's what I came here to talk to you about." Squall replied

"Well...?"

"Rinoa and I were going to go down to check it out. It's not an ordinary monster that saved Timber. We're going to get Quistis and Zell to come too." Squall continued.

"You're not going to pilot Balamb there are you?" Cid asked jokingly.

"No...we're taking my car. We can all fit in there."

"Well good luck." Cid said encouragingly.

"We're not going just yet..." Squall replied. "...We haven't fought anything big for a long time...We need to train."

"Well in that case, go ahead and have fun training. I'll have Xu act as your temporary."

"...Thanks...and get well soon..." Squall said as he walked out of the infirmary.

Rinoa thought of how much Squall had changed since she had first met him. He had started telling her of his feelings and he took more responsibility of being a leader. She smiled slightly as she knocked on the door of Zell Dincht's dorm.

"Aya!" Zell yelled as soon as he opened the door. Before Rinoa could even tell what had happened, she saw Zell's Ehrgeiz glove an inch away from her face.

"Cut it out Zell" she said as he pulled his fist away.

"Awww, you're no fun." Zell replied. "So what do you want?" he asked

"I came to ask if you were up for a challenge." she said half-smiling.

"Like what?" Zell shot back.

"We got a report from Timber that two monsters were fighting and the ultimately strong one saved the city. We have no more information about this new creature except that it headed towards the Balamb Plains. We, as in Squall, me, and maybe Quistis want to know if you'll join us in checking it out." She explained.

"Sure! But I really need to train." Zell said

"We were also going to go to the Training Center all day tomorrow to warm up." Rinoa stated.

"Sounds good to me, as long as it's after 9:00 so I can finish digesting my hot dogs." Zell stated.

Rinoa laughed a little bit then said "Ok, then, meet us there at 10:00."

"Right!" Zell said as she waved goodbye and headed towards the elevator.

As she walked to Quistis' class, she thought of how fun it would be to get some old friends back together and do what they used to do. After all, if they hadn't had people like Irvine or Zell, they probably would never have defeated Ultimecia and would probably be six feet under. If it weren't for friends, nobody could live.

As she walked into the classroom, Quistis was busy grading the written level 3 SeeD exams. Quistis had been grading the papers all day and was too tired to even notice Rinoa walking up to her desk.

"What are you up to?" asked a familiar voice.

Quistis was slightly startled at the breaking of the silence, but regained her composure when she realized it was Rinoa.

"Oh...hey" Quistis replied kindly. "I was just in the middle of grading these tests."

"Are you free tomorrow?" Rinoa asked as she walked around the desk.

"Yeah...I'm trying to finish these papers early to get them out of the way, why?" Quistis asked.

Rinoa quickly told her of the fight in Timber.

"Yeah...sure. I'll be there around 10." Quistis replied.

"Then I'll see you then. Bye" Rinoa said

"See ya later." Quistis said as she sighed and got back to grading the tests.

When Rinoa got back to their room, Squall was already in bed asleep. She silently crept into the bed and as she did, Squall spoke.

"...can they make it...?" Squall asked, half mumbling.

"Yes, they're coming dear." Rinoa replied smiling.
Hope you like it so far, trying to setup everything. Get ready for more action after first few chapters. -curbwakz