Along The Train Tracks
Hi again! I had quite a lot of success with the format of The Sphere Chronicles, which I am still working on, so I thought I'd do a Zelphie. This is in the same way of writing as The Sphere Chronicles is, it's Selphie's view of the journey that the group went on. There will be slight hints at Quirvine and Squinoa. Okay, so onto the story! Hope you like.
A bright, young face appeared in the hallways; the owner smiling slightly. She glanced around, her intense, emerald eyes catching a large clock, centred on the wall ahead. The girl gasped, and turned quickly, heading for the lift.
The girl was Selphie Tilmitt, a seventeen year old, recently transferred from Trabia. As she ran her skirt rode up her knees, and she struggled to keep it down. Her gigantic yellow bow wobbled as she ran, and she tripped up a young boy who was jogging by.
Selphie: Sooooo-rry!
She cried as ran on, until she got to the lift, where she jabbed her small hands so hard on the call button she thought she'd broken a finger. When she finally got in she gasped and breathed deeply, so out of breath she was rasping and retching. After many strange looks from the others in the lift, she finally calmed down.
As she turned the corner to the classroom, a tall dark boy walked out.
Selphie: I'm late, I'm late, I'm LATE!
Selphie didn't notice the teen, and ran straight into his chest, flying backwards and hitting the floor with an almighty thump.
Selphie: Waaah!
The teen was barely moved by the tiny lady, but she had been thrown across the room.
Boy: Are you ok?
Selphie: There.
The sweet teen got up and dusted herself off, looking at the boy. He wore exactly the same as all the others, yet something about him exuded mystery. He stared at the floor as she spoke.
Selphie: Tee-hee, I'm fine. Sorry I was kinda in a hurry. Oh
yeah! Hey, did you just come from that class? Is... homeroom over?
The boy nodded as if to reply "yes", and Selphie's heart sank. Why me? She thought.
Selphie: Woo...Oh, nooo... This place is soooo much bigger than my last Garden! Oh, hey, hey. I just transferred here. Do you think you could give me a tour of this Garden?
Boy:Don't have the time.
He glanced guiltily up at her, and when she caught his eye, looked quickly away. No time! Yeah right…! She thought angrily. She was forced to swallow her anger though, as he started to walk away.
Selphie: Oh, bummer. That's too bad. Well, see ya.
He walked away hastily, and she looked after him.
Selphie: Charming. I meet a guy and he's mean to me. In fact, other than the headmaster and my roommate, that's the first person I've talked to here.
Selphie sighed, and looked at the floor.
Selphie: Now what!
Selphie suddenly clutched her stomach as it growled loudly.
Selphie: Uch…
She looked around to check if anyone had seen her, and ran back to the lift.
Finally… Selphie thought, as she had eventually found the Cafeteria, after lots of running and lots of searching.
She entered, and ran forward to the lady at the desk. Suddenly a girl in a blue jacket appeared behind her.
The girl pulled her around to face her, and Selphie looked at her, shocked and violated. The girl had grey hair and an eye patch, and made Selphie feel a little intimidated.
Girl: YOU!
Selphie shrank in her skin, and looked upwards at the girl as though she was about to kill her.
Girl: YOU! ARE YOU NEW!
Selphie: Um…um…um…yes, yes!
Girl: THE RULES CLEARLY STATE! AWAY! TIME FOR PREPERATION! NO FOOD!
Selphie looked at the girl, confused. Oh…my…I'm too young to die…Selphie looked up, frightened. Suddenly a voice came from behind. It was the head dinner lady.
Dinner Lady: Fujin! Let go! You'll scare my customers!
The girl let go of Selphie, and she rubbed her arm in pain.
Fujin: SORRY. LOST CONTROL. MOTHER, EXCUSE ME.
The dinner lady nodded and the grey-haired student left quickly. As Selphie turned to the dark haired dinner lady, the woman began to speak, seemingly to apologize.
Dinner Lady: That's my daughter. I'm so sorry she did that to you. You can call me Zsata, I'm the Head of the kitchen staff here…Oh…my poor daughter…She's become a fragment of her original self nowadays. Ever since she joined that darned Disciplinary Committee all she ever does is attack people. Of course, she has to take charge, but does she really have to shout so much? I mean…she did it before, she takes after her father, you see, he died fighting against the Galbadians in Timber. You see, we lived there before we moved to Fisherman's Horizon. And that's where our family split up. My son carried on there and Fujin joined me in Balamb.
The woman carried on and Selphie scowled at her, trying to discourage her from talking, but the woman continued.
Zsata: I miss him so darn much. The poor boy…and I can tell Fujin misses him too, when we talk about him, it brings a tear to the poor lamb's eye. And she's usually so strong normally, but she lets it out when she's around her mother. And maybe around that Raijin too. I've seen them together. I think he's perfect for her, but maybe he brings out too much of her angry side? What do you think?
Selphie was amazed the woman had stopped.
Selphie: Um…I don't really know either of them. Um…I'm new you see. So, can I have a hotdog?
Zsata: Oh, sure. Zell's always in here, looking for them, I'm saving him one. But here you go.
As Zsata went to get it, Selphie wondered. Who's Zell? For some reason she was attracted to his name. Maybe we'd be good friends….she smiled.
Zsata: Here. Fujin meant that you should be getting ready for your big test, I hear it's today. Well, good luck. Um, what's your name?
Selphie: Selphie, it's today! Oh god! I can't believe it! Man…well…oh! Thanks for the hotdog.
Zsata: That's fine. Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Selphie. Fujin didn't pass this year, but here's hoping she'll get into the final round next year. Bye!
Selphie waved slightly and ran off, sighing. As she turned the corner, she muttered to herself.
Selphie: I thought she'd never let me leave…
As she neared the main entrance, she saw several students and an instructor.
Instructor: Selphie Tilmitt! TILMITT! This is your last chance, we're leaving!
Selphie gasped. Today had been messed up pretty bad. She really hated having to figure out everything and everywhere all by herself. She pouted half-heartedly and ran towards him.
Selphie: Woah-woah! That's me!
She waved her arm at the instructor, who narrowed his eyes and glared at her.
Selphie: Aiiiee…um…er…sorry?
Instructor: Miss Tilmitt, you are late! I am Instructor Macie. This is your squad, Section A; intelligence. Now come on before we're late!
Suddenly a plump, short man manoeuvred his way to the front, and began to speak. Selphie struggled to see over the others, but spotted the lonely teen she had seen earlier, and Fujin, both at the front. The man was about to speak, when Selphie recognized him.
Selphie: THE HEADMASTER!
Everyone turned to look at her, and the few that didn't laughed anyway. Damn…she thought. And I was getting used to this too…Selphie frowned and folded her arms. She'd been so happy at finally recognizing someone, it was hard to conceal her delight, and so she had made a mockery of herself.
Headmaster Kramer: Well, um...yes.
A blonde instructor smiled at the Headmaster, and he smiled back, and then gave Selphie a stern look. Hmph…she growled.
Headmaster Cid: Everyone here? It's been a while everyone. How's everyone doing? This exam will involve 12 members from Squads A through D... You will be proceeding to a real battlefield.
Obviously, the battles are for real. Life and death, victory and
defeat, honour and disgrace... Each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way or the other. How 'bout it? Are you still up for it? You will be accompanied by 9 SeeD members. Should you fail, these members shall get the job done. They always do. Well that's one less worry on your mind. The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands and accomplish the mission. Prove yourself worthy of becoming a member of SeeD. Best of luck.
He smiled and left via the lift, presumably to his office.
Selphie giggled sarcastically at this. So the Head gets to rest while we fight! She rolled her eyes and followed her Squad, who were walking away. Outside they all got into the car, and sat in silence. Selphie rubbed the back of her neck, and smiled at the only girl in the car, other than her. Suddenly the car stopped, and everyone bounded out of it. They ran through the town, and Selphie had a few moments to take in the sights before they were instructed to board the assault boat. She looked around, and got on. She spotted her Instructor outside, talking to a member of the Garden Staff, and then a SeeD boarded too.
For the first few moments they sat in silence, but then the Instructor stood up suddenly, causing everyone to look at him. Maybe he felt awkward in silence too…Selphie mumbled.
Instructor Macie: You!
He pointed at poor Selphie.
Instructor Macie: Introduce yourself. If you are going to work as a team, then you'd better get to know each other. I don't want any of this awkward silence when the time comes.
Selphie glared at the Instructor, and stood up. Maybe it is a good idea…grr…but I hate public speaking…
She smiled slightly at the others, and began to stretch her legs, pulling them up behind her as she spoke.
Selphie: Er…I'm Selphie Tilmitt. I transferred from Trabia Garden a day or so ago. Um…I like the internet, Garden Festivals and chocobos…
The Instructor stared at her.
Instructor: Next time, less of the moving about. Act like you mean it.
She sat down and cupped her head in her hands. Mean what! That I like chocobos! Weirdo…she sighed.
A freckled, frail boy stood up.
Boy: Er…heheheh…I'm….Jaden Kagome. Er…I live in Galbadia originally, but my mother said I'd be better off at Balamb Garden, the other one is too strict I…um…imagine. So…I…er…I um…I like algebra, physics, and visiting the library.
Selphie smiled sadly at the boy. No wonder he's in the intelligence squad. He doesn't exactly look like a warrior….
The other girl stood up.
Girl: I come from Fisherman's Horizon and my name is Minerva Chapman. My father taught me fishing, so…well, I enjoy that, and I like riding chocobos too, but it's kinda hard to get to them from where I originally live.
Selphie smiled at the girl, and waved. Next was the second, average-looking boy; he introduced himself as Ace Knight. Finally a tall, dark boy introduced himself as Neko Rafielli, but wanted to be known as "Scorpion". Selphie sighed, none of them would be interesting enough to become a good friend. Maybe I'll be friendless for life…she moaned to herself, swimming in self-pity. The SeeD stood up, and introduced the mission, but Selphie already knew what to do. Detach any Galbadian machinery, and reinstall Dollet's systems…whatever they were….
They disembarked the vessel on the beach, and Selphie ran up the nearby stairs.
Minerva: Selphie! There's some Galbadian weaponry here! What do we do!
Before she could answer, Neko interrupted, and set about doing everything he could. Selphie scowled at him, and turned around, seeing the final ship come in. The dark teen she had met before was there, and he ran out with two others. One was barking orders at everyone and anyone that would listen, and the final boy…the final boy was looking over in Selphie's direction. She smiled at him, but was pulled back by Jaden.
Jaden: Selphie! Ace says Neko has broken something!
Selphie smiled once more at the boy, and ran back to her station, taking the machinery off of Neko, and fixing it. As the other group ran past, the dark boy stopped to talk to Neko, who replied with some sort of cocky remark. As they ran away, her Instructor grabbed her by the arm.
Instructor Macie: Selphie! What's going on?
Selphie: Um well…Minerva is taking the weaponry back to Instructor Hardey she's organising it with some lady called Xu. Anyways, Ace and Neko are dissembling this machinery, and Jaden and I are fixing up the original pieces.
Suddenly a shout came from behind and the Instructor tightened his grip on her arm.
Selphie: OW!
He ran away, and began to converse with a blonde female instructor, who boarded a ship. Suddenly other SeeDs and test Squads began to run towards the ship. Instructor Macie approached Squad A. He stared at them all, and then suddenly began to bellow in a low tone.
Instructor Macie: ACE, JADEN, MINERVA, NEKO! BOARD THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY! THIS TEST HAS BEEN TERMINATED!
They all ran past Selphie, nearly knocking her off of her feet.
Selphie: And me!
The instructor smiled cruelly at her.
Instructor Macie: I have one final job for you!
The others had boarded the ship, they had probably even left by now…and Selphie was left chasing after Squad B.
Selphie: DAMNIT!
She shouted as she ran, her stomach hurting as she avoided attacks from soldiers.
As she ran up a steep road, she heard shouting ahead.
Selphie: Hrgh! SQUAD B!
She yelled at the top of her lungs, and turned the corner.
Selphie: There you are!
As she ran to them, she tripped over some rocks, rolling forward and landing on her head. As she looked up, she saw the loner she had bumped into before, and a spiky haired boy who was looking at her in a mix of worry and curiosity.
Selphie rubbed her head, and winked at them both, smiling, although her head was still in pain.
Selphie: Are you...Squad B?
The loner nodded. Finally! She grinned. As she looked around, she realised what had just happened. Great…all this, just to be a SeeD! There's one heck of a long road ahead…she sighed, and got onto her feet, dusting herself off.
What do you think? Let me know! Read and Review, don't flame.