A/N:
Queen: Well, here's Princess Shinra's and my very first co-authored story.
PS: We weren't satisfied with some of the things that appeared in the actual game Final Fantasy 8.
Queen: So we have written our own variation to the damned game.
PS: Now it may start off as the beginning of FF8… (Of which we don't own)
Queen: But afterwards, you will see a difference in the story line ^_^
PS: So please don't flame or sue us.
Queen: Enjoy the fic.
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Chapter One
He was training outside in the middle of a storm. His enemy glared him down, daring him to attack him. 'I won't back down,' he thought to himself.
The enemy begoned him to come forward and attack. Both then engaged in a battle, both the blades of their weapons pinging when they connected. He knew that one of them would either slip up or get the upper hand. He moved forward as his enemy moved aside. Just as he raced to him to continue the battle, his enemy outstretched his hand, a ball of red magic omitting from it. "Fire!"
The fire from the attack hit him and sent him down onto the ground. He looked up just in time to see his enemy leering down on him. The enemy raced his weapon and sliced it down threw the air. Blood splattered onto the ground beneath them as he felt pain between his eyes. He growled in a rage, lifted his own weapon and gave his enemy an identical mark between his eyes. Both continued to charge at each other, but at one moment, he tripped and fell to the ground, and then everything became black.
*****
He awoke on a bed, a bit disoriented. His vision was blurry, but after blinking a couple of times, his vision became better. Staring down at him was a woman wearing a white jacket, a light green top and a blue skirt. She wore her hair up in a bun. "Are you alright?"
"….I'm fine." He answered.
The woman frowned. She continued to examine him anyway, despite what he had said. "You're eyes are focusing. Say your name for me."
"Squall." He said.
"You should be a little more careful." The woman said.
"Tell that to Seifer." Was the response.
The woman laughed. "That Seifer. Always picking a fight. Why don't you just ignore him?"
"I can't just walk away."
"You should be able to leave now. Your instructor is….." she paused for a bit. "Quistis…Quistis Trepe. I'll go call her now." She walked away from sight, pressed the speaker button and paged the instructor. "Quistis, come get your student….no, he's fine. He's just got a scratch. It'll probably leave a scar."
Meanwhile, Squall lay completely still until he sensed a presence of another standing by. He heard someone softly speak to him and he turned in the direction of the voice. "Squall, so we meet again." Said the girl standing next to him. She stood up and then walked out of the infirmary.
*****
The door to the infirmary opened and in stepped a young looking woman. She was wearing one of the seed uniforms, which (for a girl) was a black jacket with gold lining, a yellow scarf for decoration, and a black skirt with the same golden lining. She wore black boots that reached up to her knees and her dirty blond hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, with long strands decorating the side of her face. She turned to the bed, say Squall lying there and sighed. She walked over and bent down. "I knew it would either be you or Seifer." She said.
Squall just lay there as the instructor turned to leave, but she turned back around. "Come on. The Seed exam is this afternoon."
*****
Once outside of the infirmary, Quistis walked along side Squall. "Anything on your mind?" she asked.
Squall walked in silence for a couple of seconds before answering the question. "Not really."
Quistis had answered the
question the exact same time as Squall and started laughing. Squall stopped
walking and looked at her sceptically. "What's so funny?"
She shook her head. "No, no, I'm just happy. I feel like I'm finally
understanding my student."
They continued to walk down the hall before Squall spoke again. "Whatever."
Once again, Quistis spoke at the exact same time and burst out laughing again as they approached the second floor classroom. Squall was the first to enter, Quistis was not too far behind him. "Alright class." She said. "It appears that there have been rumours floating around about a Seed Exam today. Well, I assure you that the rumours are true." There were loud gasps of shock at the news. "Everyone who is not participating in the Exam, or failed the written test will go to study hall. The rest will meet by the front gate at 14:00. Any questions?"
No one spoke for a moment,
before Quistis suddenly remembered something. "And Seifer?"
Seifer looked up from his desk. "Do NOT injure your partner. Be careful from
now on."
Seifer stole a glance at Squall and then slapped the desk with his hand.
"Class dismissed." Quistis spoke. "And Squall, I'd like to speak with you."
Squall reluctantly stood from his seat, and approached the front of the classroom. "You haven't been to the fire cave have you?" she asked. "You won't be able to take part in the Exam if you don't."
'I was going to go this morning but Seifer…'
Quistis eyed him suspiciously. "Well, do you have a good reason?"
"Not really."
"Meet me by the front gate when you're ready." She then walked out of the classroom as the 'Trepe fan club walked out.' Squall walked back to his desk and found that two GF's were waiting for him to junction them. So he did.
*****
In the hallway, he was approaching the elevator when someone was running down
the hall. "I'm late, I'm late, I'M LATE!" the girl accidentally ran into him. He
stumbled backwards while she fell to the ground. the young brunette stood up
and apologized. "Hey, um, did you just come from that classroom?"
Squall nodded.
"Uh, is homeroom over?"
Squall nodded again, at which point, the girl groaned loudly. "On no! This garden is so much bigger than my last one!" she looked up at him and got an idea. "Hey, I just transferred here. Uh, do you think you can show me around?"
"I don't have the time." Squall answered.
"Oh, that's too bad. Oh well." The girl started to walk away. "See ya."
Squall walked towards the elevator, went to the first floor and used the directory to get to the front gate. Quistis was waiting there and caught site of Squall. "Are you ready to go?"
Squall nodded and they both left the garden.
*****
After a couple of hours of training, Squall and Quistis finally reached the fire cave. After a brief tutorial on junctioning magic, they walked over to the entrance of the cave. They were given authorization and entered the cave.
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Short, and to the point. Please review.