Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any characters that follow other than Kain, and I'm borrowing Selene. I realize that one weapon here doesn't belong, and I don't care.
Our story starts in an unlikely place: the cafeteria. The new guy was just getting to the front of the line as a man with a tattoo on the side of his face comes barreling in. "Hold up! I'm here!" Without seeing the kid, this man blows right by, knocking him over. "Jeez, this is the third time today. What is it with these people and hot-dogs?" He heard a chuckle, "You're obviously new here. Balamb garden's hot-dogs are the best." He looked up to see a redheaded girl, about seventeen, offering him a hand up. He stared for a second, then stood and brushed himself off. "It's still just food. What kind of garden is this, that the students have time to bicker over a hot-dog?" The girl laughed, "That's really just Instructor Dincht. He spent most of the Sorceress War trying to get at them, and he refuses to give up."
At that time, the tattooed man came shuffling by, slumped over in defeat, "You'll get 'em next time, Zell." He looked up, "Hey, I'm an instructor, Selene. You gotta call me Mr. Dincht." Selene smirked, "Not on your life. I remember our time in Balamb too well. You still climb street signs?" Zell turned red, "No..." Then he straightened and walked off, trying to reclaim his dignity. The boy watched him leave, then turned to the girl, "He's an instructor?" Selene chuckled and nodded, "Yup. He's a goofball, but he's a strong fighter. Don't worry, though, not all the instructors are like that." He thought about that, then pushed it to the back of his mind, "So, you're Selene? Nice to meet you." She reached out to shake his hand, then started when he kissed the back of hers. He noticed the flush on her cheeks, and smiled. She quickly composed herself and took her hand back, "Well, new guy, you know me, so what's your name?" He stepped back and sketched a quick bow, "I, am Kain Tarvos, at your service, ma'am."
As Kain stood, he noticed Selene averting her eyes. But the sudden turn of her head revealed a chocobo tattoo on the side of her neck. Kain grinned and filed this information away for later. "Now, lady Selene, if I may beg a favor. I seem to be lost in this place. Can you take me to the commander's office? I need to report in and receive my room number." She nodded and began walking off, while Kain grabbed a backpack and wrapped bundle off the floor. As they began walking around, he noticed that the garden was arranged in a large circle. Much easier to navigate then his previous home of Galbadia garden. When they reached the front, Selene stopped in front of the directory and asked, "Okay, I know you couldn't have been lost because we have a map right in the front of the garden. So do you want to tell me what you were really doing hanging around?" Kain nodded at the question, then said, "I came in from the parking lot, so I didn't pass your map. Any other rude questions you'd like to ask?"
She shrank back a little, then stood straight and smiled,"Sorry. There's just too many skirt chasers around here for me to let my guard down. The commander's office is up that elevator on the third floor." Kain nodded curtly, and took off toward the elevator. After he handed in his notice of transfer and received his room assignment from commander Leonhart, he went to pack his stuff up and find the training area. He tossed the backpack with his clothes in it onto the bed, dug around to find his training clothes, and changed quickly. He headed out to the training area dressed in a white t-shirt and carpenter jeans, the bundle holding his weapon leaning over his shoulder. He paused to ask for directions from a faculty member, and after receiving a curt dismissal, resolved to play some nasty prank on the jerks of Balamb faculty. He eventually made it to the training area and walked through the doors, looking around at the trees and bushes that could hide any sort of beasties. Closing his eyes briefly, he focused his internal energy into the pattern necessary for a Scan spell, then stretched it a little.
The resulting pulse of magic blinked to show the locations of each monster in the area. Satisfied that no creatures were withing striking distance, he carefully unwrapped his weapon, sliding his fingers along the blade to test the edge. He stood and slung his gunblade over his shoulder, holding the stock lightly with his finger off the trigger. Kain was proud of his sword, different from the two sorceress knights' who made the weapon famous. His was fashioned from a shotgun stock, and the blade was slightly serrated, to rip into enemies. His was also double edged, ensuring whichever way he swung, something was going to die. He started forward, settling into an easy walk that kept his footing steady in case of ambush, and thrust his blade into the nearby bushes. An answering screech told him he'd impaled a Grat, a fairly weak monster, with only rudimentary status spells. Kain sneered and ripped his weapon upward, cleaving the plant creature in two, and continued hunting. After an hour of walking around, he'd significantly reduced the Grat population, but Kain was getting agitated. He'd been told that there were T-Rexaurs in the area, but so far he'd found none.
Giving up with a disgusted sound, he turned to head back and nearly run into the girl from before. "Whoa! Didn't see you there." She smirked, "You need to be more alert in the Training area, new guy." Kain shook his head, "Well, the Grats around here aren't anything dangerous, and I'm starting to think I was lied to when they said there were Rexaurs in here. I'm thinking of heading back." Selene gave him a look, "You're actually looking for a Rexaur?" Kain swung his sword lightly, "Of course, how else am I supposed to get any practice around here? Balamb has the weakest monsters in the world." She nodded, "True. Okay, well I can't in good conscience let you fight one alone. I'll go with you." That was when Kain noticed the stock of an assault rifle strapped to the girl's back. "Alright then, come on. I hope you know where the damn things are." She led him across a few more areas, picking off the grats along the way, until they came to a space with a broken fence nearby. They stopped to rest for a minute, leaning against some rocks. "You're a good shot with that. I'm glad you came along." Selene smirked, "One of the skirt chasers I told you about is a marksman. Just wiggle a little in front of him, say please, and you've got a shooting teacher." Kain chuckled at the thought of this girl 'wiggling' for anyone. Finally, after a few minutes, they heard a rumbling noise coming closer. Kain stood up, stepping in front of Selene quickly, and checked the special bangle he wore that allowed him to use para-magic without a GF. Satisfied that all was ready, he got into his battle stance, weapon over his shoulder, and placed his hand on the trigger.
"When he comes through the trees, take out his eyes. With him blind we stand a better chance." Selene just nodded, "Keep an eye on the tail, new guy." Kain groaned as the Rexaur emerged from the trees, "I told you already, chocobo girl, my name is Kain." He raced forward as she gasped, clapping a hand to her neck before remembering to shoot. Just as the dinosaur roared in pain at it's eyes being blasted, Kain closed in and ripped into the beast's leg with a downward strike on the knee. Just as he felt the blade start to slow halfway through, he pulled the trigger of his gunblade. The resulting explosion sent jarring vibrations up the blade and acted as a saw, tearing through the rest of the way. As the Rexaur began to fall, it twisted sharply on it's good leg, swinging it's tail at the swordsman. He didn't see until it was almost too late, however, and all he could do was block to minimize the damage. Just about the time he expected to get sent flying, however, Selene shot forward, twirling her gun. The parts shifted and reset, revealing a short blade at the end. She planted her feet next to Kain and they managed to lessen the impact on both of them.
Before he could ask any questions however, the reptile began thrashing about, trying to regain it's feet. The pair raced over to it's neck and severed the arteries in a smooth dual strike. The monster quickly bled out and Kain started digging into the creature's side, harvesting his dino bone reward. Later, on their way back into the garden proper, Kain turned to look at the redhead, "That's a really interesting weapon you got." Selene smiled, "Isn't it, though? I had help from a few engineer friends of mine. It's the new model gunblade." Kain glanced down at his weapon, wrapped back in it's cloth, "New model, huh? I don't see what's wrong with the old one." She shook her head, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just too heavy for a girl to use properly. And it's not fair that all gunblade masters be men, so I made this." Kain accepted this explanation, "So, what do you call this new model?" She smiled, "Moon." Kain quickly settled into life at Balamb garden, waiting for his turn at the SeeD exam.
He had unfortunately finished his training at Galbadia early, and none of the students at Balamb were ready yet. To keep up appearances, he sat in on classes, and even helped with the garden Festival. Eventually, he put in a request to be prepped for a GF, and was immediately approved. Now, the day had come for him to receive his GF. He scrolled down the list, looking for a certain one. When he found it, he saw the label "Battle GF. Must defeat to obtain. Recommended that you choose a partner for this operation." Kain knew exactly who he wanted to help, and quickly filled in the form. In an hour, Selene showed up in her usual black tank top and jeans, Moon strapped across her back. "So the great Kain Tarvos needs help against a little GF? Which one did you pick, Shiva?" Kain waited for her to finish insulting him, then said simply, "Minotaur brothers." She stopped short, "Those are mid-level GF, and you have no magic." He smiled, "That's what's gonna make it fun." She stared for a minute, then shook her head and laughed, "You are by far the most interesting guy here, except for Seifer." They grabbed their weapons and waited for the doors to open and the GFs to attack. "Wanna know something?" He asked, causing Selene to glance over, "I was in Garden when Seifer was commanding the Sorceress army. He's the reason I picked a gunblade." She stared for a second, then chuckled, "I should have known."
Just then, the doors burst open and a large minotaur stood towering over the pair, "ARE YOU THE KIDS LOOKING FOR OUR POWER?" Kain nodded and smiled, "Yup, that's us. Let's have a good fight, alright?" The younger brother Sacred nodded and looked over his shoulder, "I LIKE THIS GUY BRO, ARE YOU SURE WE HAVE TO FIGHT HIM FIRST?" A sigh could be heard from the shadows before a smaller minotaur holding his mace over his shoulder came forward, "of course we do, sacred. if we don't, how will we know if he's strong enough to use us?" "...GOOD POINT. ALRIGHT, LET'S DO IT!" The larger one charged in, swinging his mace in a swooping horizontal strike. Selene jumped over the weapon, and Kain held his weapon up sidearm, blocking the sharp spikes with the flat of his blade, "Yo, Selene! You want the older or younger brother?" The girl stood on the shaft of the GFs weapon, looking thoughtful, "Which one is this big guy?" Kain looked up, "This is Sacred, the younger of the minotaur brothers." She nodded, "Alright, I'll take him. You go for small fry over there." Kain rolled his eyes, but pushed off from the mace and charged toward Minotaur, the older of the two. "I know better than to judge you by your size, so I expect the same courtesy." The little guy smiled and grabbed his mace, "well said, human. very well, come on." Kain struck quickly, but the GF parried his blow and struck back with a jab to his stomach.
He jumped back to lessen the blow, then charged forward and kicked out at the beast's ankle, when he went to jump, Kain threw a baseball swing into his stomach, pulling the trigger. Minotaur wasn't able to get his weapon around to block quickly enough, so he took the full impact of the attack, and flew back into the wall. On the other side of the room, Selene was picking off Sacred slowly, dodging around the big GFs swings with feline grace. She rolled under a strike, lashing out and attacking his leg. Then, in a single move, she leaped up and spun her weapon, reverting it to gun form. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small yellow stone. Crumbling it in her hand, the yellow glow spread across her body, and fired a single bullet into the air. Kain felt the telltale rise of energy that accompanied a Limit Break. Then, a small red circle began expanding over their heads, forming into a moon. Just as it reached full size, the light began to dim to darkness. Suddenly, Kain felt a whoosh right by his shoulder, and something hit Minotaur like a truck. He scrambled back to stay out of the way of the massive scuffle that erupted with the GF and whatever the shape was. He backed into a ready stance and closed his eyes, listening for any approaching movement. This was the only way he knew that Sacred was having the same problem as his brother.
After a few minutes, the cacophony died, and the light began to return. In the artificial twilight, he saw what appeared to be a large group of people scurrying into a corner. Just as the last one was about to disappear, he turned and stared straight into Kain's eyes, smiling wide. And the only thought that came to his head was, "Are his fangs glowing?" The light finally returned to the room and he noticed that something was different about the GF duo. They had a slight green tinge to them, the obvious sign of zombification. That's when Kain remembered, the minotaur brothers have been reported to heal constantly while in contact with the ground. And if the pair were to be zombified. . . "Brilliant. Why didn't I think of this? Way to go, Selene!" She glanced over during a quick reload and said, "Shut up and kill it, new guy!" He stuck his tongue out at her and barreled into the now undead Minotaur, knocking him to the ground. Now, with more of his body in contact with the earth, the healing process is accelerated, and Minotaur's body began to rapidly degenerate. So with a foot on the beast's chest, Kain brought his weapon up and cleaved his head from his shoulders. The older brother began to fade out, and he turned to help Selene, he saw her give a little pirouette, spinning her gunblade back into a sword, and stab Sacred in the throat. "I think we pass." He said, smiling. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and glanced at me, "You think?" He flicked some ichor off his blade at her and walked to the door, smirking at her squeal.
They came into the command room and saluted Trabian headmistress Tilmitt, who had come down to Balamb for a meeting with commander Leonhart and volunteered to oversee the new trainees. "Way to go, you guys!" She bounced and yelled before seeing the tech support guy look over at her. "I mean, well done. You've both been selected to receive a GF, thanks to excellence on both your parts. Ms. Night, you may select your GF from the registry while Mr. Tarvos junctions the brothers." Selene gave another salute before walking to the nearest terminal, while Kain stepped over to the techie and grabbed the small horn shaped talisman that he removed from the machine. He grabbed the trinket that housed the spirits of the brothers and focused, drawing the energy into himself. There was a slight pain in his head, when the GFs overlapped his memory, then relief and two voices could be heard in his head. "WAY TO GO ON THAT FIGHT. BUT YOU NEED TO LEARN TO FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES, TOO." Sacred trumpeted from his brain. "I know, dammit, but for now, I needed the help. True strength is accepting help, just as much as fighting on your own." Kain responded. That seemed to satisfy him, and they quieted. After that exchange, he looked over to see Selene grasping a small shield talisman. "Can you guys identify the GF in that talisman?" There was silence, followed by, "it's carbuncle. not a bad choice." He nodded and waited for her to finish her introductions, then flashed her the thumbs up.
Read and Review, folks. I won't be adding any chapters if I don't get some feedback.