'Tis my first Final Fantasy fic, even though I've been a fan for years. Holy crap! My Squall's compatibility rating with Ifrit is 666! And I just zombie-Drained Squall into 666HP! That's not good...Anyway, my point is be gentle, please. Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with Final Fantasy VIII, and even though the series has been a major (and I mean MAJOR) influence for the development of my personal mythology for a while in the past, anything similar now is purely coincidental, like my favorite person, Lionhearted. It just happens that I like lions and this has nothing to do with Squall. And besides, technically, Squall's character and ultimate limit break is a plagiarsm of Richard III (Richard the Lionhearted)! So HA!!!

Freedom

The final battle is over. Ultimecia had been defeated, time compression had been stopped, and the heroes have returned to their homes to celebrate. The dark future faded away into oblivion to await the time when it shall be repeated again. There was nothing left of the desolation of the castle now. Nothing, that is, except for a small, gray-blue light. This light was none other than the dark lion, the ultimate guardian force; Griever. What was Griever doing alive? Well, technically guardian forces can't be destroyed. Instead, they fall into a sort of oblivious slumber until they are reawakened or regain enough strength to rise.

Griever lethargically thought to himself. "Great. Just great. They leave me here in this God-forsaken place with nothing to do. They didn't even have the courtesy to draw me! And I thought having to listen to Ultimecia's "k"s were bad...What's a lion to do without any sun! I can't live like this! I'm outta here..." And with that, he was off. Since the castle had been Ultimecia's stronghold and the focus of time compression, there were still remnants of the power left. Griever dived into a portal to normal time before it closed up.

Back in Balamb Garden, Rinoa leaned on a balcony outside the ballroom where everyone was partying. She gazed in wonder at the night sky, full of stars, and excitedly pointed out a shooting star to Squall when it passed. Squall smiled in response; his first smile for many years. Little did they know that the shooting star was actually Griever passing into this world. In the darkness of space, Griever appeared. "Hmm...I think I might have miscalculated. Oh, well. It's better than ending up in the middle of the sun." The dark lion headed for the world where everyone else lived.

He landed near the ruins of Centra. From then on, he had no idea what he wanted to do. He was the only GF free to roam the world now. Seeing as he has always been in captivity, he had no idea what the GFs do in their spare time. He decided to visit Odin, only to find that Odin was no where in sight. The king of the Tonberries seems to be gone, too. For a while, he roamed the world and fought some monsters, including ones from the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell. Needless to say, none of them were any match for him. He was so bored that he longed for the days when he used to have to defend himself against Omega Weapon almost constantly. Griever decided then to visit the most advanced nation in the world, Esthar. Unfortunately their defense systems mistook him as a monster and attacked him mercilessly. He completely decimated the automatic defense systems and flew away indignantly. What good was a super-advanced city if you can't even get into it? He tried Galbadia but people started panicking when they saw him. Okay...I guess not. The same thing happened in Dollet, Winhill, and the Shumi village. He flew close to Galbadia Garden and admired the architecture, but knew better than to get close to it. He watched Trabia Garden from afar as it finished its final repairs. He chased Chocobos for fun and scared some people from Fisherman's Horizon. He met an extraterrestrial named...Crap? Dung? Feces? What was it again...oh, yes, PuPu. It was interesting but it kept asking for elixirs. He wanted to meet the King of Dragons, as it would be a great honor, but the Deep Sea Research Center was empty. Finally, since he had no where else to go, he very reluctantly went to Balamb Garden.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! SQUALL! G-Griever, Griever is...Grie...Griever is outside the Garden!" panted Selphie. Squall stared at her, bored; this was probably just another one of her perky little jokes. "Selphie, please. I don't have time for this. I have to go to the training center and..." But he stopped when he saw Griever looking inside through a window. The dark lion had a strange look on his face; one of puzzlement and dread. Squall quickly reacted and drew the Lion Heart, ready to fight. "Whoa, hey! I don't wanna fight you, Squall. I have no where else to go." After several hours of yelling and debating and hurtful comments, they agreed to let Griever stay and become their GF, on one condition: he has to prove to them that he is good.

So Griever set out to do a good deed. He went to Balamb and saw some fisherman sighing in frustration because they couldn't catch anything. So Griever proceeded to blast the fish out of the water with a small Shockwave Pulsar. He turned and grinned proudly at Squall, but his happiness was instantly wiped away when he saw the look on Squall's face. It was a face that would send pure terror into even the bravest of enemies. It was a face that inspired doomsday prophets. It was a face that said, "I'm going to kill you, you dim-witted, mangy cat!" "Eheh...too much?" ventured Griever. Squall stomped away without a word and Griever followed. "S-sorry!" he apologized to the traumatized fishermen. It was then decided that Griever was better off staying away from small towns while on this endeavor. They made him help restore order to Timber, but he accidentally unleashed a barrage of Quake spells when he was startled by a child yanking on his tail. They very quickly escaped before the authorities could arrive. Squall was beyond pissed now. He was livid. He yelled things like "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!!!?" and "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS TO RINOA!!!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT SHE'LL DO TO ME!!!?" and many, many profanities. He almost drove Griever to tears with his outburst. This is the guy who created me? But I'm so laid-back!

They went to Esthar to help repair the defense system that Griever had previously destroyed, as well as to rid the city of monsters that consequently followed. This resulted in Griever blowing a large chunk of the city into smithereens. That caused more than just major traffic problems.

"What am I going to do with you?" sighed Squall as he shook his head in frustration. "Junction me?" ventured Griever. He in turn received a glare full of butcher knives from Squall. "I guess not," he said as he broke out in cold sweat. "Oh, c'mon! Pleeease! I know you've always wished I were real." "Yeah, I just thought that since I made you you wouldn't be so dumb," said Squall. "Hey, that hurt!"

Squall sighed. "Whatever. If you promise to be careful then I'll junction you. If you break that promise, so help you God, I swear that I'll tear your wings off, paint you blue, name you Kimahri, and send you to another world!" The ultimate GF gulped at this. "S-sure. It's a deal," he said and attempted to smile. "Now, how am I supposed to explain the Timber incident to Rinoa..." pondered our hero. "Tell her it's the after effects of time compression!" said Griever as he grinned. "You know, that's actually a pretty good idea. Maybe you're not so bad after all." Griever grinned proudly at his master's compliment.

And that is how Griever joined the good guys!

The end

OK. That was kinda stupid...actually, really stupid. Eheh...review? By the way, if you go into the control room in the Centra Ruins you'll see on the floor a design that looks like Yu Yevon.