10/31/08 – Stumbled upon this little thing that I haven't touched in forever, that I never finished. Hoping to finish this time.
1/24/04 -Okay, I've never written a video game fanfic (plus I haven't finished so when I mess up you'll know why). All my fanfics (not posted and posted) to this point have been anime so be forgiving all you gam3rs.
I am totally a Quall fan. Oh yes, and here is my disclaimer. I don't own FF8 or any of it's characters.
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There was a gasp and a thud. Quistis's arms were still up protecting her face as she hit the ground. Squall landed in front of her after swinging his gunblade, which he was gripping with sweat. He didn't slow for a second, running to the next monster to battle it as well. He was panting slightly as he swung again. And then he ran to the next monster, and the next and the next. He looked to his left where Zell was fighting a crowd as well. Quistis was still unconscious on the ground behind them, which made Squall nervous but there wasn't a single break in the fighting when he could check on her.
"Zell!" Squall called angrily swiping another monster down the middle.
"Kind of busy!" Zell shouted back, moving on to the next monster himself.
"We can't hold them! There's too many!" Squall told him, angrily killing another. "Get Selphie down here! We're going to need backup!"
"She's too far! You won't last!" Zell retorted. Zell would have to make a break for the ship and they were completely surrounded. They hadn't even brought their communicators, thinking that the monsters would be no sweat compared to what they'd dealt with before.
"I'll- I'll be alright." Squall yelled, thinking of no other option. "Just go! Now!" Without hesitating, Zell disengaged in the battle and dodged around the beasts and was gone. Squall knew he didn't have much time before him and Quistis were dead. He took a step back as the monster in front of him closed in. His foot nudged Quistis. With a quick look back, he realized there was nothing more to be done so he did the only thing he could think of to save them both. He stuck his gunblade into the ground and summoned his guardian force.
"Shiva!" She wasted no time; springing forth from the gunblade, a powerful image of a goddess was summoned.
"Cover our escape!" He shouted at her. Then he gathered Quistis in his arms and stood behind Shiva, while she began attacking the beasts with ice crystals. Squall heard the engine of the ship roaring nearby. It landed in the middle of the chaos, it's landing platform down. Zell jumped from the platform and took Quistis into his own arms and jumped back aboard the platform.
"I'll throw the rope down!" Zell called as Selphie piloted the ship out of the monsters reach. Behind him, he could hear Shiva shrieking. He'd known it was too much for her.
Squall grabbed the handle of his gunblade and waited. As soon as Zell had secured the rope he threw it down and Squall quickly wrapped it around his hand and yanked. Zell heaved him up out of the mass as Squall pulled gunblade out of the ground. Shiva was suddenly gone.
Zell pulled until he heaved Squall and his gunblade onto the ship's open platform. Zell collapsed onto him, his chest heaving.
"Man," he spoke through breaths. "You're packing on the pounds." Squall smiled. Zell was a good man.
"Amazing rescue, Zell." He told him. Standing and walking into the inside of the ship after Zell. They pulled the platform closed and Zell phoned the Garden. Squall heaved Quistis onto the seats of the ship and elevated her head.
"Yes, Gamma ship, vector code four fifty seven. Ya, we're going to need some backup." Zell paused, still breathing heavily. "About thirteen. Have them ready by the time we get there. We're in sector…" He glanced at the navigator map. "Three. And we have a wounded SeeD so be sure to have Infirmary in the hangar." He hung up and smiled suspiciously.
"What?" Squall questioned.
"She's going to be angry." He said, jerking his head towards the unconscious Quistis. "You weren't supposed to use the GF's without authorization."
"Hey, who runs the mission when the leader is unable? The second in command. And remind me who that is-" Squall was saying but Zell was already laughing.
"I'm going to see how Selphie is doing." He told Squall and disappeared down the hallway to the cockpit.
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When they landed in the hangar and lowered the platform, SeeDs sprung up. Two were carrying Quistis and lowered her onto a stretcher and whisked her away. Several ships took off and SeeDs were equipping it as Zell and Squall stepped off. A mission commander came over.
"We have sent three ships now, we're sending this one and two more. Will it be enough?"
"Yes, I think that will be plenty." Zell said. As Zell continued to talk with the mission commander, Squall noticed no one was charging the GFs or replacing them. He stepped back on the platform to talk to a cargo man.
"This one has a wounded GF. It needs to be replaced. She can't go back into battle for at least a day. She used up most of her charge getting us out of there."
"Yes sir." The man said, running to switch the GF.
Selphie emerged from the ship as well.
"Are we going back? She questioned.
"No," Squall answered. "They have six going."
"Good. I need a bath. I'm drenched in blood." Zell said laughing.
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Quistis opened her eyes and they were suddenly angered. She sat up but she was not where she remembered being last.
"What happened?" She asked Dr. Kadowaki, throwing the covers off and standing.
"From what I hear there was a great many this time. They just sent in six ships. And to think, you only had one!"
"But that means we had to come back. We left those residents in danger! And how did they get out of there?"
"Oh, Quistis, I'm just the doctor. Take this before you go." The doctor thrust some orange liquid at her and made her drink it. "And you'll just need a little ice for that bump on your head."
"Kaye, I'm not a child anymore." Quistis told her, walking out the door.
Quistis was running back to the hangar where Squall, Zell and Selphie had just emerged.
"You're alright!" Selphie exclaimed in relief.
"Yes, I'm fine! What happened?" She questioned again.
"Well, it must have got you from behind because you were gone within a minute." Squall explained. Zell and Selphie waved them off and continued walking, knowing she was in a foul temper.
"But how did you escape?"
"I used a GF. We wouldn't have made it out without Shiva." Squall explained.
"WHAT?" Quistis screamed. "What were you thinking? Of all the techniques and training this Garden has given you, you couldn't think of anything else but a GF? You know how dangerous they are! And you had no authorization!"
Squall turned angrily back at her. "You were unconscious! I was the commander of the mission and I said there was no other option. Should you have any complaints about the way mission was run you can submit a formal complaint." He turned to leave.
"Squall that was a direct order from Cid! Next time we are on a mission, whether it's Cid giving the orders or me, I expect them to be followed!" She snapped.
"Next time, I'll just let you die." He told her harshly and began walking away, fists clenched.
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"You okay man?" Zell asked as Squall caught up to him and Selphie in the hall..
"Why is she so thick?" He asked, ignoring Zell's original question.
"I...think she's...worried." Squall looked over at him as they walked down the hall.
"Worried? About what?" He asked, incredulously.
"Well, she just got her job back." Zell pointed out.
"So?" Squall said, not convinced.
"Did you hear the charge on which she got fired? She broke rank. Even she was reprimanded for going outside the chain of command. Why is it surprise she's going after you for it?"
"So what? It's not like Cid would have stood for it. He told fired that guy and Cid knows Quistis well enough to know she was doing the right thing." Squall said. He knew Cid and Quistis all to well to know that Cid would never let Quistis be fired over something so trivial.
"Well, the point is, they wanted her back. She's worried that if you break rank in front of her and you don't get punished she'll get fired again. They'll think that's what she taught you. I can't really blame her." Zell added.
"How can anyone at our Garden not know me? I take the initiative whenever I need to. That's why I'm a SeeD. That's why I'm a commander of most all of my missions."
"What are you getting at?" Zell asked.
"How can they blame my actions on Quistis when they know that it was me?"
"People in high places can do anything." Selphie said.
"Well, the SeeD who fired her is not the commander of this Garden and besides, she does a lot for this Garden." Squall said.
"So do you." Selphie said, eyeing him.
"What?"
"Well, you do a lot for the Garden to but nobody tells you you're fired when you step out of line and you do it all the time." He hesitated. She smiled at his hesitation.
"Point taken. But still, I don't instruct, so as long as I'm commanding and doing a good job of my missions, they can't touch me. Plus, I wield the gunblade and they wouldn't want to loose the commander of their best team, would they?"
"You could've just stopped after the gunblade part." Zell said rolling his eyes.
"We are one of the best teams. Have you seen our statistics? Not ever Seifer's team has pulled those numbers." He said, as if this statement ended the argument.
"What about when the team you're on isn't always with me, Zell and Quistis?"
"Our members are amazing on any team." Squall told them.
As they turned the corner to the dorms, two kids, no older than four and five, ran out in front of them. Squall waited for them to go by, but Zell and Selphie cut right in front of them as if they couldn't see them. As he had waited Selphie and Zell had turned.
"Coming?" Selphie asked. He watched them run down the hallway and down another corridor and reminiscing a bit he smirked.
"Yea." He listened to Selphie and Zell talk the rest of the way there. Squall stopped at #402 while Zell and Selphie went further as they were in #409 and #422.
"See ya later." She waved to Squall and engaged Zell in conversation as he shut the door and fell on his bed, gunblade and all. He sighed. His eyes began to droop. He yawned, shed his gunblade, rolled over and fell asleep.
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