Fujin and Rajin ARE STILL ALIVE
by
Fira
Dedicated to Tom Stoppard
and the Final Fantasy 8 Members
including Martin, Susan, Eli, and Betsy
(you know who you're supposed to be)
Early one morning, on a small continent in the center of the Horizon Ocean, a group of children, perhaps 10 or 11, file into a classroom in the military academy that they all attend. A particularly large boy near the back jostles the two students directly in front of him, pushing through them in his eagerness to get through the doorway and into class.
The two students, two girls in SeeD cadet uniforms with ponytails that had been talking excitedly, were knocked aside and one of them fell over. The other helped her up and the two of them glared at the boy, but he didn't notice. He had already gone into the room and taken a seat. Some students had been seated before him, and those that weren't seated themselves more quietly than he had. The teacher steps to the front of the room. He was a middle-aged man with light brown hair that was slightly messed-up and he was wearing a brown and light brown pinstriped suit.
"Good morning, class," he said in perfectly unaccented speech that had an underlying note of monotony.
"Good morning Mister Severs," murmured the class.
"I trust that everyone remembers what today's class is to be about?" he stated, then looked around to make sure everyone was nodding, then continued, "good. When I call out the pairs, come up to the front of the room. I will give you your GFs, you may junction yourself and your partner, and then you may walk down to the training center, make sure to not load more than three pairs and at least two into the elevator, and once you are in the training center you may start fighting monsters. Now, if you encounter any big, nasty dinosaurs, you run from them, got that? You run from them. If you encounter any oversized bugs, you fight them. Does anybody have any questions?" The class didn't seem to have any questions. "Good. The first pair is Rini and Suzu," he said as the two girls that the boy had knocked into earlier got up from their desks excitedly and practically skipped to the front of the room.
The teacher placed his hand on the forehead of each girl in turn, held his hand there for a minute, and then took it away. All of the kids were puzzled by this. Then Mr. Severs called out the next set of names. "Rajin and Fujin, would you please come to the front of the room."
The large boy, Rajin, almost jumped with excitement. He was going to get to fight monsters today! He walked up to the front of the room, barley able to contain himself from breaking out into a run. Once in the front of the room, he notices the girl he's apparently going to work with. Fujin, he assumed, was small and slight, and probably pretty weak. Rajin would have to watch out for Fujin and protect her. Boys were supposed to protect girls, he reckoned, so this was good. It wouldn't make any sense if a girl was stronger or tougher than a boy.
Standing in front of the room, Fujin extended her hand. Rajin took it and shook it, trying to exhibit a firm grip and a determined shake, but not trying to dump her off of her feet. His cocky and almost superior grin faded a little when he realized that her grip was hurting his hand and there was almost no chance of him knocking her over. She broke the handshake with a determined edge, then turned to face the teacher and saluted. He placed a hand on her forehead and this time Rajin could hear him muttering something. Then he took his hand away and motioned for Rajin to come forwards. Once the teacher's hand was actually on his forehead, Rajin could feel a tingling feeling and then, in part of his mind, a new awareness was growing. He closed his eyes and saw a brilliant thunderstorm projected on his eyelids, complete with beautiful lightning. He heard a voice which could only have come from this... thing inside his head: I AM QUETZACOTYL...
He opened his eyes and walked down the hallway with Fujin, who had been obviously waiting for him to do just that. He asked her, not wanting to look stupid, "So, what GF did you get?"
"PANDEMONA." Her response was shouted, but somehow not loud. There was a determined force behind her voice, but somehow Rajin didn't think it was directed at him.
"Hey, cool, I've heard about that one. A little box that demons come out of, yeah?" Fujin gave him a look that said as clearly as words would have: of course not, you idiot.
"WIND."
"Oh, right. I got Quetzacotyl. Ya know, thunder." Fujin's expression read: yes, I know. But Rajin didn't have a chance to reply, because they had reached the elevators. The two girls ahead of them were waiting for the elevator to come up. When it came, the two girls boarded, and then Rajin and Fujin got on. The next pair was already walking down the hallway. As the elevator door started to shut, the team down the hall began to run at the elevator yelling: "Hey! Wait for us!"
Fujin and Rajin stepped out of the elevator and walked to the training center in silence, because he couldn't figure out what to say and she didn't want to say anything. Once they got there, he was about to run in when she said, "HALT. JUNCTION."
He nodded and they junctioned their GFs. Fujin gave Rajin some of her magic, which he couldn't figure out how she had things like 100 Ultimas, Auras, Full-Lifes, and just about every other spell he could think of. They junctined magic to their stats and selected their battle options- Fujin opted to draw magic, cast magic, and use items. Rajin, quite scared of whatever the two might encounter, decided to summon GFs, and to draw and cast magic.
With all the necessary setup done, the pair walked into the training center, Fujin determined and Rajin afraid. After a minute or two of walking through the training center (the two had deliberately taken the path that no other students had chosen- the one to the right, instead of the left, they encountered a monster that fit the description that Mr. Severs had provided- an oversized bug. Rajin panicked and began to run away, then noticed that Fujin wasn't following him. Determined, she muttered an incantation, apparently casting a magic. But instead of the ball of fire flying at the grat, it hovered in the air. Rajin just stood there, puzzled. In a minute, when Fujin felt she could act again, she muttered a different incantation, and a chunk of ice went to meld with the ball of fire. She waved her hand at the unnatural structure and it flung itself at the grat, which died instantly. Fujin grinned at Rajin, and he stared in amazement. She had obviously been training, against the rules of the Garden. The two continued down their path, executing many more grats in their wake.
After a few fights where Rajin stood there just trying to summon Quetz, Fujin stopped by a downed tree on the side of the path. She pulled a knife out of her boot and slit a long staff off, fashioned the ends into crude points, and threw it to Rajin. He tested it as a weapon, attacking the air. The staff was definitely right for Rajin! He grinned at Fujin, feeling useful for the first time that day. She returned his smile, and then jerked her head upwards, drawing Rajin's gaze up at... AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! T-REXAUR!!! Fujin ignored the screams coming from her right and began a barrage of ice magic and the stronger stuff like Ultimas. Rajin, finally coming to sense, took his staff like a javelin and hurled it at the face of the monster. Hitting the dinosaur in the eye, the javelin/staff returned to Rajin's hand. The dinosaur attempted to bite Rajin but it had been blinded!
This turned out to be an interesting, tiring, but completely effective process that was repeated more than once in the next hour. Rajin was amazed at how much stronger he had become! When they got back to class, in about three hours of training (perhaps an unwise amount of time for raw beginners, as some students were already back and bleeding quite hard), the teacher checked their status.
"Rajin, I specifically told you not to fight the dinosaurs in the training center." Rajin began to explain that it hadn't been his idea, but Mr. Severs kept talking. "However, since you could obviously handle them," (he was now mostly addressing Fujin) "you can continue your T-Rexaur hunt in the future. I am quite proud of you two." He walked off smiling to talk to the next group, and lecture them about curative items.
by
Fira
Dedicated to Tom Stoppard
and the Final Fantasy 8 Members
including Martin, Susan, Eli, and Betsy
(you know who you're supposed to be)
Early one morning, on a small continent in the center of the Horizon Ocean, a group of children, perhaps 10 or 11, file into a classroom in the military academy that they all attend. A particularly large boy near the back jostles the two students directly in front of him, pushing through them in his eagerness to get through the doorway and into class.
The two students, two girls in SeeD cadet uniforms with ponytails that had been talking excitedly, were knocked aside and one of them fell over. The other helped her up and the two of them glared at the boy, but he didn't notice. He had already gone into the room and taken a seat. Some students had been seated before him, and those that weren't seated themselves more quietly than he had. The teacher steps to the front of the room. He was a middle-aged man with light brown hair that was slightly messed-up and he was wearing a brown and light brown pinstriped suit.
"Good morning, class," he said in perfectly unaccented speech that had an underlying note of monotony.
"Good morning Mister Severs," murmured the class.
"I trust that everyone remembers what today's class is to be about?" he stated, then looked around to make sure everyone was nodding, then continued, "good. When I call out the pairs, come up to the front of the room. I will give you your GFs, you may junction yourself and your partner, and then you may walk down to the training center, make sure to not load more than three pairs and at least two into the elevator, and once you are in the training center you may start fighting monsters. Now, if you encounter any big, nasty dinosaurs, you run from them, got that? You run from them. If you encounter any oversized bugs, you fight them. Does anybody have any questions?" The class didn't seem to have any questions. "Good. The first pair is Rini and Suzu," he said as the two girls that the boy had knocked into earlier got up from their desks excitedly and practically skipped to the front of the room.
The teacher placed his hand on the forehead of each girl in turn, held his hand there for a minute, and then took it away. All of the kids were puzzled by this. Then Mr. Severs called out the next set of names. "Rajin and Fujin, would you please come to the front of the room."
The large boy, Rajin, almost jumped with excitement. He was going to get to fight monsters today! He walked up to the front of the room, barley able to contain himself from breaking out into a run. Once in the front of the room, he notices the girl he's apparently going to work with. Fujin, he assumed, was small and slight, and probably pretty weak. Rajin would have to watch out for Fujin and protect her. Boys were supposed to protect girls, he reckoned, so this was good. It wouldn't make any sense if a girl was stronger or tougher than a boy.
Standing in front of the room, Fujin extended her hand. Rajin took it and shook it, trying to exhibit a firm grip and a determined shake, but not trying to dump her off of her feet. His cocky and almost superior grin faded a little when he realized that her grip was hurting his hand and there was almost no chance of him knocking her over. She broke the handshake with a determined edge, then turned to face the teacher and saluted. He placed a hand on her forehead and this time Rajin could hear him muttering something. Then he took his hand away and motioned for Rajin to come forwards. Once the teacher's hand was actually on his forehead, Rajin could feel a tingling feeling and then, in part of his mind, a new awareness was growing. He closed his eyes and saw a brilliant thunderstorm projected on his eyelids, complete with beautiful lightning. He heard a voice which could only have come from this... thing inside his head: I AM QUETZACOTYL...
He opened his eyes and walked down the hallway with Fujin, who had been obviously waiting for him to do just that. He asked her, not wanting to look stupid, "So, what GF did you get?"
"PANDEMONA." Her response was shouted, but somehow not loud. There was a determined force behind her voice, but somehow Rajin didn't think it was directed at him.
"Hey, cool, I've heard about that one. A little box that demons come out of, yeah?" Fujin gave him a look that said as clearly as words would have: of course not, you idiot.
"WIND."
"Oh, right. I got Quetzacotyl. Ya know, thunder." Fujin's expression read: yes, I know. But Rajin didn't have a chance to reply, because they had reached the elevators. The two girls ahead of them were waiting for the elevator to come up. When it came, the two girls boarded, and then Rajin and Fujin got on. The next pair was already walking down the hallway. As the elevator door started to shut, the team down the hall began to run at the elevator yelling: "Hey! Wait for us!"
Fujin and Rajin stepped out of the elevator and walked to the training center in silence, because he couldn't figure out what to say and she didn't want to say anything. Once they got there, he was about to run in when she said, "HALT. JUNCTION."
He nodded and they junctioned their GFs. Fujin gave Rajin some of her magic, which he couldn't figure out how she had things like 100 Ultimas, Auras, Full-Lifes, and just about every other spell he could think of. They junctined magic to their stats and selected their battle options- Fujin opted to draw magic, cast magic, and use items. Rajin, quite scared of whatever the two might encounter, decided to summon GFs, and to draw and cast magic.
With all the necessary setup done, the pair walked into the training center, Fujin determined and Rajin afraid. After a minute or two of walking through the training center (the two had deliberately taken the path that no other students had chosen- the one to the right, instead of the left, they encountered a monster that fit the description that Mr. Severs had provided- an oversized bug. Rajin panicked and began to run away, then noticed that Fujin wasn't following him. Determined, she muttered an incantation, apparently casting a magic. But instead of the ball of fire flying at the grat, it hovered in the air. Rajin just stood there, puzzled. In a minute, when Fujin felt she could act again, she muttered a different incantation, and a chunk of ice went to meld with the ball of fire. She waved her hand at the unnatural structure and it flung itself at the grat, which died instantly. Fujin grinned at Rajin, and he stared in amazement. She had obviously been training, against the rules of the Garden. The two continued down their path, executing many more grats in their wake.
After a few fights where Rajin stood there just trying to summon Quetz, Fujin stopped by a downed tree on the side of the path. She pulled a knife out of her boot and slit a long staff off, fashioned the ends into crude points, and threw it to Rajin. He tested it as a weapon, attacking the air. The staff was definitely right for Rajin! He grinned at Fujin, feeling useful for the first time that day. She returned his smile, and then jerked her head upwards, drawing Rajin's gaze up at... AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! T-REXAUR!!! Fujin ignored the screams coming from her right and began a barrage of ice magic and the stronger stuff like Ultimas. Rajin, finally coming to sense, took his staff like a javelin and hurled it at the face of the monster. Hitting the dinosaur in the eye, the javelin/staff returned to Rajin's hand. The dinosaur attempted to bite Rajin but it had been blinded!
This turned out to be an interesting, tiring, but completely effective process that was repeated more than once in the next hour. Rajin was amazed at how much stronger he had become! When they got back to class, in about three hours of training (perhaps an unwise amount of time for raw beginners, as some students were already back and bleeding quite hard), the teacher checked their status.
"Rajin, I specifically told you not to fight the dinosaurs in the training center." Rajin began to explain that it hadn't been his idea, but Mr. Severs kept talking. "However, since you could obviously handle them," (he was now mostly addressing Fujin) "you can continue your T-Rexaur hunt in the future. I am quite proud of you two." He walked off smiling to talk to the next group, and lecture them about curative items.
