Chapter 1
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' The endless drill ran over her mind so many times.
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' Again, and again, and again, and again. One would suppose it got boring after a while, but for Khain, the drill was comforting, of the many things in this world that did change, this was probably the only thing that didn't. She sighed and went into the drill again.
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' Her gloved hands punched through the air. A man watched her from the sidelines. He smiled inwardly. He stepped out into plain view.
"Heyoes! What's up?" Khain looked at him sighing. There went her practice session.
"What do you want Matsuki?" She demanded. He blanched and stopped. Glaring at her he scowled.
"It's Mat okay? Call me Matsuki again, and I'll murder you myself." This sudden change of attitude was startling to most, but Khain was never fazed by anything. Matsuki didn't really know her well, he had just bumped into her yesterday and taken to annoying her, he didn't even know her name yet. Her hair was a deep red. Not the shiny kind, but a solid color. It was cut so short, it didn't even touch her shoulders, but it was past her ears. Her bangs were thick and messed up in the front, they went left, right and center, and her skin was pale. Her body was tall, she was fairly lean and she wore a plain shirt, a pale green one that had ragged sleeves, her pants were deep blue, the right knee had a hole and the bottom of the legs were ragged. Her shoes were a plain white scuffed with dirt. Mat was a deep green haired kid who had that same solid look, with a tan and freckles all over his face add to them a deep transparent pair of hazel eyes and he was the most unique kid you ever met. He had every right to be, he had a family, a home, and parents. He wore a nice pair of black jeans that fitted his lean body perfectly, his white shirt was clean and spotless. Around his waist he wore a brown belt which held a sword. He smiled and went back to happy mode.
"Whatever. Anyway, we have that SeeD thing today so be ready. I can't believe it, you went to the fire cavern and got the spirit of Ifrit by yourself! And you were just a rookie! God, you'll probably whip us all today. I hope I'm on your team." Khain shrugged and went back to training, completely ignoring him. Mat shrugged and walked off.
~~~
"You'll be working with four members on your team, no less, maybe more. There will be 4 SeeDs accompanying you on this mission. Do your best, and if you fail, they'll get the job done." Xu explained. Mat listened with rapt attention, Khain ignored it all, boring, boring, yada, yada.
"Okay, the teams are as follows. Since there are only 12 of you, you'll be working in 3 teams. Each team will consist of four members. Team A is John, Lyski, Coroura, and team leader is Sakura." John, a boy with watery eyes, a pimple marked face and a nervous look stepped out, Sakura a confident young girl with long brown hair done in a ponytail smiled. Lyski was a blonde haired nobody, and Coroura was a young man with reddish brown hair so long that it went into a braid, he had big round eyes and a look of pure innocence. He was short but lean. He looked only about 15.
"Team B will be of Mat, Khain, Akemi and Sutta, the team leader is Khain." Khain nodded. Sutta was a girl with blonde hair and a thin body, a girl more obsessed with her hair then her enemy. Akemi was a young man with green eyes, brown hair cropped in ragged lines to his ears and an average height with a solid body.
"Team C is Yumae, Inaba, Neko, and team leader is Koji." Yumae, a black haired girl with red eyes and a slim body. She seemed a little careless, but eyes showed determination and strength if needed. Inaba was a girl with long brown hair and a lean figure. Many of the guys looked her way. Neko was a scraggly teen with a very thin mustache and a head of messy black hair. Koji sighed and ran a hand through his blonde white hair and smiled, he winked at Khain who snorted. A pretty boy huh? Yumae looked her team over and sighed.
"I'm done for." Khain looked at her own team, but ventured no comment of her own.
"These are the SeeD who will be helping you." Xu said and waved a hand to the 4 behind her.
"Hiya!" Selphie said grinning maniacally.
"Hey there." Irvine said coolly.
"S'up?" Zell said with a tiny salute.
"Whatever." Squall muttered. A lot of people gulped when they saw him, they would be doing the test in front of the SeeD COMMANDER!! He was the best, and a lot of the teens looked watchful now. Most were sweating, Mat looked terrified, and Khain was looking at Squall from the corner of her eye.
"Okay. Let's get to Balamb and there we'll meet up again. You have to be there by 0400 hours. 2 hours from now." At this a lot of people yawned. It was after all 2 am. Khain walked away, reading a small paper in her hand.
'The Isle of Heath Peninsula, east of Trabia Garden has become overrun with soldiers of an unknown army and the Trabia Garden, which was just recently finished rebuilt has sent a request to Balamb Garden for help. There are not enough SeeDs there, as most were killed in the accident that occurred over 2 years ago. They are still in the midst of training more. The army wears a light blue uniform of deep blue pants and light blue shirts. Also a blue cap is worn over their heads and black boots on their feet. Can be known to use magic and guns mainly-' Her thoughts were interrupted by a hyper bit of chatter.
"I can't believe that Squall will be going with us!" Sutta said grinning to her. Khain sighed. "He's like SOOOO hott!!" Mat grinned.
"Well I don't know about that hott part, but I saw him fight with his Gunblade . . ." Mat whistled. "MAN! He was like lightening. He was in the training center, I saw him against a Gat. Chop, chop!" He said making two fast slicing gestures with his hands. "Gone like that!" Akemi snorted.
"Take a breather, he's good but I doubt all those stories of him killing a great sorceress are true. I mean, come on." At this Khain smiled.
'What a naïve brat.' She thought smiling.
"HE DID SO KILL A SORCERESS!!" Mat yelled, Squall was nothing short of a heroic figure to him.
"Then what was her name?"
'Ultimecia . . .' Khain thought immediately. Then frowned, where had that thought come from?
Silence.
"See?" Akemi asked smirking and walked off. Khain stared after her, then shrugged to no one, she walked down the hallway into the parking lot and smiled as she pulled on a helmet and got onto her favorite thing in the world at the moment. Her bike, it was a shiny black motorcycle with 200 horse power. Not bad. She hopped on and kick started it.
As the bike flew out of the garage she traveled along the road to Balamb.
~~~
Zell stared boredly around the van and heaved a sigh.
"Zell? You okay?" Selphie asked looking at him, her eyes blinking slightly in a cute little way. Squall didn't reply. Irvine put his arm around Selphie and kissed her on the cheek. Zell smiled and made a gagging gesture. Selphie grinned and kissed Irvine back on the lips. Squall didn't do anything.
'Squall and Rinoa have each other and their 1 year old son Tenshi. Selphie has Irvine and Quistis has Seifer, as odd as that is. And here I am, all alone. That's sad. God life is lonely.' Zell thought as he went back to gazing at the wall. Speaking of Seifer, the git had finally passed the SeeD exam, and when he learned that there was no secret, it made him fell worse about what he had done, odd as it was, let's just say that the cute little kid who had been a small bully but a great brother got control of Seifer after that whole Sorceress thingy. Then secretly, he and Quistis had eloped! God, Zell had freaked when he found out. How Quistis could go for Seifer, was something even he couldn't comprehend, and Zell had one hell of an imagination. Though, Seifer had been acting somewhat different, he had stopped making fun of Zell and Squall, he only called Zell a 'Chikenwuss' when he was joking, he always was protective of his childhood friends, and cared very well for the students of the school. It was like someone had warped his mind. As the car came to a screeching halt, the group clambered out of the van as Fuijin and Raijin waved to them from the driver's seat. Seifer stood on the dock waving his gunblade.
"Hurry those asses up you slowpokes! We leave in 5 minutes whether you're on the ship or in the water!" Selphie couldn't help but giggle, Irvine allowed himself a small grin. Squall remained impassive while Zell looked at the boarding students. One person caught his eye. A boy with green hair and hazel eyes. An unusual combination. Zell looked beside the boy and saw a girl, she had solid red hair and blue eyes which were streaked silver, I literally mean streaked silver. It was as if her cat like pupils were outlined by silver. She looked at him once, and in that moment Zell was frozen, then she looked away and climbed into a boat. He shook his head and stared at the boat the girl had gone into.
"Hey you guys! Get into a *beep*in boat and let's go!" Seifer yelled at them. Squall shrugged, Rinoa would've come to see how the SeeD candidates trained, but she had to take care of Tenshi. Quistis was off on a mission. Zell climbed into a boat where the girl had gone into and the hatch closed behind him. Squall, Irvine and Selphie got into another boat.
~~~
"When we get there, you've a bit of a walk to do, but keep low, we received word that there's a base on the alpha center of the Heath Peninsula. You're job is to get in Trabia Garden and stay there, waiting for orders. You are only to PROTECT the Garden, nothing more." Khain listened boredly, so what if she didn't become a SeeD? No big deal, she wanted to die anyway. Mat was listening, his eyes a little scared. Sutta was polishing her nails while Akemi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, whether sleeping or concentrating, no one knew. Zell was sitting next to Khain. Once the briefing was done Mat turned to Zell.
"So you were part of the team that Master Leonheart was on in his first mission huh? Must've been cool to fight beside Leon!" He said excitedly. Zell snorted.
"Not really, that guy didn't say a thing to us! His moves were good, but if he were to face his past self right now, I think that past guy would lose." Mat's eyes widened. Sutta leaned forward grinning.
"Really? So um, why does Leon like Mistress Rinoa?" Zell grinned and leaned back.
"Well, he was supposedly just her protector at the start of the mission, but I heard he made her a promise to
be there for her. Then he saved her from Ult- from someone in space, and then again when the Esthar took her away because she was a sor- because she was special. Then when Squall was hit fatally she saved his life. Kind of just was a thing meant to be." Zell said calmly. A few slips, when the gang had come back from that battle with Ultimecia, Headmaster Cid refused to let them tell of the true adventure. He said that it would terrify the students, Squall and friends agreed wholeheartedly, no one ever wanted to speak of this again. Instead, it was told that Squall and his friends had saved the Garden from the Galbadia garden, and it was left at that. Khain watched him from the corner of her eyes.
"So is it true that you guys killed a Sorceress?" Akemi asked smirking. Zell hesitated, then shook his head.
"Nope, just rumors." Akemi smiled knowingly.
"Told you." Mat stuttered.
"B-but it can't be true! You're lying to us!" He said turning to Zell. The blonde's heart went out to the boy, he hated to ruin faith, but he couldn't tell the truth could he?
"Hey I just noticed something." Sutta said turning to Khain.
'Oh boy. . . . .' She thought.
"You haven't said a one word this whole trip!" Sutta said staring at her appalled. "What's wrong?"
" . . . . . . . . . "
"HEY!! HELLO?! You in there?" Sutta yelled.
" . . . . . . . . . . "
"What the-?"
"Don't mind her, she's just like that." Mat said chuckling. Sutta gaped.
"Sh-?!" She was cut off.
"You know, I don't even know your names." Akemi said sitting up.
"Mat Kuzaka."
"Sutta Retto."
"Akemi Matasuri."
" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khain."
Everyone turned to her.
"Khain . . . . .?" Sutta asked. Khain shook her head.
"No last name." Zell turned his head to look at her.
"Everyone has a last name." Mat scoffed. Khain shrugged. Zell snickered. Everyone looked at him.
"You guys remind me so much of our group. Squall was silent like that on our test too. I was just as hyped up about as you." He said looking at Mat. "And Akemi reminds me of Seifer, always making fun of someone. You remind me of Selphie, though she wasn't on our team." He said looking at Sutta. Mat and Sutta smiled and looked at each other.
"COOL!!"
'Good god, when is this going to end?' Khain thought as she stared at Mat and Sutta. Zell stared awkwardly at her. She glared back.
"Landing in two minutes!" The driver called out. Khain stood and brushed off her school uniform, she hated skirts, and walked around in a the boy's outfit. Most thought she was a boy because of her hair and outfit. She pulled something out of her pocket, a keychain with three little chains dangling off it and there were objects at the bottom. Diablos, was her first, he was the little black globe. Leviathan her second was the clear dark blue globe, and Ifrit was the red globe. She took one off the chain and attached it to her necklace. It glowed a pearly white for a second, then dimmed, she stuffed the chain under her shirt, it was the newest way of summoning GFs. Using hand marble sized globes was a lot easier. She took an earring out of her pocket and clipped it to one of her ears, it was a long earring, the string was made of a black silver material and the ornament was a golden star. It was so long, it reached her chin.
"What's that?" Mat asked pointing at it.
"Magic enhancer." She replied and walked to the front of the boat. Mat stared after her.
"Well she's friendly." He replied sourly. Sutta shrugged.
"Whatever." Akemi sighed.
"Good god."
~~~
Zell stepped out of the boat and winced at the bright sun.
"They'll have a hard time getting under cover in this light." He commented. Squall nodded.
"Let's go." He said and walked off, Zell and friends in tow.
~~~
Khain punched a few times in the air to warm up, then walked up to her group.
"Okay, we're splitting into two groups, four people will be too easy to spot. Akemi, I know you're egotistical, but you're smart, you go with Mat, I'll take Sutta and we'll rendezvous at Donning's Point. It was marked on the map as a small cave, about a mile's walk from Trabia Garden, understood? Keep out of sight, and stay off any sort of trial you find. Equip a GF to be safe. Now let's move." She ordered, Akemi nodded and trotted off, Mat following closely behind. Khain watched them go, and for a moment, felt a twinge of worry, she quickly pushed it away and trotted off in the same direction. Sutta followed, her gun drawn.
~~~
Zell watched Khain and her group split up,
'Smart little girl' he thought calmly. He nodded at Squall who in turn nodded back and followed Akemi and Mat. Zell turned to follow Khain and Sutta. Selphie followed group A while Irvine tracked group C.
~~~
It had been an hour and a half now. They were almost to the cave. Khain was sliding down a gravel mountain path quietly and making sure not to make too much dust tracks. Sutta groaned.
"This place is completely awful. I mean, why the heck would someone want to live in an icy desert?!" She complained loudly. Khain growled and as soon as she reached the bottom whipped around.
"Shut up or I'll leave you here for the monsters." Khain threatened and walked off. Sutta glared.
"You can't tell me what to do. I doubt you'll even become a SeeD, what with your lousy attitude." She yelled after her. Khain stopped and paled. Sutta had just yelled out in an enemy infested area.
"Shit!" She yelled and ran back to where Sutta stood. Sutta took a step back.
"What the?! Are you attacking me?!" Khain tackled Sutta mid waist as a bullet whizzed over their heads. Sutta gaped.
"Shit! You gave away our position!" Khain yelled at her. She grabbed the other girl's hand and dragged her off. Looking up she saw five more shadows on the top of the hills. She growled and pushed the girl forward.
"Run ahead, meet up with Mat and Akemi, Akemi's in charge if I don't make it out! GO!" She ordered. Sutta nodded, and ran off in fright. Khain went into guard position and waited for them to make their move.
'Got to give her some time!' She thought panicky. A snapping sound, she jumped backed as a bullet soared in front of her. Another snap, she pushed off her right foot,
BANG!
She pushed off her left
BANG!
In the next minute she was dodging and weaving.
'Left, right, duck, jump, back.' She thought. Zell watched from behind a cliff, waiting to see if he should step in. Suddenly something caught Zell's eyes and Khain's as well. Sutta stood on the cliffside. She raised her gun and fired. She hit a guy. Khain swore.
"I told you to LEAVE!"
"I'm not letting YOU get all the credit!" She said and raised her gun once more. Khain looked over her shoulder, a man was raising his gun at Sutta, the blond haired girl was too busy aiming at another guy to notice. Khain's eyes widened with realization, she ran forward.
"SUTTA! DUCK!!" Sutta ignored her. Khain ran forward, she was almost there . . . . . .
BANG!! BANG!!
With a yell she threw herself in front of Sutta. Pain. That was all she felt. Burning, tearing, hot piercing pain. Sutta was on the ground from Khain's tackle. Sutta looked up and pushed Khain of her, she felt something wet and warm touch her fingers, looking at her hand she paled. Blood.
"Oh god . . . HELP!!" Sutta yelled wringing her hands, she had no cure spell, and she had no idea how to do first aid. Zell dropped from the cliff, doing so, he landed on a guy and back kicked another. He punched the one to his other side. The last tried to run for it, Zell swore and picked up one of the enemy's guns, silently praying to god that Irvine's lessons had done something for him, he took aim.
BANG!!
The man went skidding across the ground as Zell lowered the gun. He dropped it and ran across the field. Looking Khain over he stared. The blood was coming from her arm. Khain opened her eyes wearily.
"Just . . . . . . a scratch. No problem." She whispered and stood. Sutta helped her up.
"Oh god . . . . . . I'm so sorry!" Zell looked her over, it was indeed just a graze. He pulled a white bandanna out of his pocket and wrapped it around her arm after muttering the cure spell. That done he nodded to her.
"Let's go." He said and walked off. Sutta followed, Khain waited until they were over the hill before stumbling to her knees. She swore and ripped open her jacket. A thin white shirt was underneath, she tore a strip off and closed her jacket again. She then wrapped it around her ankle, where the second bullet had entered. She stood up and winced, being careful not to put too much weight on it, she began to trot off.
~~~
"You're the first group here. Well done." The instructor said as he welcomed Khain, Sutta, and the others. Khain nodded.
"Thank you sir." She said saluting. He offered her a hand, she stared at it. "Begging your pardon, but I believe it will be best if I don't shake your hand." She said clasping her hands blood crusted hands behind her back. He stared at her confused.
"Why not?"
"No reason sir I just-"
"Got yourself shot is what." Mat said sourly. Khain glared at him. The Instructor looked at her.
"Shot? You must have met the Verneries. That's the name of the army lurking beyond our borders." Sutta nodded.
"I would've killed them all too, but Khain had to interfere." She growled out looking at her leader. Khain stayed silent. Zell looked carefully at her, and saw no emotion. Zell stepped forward.
"If I may, I think we should get Khain to a hospital ward." He said calmly. The man nodded.
"Right this w-" He was cut off as Khain suddenly stumbled forward. Zell caught her.
"You okay?" He asked quickly.
"Y-yeah, just a little dizzy is all." She muttered and righted herself, Zell knew by the dazed look in her eyes, that something was wrong. Mat paled, then pointed to her ankle.
"Good god . . ." He whispered. Akemi paled. Sutta stared at the two of them.
"What the hell is going on? It was just a scratch." Zell looked at Khain's ankle and blanched, from the pant leg that had been torn in her tackle, a red stained make shift bandage was viewable, from beneath it, a tinge of green marked the veins. Zell knelt down and slowly removed the bandage, and gulped. The green was spreading from the wound. He felt the edges of the bullet hole and felt Khain stiffen, she bit her lip and stayed silent. Zell brought red blood flakes away on his finger tips and dusted them between his fingers. They were gooey. Not good, normal blood flakes should crumble beneath the finger tips. Looking at Instructor he stood up.
"She was shot in the ankle, look's like it was poisoned." Turning to Khain he growled.
"First rule of combat, take care of yourself if you are injured! Why did you walk on that ankle? You could have killed yourself. Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Didn't . . . . . . . . . seem . . . . . . . . . important." She mumbled looking at the ground. Mat stared.
"Sorry . . . . . . . . . . . . sir." She whispered and fainted. Zell caught her and swore.
"Get her into the medical ward now!"
Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 I only own Khain, and you know.
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' The endless drill ran over her mind so many times.
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' Again, and again, and again, and again. One would suppose it got boring after a while, but for Khain, the drill was comforting, of the many things in this world that did change, this was probably the only thing that didn't. She sighed and went into the drill again.
'Punch, dodge, kick, block, weave.' Her gloved hands punched through the air. A man watched her from the sidelines. He smiled inwardly. He stepped out into plain view.
"Heyoes! What's up?" Khain looked at him sighing. There went her practice session.
"What do you want Matsuki?" She demanded. He blanched and stopped. Glaring at her he scowled.
"It's Mat okay? Call me Matsuki again, and I'll murder you myself." This sudden change of attitude was startling to most, but Khain was never fazed by anything. Matsuki didn't really know her well, he had just bumped into her yesterday and taken to annoying her, he didn't even know her name yet. Her hair was a deep red. Not the shiny kind, but a solid color. It was cut so short, it didn't even touch her shoulders, but it was past her ears. Her bangs were thick and messed up in the front, they went left, right and center, and her skin was pale. Her body was tall, she was fairly lean and she wore a plain shirt, a pale green one that had ragged sleeves, her pants were deep blue, the right knee had a hole and the bottom of the legs were ragged. Her shoes were a plain white scuffed with dirt. Mat was a deep green haired kid who had that same solid look, with a tan and freckles all over his face add to them a deep transparent pair of hazel eyes and he was the most unique kid you ever met. He had every right to be, he had a family, a home, and parents. He wore a nice pair of black jeans that fitted his lean body perfectly, his white shirt was clean and spotless. Around his waist he wore a brown belt which held a sword. He smiled and went back to happy mode.
"Whatever. Anyway, we have that SeeD thing today so be ready. I can't believe it, you went to the fire cavern and got the spirit of Ifrit by yourself! And you were just a rookie! God, you'll probably whip us all today. I hope I'm on your team." Khain shrugged and went back to training, completely ignoring him. Mat shrugged and walked off.
~~~
"You'll be working with four members on your team, no less, maybe more. There will be 4 SeeDs accompanying you on this mission. Do your best, and if you fail, they'll get the job done." Xu explained. Mat listened with rapt attention, Khain ignored it all, boring, boring, yada, yada.
"Okay, the teams are as follows. Since there are only 12 of you, you'll be working in 3 teams. Each team will consist of four members. Team A is John, Lyski, Coroura, and team leader is Sakura." John, a boy with watery eyes, a pimple marked face and a nervous look stepped out, Sakura a confident young girl with long brown hair done in a ponytail smiled. Lyski was a blonde haired nobody, and Coroura was a young man with reddish brown hair so long that it went into a braid, he had big round eyes and a look of pure innocence. He was short but lean. He looked only about 15.
"Team B will be of Mat, Khain, Akemi and Sutta, the team leader is Khain." Khain nodded. Sutta was a girl with blonde hair and a thin body, a girl more obsessed with her hair then her enemy. Akemi was a young man with green eyes, brown hair cropped in ragged lines to his ears and an average height with a solid body.
"Team C is Yumae, Inaba, Neko, and team leader is Koji." Yumae, a black haired girl with red eyes and a slim body. She seemed a little careless, but eyes showed determination and strength if needed. Inaba was a girl with long brown hair and a lean figure. Many of the guys looked her way. Neko was a scraggly teen with a very thin mustache and a head of messy black hair. Koji sighed and ran a hand through his blonde white hair and smiled, he winked at Khain who snorted. A pretty boy huh? Yumae looked her team over and sighed.
"I'm done for." Khain looked at her own team, but ventured no comment of her own.
"These are the SeeD who will be helping you." Xu said and waved a hand to the 4 behind her.
"Hiya!" Selphie said grinning maniacally.
"Hey there." Irvine said coolly.
"S'up?" Zell said with a tiny salute.
"Whatever." Squall muttered. A lot of people gulped when they saw him, they would be doing the test in front of the SeeD COMMANDER!! He was the best, and a lot of the teens looked watchful now. Most were sweating, Mat looked terrified, and Khain was looking at Squall from the corner of her eye.
"Okay. Let's get to Balamb and there we'll meet up again. You have to be there by 0400 hours. 2 hours from now." At this a lot of people yawned. It was after all 2 am. Khain walked away, reading a small paper in her hand.
'The Isle of Heath Peninsula, east of Trabia Garden has become overrun with soldiers of an unknown army and the Trabia Garden, which was just recently finished rebuilt has sent a request to Balamb Garden for help. There are not enough SeeDs there, as most were killed in the accident that occurred over 2 years ago. They are still in the midst of training more. The army wears a light blue uniform of deep blue pants and light blue shirts. Also a blue cap is worn over their heads and black boots on their feet. Can be known to use magic and guns mainly-' Her thoughts were interrupted by a hyper bit of chatter.
"I can't believe that Squall will be going with us!" Sutta said grinning to her. Khain sighed. "He's like SOOOO hott!!" Mat grinned.
"Well I don't know about that hott part, but I saw him fight with his Gunblade . . ." Mat whistled. "MAN! He was like lightening. He was in the training center, I saw him against a Gat. Chop, chop!" He said making two fast slicing gestures with his hands. "Gone like that!" Akemi snorted.
"Take a breather, he's good but I doubt all those stories of him killing a great sorceress are true. I mean, come on." At this Khain smiled.
'What a naïve brat.' She thought smiling.
"HE DID SO KILL A SORCERESS!!" Mat yelled, Squall was nothing short of a heroic figure to him.
"Then what was her name?"
'Ultimecia . . .' Khain thought immediately. Then frowned, where had that thought come from?
Silence.
"See?" Akemi asked smirking and walked off. Khain stared after her, then shrugged to no one, she walked down the hallway into the parking lot and smiled as she pulled on a helmet and got onto her favorite thing in the world at the moment. Her bike, it was a shiny black motorcycle with 200 horse power. Not bad. She hopped on and kick started it.
As the bike flew out of the garage she traveled along the road to Balamb.
~~~
Zell stared boredly around the van and heaved a sigh.
"Zell? You okay?" Selphie asked looking at him, her eyes blinking slightly in a cute little way. Squall didn't reply. Irvine put his arm around Selphie and kissed her on the cheek. Zell smiled and made a gagging gesture. Selphie grinned and kissed Irvine back on the lips. Squall didn't do anything.
'Squall and Rinoa have each other and their 1 year old son Tenshi. Selphie has Irvine and Quistis has Seifer, as odd as that is. And here I am, all alone. That's sad. God life is lonely.' Zell thought as he went back to gazing at the wall. Speaking of Seifer, the git had finally passed the SeeD exam, and when he learned that there was no secret, it made him fell worse about what he had done, odd as it was, let's just say that the cute little kid who had been a small bully but a great brother got control of Seifer after that whole Sorceress thingy. Then secretly, he and Quistis had eloped! God, Zell had freaked when he found out. How Quistis could go for Seifer, was something even he couldn't comprehend, and Zell had one hell of an imagination. Though, Seifer had been acting somewhat different, he had stopped making fun of Zell and Squall, he only called Zell a 'Chikenwuss' when he was joking, he always was protective of his childhood friends, and cared very well for the students of the school. It was like someone had warped his mind. As the car came to a screeching halt, the group clambered out of the van as Fuijin and Raijin waved to them from the driver's seat. Seifer stood on the dock waving his gunblade.
"Hurry those asses up you slowpokes! We leave in 5 minutes whether you're on the ship or in the water!" Selphie couldn't help but giggle, Irvine allowed himself a small grin. Squall remained impassive while Zell looked at the boarding students. One person caught his eye. A boy with green hair and hazel eyes. An unusual combination. Zell looked beside the boy and saw a girl, she had solid red hair and blue eyes which were streaked silver, I literally mean streaked silver. It was as if her cat like pupils were outlined by silver. She looked at him once, and in that moment Zell was frozen, then she looked away and climbed into a boat. He shook his head and stared at the boat the girl had gone into.
"Hey you guys! Get into a *beep*in boat and let's go!" Seifer yelled at them. Squall shrugged, Rinoa would've come to see how the SeeD candidates trained, but she had to take care of Tenshi. Quistis was off on a mission. Zell climbed into a boat where the girl had gone into and the hatch closed behind him. Squall, Irvine and Selphie got into another boat.
~~~
"When we get there, you've a bit of a walk to do, but keep low, we received word that there's a base on the alpha center of the Heath Peninsula. You're job is to get in Trabia Garden and stay there, waiting for orders. You are only to PROTECT the Garden, nothing more." Khain listened boredly, so what if she didn't become a SeeD? No big deal, she wanted to die anyway. Mat was listening, his eyes a little scared. Sutta was polishing her nails while Akemi leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, whether sleeping or concentrating, no one knew. Zell was sitting next to Khain. Once the briefing was done Mat turned to Zell.
"So you were part of the team that Master Leonheart was on in his first mission huh? Must've been cool to fight beside Leon!" He said excitedly. Zell snorted.
"Not really, that guy didn't say a thing to us! His moves were good, but if he were to face his past self right now, I think that past guy would lose." Mat's eyes widened. Sutta leaned forward grinning.
"Really? So um, why does Leon like Mistress Rinoa?" Zell grinned and leaned back.
"Well, he was supposedly just her protector at the start of the mission, but I heard he made her a promise to
be there for her. Then he saved her from Ult- from someone in space, and then again when the Esthar took her away because she was a sor- because she was special. Then when Squall was hit fatally she saved his life. Kind of just was a thing meant to be." Zell said calmly. A few slips, when the gang had come back from that battle with Ultimecia, Headmaster Cid refused to let them tell of the true adventure. He said that it would terrify the students, Squall and friends agreed wholeheartedly, no one ever wanted to speak of this again. Instead, it was told that Squall and his friends had saved the Garden from the Galbadia garden, and it was left at that. Khain watched him from the corner of her eyes.
"So is it true that you guys killed a Sorceress?" Akemi asked smirking. Zell hesitated, then shook his head.
"Nope, just rumors." Akemi smiled knowingly.
"Told you." Mat stuttered.
"B-but it can't be true! You're lying to us!" He said turning to Zell. The blonde's heart went out to the boy, he hated to ruin faith, but he couldn't tell the truth could he?
"Hey I just noticed something." Sutta said turning to Khain.
'Oh boy. . . . .' She thought.
"You haven't said a one word this whole trip!" Sutta said staring at her appalled. "What's wrong?"
" . . . . . . . . . "
"HEY!! HELLO?! You in there?" Sutta yelled.
" . . . . . . . . . . "
"What the-?"
"Don't mind her, she's just like that." Mat said chuckling. Sutta gaped.
"Sh-?!" She was cut off.
"You know, I don't even know your names." Akemi said sitting up.
"Mat Kuzaka."
"Sutta Retto."
"Akemi Matasuri."
" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Khain."
Everyone turned to her.
"Khain . . . . .?" Sutta asked. Khain shook her head.
"No last name." Zell turned his head to look at her.
"Everyone has a last name." Mat scoffed. Khain shrugged. Zell snickered. Everyone looked at him.
"You guys remind me so much of our group. Squall was silent like that on our test too. I was just as hyped up about as you." He said looking at Mat. "And Akemi reminds me of Seifer, always making fun of someone. You remind me of Selphie, though she wasn't on our team." He said looking at Sutta. Mat and Sutta smiled and looked at each other.
"COOL!!"
'Good god, when is this going to end?' Khain thought as she stared at Mat and Sutta. Zell stared awkwardly at her. She glared back.
"Landing in two minutes!" The driver called out. Khain stood and brushed off her school uniform, she hated skirts, and walked around in a the boy's outfit. Most thought she was a boy because of her hair and outfit. She pulled something out of her pocket, a keychain with three little chains dangling off it and there were objects at the bottom. Diablos, was her first, he was the little black globe. Leviathan her second was the clear dark blue globe, and Ifrit was the red globe. She took one off the chain and attached it to her necklace. It glowed a pearly white for a second, then dimmed, she stuffed the chain under her shirt, it was the newest way of summoning GFs. Using hand marble sized globes was a lot easier. She took an earring out of her pocket and clipped it to one of her ears, it was a long earring, the string was made of a black silver material and the ornament was a golden star. It was so long, it reached her chin.
"What's that?" Mat asked pointing at it.
"Magic enhancer." She replied and walked to the front of the boat. Mat stared after her.
"Well she's friendly." He replied sourly. Sutta shrugged.
"Whatever." Akemi sighed.
"Good god."
~~~
Zell stepped out of the boat and winced at the bright sun.
"They'll have a hard time getting under cover in this light." He commented. Squall nodded.
"Let's go." He said and walked off, Zell and friends in tow.
~~~
Khain punched a few times in the air to warm up, then walked up to her group.
"Okay, we're splitting into two groups, four people will be too easy to spot. Akemi, I know you're egotistical, but you're smart, you go with Mat, I'll take Sutta and we'll rendezvous at Donning's Point. It was marked on the map as a small cave, about a mile's walk from Trabia Garden, understood? Keep out of sight, and stay off any sort of trial you find. Equip a GF to be safe. Now let's move." She ordered, Akemi nodded and trotted off, Mat following closely behind. Khain watched them go, and for a moment, felt a twinge of worry, she quickly pushed it away and trotted off in the same direction. Sutta followed, her gun drawn.
~~~
Zell watched Khain and her group split up,
'Smart little girl' he thought calmly. He nodded at Squall who in turn nodded back and followed Akemi and Mat. Zell turned to follow Khain and Sutta. Selphie followed group A while Irvine tracked group C.
~~~
It had been an hour and a half now. They were almost to the cave. Khain was sliding down a gravel mountain path quietly and making sure not to make too much dust tracks. Sutta groaned.
"This place is completely awful. I mean, why the heck would someone want to live in an icy desert?!" She complained loudly. Khain growled and as soon as she reached the bottom whipped around.
"Shut up or I'll leave you here for the monsters." Khain threatened and walked off. Sutta glared.
"You can't tell me what to do. I doubt you'll even become a SeeD, what with your lousy attitude." She yelled after her. Khain stopped and paled. Sutta had just yelled out in an enemy infested area.
"Shit!" She yelled and ran back to where Sutta stood. Sutta took a step back.
"What the?! Are you attacking me?!" Khain tackled Sutta mid waist as a bullet whizzed over their heads. Sutta gaped.
"Shit! You gave away our position!" Khain yelled at her. She grabbed the other girl's hand and dragged her off. Looking up she saw five more shadows on the top of the hills. She growled and pushed the girl forward.
"Run ahead, meet up with Mat and Akemi, Akemi's in charge if I don't make it out! GO!" She ordered. Sutta nodded, and ran off in fright. Khain went into guard position and waited for them to make their move.
'Got to give her some time!' She thought panicky. A snapping sound, she jumped backed as a bullet soared in front of her. Another snap, she pushed off her right foot,
BANG!
She pushed off her left
BANG!
In the next minute she was dodging and weaving.
'Left, right, duck, jump, back.' She thought. Zell watched from behind a cliff, waiting to see if he should step in. Suddenly something caught Zell's eyes and Khain's as well. Sutta stood on the cliffside. She raised her gun and fired. She hit a guy. Khain swore.
"I told you to LEAVE!"
"I'm not letting YOU get all the credit!" She said and raised her gun once more. Khain looked over her shoulder, a man was raising his gun at Sutta, the blond haired girl was too busy aiming at another guy to notice. Khain's eyes widened with realization, she ran forward.
"SUTTA! DUCK!!" Sutta ignored her. Khain ran forward, she was almost there . . . . . .
BANG!! BANG!!
With a yell she threw herself in front of Sutta. Pain. That was all she felt. Burning, tearing, hot piercing pain. Sutta was on the ground from Khain's tackle. Sutta looked up and pushed Khain of her, she felt something wet and warm touch her fingers, looking at her hand she paled. Blood.
"Oh god . . . HELP!!" Sutta yelled wringing her hands, she had no cure spell, and she had no idea how to do first aid. Zell dropped from the cliff, doing so, he landed on a guy and back kicked another. He punched the one to his other side. The last tried to run for it, Zell swore and picked up one of the enemy's guns, silently praying to god that Irvine's lessons had done something for him, he took aim.
BANG!!
The man went skidding across the ground as Zell lowered the gun. He dropped it and ran across the field. Looking Khain over he stared. The blood was coming from her arm. Khain opened her eyes wearily.
"Just . . . . . . a scratch. No problem." She whispered and stood. Sutta helped her up.
"Oh god . . . . . . I'm so sorry!" Zell looked her over, it was indeed just a graze. He pulled a white bandanna out of his pocket and wrapped it around her arm after muttering the cure spell. That done he nodded to her.
"Let's go." He said and walked off. Sutta followed, Khain waited until they were over the hill before stumbling to her knees. She swore and ripped open her jacket. A thin white shirt was underneath, she tore a strip off and closed her jacket again. She then wrapped it around her ankle, where the second bullet had entered. She stood up and winced, being careful not to put too much weight on it, she began to trot off.
~~~
"You're the first group here. Well done." The instructor said as he welcomed Khain, Sutta, and the others. Khain nodded.
"Thank you sir." She said saluting. He offered her a hand, she stared at it. "Begging your pardon, but I believe it will be best if I don't shake your hand." She said clasping her hands blood crusted hands behind her back. He stared at her confused.
"Why not?"
"No reason sir I just-"
"Got yourself shot is what." Mat said sourly. Khain glared at him. The Instructor looked at her.
"Shot? You must have met the Verneries. That's the name of the army lurking beyond our borders." Sutta nodded.
"I would've killed them all too, but Khain had to interfere." She growled out looking at her leader. Khain stayed silent. Zell looked carefully at her, and saw no emotion. Zell stepped forward.
"If I may, I think we should get Khain to a hospital ward." He said calmly. The man nodded.
"Right this w-" He was cut off as Khain suddenly stumbled forward. Zell caught her.
"You okay?" He asked quickly.
"Y-yeah, just a little dizzy is all." She muttered and righted herself, Zell knew by the dazed look in her eyes, that something was wrong. Mat paled, then pointed to her ankle.
"Good god . . ." He whispered. Akemi paled. Sutta stared at the two of them.
"What the hell is going on? It was just a scratch." Zell looked at Khain's ankle and blanched, from the pant leg that had been torn in her tackle, a red stained make shift bandage was viewable, from beneath it, a tinge of green marked the veins. Zell knelt down and slowly removed the bandage, and gulped. The green was spreading from the wound. He felt the edges of the bullet hole and felt Khain stiffen, she bit her lip and stayed silent. Zell brought red blood flakes away on his finger tips and dusted them between his fingers. They were gooey. Not good, normal blood flakes should crumble beneath the finger tips. Looking at Instructor he stood up.
"She was shot in the ankle, look's like it was poisoned." Turning to Khain he growled.
"First rule of combat, take care of yourself if you are injured! Why did you walk on that ankle? You could have killed yourself. Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Didn't . . . . . . . . . seem . . . . . . . . . important." She mumbled looking at the ground. Mat stared.
"Sorry . . . . . . . . . . . . sir." She whispered and fainted. Zell caught her and swore.
"Get her into the medical ward now!"
Disclaimer: I do not own FF8 I only own Khain, and you know.