Rinoa sighed as she stood at the train station in Deling City. She would get on the train headed for Balamb, and then she would either get a ride, or walk to Balamb Garden. Her father, General Caraway, had decided to send her there to become a SeeD. When she had asked why, the general had replied that she was getting too out of hand with her resistance faction in Timber. He was a military member, who also made him a member of the government, and she was a member of an anti-government faction. In other words he was just sending her there to teach her discipline and to keep her from getting in trouble.

All these thoughts ran through her mind, as she was waiting for the train to arrive. She was snapped out of her thoughts however, when she heard a loud screeching noise. When she looked up to see what it was, she realized that the train had arrived.

Sighing again, she slowly made her way onto the train once it had come to a complete stop, and the doors had opened; letting everyone who was currently one the train, get off. Soon after she got on, along with everyone else who was waiting for the train, it started to move.

Along the way, she silently wondered if she could just get off at Balamb, and run away before she even got to this Balamb Garden. She obviously didn't want to go there. She didn't think that going to some school to become a trained mercenary was very appealing. They probably did a lot of training there, so she thought that she would have to be sweating all day. That definitely wasn't her idea of fun. Not to mention that everyone there had probably been there since they were young children, and she didn't want to be behind everyone. They knew things that she didn't, and she would probably be treated like an idiot since she would be totally ignorant of everything.

So she made up her mind. Once the train let her off at Balamb, she would walk all the way back to Timber to join the rest of her friends from the faction without telling General Caraway. That way he would think that she was learning how to be a mercenary, but in reality she would be helping the Forest Owls. She had never listened to her father before so why should she start now?

She continued to look out the window and watched the scenery rush by. She felt her stomach fill with butterflies from being nervous. The train had started to slow, which got her thinking about her plan. She didn't know if her father would have anyone waiting for her. She started to have doubts. Her father has always been a very thorough man, so it wouldn't be surprising. She picked up her rather small backpack full of stuff that she would need.

She stood up, and walked out of the train with everyone who had to get off at this particular stop. And sure enough, once she stepped out of the train, three people in black suites walked up to her. Two of them were big burly looking men, and the other was a rather petite girl.

"Miss Caraway, we are here to safely escort you to Balamb Garden." The biggest man said, without the slightest hint of a smile.

Rinoa inwardly cringed at the fact that they called her 'Caraway'. She didn't bother correcting him though.

She should have figured that her father would send people to make sure that she got there. She knew she definitely couldn't fight off the men. Hell, she would be lucky if she could take on the small girl. The girl didn't look like much, but Rinoa knew better than to judge a book by its cover. This woman was probably a very skilled fighter.

Rinoa nodded in resignation, and motioned for them to lead the way. They did so, and led her to a military type car. It was small, but looked like it could crash into an airplane and win. She sat in the back seat while the two gigantic men got in front. The smaller of the two was the one driving though. The small woman was sitting next to her. Rinoa finally got a chance to take a look at her.

She had beautiful golden hair that Rinoa was a little envious of. It looked so soft. It was pulled up into a sort of bun in the back, and off the sides her bangs were down, framing her face. She had sky blue eyes, and she wore glasses. They weren't the kind of glasses that her huge on someone's face either. In fact she looked rather good with them. If you gave her the right attire, she would probably resemble a school teacher.

Quite suddenly, she turned to look at her. "Don't worry. "You'll like Balamb Garden. Everyone is very supportive and you won't be that far behind. We don't just learn fighting. We also learn investigation so that we can spot things that others wouldn't. There isn't always a clear trail to the target, and we have to find them based on clues." She said. She seemed to be able to tell that Rinoa was nervous.

Rinoa nodded. "I see." She said. "In about a year, after your training begins, you'll be able to take your SeeD field exam to see if you're ready to become a SeeD." The woman continued. Rinoa nodded in understanding. Normally the age limit to become a SeeD was age sixteen and up. She was older than that, so she was able to take it after about a year of training.

It wasn't long before they made it to Balamb Garden, and as soon as the car was parked in the paring lot, she was brought into the center of the school, and into an elevator. By this point, the woman was the only one with her. The two guys from earlier had gone off somewhere. Once they got to the top level she was shown into the only room up there.

"Thank you, Quistis," Said an older man, in a chair behind a desk. The woman, now known as Quistis, did some sort of weird salute before he dismissed her, and she walked away.

The man looked to Rinoa with a friendly smile on his face. "Well, Miss Caraway-""please call me Rinoa Heartily." Rinoa interrupted. She hated her father's last name with a burning passion. Surprisingly the man wasn't offended, and he just nodded, keeping the same friendly smile. He then handed her a bundle of clothes off of his desk. "This is your uniform. You will start classes tomorrow morning. There is a schedule in the clothes with the key to your dorm room. It also says your dorm number on your schedule." He said.

Rinoa nodded, and took everything he had given her back to the dorm number on her schedule. Once she was there, she took out the key and un-locked the door. Since classes were already over for the day, she lie on the bed. She would un- pack later tomorrow. The only thing she bothered un-packing was her alarm clock. She set it to the appropriate time, before falling asleep.